The misadventures of the necromancer

Chapter XLIV

What she just heard is completely absurd. This young man, only a little older than her, is claiming that the Five are weak. Such a ridiculous notion is beyond comprehension.

"Uh... Nero. That's a bit much, don't you think?" says Seres hesitantly, seemingly agreeing with her shock.

“Blondie, what are you talking about?” Nero asks, appearing not to understand Seres' surprise.

“Well, you’re saying that the Five are weak. If you're describing who we think you are…” Seres responds, exchanging glances with Adar, leaving it unclear exactly who they think Nero was describing when he talked about Seran with Cien.

"I was just trying to describe the old man I was fighting," Nero shrugs, revealing that they seem to think he was fighting Seran the Rock.

"Exactly. Saying that the guy who beat you up is weak... That’s something," Adar grumbles low, barely able to stop himself from criticizing Nero, but not doing so openly.

“And what makes you think that's some great feat?” Nero asks, tilting his head slightly to the side. His question leaves both Adar and Seres speechless.

“I’m serious. Do you really think that those I consider powerful… here.” He pauses, pointing his finger around to indicate everything around them. “... would have great difficulty defeating me? No, they would annihilate me."

“Besides that. The fight was pretty even,…” he pauses again for a few seconds as if continuing to think, “... maybe he was holding back to avoid hurting me.”

Nero rubs his hand over his face before continuing to speak. “Yeah. It makes sense. After all, I caused the vast majority of the damage. Maybe he just wanted to knock me down and then talk. It's possible!”

Nero looks back at his friends before speaking again. "Of course, if I had followed my original plan, I never would have let him get close enough to become a threat. The fight only ended the way it did because we both held back.”

With that, Nero turns his attention to the group of armed men. “Something to think about later. Right?”

This seems to grab Cien and his men’s attention, who had appeared distracted while listening to the absurd conversation until now.

“After all, your excellencies still haven't explained why on earth you woke me up.” Nero’s tone takes on a new hardness and aggression.

Cien remains silent, seemingly trying to figure out what he's dealing with. And everything he’s just heard is making him hesitant.

That’s when she finds the courage to speak. Still holding onto Seres, she takes a small step forward.

“Nero…” she begins, then stops, considering everything she’s heard. “... Lord Nero. My name is Ulma, and I wanted to ask for help.”

“Well. At least someone here has some manners,” Nero declares loudly, sarcasm dripping from his voice. But as he says this, she realizes that no one has introduced themselves until now, including Nero. But it’s not like anyone can point that out, given that this is his camp and they were the ones who barged in, causing all this chaos.

“We may not have started this off the right way, but these are matters of Riversong,” Aden says more formally. The young man seems to have calmed down after Cien's intervention. To now appear to be trying to be more humble. Maybe seeing his master so restrained made him rethink things.

“Matters of Riversong!!!” Nero exclaims, irritated. “So why the hell am I dealing with you, idiot?”

“More respect. He is the son of the Lord of Riversong, and I must demand respect for my lord,” Cien says, his tone calm but carrying a slight threat.

Nero, in turn, simply shakes his head before speaking again. “Holy God, you guys are really dumb.”

Cien's reaction, as well as that of all the guards, is immediate. They all urge their horses forward slightly as if preparing to attack.

Nero turns to Cien. “Do you think they’re a threat?” Even though she can’t see his face. She assumes he’s smiling after hearing the amused tone in his voice.

“I admit you must be a capable mage. But...” Cien speaks slowly and deliberately as if anticipating what will happen next.

“But what?... Oh, you think you can take me down before I use my magic.” Nero’s amusement doesn’t fade. “In theory, a good plan, but…” Hearing the humor in his voice, the Riversong guards exchange uncertain glances.

“I don't understand how many times I need to repeat myself,” Nero interrupts. “Maybe you're assuming that when I said the smartest among you are the horses, I was joking... perhaps an insult...” That’s what she had assumed. And doesn’t understand why he’s bringing it up again.

Nero lets out a sigh before speaking again. “Let’s see if I can explain myself to the biggest fools I know.” With that, he shifts to a position where he can turn his head toward her and his friends.

“Do you know what the most important characteristic of a cavalry unit is?” he asks his friends.

She can barely comprehend the question before Nero answers himself. “The horses, of course. Without the horses, cavalrymen are just infantry with egos.”

A response that no one seems able to dispute. And so this mage, who looks like a beggar, maintains his control over everyone, continuing to speak.

“But do you know what makes a good warhorse? Strength... speed... size...” Here, as he looks directly at her, she sees his smile as he speaks. Then he turns his head back to Cien. When she can no longer see his face, she notices he’s still holding Aden’s spear, as if preparing for something.

“No, none of that. What’s needed is finding animals that, despite being made to run from any problem they encounter, when asked by a human, can charge into the terror of a battlefield.” Nero's answer makes Cien give a brief nod of agreement.

Nero also nods affirmatively and makes a slight hand gesture before continuing to speak.

“So, what do you think of a group that’s trying to fight an opponent of unknown abilities when they can’t even get their horses to charge at him? Would you classify them as smart?”

Looking around, she can see, that the horses are retreating a bit, neighing in distress. That’s when she notices something strange. The mule had moved slightly forward, responding to the gesture she saw Nero make. Concluding that the mule is, what’s frightening the horses, she speaks without thinking. “The mule.”

Even though she didn’t expect anyone to hear her, Cien’s head quickly snapped around, allowing him to look closely at the mule as he shouted, “What kind of animal is that?”

“I should give you points for noticing, but let’s be honest, it was the girl who pointed it out first,” Nero responds humorously. But this time his tone carries no amusement, making her think she may have ruined his plans.

"But she was about to explain what's going on here." Saying this, he turns toward her, adding, “Right?”

For a moment, she feels unable to speak. It took a lot of courage for her to speak earlier, and now it seems there's even more pressure on what she’ll say next.

“Go on, don’t worry. Nothing will happen to you if he’s on your side,” she hears Seres’ voice beside her, encouraging her.

With his support, she speaks once more. "Yes. Lord Nero, as I said before, my name is Ulma. And I was working as a maid in Riversong..." She hesitates again. How can she explain this? And more importantly, how can she do so in a way that the mage won’t ignore her plea for help?

She looks at the young man in front of her, dressed like a beggar. And even knowing that he has power beyond anything she could imagine, his humble appearance gives her some comfort to express herself, assuming he won’t dismiss her as others might.

"...But, I... don’t like my job and I wanted to go home," she finally says what she needed to.

Nero, in turn, blinks rapidly, seeming not to fully understand what he just heard.

After a few seconds, he speaks. “Did they beat you?”

“What! No, no,” she replies, surprised by the question. Even though the people in Riversong weren’t particularly kind, they had never treated her that way.

For the first time, Nero seems slightly flustered as he tries to speak again. “So, unsolicited advances from someone?...”

What he’s saying doesn’t make sense to her. What advances is he talking about? Seeing no response from her, he continues to try and ask something.

“Maybe someone tried to touch you in a way you didn’t like...”

“No... I already said no one beat me,” Ulma responds, not understanding why he keeps asking this.

“Are you sure that someone like... Moustache over there, didn’t try to touch you?” He asks, pointing to Cien. She simply shakes her head in response.

“What?” Cien asks, sounding somewhat offended.

Nero turns to Cien, speaking. "What? It doesn’t make sense. Why on earth does the girl want to leave. And why are you guys trying to stop her?"

"She belongs to Riversong," Aden declares, causing Nero to turn toward him, looking displeased. But before he can say anything, Aden continues, "We can't just leave her alone in the middle of nowhere. Do you know how many dangers there are around here?"

Nero seems surprised by this comment, while she decides to try to clarify the situation a little. “I want to go home because I miss it. And besides, I’m not very good at cleaning. At home, I mainly took care of the animals. And I liked that more.”

“Then why did you go to work for them?” he asks turning back to her.

“Well... The lady of Riversong came to our house and liked me... When she said she wanted me as a maid, my parents agreed,” she responds.

Nero lowers his head and puts a hand to his face, saying, “So, all this is because of a labor dispute!”

“Now that you understand the situation, we can resolve this,” Cien steps forward, much to Ulma’s concern.

“Fine. You can go,” Nero responds, seeming frustrated by the whole thing. Hearing this, she feels a weight settle in her stomach.

“You heard him. Come on, girl, we’re heading back to Riversong,” commands Cien. She can only retreat upon hearing this, looking to Seres for help, but he continues to watch Nero.

“Hey, I said you can go. I didn’t say anything about the girl,” Nero clarifies, still sounding annoyed.

“But you said this issue isn’t important,” Aden's irritated voice cuts in.

“Yes, it’s not important to me or you. But for her, it seems pretty important,” Nero points a thumb at Ulma as he speaks. “So, you can go. We’ll take her home.”

Upon hearing this, Aden shifts unexpectedly, clearly surprised by what he just heard.

“She belongs to Riversong…” Aden objects. “And what will you do if her parents don’t want her back?”

The question makes her stop, as she’s never considered that possibility. What would she do if that were the case?

“Well then, you can come with us. And if she has to go back to your place. You’ll be with her. Simple,” Nero responds calmly.

“What’s he doing? Has he gone mad?” mutters Adar.

“You’re going to make us all go to the girl’s house,” Cien says, sounding frustrated with how things are unfolding.

“Nope, man. The loudmouth comes with us. You, mustache, and your friends are going home,” Nero says, focusing on Cien.

“You think I’m just going to let you take the son of the Lord of Riversong?” Cien asks, lowering his spear until it points at Nero.

“Why not? His mother can show up somewhere and recruit someone, so I can do the same.” As he speaks, Nero begins tossing the spear he had taken from Aden from hand to hand.

“Once again! You think I’m just going to let you do that?” Cien asks.

“I told you, I just came from a fight. Want to see what I learned?” Nero's voice takes on an amused tone again.

But when he speaks again, all amusement disappears, and his tone becomes hard and inflexible. “If Mustache takes one more step forward, kill him.”

At this, everyone, including her, turns to the mule, which shifts to face Cien.

“Only worry about the others if they get past me,” is another order Nero gives in the same firm tone.

The guards look at one another, concern spreading. Even though he’s a mage, the idea that someone doesn’t consider the other guards a threat is strange. But for some reason, both she and apparently the guards believe Nero isn’t lying.

“You were worried when you saw me use a little Alteration spell that makes me resistant to damage,” Nero is speaking calmly again. While showing the palm of his hand, which had grabbed the spear’s blade. Reveling that, his hand has no mark on it.

“But, man, that’s practically the only Alteration spell I know. My best spells are others.” He doesn’t stop there. He mutters something, and when he finishes, she hears someone say, “The spear!!!”

When she looks at the spear, its tip is covered in blue flames.

“So. If you think you can defeat me, go ahead.” His voice shows no hesitation or concern.

“I agree,” she hears a voice say, and when she looks at Aden, he continues speaking. “I’ll go with you.”

“Aden!!” Cien exclaims.

“Please, master. It’s for the best. There’s no reason to risk the lives of the Riversong guards over this matter,” Aden appeals to Cien.

Cien, in turn, looks around at his men, who await his decision, before nodding his head in agreement.

When it seems like everything is getting resolved, a new voice is heard. “Hmm... Nero, are you sure about this?” Adar asks as he approaches the other man. “I’m not sure having more people... would be a good idea.”

Nero, in turn, looks calmly at Adar before shaking his head slightly. “I think it’s a good idea. We can take advantage of having locals to ask them about Farmer’s Harbour.” She notices the strange intensity with which Nero looks at Adar while speaking.

“What?..." the young man is clearly confused before he appears to understand something. To then replies oddly"Oh... Yes, I understand.”

“Farmer’s Harbour???” Seres asks, raising his voice.

It’s Adar, who quickly turns to his friend, saying, “Yes, yes... It’s a good idea to ask about our destination.”

“Our…” Seres begins to speak, but Adar continues, “Yes. Don’t worry, Nero, we’ll handle everything.”

“Great, then I can try to get some sleep.” Nero looks at the group still standing there. “So, aren’t you leaving?”

Cien looks at Aden, who nods in agreement. Cien turns and begins to leave slowly.

“The most important thing is to stay away from the mule. She’s dangerous…” Adar starts to say.

Nero, in turn, seems to be heading back to lie down. Taking advantage of his proximity, Ulma speaks up. “Nero... I wanted to thank you and your frien…”

Suddenly, Seres’ hand covers her mouth.

“Right, she’s grateful for your help,” Seres says instead.

Nero narrows his eyes and speaks loudly, “The next person who stops me from resting will spend tomorrow carrying the supplies.” With his message delivered, he continues on his way, returning Aden’s spear to him.

“For the two of you, never call us his friends,” Adar whispers loudly enough for them to hear.

Even though she’s grateful for the help, she can’t help but wonder what she’s gotten herself into.