The misadventures of the necromancer

Chapter XXXVII

Things were not going as Seres had hoped. At this moment, the group of ruffians is trying to surround him. Meaning they were getting closer to the mule. Exactly, what Nero had instructed him to avoid.

With them getting closer, the risk of them discovering that the mule behind him was, in fact, an undead creature increased. An event that at the very least, would end with their expulsion from Central Crossing.

All Seres could think about was how furious the necromancer would be when he returned. His salvation so far had been that the group was more focused on him and not paying attention to the mule.

Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing how long this would last. He had been retreating from confrontation, ensuring he stayed between them and the mule.

The group kept hurling insults at him, calling him a fraud and a liar. Considering what had caused this problem, it was quite hilarious. If it weren’t for the mule’s presence, he might have laughed in their faces and told them off, just as he thought Nero would react in this situation.

Unfortunately, the group was large, and he didn't have the necromancer's magic. More; his duty to avoid the discovery of the mule's true nature was paramount. Every time they insulted his entire family, he almost sighed with relief.

At the moment, besides them surrounding him, his main worry was that they would actually become physically aggressive, which would be very bad.

So far, the mule had remained calm, as was its habit. After all, it was already dead. What worries could the creature have? But the second it sensed a real threat...

Keeping its true nature a secret would become impossible.

As his problem escalated, he heard the necromancer's voice loud and clear. "Blondie, what the hell have you been doing?"

Immediately, he turned toward the sound and saw Nero and Adar. Releasing a sigh of relief and thanked all the gods. He could count himself saved.

Yes, the necromancer was visibly annoyed. No doubt, not expecting to see this scene, when reuniting with Seres.

Of course, he wanted to know what had happened since he and Adar had left Seres with the mule and went to sell some of their giant spider eggs.

Despite this, Seres had no doubt that the necromancer would resolve the situation. He was sure, that once Nero heard what happened. He would give him his full support.

Nero stood there, looking at them while using one hand to rub his face, a sign of his frustration with what he had found.

Nero was wearing a brown coat, good blue trousers, and a green shirt while carrying several packages in one hand. For a moment, Seres almost didn't recognize the necromancer without the rags he usually wore. But on second thought, it made sense. If they managed to sell their eggs. They must have received some gold coins. There was no reason for Nero to continue wearing old and torn clothes. Even without selling the eggs, they should have enough money to buy him clothes.

The packages in Nero's and Adar's hands confirmed the success of their mission, bringing a smile to Seres' face. They wouldn't have to worry about money for a while.

"So, don't you have anything to say?" the necromancer shouted again, not hearing any response from Seres. Immediately, without waiting, he began walking toward Seres. Adar followed a bit more cautiously, looking around while studying the crowd, that had been watching the discussion.

"You need to teach your friend some manners," grumbled Samsan, the ruffian leader to Nero as they approached.

Upon hearing this, Nero's head instantly turned to Samsan. Behind Nero, Adar shook his head and began to smile. Seres understood: if there's something wrong to say to the necromancer, it's calling Seres or Adar his friends. Something that Seres understood but found a bit sad.

"Do these clowns look like my friends to you?" Hearing this, Samsan stood with his eyes and mouth open. The shock was enough to make him retreat slightly.

"And you? How many more times do I have to ask what you did?" Nero asked Seres, pointing a finger at him with his free hand while ignoring the group around them.

Seres took a few seconds to think of the best way to explain things. But Nero was not in the mood to wait.

"I can't believe this. This idiot here is supposed to be the one that creates problems. But I see I need to be careful with both of you." He pointed his free hand's thumb at Adar. Looking at his arm full of things, he turned to Adar.

Hearing this, several people in the crowd and some members of the ruffian group started laughing.

"Here, go put this away." Nero began transferring the things he was carrying to Adar. Who already carried several packages.

Once Adar was loaded, he began to head to the mule to put their purchases on the pack animal.

"When we left you. Apparently, you didn't understand. That you were supposed to avoid trouble," Nero declared to Seres.

"No, no, I understood. It's just that..." Nero listened to the attempted explanation, raising an eyebrow but motioning for Seres to continue.

"Well. When you two left, I started doing what we agreed." Seres paused a bit, ostentatiously looking around to indicate to Nero that they were in public and it was best to avoid some details. The necromancer seemed to understand and nodded for Seres to continue.

"As such, I started wandering a bit, staying in the more secluded areas of the tents, doing what I was supposed to." In other words, he was trying to stay away from other people, in a way that wasn't too suspicious.

"That's when I encountered this group." Seres pointed to the group's leader. Who made an expression of feeling insulted but let him continue talking.

"They sell potions, and while they were demonstrating their potions, I remembered poor Lizbeth and her family." While Seres hoped this would serve as a clear explanation for his companions, Nero simply displayed a blank face, blinking a few times as Seres watched him, waiting for a reaction.

As the silence dragged on, Nero realized Seres wanted to say something without explicitly expressing it. So, he turned to Adar, who was still arranging things on the mule. Pointing a finger at Seres, Nero declared, "Did I miss something? Who is he talking about?"

Adar, who had been listening to the conversation, just shrugged and said, "I don't know. Who are you talking about, Seres?"

For a moment, Seres stood with his mouth open in shock. It hadn't been that long ago. How could they not remember Lizbeth and her father? But anyway, it was best to try to be clearer. "Lizbeth is the farmer Van's daughter."

Nero began scratching his head, still not understanding, "Who?"

It wasn’t Seres who ended up explaining, but Adar. "I know, he's talking about the farmer on the other side of the mountains. The one with the thing with the boar."

It was this reference to the animal that had killed the farmer that changed the situation. Nero quickly turned to the group's leader and, with some aggressively in his voice, said, "Blondie, explain exactly. What you're talking about."

The group was surprised by Nero's change in posture, and their leader stepped forward. So, with two of his ruffians supporting him. He decided to make the foolish move of confronting Nero.

"Buddy, you'd better have some manners. You and your friends can't come to our town to start insulting our hardworking people."

Once again, he called Seres and Adar Nero's friends, causing Nero to narrow his eyes and say, "Blondie."

"Yes! Well, remember how she explained they had been sold the potions..." Seres began to explain.

"They had taken a full potion to close a minor wound, demonstrating that they worked," Adar responded, still finishing loading the mule.

Someone in the crowd mentioned how they seemed to want to kill the poor animal with so much load. If that person knew the truth, their reaction would be different.

But he didn't have time to think about that and continued his explanation.

"Exactly, and that's what I saw them doing," he said, pointing again to Samsan. Whose name he had discovered while the man was performing his demonstration in front of a crowd.

"And when I tried to explain to people what they were doing, they became aggressive..." he tried to summarize everything that had happened to Nero.

"Aggressive? We just responded to what this scoundrel was trying to imply about us," Samsan interrupted him, opening his arms to indicate his companions. "We are serious, hardworking people."

"Yes, of course," Nero said, his voice dry and calm. "So this is settled, right?"

Seres was astonished to hear Nero; he hadn't expected the necromancer to back down like this. But maybe it was just to deceive them. After all, in the village of Apple Garden, he had initially supported the villagers when they tried to lynch Adar.

"Well, your friend interrupted our business..." Samsan began to smile while rubbing a hand, a sign he wanted money.

"Oh, you want compensation," Nero said.

"A what?" Samsan asked, not understanding Nero.

"You want money for the business you couldn't do," Nero explained. He spoke loudly, his gaze going to the crowd behind the group. The group leader noticed this, but before he could talk, Nero continued, "I see no problem with that. After all, if you were unjustly harmed, then you should be compensated."

This causes Samsan to pause any criticism he may have since Nero agrees with him. "Yes, of course, I have to be compensated."

"Exactly what I just said. I hope you can understand..." Nero stops here to think, looking at Seres. Meanwhile, the crowd begins to pay attention to what he's saying. "... Blondie here only acted this way because we recently saw a man, who was simply defending his family from a boar, die. Despite the severity of his injuries, he could have been saved. With the use of a potion."

"Pity he didn't have one of my healing potions," Samsan declares loudly, seeming to realize that Nero is addressing the people around.

Seres sees with excitement the smile that appears on Nero's face upon hearing these words. A smile that doesn't reach his eyes, which remain cold and calculating.

Seres had witnessed this smile before. And, if Samsan had shared that experience, he and his group would already be fleeing.

"Oh! But they had potions. Shortly before, they had bought healing potions." Nero pauses again for everyone to understand his words well. "Or rather, the family had been deceived shortly before. The potions were useless."

Nero continues to smile as his gaze refocuses on Samsan. Despite a slight hesitation that Seres could only notice because he was close to the man, Samsan doesn't admit defeat.

"Yes, as I said. Pity your friend didn't have one of my potions," the man loudly declares while turning to the crowd. Meanwhile, his companions agree with him, taking the opportunity to express their confidence in Samsan.

Seres had seen this strategy before when he initially declared his doubts about the efficacy of the potions the group was selling. He was met with raised voices, some defending the potions while others attacked him personally. The final result was the scene Nero and Adar had seen upon arriving.

But Seres genuinely smiles because, unfortunately for this group, they are now facing Nero.

"Right. So, is one gold coin enough?" Nero declares, making a gold coin appear in his hand. Leading to a wave of silence descending. The crowd around seems to be composed of ordinary people. Who among them has ever seen a gold coin like this?

For the first time, Seres can see members of this group exchanging apprehensive glances among themselves. He can understand their thinking. The type of people who usually carry gold like this are generally people who can create problems for those who confront them.

"So, is one gold coin enough for you to recover from the damages?" Nero repeats for a Samsan, who also is hesitating.

"Well, if your excellency offers, then I can only accept," Samsan declares with some humility, seemingly giving way to his greed.

"I think it's fair. Now that you can understand. Blondie's passion for this matter. I hope we can settle things peacefully." Seres notices Nero's strange phrasing. Why is it important for them to understand what Seres feels?

Seres can see that Adar has finished arranging the things and shakes his head, assuming his friend is lamenting the loss of the coin. But Seres is not convinced that these swindlers will ever get to touch that coin.

"Well, if your excellency thinks so, then I humbly accept your offer," Samsan says, approaching Nero with his hand outstretched to receive the coin.

Nero, for his part, just looks at the man. Samsan, in turn, stares at the necromancer. And so they remain for several seconds. Nero calmly seems to be waiting for something. Samsan becomes increasingly confused, seeming unable to say anything about the situation while standing with his hand outstretched in front of the entire crowd.

"So, won't you give me the coin?" Samsan finally explodes, unable to wait any longer. Thus, all the facade of politeness and respect he had shown when he thought he was receiving a gold coin, is gone.

"I'm waiting for the potion," Nero says calmly, sounding almost bored.

"What?" an increasingly agitated Samsan explodes again.

"One of your potions. One of the ones you sold. After all, I can only pay you if Blondie insulted you. For that, the potions have to be proven to be good," Nero explains calmly.

"Grumpy, there has a small wound on his leg. If it takes an entire vial to heal that small and practically cured wound. Then your potions are worthless. Meaning your group is just like the bastards, who deceived that family."

"What!!!" Samsan shouts. But, looking around, he can see that the crowd is watching everything very closely. This seems to make him pause a bit to think.

But one of the ruffians accompanying him seems to have his own plans.

"Who do you think you're messing with? Give us our gold," he doesn't speak very loudly, but even so, his voice is clear. And so this massive man advances on Nero.

Only to be intercepted by the mule, which charges at the threat to its master. The man may be big and strong, but the creature must weigh almost half a ton. The winner is clear and expected.

The ruffian lies on the ground, under the watchful eyes of everyone in the crowd. His closest companions come to his aid. And one of them tries to push the mule. Which turns out to be a total failure.

"What kind of animal is this?" the man declares next, while another appears wielding a stick, trying to drive the best away.

Seres looks around, seeing several people discussing the mule's strange behavior. Which is distressing, the more attention people pay, the worse it is.

"Hey, stop the nonsense!" a frustrated Nero shouts.

"Stop distracting people. I know you're swindlers, and you know I know," Nero says, apparently managing to distract attention from the mule.

"If you have something to say, you'd better say it and stop worrying about the mule. There's something more dangerous here." Finishing speaking, Nero goes to the man with the stick.

He proceeds to take it from the man and after murmuring some words. He throws the now covered-in blue flames stick, high in the air.

Everyone can see the stick in the air, declaring loudly and clearly that Nero is a mage something that immediately explains how he could have a gold coin. And that this could have a rather explosive ending.

"If you can prove your potions aren't useless. Do so and take your coin. Otherwise, disappear before I set you on fire."

While Nero looks around waiting for a response, the ruffians after helping their fallen companion to his feet begin their retreat slightly. Even Samsan says nothing and steps back a bit.

"If that's your response, Grumpy, Blondie, let's go. I'm tired of frauds," Nero orders before turning and starting to leave.

Adar runs past Seres to pick up the fallen coin before following Nero. Seres follows his friend, not knowing whether their visit to Central Crossing has ended up being a good or bad thing.