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Published at 20th of March 2019 11:24:48 AM


Chapter 31

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That idiot was currently back to Brine City. The way back home wasn't as enjoyable for him as most people were lost in thoughts at what they had witnessed inside the necromancer's cave.

Some were worried tougher undead left the cave first to roam the valley, others were lost in the potential riches left behind. But really most people were just worried. Except Mia who spent the way back reading the books she found in the necromancer's quarters.

Most of their worries, however, were washed away by the welcome they received when they returned. It certainly wasn't as crazy as last time, but knowing that an undead army was defeated was certainly cause for joy. Still, it appeared that Kunalls trumped Gnolls.

Chris' group had a few light injuries, but no one's life was in danger as the skeletons had weak attack power. All the injured were welcomed by medics and herbalists. They were informed by Mia to be on stand by. As always her preparations were meticulous. Cid was also here to welcome Chris and Mia back. Luckily, nothing out of the ordinary happened in Brine City as they were out.

Suddenly, Chris heard a louder cheer coming from the onlooker. It seems that Titus and his men were now back as well.

[Looks like the ambush went well.] Thought Chris as he noticed there were a few injured but no one was missing. Chris joined the crowd as they watched Titus and his men walk back into camp. The applause was thundering.

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

[I was right, undead really can't win against Kunalls.]

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

[Titus certainly looks proud.]

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

Titus' welcome was certainly even warmer than expected. And it didn't help that Mia joined in the clapping.

A vein popped in Chris' forehead. [I'd even say he is looking damn right arrogant! That pretty boy bastard!]

Titus separated from the rest of his troops and saluted Chris in a loud manner.

"My Lord! Mission accomplished, the Kunalls are defeated! There are no survivors!" He shouted loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Good job, Titus!" Answered Chris as he gritted his teeth and as he kept repeating in his mind: [Not jealous. Not jealous...]

"Looks like most of us are here." Said Chris. It was time for a briefing, so he inquired: "Cid, is Catherine back?"

"Not yet, my Lord. Most of her went returned with the gatherers and lumberjacks, but she stayed behind with a few men to scout the locations of the different Gnoll camps." He answered.

Chris had a nervous laugh. [I knew she wouldn't be able to resist.]

But he noticed Mia's worried look next so he spoke a few reassuring words.

"Of course she did. Now I worry about those poor Gnolls. That woman is so tough she could bend me in four." He then turned to Mia for some more personal reassurances."Really, don't worry okay? The Gnolls have terrible eyesight. You are the one who told me remember? They won't find her and her men."

Mia nodded, her face looked a little better as she realised the chances of the Gnolls spotting Cat were very low.

"Alright, everyone, let's inventory everything we gained and lost and have a meeting in two hours."

Decided Chris.

**** ****

Everyone was, as usual, gathered for the meeting in Mia's tent.

Unfortunately, Cat was still not back from her mission, and Mia's worry grew.

"Alright, Titus, the hero of the day, you go first." Chris added the hero title to Titus's name sarcastically.

Unfortunately for Chris, Titus seemed to miss it completely.

"The ambush went very well, my Lord!" Said Titus. "Our preparations were perfect, two Kunalls tried to flee but were intercepted as planned. Unfortunately a few of our people got injured when the Kunalls threw their weapons in desperation. Luckily, the injured were not due to the weapons themselves, but to the projectiles that flew off as the weapon hit the ground."

"That was enough to cause injured? My god."Exclaimed Chris.

Titus nodded. "Their strength is just crazy..." He paused to gather his thoughts and continued. "The loot is the same as previously, we obtained good iron from their weapons, this was sent, as per miss Mia's instruction, to Carmelo and his blacksmiths for melting and storing. As for our losses, they only amount to around two hundred arrows."

Titus bowed and sat down.

Cid stood up next. He had a much more serious personality, especially compared to the ever snarky and teasing Titus, this was felt in his report.

"There was no outstanding events today. I only have to report a few minor scuffles due to complaints on water distribution. I recommend increasing our output as soon as possible to avoid dissatisfaction." Cid bowed and sat down as soon as he finished his report.

"It is getting hotter every day. The climate in this valley is also a little bit closer to a tropical climate than the rest of the kingdom." Said Mia."I agree with Cid's proposal. We need to find a way to bring more water in for our people."

"Right. I'll think of something." Said Chris. He had a few ideas to automate the process, but he needed more details on the current technological level of this place. After all he had only been here a few weeks and most of it was spent camping in caves or tents.

It was now Mia's turn to stand up as she did the inventory for their excursion to the necromancer's base.

"Our rewards this time are quite satisfactory." She said with a smile. "This time the loot is divided in

magic books, magic artefacts, mana crystals, gold pieces and minerals. They should arrive tomorrow morning by caravan."

"The magic books contain spells and magical theories that are quite valuable and should give us a good sum if exchanged with any other races. We can also keep them for our own mages, that should make a good reward for them, if we find any. Unfortunately, half of those books were about necromancy and can not be traded."

Mia changed to the next items in her list. "As for artefacts, the most valuable one is what sir Silowas

found on the necromancer's body. Their values are usually decided by the magical effect they have, and the size of the mana crystal. We'll need an appraiser or a mage to find that out, but the staff's mana crystal is huge. We also found three other artefacts most likely of lower values due to the size of their mana stone. But they'll need to be appraised as well. I wouldn't recommend trading or gifting them until we find out what they can really do."

"We also found twelve chests filled with gold and silver, they were most likely stolen from the old capital as he fled. The value of those coin on the market is now virtually null, apart from the gold and silver they contain." Mia looked seriously at Chris. "We must not use those coins as our official money or our market risks of being flooded by the hundreds of million of coins still lost in our territory."

Chris nodded he certainly understood that. "Yes, we need to mint our own. I'll work it out." He smiled as he had just thought of a naughty idea for a little later.

"Next." Continued Mia. "Two thousand mana crystals were collected on the skeletons body as well as from a few coffers in the necromancer's quarters. Unfortunately, their size is minimal and will not fetch money on the market as they can only be used by necromancers to power weak undead."

"Ah. Let's keep those anyways. I have a few ideas I want to try." Said Chris.

Mia nodded and she switched to the last item on her list. "And we also found a lot of different minerals stored in chests. Mainly iron and copper ore. I suspect those were mined during the cave's excavation and were kept by the necromancer. Those were sent to Carmelo for processing."

"Good." Said Chris as Mia concluded her debrief. "But really, that cave and those skeletons... that was

quite something. This time we had the upper hand because no one had control on those skeletons and because we used the terrain to our advantage. But I shiver to think of the consequences if that

Necromancer was still alive and turned his army on us."

"I wouldn't worry too much about those, my Lord." Said Berg."A necromancer's power can be incredible, but they are very rare. In all my years in the army, I have never heard of an active one."

Mia nodded. "I was ten years old, the last time I read about necromancers." She chuckled as she recalled those past memories. "My father had left a book they found in ruins in his study. I snuck in and picked it up since the cover was so strange. I only had time to turn a few pages, of which I barely

understood half, before my father came in and scolded me."

She continued narrating her experience while Chris' mind was busy picturing her, with pigtails and a little back pack. [So cute...]

"I did understand the warning in the first page, cautioning all necromancers to keep their greed in check, as it would be their undoing." She continued. "I asked my father later, and he told me that this test was likely the reason there were so few necromancers active."

After this the group went their own way, Mia stayed in her tent while Chris went to his, next door.

His mind was preoccupied by a lot of important things.

[The humans have been attacked by dragons, undead and who knows what in the past. And we have to add the Kunalls to the list now.]

[Would Mia be into cosplaying? Should I ask her? I think I should.]

[I've to speed things up if we want to survive. Any of those things listed above could wipe us out... This can't continue.]

[And for that...] Chris picked up the mage staff they found in the Necromancer's cave and shouted: :

"Kafrizzle!", "Firaga!", "Avada Kedavra!"...

While Chris was doing king stuff in the privacy of his tent, a tall shadow appeared in front of Mia's tent and was let in by the guards.

Chris recognized the lively chatter that ensured. [Looks like Cat is back. Good.]

He was relieved as Mia would be very sad if something happened to her. He was also getting to know her better this past few days and he'd miss her.

Still, it was not the time to visit her. He had work to do. "Blizzaga!" [1]

... ...

Chris was finally satisfied half an hour later.

He put away the staff and said with a serious face. "Just as I thought, shouting random RPG spell names does not work in real life".

"Time for some king sleep." And with that he went to bed and prepared to call it a day.

He was rolling around in his bed, really enjoying his new pillow when he heard a noise. Mia walked in his tent holding a bunch of books.

Chris was stunned and didn't know what to do.

[Is this the famed "night visit"?] He thought and said while covering his chest with his hand: "A-are you going to ravish me?"




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