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16. Undertakers and Overbringers
🕑 Added 2024-09-22 02:41:05 +0000 UTCIn the morning, Levi and Colin joined the townsfolk. They mingled among the people as they gazed at their ruined houses. Very little remained. A few stone chimneys. A small stone outhouse. The church, its stones scorched but not broken. The rest of it was flattened. Nothing remained but embers and charcoal.
“Well, that’s unfortunate,” Levi commented to no one in particular.
A hand landed on his shoulder. Levi whipped around. His cloak flew as the Armalgam reached for its weapons.
The man from the previous night smiled at him. “You asked me to tell you everything.”
“From the start,” Levi said, nodding.
Colin pulled up tight behind him. He nodded as well.
“Then, here goes…”
The village was once prosperous. The Count was a distant ruler, but a fair one. Under the Count’s rule, the village hadn’t been overly taxed, nor had it been subjected to undue laws. It pittered along, and the Count seemed to have all but forgotten it. Sure, the Count had a quirk or two, but the townsfolk were happy to provide. Theirs was a peaceful codependence.
“Uh, one second. This Count, their quirks… did he maybe have a strange preference for maidens in white nightdresses? Would the maidens come back pale and, er, drained?” Levi asked, shooting a meaningful look at the formidable, dark mansion.
The man thought for a moment, then nodded. “But we didn’t mind. The girls never complained. My older sister used to visit the castle monthly, and she always seemed to look forward to it.”
“I see. Go on,” Levi said.
The man cleared his throat. His eyes hardened. “Until Ician came. They defeated the Count. And our lives changed completely.”
Levi glanced around. A few of the townsfolk had gathered, having realized at last that there were strangers in their midst. He caught snippets of their whispers. “Heroes…?” “Maybe adventurers?” “Are they here to help?” “We don’t need more bandits.” “Cost too much, bah.”
Unaware of, or perhaps ignoring, the whispers, the man pressed on. “Under Ician, everything was different.”
Huge taxes were levied on the people. They struggled to produce enough food to both pay the tax and feed themselves. The farmers worked themselves to the bone, and still couldn’t keep up. The land was poor here in the mountains, and largely unsuited to agriculture. The levies Ician called for were reasonable for flat, arable land, but in the terraced, rocky soil of the mountains, they were ridiculous.
At last, Ician sent officials. The villagers had rejoiced, thinking their new kingdom might have finally come to survey the village and realize it simply could not provide the taxes Ician asked for.
Instead, the officials tore open their storehouses. They siphoned all the grains the villagers kept for thin times and left them with nothing in their fields. When the officials left, there was nothing left in the village.
They’d done their best to recover. They were a proud village, with a long history. They had been through worse. Or so they thought.
“That… was when the war drew close. Soldiers deserted. They formed roving bands of bandits. If Ician was unreasonable, then the bandits are…” The man fell silent. He gestured.
“I understand,” Levi said, unusually sober. He gazed up at the manor. It stood over the village, dark and looming. “But if the bandits are so bad, why haven’t they bothered the Count? He’s clearly richer than you.”
The man cringed. “The Count is… known to be mercurial. You don’t understand. The Count is far more powerful than a mere villager or bandit. We dare not intrude. Neither do the bandits.”
“So he’s still alive, then? Just chilling in his castle, thumb up his ass, sore over one loss,” Levi surmised.
The man cringed again. “Er, in a way… I would never say such a thing, but…”
“Message received. This Count is some kind of powerful… what do you call people with powers in this world?”
“Um, it depends. The Count would be considered a mage, I believe.”
“The Count is a powerful mage, and due to his stupid pride, he’s hiding up there rather than fighting back for you. He’s even letting stupid bandits trod roughshod all over his territory.” Levi twisted his lips. He shook his head. “I’ve decided!”
Both the man and Colin jumped. The man cleared his throat. “Y-yes?”
Levi planted his hands on his hips. “I’m going to go drag that lazy-ass Count of yours out of retirement and force him to do his damn job. Goddess knows I don’t want to stick around here forever, but we can’t let a quaint little village like this just die, can we?”
“Really?” the man and Colin both asked, almost in concert.
“Of course. I bothered to kill those bandits, and now I feel a sense of responsibility. Plus, I’m pretty confident in myself. I’m sure we can go awaken this Count with no problems. Isn’t that right, Colin?”
Colin startled. He glanced around, then stared at the floor. He nodded.
“That’s what I thought. Let’s go!” Punching the air, Levi led the way to the manor.
The villagers watched them go. Not with admiration or expectations, but with the dreary eyes of those looking at the already-dead. Colin stared over his shoulder for a split second before he had to look away. The second they left earshot, he scurried up behind Levi. “Is that true?”
“What?”
“That you felt a sense of responsibility, and all that?”
“Of course not. That’s all bullshit.” He pointed at the manor. “A spooky mansion. A guy called the Count. What’s that call to mind?”
Colin frowned. He squinted, then shrugged. “Uh, Victorian nobility?”
“Don’t be so literal. Come on. Think!’
Colin shrugged helplessly.
Levi sighed. He leaned in. “Vampires! And what are vampires?”
“Undead?”
Levi grinned. He pointed at Colin. “Bingo. Super powerful undead, at that. Imagine what I can do if I get one of those under my control?” He kissed his fingers. “Perfection.”
Colin nodded slowly. After a second, he paused. “What if the Count is higher level than you, and you can’t control him?”
Levi scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. We’re… what, level twenty? Twenty-two?” He pulled up his status screen to consult it. “Captain wasserface trained all her life to beat a level ten hero. Come on. No chance the Count is more powerful than us.”
Levi | 18 | Lv 22
Class: Necromancer [SPECIAL]
Str: 21
Mag: 46
Dex: 21
Spd: 24
Def: 11
Res: 42
[Basic Swordsmanship]
[Shadow Manipulation]
[Shadow Step]
[Raise Dead]
[Drain]
[Shape Dead]
Levi nodded. Not bad, not bad. Probably not better than a level ten Hero’s, if I’m being honest, but it’s a start.
“And if the Count is stronger than us?” Colin asked.
“Then… then we wake him up, send him to the village, and uh, let them feel appreciated.” He paused and looked back. The townsfolk struggled down below. They picked through the scraps, searching for what little remained of their lives. The man knelt, sifting through the ashes. His wife followed alongside. She knelt and fished a shovel’s spade out of the ash.
He heaved a sigh. “Dammit. I was trying not to care, but dammit. That town… You know, I do actually want to help out a little. I hate seeing good people get shat on like that.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. Hold up. Let’s go back for just a minute,” Levi said.
They turned back. The man looked up as the two of them drew up once more. He stood, brushing the ash off his hands. “Can I help you?”
“Yeah. What’s your name?” Levi asked.
The man stared. After a second, he coughed. “Ren. I’m Ren Tar.”
“Ren. Come here for a second.” Levi looped his arm around the man’s shoulder and led him away.
“How can I help you?” Ren asked, lost.
“Your village. Considering the Count and all… how do you feel about undead?”
“Undead?” Ren’s eyes widened. He leaned in. “Are you an Overbringer?”
Levi blinked. “A… what?”
“An Overbringer. They do the opposite of an Undertaker?” Ren prompted.
Levi thought for a moment, then nodded. “Ahhh. I’m getting it. Kind of a junior Necromancer?”
“Yes. Well, Necromancers are the stuff of legend, you know? Able to summon infinite undead and freely shape death. That’s not for us mere mortals. Overbringers are more…” Ren waggled his hand.
“I can bring back the dead, yes,” Levi confirmed, cutting him off. “Would you like me to? To help out, you know. I could go get the bandits.”
“The bandits? Why wouldn’t you bring back some of our own?” Ren asked, puzzled.
“Er… the sanctity of death, and all that?” Levi tried.
Ren shook his head. “We have different beliefs than Icians. They follow the Goddess of Life and Light. We follow… followed a different deity. Being brought back by an Overbringer is the highest honor one can seek in death. Even in death, you’re given the opportunity to serve the living. It guarantees that you enter the highest heaven.”
“Oh. In that case, point me at a few bodies, and let’s get started!” Levi said.
Ren nodded. He looked around at the other villagers, then nodded again. “I’ll be right back!”
He dashed from villager to villager. Levi waited, hands held together. The villagers Ren spoke to looked up sharply, then stared at him.
Levi smiled and waggled his fingers. He leaned in to Colin. “I’ll be honest, it’s a little uncomfortable, getting this much attention.”
“I thought you liked attention,” Colin muttered back.
Levi stared at Colin. He dropped his jaw. “What? Me, like attention? How’d you get that idea?”
“No clue,” Colin muttered.
At last, Ren returned. He brought two people with him, who each carried a body with them. One was a young woman with a tearstreaked, ash-stained face. She dragged the body or a man about her age with her. The other was a man, who carried his wife. Ren gestured, and they laid the bodies before Levi.
“I’m sorry, sir. We’d have brought you more of them, but everyone’s wary of Ician. They hate Overbringers. They murdered every one for miles around, and hung everyone who associated with them, at that. Even this is a risk,” Ren explained, bowing his head in apology.
“It’s fine. I’m not sure I can bring back more than these two,” Levi said. He beamed at the two bereaved. “If anyone asks, some nasty traveler forcibly stole their bodies and brought them back to life, against your will.”
The woman sniffed. She nodded. The man just stared dead-eyed.
Levi crouched. He took a deep breath, sucking in the cold energy. Hovering a hand over each of the bodies, he breathed out. Cold energy flew down his arms and sunk into the corpses. They trembled. Green light shone around their bodies, then faded. The dead laid still.
Levi stood. “That’s the best I could do.”
The man and woman stared bleakly. The woman’s head fell, disappointment written all over her face. The man still just stared, but this time, he stared at his wife.
Ren stepped forward. “Just an apprentice, are you? It’s fine. We understand. Overbringing is a tough—”
The man twitched. His eyes shot open. Green light glimmered from under his eyelids. Slowly, robotically, he sat up.
Beside him, the woman sat up as well. She climbed to her feet.
The man gasped. Beside him, the woman trembled, something between hope and relief written across is face.
Levi patted the man on his shoulder. The zombie staggered and almost fell. Levi lunged and caught him. “There we go. Good as new. Well, good as dead, anyways. They ought to obey simple commands. They’ll help you rebuild the village, night and day, no matter the weather. I don’t know how long I can allocate this much mana to you guys, but I’ll try not to dismiss them until at least tomorrow night.”
“That’s more than enough. Thank you so much, sir. Thank you!” Ren said, nodding desperately.
“Right. Er. Back to the Count, then. You go rebuild your town. I’ll see to the rest of it.” Levi popped a quick salute and turned away once more.
Colin nodded. He waved farewell and followed Levi once more. This time, though, he followed Levi with an earnest smile on his face.
