Lich Savais

“These are your targets, kill them and bring their heads. I want to give the bastard a little gift before we enter the city,” I said and gave the man in front of me sketches of the target, along with information.

I had planned on doing this after we conquered the city, but now I am doing it before that.

I couldn’t wait for my revenge. Earlier I tried, but couldn’t because of those three bastards.

“Those three are secondary targets. Don’t spend too many of your skills on them; your main objective is officers, start killing them when the panic starts,” said Knight Bartram and the man nodded.

Hanson had arrived not long ago; he was close. Hunting the people who had escaped from Panar.

He is not at Level 30 yet, but he is good.

I would have preferred his sister had been here. She is coming with the horde, but it will take her another two hours to come here.

We should have brought her, instead of Heartpeak or Ford. She wouldn’t have gotten herself killed like, those two had.

“Wait for the heads,” he said, and a grin appeared on his face before he faded away.

“The man is too confident. If he had been like his sister, he would have reached Lv. 30 years ago,” said Knight Bartram. The man’s sister is a decade younger but already reached Lv. 30, but the man hasn't.

“Let’s hope this will be the day. He takes that step,” I said, looking in the direction he went.

“It would be great news, if that happened,” said Knight Bartram at hope. We have lost two Level 30s; it will lessen the consequences, if the man reaches it.

My staff lit up and the number of undead attacking the wall increased by 10%.

It will attract the attention and help him cross the wall. Even without it, he would be able to do it. There are many weak spots through which he could enter the city, but I want to be careful.

I don’t want to make any more mistakes than we have already done.

It had been hours since our undead were attacking the wall while they were defending. We could have waited and not wasted the undead, even if we were using the lowest-grade ones.

We are doing it to keep our enemies occupied and tired.

I wonder what kind of reaction they will have once they see the horde.

I have seen people losing the will to fight, seeing the hordes, but I want them to fight. I want to crush these bastards, till they feel despair and the last shred of hope, disappears from their hearts.

….

Margaux

“Thank you, Josh and Vrena,” I said to the two city guards as their people bound the three men and took them away.

“I had heard people become animals when they lose hope. It was my first time seeing it,” said the young man and sighed.

These two are some of the city guards who had been guarding the establishment and the circle. So, when we came here, they came with us and now guarding the buildings where the girls are staying.

Though their numbers are a fraction of what they had around the establishment. Every person who could fight is valuable and keeping these people here is already a big thing.

Those three drunk men, they took had tried to break through the building, before being stopped by the guards.

One didn’t need to guess what they wanted to do.

Due to the undead attack, the whole population of the city had shifted to a small area. It gave rise to fear and helplessness, making people act on their darkest urges.

There are only one thousand guards and four thousand volunteers keeping an eye on things, but incidents are happening. Especially around the area, where there are women and children.

“Don’t feel worried, Headmistress. We won’t let any harm come to you and girls,” said Josh reassuringly.

“Thank you, Josh,” I thanked the young man and walked inside the building, which used to be a shopping complex.

The floor is filled with mattresses, with girls sitting or lying on it. Some are trying to sleep, hoping when they wake up, everything will be fine. Some are talking in hushed tones; some are playing games.

They are doing everything; they can to distract themselves from battle at the gates.

Not all girls are here, many are outside volunteering for different things. Some are patrolling with the guards, some are helping with children, and some are working in the hospitals; most girls are there.

Every girl knows first aid, and some have decided to learn further medical skills. Which is helpful right now.

The city didn’t have enough people to care for the injured. War requires a lot of people, and the city hasn’t prepared for it, despite knowing we would eventually face the undead.

However, the undead we are facing are coming from a different kingdom than we had expected.

“Headmistress, what happened? What did the guards say?” asked Revesa. I could see, silence descending with every girl turning their ears toward me.

“Nothing much. There was a bet among the guards about me knowing magic. I showed them the fireball,” I lied, and relief appeared on the faces of many girls.

I know magic; even after a month, I am having a hard time believing the fact.

I talked to the girls for a few minutes and tried to elevate their worries before walking to the floor above.

Click!

I reached the top floor and entered the room; there were four mattresses in there. Even I am not above sharing the room, at a time like this.

The whole city had been shifted to a small area. We could be said to be one of the lucky ones as we have got the building. More than half of the people are staying in tents, where they are more vulnerable.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

There shouldn’t be any threat unless the horde entered the city and attacked us directly.

Master Silver said the undead wouldn’t attack us before they dealt with the army. If some strayed here, the guards will be able to handle it; I hope, it didn’t come to that.

Currently, I am alone. Della is with the girls, while the other two are volunteering.

So, I took out the spell book and my notes and started to study it. I am using every moment; I have to study the magic. It is a wonderful gift, that I will be damned if I didn’t try to learn with my all.

Knock Knock

A few minutes passed, and I had got completely engrossed in studying. It took me several seconds to realize that someone had knocked on my door.

“Headmistress, it’s me,” said the familiar voice from the other side. ‘I hope, it is just drunk men,’ I thought and walked toward the door.

Click!

I opened it and saw Josh, but beside him someone, I hadn't expected to see.

“Eudo,” I said in surprise.

He was with children, along with Lenore had others. He is quite good with children. When I went there earlier, I saw him doing make-up for a group of little girls.

“Can we talk in private?” he asked, and his expressions were serious.

“I will wait here,” said Josh. Eudo, nodded at him, before coming inside the room and closing the door.

“What is it?” I asked, feeling worried.

I have never seen Eudo like this; there is a lot of pain in his eyes. Whatever he is here for is hurting him a lot.

I hugged him before I realized what I was doing. Eudo is not comfortable with physical contact and is stiffened immediately. I opened my mouth to apologize when I felt him get relaxed.

A few seconds later, I let go and turned to him.

“I have not been entirely truthful about my class,” he said.

….

Carla

“Miss Carla, has our army made any progress against the undead?” asked the vice-guildmaster Soren, while other merchants looked from their comfortable seats.

In the past few hours, I have been asked this question more than a hundred times.

“Currently, our forces are defending the wall, vice-guildmaster Soren. Killing the undead as they came,” I replied.

I am sure, with the connection the old man has, he already knows as much as I do, but he is still asking if I know anything more.

The merchants aren’t wrong in thinking; they know about my relationship with Remus; it was never a secret, anyway. On top of that, the responsibilities and power he had handed to me; I could even make the officer responsible for protecting a safe zone listen to me.

Which produced a surprising result.

Jealously.

It’s not like I have not seen that emotion directed at me before, but it was always about my appearance, and it would be accompanied by pity about my former profession.

It all changed from the day the legacy was born.

The people had been jealous of my authority over it. Remus never hid the fact that he had given me the authority over the establishment.

To them, I am the person with the highest authority over the establishment after Remus. They are a little wrong about that; it is Caena who has the highest authority after Remus; today, I have become sure of that.

After he had become governor. The feeling of jealousy had intensified in their eyes.

Now, it is not just women, but men also looked at jealousy and some wouldn’t hesitate to kill me. If it were to give them the power, I have.

“Let’s prey, that our army wins over the forces of undead,” said the old man and everyone closed their eyes for several seconds to prey.

This time, these bloody merchants aren’t acting. They are scared and enough fear could make, even faithless, believe in the glory of god.

I stayed there for a few minutes before I went to another group of merchants. This is a big mansion, with many merchants. They had formed their cliques, with one of them being led by Soren Arryn.

It is my job to handle them, and it is harder than it looks.

“Miss Carla, I am really craving arais mar. Can you not send someone to my mansion's cellars and bring it for me?” asked the middle-aged fat man with rosy cheeks.

I wanted to massage my head, instead, I put a smile on my face.

“It is forbidden to get out of the safe zone, Mr. Davis,” I said, and the man opened his mouth. “But you don’t have to be disappointed, I have one with me and it is from the establishment's collection,” I added and took out a crimson bottle of wine from my bag.

The man’s eyes lit up as he took the bottle and kissed it, before turning to me.

“Thank you. Miss Carla, I will now at least die satisfied,” said the man, before walking away with the bottle, while I rolled my eyes at his dramatic words.

“Merchants,” said Bell, beside me.

I didn’t say anything; there was nothing to say. Yes, it is frustrating to deal with them, but I have dealt with worse.

Still, I wished, I would be out in hospital or other places doing something more productive than nannying the merchants, but it is an important responsibility. Remus had trusted me with it, and I will not disappoint him.

Soon, I reached the bathroom and entered inside with Bell. It is a beautiful bathroom, like everything in the mansion, with ashir marble flooring and huge mirrors.

I looked at myself and moved to fix my hair.

“I miss the straight hairs. They were much easier to manage.” I complained, to which she smiled. “The curly hair looks good, much bett,” she stopped midway, with her eyes widening.

“Assassin!” she screamed in alarm and did something that shocked me more than the word she had screamed.