“How to clean up the mess is often just as important as the mess itself in the first place.” - saying by unknown philosopher.
“Oh, nice to see you already finished,” said Aideen when she and Eilonwy walked out of the underground dungeon of the mansion with dozens of slaves behind them. Some of the healthier former slaves helped the ones who were too weak to walk by themselves as they trailed behind the two women and Eilonwy’s group of undead minions.
Kino was already awaiting their return in the mansion’s main living room, which was the largest open room on the mansion’s ground floor. It had taken her a while to communicate her intent to the frightened slaves after the slaughter, but fortunately one of them spoke common and helped translate her words. She had those slaves put on some clothes and take whatever they felt like taking with them, then had them gather the other servants and slaves on the ground floor as well.
To say that the eyes of those servants and former slaves widened at the sight of Aideen and Eilonwy bringing out everyone who had been incarcerated in the underground dungeons was an understatement.
“It took me longer to gather up everyone who wants to leave this shithole than to take care of the bastards,” replied Kino, still masked and cloaked, though the way her cloak dripped with blood from her victims lent her appearance a somethat dreadful aura. “No issues with the dungeon I assume? You two finished sooner than I thought you would, actually.”
“Other than some of them not being able to move on their own, nothing troublesome. What guards we ran into down there were clearly just hired thugs with minimal training, nothing worth mentioning,” replied Eilonwy with a nod. “I didn’t even have to step up at all. My boys here did all the fighting and took care of them all.”
“So… Now we take all these people back to Master Farouq’s place? Wouldn’t that cause him trouble?” asked Kino with some worry in her voice. “I don’t think we can hide the movement of so many people unless we were to take them out in small batches.”
“Farouq’s house is rich and influential enough that the locals wouldn’t dare to do a thing against him, and besides, he’s in the right here, as we are his guests and by making a move against us, this Ghoulam Al-Surad had practically slapped him in the face,” replied Aideen. “By local customs, Farouq had all rights to retaliate in whatever way he deemed fit. “
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“Oh. Then what we did here…?”
“Well, it might have gone way over what the locals consider a reasonable retaliation, but who cares. We won’t be staying here much longer anyway, and neither will these poor folks,” said Aideen nonchalantly. “Farouq’s family is also far too influential for this sort of minor incident to affect them much, so no need to worry about him. He’ll help arrange for these people to be sent wherever they wish to go once we get to his place.”
“Got it,” replied Kino with a nod at last. “So, how are we doing this?” she asked once more as she looked at the gathered servants and former slaves, which must have numbered a hundred or so in total. It would be quite troublesome to pass through the city at night unaccosted with their numbers, and hiding their movements would be impossible for the three.
“We walk out in the open, of course,” answered Aideen with a smirk on her face. “I’ll tell them to line up properly and help each other. Kino, remember to get two sets of clothes for the two we left in the guard station earlier. Can’t have them traipsing around in that state of undress, now can we? Eilonwy, have your Death Knight lead the procession and space out the rest by the sides as escorts.”
Kino and Eilonwy immediately did as Aideen said. Kino had one of the former slaves who speak common help her find fitting clothing for the two women in the guardhouse and help carry them as she was still soaked in blood and didn’t want to stain the clothes. Eilonwy chaperoned the group of former slaves as she led them out of the mansion with her Death Knight standing in its full glory by her side.
By the time they marched out of the mansion as a group, some nervous-looking city guards – incidentally, led by the very same constable Hamid who had gone to Farouq’s place just days before – were already gathered near the gates. They looked uncertain whether they wanted to go in to investigate or not, and many of the younger ones visibly flinched and took steps back when they saw Eilonwy’s Death Knight.
None of the guards dared to so much as take a step towards the group of freed slaves that walked past them under the escort of the visibly powerful skeletons. They didn’t make a move either when Kino and one of the former maids walked into the guardhouse and came back with two other young women and joined the group.
Not even the track Kino left behind as her cloak dripped with the blood that soaked into it from the fighting made the guards or the constable react. They just watched silently as the procession moved past them as if they weren’t even there. Nobody said anything to them, but the baleful aura around the undead present promised nothing short of a gruesome death if they dared to make a move, and they knew it.
It was not until the whole group had left and disappeared from their sight that the constable gulped nervously and ordered his men to check the situation inside the house. The slaughter was evident from the corpses strewn about the yard alone, and Constable Hamid Zayif of Oajib knew that the owner of the mansion, a known slave trader, must have offended the wrong people that night.
After all, while necromancers weren’t too uncommon, few were skilled enough to be able to create or control undead of such high caliber as the one he saw at the head of the procession. Most who were capable of doing that hailed from the Lichdom down south.
And you simply do not mess with people from there, for your own good.