Evil Sorcerer System 13 (Patreon)

Searching for Theragrim was easier said than done. He was hiding from me just as much as he was hiding from the Order of the Golden Sword. And though my Skeletal Knights were smarter than ordinary Skeletal Soldiers, they still didn't have the common sense of a street urchin. Nor could they talk and enlist the aid of the locals.

I had plenty of gold and could hire a few people, but I didn't want to give up on my Alden Reed identity. I'd spent a thousand points on that identity, after all. Thankfully, the System had a cheaper alternative.

Purchased Evil Mastermind Disguise. -100 evil points.

As soon as I made the purchase, I received an elegant nobleman's tunic and trousers as black as night, complete with a half mask that wreathed the upper part of my face in shifting shadows, just enough to make my features hard to pin down.

It would have looked cheesy if not for the incredibly fine materials, which were an obvious notch above what even the wealthiest locals wore. Combined with an army of undead minions at my back, I looked pretty sinister.

This would work well enough for dealing with the survivors at Lamford while I set Master Theragrim and his remaining apprentices up for a final confrontation with the Order of the Golden Sword. The chaos would be enough for Aia, Jandon, and me to slip away without trouble.

Hell, if we were lucky, the Order of the Golden Sword would win only a pyrrhic victory, buying me a few years of peace in some other region while we figured out where we wanted to settle. By then, Jandon would be old enough that we wouldn't have to worry so much, and we could take a longer trip to some other kingdom that was less hostile to magic users.

With my plans in place, I went to visit Lamford. The people were in rough shape, huddled in terror in their shops as my Skeletal Soldiers patrolled the streets.

I hadn't seen the place in person, having only sent skeletons in from afar. It was a bit strange to see the terrified faces of the locals as they cowered from my patrols. Despite my ridiculous outfit, nobody did anything more than peek at me from balcony windows.

I probably should have seen this coming. This place had just been attacked by undead, and now more of them marched up and down the streets. Lamford had become a lawless hellhole.

On one side of the street, I saw the door of the inn where I'd stayed smashed in. Several people were hauling bags of goods out of the place. I recognized the bruised and battered body of the innkeeper lying on the ground.

It seemed the locals had turned to looting. After seeing the empty market, it wasn't hard to piece together what had happened. Between the battle and now my skeletons, the farmers from outside town had stopped bringing their goods to market. Without farmers coming in regularly, the locals had to either flee or starve.

Something needed to be done before Lamford fell to ruin. With no guards and a dwindling food supply, the place had descended into pure anarchy. With no one else in a position to do anything, fixing it fell to me.

I turned to my Skeletal Knights.

"Round up as many of the townsfolk as you can in the ruined market square. I have an announcement to make," I ordered.

The Skeletal Knights lumbered off, along with ten times their number in Skeletal Soldiers. I stood in the market square, ignoring the stares and whispers as the crowd grew. When there were finally a few hundred people, I spoke.

"Attention, citizens of Lamford! Henceforth, there will be no more looting or violence in the streets. The walls will be repaired, and the market cleaned up and reopened. Those who violate my laws will be punished by me or my undead minions. Understood?"

A dull muttering ran through the crowd, but none dared reply to me. Fear could keep people in line, but it would take incentives for them to do more than cower.

I reached into my robes, withdrew a pouch of gold and silver, and jingled it.

"I am looking for subordinates. I need men and women willing to do my bidding. Any takers?"

I was still met with silence, so I sweetened the deal.

"I can promise food and protection for you and your families. And that your homes will be among the first to be rebuilt."

That finally brought someone forward, a gaunt man. I was fairly sure he was the wainwright I'd meant to buy a cart from a while back, though now he looked a decade older, soot smeared across his forehead and his arm in a sling.

"I greet the Lord Sorcerer and am prepared to serve," the wainwright said as he dropped to one knee.

I tossed him a coin, which landed on the ground in front of him. In the glinting light, everyone could see it was gold.

"You're hired. You will direct the skeletons and other workers in clearing the streets of debris."

Another came forward, and I did the same. Soon I had people for everything from fixing houses to repairing the walls to telling the local farmers it was safe to return and to ignore the skeletons in the streets.

By the end of the day, Lamford was approaching normalcy. By the second day, we had a load of food to fill hungry bellies. By the third day, someone gave me a lead on Master Theragrim.

***

As soon as his location leaked, I sent a Skeletal Soldier with a letter explaining the situation and inviting him and his apprentices back to Lamford.

I thought it would have taken more convincing, but a reanimated skeleton could only have been sent by a fellow sorcerer, which was proof enough of who the message was from. The skeleton returned with a short reply letting me know he would be on his way the following morning.

When I saw them at the gates on the fourth day, I could see why they were eager to return to civilization. Master Theragrim and his surviving apprentices had been living nearly as rough as Isolda had been. There were only two other apprentices with Master Theragrim. The youngest were missing.

"You guys made it!" Isolda rushed forward. She looked much better after a few days of eating properly and sleeping in a bed, healthier now than the apprentices who'd stayed with Theragrim.

"Isolda? You're alive?" Master Theragrim's eyes widened.

Meanwhile, the other two apprentices rushed forward and pulled Isolda into a tight embrace. I smiled and let them have their moment while Master Theragrim eyed me. I nodded toward a nearby bar, which had just been rebuilt.

I had only meant to sit down, but someone came and served us drinks without a word about payment.

"That mask isn't something you see around here. From your homeland, I take it?" Master Theragrim said, nodding to the thing on my face. It was comfortable enough that I'd nearly forgotten I was wearing it.

I touched my covered brow. "Something like that. Anyway, as you can see, I'm trying to get this city in order after you and the Knight Commander destroyed it."

Master Theragrim shifted uncomfortably. "About him. Is he truly dead?"

I nodded. "Him and the Archcleric both. I'd show you the bodies, but I killed the Knight Commander with a Fireball to the face. What's left of him should be patrolling the woods outside the city. Nobody wants the stink of rotting flesh drifting through the streets, so I keep to skeletons inside the walls."

"Quite... forward thinking of you." Master Theragrim looked around at the orderly streets, rapidly being restored. "Walking through town, I couldn't help but notice how well in hand it all was. My brief reign over this place was one of terror, but here it hardly seems different from normal."

I chuckled. I was pretty sure the people of Lamford stared at my undead every chance they got. But they were still going about their day, which was a win as far as I was concerned.

"I've done my best to get Lamford running normally. Things are far from perfect, but they work. The roads are clean and the people are fed. It'll take a generation at least before anyone considers undead in the streets normal, but I could see a bright future for this place. Imagine having undead doing all the heavy, messy labor."

"It's an interesting idea. But I can't help but wonder what you called me here for, seeing as you have the entire town well in hand?" Master Theragrim eyed me suspiciously.

I leaned back in my seat and gestured to the streets off to one side.

"You told me this was your dream, didn't you? Well, I'm offering it to you. I will turn over control of Lamford to you. How does that sound? This is what you wanted, right?" I asked.

I expected Master Theragrim to agree, but to my surprise he only seemed more suspicious.

"What's the catch?" he asked.

I frowned. It seemed the offer was too good to be true, at least in his eyes. I would need to think of a price that sounded reasonable before he would agree.

I drummed my fingers against the table.

"I wouldn't mind learning a few of your more useful spells..." I began, but when I saw Master Theragrim tensing, I switched tactics. "...but truthfully, I only need to borrow your students for a bit. I've mentioned before that I have my own plans. Plans that require me to be elsewhere, but would benefit from the attention you'd draw by building a fiefdom here where sorcery is accepted."

Master Theragrim leaned back, considering. "These plans of yours... is there any chance I could be let in on them? Or at least tell me where you're from and who you're working with."

"I'm afraid not." My only real plan was to find somewhere to live peacefully with Aia. But it would be better for Master Theragrim to assume I was well connected and had far-reaching goals.

"Very well then. If you need to borrow my apprentices, then you can consider them yours until you're done with them. They are obedient, and while their work isn't the best, they can follow directions well."

I smiled. "Excellent. Have them meet me after this. For now, I'll have the townsfolk and undead gather in the city square for the official announcement, and I'll be turning over administrative duties to you over the next few days."

***

Putting Master Theragrim in charge went as smoothly as could be expected. There were a few altercations with my human staff once he realized he'd have to pay them out of his own pocket, but the city gates were charging entrance fees again, which was enough to fund the limited bureaucracy I'd established.

Theragrim would need more sources of revenue if he wanted to establish a new town guard, but the undead were currently filling that role well enough. I chose not to worry about it, as it wasn't my problem anymore.

I spoke with Isolda and the surviving apprentices and told them I needed them for a special mission, but that they'd have to learn a few specific spells from me first.

Naturally, this was nonsense. I only wanted them around so I could teach magic and earn points whenever I drew the relevant quest. I would disappear long before the time came to go on this supposed mission.

With a source of easy points secured and Lamford no longer my problem, I returned to the graveyard with several bags of supplies. Two of them I was fairly sure were mine, recovered from the inn where I'd been staying.

"Do you have any idea where you want to go?" I asked Aia.

Aia nodded. "I hear Helmsfall is a nice border city. It's bigger than Lamford, and it's a gateway to a land that doesn't allow the Order of the Golden Sword to operate freely within its borders. Or at least, that's what I've heard. I don't know much about the world beyond that."

"That sounds perfect. Helmsfall it is, then. We'll head there, buy a map, and get some advice on where to go next. The two of you should get ready to leave soon," I said.

"The two of us? You're not coming with us?" Aia asked worriedly.

"I will be. I just need to take care of some things in Lamford first."

Aia narrowed her eyes. "I don't buy it. This is one of your strange magic things. It's tied to the same reason you kept slipping off to see the sorcerers at night."

I chuckled now that I'd been caught red-handed. Aia was too smart to be kept in the dark.

"You're right. I'm trying to get a bit more magical power for the road. The journey should be safer if I have more options."

Aia crossed her arms. "We're leaving together or not at all."

I sighed. "Alright. Then we won't stay long. Just long enough to get some new spells."

<Note>

I thought I posted this earlier. I don't know where it went though. Well, here it is now!

Total points: 12,510

Things aren't quite going where I want right now, unfortunately. Alden isn't falling for the trap I was hoping for, which is why I haven't been able to bring us to the end of this short story yet. But we'll get there soon, one way or another!

I feel kind of like an evil god when I'm plotting against my own characters. But they deserve it for not doing what I want them to do!