Chapter 11 - Rat Commander

Dawn continued to watch the rat commander. The rat under their hand squirmed as the commander's mana flowed into it, but it couldn’t escape the skeletons.

3 human skeletons, 7 rat skeletons, and 2 other skeletons. Wolves maybe?

Dawn turned their attention back to the commander. They watched as over the course of several minutes, the rat began to resist less and less.

“Ah, so long to do so~ pack leaders are just so annoying,” the commander complained. As they saw the skeletons not react, a burst of mana came from them, and the skeletons began to nod sympathetically.

Lonely? But why are they attacking the town? Perhaps they were banished a long time ago and want revenge. I need to continue watching for now.

The commander had the skeletons release the rats. “Go fetch your pack. Bring them back one at a time as I request. Now, get one.”

The rat scurried off. The commander, now having to just wait, had one of the skeletons that looked like a wolf act as their chair. They didn’t just sit though, instead having the skeletons put on a show. The 3 humans all stood together, facing down the “army” of rats. An abnormal screech came from both sides before they charged into each other.

Was that supposed to be a war cry? And do those skeletons have their own mind?

The battle was still being waged as Dawn thought. The fighting was quite impressive, with the skill of the combatants allowing for an intense-looking fight while no one was hurt.

The battle continued on for many minutes, both sides slowing slightly as time passed. And, once they slowed down a considerable amount, the exhausted commander released their mana, and the skeletons stopped.

“Whew! That was fun! You’re all great!”

The skeletons, with no mana released this time, all bowed.

So they have at least some intelligence, but can be controlled?

Soon after the battle stopped, the rat returned, a companion in tow. And like before, the second rat was restrained by the human skeletons, and the commander began to invade their mind with mana. When the rats were sent out to fetch the third, and the commander began to sit, Dawn struck.

She released an arrow, tearing through the commander's cloak, before leaping forward and slashing at them. The commander, clearly inexperienced in frontal battle, fell awkwardly off their wolf. But despite their lack of understanding, the skeletons acted. When the wolf was freed from being a seat, it leaped at Dawn, aiming to tear her apart. Dawn knocked it back with the shaft before crushing it’s head with her halberd. With the skull broken, the wolf collapsed, like a marionette with its strings cut.

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Aim for the heads.

Dawn unmanifested her halberd and swapped to a bow, sending multiple arrows through the human skeletons, destroying them immediately.

“YOU!” the commander screamed. “YOU KILLED MY FRIENDS!” They rose and ran at Dawn, barely upright. Dawn grabbed them by the head and lifted them into the air.

“Why did you attack my town then?”

They didn’t respond, instead grabbing onto Dawn's hands and trying to pry her hand off their face.

Dawn kept holding the commander while using her free hand to control a [flame] and destroy the rat skeletons and the remaining wolf.

“I’ve killed the rest of your ‘friends’. Now. Answer my questions.”

The commander simply stopped resisting. Dawn, noticing this, dropped them. The two stared at each other, Dawn's empty gaze meeting the commander's sorrow-filled eyes.

“Why did you attack Foxshire?”

“So I could have friends…” the commander mumbled.

“Just as these skeletons are your friends, you sought to make the town into your friends?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have issues with talking to people? Why not just join a town?”

“Who would accept me? I’m an exile, a living piece of trash!” the commander cried, their voice now at an audible level.

“I will. If you come with me, I’ll introduce you to new friends.”

They still sat there, sulking, head facing the ground.

Ah, I killed all their friends.

Dawn lifted her hand and [Heal] flared into existence. The bone fragments began to fly together, merging back into the skeletons. But they remained a pile of bones upon the ground.

“I’m repairing your friends. Perhaps you can revive them.”

The commander moved their gaze to the side, seeing the now-intact skeletons of their ‘friends’. They somberly walked over to the skeletons, before sitting and cradling the skull of one of the humans in their lap. They laid their hand upon the skull, and Dawn noticed their mana flow into the skull, forming a rune.

The skull began to shudder, before calming down and jumping upon its body, before rising to full height and bowing.

“I presume you can recover the rest of your friends soon. When you finish, I’ll take you and introduce you.”

But before the commander could even continue, the rats returned.

“Ah, yes. Can you release the rats before we leave?”

“Sure…” the commander softly mumbled, before a wave of mana flowed over the rats, who all ran away as a result.

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When Dawn returned to town with someone in tow, the guards seemly took it as a matter of course. When she asked them to fetch everyone in Foxshire, it was still business as usual.

“Introduce yourself.”

“Ah… I’m Lynn.”

“So Lynn is joining our town, alongside their… friends. appears to be most accurate,” Dawn turned and inspected the skeletons in the forest before turning back, “Alongside their friends. Come out, everyone.”

The skeleton army came out of the woodwork to stand beside Lynn.

“Samuel. Prepare a home for Lynn and their friends. Rosalia, teach Lynn magic, and learn what runes she knows. And tell me what rune they use to animate their friends.”

Dawn, her duties done, left for her home. She ignored the shocked faces of the townsfolk at having a necromancer join their town.

Reaching her home, inside, she found Silk waiting.

“Hello, Mother! I’ve finally finished the cloak modifications!”

“Wonderful. I’ll introduce you to the town now.”

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With no more duties, Dawn simply sat in her room, wondering what to do.

I should take more time for this, to plan. What’s the plan for now? Metalworking… miners are being gathered, so I should prepare a forge. But how? Wood would burn... So stone will do. But that requires miners, so all preparation there is done for now.

What else? Literacy. Paper? No, stone tablets could be used, so not a necessity for now. Food? Soon, the farmers will be self-sufficient, so that’s fine. Population growth? Time will solve that. I wonder if I'm aging? What else needs to be done? Hygiene. Money? Services aren’t in circulation yet, so that’s a later issue. What do governments do? Fraud? Public security? Those aren’t an issue yet. What needs to be done right now?

Set up literacy, get hygiene. Mapping the area as well, but that needs literacy first. Then what else? Food? Check. Shelter? Check. Water? Check. Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness? Check. So, no pressing issues. What should I do with my time then?

Dawn sat there for many minutes, thinking.

I guess I’ll study magic in the meantime. Strength is always useful.

Tomorrow I’ll start up literacy and hygiene. For today, I’ll study.