Chapter 7

(Ten minutes later.)

Vito was sitting on the floor in a prison cell at a lower level of the local lord's fortress. It was cold and unlit. He was told to await the arrival of the count. Vito demanded an explanation from guards, but they told him nothing. Next to him was sleeping a very skinny and ill-looking old man. Vito decided not to touch him and keep a distance, just to be safe.

'Fuck, I should have known that dealing with nobility is a bad idea. At least I got rid off wooden shards in my lungs before all this shit happened, their presence was really painful.' He thought.

After a while, the man woke up.

"Oh, hello boy. What's your name?" The man asked.

"Vito."

"Nice to meet you, I am Rudolf. Why did they get you here?" Rudolf croaked.

"I have no idea." Vito was replying as politely as he could, considering his panic and anger.

"I haven't done anything bad... well, actually I did, but-" Vito continued talking.

"Everyone says so." Rudolf said with a laugh.

"Why are you here then?" Vito asked in annoyance.

"I have done a lot of bad things. I can't remember all of them. Theft and murder are among my crimes for sure. What about you?" Old man replied kindly, but it sounded menacing nonetheless.

"I really don't know why I am here exactly." Vito decided not to tell anyone about being a necromancer. Killing an old man isn't hard, but currently he had no mana, no weapon and no servants with him.

"Let it be your way." Rudolf said with a smile.

Half an hour later, Vito heard someone's footsteps and a light of torch. Soon, he saw that they belonged to a couple of richly dressed men accompanied by guards.

"Looks like you have visitors." Vito's prison cell neighbor said with a chuckle.

"Very funny." Vito's voice oozed sarcasm.

"Be quiet! The count himself honored you with his presence!" One of the guards yelled.

This time guards were equipped with a proper weapon and armor, they seemed to be personal escorts. The count himself was a man in his fifties with slightly gray hair and an angry expression on his face. The advisor was a middle-aged man with raven black hair and an emotionless face.

"I am waiting for your explanations!" He shouted at Vito.

"You are waiting for explanations?! With all due respect, I am the only one who should get an explanation." Vito said.

"Teach him to respect authority." Someone who seemed to be the count's advisor told his men.

One of the guards opened the cell's door, ran up to Vito who was sitting in the corner and punched him in the face. Vito's eyes veiled with tears of helpless rage and pain. He tried to kill the guard with a spell reflexively, but it failed due to the lack of mana.

"Will you speak like you are supposed to when talking to a superior in position?" The guard said with a sneer.

Vito kept his mouth shut as he was trying to hold back his tears. Guard's behavior and the situation itself instantly made him remember his father and feel weak and helpless again. Alas, the guard was short-tempered and a bit dumb, so he regarded Vito's behavior as a sign of pride and disobedience. He punched Vito again. Count's expression flinched for a second, but he didn't stop his guard.

"I... will..." Vito said between sobbing.

"That's better." The guard said and stepped away.

"What have you done to my son and why did you come to me?" The count asked.

"I haven't done... anything... I found... his dead body... and came to... return it to you... in exchange... for a reward." Vito replied as he was still sobbing and showed the count insignia that he found.

"Oh god, let-" The count tried to speak, but he was interrupted by his advisor.

"Don't let his lies deceive you." Advisor whispered.

"Where and under what circumstances did you find the body of count's son?" Advisor asked Vito.

"I found it close to the road... he was killed by looters who set up an ambush." The boy calmed down a bit and was almost able to speak normally.

"How did you get the insignia then? Are you allied with those looters?" Advisor started a mental attack on Vito.

"No, I-"

"Do you have mercenaries who helped you? If yes, where did you get money considering the fact that when you arrived here you weren't even able to afford taking a bath?" The man didn't stop his onslaught even for a second.

"No..." Vito couldn't endure this psychological torture and started sobbing again.

"How did you defeat them alone then?"

"I..."

"Do you understand, your nobility? This boy is surely the looters' ally. There is no way he could win a battle against them. I guess that he was sent here by them." Advisor stated.

"Sadly, it looks like you are right." The count said.

"I suggest you to execute him for helping murderers of your son." Advisor advised.

"At least ask him the whereabouts of my son. I will forgive him, if he does. After all, he is no one but a little boy, looters must have forced him into it. But you are allowed to execute him, if he doesn't."

"As you wish."

Advisor turned to Vito once again and said: "You heard the question of his nobility. Answer where is the body located, now."

'Fuck, I can't tell him. Otherwise he will find my undead, including his son. What should I do...' Vito thought.

"Looks like he is not going to answer. Tell the executioner to get everything prepared." Advisor said to himself and gave an order to one of the guards.

The count, his advisor and their escort left the lower floors of the fortress where the prison was located.

'This is bad. Time to make up a plan-b.' Vito thought.

"I feel sorry, boy. Killing count's son wasn't a good idea, even if you are not the one who did it." Rudolf said with a sad face.

"My undead army is my last hope..." Vito muttered to himself.

'It looks like the boy has already started to rave.' Rudolf thought.

'My faithful servants. Arise from your graves and come to my rescue. Please, save me...' Vito gave a non-vocalized order in the hope that his zombies would hear him.

"Don't worry.Look at the bright sight, you won't have to rot in prison like me and it won't be painful, after all." Rudolf tried to reassure him, but to no avail. He was making it only worse.

While Vito was talking to himself and his neighbor was trying to calm him down, the hangman was done preparing gallows and learning the text that he was supposed to know by heart and say every time an execution occurred. However, it was such a rare occasion in these land, that he forgot it a long time ago.

Once again, Vito heard the steps of two guards.

"Follow us, dead man." One of them said after coming closer to the cell and opening it.

Neither Vito or guards uttered a word on their way to his final destination. Vito didn't cry this time, but tears were dropping from his eyes nonetheless.

'And again I am about to die. Will this time be the last?' He thought.

It was an awful day for him. He was sure that nature itself was mocking him with its sunny, warm and windless weather despite it being the month of air.

Vito was about 160 cm in height, whereas the guards were about 180 and 190 cm high. So they were walking slowly enough to let the much shorter boy keep up with them without effort. And he was getting more and more pale with every step he took towards the place of his execution.

When they finally reached the central square, Vito could see a big crowd of people. It was obvious that the whole town had gathered to watch this rare show. A wooden structure, which was a gallows, towered over people's heads. It was made high so that everyone could see what was happening on it.

After the trio got closer to the crowd, people let them pass, forming a corridor. Vito was slowing down more and more as he got closer. He wasn't even sure if he was trying to waste their time in the hope of undead's arrival or was simply unable to go faster.

After a minute of extremely slow striding, Vito was finally standing in the middle of the gallows. The only men he was accompanied by were two guards and an executioner. Before hanging Vito, the butcher started his emotionless and somewhat cruel speech. However, Vito was so focused on his inner world that he didn't hear what the executioner said.

"Let's go." The guard said a minute or so later and pushed Vito to the stool above which a loop was hanging.