Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

CHAPTER 328: Setting up

The next week passed quickly and the day of the party arrived. In the end we did not go with an undead horse as a gift, we found something else. Which was good, since finding a corpse had turned out to be more difficult than anticipated. While getting bones was doable, getting a fresh corpse was a lot harder. If you wanted to ride a horse, and not just have it draw a wagon, a skeleton was not ideal.

The party was set for the late afternoon, which gave us time to set up. As our carriage arrived I found the first surprise: My goblin zombies. Kaito had stationed them there a few days earlier to help the guards, however he had made some changes.

As our carriage stopped I got out and asked: "Kaito, why are the goblins wearing shirts and ties?"

A head peeked over the side from the top of the carriage. "Would you have preferred bow ties?" Garm's left head asked. "We debated it but ties won." Garm's right head added.

"I thought you bought them armour!" I replied.

"Armour is rather expensive." Kaito said. "The undead can take a few hits and while I would have preferred to put them in chainmail, it was simply too expensive. Especially since the regular sizes are not made for goblins, so we would need to order custom made pieces. However, spears are inexpensive. Goblins lack reach, those weapons will help and they make them look slightly more civilised. Further, all of them have been cleaned."

I looked at them. They were tier two zombies and there was no mistaking that. While Frank could pass for a human, if properly dressed and if people did not look too closely, the goblins were clearly undead. They were not rotting, thankfully, but you could see some of their old wounds and dead flesh. All of them wore black pants, a white short sleeved shirt and a black tie. They did not have boots and considering that winter had begun they would have been freezing had they been alive. Somehow their look did work with the spears they carried.

"How much did those clothes cost?" I asked.

Kaito hesitated briefly. "We were able to afford them with the money our contract pays. They might be undead, but we can not position naked zombies here."

"They were not naked…" I replied.

"They were dressed in filthy rags and torn armour from when you raised them. It gave them a zombie horde look which fits the battlefield but it would have reflected poorly on us here." Kaito defended the decision.

"And look at the great ties!" Garm added.

"They do look good." Helena agreed.

"Let's go inside, it's way too cold!" Cassie complained.

We wore our dresses, which were not made for the outside during winter. All of us had coats as well, but Cassie was not a friend of the cold.

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Skadi pulled her girlfriend into a hug, then she frowned. "You are using fire magic to warm yourself."

"Of course I am! It's still cold, especially with the wind." Cassie complained.

The door to the mansion opened and Cillian emerged. "Ah, you have arrived! Please park your wagon more to the left, we want more space near the door so we can unload the food. It should arrive any minute now."

"Warmth!" Cassie proclaimed and marched into the building, dragging Skadi along with her hand.

We watched them go, then Cillian looked at the wagon again. It started moving towards the left.

"Um, no one is driving…" Cillian stated.

"They are undead horses, they are not controlled like regular horses." Kaito stated.

Cillian frowned and pointed at the driver's seat. "But I have seen you in the driver's position."

"Of course, I still need to see the road." Kaito pointed out.

"Hey, park the wagon right next to the gate. It would be cool if anyone entering would have to go past the undead horses." Helena suggested.

Cillian frowned. "You are not here to intimidate Lady Valeria's guests."

"Oh no!" Garm's left head said, as he jumped from the wagon. "We have no neckwear for the horses!" The right head added.

"You are taking this way too seriously…" I muttered.

"Meow."

I looked at Garm's left head. Nyx had jumped up there and was now forming her own bow tie using ice magic. She followed it with a tiny top hat. Yoru jumped on the right head, proudly showing off his real tie but he also added a top hat with magic.

"Why are they so obsessed with those things? What am I missing?" I asked Helena.

"I think Skadi had a book…" She replied.

I sighed. "Of course."

"It does make your undead look more presentable and differentiates them from the mindless hordes people expect. It also makes it easier for me." Cillian admitted.

I looked over my goblins again. We had not brought all of them, only 25 were here. Five of them were hobgoblins. Kaito had stationed three hobgoblins and ten normal ones at the front, the others were spread out outside of the mansion. Additionally we had Frank, Bob and Chariot with us.

"We should have brought more." Helena said.

"Why? We have enough for the size of this mansion." I replied.

Helena's eyes gleamed. "Just imagine multiple rows of them, standing in the courtyard. All in the same armour, wearing your colours. Imagined their spears, striking the ground simultaneously. Imagine their…"

"We don't have armour for them and I don't have a crest." I interrupted her.

"But would it not be a glorious sight?" Kaito wondered.

Cillian's eyes widened. He seemed a lot less enthusiastic about the idea. Meanwhile I had to admit that it had some appeal. What would an entire army of undead look like?

My thoughts were interrupted as the food arrived. Hatsumi immediately took charge of the supplies and started interviewing the maids. Garm started sniffing the supplies to check for poisons. Cassie had brought a few basic antidotes but we were not sure if they would work against more complex toxins.

Soon after the food, Valeria herself arrived. Instead of being fashionably late she was here early to oversee the preparations in person. I went to greet her as she exited the carriage.

"Hello Valeria! Happy birthday!" I was not sure if it was appropriate to congratulate her before the official party but it could not hurt.

"Thank you!" She replied, while studying the goblins. "Wow, your goblins look great. Cillian argued against them but I told him it would be fine!"

"Oh. He has been very cooperative." I replied.

Valeria smiled. "Good. I hope everything goes alright today. Where are the others?"

"The food came earlier and they are busy checking everything. I saw your carriage and came outside to say hi." While I did not consider Valeria to be one of my real friends I mentally placed her in my ally category now. She was too much into politics for my taste but she was not that unpleasant to be around.

"It's a bit chilly, let's head inside." Valeria suggested.

At the door we were greeted by Cillian, who bowed. "My Lady, there was no need for you to arrive so early. The maids are still setting up but they can prepare something for you. Maybe a hot tea?"

"No, thank you. I would like to meet the staff and have a look around." Valeria replied.

Our preparations continued and soon everything was ready for the guests. Hopefully it would go well.