The jail was a small building, and one of the few with lights inside, even at this time of day. From the look of the small building, it only housed a few people at a time until they could be executed, released, or shipped to a larger city for judgment.
Just as Rita spoke, a pair of very frazzled guards with maces rushed outside.
Three wights immediately lunged at them with their rusty weapons. In seconds, the path inside was open.
"You can go inside and release your siblings, Rita," Aleric said to the woman. "My zombies will assist you."
He gestured at four zombies who were already walking into the jail. After all, it was just another house to pull all the people from and add them to the mass of Aleric's prisoners.
"Oh, sure! Thank you, Master Fenn!"
Gratefully smiling, Rita went after the zombies; soon, more sounds of fighting were heard from the inside, along with a cry of agony inflicted by a Pain spell.
Meanwhile, Aleric continued to direct his forces to gather up more townsfolk. He didn't have time to move far from the jail until Rita emerged from its door.
Besides Aleric's zombies, she led an undead puppet of a jail guard and three haggard people: two men and one woman, all of whom looked younger than Rita and shared Rita's black hair and green eyes. In her hand, Rita was carrying an oil lantern.
"Master Fenn! Thank you so much for helping my siblings and me!" Rita shouted, coming closer.
Her siblings began to speak their own gratitudes, but Aleric interrupted them.
"You will introduce yourself later. For now, just don't be underfoot."
"Of course, Master Morr. We will be quiet like mice…" Rita assured, moving away from Aleric's horse.
Aleric silently ordered one of his undead laborer servants to keep an eye on them all.
The capture of Tronvill's townsfolk continued after this. Just like Rita, her siblings didn't interfere. Instead, Aleric noticed them going into empty houses of richer townsfolk to take their jewelry.
By the time Aleric reached the main square, Rita wore half a kilogram of metal more on her person, while her brother was carrying new bags full of something heavy.
Finally, Aleric's army encircled all the surviving townsfolk on the main square. Several hundred people shook in terror and cried for mercy.
The sight filled Aleric with satisfaction. The sunrise wasn't even close.
He made a mental order, and Samuel quickly moved away from his squad to approach Aleric.
"You called, Master Fenn?"
"Yes. Bring the gathered people over there."
Aleric's finger pointed at the temple of Light, standing only a street away from the market square. Like in any settlement worth noting, the church stood out. Even at night, its bell tower was a tall silhouette that covered the sky and the stars.
The place was supposed to protect the people of the town. But there was no magic in it, and the priest was already dead. Aleric smiled at the thought.
"I had an opportunity to take a look—the place should fit all our prisoners. If it doesn't, kill the extras. And…"
Aleric looked at the crowd. By Spine Staff's estimate, there were several hundred people in here—at least five hundred. More than his zombies.
Some people were already trampled in the crowd, and Aleric didn't want this happen to his undead. So far, the townsfolk were only kept quiet by fear. But fear didn't last forever without encouragement.
"You can also kill some if it keeps the rest in line. I want them all to be quiet and docile for as long as it takes."
"Understood, master."
"Oh, and… After you corral the prisoners, I need you to start preparing sacrifices. Pick a dozen people who look the most useless or most likely to keel over and bring them to the market square. After that, start sorting the rest by trade. Mark whoever is the most useful first. A smith, probably, and tailors. If there are some huntsmen, that would be amazing, too. And… knowledgeable people, too. Scholars or bookkeepers."
"A woodworker would be useful, too. If our carts break, there's no one to repair them," Samuel said thoughtfully. "I will arrange everything as you like, master."
In a few minutes, the zombies herded Aleric's prisoners toward the temple.
Meanwhile, Aleric ordered an undead servant to bring Rita and her siblings to him.
"These are Karl, Fiona, and Dreske, the youngest," Rita introduced them all.
Unlike Rita, they all looked like common peasants or peddlers (who spent several days in a dingy jail). Karl was the tallest and the burliest; Fiona was shaking like a leaf, and unlike Rita, wore a modest dress and a headscarf; Dreske had a long face with a patchy beard and looked done with the world.
None had any more Dark energy in them than their eldest sister.
"I assume all of you know the same spells as Rita," Aleric said after he finished examining the Leshmann siblings.
After getting several timid nods, Aleric gestured at the streets around, where fresh bodies were lying here and there.
"Start reanimating, then! Even if you can only do puppets, I want you to make as many as you can. And when you finish, use them to bring bodies of the local militia here."
"Master Fenn, you will be raising them all? Can… Can we watch?" Rita asked.
The eyes of her and her siblings were all bright with excitement. The magic that Aleric wielded was miles away from the simple things they knew. All of them dreamed of having the same power… And perhaps learning some by watching Aleric.
It was a desire so simple and close to his own heart that Aleric recognized it immediately.
"If you show that you have any talent, I will teach you more advanced spells. There are a lot of bodies, and extra hands will be helpful."
"Master Fenn, thank you! We won't disappoint you!" Rita's brother exclaimed.
"Thank you again for saving us. With you, we Dark mages will be able to stand proudly again!" added Rita's sister.
Aleric just waved them off.
"Then start working! Mana reserve grows from practice, don't you know? I bet you can't even raise a single undead slave at this point!" Especially since they didn't have Spine Staff to make spells cost only half the mana.
His newly-acquired Dark mage apprentices scurried away, and Aleric set to his own work.
He had a lot of sacrifices waiting for their turn, but the sheer number of dead was still monumental.
It made Aleric only more eager to grow both his army and his mana reserve!