When the skeletons stood up, four of the members of Blue Rose tensed, they gripped their weapons so tight their fingers hurt but they could not make themselves slacken their grip even as their agonized nerves screamed at them to relax the force of their hold.

One member was fascinated, because when the skeletons stood up, even though they betrayed no hint of recognition, what happened next was enthralling. The family knelt to the bones of their parents. "Thank you mother, thank you father, for bestowing us with life while you lived, and gifting to us your unlives as you pass. As you cared for us in our youth, we cared for you in your age, and now you care for us in your agelessness."

The priest read off the terms of the Cyclic Writ, "Subjects Patina and Barle have bequeathed their unlife to your line on the condition that their bodies remain together until their grandchildren have children or all those who knew them in life have passed, after which they are to bequeathed to the temple's service for five years under like condition, to pay for the cost of their final internment."

He rolled the paper up and placed a seal over it, and handed it to the eldest member of the family. "Treat them in unlife, as they treated you in life." The priest said.

The family said in unison, "As the god of justice gives his grace to the living, so we give grace to the unliving, for as they are, we will be, and as we are, they once were, thus is the cycle satisfied."

They stood, and began to walk away, calling the skeletons to follow after them.

Lakyus grimly contemplated that if she hadn't encountered the undead being used before, she certainly would have lost her mind and attacked the necromantic ritual without thinking about anything but putting it down. "Boss...what do we do?" Gagaran said at a whisper...do we...do anything at all?" Her eyes were wide as saucers, and Lakyus was at a loss for words.

She finally uttered a hushed, "I...don't know. I honestly don't know..." She whispered in return. Tia and Tina were twitching with kunai in hand, their legs tense to leap, and then Evileye spoke up.

"Wait...don't...do...anything." They glanced down at their shorty in surprise, it had been a whisper, but it carried the force of a war drum. "We can talk about this later." She said, and then Aratos came back over to where they were standing. If he saw the flurry of emotions that they held in check, he gave no indication of it whatsoever, he simply wore his nearly permanent smile and stood in between five adamantite adventurers, a necromantic priest with a wand that raised skeletons, and a family of people taking the skeletons away, and he thought nothing of it.

"So, questions?" He asked.

"Are the terms I heard him read...normal?" Evileye asked.

"More or less." He said, some bequeath their service to the temple, others to a family member or dear friend, some apply a limit of a few years, theirs was several generations worth, but I understand that was a very close family, which probably accounts for the duration for it."

"What were they like? Did you know them?" Evileye asked.

"I wouldn't say I knew them well." Aratos replied, "I know their children best, but the father, Berle loved to cook, and he was very good at it, he did this thing with the face meat of a cow, put it into a stew with a number of herbs...no idea what his recipe was, but I guess he'll be able to prepare it for a few more generations yet, and they'll learn by watching his skeleton. His wife had been a seamstress, and a good one at that, she fixed a few sets of clothing for me over the last few years. But I didn't know them until they came here."

"Is it normal for the family to...behave that way?" Evileye asked again.

"Of course." Aratos said, "The living give life to the living, we care for the aged, and then the unliving help the living again, in this way we have a cycle of care for one another, a much loved family member does not leave their dear ones bereft of care in critical times, a farm needn't fail for want of labor, a house need not fall into disrepair because the remaining family lacks the strength to repair it, and so on. We all look after one another, even after we die."

Behind her mask, Evileye was deeply moved, but she could tell her sisters were still filled with anxiety.

"I've never seen a ritual for necromancy like that." Evileye continued, "I've only seen death, suffering, terror, and torture at work, what makes this different?"

"We use materials provided by the Sorcerer King, I do not know how he does it, but his wands, the ones distributed to us through the temples, are imbued with this ability." Aratos replied casually.

"And is anyone ever forced to do this?" Evileye asked sharply.

"Those sentenced to death for murder, rape, treason, or some other form of systemic abusive of a living body are subject to this. But no others." He said firmly.

"What if the couple hadn't wanted to be revived as skeletons?" Evileye asked.

"Then they wouldn't be. They would be buried with full honors and mourned properly. When the last wish of their bodies has been fulfilled, then their skeletons will be interred in the family plot the same way as if they had never wished to be skeletons at all. We have VERY strict rules about this, to attempt to impose this on a person against their will is a high crime in Black Justice. Though some people near death have sold their bodies after death in exchange for coin either for themselves in the present or for their heirs after death, for specific periods of time. For example a year's service after death is paid for by the temple with five gold coins to the living contractor who wants his money now, or in increments to his heirs if he requests payment after death, and they get a portion of the revenue from their service. This way those who are poor need not leave only a legacy of poverty." Aratos spoke proudly of the way his institution worked, and Evileye could not help but ask more.

"So...how does anyone know that they're being paid what they should?" She asked him.

"The temples cross audit one another, and all the record books are open to all congregation members to review at any time, if anyone is suspicious of fraud, then an agent of the Sorcerer King investigates, there haven't been any guilty so far, but its been said that if anyone were ever found guilty then the person would have their status in the temple permanently revoked and would be subjected to temple justice if the kingdom's justice refused to punish them." Aratos said, his voice darkening a bit as he imagined a corrupt priest skimming from the profits.

Evileye felt the change in tension as the rest of her team focused on her and her questions, and she pushed it further.

"So you said Ainz...sorry...the Sorcerer King...has a death penalty for rape?" She asked.

"Yes." Aratos said. "He seems to have a special loathing for certain crimes. Rape and slavery are two of...well...not to sound like I'm trivializing them, but they're two of the crimes that especially seem to get under his skin. They're both very common things, but he absolutely hates them, and I've heard he had several guards in E-Rantel hanged after he took over the city because he learned that they had raped several peasant women. Supposedly he said that to have them serve him was to taint his Kingdom, so he had them hanged, turned into skeletons, and given to the victims to have as servants for life. That's just one of the stories I've heard though, you know how these things spread, I have no idea if it is true." He said, his voice betraying some of the curiosity about whether or not it might have been.

"A death penalty for rape. What a...novel idea." Evileye said whimsically. It was more than a little disturbing to the rest of Blue Rose, because of the stark contrast between the comfort with necromancy and its blending with the justice system, inheritance, family, and community. Moreover as women, who knew all to well what happened to women without the power they had for themselves, it was easy to find the idea of hanging such people appealing.

"So, you've now seen most of what Foundoton has to offer, and, well, you've gotten a bit of a rushed course in our beliefs as followers of Black Justice. What else can I do for you?" He Aratos asked them with open inviting arms.

"Nothing comes to mind, but you've earned your gold that much is sure." Lakyus said, "Our task here is to look for any indication of threat, and then move outwards from this location, the pattern established is one day's ride in all directions. If no threat is evident, we communicate with other teams and then move on to the next town, in this case we'll be going South from here to the next town, and then repeat. So we won't be here for very long if nothing is wrong." She said with cold politeness.

"As you wish, you can acquire horses at the stable on the other side of town, east from the entrance. Let me know if you need anything more." He replied, and began to walk away.

"Our quarters. Now." Lakyus said, and Blue Rose went back to their rooms at the in, and as soon as the door was closed and locked Lakyus turned to Evileye.

"OK, explain." Lakyus said, surprising the others.

"What?" Evileye said in surprise.

"You were as nonplussed as if they'd served sandwiches when you saw that ritual. That was necromancy plain and simple." Lakyus said.

"It was." Evileye said. "However I got your attention and stopped you because, necromancy or not, it wasn't evil. Nobody was harmed, nobody was threatened. We were guests, they invited us to see what we saw, did you really think it a good idea for a team of Adamantite adventurers to draw weapons and start killing people that we're contracted to protect, just because some aspect of their religion falls outside the norm?!" Evileye snapped sharply at Lakyus, with such force and venom that it made Lakyus draw back in surprise.

It caught the rest of the team offguard, and Gagaran chimed in. "I hate to admit it...but shorty is right. I've seen stranger rituals, and the way they behaved, these weren't exploiters, these weren't slavers or black dust dealers, this was a family accepting their parents last wishes to help take care of them all. How can I object to that? I mean...yeah...I felt the same impulse you did at first, but we all saw the same thing, and we've seen that the undead can be safely controlled. We almost had to fight one because a human thought he needed protection from US. What does that tell you?" She asked firmly.

Lakyus forced herself to relax. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I overreacted." She looked over at Evileye. "Sorry I snapped at you just then." She said apologetically.

"Same." Evileye replied.

"The real question is...do we continue with this contract?" Tia said.

"Or do we not?" Tina added.

"I say we keep at it," Evileye began, "I want to speak with Neia, and I want to find out the truth about what Remedios is doing. Keeping this contract lets us do that, even if it takes a little longer, it also gives us access to other resources from other adventurers and royal contacts that may help speed it up too."

"I can't argue with that." Lakyus said, "I think that is our best chance to get a look at the direction this kingdom is really heading, because as the Holy Kingdom goes...I think the rest of the world we know will go as well."

"Agreed." Gagaran, Tia, & Tina added.

"Then Tia, Tina, go get us some horses, we're going to start today." Lakyus said, and the twins quickly went out to carry out their task.

The next two days were quiet ones, they rode outwards from the town, searched for any indication of populated habitation within that distance of the town, but they found no campsite, no indications of foraging, no garbage or buried latrine pits, no disturbed earth, nothing to indicate a threat to Foundoton. They rode out in pairs for the most part, but Evileye offered to ride out on her own, since she could escape even more easily than the twins, this made sense, and she found that, much as she loved her sisters in Blue Rose, she needed time to process what she'd seen. Granted she had only seen skeletons and death knights...but she'd also seen demihumans, not just of a single species, but of many, come together and work in a single united town without the threat of violence to compel them. She'd seen that the living could cohabitate with the undead on a large scale...and she'd been reminded that her dearest family, her only family, reviled what she was.

Even if they didn't know her secret, it was a painful blow. She thought of her conversation with Aratos and leaving his family's beliefs before losing them, the cost he had to bear...she got down off her horse as she went to inspect a clearing in the woods, the ground crunched underneath her, it was beautiful here, the grass was like a carpet and the trees swayed in the bushes, she bent and inspected a piece of a branch, it was nothing, she snapped it, and realizing she had ample time before she had to head back. She chose to go and lay in the center of the clearing, with no matting of the grass, it was obvious nobody had stayed here for a very long time if ever. She folded her hands over her body and looked up at the sky, clouds floated overhead and only the rustling from the wind and the occasional chirp of a bird disturbed the calm.

She took off her mask, and found it to feel good to remove it. She was now looking up at the sky with blood red eyes that she had never shown to those she loved best, and she tried to imagine a world where she could be accepted for who she was, not for who she presented herself as, but whole, complete, where her loved ones would love her anyway, neither in spite of, or because of, what she was, but just because she was herself...because they'd lived together, traveled together, slept together fought together eaten together and trusted one another's lives through thick and thin.

Evileye had tried to imagine that world before, many times in fact, but until she saw Commonton and Foundoton, it had always seemed an impossible dream, even here, she doubted, but...but...here lay the seed of a world that might yet grow out of this one, if only it were nurtured. She bit her lip at the thought, her fangs penetrating the skin enough to draw blood, but she paid it no mind.

She lost herself in the fantasy of the acceptance by her family for a few hours, then got up and returned to her mount, and rode it back to the town. With no one having anything to report, they took their meal in relative quiet, Lakyus found that she had a special fondness for not leaving her room while she was in Foundoton, but Evileye and Gagaran both took to learning more about the place and its people. It was very strange still to see skeletons used as couriers of goods and diggers and farmers and many other things, but it was beyond question that this was very effective.

That night when they returned, Lakyus announced their departure.

"This place is secure, I'm dispatching a report and advising that we're moving South, with a two day expected arrival time, unless there are any objections?" None followed, and within a short while they had packed their gear and walked out of the inn. To their surprise, Aratos had chosen to meet them, and he walked them to the gate.

"Thank you for coming." He said in an appreciative voice, "I must admit, it was...interesting, but also pleasant, to act as your guide while here, and I hope you've learned something about us during your brief stay."

Lakyus smiled pleasantly, "We did...I can't say that everything I saw was...easy for me to come to grips with. But...you're decent people, and defending decent people is what Blue Rose does. Thank you for your help." She said, and reached down from her horse and shook his hand as they got to the gate, he waved goodbye as they walked out, and the rest of the team waved in turn before facing in front of themselves again, and left Foundoton, wondering what the place would be like in another twenty years.

The process repeated itself through several locations as Blue Rose kept communication up with the capitol. A consistent report was that while they moved further and further South, and things began to change more and more for the worse. As they went, they sought more information, and came into contact with Gilcrest and Robel through intermediaries.

When they began to receive information directly from Black Justice headquarters in the capitol, the information flow became much more clear, they were given knowledge of Black Justice census data showing where their populations were most concentrated, and where attacks had been recorded, and eventually they were given a report that one of the hired mythril rank teams had disappeared, and it was only a few days travel from where Blue Rose was currently located.

When Lakyus read that report, she informed her team and without even a discussion, the practiced hands of the five adventurers turned their horses in that direction and began to ride.