When I woke up again it was morning. I extracted myself from Helena's embrace, then removed Nyx, who was sleeping on top of me and got up. I had a quick shower and got dressed. By that point Helena was awake as well.

We left the room to get breakfast and found Skadi and Cassie already at a table.

"Morning. Did you notice the goblins last night?" I asked them.

"Goblins?" Skadi wondered.

Helena yawned. "Your cats did not wake you?"

"No." Cassie replied. "What happened?"

"Kaito and Hatsumi killed some goblins. I think they wanted to raid the inn." I replied.

"Oh, that is why the waitress was so polite. She even asked if we wanted some snacks for the road." Skadi said.

Shortly after we sat down the waitress arrived with a big smile. "Morning, what can I get you?"

I looked at Cassie and Skadi's meal. Cassie was having some pancakes, while Skadi was eating eggs, sausage and bread.

"I think I would like what Skadi is having. And some coffee." I said.

"Me too." Helena added.

"Certainly!" She replied, and left.

The food arrived quickly and soon afterwards Kaito and Hatsumi appeared.

"Good morning." They greeted us. I nodded, since my mouth was currently filled with food.

"So, you had an interesting night?" Cassie asked.

"Indeed." Kaito confirmed. "A goblin hunting party, we were unable to find a link to our presence but them attacking an inn is concerning. An inn with guards. These roads are patrolled regularly, there should not be a goblin hunting party in the area. I assured the proprietor that we will report the incident."

"I can confirm now that becoming a spellblade has increased my combat effectiveness. Since I have never relied on spells there was no real downside. The new blood claws are stronger and can deal with armour more easily. I did not have much time to experiment with my bite but I think it's more potent as well." Hatsumi reported.

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"What did you do with the corpses?" I asked.

"Hatsumi's enthusiasm left a lot of them rather… damaged." Kaito said. "We have collected four heads to decorate your carriage and turned a lot of the remains into cat snacks. We do have two intact corpses, however, we are lacking mounts. We could put them on the roof with Chariot, I suppose."

"And the inn has offered free provisions for our service." Hatsumi added.

"The food is good, we should take some for lunch." Cassie suggested.

I was still thinking about the corpses. "I could raise them as normal zombies. We don't have the time, or resources, for something more fancy. If we just keep the corpses they will stink. We don't have a proper cold box."

"Maybe we can borrow some planks and make a box? Then use magic for ice. We are only a day away from the capital. You could use them for a demonstration at the conference." Helena suggested.

Hatsumi nodded. "It never hurts to have a corpse with you."

I scratched my head. "Sure, go for it."

"Actually, have you considered buying corpses at the capital? They will have a larger adventurers guild." Cassie pointed out.

"During a necromancer convention they will raise prices." Skadi warned. "Assuming they are not sold out. Actually, you could sell the goblin bodies."

"That is an interesting idea." Money was always good and I already had a lot of goblin zombies.

"Pfft. Raise your army! The horde must grow!" Helena said, then she caught a piece of sausage, which was floating towards Yoru. "By growing I did not mean becoming fat." Helena chastised the cat.

"Meow." Yoru complained.

"I don't think they can become fat. I am not even sure sausage does anything for them. They just eat for fun, unless it has mana." I said, then after a quick thought I added: "Well, Nyx might be able to use bones. I am not sure if the other cats can do something with meat…"

"Go, get some snacks from Kaito." Helena told Yoru.

The cat tilted his head, then walked over to the dullahan. The ploy worked as Yoru retrieved something from his pocket. Which meant that all the cats immediately approached him.

After breakfast Hatsumi organised a box and we filled it with ice to freeze the corpses. It was quite hot so we would have to regularly refill it on the way. The owner of the inn thanked us personally for our help again and soon we were on the road once more. Tonight we should reach Neth.

"So, ambush today?" Skadi asked.

"We already had one." I replied.

"That barely counts." Skadi said.

"Maybe they will try poison again, once we are at the capital." Helena mused.

"I have worked on my blood magic to help with that." Skadi said.

"I have some potions too, but they are not the best. If they have something exotic I am afraid they won't work. Ingredients for the really good potions are rare and expensive." Cassie added.

Hatsumi looked at me. "My blood magic will only work on Koyuki but I am confident I can help her in most circumstances."

"But you can bite others without killing them." Helena pointed out.

Hatsumi nodded. "My fangs can inject a poison that does not kill and I can use them to control the blood to paralyse someone, however, healing is a different matter. I have not managed to use a heal without some necrotic mana bleeding into it."

"Hey, how do you raise a necromancer?" Cassie wondered. "They are resistant to necrotic mana."

I nodded. "Yes, but raising happens after they are dead and it's not trying to harm the body. Also, I don't think you are necessarily immune to all death mana spells just because you have the affinity, it's just that the mana inside your body is not hurting you. You are not immune to fire, just fire mana."

"Good point." Cassie replied. "Although I can tolerate heat more easily than others."

"Bloody summer heat…" Helena mumbled.

"Even if you are a blood mage, someone could overpower you and take control of your blood." Skadi added. "It's going to be hard, sure, but don't underestimate the power of someone skilled with a lot of mana to spare."

"True, true." Cassie agreed.

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