Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

CHAPTER 316: Pack

As we walked around the academy, students stared at my newest undead. However, once they saw me, or our group in general, they were a lot calmer than I would have expected. I guess we had a certain reputation by now, and even an undead two-headed wolf was taken in stride. Some actually wanted to pet Garm and he did not seem to mind.

We decided on an early dinner in the mess hall and managed to secure a table next to the wall. That way Garm was not blocking anything while staying with us. His size was not ideal but we would make it work, I certainly did not want any of my undead to feel unwelcome.

As we got our meals the woman behind the counter spotted Garm.

"Is that your pet?" She asked.

"Yes, this is Garm, an undead orthos." I confirmed. "I hope it's not a problem, my other undead have been visiting the mess hall but they are not as large."

"If he does not block the corridors he is fine. And he has to stay away from the kitchen." She paused, looking at Garm again. "Is he as fluffy as he looks?"

I grinned. "Yes. Shall I call him over?"

We were early enough that the mess hall was mostly empty. It was Solday as well, so quite a few students were in the city, or had not returned from the mid-year break yet. Although classes did start tomorrow, which meant that everyone was expected to return before midnight tonight.

She looked around to check that there was not a line of hungry students, then she nodded. I mentally called for Garm and he trotted over.

"You called, mis…" The left head started. "Koyuki." The right head finished.

"Oh, you can talk?" The woman asked.

"Of course." Garm answered, looking proud.

"Um, I shouldn't but… Would you like a snack? Do you eat snacks?" She asked.

"I believe so, however I have not been able to test that since my raising." The left head said. "An experiment would not be unwelcome." The right head added, while staring at a sausage.

The woman smiled and picked one up, then threw it towards him. The right head caught it and started chewing. "Thank you." The left head said.

The woman beamed. "You are welcome!"

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As we returned to our table I asked Garm: "How was the snack?"

"Hm. The taste was not unpleasant but it did not feel like it was providing me with nourishment." He replied.

I nodded. "As an undead you need mana. You might be able to use normal food as a material to create more undead flesh but mana is what really sustains you. We should try devouring later, that is how you can consume things with mana. Maybe I can raise a small undead for you."

His tail wagged. "I would like that."

My friends and I sat down and started our own meal while Garm curled up on the floor. I had chosen a cheese filled sausage with a potato salad as a side, it smelled delicious. As we started to eat Helena pulled out a few small bones and gave them to the cats as treats. Garm got one as well but they were smaller than his teeth, we would need bigger treats for him.

We were enjoying our meal when a familiar voice interrupted us. "What…"

I sighed. "Hello Leo."

"How? How did you get an orthos?" He asked, his eyes narrowing.

"We slew it on the way back home." Helena said.

"YOU! It was you! That was mine!" He said, raising his voice.

"Really? You ordered that? Small world." Cassie commented.

"We got the corpse legally, we have filed a report with the guards." I said.

"Instead of raising your voice you should contemplate hiring more skilled individuals next time." Kaito suggested, while positing himself between Leo and our table. "They lost control of the creature and who knows what would have happened without us. Your name could have been attached to a tragedy, lost villages, merchants,..."

"Imagine the disgrace if they had called in the army to handle the beast." Hatsumi added.

Leo actually stopped and started to think, then he composed himself. "You are right. Thank you for protecting the kingdom, however I would have preferred if you had not used the corpse. I could have compensated you greatly. As for any surviving adventurers, I will ensure they will get punished properly for their failure."

"Why did you want a living creature anyway?" I asked.

"If you hire an adventurer to bring you a corpse it will often be in a rather sorry state, especially if the monster is powerful. Then the corpse will start to rot while they transport it. Sure, you can pay for an ice box but most adventurers have no clue how to treat a corpse properly. Ideally you slay the monster with your own magic, as you surely know. If I could have used my own necrotic mana and had a fresh corpse it would have been magnificent! I have been looking for a proper undead to lead my pack." He explained.

"You don't have a tier three licence." Helena pointed out.

"Obviously I would have followed the law. My family is quite capable of storing a beast until I can use it." He sounded annoyed and I had a feeling he would not have waited, but maybe I was wrong.

"You have a pack?" Garm asked. The orthos had been listening to our conversation and was now studying Leo.

"I see that Koyuki has managed to give you speech. Yes, I do have a pack of strong undead wolves." Leo confirmed.

"Just wolves? You should add cats. Every true pack needs a cat as well." Garm stated.

"Meow." All cats agreed.

"What?" Leo looked confused, then he looked at me. "Is this a prank?"

"Garm is a good boy, he would never prank anyone." I replied with a straight face.

Cassie giggled.

"I am indeed a good boy." Garm confirmed.

Leo walked away.

"If he has a pack, why is it not with him?" Garm inquired.

"He only has tier two undead, so they are not intelligent. He keeps them stored somewhere and uses them for hunts. Sometimes he has a human skeleton with him as a guard." I replied.

"That is not a real pack." Garm stated.

I shrugged. "Leo does not respect undead properly, if you ask me."

"Hey, why did he order an orthos shipped to the capital?" Skadi asked. "Why not here?"

"The academy would stop him without a licence." I replied. "Or maybe he actually wanted to keep it until he was allowed to use it."

"I am glad that I became part of our pack instead." Garm said.

I smiled. "Me too."