Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

CHAPTER 317: Shopping

The next day classes resumed and Archibald was still missing. I had no idea how the investigation into his crimes was going but I did enjoy his absence. Archibald's sycophants followed Florence now but she did not pick a fight with us, yet. The way she kept staring at Garm I wondered if she liked dogs and was too proud to ask to pet him.

Valeria had returned from the mid-year break in a good mood. I wanted to forge closer political ties to her family but I was unsure how to do that. I did not really want her in our close group of friends but maybe we could invite her sometimes?

Aside from political considerations things were going great. Garm joined me in classes and he was even an attentive student. He genuinely seemed to be interested in magic and I even gave him some additional lessons in our free time to help him catch up. He spent some of the nights training with Kaito and Hatsumi. While he did need some sleep it was less than a living creature required.

The first week passed quickly and soon it was time for the promised shopping trip, Garm had certainly not forgotten. As I opened the door of our room he was sitting in front of it, his tail wagging.

"We are going shopping today, right?" The left head asked. "I am looking forward to a nice collar, bowtie, or tie! What will look best?" The right head asked.

"We are going after breakfast." I assured him.

"Have you considered a hat as well?" Helena wondered.

Garm nodded. "I have but it would be hard to keep it in place. Also, the cats like to ride on my head, so I often do have a hat anyway!"

To prove his point Nyx jumped on the left head, while Yoru jumped on the right head.

"Poor Chariot, the cats have abandoned his box for your fluffiness." I said.

"They still ride him at times, but I am the superior mount, of course." Garm replied, sounding proud.

Breakfast did not take too long and then we were off to the city. It was our whole group including all the tier three undead, however we did not bring any tier twos this time. Our group was big enough without bringing Frank, Bob or Chariot and we did not need them to carry things either.

"Where do we find a nice collar? Are we just going to a tailor?" I wondered. I had the slight concern that Helena would try to buy me dresses, or other things. I did not particularly enjoy clothes shopping and was comfortable in my uniform.

"There is a store for tamers, I think they should have a nice selection." Kaito suggested.

"I don't think I have met a tamer, do we have some at the academy?" I wondered.

"Tamers are rare in the military, I think most become adventurers." Helena said.

"Why?" I asked.

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"It's not the most useful magic for war. They tend to bond with one animal or monster and it takes a bunch of their mana. Imagine a necromancer with one undead but it takes months to replace that one undead if it falls." Skadi replied.

"That does sound inefficient." I said.

"There are scouts who use tamed birds I think." Cassie added. "The advantage of an animal scout is that they look like wildlife."

"Taming is more popular among adventurers. They don't have soldiers holding the line, so if they can tame a bear or something it helps them a lot." Skadi said.

"What affinity do you need for taming?" I wondered.

"Taming is quite fascinating since it requires neutral mana, however you need to match the affinity of the tamed monster as well." Kaito explained. "Additionally it seems that not everyone is compatible with the spell, for some it is just too inefficient to make use of. Besides the spell you further need to invest time to train the monster and befriend it, to a degree. There is a small school focusing on taming somewhere in the Barkworth duchy I believe, but the discipline is considered too ineffective by most mages."

"Undead bonds are clearly superior." Garm stated.

I had to agree, necromancy was awesome.

Eventually we arrived at the shop. It was run by an elven man who greeted us warmly. "Welcome to my humble shop! Here at the Tamer's Emporium we can satisfy all of your companion's needs!" His eyes landed on Nyx, who was sitting on Garm's left head. "While we do not focus on necromancy we might be able to supply undead as well!"

"Oh, do you want a collar, Yoru? Maybe a nice hat? Do you have clothes for cats?" Helena asked enthusiastically.

"We do have a section for regular pets, cats are rarely tamed. But what about this magnificent orthos? Can I interest you in some armour? We have a smith who can customise a proper set of chainmail, or even plate." He offered.

"I believe my own magic will handle defense just fine." Garm replied. "However, I am interested in some accessories. What do you think would look good on me? A collar? A tie?" The right head inquired.

The elfs' eyes widened slightly. "You can speak?"

"I am an advanced undead." Garm told him, proudly.

"All the cats are undead as well, not just the skeletal one." I added.

"The cats speak as well?" He asked.

"Meow!" Nyx confirmed.

"Sort of…" I mumbled.

"I see. So you are looking for a collar? Not a training collar, I presume?" He eyed the orthos as he spoke.

"What is a training collar?" I asked.

"It, eh, provides encouragement to follow orders." He said.

Encouragement? Is that what they called it? I would never put a slave collar on my undead.

"We simply seek something fashionable that shows Garm is not a wild monster." Kaito clarified. "We don't want any incidents."

"Ah, I understand." The man replied. "In that case he needs something that is easily visible and makes him look less intimidating. His fur is black so we want lighter collars. Perhaps a bowtie? Something cute will make him look harmless."

"What do you think?" Garm's right head asked, while looking at Nyx, who was sitting on the left head. Nyx pondered the question, then she created a bowtie made from ice around her own bony neck.

"Ohhh, maybe I could do that as well with magic?" Garm wondered.

"You could." Hatsumi confirmed. "However it would be easier to have a physical object. Maybe a blue one, to match the stripe on your left head?"

"The blue is a bit dark though." Kaito mused.

"But he could wear two bowties. How about a dark blue one on the left side and a brighter one for the right side?" Cassie suggested.

"A splendid idea!" Garm agreed.

"Can you do crests?" Helena asked. "I would like a small tie with the crest of House Frost."

"We certainly can." The man answered.

"You are buying Yoru a tie?" I asked.

Helena grinned. "He just looks good with it. And he agrees!"

"Meow."

"Do you wish to have your crest on the bowties?" The elf asked me.

I shook my head. "No, I do not have a crest."

Meanwhile Garm tried several bowties while Nyx gave approving meows. I was getting more and more suspicious about their communications, however I had to accept that an approving or disapproving meow was not that hard to interpret.

In the end, Garm decided on a dark blue bowtie for his left head and a turquoise one for his right head. Hatsumi assured him we could get more if we got bored of the color, or wanted more. The great thing about buying from a tamer shop was that the materials were designed to survive a fight or two, the bad thing was it came with a higher price.

Helena ordered a tie, which would take some time since she wanted her crest stitched into it. In the end, it was a rather successful shopping trip and I did not have to try on any clothes myself.