Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

CHAPTER 341: Rumours

We did not have a particular place in mind so we simply looked for a decent restaurant on our way towards the alchemy shop. We found a suitable place, parked our carriage and entered. Garm stayed outside since he was rather big.

A lot of people stared at Kaito as we entered, which was not unsurprising. However, they seemed more annoyed than afraid. A waitress rushed towards us with a pained smile.

"Greetings. Are you from the Bartles Trading House?" She asked.

"Um, no." I replied.

"Oh!" She seemed relieved. "Welcome to our restaurant! Table for… four?" She asked, after examining our group. "We have a place for you maid to eat as well in the back, if you wish."

"A table four four is perfect, however I shall stay with my Mistress." Hatsumi said.

"Why did you think we were from the Bartles Trading House?" Skadi asked.

"Your undead. They have been using a lot of them lately and most necromancers who come here work for them." The waitress explained, then she looked closer at us. "I guess your uniform does not quite match. Are you students? We rarely get any students here."

"We are from the academy." I confirmed.

"Hm. I think I have heard of the Bartles. But what do they want with necromancers? Aren't they big in shipping along the Jinso?" Helena wondered.

"They do own a few ships." Skadi confirmed.

"They use them for security and labour. You can see a few undead near their warehouses at the docks." The waitress said, while leading us to a table.

"I guess we know one party who is buying all those corpses." Cassie said after the waitress left.

"Is it me or was the waitress worried at first?" I wondered.

"She did seem uncomfortable. Maybe some of the other necromancers behaved poorly." Helena said.

"They could just kick them out, although I don't see a bouncer, or a guard. If they have trouble I would have expected them to hire security." I said.

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"If they have wealthy backers they can create problems so it is easier to accommodate them. Also, the owner of the restaurant may care more about their money than their workers." Skadi explained.

I sighed. "And necromancers are getting a bad name again because of a few idiots."

"I wonder how cost efficient this is. Tier two can do manual labour but you have to hire a necromancer. Mages are getting paid way more than normal workers." Skadi mused.

"They are added security though." I pointed out. "You can have a bunch of undead carry crates and you need less guard because they can fight as well."

"You don't need that much security on the Jinso. Sure, bandits could try to board a ship but it's harder than an ambush on land. The river is big enough and often with a strong current. It feels like undead would be better on land. They could even carry goods, or draw a wagon. Sailing is more complicated, they would only be useful if they row." Skadi explained.

"We could visit the docks and have a look. I want to see if they have specialised undead." I suggested.

"Specialised in what way?" Helena asked.

"Maybe they have aquatic ones! They could draw a boat, or push it, or something!" I said while feeling excited. Learning about more undead was always nice. I had not explored any aquatic options despite my water affinity. Of course, I had little use for an undead fish right now but it sounded interesting.

"I won't need long in the alchemy shop. We can do some undead watching afterwards." Cassie said.

"Maybe you can sell them your expertise, Koyuki. Whatever they do with their undead you might be able to improve it. My parents aren't using ships so the Bartles are not direct competitors. You could try to make some money here." Skadi suggested.

I frowned. "If they are giving necromancers a bad name I don't want to help them, even for money."

"Fair enough." Skadi replied. "But we don't know how many they have hired. Some of them could still be nice."

She did have a point. If they had a good necromancer I would not mind helping them out, assuming I even could.

After finishing our meal we went to the alchemy shop.

"Cassie! Always nice to see you." Lyra greeted her. "Oh, and you brought your friends. Koyuki, was it? I haven't seen you in a while. How is your alchemy coming along?"

It had been over a year since I had visited this shop and back then I had been taking alchemy classes. Seeing the enthusiastic shopkeeper I felt a bit embarrassed.

"Um, I dropped alchemy, ma'am." I said.

"Really? Why?" She asked.

"I wanted to focus on my necromancy and Cassie is better than I am. If I need something she can brew it for me." I explained.

Lyra nodded. "Cassie is really talented. Judging by the undead following you I guess I can't fault your dedication to your craft."

"Lady Lyra, have you heard of the Bartles Trading House?" Kaito asked.

"Yes, why? What is your connection to them?" Lyra asked.

"We are not affiliated but we have just heard that they are employing many necromancers. I have been wondering if they also bought supplies to help with their craft?" Kaito asked.

"A rude bunch. I threw them out but they did want some salves. I am not sure what for. Maybe they want the bones shinier when their skeletons carry a crate." Lyra replied.

I could certainly understand anyone who wanted the best undead. If I did not raise so many during combat I would have prepared all of the corpses. I even used what I could afterwards to keep them clean and in good shape. A rotting corpse worked on the battlefield but I had higher standards for my undead. Thankfully I was quite good at creating proper tier twos even during a fight.

"I guess they want stronger guards. If they are just normal mages they can't raise too many undead, so they need a few higher quality ones for fighting." Helena reasoned.

"Don't forget that there is a limit on how many undead you can have without a licence. If you are limited anyway, why not make the undead you have better?" Cassie pointed out.

"The limit is 50 so you can have a few. I wonder how easy it is for someone outside the military to get a licence?" I asked.

"No idea." Cassie said.

I was certainly getting more curious about their undead. I could not wait to have a look. Maybe they did have something interesting after all.