Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

CHAPTER 361: Theories

As we had breakfast the next morning Rose mentioned the bad smelling merchant. "I took a closer sniff last night during my watch. It is a rather unpleasant smell. That man even sleeps inside his wagon!"

"How anyone can sleep surrounded by that is a mystery." Garm added.

"Maybe that is why he looks so pale!" Rose suggested.

"Maybe he is a secret vampire." Skadi suggested.

Rose frowned. "You think it would be possible?"

I shook my head. "Not really. I am not sure which merchant you are talking about but none of them are quite that pale. And I have seen them all eat normal food. If they had some blood potions, or drank any blood, you would have smelled it."

"I think I could swallow a stew to blend in but it would not be the best experience. Perhaps if you added some blood to the sauce…" Hatsumi mused.

"The perfume! He is hiding his blood storage!" Rose said, her eyes growing wide.

"You have read one of Skadi's books, haven't you?" I asked.

"Yes…" Rose mumbled.

"There is nothing wrong with some paranoia but I have not observed anything that would make me think we are dealing with a vampire. I have kept a close eye on everyone." Hatsumi said. "Also, the merchant in question is called Theodore."

"Who?" I asked.

"He is a bit skinny, might be in his 50s. His hair is starting to grey." Hatsumi replied.

"Ah." I replied, then I looked around and found the man in question. I carefully used my magic and tried a spell… "He isn't an undead, my magic cannot connect to him."

"You tried to claim him?" Helena asked.

"Not really, I just tried to see if my magic could target him." Then I frowned. "I am not sure if he would have felt that. Then again, I was rather sure he was not an undead."

"The mystery continues." Rose murmured.

"A stinky human is hardly a mystery." Garm added.

They could have just asked the man about his wares but I guess they enjoyed their theories. Garm even spent some time today walking next to Rose's wagon instead of sitting on top of the carriage. In the end the day was rather uneventful. We did more sparring and training but we were missing a convenient river. So in the end we just summoned a bucket of water and wiped ourselves down instead of having a bath.

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"I think he might be sick." Rose suggested as we had breakfast again.

"Really?" I asked.

Rose nodded. "I have noticed some sweat, even though it is cold!"

"People sweat even in the cold but I suppose he could be sick. Sadly my healing is mostly for wounds, not diseases." Skadi stated.

"Isn't blood magic decent at healing in general?" I asked.

Skadi nodded. "Sure, but you have to learn specialised spells to heal a disease. There are even different kinds, some are apparently easier to learn. I guess it depends how much they interact with blood?" Skadi shrugged, then she looked at Cassie. "I have learned a few spells to help with poisons but mostly I have used that to help Cassie with her antidote potions."

"I brought a few antidotes, unless it's a very powerful, or exotic poison we should be good." Cassie said.

"I doubt that someone has poisoned that man. If he is sick and asks for help we can try." I suggested. "Our…" I looked around, nobody was close. "...our way of handling our mana should help to keep us healthy, even if he is sick."

The circulation method was clearly improving our bodies and sped up our healing. It was reasonable to assume that it helped us against illnesses too. Especially since none of us had gotten sick last year. Further, spellblade runes were known to enhance your health and we strengthened ourselves in a similar, if much weaker, way.

I kept an eye on Theodore but he did not cough, or sneeze. While he seemed a bit weak it was in line with how his body looked.

The weird theories were one way for my undead to distract themselves and especially Rose seemed to enjoy them. As time went on everyone joined in.

"His scent has changed. It's not just the awful perfume, there is some sort of acidic smell too. I am debating if it is an improvement." Garm reported.

"Maybe he is an alchemist and mixes his own perfumes." Cassie suggested.

Garm looked at her. "I have been near plenty of your mixtures and believe me neither you, nor your work, smells as disgusting as this."

"That is because Cassie mostly smells like a barbeque." Skadi stated.

"You have to worry about fumes and take proper precautions. That is why you want a good alchemy station and not a random pot in some wagon. Well, it depends on what you are brewing really. However, if he is an alchemist he should have some magic. Maybe he did not have enough to become a mage but has just enough for a potion or two? That would mean he can't afford proper equipment." Cassie theorised.

"Really, the problem is not missing magic, it is a missing sense of smell. You cannot make money with this." Garm stated, confidently.

"Meow." Nyx seemed to agree, despite not having a nose.

"See, a skeleton has a better sense of smell than this man." Garm said.

Despite all of our theories nothing really happened with Theodore. He did not collapse, or seemed to need any kind of help. However, he did seem a bit nervous. Maybe we were too obvious when we watched him?

Eventually the last day of our journey arrived and our carriage rolled towards the gates of Granstone. The city had a moderately big stone wall and a small river nearby. It was not as big as the Jinso and they did not have a dock. The river seemed to supply them with water but it was not used for travel. The city was surrounded by grassy hills. Small fields were on the flatter sections while I could see animals grazing on the hills itself. When you looked north you could see the Everfrost Peaks in the distance, but we were still another day of travel away from the giant mountain range.

"Halt!" A guard called, and our carriage stopped.

"Greetings." Kaito said. "I am a bound tier three in service of the necromancer Koyuki. She is in the carriage and carries a licence."

I opened the door of our carriage and poked my head out. "Greetings, I have my licence right here!"

The guard looked warily at our undead horses and the dullhan sitting on the driver's bench. Then he looked at Garm, who was currently lying on the roof of the carriage.

"Greetings." Garm's left head stated, while showing off his bowtie. "I am a bound undead as well. There are a few of us."

As I was leaning out of the carriage I felt movement behind me. Helena stuck her head out as well. "I am Helena Frost, daughter of Count Frost."

The man looked slightly more at ease now. "I see. Welcome, Lady Frost. Please wait for a moment while my colleague contacts the guard commander. We will check your friend's licence and then you can move on. Does the caravan belong to you?"

While we had been talking Egon rode towards the front. "Greetings, I am Egon Saltin and I am running this independent merchant caravan. Lady Frost and her companions are travelling with us and helped with our security after we took some losses from bandits, just outside Lupos."

The guard grimaced. "They are attacking close to Lupos? Bandits are getting more brazen. While we wait for the captain, do you have a list of the goods you are importing?"

"Certainly." Egon said.

"Good, that should speed up things." The guard replied.

Hopefully this would not take long. I was looking forward to sleeping in a proper inn.