“While you took care of those guys,” Helena pointed at the people getting arrested, “we caught ourselves some bandits.”

“You did?” Irene asked, looking surprised for once.

“We found a lot of vampiric nightshade seeds. I am sure the military can compensate us for them.” Skadi added.

Irene’s face turned serious. “Tell me everything.”

So we stood there in the rain, recounting our short little trip. Irene actually took notes while we talked.

“Disturbing.” She said, as we finished our story. “It’s good that you reported it quickly. I don’t know Captain Sarah that well myself, but she should be trustworthy. Otherwise she would not have been your escort.”

“Why would anyone spread vampiric nightshades?” I asked.

“An infestation of them would be a real problem. They can be hard to detect and are rather lethal. You can’t just burn down entire forests, that would hurt our economy and create other problems. Sending in troops to root them out takes time and manpower. They are hard to fight with weapons so you would need some mages. If this became a problem in multiple forests we would have to pull some troops from the border.” Irene explained.

Then after some thought she continued: “There is another thing to consider. If this problem remained undetected and a war broke out, it could cause problems for our supply chains. If the nightshades grow too close to roads they would attack convoys. It would also force armies to avoid forests, or take the time to fight through them. Not an ideal situation.”

“So, you think Ilestria has caused this?” Cassie asked.

“Their involvement seems likely. Of course, it does not always mean war. They could simply try to harm our economy. It would not be the first time they try to harm us that way. There was a suspicious plague targeting our grain a few years ago. But our mages handled that rather well. If we had reacted slower, it could have led to a famine.” Irene said.

“I heard about that, I thought it was natural.” I commented.

“Of course the kingdom is not advertising such information. And it was never fully proven.” Irene replied.

“What are we doing in their territory?” Helena asked.

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Irene smiled. “That information is not for first year students.”

While we were talking, the wagon was removed from the road by the soldiers. We said goodbye to Irene and continued our journey back to the academy. I tried to get a good look at the people who were arrested but I could not see anything noteworthy.

“I won the bet, that would have been an ambush on the way back.” Skadi said.

“No. They were stopped, so it does not count.” Cassie insisted.

“Technically the first ambush was the hunter in the forest. I think only the first should count anyway.” Helena suggested.

“Hey, I would say nobody really ambushed us! The hunter approached us openly. I think I win.” I said smugly.

“No.” They all replied.

I pouted.

The rain continued and Cassie summoned a small flame in her hand.

“What is up with the fire?” I asked.

“It’s cold!” She complained. “Stupid weather. At least I brought an umbrella. I should have packed warmer clothing.”

“We are almost back anyway. And this is nothing. You need to experience a northern winter.” Skadi said.

“I will pass on that.” Cassie responded.

“There are hot springs in the mountains, it’s not all cold! Although, it is very cold most of the time.” Helena said.

“I have never been to the north. I want to see the mountains.” I mused.

“Bah, all you water affinity types like cold. Warmth is so much better!” Cassie suggested.

“I do like a warm fire. But I don’t mind the current temperature. Less rain would be nice though. At least the water makes water and ice magic simpler.” I said.

“We could take a hot bath when we are back in the city.” Helena suggested.

“A visit to the spa sounds nice. And afterwards we can go to a restaurant in the city.” Skadi said.

“Yes!” Cassie agreed enthusiastically. I nodded. It did sound nice.

After arriving at the academy we stored our loot and the skeletons. Then we put on some clean clothes and went into the city. Soon we are relaxing in a nice stone tub. We even had it for ourselves.

“Camping was fun but I do love civilization.” Cassie said with a sigh.

“There are natural hot springs. They are even better than this!” Helena pointed out.

“Maybe. But I would have to endure the colder weather to reach them.” Cassie said.

“Don’t worry. All you need is proper clothing.” Skadi reassured her.

“Or the right potion…” Cassie mused.

“Don’t explode yourself!” I warned her.

“Of course not!” She replied. “At most I will singe my eyebrows or something.”

“I think we need someone to watch her whenever she goes to the lab.” Skadi proposed.

“I am not that bad!” Cassie protested.

All of us just stared at her. Even Nyx, who was curled up next to the bath and enjoying the steam rising from the water.

Cassie blushed but she quickly recovered. “Fine. I will be more careful. I just need to find a better way to test things… Hey, can you create a test zombie? One who can drink potions?”

“I don’t think they would work the same way on an undead.” I pointed out.

“Well, it depends. Of course undead are effected differently by certain things. But if something is exploding it will explode in a zombie just fine.” Cassie countered.

“You should try stuff on Archibald. He would make a great test subject. And if he explodes Koyuki has a new corpse.” Helena suggested.

“I think the academy would notice his disappearance. Or if he was zombified.” I said.

“Pft, details.” Helena responded. We all laughed.