“Well… she can understand us but her communication skills are lacking.” I said.

“I see. What about the other cats?” Christopher asked.

“They are only tier two. They have some instincts and can follow more complex commands than a tier one, but they are not sentient.” I explained.

“Meow.” Both other cats meowed.

“Uh, you are sure they can’t understand us?” Derrick asked.

I nodded. “There is no sign of them being anything other than tier two. But Nyx can command them. This was her prank.”

Everyone stared at Nyx. Nyx just stared back, trying to look innocent.

“Necromancy is not what I expected.” Christopher commented.

“What did you expect? And did you not learn about it?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I am not a mage. My knowledge about magic is mostly limited to my business, and some other things I have encountered over the years. I suspected more skeletons, like that one.” He pointed at the magical skeleton.

“I made that from an enemy mage we defeated. Getting high quality corpses can be difficult. That is why I have a lot of animals as well.” I explained.

“We have an army of Iron Beaks!” Cassie added.

“Iron Beaks?” Derrick inquired.

“They are undead chicken skeletons with bombs.” Skadi explained.

“With bombs?” Derrick asked.

“Yes! They charge you and explode!” Cassie added enthusiastically.

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Derrick blinked. “I see…”

“They have been rather effective in the field.” Helena said.

“Interesting. I wonder what else one could do with undead…” Christopher pondered.

“Are you considering a necromancer for your ships?” I asked.

“The thought has merits. But an undead crew would have weaknesses. If you find yourself in a storm, you need people who can think and act independently, not just follow orders. And if you lost the necromancer you would lose a lot of your crew. If I pay for mages on board, air and water are still going to be more useful.” Christopher concluded.

I nodded. Undead were powerful but not the solution for everything.

“So, Christopher, you said earlier that you are not a mage.” Skadi said. “But your brother is a baron. Don’t all nobles have some magic?”

“Yes and no. Every noble bloodline has magic, but ours is not very strong. Some in our family don’t have a large enough core to become a true mage, me included.” He replied.

“Traditionally it’s not just the oldest child that inherits, it’s the oldest child with the potential to become a mage. And some families prioritise men.” Derrick added.

“My small core makes me rather uninteresting to most noble women, which means I was never pressured into a political marriage. It has its upsides.” Christopher said with a grin.

The servants returned once more. This time with dessert and coffee. They served a rich chocolate cake, which had a layer of cherry jam and was topped with whipped cream.

After we finished the meal we said our goodbyes and left.

“That went well.” I said to my friends, on our way back to the academy.

“Yeah, they were nice.” Helena agreed.

“And you even got a way to stall your mother’s future attempts for a while.” Skadi added.

“True. I am just concerned about what my mother will do after the ruse ends. She might think I am actually looking for a husband.” Cassie said.

“It should hold until the end of the year. After the exam you will be in a better position. Our fame should grow.” I pointed out.

Helena nodded. “Being part of the Dread Claws of Nyx will give you a certain amount of influence. Koyuki will be a senior mage and even if our cores are still too small we will have completed some advanced magic. Your mother would be a fool to cut your supplies and slow down your progress after that.”

“Maybe.” Cassie pondered that.

“Hey, is that Eva?” I said and pointed at a woman.

“Eva? You mean Archibald’s sycophant?” Skadi asked.

I nodded. “Yes. She just went into that alchemy shop.”

“Ha, that place is a scam. If she wanted proper potions she would go to Lyra.” Cassie commented.

“I have never seen her use potions.” I mused.

“Of course, I don’t think they sell anything useful in there.” Cassie said.

“This is not an alchemy shop for adventurers, or mages.” Helena explained.

“Why? It’s called Alchemical Perfection.” I was confused.

“This shop mostly sells beauty products and a few weak overpriced healing items.” Skadi said.

“Oh.” I replied.

“That stuff is not hard to make. They just have nice looking bottles and add pleasant scents to it. Then charge way too much.” Cassie explained.

“And because other nobles will know the scent, they know that you paid a lot of money.” Helena added.

I shrugged. “To each their own.”

“Explosions are much better. They also come with a smell.” Cassie said, grinning.

I wrinkled my nose. “Burnt flesh is not a pleasant smell.”

“Eh, better than corpses.” Cassie responded. “And better than some of what they are selling.”

“I have to agree on that.” Helena responded.