The man did not seem to have any weapons. I found a small vial in his pocket. It was empty but had some drops of a green liquid left. I had no idea what it was. Why had he been killed? Why would my undead do that?

The more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable I became. What if it was just a servant? Had my undead killed an innocent person? I was responsible for their actions. What orders did I give those cats? What orders did Nyx give those cats?

Generally, my undead had orders to defend me when I was attacked. But I was not even in the room. Had I ever told them to defend themselves? Probably. But that man had no weapon…

I studied the man’s clothes. His uniform was in decent shape but did not look entirely new. It also fit very well. Did he steal a uniform? Or was he actually working here?

“What is going on here?” I heard Irene’s voice.

“Koyuki! Is everything alright?” Helena asked.

My message seemed to have worked.

“I… I found a dead body next to my undead. While I was getting cleaning supplies…” I said.

“A dead body? Start at the beginning. And Helena, get the headmaster.” Irene said while coming closer.

Helena hesitated for a moment, looking at me. I nodded at her and she left.

I told Irene what happened, starting with my practice. She listened while examining the corpse.

Irene frowned. “I don’t recognize this man. But he could have been a recent hire.” Then she looked at the vial I found. “There should be enough left for Horas to identify it.”

Irene looked at the hand. “What ability did your undead use?”

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“I… I don’t know. The cats are new and I haven’t tested all their abilities yet.” I admitted.

“You did not hear anything? You were at the supply closet down the hall, right? But you left the door open?” Irene asked.

“Yes.” I confirmed.

“Unless your cat can paralyse, he should have been screaming. Did you move the body?”

“I, uh, I searched it. So I moved it a little bit.” I confessed.

She nodded. “Did he touch your undead? What exact position did you find him in?”

“He did not touch them but he was lying there pretty close.”

“Assuming your cat drained him, that would take a while. So his hand would need to be on the cat. And he would have fought to break free. I can’t see any struggle. The only possibility would be some kind of poison. Or an advanced ability that stops his heart. Your cat could have consumed the blood after he died.”

She surveyed the scene again. “Something doesn't feel right. What could have been his goal? Steal one of your undead? Would they attack if they were abducted?”

I swallowed. “I… I don’t think so. They are supposed to defend me, mostly. I might have told them to defend themselves at some point, for training.”

Irene looked at me. Then she went towards the vampiric cat and picked it up. Nothing happened.

“Have you changed your orders?”

“No, ma’am!” I replied.

“I am going to trust you, for now. So, what could I do to make this undead attack me?” She held the cat with one hand, then summoned a flame in the other. She brought the flame closer. Once it started damaging the undead the cat reacted. Her fur became needles and pierced Irene’s hand, she seemed unconcerned.

“Hm. There is a small necrotic attack but nothing too potent. It’s also trying to consume my blood to heal itself, I imagine.” Irene stopped the flame and put the feline down. It did not attack further.

Irene examined her hand. Then she compared it to the corpse. “Looks similar but that attack was not too strong. I assume a normal person would be in pain and vomiting. Nothing here should have killed this man, or prevented him from removing his hand.”

Irene was already healing, probably thanks to a spell. She kept staring at the scene in silence. I had no idea what to think. If it was not my cat, what was it? Chariot? But the armadillo created bigger spikes, not small needles. And what was in that vial?

More people arrived. I retold my story to the headmaster. He listened to my explanation, then told me to move to the side of the room and wait.

I sat on the floor, my undead surrounding me. I hugged my tail. Did I kill an innocent? What was going on? Nyx shrunk to kitten size and sat on my lap. I started petting her.

I saw Horas and Gronir arrive. The teachers were discussing things, pointing around. Gronir was examining the body.

“SHIELD” Gronir yelled and jumped back.

In an instant, a sphere of ice appeared around the body. The whole room shook. I heard the muffled sound of an explosion. I quickly stood up and readied my own shield. Nyx grew again and placed herself in front of me. But there was no attack. The ice around the corpse faded, but there was no more corpse. Only a small crater. Despite the training room being magically reinforced a piece of the floor was missing.

“That was nasty.” Gronir said.

Erik turned towards me. “Koyuki, it appears someone tried to blow you up, with a trapped corpse.”

What? That made no sense! I looked at him in confusion.