The next morning I inspected the wound on my draugr. He had received a three centimetre deep cut during the spar. He did not bleed any of the water we infused him with though. It was hard to tell if there was any impact on his effectiveness.

Today the wound was a lot smaller. I would say about two thirds of it had healed already. That was nice. Still, I would need to learn a heal to mend any damage during a battle. While the regeneration seemed fast, compared to a human, it was too slow for combat.

After breakfast I got a note that a royal investigator would interview me later today. Since we had no classes today, I decided to train until then. I focused on my magic and made some progress towards learning the healing spell. It was early afternoon when I went towards the meeting? Interrogation? Whatever it would turn out to be. My friends told me not to worry about it.

The investigator was using an office inside the administration building of the academy. I knocked. I told my draugr and Nyx to wait outside. Bringing an undead might be frowned upon.

“Enter.” A firm voice told me.

Inside the room were three people. Two men were sitting on a couch. They glanced at me briefly, then continued reading the papers they were holding. The third person was behind a desk. He wore a military uniform with gold trims. I stood in front of him and saluted. He nodded.

“Take a seat.”

I sat down and faced the man. He had short brown hair and blue eyes. He looked like he was in his fifties. He had a goatee, not the most common beard style.

“I am Colonel Duncan, a royal investigator. Do you know what that means?” He asked.

“No, sir.” I responded.

He chuckled. “Honest. That is a good trait. It means that I have the authority to order arrests. Even if the suspect is part of the nobility, or the military.”

I nodded. That might sound scary to a noble. For me? I had always believed that a city guard would be enough to arrest me. Did I have some protection as a student?

“Now, let’s see.” He grabbed a sheet of paper from his desk and studied it. “Koyuki, age 16, parents unknown, former slave trained at Rossalyn, sponsored by princess Olivia.”

I had no doubt that he knew all that before reading it. Maybe this was just protocol?

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“You are quite interesting.” Duncan said. “You awakened very late with a powerful affinity. How strong do you think you are?”

“I have been told that my core is at the level of senior mage and that I have the potential to become an archmage, sir.” I decided that honesty was probably the way to go here.

He did not look surprised.

“You are an interesting find, Koyuki. Not what I had expected when I was sent to investigate an incident on a field exercise. Which brings us to the reason why I am here. Tell me about the trip.” He ordered.

I did my best to describe the entire trip. The only thing I kept hidden was our mana circulation method. I heard scribbling behind me, the other people took notes. Duncan just sat there and listened.

“That matches what we have heard so far.” He said. “Now, something else that was brought to my attention. You had a run in with a priestess from Ilestria?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you turned the bodyguard you slew into an undead?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Summon it.”

I nodded. Then I commanded the draugr to enter. Nyx was sitting on his head.

Duncan stood and examined my creation. “I can’t see any sign of one of their soldiers. Looks like that man was just a regular mercenary.”

“What sign would there be, sir?” I asked.

“Ilestria likes to have tattoos on their troops. They claim it’s a show of patriotism. Mostly it’s used to make sure deserters can’t hide.” He explained.

“What if someone retires, sir?”

“They add something to the tattoo, if they are legitimately discharged. The whole process involves magic to make it harder to fake. I was hoping we could tie the priestess to something official. Anyway, I would like to borrow your undead.”

“Why, sir?”

“Interrogation. That woman is a true believer. It’s hard to get any information out of them. But there is something that just might make her talk.” He smiled.

Duncan saw my confusion and explained: “You see, he still looks like a person. She will recognize him. She might not fear death, but she will fear eternal servitude as an undead.”

“But, this is not a tier three…” I pointed out.

“She does not know that.”

“I can make the draugr talk, sir. That could help.” I said.

“Excellent! You will join us for this interrogation. While it is unlikely that she was an actual agent, she might still have some connections. Ilestria often sponsors priests to spread their nonsense. She might have a contact inside Lupos.”

“Sir, do you think this is connected to the field exercise?” I asked.

“Not directly. Ilestria itself is a suspect. They could be targeting you and they could be targeting the kingdom. Those vampiric nightshades might just be the kind of plot they support.” He said. “I will arrange the interrogation for tomorrow. Meet us at the gate at 08:00. We will head to the prison together.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Dismissed.”

I left, the draugr followed me. Nyx was still on his head. Duncan had ignored her. Likely he had been briefed about Nyx. I went to the park where my friends were training their magic. Then I told them about the interview. They had not been called yet. Maybe their turn would be tomorrow.

“Oh, you are going to be part of an interrogation! Do you think we can join?” Helena asked.

“Uh… I don’t know.” I admitted.

“Interrogation is a third year class, I think.” Skadi said. “But it is something the academy teaches.”

“And I was part of the fight.” Cassie said. “That gives me an excuse to be there!”

“We should ask them. If they say no, we can still follow them to the city and meet Koyuki afterwards. Maybe this time we can go to a restaurant!” Helena suggested.

While I was a bit nervous about the interrogation, my friends seemed quite enthusiastic.