"That was something Ilestria used to blow up Koyuki! They failed, obviously. But we discovered a new use for vampiric nightshades." Cassie explained.

"We also used a seed in creating Hatsumi." Skadi added.

"You used a plant seed to make a vampire?" Derrick asked.

"Yes! They both drink blood. It made a lot of sense." Cassie answered.

Derrick shook his head. "Nothing here makes sense."

"Hehe. Our school is just much better than your school." Helena teased.

"Well, we are a lot less focused on combat, obviously." He replied.

"And maybe you are also less focused on experimentation!" Cassie added.

Derrick looked at her. "I don't think that is a school thing, that is more a you thing…" He gestured at our entire group.

"He might have a point." I agreed. "Have you seen any of our classmates do something cool? Leo just has a few boring undead. Nothing creative."

"Hm. The other alchemy students seem content with normal potions. Not that we have many alchemists." Cassie mused.

"See, it's you!" Derrick declared.

"We are awesome." Skadi confirmed, all of us nodded.

"That was not my point…" Derrick mumbled.

Meanwhile Hans seemed lost in thought until he said: "How would we find those vampiric nightshades? I remember you said they were hidden during your field trip. Not that detecting them would be easy in any case."

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I scratched my head. "I did notice remains with my necromantic magic but that was mostly coincidence. And if you are that close you could identify them visually. But would they be able to hide all of the nightshades? Would it not be expensive to have that many crystals? And once they spread I doubt they will come back and hide all of the new ones."

"So you think they only used magic to hide them in places with a high chance of discovery?" Hans inquired.

"That and maybe the first one they planted. Then they let them naturally spread. We don't know who did this and how long they have been working on it." I replied.

Hans grimaced. "Hopefully once we find the younger ones we can trace them back to the original plants. I have a few mages who might be able to detect them but I will have to talk to the royal army and maybe hire some adventurers too."

"Do vampiric nightshades even grow so far north?" Skadi asked, suddenly.

"They won't grow inside the mountains but they can withstand our temperatures. It does slow them down somewhat and they hibernate if it gets too cold. That also makes it harder to detect them. They would expand a lot more rapidly in a warmer climate but we can't expect the cold to kill them." Hans replied.

"If you have a team to kill some plants we are happy to help!" Helena announced.

"I will consider it. We have to find them first." Hans replied.

Derrick shook his head. "This is the job of the army sis. Let them take care of it, you are only a first year student. You still have three years until you are an actual member of the royal army."

"I wonder if the academy will send us on missions to deal with the plants. We should ask the headmaster when we return." Cassie suggested.

Derrick looked at Hans. "Father, Helena is going to get herself killed!"

"Ah son, you worry too much. Helena is a senior mage after all! And look at her team. They are strong. They even have a tiny Devourer." Hans said.

"They have what?" Derrick asked.

"Oh, we did not tell you that part yet. We met the Devourer! It meows!" Helena said excitedly.

"Meow." Nyx confirmed.

We followed with a brief recounting of our hunting trip. Derrick sat there in silence and listened. Then he looked at me. "What are you? How do you create a vampire and tame a devourer? You are a first year student!"

"My girlfriend is cute and awesome!" Helena bragged. "Together we shall raise an army and the world shall tremble. Muahahahahah!"

I blushed.

"Her evil laugh is getting better." Skadi mused.

Derrick stood up. "You know what? You are all crazy." Then he left the room.

"I think you broke your brother." Cassie mused.

"Eh, he will be fine. Derrick is just a bit too serious at times." Helena replied.

Hans nodded. "Give him some time and he will come up with all sorts of ideas to use this information. He is good at planning and politics. He will make a fine count one day. And he will have Helena on his side to keep him grounded and crush any problems."

A maid entered and brought more tea and some biscuits. Derrick had clearly left too early. His loss. We spent a bit more time with small talk until Manfred, the butler, entered.

"My lord, a letter has arrived for you." He said.

"Ah, thank you Manfred!" He took the letter and opened it. After reading it he smiled.

"Skadi, it seems that your parents are coming to visit! They said they want to stay at an inn in town but they can just stay here. It says they will arrive in about a week. Oh, that reminds me. Cassie, I think your mother is on her way as well. She did write a letter inquiring about you and I told her she can stop by at any time." Hans said.

Skadi smiled at the news but Cassie groaned. Skadi patted her girlfriend on the back. "It will be fine."

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