My first stop was Gronir. Before I could make any additional plans, I had to know if this convention was legitimate. I found him in his office.

"Koyuki, please tell me you don't have another new undead." He said, as a greeting.

"No sir, just a question." I replied.

"Ah, good. Good. What is your question?"

"A man called Sir Edwin Reston has invited me to a convention about necromancy, during the summer break." I said.

Gronir raised an eyebrow. "Did he now? Approaching you directly without consulting our academy first is unusual. It's either meant to flatter you, or to snub me. Maybe both."

"So the convention is real? It is not a trap?" I asked.

"Trap? Hardly. Sir Edwin does work for the Academy of Neth and he is genuinely interested in necromancy. It is possible he might try to buy your contract from the crown and wants you at the capital. You can expect manipulation, flattery, bribery,... but not an actual threat." Gronir replied.

"Do you think I should go?" I asked.

"That is for you to decide. However, you will find a lot of fellow necromancers there. It will be a great place to find out about the newest discoveries. I would also expect the Brotherhood to be snooping around. I doubt they would make a move there though. They would be more interested in recruiting." Gronir answered.

I frowned. "Why did they try to kill me on the last trip? They wanted to recruit me in the past."

"Who knows?" Gronir replied. "It could simply be different factions. Your power is useful to them, however it is also dangerous. You would be the strongest necromancer within their group. It is entirely possible someone is afraid you would replace them if you joined. Or, they could be after your undead."

"What?"

"Hatsumi would be worth a lot to them. Nyx, and now Kaito, as well. They can't overpower your bond but if you died they could try to control her. Especially since she is not that old yet. If they could get a hold of her, they could also use her to create more vampires. Creating true vampires is hard. If they had a powerful one enslaved, in time she could help them form an army." Gronir explained.

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I suppose I had been warned about the value of my undead before. It did make sense. Hopefully if the worst ever happened to me, my undead would devour them.

"So, they might strike at me at the capital?" I asked.

"Anything is possible but it is unlikely. During travel? That is plausible. Ilestria is more concerning but they have been laying low since they have failed to kill you. Losing a senior agent has disrupted their plans and I am not sure if they are willing to make another move, yet. Right now another attack might lead to open war."

"If I decide to go, would you help me prepare? I am supposed to present something…"

Gornir smiled. "I would love to!"

I thanked him and left. In the evening I told my friends about everything.

"I am not sure how much fun a necromancy conference is but we could do some sightseeing in the capital. I would happily accompany you." Helena offered.

"And since Helena would share your room she would not have to pay anything." Skadi pointed out.

That was a good point. They said they would only pay for my room but the two of us only needed one.

"We should go too!" Cassie said. "It's a shame they won't show off some alchemy…"

"Necromancers use alchemy to improve corpses." I pointed out. "You could share my stall and offer some potion samples. Maybe you could even sell some."

"That is a great idea!" Cassie agreed.

"Does alchemy have a convention too?" Helena asked.

"Eh. There are some events but alchemists are not big on sharing. A lot of recipes are in books, of course, and you learn a few at an academy. But there is a lot of money to be made if you discover something new, or an improvement for an existing potion." Cassie explained.

Skadi nodded. "Basically most alchemists are merchants selling their products. They only share if they are paid."

Cassie sighed. "It's a shame, really. So many possibilities to explode things that I might never learn…" Suddenly she perked up. "Explosions! Are you going to show off the Iron Beaks?!?"

"I was only thinking about tier three. I am not sure if we should advertise the Iron Beaks…"

"They are not a secret. You even gave one away as a gift." Skadi pointed out.

"True." I replied.

"We don't have to show them the trigger, or the bomb mixture. Actually, I should improve that…" Cassie mused and was lost in thought.

"I will keep her from exploding." Skadi said, then looked at her girlfriend's maniacal smile. "At least I will try…"

"Good thing that you are a spellblade. Makes you more durable." I said.

"It's not me I am worried about…" Skadi replied.

"So it's settled, we are all going!" Cassie said.

"Sure. I would not have gone alone but with all of us it will be fun." I declared. "Now I just need to figure out what I want to show at the convention. How much of our methods should I make public?" I wondered.

"Well, just tell them about the joint casting but not everything we have done?" Helena suggested.

"You could just focus on the undead types you have created and not the methods." Skadi proposed.

"You should definitely tell them about the importance of good alchemy!" Cassie suggested.

Actually, she had a point. While I did have a large core and a talent for necromancy, my friends had helped. Cassie had often provided something to enhance the corpses and we had used joint castings a lot. I suppose good corpses were important too. If you were not a frequent target of assassins it would be harder to get the bodies of dead mages.

Maybe I should focus more on the importance of working together? I would have to discuss it with Gronir. He would know better what sort of presentation was expected and how much I should share.

"Hey, if I declare all of you my assistants, maybe we can get Sir Edward to pay for you as well?" I mused.

Skadi grinned. "It is certainly worth a try."

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