The mid-year exams were not too hard and all of us passed comfortably. Although Irene was slightly disappointed with my progress in water magic. I had focused a lot on my death magic affinity and mostly used water magic as a defense.

All of us did rather well in the combat exam. Skadi was one of the very few spellblades and she was certainly ahead of the others. As second years we were allowed to use magic and weapons, which made it a lot easier for me and Cassie. Helena had always been rather good at this.

While we completed our exams my undead were busy packing. Which meant we could leave early the next day.

"A shame that we can't bring your platoon of zombie goblins." Helena mused, as we stood in front of the carriage.

"We would need mounts for them. It's a shame we are never ambushed by cavalry." I replied.

"It's amazing that your horse accepts all the undead." Skadi said, while looking at Coffee. My mount was calmly standing next to the ibex.

"Hey, Hatsumi has never named her undead. We should come up with a name for it. Maybe the undead horses too." Cassie suggested.

Kaito and Hatsumi were lifting Chariot on top of the carriage. We decided to bring him, since the cats loved him. Frank would be with us too. He even had proper clothes, armour and a weapon. Then there was Hatsumi's undead, the former necromancer she had raised by accident. I wondered if her spellblade transformation would have any effect on him.

With the ibex and Coffee we had two independent mounts and the carriage. Maybe we should name the ibex too…

"I think Frank will ride Coffee, which has worked in the past." I mused. "Hatsumi's undead can have the ibex, or should we have him on the driver's bench, next to Kaito?"

"Is Hatsumi joining us in the carriage? It would be normal for a maid to ride with the ladies." Helena said.

"She could also sit next to Kaito. Might be boring for him if he is alone up there." Skadi suggested.

I shrugged. "I guess it is up to them. There is enough space inside for us, Hatsumi and the cats."

The cats were sitting next to us, watching the carriage being loaded. We were not the only students preparing a carriage. Most would leave during the mid-year break. But we were getting a few more stares than usual. And I saw a wide-eyed Leo approach.

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"What… what have you done?" He asked.

"Huh?" I replied, then I followed his eyes towards Hatsumi. She was not in her school uniform, she wore her maid outfit. And her runes were visible on her arms. We had not really advertised our breakthrough so far but I was surprised that it took Leo this long to learn of it.

"She is a spellblade." I replied.

"Vampires can't be spellblades." He stated.

"You keep telling yourself that." Skadi replied.

"Why are you here anyway?" Cassie asked.

Leo looked at Cassie, then at me. "I happen to be going to the conference as well and wanted to extend an offer to travel together. It does seem like you have transportation handled, however, during these uncertain times, I can add more protection. My father has given me some fine knights to ensure my safety."

"I think we are good. We do have a vampire spellblade, you know." Helena said.

"This is ridiculous! Show me those runes, surely they are not real." Leo insisted.

"No. But you can attend our presentation during the conference. Gronir and Mary will be there as well." I replied.

"Gronir was involved?" Leo asked, sounding unhappy.

"Obviously." Helena replied.

"I still think it would be beneficial to travel together…" Leo tried again.

"No." I replied.

"Very well, I shall see you in Neth." Leo eventually gave up and left.

"He is going to be annoying during the conference." Helena stated.

"We can still feed him to Nyx." Cassie said, while Nyx licked her lips.

Hatsumi approached us. "The carriage is ready. We can depart whenever you wish, my ladies."

I groaned. "You don't have to talk like that, we are still at the academy."

"My deepest apologies, Mistress." Hatsumi teased. I stuck out my tongue in response.

Kaito approached as well. "Did Leo cause any trouble?"

"He finally figured out that Hatsumi is a spellblade." Helena replied.

"Has he now?" Kaito mused. "I doubt that he would openly attack us but his family has the resources to fund an ambush."

"He mentioned having some knights." Cassie added.

"I shall remain vigilant." Kaito stated. "Unfortunately Frank is only a tier two, so he won't be able to truly spot an ambush. I would advise that he follows the carriage on Coffee. The ibex should do so as well. We will be travelling fast on a well patrolled road, which should increase our safety."

"There will only be one stop during the trip. We could go through the night thanks to the undead mounts but Coffee would need rest." Hatsumi said.

"Should we leave him behind? Frank could ride the ibex, Hatsumi's undead takes the bench next to Kaito and Hatsumi joins us in the cabin." Skadi wondered.

"It is your decision, Koyuki. Coffee might enjoy the trip. While the academy does take the horses out regularly you are not using him a lot." Kaito said. "You could consider selling him."

Coffee was one of my earliest possessions. More than that, I had earned him during combat. I was reluctant to get rid of my horse.

"We will take him." I replied. "And Hatsumi, your undead needs a name."

"We are great at naming!" Cassie said enthusiastically.

"Bob." Hatsumi replied, rather quickly. "I shall name him Bob."

Cassie looked disappointed.

"Bob it is." I said.

As we prepared to board, Nyx stood up and had a big stretch, then she walked towards the cabin and boarded first, the other cats followed. Hatsumi had prepared some blankets on the seats, despite it being summer. The cats still used them though.

Bob took a seat on the driver's bench, next to Kaito. We left the ibex without a rider, since it could fight on its own anyway. Hatsumi joined us in the cabin. Soon our carriage started rolling towards Neth.

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