“I will remember that insult!” Archibald said.

  “Let’s all calm down…” Valeria tried to defuse the situation.

  “You will pay for this!” Florence promised.

  I was slightly surprised by the amount of anger I had caused. Upon further consideration, I decided I was pleasantly surprised. I gave them my best smile.

  Cassie and Skadi were laughing too.

  “Let’s leave, there is no point in talking with an animal.” Archibald stormed off with his group.

  Valeria forced a smile. “Ah, I am glad you are ok. Have a nice day.” Then she left.

  Leo shook his head. “I can teach you to handle them better, if you want.”

  “I think I did pretty well, I will have to decline.” I replied, then focused on my food again.

  I heard him sigh, but he left.

  “I did not expect my insult to work that well.” I confessed to my friends.

  Helena managed to stop laughing and answered: “He might just be rather insecure. And Archibald’s fiancée was there. That probably made it worse, I mean better.” She giggled.

  “They still see you as below them because you are not a noble. Even very talented people try to gain their favour and treat them with a lot of respect. You don’t quite fit into their worldview.” Cassie said.

  Skadi nodded. “Does not matter if you are a merchant, an artist, or a talented mage. If you want to get anywhere you usually need noble backing. But you are valuable enough that the royal family backs you. You are a commoner, a former slave, and you are more important than they are. It’s eating them alive. I love it.”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “They probably think you should be grateful to be allowed in their presence, kiss their feet and sing their praises.” Helena added.

  “Do you think any of them would be stupid enough to work with Ilestria?” I wondered.

  “I don’t see any of the dukes betraying the country like that. While some enjoy the trade, like Duchess Barkworth, I can’t see anyone being foolish enough to back them. Of course, they could be manipulated.” Helena mused.

  “Uhhh, maybe an enemy agent has seduced them!” Skadi suggested.

  I groaned.

  The remaining day I was asked plenty of times about yesterday’s incident. I just told everyone I could not talk about it. Archibald seemed to seethe the entire day. That was a slight bonus. I also noticed more guards.

  The next day Erik called me to his office. As I entered, I saw that Horas was present as well.

  “Koyuki, we have some new discoveries we want to share with you.” The headmaster said.

  “Yes, sir.” I responded.

  “I have analysed the liquid.” Horas said. “It is a rather nasty potion. By itself, it does not do anything. But it reacts with the seed of a vampiric nightshade. How much do you know about those plants?”

  “Uh, they are dangerous plants that drink blood and eat people.” I replied.

  Horas chuckled. “You are not wrong there. But their seeds can be useful for alchemy. And if they are consumed by a person they can start growing inside them. The result is not pretty. There was no corpse left to study, but I suspect someone implanted the seed, or fed it to the person. Or maybe they created a sort of extract that is consumable.” He shrugged. “I would have needed the body to find out more. But my conclusion is that the potion and the seed met through the blood and led to the explosion. Your undead consuming some of the blood delayed the reaction.”

  “While we do not know the specifics, we are relatively certain that the seeds of vampiric nightshades were involved.” Erik said. “Which makes your discovery during your camping trip rather concerning. Those bandits had a lot of those seeds. And there was the incident during the field exercise. Something very sinister is happening in our nation.”

  “This sort of bomb is a new creation. If we had not recovered part of the potion, we would still be unaware of it.” Horas added.

  “Right now this information is classified. Share it with your close friends, but with no one else. And do not tell anyone that we recovered a part of the potion. I trust you, and you are at the centre of this. You have proven to be rather competent as well.” Erik said.

  I stood a bit straighter, feeling proud.

  Erik continued: “If you find anything more related to this issue, inform us immediately.”

  I nodded. “Um sir, did you find out how the man entered the academy?” I asked.

  Erik shook his head. “No guard remembers letting that man pass. But we expect that he had inside help. He could have bribed a guard or maybe one of the students helped him. Nobles tend to use carriages and we do not search them. I have increased the security around the academy and we will be looking more closely at anything and anyone who enters in the future. Any more questions?”

  I shook my head. “No sir.”

  “Then enjoy your remaining evening. Dismissed.”