Afterward, we returned to the mansion. Thalos immediately went into the study to begin further research, but I stopped him and told him to go to the kitchen to prepare an Elixir or potion made from Helio mushrooms so Daisy could digest them more quickly and efficiently. Unlike other undead, who can continue to exist by absorbing raw death mana like living beings eat, drink, and sleep; Daisy has to consume plants containing death mana. Therefore, we will also be searching for similar plant species to cultivate and provide Daisy with a diverse diet.

I officially taught him about poisons and alchemy in potion making, techniques for extracting essences from raw materials, and much more knowledge to distinguish the magical properties within compounds, from raw to synthetic substances.

Magic exists not only in animals but also in plants and magic stones. And each type has a different extraction method. Alchemists mostly learn to classify and experiment directly with these components like chemists, plus this world is pervasive with magic, so the study of alchemy must be intertwined with magic.

Thanks to the academic research materials from the Amethyst Library, I gained access to something akin to a periodic table of elements in this world. Although incomplete, it greatly helped me understand how magic works on matter, something that others found illogical, but which I gradually discovered and understood.

Thalos had to learn a lot in a week, but he had a good memory and a strong learning spirit. And day by day, he proved himself to be an extremely diligent student. After only a month with my guidance and support, he could independently perform the most difficult tasks of a researcher and was steadily progressing towards becoming an inventor. I don't know what words to use to describe this admiration. Is it because of his demon bloodline giving him such a high capacity for learning, or is he truly an exceptional individual?

I praised him profusely for his meticulous preparation after witnessing his elaborate efforts to capture and bring Daisy back. But praise alone wasn't enough; I wanted to give him a truly worthy gift.

Shortly after, I came up with an idea for a gift, but it required some time for research. I'd never felt such personal interest in crafting magical artifacts before, perhaps only for those I cherish, and Thalos, who has become like a younger brother I never thought I'd be so lucky to have.

Daisy's magic enhanced the vitality of all the plants and leaves; they were less susceptible to common diseases, healthier, and their overall yield increased significantly.

I cooked a pot of vegetable soup from the harvest with the help of Daisy's magic. When I ate them, I was surprised by the improvement in their flavor; the vegetables were sweeter, the potatoes had a more concentrated starch content... it was truly a magical touch from the goddess Gema, something not found in Necropolis, now manifested in the hands of a skeletal dragon. I was already impressed, but now I was even more so.

We began studying Daisy's magic through observation and experimentation, gradually moving on to directly experimenting with Daisy's magical properties. Daisy's creations were applied to both inorganic and organic materials.

From crops and fruit trees, we moved on to flowering plants and realized that the enhanced flowers had a distinct and far-reaching fragrance.

In about a week, Thalos, Daisy, and I had developed nearly 6 unique and distinct fragrant flower species using only a single odorless original flower. Even the leaves of some species had a pleasant scent.

Then we formed several research groups, divided into two different objectives: manufacturing both pharmaceuticals and cosmetics simultaneously. The day I opened my own alchemy shop on the Fel continent was drawing closer, and these were crucial preparations for a new market.

It had been almost two weeks since Daisy appeared in our lives. She seems to get along well with both living and undead creatures, but she seems to need a peer. It's not necessarily that we need a dragon of a similar age, it's just that Daisy still retains the soul of a child who hasn't yet encountered the outside world. Her innocence needs the companionship of someone her own age so she doesn't feel lonely. Most of the people working for Divris at the mansion and library, as well as the trainees at the workshop, are adults; there's no one Daisy's age for her to play with.

Daisy is an extremely intelligent baby dragon, but she's not yet mature enough to focus her attention on certain activities. Therefore, the progress of the research depends heavily on her interest. Working with children isn't my forte, but I have to adapt and find ways to encourage Daisy's participation. Rewards are the easiest method. Indeed, children think simply; offering rewards linked to results can easily persuade them to participate. But the rewards also need to be varied or upgraded to avoid boredom. And that's when the Thalos elixir research team works at full capacity to create mana foods specifically for Daisy.

However, I worry that one day our research will bore Daisy. So every two days, I, Thalos, and Daisy will go for a walk, rest, and relax our minds and bodies. This might only be useful for living beings, but undead, despite their ability to work tirelessly both mentally and physically, need cheerful or peaceful sounds in their monotonous lives, rather than spending their days buried in work for capitalist exploitation. This is because undead still possess a soul attached to their physical body, powered by death mana. All the spiritual characteristics of living beings remain and are entirely influenced by daily activities, except for eating and sleeping. Sleeping is the clearest dividing line between living beings and undead. Because they cannot sleep, undead cannot regenerate or process information through sleep. Instead, the undead's soul must constantly process all incoming information. The work of the nervous system is now entirely replaced by the soul core. In beings with higher levels of intelligence (like Daisy), the soul core, powered by death mana, consumes even more energy to maintain.

I had foreseen this, but I still decided to summon her spirit because I knew she would be an important factor in the future.

I haven't yet asked her about her homeland and, more importantly, the event that led to her departure. It seems like a sensitive question, so I'm always waiting for her to open up and tell me herself. All I can do is provide her with the best life possible, something Divris has done for over a hundred years for the people of the Necropolis.

"Daisy," I asked her as we strolled through the flower garden, where we were propagating flowers from the original plants Daisy had cultivated. Though the garden was still quite empty, it held great promise. We imagined the magnificent scene when the flowers were in full bloom, and the thought filled our hearts with excitement.

"Yes?" Daisy fluttered around me like a butterfly.

"What does your home look like?"

"It's a small but magical forest on an island. And that island is in the middle of a very large lake."

"Sounds incredibly safe, doesn't it?"

"But because of that, it's also very isolated. Even so, nobody lacks anything. Mom always brings food home, so I don't need to go looking for it. I often fly out to play; the area around the river is forest, with towering trees."

"Did you have any friends there?"

"Yes, I did." The child suddenly fell silent, not saying anything more.

"Were you close? Did you often play anything together?"

Fairy dragons don't live solitary lives like carnivorous dragons such as the Black Dragon, Green Dragon, or Water Dragon. Instead, they can live in herds if a critical situation threatens their survival. It's possible for individual fairy dragons to get to know and befriend each other. Furthermore, they also lived in the same territory to share benefits, but I'm still not sure Daisy had that opportunity because, thinking back, the number of fairy dragons was already very low before their extinction.

"I knew a friend my age, we used to play tag and create magic tricks together. We only saw each other occasionally. Then, for about an entire season of Immortalia, she stopped coming to play. Her house wasn't very close either. Once, I told my mom I wanted to go play with her, but she absolutely refused, saying it was too dangerous for me. Then I thought, if it really was dangerous, how did she manage to live there?"

Hearing Daisy's story, I had a few places in my head that described similar situations.

"Is it true that people like me are all dead?" Daisy almost managed to hold back her sadness when she asked this question, but I could still sense the gloom in her spiritual aura.

"Uh, I think so, but I'm not sure."

"Are you saying that to comfort me, or do you have proof?"

"Both. You're talking to a very wise scholar. Trust me, you'll find your home and reunite with your kind if you search thoroughly enough and study long enough."

I wasn't lying or giving Daisy false hope. Dragons might be resurrected with Amora's return, but that's another complicated issue.

How would I ensure my own safety while allowing those key events to be triggered?

Daisy doesn't appear in the novel, but dragons do appear when Amora is resurrected. So the trigger point is Amora. I'll have to find a way to create a domino effect for that event to happen without my own role being too influential. It all requires a meticulous and intricate strategy.

Looking around me now, Daisy, Dahlia, Lynn, friends I'm gradually coming to trust, I think I won't have to do this alone.