The Necromancer Who Was Despised - The Necromancer Who Was Despised chapter 165
“What’s the difference? A wise lord will surely choose our Goddess Church. Since it’s obvious we’ll be chosen, we came early to save time.”
He was speaking as if time was the most precious and valuable thing humans had, and it shouldn’t be wasted.
The Land Mother Church was already out in the open, and the Supeltran royal family was supporting them, which was already a well-known fact.
Especially since the Rineta County had received the royal family’s favor, it was already well-known that the Land Mother Church’s temple would be built, so his face was extremely thick.
‘There must be a purpose.’
Seeing him commit such a brazen, diplomatically problematic act without hesitation implied that there was a reason worth taking the risk.
A high-ranking priest, or rather, an archbishop, wouldn’t say such nonsense to me and commit such a problematic act without a reason.
“It’s what I want to do, but…”
The problem was that I couldn’t do it. He was a high-ranking priest, and although the current Spetrant Kingdom was secretly meeting with the Inter-Species Alliance and pushing for the Demonic Cult, they still hadn’t publicly rejected the Goddess’s teachings.
There were still many followers of the Goddess’s teachings within the Six Kingdoms Alliance, and the results of the meeting hadn’t been revealed yet. If I treated a high-ranking priest of the Goddess’s teachings carelessly, the Rinetta family would suffer.
Especially since I was a publicly recognized dark mage. If I made a mistake, it could get really troublesome.
So, I had no choice but to receive them inside the castle and provide them with separate rooms.
“Thank you for your hospitality. May the blessings of the Goddess be with you.”
“…A blessing from a dark mage? You must be joking.”
Except for that impudent high-ranking priest, the other priests and holy knights didn’t hide their displeasure when they saw me or my undead. Therefore, their gaze towards me wasn’t very friendly either.
After providing them with rooms and food, I immediately called for Gririan.
“Do you know anything about them?”
“…I know about High Priest Fillet. He’s a very devout follower and quite famous in the region.”
He’s mainly active around Juterus.
“Why is someone like him here…”
“I’m also curious.”
“I’ll send someone to inform the lord for now.”
I couldn’t send my undead, so I decided to send half of Gririan’s people to the Cross Castle.
But even the Cross Castle was far, and Freina was likely to be at the main castle.
If I went to the main castle, it would take at least three days, or honestly, five days or more, for me to handle them alone.
It was a situation where I couldn’t help but be on edge.
Even if Gririan was by my side, if they didn’t do anything reckless, it was ambiguous whether I should take the initiative.
He was a member of the royal family, not the Rinetta family, and in the current situation, it was impossible for him to make a unilateral judgment and clash with the Goddess’s teachings…
“Calm down, master.”
“At least they can’t harm us recklessly.”
That was true. Although most of my undead were tied up in the oasis, Night Baronet Entin and Master Kaila, who were close to me, were guarding my side.
I was also a 6-class dark mage. Their abilities weren’t ordinary, but honestly, judging from their outward appearance, there was a huge gap in our abilities.
“If they can’t pose a physical threat, it’s fine. They’re the ones who made the first move, so if we just stall for time, the lord will handle it well.”
That’s what the lord was for.
“That’s right.”
“You don’t need to try to figure out their goals. Just avoid conflict. That’s all you need to think about.”
I had a lot on my mind.
It was self-defense, but since they suddenly showed up, I couldn’t help but think a lot.
“Perhaps that was one of their goals too.”
I accepted Kaila’s advice and chose to maintain a moderate distance from the priests.
“Haha. This place is quite nice too. If possible, I’d like to build a temple inside the castle. Maybe there’s a better location…”
They were really trying to grab a spot in the temple, wandering around the castle and talking about how this place was good and that place was good.
I had to accompany them, and Kaila guarded my side.
Like that, three days passed. They didn’t show any suspicious movements, and Fillet only bothered me without doing anything else.
At first, I thought Fillet might be using me to manipulate others or do something.
So, I was always on high alert, with my nerves stretched taut.
However, that wasn’t the case.
They didn’t show any unusual movements, and Kyle raised a somewhat peculiar speculation.
“Maybe they came to see… the Lord.”
“What do you mean? The Goddess Church? Why?”
“If they know about the Lord, they can’t help but be cautious.”
Athena’s words made it seem plausible.
A young dark mage who reached the pinnacle at a young age.
The Goddess Church, which dislikes dark mages, would naturally be interested.
Although it wasn’t publicly known that I had reached the 6th Class, in reality, reaching the 4th or 5th Class by my 20s was an impossible feat.
Considering Kyle and Athena…
“It just occurred to me, they didn’t ask about Athena’s whereabouts.”
Thinking about it, it was highly possible.
Even if they really sent a priest to confirm my identity, there was something that didn’t add up.
“The sacrifice is too great for that.”
“That’s true, but…”.
This would definitely become a major diplomatic issue.
But would they take such a risk and bear the danger just to investigate me?
Honestly, it didn’t make sense.
“…Anyway, if that’s the reason, it’s better to just wait and see.”
It meant that if that was the case, all I had to do was wait.
I didn’t care if they were interested in me and investigated me, even if I was stuck in this barren land.
With so many things going on at once, the little interest they had in me would disappear in an instant.
Five days passed, and then seven days passed, and I couldn’t help but have doubts.
No one came to the Desert Shield.
The Lord also had no news.
Half of the forces under Griean’s command, who had left the Desert Shield, were also incommunicado.
Meanwhile, Philere was bothering me every day, and I started to think that Kyle’s speculation might be correct, when finally, Prina arrived at the Desert Shield.
It had been a week since the priest came, and at the same time, some unpleasant news arrived.
And because of that news, the reason for the priest’s visit was suddenly revealed.
Their goal was to monitor me, and at the same time, to bind me to this place, the Rennetta territory.
The war between Juterus and Doriarem’s territories.
It had finally begun.
“If it weren’t for that woman, I would have killed him.”
“Calm down, Judge.”
“We would have had to deal with him even if we died. We had to try…”.
“You can’t waste your people on a failed attempt. For a week, he constantly kept us on guard. If that woman hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t have been able to kill him.”
“What Philere said is true, Judge. And that woman… was stronger than the rumors. Another woman also didn’t show up.”
“The other one must be staying in the barren land. I heard that the number of undead was fewer than expected. It’s clear that most of their forces are stationed in the barren land. It was a unique opportunity.”
“Unfortunately, our forces were insufficient to take advantage of that opportunity. Judge, I know it’s disappointing, but it was impossible.”
“Damn it!”
The judge could not contain his anger.
Philere ignored the judge and asked another man.
“What about the inquisitor?”
“Do Inha, regarding that cursed necromancer…”
“Strong. Stronger than rumors. It’s worth watching. That undead. He was a Skeleton Knight Banneret.”
“Clearly, he’s not an ordinary undead.”
“He’s top-tier, even among high-tier undead. Except for Death Knights, he’s practically the strongest undead. Do Inha, he’s reached level 6.”
“At his age, level 6… Clearly, he’s dangerous.”
“It was the right decision to bind him. If we hadn’t, the Juters Mercenary Branch wouldn’t have moved….Even if they did, their plans would’ve been ruined if someone like him joined.”
“Learning his intentions was also a significant gain.”
“Yes. I agree with Philere’s words. He didn’t plan to leave that place.”
The seclusion in Yangji. It’s close to that.
“Then why did he climb up to Yangji… It’s something that could’ve been done in Umji as well.”
“Hoo… He’s shown his true colors.”
“Have you calmed down, Judge?”
“Then let’s meet the Archbishop and head to the Sacred Empire immediately.”
“…Are you abandoning Juters?”
“There are separate personnel to support that place. Anyway, the 6 Kingdoms Alliance has chosen the path of distrust and joined hands with the Interracial Alliance. They’ll learn the ‘truth’ as well. We’ll use the remaining forces to cause maximum chaos. We’ve invested too much to give up now.”
“That’s right.”
“Heretics will pay the price.”
Philere’s words resonated with the two men, who spoke with slightly excited faces.
“We’ll create the greatest chaos possible. The Holy War is near, after all.”
“Originally, we needed at least 10 years of preparation, but given the situation, it’ll be done as quickly as possible.”
“That’s fine. The basic preparations are complete, I’ve heard.”
“That’s correct. We wanted to prepare thoroughly for the Holy War, but it’s possible to start anytime.”
“What about Do Inha, then?”
“I’ll just report. The decision is…”
Philere gazed at the carriage’s ceiling for a moment before speaking.
“It will come from the heavens.”
The judge and inquisitor quietly recited a prayer at his words.
< Episode 160 ﹥ Turmoil
“You crazy bastards.”
Prina Rineata couldn’t hide her anger.
“You’re insane. Where did you sell your dignity? Are you going all out now?”
She showed an unprecedented level of anger.
“Please calm down, Your Excellency.”
“Lord Atolek, how can I not be angry? They’ve ruined my face. They bound my fiancé and analyzed his abilities to try and sway my attention. And I fell for it.”
Even with me in front of her, she couldn’t hide her anger.
“They’ll pay the price. I’ll report the shameful act of the Goddess Church to the royal family immediately and expel the entire negotiation team. I’d like to execute them all if possible.”
“That’s not possible.”
“I know. Even if we tear each other apart, it’s not going to be refreshing. But we’ll make them pay the price.”
“The royal family will help us.”
“That’s right. Although I’ve been humiliated, it’s beneficial for the royal family. We can use this incident to pressure the nobles friendly to the Goddess’s Church and easily push our temple into their territories.”
Even in the midst of anger, Prina’s mind was racing quickly.
Indeed, she wasn’t incompetent. Although she had fallen into their trap and was slow to understand the situation, it was understandable given the conflict between Doriem and Juters.
“At first, it was a situation where we couldn’t do anything, so we were powerless. It’s not like we were really incompetent.”
Of course, our actions so far have proven that.
“The power of the territory is too weak, and it’s infuriating. Those filthy people, pretending to be priests who serve the gods.”
Prina, who had been cursing the Goddess’s Church and venting her anger, finally calmed down after a while and looked at me.
“You’ve seen my shame.”
“No, I understand that it’s a situation that warrants anger.”
“I’m worried that they might have been rude to you.”
“It’s because they had to keep me here that they didn’t dare to be rude.”
Except for Phil, the high priest, the others looked at me with unpleasant eyes, but that was all.
In reality, they didn’t do anything to me.
“It’s fortunate, anyway. If they had, I would have chased their carriages at all costs.”
“By the way, I heard that Doriem and Juters clashed…”
“Most of the mercenaries we hired went back to Doriem. We almost lost Doriem entirely. Thanks to the mercenary unit that defected from Juters, we were able to overcome the crisis.”
“Defected… what do you mean?”
“Yes, it was a guy named Erayan.”
I remembered him as someone I had hired before. Thanks to him, we were able to handle the request well.
It seemed like he had officially defected.
“Still, it was a dangerous situation, and most mercenaries had to return to Doriem. Although we received a large amount of compensation, our military power has decreased, making it difficult to recover the other castles except for the Desert Shield.”
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However, she said it was fortunate that we had the funds to train regular soldiers and knights, which was necessary to maintain the castle.
It’s just a matter of time.
“At least, we’ve mostly eliminated the monsters within the territory, and there’s a rumor that there’s work to be done, so external mercenaries are coming to us one by one, which helps us maintain the current situation.”
“But, I don’t see the ambassador from the interspecies union.”
“…They’ve gone to the barren land.”
“The barren land… Well, they’re just stuck there alone…”
Honestly, I didn’t want to show outsiders my territory, which was like my own home, but I had no choice.
“It’s better than being discovered by the Goddess’s Church.”