The Necromancer's Church Management Manual

This is an underground metropolis built by the followers of the God of Death, also known as the Gray Zone. It was here that Andrew received the blessing of the God of Death.

This is also one of the reasons why Gal chose the Black Dusk City land deed.

It has been more than three years since I last came here. Although the general layout has not changed much, there are still many changes.

Following his memory, Gar finally found his destination in the magic scroll shop.

He entered the old shop, where stacks of dusty magic books were haphazardly placed on the shelves and the floor, blocking the walkable area so that only one person could barely pass through.

This is a shop that Andrew used to frequent. The shop mainly sells various types of magic circle scrolls. Andrew also bought a gold-level necromancer named Hans from the shopkeeper.

However, Andrew mainly regarded this place as a place to gather intelligence. Here, he could buy all kinds of information and anecdotes about the Kingdom of Slo.

So Gal decided to take a chance and try his luck.

He leaned against the counter, his gaze falling on the white-bearded old man reclining on the inner chair, eyes closed in rest. He spoke as if to an old friend, speaking familiarly:

"Old man, how have you been?"

The shopkeeper slowly opened one eye, his cloudy gaze sweeping over the man's black robe before finally settling on his face, then casually closing it again.

"You brat, weren't you arrested by the federal government?"

His tone was casual, but there was little surprise in it, as if he already knew that Gar had escaped.

"As expected of an intelligence broker, I knew I couldn't hide anything from you. Luckily, I was rescued by someone else, otherwise I would be Louis XVI of Cospree."

"I didn't know at first. After all, you haven't been to my shop for years. I thought you were dead in some inconspicuous corner." Although the shopkeeper didn't recognize Louis XVI, he knew he was probably some unlucky guy who had been punished. He continued helplessly, "But then last week, your good brother Zane heard that you were wanted by the Federation and was so excited that he wanted to tell the whole world. Even if I didn't want to know, I couldn't stop the news from creeping into my ears."

Upon hearing this news, Garr gently cracked his knuckles, making a clicking sound, while his face remained smiling.

"I really don't understand why he'd be so happy about my beheading. He should be the heir to the Duke of Cadisia by now, so my life or death shouldn't affect him at all, right?"

Instead of answering, the store manager asked, "Don't you know the reason behind all this?"

"Me?" Gar was confused. Perhaps Andrew had a grudge against Zane before he was twelve, but his memories of that time were too blurry. What exactly happened and why Zane hated him were unknown to Gar.

"Kid, power is like a piece of fat meat lying in the wilderness. Even if you have it in your mouth, you won't feel secure if that hungry wolf is watching you. Only when you're dead can he enjoy it without worry."

The store manager sighed, then got straight to the point:

"I know you risked coming here not to listen to my rambling, so just tell me what you need."

"I need information on all the major and minor events that have occurred in Black Twilight City over the past year."

Upon hearing the message, the shopkeeper lifted his withered legs, gave a powerful push, and jumped off the rocking chair. He quickly rummaged through the bookshelves, pulled out a bundle of sealed parchment, and tossed it onto the counter.

"5 silver coins, the usual price, no bargaining."

Gar raised an eyebrow, flicked his finger, placed a gold coin with a dragon pattern on the counter, and pushed it in front of the shopkeeper.

"With the remaining money, can we exchange it for a small church blueprint, plus a summoning scroll from a necromancer skilled in architecture? Is that possible?"

The shopkeeper didn't press Garr about the purpose of his purchases, as it's the rule in the black market that buyers and sellers don't pry into each other's details.

"That's not enough." He didn't rush to pick up the gold coin, but stated calmly, "The magic circle master who drew the necromancer scrolls died a while ago, and now his good apprentice is taking over drawing these magic circles. Her skills are not yet proficient, and as a result, the price of these summoning scrolls has increased several times over."

As he spoke, he held up three fingers: "Right now, this is the market price for this stuff. Although I don't have any here, I can help you get some."

"That's really dark, old man." Garr scratched his head, pondering whether it was necessary to hire a necromancer skilled in construction, given the current situation. He wouldn't be building just this one church in the future, and buying this necromancer now would be useful for many. However, his funds were limited, and he was currently focused on development, so raising money was somewhat troublesome. These three gold coins would give him a few more breaths.

In the end, Garr gritted his teeth, took out three gold coins, and pushed them in front of the shopkeeper.

Just as the store manager was about to collect the money, his hand paused.

"Old man, could you also give me a detailed list of the current power structures in Dark Twilight City?"

"Alright." The shopkeeper then ran to the bookshelf and searched through the division of Black Dust City's power and the construction blueprints for ordinary churches, placing them in front of Gal:

"You're pretty generous, that's why I gave it to you for free. I wouldn't give it to anyone else."

Only then did the shop manager collect the gold coins from the counter and leave the shop.

"Come with me, I'll take you to meet the new array master."

Gar followed the shopkeeper to the stall opposite, where a disheveled female magician was standing. She wore a large and heavy archmage's hat, which made her body hunch over. The heavy robes made it impossible to see any trace of her figure.

At this moment, she was engrossed in taking out the completed magic circle from the water, and then laying the alchemical scroll specially used to store the magic circle in the water, allowing the magic circle to seep completely into the scroll.

The advantage of doing this is that if you encounter problems while drawing the array, at least you won't waste expensive alchemy scrolls.

Finally, after the female magician took out the alchemical scroll and admired her masterpiece with satisfaction, the shopkeeper interrupted, saying:

"Wendy, cast a necromancy spell."

Wendy snapped out of her daze upon hearing the shopkeeper's voice. She looked up, her clear eyes, slightly bewildered, at the shopkeeper before turning to Gar:

"What kind of necromancer do you need?"

"He's an expert in architecture," Garr said.

Wendy tapped her chin with her slender fingers, looked up at the ceiling decorated with exquisite lampshades, pondered for a moment, and said:

"...I just happened to get one from the Melessen boss a while ago. Want a used scroll? I'll charge you 2 gold and 40 silver."

"Don't mind, take it out quickly." The shopkeeper immediately took out the bag of money, scattered 2 gold and 40 silver on Wendy's table, and then looked at Gar without changing his expression, teasing him.

"What's wrong? Your eyebrows are furrowed so deeply, they're almost as furrowed as Anthony's owl!"

"You ripped me off pretty badly too." Gar could only sigh helplessly as he looked at the shopkeeper's smug expression.

Who hasn't suffered a loss at some point?