Chapter 28 - A Low-level Priest Who Hasn't Even Learned Sacred Magic

Chapter 28 A Low-level Priest Who Hasn’t Even Learned Sacred Magic

The soldiers did not enter the church. They stopped at the entrance and separated into groups to guard the entrance. The others spread out along the outer wall, standing one at a time to protect the entire church.

Robb realized that although the army was small, it was well-trained. Not many people spoke in the series of movements that surrounded the church. Baron Palses had not spoken at all, and the squad leader had simply pointed, and the soldiers had found their own places to stand. It was clear that they did a lot of similar training.

As soon as Baron Palses entered the churchyard, he found the cistern towering over the well. The cistern was built so high that when you looked at it from the ground, you couldn’t see a pool above it. All you could see was a large pile of stones stacked into a stone platform.

Intrigued, he gestured toward the cistern. “Did you set up a beacon in the church, Father? But isn’t this a bit low-“

“That’s for holding water. There’s a cistern up there.” Robb laughed.

What was the point of hoarding the water so high? Baron Palses understood that he couldn’t, but his mind wasn’t on it at the moment, so he didn’t ask any more questions. His priority was to find out more about the necromancer, and he didn’t need anyone to lead the way. He strode toward the cemetery behind the church.

Sister Ishgamel followed quickly, and Robb shuffled lazily.

The baron quickly crouched down in front of one of the now-empty crypts and peered inside for a moment or two. Then he looked at the tracks in the dirt at the entrance and looked up. “Sure enough,” he said. “The skeletons crawled out of it. Even the digging was done from the inside out.”

The nun walked to the mouth of the tomb, too, and hovered over it with an outstretched hand for several seconds. “I can still feel that dark magic that the necromancer left here.”

This nun was really quite beautiful. Her actions when she squatted down and reached out to sense the entrance of the tomb had a peaceful beauty. Coupled with her pure beautiful facial features and cold expression, she was like a still painting.

The baron looked up at Robb. “Father, can you tell us in detail what you saw that night?”

“Oh, no problem!” Robb slowly told him what he had seen that night. Of course, he told him only that he had used a dispelling spell to disperse the necromancer’s manipulation. He didn’t tell him that he had used the skill again to make the body crawl back into the tomb. He told him that he had moved the skeleton back into the tomb.

The baron and the nun listened grimly. After several long seconds, the baron looked up at the hillside beside them. “It seems possible that he was on that hillside at the time, manipulating the skeletons. After the priest dispelled the manipulation spell, he decisively withdrew. I think I should send a team to search that hillside immediately.”

Robb thought to himself: It’s not there! I checked the hillside with my scouting spell then. He wasn’t there.

But Robb would not say that, in case he got himself into trouble.

He didn’t say anything, but someone else did. Next to him, Sister Ishgamel said, “My lord, I rather think the necromancer wasn’t on the hillside at the time.”

Robb thought: Eh? How did you know? Detective Conan, sister version? One look at the scene, and you know a bunch of things?

The baron also turned back to her curiously. “Can you tell us why, Sister?”

The nun put on a cold face. “This necromancer is in the middle of a grand conspiracy. He’s already stolen more than seven hundred skeletons. From this, I can see that he must be very powerful. He can’t be a novice, low-level mage that can manipulate within short distances, or he wouldn’t have enough magic to command an army of the dead.”

Robb and the baron agreed. “Fair enough!”

The nun said, “If such a powerful necromancer had been on that hillside, do you think he would have retreated obediently? If a priest from a remote town had prevented the conspiracy, and possibly exposed it, he would have immediately killed the priest and disguised himself as a bandit to kill someone. That would have prevented Westwind from delivering that letter to the Grand Duke.”

“Oh,” said the Baron, enlightened. “Yes, indeed.”

Robb thought to himself: Huh? This nun is pretty smart! That made sense. The necromancer didn’t know how strong I was. If he had been there, he would have rushed out to silence me. However, he was far away and couldn’t attack me. Knowing that it was too late to stop me from sending the message, he simply gave up the idea of killing me. Of course, he was wise to give up. Otherwise, he would be hanging from the ceiling fan.

At that moment, the baron immediately added on a whim, “What if the necromancer is afraid to attack this priest because he’s afraid of being restrained by holy magic?”

The nun’s face hardened as she shook her head. “Although holy magic counters necromancers… that depends on who’s using it. A powerful necromancer doesn’t fear a low-level priest who hasn’t even learned all the holy magic. The so-called restraint can only be said when their powers are equal.”

“Oh, I see.” The baron nodded and dropped the suggestion.

However, this conversation between the two of them had directly labeled Robb as a low-level priest who had not even learned all the divine magic.

Robb did not know how to rebutt the two of them, so he comforted himself. Forget it. The nuns from the big city had a lot of bad habits. In her eyes, the small village priest was definitely not strong. I won’t argue. I’ll keep a low profile. That way I can be lazy. Whatever. In case you think I’m strong and insist on dragging me to help you do this and that. It’s annoying

The baron considered this carefully. “All the villages where the bones were stolen are at the foot of the Black Pines. Now we know for certain that when the necromancer was stealing the bones, the main body was very far from these villages. Which means… the place where he was hiding must have been deep in the Black Pines.”

He pointed an arm at the mountain stretching before them. “It seems we’ll have to go into the mountains and search. Dozens of skeletons were stolen here not long ago. They must have left many tracks when they entered the mountains. If we follow those tracks, we have a good chance of finding the necromancer.”

The nun nodded. “Alright.”

Robb was secretly pleased. ‘Come on, let’s all go. There’ll be no trouble for me now. It’s just that there’ll be a bit of a pity if the pretty nun goes… There are only priests and no nuns in the church. It feels like something’s missing…’

At that thought, the baron said, “It’s a good thing I came prepared. I’ve brought swordsmen and archers with me. We’ll have no problem searching the mountains. It’s getting late. We’ll camp in town for the night and go into the mountains early tomorrow to search. My soldiers will camp on the hillside next to the cemetery. I see a small stream over there. It’s perfect for camping. You don’t have to stay with us roughnecks, Sister. Just rest in the church for the night.”