...

And the person who wrote this line... was none other than "Ashbringer" Lester.

The most-wanted criminal from two hundred years ago, famous throughout the Empire for capturing a Quasi-Saintess of the Holy Light and turning her into an Undead?

The Necromancer from the legends—evil, insane, a blasphemer of gods?

He...

He’s a Transmigrator too?!

"Well, damn. I’ll be damned," Lynch’s mind went blank for a while before he finally came to his senses and continued reading.

[If you can read this line, it means you’re a ’fellow countryman’ too. Or at least, someone who understands Chinese.]

[No matter who you are, since you’ve found this place, you must have gotten one of the treasure maps I left behind. You’ve also surely heard about my glorious deeds—kidnapping a Quasi-Saintess, blaspheming the gods, conducting human experiments, and so on...]

[Bullshit. It’s all bullshit.]

[Alice and I were truly in love. Yes, you read that right. A Necromancer dating a Quasi-Saintess from the Holy Light Church. Sounds like a cheesy melodrama, doesn’t it? But that’s the truth.]

[We met by accident... and then... secretly dated for two years. Those two years were the happiest time of my life, even though we had to act like thieves every time we met.]

[But here was the problem: she was a Quasi-Saintess, destined to serve the Holy Light and remain unmarried for life. And I was a Necromancer, more disgusting than a demon in the Church’s eyes.]

[Our romance felt like a clandestine meeting between spies. It was thrilling, sure, but we couldn’t go on like that forever, right?]

[So, to find a way out, I began researching the ’Resurrection Skill.’ Not that garbage Skeleton Resurrection Skill or Corpse Resurrection Skill, but a true resurrection that brings back the dead—flesh, blood, soul, and memories intact.]

[I thought, if I could develop a true Resurrection Skill and prove that death wasn’t irreversible, then Undead Magic would no longer be blasphemy, but a kind of... medicine? Or a miracle? Then, I would present it to His Majesty, win the highest glory, and Alice and I could finally be together openly.]

Ugh...

Reading this, Lynch couldn’t help but start complaining in his head.

’Was this fellow countryman Lester from an era before web novels were a thing?’

’He seems a bit naive.’

’If only he had read a few more web novels, he wouldn’t have been so foolish...’

Sighing internally, Lynch continued reading.

[You must think I’m naive, right? I think so too now, but back then, I was just completely caught up in the moment.]

[Originally, everything was progressing smoothly, until... the Church caught wind of it from somewhere. They couldn’t tolerate anyone researching the ’Resurrection Skill,’ as it struck at the core of their doctrine—only gods have the right to decide life and death.]

[They prepared to hunt me down.]

[It was Alice who risked her life to secretly warn me. I managed to escape, but I never expected... the Church would immediately detain Alice and use her to threaten me into surrendering.]

[So I gathered a few trustworthy friends to rescue her, and of course, we walked right into an ambush.]

[The battle was brutal, but I’m no pushover. I risked my life, managed to snatch Alice away, and carved a bloody path out of there.]

[Unfortunately... I was still too naive.]

[The Church had already prepared for this. They had long since planted a ’Bright Jade’ inside Alice’s body.]

[We were halfway through our escape when the gates of heaven opened. Two-winged Angels descended, claiming they were there to take Alice away.]

[Another vicious battle ensued... I don’t want to recall the details. In short, Alice died... Her body disintegrated, and her soul shattered.]

[I recovered her corpse.]

[And then... I used that still-immature Resurrection Skill.]

[As for the rest of the story... let’s save it for another time. Anyway, I left behind a large number of treasure maps and many copies of this "will" you’re reading. I don’t trust anyone now. I just hope that if a fellow countryman sees my will, they can inherit the legacy I’ve left behind. As for the conditions... we’ll talk about that after you’ve inherited my mantle.]

[The treasure I left behind isn’t here, of course. Its real location is in the Angelo Mountains, deep within the Mist Forest. The coordinates are...]

[Alright, that’s all for now. If you can understand my message and are willing to walk the path of a Necromancer, then come find me~~]

Ugh...

Lester was probably afraid of someone deciphering the coordinates, so he actually wrote them using complex Chinese numerals.

After reading the entire note, Lynch thought, ’I’ll be damned,’ once again.

He finally understood why Lester had scattered so many treasure maps, yet no one had ever found the treasure and instead cursed him as a liar. It was because they didn’t understand a lick of Chinese.

’The Mist Forest?’

’I have to go. I definitely have to go.’

’But I’m too weak right now. At the very least, I need to wait until I’ve been promoted to a full-fledged Necromancer and have assembled a stronger Undead Corps.’

Meanwhile, the three girls watched Lynch stand there motionless, his expression shifting, and couldn’t help but worry.

"Senior? What’s wrong?" Lilith asked in a small voice. "What does the Scroll say?"

Lynch slowly raised his head, casually tossed the parchment back into the metal box, and threw it to Lilith. "Lester’s treasure. Damn it, that guy really is an old swindler."

The three girls were curious. After passing the scroll around, Lilith pouted. "It’s just like the rumors say. Lester throws treasure maps all over the place, only to leave behind a completely incomprehensible letter, just to mess with everyone."

Avril chimed in, "I also heard that this letter of his has ruined many professionals. They were convinced it held a secret and spent their entire lives immersed in studying it, squandering what could have been promising futures."

"Alright, that’s enough. This ends here. Keep the fact that we found ’Lester’s treasure’ a secret, so we don’t get laughed at." Lynch looked annoyed. "What rotten luck. Couldn’t he have at least left a few Gemstones so I could make a small fortune?"

"Let’s go, let’s go." Lynch didn’t even want the box anymore and led the group out.

’The box Lester left behind definitely doesn’t have any clues,’ Lynch thought. ’Otherwise, how could so many people have studied it for so many years without any results?’

’The only important clue was the location and coordinates he wrote in Chinese.’

The three girls had no reason to doubt him and immediately prepared to leave the tomb with him.

Next, Lynch and his group first went to Stone Crow Town to get the mission receipt and the highest evaluation from the town mayor.

As for the other two gathering quests, Lynch simply abandoned them.

After resting for a night in Stone Crow Town, Lynch parted ways with the three girls.

The three of them needed to return to the academy to submit their mission report—a report that Lynch had clearly reviewed beforehand, omitting many details.

Lynch, however, took a detour and first went to the Soldier Concealment Cave.

He left most of his Skeleton Corps in the Soldier Concealment Cave, taking only his personal guards: the Black Corpse, now in a new black-hooded robe; the Skeleton Mage; Red Rabbit; and the Bear Goblins Skeleton. As for Bone Jade and Bone Valor, he could simply send them back to the Netherworld.

Then, he returned to the academy, entering through a secluded back gate.

Since the academy had its own Necromancers, he wouldn’t attract too much attention as long as he wasn’t overly ostentatious.

Out of "respect" for Necromancers, the mayor gave him an "Extremely Excellent" rating for the goblin extermination mission and even reported a high number of merits. In the end, Lynch actually received eight hundred academic credits for the mission.

With the credits, he immediately went to exchange them for two large bags of fortified bone powder before returning to his detached cottage.

The moment he returned to his own "home."

Lynch’s tense mood instantly relaxed a great deal.

This trip out for the mission had seemed very relaxed, and he had been laughing and joking with his junior schoolmates.

But in reality, he had been on edge the entire time.

’Lester’s treasure coordinates... Mist Forest, Angelo Mountains...’

’What kind of surprise did that old countryman leave for me?’

Of course, Lynch also considered the possibility that it might be a trap. It was just like in the web novels he read before transmigration, where an old master would often use their legacy as bait to trick a junior into being a vessel for possession.

But on second thought, the possibility wasn’t very high.

’If it were a possession trap, Lester wouldn’t have needed to go through the trouble of creating a riddle in Chinese. He could have just tricked a large group of Necromancers to come, and he could have picked and chosen whom to possess.’

’Furthermore, even Lester himself probably couldn’t be sure if there would be another Transmigrator among the future generations. And even if he could, how could he guarantee that this junior would ever see the riddle he left behind?’

Therefore, the Angelo Mountains would definitely be Lynch’s main objective for the next stage.

Of course, the prerequisite was to go after he was promoted to a full-fledged Mage. As an apprentice, his means were still too limited.

"Power..." he muttered to himself. "It’s still not enough."

「In the following days.」

His main focus was to calm down and improve his strength, especially Bone Jade and the Skeleton Mage. If he could nurture them into a Tier One Skeleton Warrior and a Tier One Skeleton Mage, his overall power would increase significantly.

And so, Lynch returned to his life of seclusion.

「A week passed like this.」

On this day, Lynch was just about to head out at night to receive a batch of fresh corpses.

Suddenly, the sounds of a battle came from outside his courtyard. It sounded like it was near the cemetery, and from there, he could hear the clamorous shouts of students who were in class.

"A fight broke out!"

"Senior Amadis and the Holy Knight Catherine from the Holy Light System are fighting!"

’Amadis?’

Lynch was stunned for a moment, but he quickly remembered.

’Isn’t that the rich noble senior who only appeared in rumors and whom I’ve never met?’

’Could it be that she’s returned after being promoted to a full-fledged Necromancer?’

...