The Low-Key Life of a Necromancer

When the old king was young, he climbed the steps of the temple with devout faith.

There are ninety-nine steps in front of the cathedral, which symbolize human suffering and the tenacious spirit to overcome it.

When the old king was young, he attached great importance to all of this. He climbed up step by step together with other devout believers.

He even kissed the steps beneath his feet.

Thinking about it now, I realize how ridiculous I was back then.

"Huh~ I heard that the holy mountain at the headquarters of the Southern Continent's Holy Temple has 999 steps. If you really want to climb up, you will be exhausted to death!"

The king complained as he rested on his crutches.

Looking at the magnificent cathedral in front of him, the old king felt heartbroken.

The interior and exterior decorations of this cathedral were made of expensive monster materials and rare precious metals.

Thousands of pounds of gold were melted into paint, making the statues inside and outside the church sparkle.

These, the wealth of the kingdom, are only adorned with useless sculptures!

"Your Majesty, welcome to the temple. What brings you here today?"

Upon learning that the old king had broken into the church, the archbishop had been waiting here in advance.

The relationship between the king and the temple is no longer as passionate as it was in the beginning. The two sides have ignored each other for several years. The king's arrival today obviously has a special reason.

The archbishop maintained basic courtesy towards the king, but the bishops around him were not so nice.

"Your Majesty, I heard that you are dissatisfied with the clergy guarding the gate. This is a holy temple. Your Majesty should have the most basic respect!"

The king knew without asking that the cardinal in front of him who dared to confront him was Sid mentioned by the two gatekeepers before.

This Sid has a treacherous face and doesn't look like a good person. No one knows how he became a cardinal.

However, the king did not judge a person by his appearance. After all, this West German bishop was very responsible as he dared to stand up for his subordinates.

"Step back, Sid. His Majesty the King and I have something to talk about. You'll only disturb us if you stay here!"

The archbishop did not want to see a conflict between the king and Sid, so he drove Sid away and communicated with the king alone.

After a short rest, the old king was no longer as out of breath as before.

The old king tried his best to stand up straight and told the archbishop in front of him his intention.

"The situation in the North is about to change. The Holy Temple should fulfill its promise to me!"

The last time the archbishop took over, the king made a great effort to push the archbishop in front of him to the stage.

Now the kingdom is facing a threat, and the king wants to use the power of the temple to help him.

The archbishop looked surprised. He did not expect that the old king came to him to seek help from the temple.

You know, the king holds the strongest knight order in the kingdom. Unless the demons formally invade the northern continent, no one should be able to pose a threat to the king.

As for the North, there has indeed been some chaos in the North in the past two years, but the North is a barren land. I heard that the North has also accepted the primitive natives of the Highlanders, who do not seem to be able to pose a threat to the kingdom at all.

When the old king saw the archbishop's puzzled expression, he knew that he did not recognize the real danger at all.

The archbishop made the same mistake as himself, thinking that the ignorant people in remote areas would not become a threatening force.

The old king sighed helplessly.

"Archbishop, you are good at managing the church and serving the goddess, but unfortunately, you don't understand the governance of the kingdom or the economic chain."

The archbishop remained silent when the old king pointed out his weaknesses.

The archbishop really doesn't understand these matters. After all, if he wants to become the archbishop, all he needs to do is to manage the cathedral well.

"Let me tell you this. Seventy percent of the nobles in the capital have sent their caravans to the North. Thirty percent have sent their family members to the North to run businesses. Another ten percent have gone directly to the North. The elites of our kingdom are being lost to the North!"

What is flowing to the North is not only the social elites, but also wealth, population, and magical technology!

"Your Majesty, it is common for nobles to pursue profit. Are you making a big fuss about it?"

Seeing that the archbishop still failed to recognize the threat despite his reminder, the old king suddenly felt that his original decision was wrong.

Perhaps, I should not support this archbishop with limited ability, but should support Pastor Martin who cares about the people.

Unfortunately, in order to gain more support, I missed the opportunity to establish a good relationship with Pastor Martin.

"Archbishop, you think that the Northland is just a minor conflict, but a minor conflict cannot last this long!"

For two consecutive years, the North has become increasingly independent and prosperous. This is not the rhythm of a normal rebellion.

In order to make the archbishop understand how critical the situation is, the old king directly brought up the history that the church was most reluctant to be told to outsiders.

"Archbishop! The power that was secretly developed but instantly spread throughout the human kingdom is the Cathedral itself!"

Hundreds of years ago, today's cathedral was just a simple faith consisting of some priests and nuns in a local church.

However, when the devil came and humanity was in crisis, the temple instantly expanded its influence and took away half of the power from the king.

When the old king mentioned this matter, the archbishop's pupils suddenly shrank. He looked at the king in horror, unable to believe that the king would say such a thing.

"Your Majesty, do you doubt the promise of the Holy Temple? I can assure you that the Holy Temple will definitely abide by its original promise and ensure that your family sits firmly on the throne!"

The archbishop still didn't understand the point of the matter.

He thought the king came today to put pressure on the temple.

The king is old and is afraid that the throne will be usurped by other families, so he wants to pull the temple into his camp at this time.

The old king was finally angry. He didn't expect the archbishop to be so stupid and so incompetent.

The king slapped the archbishop hard, and the two elderly men fell to the ground.

The king sprained his back and the archbishop's cheek swelled up.

The crown symbolizing royal power and the archbishop's hat all fell to the ground.

"I'm serious. We need to deal with the North now. Use the power of your temple!"

After the king shouted this, he started coughing. He had exerted too much force and now he felt unwell all over.

The archbishop was terrified. Since he took the position of archbishop, no one dared to hit him like this in more than ten years.

The panicked archbishop hastened to bow to the king.

"Okay, whatever you say, just stop hitting me! You can mobilize the cavalry of the temple at will, this is the king's right!"

How ridiculous, it is the king's right?

You must know that before today, the king wanted to mobilize the Templar Knights countless times, but the Templar Knights never listened to the king's orders.

The old king regretted deeply why he had to share power with these fools.

These fools who will agree to anything when a knife is placed on their necks are totally incapable of reviving the kingdom!