A Fine Tourism Project, with Love from Larven

"Take it. This is yours, and this is yours..."

The first day of work had ended, and Jia Xiu, the boss, generously handed out money to the employees.

Jack, the "lead actor," had already collected his pay and left. He still had spells to study.

Cleric Karl had also left early. The church still needed him.

That left only the cultists present.

They had received three groups of tourists on the first day, sixteen people in total. It was a decent start.

The income came to 2 Kroner and 56 Hel. After deducting Jack's share and Peggy's commission, Jia Xiu kept none of it for himself and distributed everything among the cultists, encouraging them to work even harder.

"Senior, aren't you keeping any for yourself?"

"I don't need any of this. My one and only wish is to complete our great ritual!"

As Jia Xiu said this, he seemed to have a halo behind him.

"Senior..."

The cultists were so moved they nearly cried. After spending so many years in this line of work, they had finally met a reliable senior.

"Keep up the good work tomorrow."

With that, Jia Xiu clasped his hands behind his back and strutted off like some lofty master, returning to the cave to check on the undead summoning.

Once that undead was successfully summoned, none of them would be getting away. Every last coin they had taken would have to be returned.

At the altar in the cave, Jia Xiu carefully examined the changes brought about by faith.

The fact that believing actually worked still came as quite a shock to him.

But as a staunch materialist, the power of faith and the existence of gods did not shatter his worldview.

Since both truly existed, they were simply part of the material world.

As long as it was not as absurd as Greenskin "Ork Logic," it could all be studied.

Activating Rune Eye, Jia Xiu saw the sinister altar transform into lines of code...

"Hmm. At the current rate, it will probably take another two months. But the number of tourists here should gradually increase. If things go smoothly, it might only take one month."

Prayer was indeed less efficient than sacrificing living people, but there were simply too many people praying.

Jia Xiu was fairly satisfied with that timeline. It should not delay his exam preparations at all.

Before leaving the cave, he did not forget to paint the cultists a rosy picture.

"Followers of the God of Deceit and Curses, in no more than sixty days, our dream will be realized!"

His words drew another round of cheers from the cultists.

Only Billy clapped with a fake smile. This was clearly his dream, so how had it become "our" dream?

This was clearly his cult's hideout. All he had wanted was a senior to guide him, not one who would directly replace him.

Once the undead was summoned, he would kill this hypocritical Warlock!

Billy thought viciously.

That would not count as betrayal. After all, that was what he taught: what kind of follower of the God of Deception would be afraid to deceive fellow believers?

Jia Xiu paid no attention to what the cult leader was thinking. He had far more than this one matter to deal with.

The questions he had gotten wrong while drilling during the day still needed to be sorted out and reviewed at night.

He needed to summarize approaches for every type of problem and focus entirely on exam-taking, answering questions formulaically.

These exam prep books were still far too superficial in their development of test-taking techniques.

After returning to the Caster Association, Jia Xiu received another piece of good news.

Margaret had replied.

Perhaps because there was not enough room to write on a crystal ball, Margaret had simply sent him a package.

Inside were a book, a letter, and a magic scroll.

Jia Xiu looked at the book first.

Undead Basics. Its cover felt excellent to the touch, and he could tell the book was quite valuable.

Here, all knowledge was expensive. Textbooks could be passed down as family heirlooms.

Jia Xiu opened the envelope.

"As for how to control an undead, I advise you not to do it. But if you refuse to listen, the scroll for a contract binding an undead is in the package.

"To bind an undead, you first need to determine its type. Read the book to find out how.

"Regardless of the type of undead, practical details may differ, but the general direction is basically the same. You must first fulfill the undead's final wish, then release its resentment.

"Once those two conditions are met, the contract scroll should basically work. If they are not met, don't force a contract.

"Don't damage the book. Return it to me when you get to Larven.

"Don't get yourself killed!!!"

That line was followed by a string of exclamation marks and a snarling, threatening face.

Kind of cute...

"You don't think this is just an expression, do you?!"

The expression suddenly moved, and Margaret's deliberately angry voice came from it, startling Jia Xiu.

"Did that scare you?"

Why did this expression seem to be talking to him? Could it be...?

"Yes. It is not just a message. It has a degree of intelligence too. Keep it with you. If you encounter danger you cannot handle, I'll know."

Jia Xiu was just about to feel touched when the expression continued speaking.

"I told you to prepare properly for your exams, but instead of studying, you spend all day messing with this nonsense. You are seriously the worst student I've ever taught! What if you fail to get in? At most, I'll give you one more year..."

Jia Xiu quietly put the letter back into the envelope.

He knew Margaret meant well, but she was just a tiny bit noisy.

However, putting it back in the envelope did not block the sound.

Margaret's voice came through the envelope, muffled.

"You still dare ignore me?! You have some nerve. Just wait until you get to Larven and see how I deal with you! Don't come looking for me anymore if anything happens. Go find your Sect Master instead..."

Jia Xiu sighed helplessly.

He wanted to find his Sect Master too, but his Sect Master's name was a string of garbled characters and its functions resembled a system. Where was he supposed to look?

Still, Jia Xiu liked this mentor very much.

At the very least, she was far better than the kind of advisor who usually ignored everything, then tried to add other people's names as authors once a paper had been finished.

With the method clarified, what to do next was obvious.

The only clue he had about the sleeping undead in the cave was that it was called Bubu.

To learn its final wish and resentment, he first had to find out exactly who Bubu was.

The good news was that although Creekwood Town's library of magic books had a pitiful collection, its regular library had plenty of books.

Especially historical materials.

There was a local family of clerics who had diligently recorded Creekwood Town's history for generations. Everything they wrote was stored in the library beside the lord's manor.

Although Jia Xiu's relationship with the lord's family was somewhat delicate, his status as an official member of the Caster Association was still enough to get him into the lord's library.

Time waited for no one, so Jia Xiu set off immediately.

The following days were the days he missed electronic library search systems most in his entire life...

At this moment, in the Land of Divine Favor, City of Ten Thousand Laws, Larven.

On the snack street outside the rear gate of Saint Dero Spellcaster Academy.

As everyone knew, universities and snack streets had a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship.

Margaret was enjoying her favorite espresso with chocolate mousse.

Sitting across from her was a blonde girl around her age, holding a copy of the Iris Kingdom Geographic Gazette.

"Your black coffee."

"Thank you."

"What kind of coffee is black coffee?" Margaret had been busy lately and had not visited this shop for some time.

"Here, have a taste."

Margaret took a small sip.

"Uh, isn't this just espresso diluted with water? It tastes awful."

"You have no appreciation. I'm telling you, supposedly this way of drinking coffee helps you lose weight."

In this era, losing weight was something only nobles would ever talk about.

Margaret rolled her eyes. "You're already so thin. Why are you still trying to lose weight?"

"But my corset is still very tight."

"Those things are tight on everyone!"

Margaret had always felt that her best friend's pursuit of thinness was a little unhealthy.

The other girl did not want to continue this topic. She had never won an argument with Margaret in her life.

So she changed the subject. "Look, Folen Territory submitted an article introducing something called Cult Escape. It sounds pretty interesting. Let's go try it."

"Oh, my dear princess, Her Highness Emilia, I have work to do. I'm not like you, free to go wherever you please."

"Then I'll go by myself. I can check on how that Jia Xiu you're always thinking about is doing."

"What do you mean, always thinking about him? He's my student!"

"Oh, same difference."

Margaret suddenly noticed the magical photograph in the newspaper. Aside from the altar, there was also a portrait.

"Let me see that."

"What, now you want to go too? Don't worry. With me here, you can take leave whenever you want."

"No, this person looks familiar."

Margaret took the newspaper and looked at it for two seconds, her expression growing increasingly grave.

"That damned Jia Xiu! He's trying to capture an undead while running a business over there. Preparing for exams my ass! You Big Head!"