Hearing Viktor's words, Count Laurien's expression couldn't help but grow dim.
"I didn't expect that Mr. Viktor had only just arrived in the kingdom and already knew about this matter."
Bitterness filled Count Laurien's voice. He let out a soft sigh, his expression showing a hint of helplessness.
Within the Kingdom of Cant, the merciless tragedy that befell Count Laurien was hardly a secret anymore.
Whether they were nobles of high status or simple and honest commoners, everyone knew the story of his suffering.
His wife had gone mad. His daughter had died.
Even more heartbreaking was that the daughter who died had been killed by his own insane wife.
Priscis's mother killed her with her own hands.
Because his wife had fallen into madness, Count Laurien, in order to prevent her from escaping the castle and rushing into the territory to harm the citizens, endured endless grief alone and imprisoned her in a hidden room within the castle, hanging a warning sign forbidding entry.
He also set up extremely powerful magical barriers around the room to stop his crazed wife from escaping her restraints.
He laid down powerful magical barriers all around to prevent his insane wife from breaking free.
After doing all this, the count nearly fell into boundless despair.
To bind his own wife with his own hands was like tearing open the deep wound in his heart again. The pain was unbearable.
Yet even after making such a painful decision, Count Laurien still did not give up on his wife.
The daily food supply, including seasonal clothing replacements, were all handled personally by him alone.
Only this powerful count himself would not be killed by his insane wife.
His deep devotion spread widely among the people.
It made many realize that Count Laurien was an extremely devoted husband.
Even though his wife had already gone mad, he still took care of her personally.
Such unwavering determination deeply moved everyone.
Because of this, Count Laurien was also called the "Deeply Devoted Count Surrounded by Roses."
And within his family, there was also a daughter.
His daughter was very beautiful, sensible, and well-behaved.
Everyone who had met her never held back their praise, sincerely admiring Priscis's perfection.
Count Laurien also felt comforted to have such a daughter.
He regarded his daughter as his most noble pride, even more precious than his own valuable title.
Day after day, Count Laurien carefully looked after his insane wife with utmost dedication.
But even the most careful plan can have a flaw.
One day, because he had to handle official matters, he attended a banquet that lords from various territories needed to participate in.
Being gone the entire day, he never realized what terrible price this single departure would cost him.
That night, when he returned home and searched through the rooms, he could not find Priscis anywhere.
Finally, he pushed open that sealed door.
And along with it, his shattered illusion.
What came into view was the sight of his daughter with her stomach ripped open.
Her corpse had its eyes wide open. Her limbs drooped to the floor as if they had been twisted and broken, arranged in an extremely strange fractured shape on a carpet stained red with blood.
The food his daughter had brought for her mother was scattered all over the floor, as if her final kindness and care had been torn apart mercilessly by her own family.
Seventeen-year-old Priscis.
Her life was forever frozen at the age of seventeen.
A daughter. A wife.
Good fortune never comes twice, but bad news never arrives alone.
All these tragic misfortunes fell upon Count Laurien at the same time.
Both of them were his beloved.
Count Laurien could not give up either one.
In unbearable pain, he sought help from the most respected grand duke in the Kingdom of Cant.
At this moment, Count Laurien spoke to Viktor.
"Mr. Viktor, as a mage, do you know about the profession of Necromancer?"
Viktor straightened slightly and looked up at Count Laurien. His calm voice sounded.
"Go on."
As if Viktor's reaction was exactly what he expected, Count Laurien showed no extra expression and continued speaking.
"Grand Duke Barlow is the last necromancer of the kingdom."
The mages of the Kingdom of Cant generally had a common flaw.
They didn't like following the rules and practicing elemental magic properly. Instead, they preferred taking strange paths and focusing on unusual specialties.
Because of this, there had rarely been any powerful elemental mages within the kingdom.
The kingdom warrior Chur, whom Viktor had once encountered, had in his background story tried to sacrifice players in order to cultivate powerful black magic.
The shield called "Evil Knight" that could reflect attacks back to the user was equipment Chur had forged through black magic.
In addition, the kingdom had far more warriors than mages, which caused the status of mages in the Kingdom of Cant to be extremely suppressed.
Yet in this country where mages were already very rare, there had once appeared a group of mages in the kingdom's history who had mastered black magic to a high level.
Leading them was the necromancer Grand Duke Barlow of the Kingdom of Cant.
They could control corpses and the souls of the dead, or even directly summon spirits buried deep in the earth to fight for them.
Even stronger necromancers could invade human souls and directly annihilate enemies on the level of the soul itself.
But in the end, all of these things belonged to branches of black magic.
The sinister nature of black magic was rarely acknowledged by orthodox mages, and naturally it was not recognized by the world's largest mage alliance, the Mage Council.
Manipulating corpses and souls was simply blasphemy against the dead.
So righteous mages naturally despised those who represented such evil.
However, the power of necromancers was something ordinary mages simply could not compare with.
Moreover, the necromancers were backed by a huge nation like the Kingdom of Cant.
The council could only condemn the behavior of necromancers. Other than that, they had no better way to deal with them.
Yet without anyone noticing, as time passed, the necromancers who once followed the Grand Duke of Cant gradually disappeared.
The only necromancer still alive and known to the world was the Grand Duke of the Kingdom of Cant.
He became the last necromancer in the world.
Even so, Grand Duke Barlow publicly declared that he would never again use this kind of "harmful" black magic.
Necromancers gradually vanished from history, and who knew how many years had passed since then.
Viktor relaxed his body and leaned back slightly against the sofa.
Duke Feistan. Feistan Barlow.
He was a legend of the Kingdom of Cant, and also Aurelian's grandfather.
Viktor naturally knew this.
In the middle stages of the game, mage players would gain a new branch profession, the Necromancer.
To change into this profession, they needed to find the corresponding class mentor.
Which was Duke Feistan Barlow.
However, the conditions for becoming a necromancer were extremely harsh.
As for what those conditions were...
Just as Viktor was lost in his memories, Count Laurien spoke again, "In order to save Priscis, I handed over ownership of my territory to the grand duke."
"Only to ask him to use necromancy once more and revive my daughter."
Necromancers could bring the soul of the dead back into reality, and even revive spirits through certain methods.
Count Laurien knew this, which was why he wanted to seek help from Grand Duke Barlow to resurrect his daughter.
But the grand duke had promised that he would never again use necromancy to disturb those who had already passed on to the afterlife.
So he only used ordinary black magic to keep Priscis's soul within the mansion.
That was all he did, yet the count was already deeply grateful.
But the price was that Priscis could not leave the mansion even a single step.
And she could only remember things from before she was seventeen years old.
Her state had been fixed at the age of seventeen, so she didn't remember that she had once been killed by her own mother.
Count Laurien warned her not to look for her mother, and not to show her body to strangers.
Because she was a wandering soul. She had no legs. She would frighten others.
Priscis herself also knew these things, so she had always followed the rules.
There was only one thing she could not do.
She loved her mother too much.
Even though her mother had already become like a mad demon, she still believed that her father had deliberately imprisoned her mother.
She feared that her mother would die alone in loneliness, and constantly wanted to break in and rescue her.
But her mother's room was sealed off by the grand duke's magic barrier. Aside from Laurien, no one else could enter.
So she wanted to ask a powerful mage to open that barrier.
"Just as you thought, I deliberately let Priscis know that you were a powerful mage. That's why she went to find you."
Count Laurien raised his head and looked at Viktor with an extremely serious gaze.
"This way, I would have a reason to request your help."
Viktor narrowed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and rested his elbows on his knees while looking at Count Laurien.
"So, you want Princess Aurelian to plead for you."
Hearing Viktor's words, Count Laurien nodded in acknowledgment.
Her Highness Aurelian was the granddaughter of Grand Duke Barlow.
With such a family connection, he hoped Aurelian would plead on his behalf and persuade the grand duke to use his long-sealed necromancy once again.
"I hope the grand duke can revive Priscis. She should continue living her life, not wander around the mansion every day like a ghost."
Viktor smiled slightly and continued speaking, "In that case, the person you should find is Aurelian, not me."
"I have nothing to do with your grand duke."
Count Laurien seemed to have already expected Viktor to say this.
So he stood up, reached into his clothes, and fumbled around as if searching for something.
Finally, he extended his hand and opened his palm.
A golden light burst from his hand, illuminating the large hall brilliantly.
In Count Laurien's hand was a cluster of golden wheat.
Even the surrounding air seemed to grow rich and fragrant because of its golden color.
"Please accept this, Councilor Clavenna."
Viktor looked at the golden wheat, his eyebrows raising slightly.
Because at that moment, from Viktor's perspective, the name of the item appeared.
[Wheat of the Goddess of Abundance]
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