Hogwarts: Legacy of the Necromancer

'Aler' had actually left some things unsaid. If they managed to seize the church, it would essentially become a new source of capital—something that could only benefit Carly Klaus's future. And successfully collecting meaningful items would further demonstrate Carly Klaus's powerful luck, making the dagger's original owner value her even more.

Though 'Aler', the "Soul of White Bone," only carried a sliver of Regulus Black's spiritual power, its way of thinking was already quite close to the original. It had a clear understanding of its identity: its current purpose was to assist Carly Klaus in gaining power and helping her, as a maid, earn the qualifications to one day become a mistress.

"Don't let the jewelry in front of you blind you. Wealth is easy to come by, but it's only a stepping stone on the path to success. You're not seriously planning to settle for just being a maid, are you?"

Seeing that Carly Klaus was still fixated on the cross, 'Aler' had no choice but to speak up.

"All right! All right! Calm down! Calm down!"

Carly Klaus put down the cross necklace and lightly slapped her own cheeks to snap herself out of it.

"Tell me what we should do next. Even though I've lived for hundreds of years, I've always been a wanderer. Maybe grabbing some cash and running suits me best."

Carly Klaus had no secrets from 'Aler'. For centuries, she had either been drifting or taken in by others. Owning property of her own had never happened—of course, this didn't count the hidden stashes of wealth she had scattered in various places.

"If all you want is a quick score and a clean getaway, then the safe upstairs contains large sums of cash, bonds, stocks, and deposit slips. This priest may not have held a high rank or had great status, but he was clearly good at raking in money—whether by tricking the congregation into donating or through smuggling, he had a solid system in place."

'Aler' couldn't ignore Carly Klaus's requests. It could only offer options and let Carly make her own decision. So when Carly indicated that a hit-and-run was more suited to her, 'Aler' could only begin by laying out the pros and cons.

"If you go with the quick score and flee approach, you'll end up with more than $600,000. In the United States, that's considered a fortune. The average person earns just a few dollars an hour."

The thought of making off with $600,000 made Carly Klaus very tempted.

Still, she could tell that 'Aler' hadn't finished speaking. Though she wasn't particularly interested in taking over the church, it wouldn't hurt to hear the rest—maybe it would turn out to be a good option.

"Tell me about the second option. If I wanted to take over the church, what would I have to do?"

Carly Klaus was ready to listen to advice. This was a realm she had never stepped into before. Despite living for centuries, she had never gotten involved—not because she lacked money, but because she never had the means or the power to protect her wealth. Without that, any riches would only become a danger.

"If you want to take over the church, there are two main approaches—public and secret. I don't know which one you'd prefer."

'Aler' stated this calmly. Both options had their pros and cons.

"I won't choose right now. Tell me everything, and I'll analyze it and decide for myself."

Carly Klaus had already made up her mind about which direction she was leaning toward. That made it even more important to understand all the details.

"With the public route, I can still temporarily control the priest's corpse, summon people from the church, and report your situation. You'd stay here under the identity of a 'Saintess in training,' allowing you to continue your practice. You would need to become a nun and possibly serve the Church for life. Of course, this doesn't align with the dagger owner's expectations—but serving two masters isn't entirely impossible."

'Aler' paused. Carly Klaus didn't respond, clearly waiting to hear the rest.

"The covert route is a bit more complicated. I would still need to control the priest's corpse and bring in a lawyer to begin the asset transfer process. The church would then be formally transferred to you. Since you're an underage girl acquiring property, you'd need a professional team to handle the legal and procedural work. However, you would lose a significant portion of the current $600,000 in the process—otherwise, it wouldn't be feasible."

That's what 'Aler' said, although it had actually come up with a third method. After weighing the consequences, it decided not to mention it.

The third method involved starting a small cult and forcibly seizing the property—but the fallout would be far too unpredictable.

"The public route doesn't suit me. If I could go public with my situation, I wouldn't have had to hide for hundreds of years."

Carly Klaus immediately rejected the idea of publicly claiming the property. Especially with the issue of serving two masters—who knew what kind of person had created 'Aler'? What if they got angry over her split loyalty?

Compared to the worldly Church, Carly Klaus was far more afraid of mysterious wizards. After all, if the Church truly had magic, they wouldn't have given up worldly power. Kings across nations would still be living in their shadow.

"As for the covert route you mentioned—first, I'd have to give up a large part of this fortune. Second, the church's value would be completely undermined. Think about where the $600,000 came from. Aside from the priest's smuggling, most of it was probably donations, right? If the church becomes my private property, I cut off that entire revenue stream. Am I wrong?"

Kali Klaus hadn't lived through those hundreds of years in vain. Although she had never pursued permanent assets, she must have carefully considered her choices before settling on a life of wandering and seeking adoption. It was only now—after gaining a level of strength she had never possessed before—that she began thinking about making changes and trying out other ways of life.

"You're right about everything. I can only advise you as a strategist, but the final decision must be yours."

Even 'Aler' hadn't expected his master to see through the matter so quickly and reject the entire plan outright.

"If you still haven't made up your mind to grab a score and run, then there's another option for you to consider."

Just as Kali Klaus was about to speak—having made up her mind to grab a score and run—she paused.

"Establish a cult. Forcefully and legally seize this chapel. Gather followers who disregard the law. Though you'll be labeled a criminal, a cult is still a religion. That way, you'll have the chapel, the followers, and the donations will keep coming in as usual."

Aler's voice suddenly turned eerie and chilling. Having all his previous suggestions dismissed, he was clearly angry now.

Kali Klaus couldn't help but think that this was likely Aler's true nature. His earlier calm analysis had obviously been influenced by the priest's soul and memories.

"Let's go with this plan then. What do we do first?"

Kali Klaus clearly approved of the cult-establishment suggestion and immediately began asking about the steps to execute it.

A pale white spirit light floated out from the dagger in her hand and merged into the priest's corpse.

"Since you like this plan, the first thing we need to deal with is the financial relationship. Ugh, my head... looks like my skull's been shattered."

The priest stood up, rubbing his forehead while beginning to explain the next steps of the plan.

It was the first time Kali Klaus had seen a corpse come back to life, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of awe toward her future master.

"There are many specific matters to handle, so let's summarize them roughly."

The priest's corpse flexed its limbs a little, then grabbed the boy from the ground—like lifting a trash bag—and walked toward the back garden.

"The priest—meaning me—borrowed money from a certain church branch for smuggling. When I couldn't repay it, I jumped off a building and killed myself. That branch then sent its followers to forcibly occupy this place. Of course, the so-called church branch is actually a cult. Even though it uses the same Bible, it interprets it completely differently."

The priest's corpse opened the back garden door, tossed the boy beside it, locked the door, and turned to return to the chapel with Kali Klaus.

"This way, we've established a legitimate financial relationship. Debts are to be repaid—it's reasonable and lawful. Religiously, we're just a branch and don't need to answer to the Vatican. You do know that in religion, different sects are all considered heretical to each other, right?"

The priest's corpse smiled smugly, and the oddness of the situation made Kali Klaus twitch the corner of her mouth.

Maybe I made a stupid decision. I really should've just grabbed the money and run.

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