"What a pity..."
He eventually still failed to touch the truly extraordinary.
Accumulating a considerable fortune over three years of study was already an extraordinary achievement for an ordinary person.
But as a transmigrator, Heine's aspirations went far beyond that.
He was well aware that this world was much more dangerous than his former life, where common people could die without a sound at any moment.
So he worked very hard, scoring high in every class except for summoning, but he just couldn't summon the undead.
Even the student with the poorest talent could make a corpse prop itself up by the upper body, but he couldn't even make a skeleton move a finger.
He did not have any cheats—of course, maybe he just hadn't found them yet, what if his "golden finger" required him to die and transmigrate once more?
Unfortunately, he didn't have the opportunity to try it, nor did he dare to.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!"
Xiya La came running from the direction of the chapel, gasping for breath.
While she taught general knowledge classes, she was also a priestess responsible for healing those poor souls who got lost while communicating with the Netherworld.
"No problem, I haven't been here long."
"Here, this is for you."
Xiya La handed him a letter; Heine hesitated for a moment, then took the letter and asked,
"What is this?"
"This is a letter of introduction I wrote to the lord of Wumu Town. Although you were not able to formally graduate, your abilities and knowledge are more than sufficient to serve as an advisor, offering help in alchemy, geography, and etiquette."
"Maybe even cooking."
Heine made a joke, eliciting a smile from Xiya La.
He pocketed the letter and thanked her.
Their parting was imminent, and the air grew quiet.
Officially, they were student and teacher, and she was seven or eight years older, but after all, Heine's body housed the soul of an adult, and over three years of interaction, Xiya La had not treated him as a child but had become a good friend.
On the other hand, she had also provided Heine with enough help; had she not insisted on retaining this student, Heine might have been encouraged to leave in his first year.
In the end, she was the one who broke the silence.
She stepped forward and hugged Heine, whispering softly:
"Next time we meet, remember to treat me to a good meal."
"Definitely, next time."
Heine replied so.
And with that, they parted ways.
The carriage slowly crossed the stone bridge, leaving behind the chilly land.
The mountain roads were rugged, and it took Heine an entire afternoon to barely reach the outskirts of Wumu Town.
Fortunately, he encountered no wild beasts on the way, which was an improvement over his earlier journey to the Bone Burial Ground, where he nearly ended up in the belly of wolves. The incendiary bottles and electric shock wand he had prepared were not put to use.
His home was located in the Eastern Suburbs of the town, about a forty-minute walk to the town center.
From a distance, Heine could see an old-fashioned manor.
After three years, the house under the fading light resembled an ancient tree in a deep forest, covered in patchy moss and lush vines.
When Heine first transmigrated, he faced a complete mess.
The original owner's father was a minor noble who had inherited the family estate; the family of three lived simply, but after the mother fell ill and used up all the savings, incurring debts as well, the father had no choice but to relive his old profession and adventure into ruins, eventually returning with only a sword and half a suit of armor.
Subsequently, the mother died of her illness and the creditors pressured the fifteen-year-old original owner to death, leading to Heine's arrival.
Going to learn at the Bone Burial Ground was his "debt repayment journey," a demand of the creditors.
The reputation of Necromancers was poor, and the supply of students for the Bone Burial Ground was unstable, so recruitment had to go through gray channels.
Luckily, being a transmigrator, Heine just so happened to be longing for such an affair, and the two sides hit it off right away.
When he arrived at his own doorstep, there was still a horse-drawn cart parked by the roadside, on which lay a familiar-looking bed board.
The large iron gate was wide open, and a middle-aged man dressed in fine clothes stood at the doorstep, his hair combed without a hair out of place.
He was not surprised by Heine's arrival, and even waved his hand.
This man was none other than Simon, the lender who had sent Heine off to the Bone Burial Ground three years ago.
As Heine's "admission referrer," he was the first to receive the notification letter from the Bone Burial Ground.
As per the agreement from back then, he had first received a "deposit" of 10 Gold Coins from the Bone Burial Ground, and should Heine graduate successfully, he would receive another 25 Gold Coins.
But now that Heine had dropped out early, the remaining 25 Gold Coins had gone down the drain, and that was also the total amount of debt Heine still owed.
"Are you ready to repay your debt, Mr. Heine?"
This was supposed to be a joke, but the response he got was a purse filled with 25 Gold Coins.
Simon caught it steadily, then raised an eyebrow after weighing it in his hand.
Why was a student who had been expelled so rich?
The letter did mention that the other party's "interest in making money far exceeded learning magic," but he thought this meant independently repaying three years of tuition to buy his own freedom.
It now appeared that he had at least earned 40 Gold Coins. How did he do that?
However, out of professional etiquette, and considering the other party's demonstrated financial capability, Simon didn't pry and simply offered sincere admiration.
"It's truly unbelievable, finding a client with such good credit is rare these days."
He patted the iron gate and shouted inside, "Stop messing about, restore the client's belongings!"
Two burly men covered in dust squeezed out of the house, their arms thicker than Heine's calves, wearing only linen vests despite the season.
This world also had extraordinary warriors, but Heine lacked the talent and was past the prime age for it.
As they carried the bed board back inside, Simon spoke:
"It seems there's not much left in your home."
Heine rolled his eyes: "Wasn't it you people who moved it all out?"
At that time, to offset the debt, almost everything in the house had been moved out, leaving only a few items without much value but still of sentimental importance, like that half suit of armor and a standard longsword.
The original owner had been forced to death this way; naturally, Heine wouldn't show him a pleasant face.
"Situations are always changing." Simon rubbed his hands together, his smile congenial: "You must have higher standards for your quality of life now, right? Perhaps you need a set of more upscale furniture, we can—"
Heine chuckled lightly: "No need, I've been sleeping next to the coffins of the dead for the past three years, suddenly going upscale wouldn't suit me."
Simon had not expected life in the Bone Burial Ground to be so thrilling, but he quickly disguised his awkwardness with a look of regret.
"Then I can only look forward to our next collaboration."
"I'm looking forward to it as well."
The two exchanged a few non-nutritive words, and Heine deflected several attempts by Simon to fish for information; Simon couldn't help but feel that Heine had changed a lot over these three years.
The Bone Burial Ground really was a place that toughened people up!
He had only interacted with the transmigrator Heine for a mere half day, naturally attributing all the credit to the Bone Burial Ground.
This lender was quite gracious; he even had his men move Heine's luggage into the house.
After bidding farewell to the three men and looking at his truly bare home, Heine had a feeling that "the game had just begun."
"That's fine, consider it a farewell to the past."
With many rooms to choose from, he drew a basin of water from the well in the backyard and tidied up the room he would be living in.
When he passed by the entrance to the cellar for the second time, he furrowed his brows suddenly.
This was no illusion.
He certainly sensed a faint whiff of death.