Sorcerer’s Handbook

Chapter 430: Ashes Harem

The footage of the 8th place on the “Happiness Ranking,” titled “The Happiest Wife,” had just finished airing.

In short, Harvey made a significant breakthrough in the Necromancy Sect, creating a perfect undead wife. This wife completely understood Harvey’s preferences, kept up with his pace of thinking, and loved him wholeheartedly. Her happiest moments were spending time researching with Harvey, and his progress was her source of joy. In this regard, she indeed deserved the description of being the “happiest,” as typical couples would have arguments and secrets, whereas they fit together like a perfectly matched puzzle.

At first glance, it seemed quite logical.

Then, as usual, Ashe made an appearance, and with just a few words, he enlightened the wife about her potential as an undead. To better assist Harvey, she decided to become a necromancer as an undead, no longer content with being merely Harvey’s dependent!

At first glance, it seemed quite inspiring.

Because she chose the second path, she naturally was no longer the happiest wife, her ranking is invalid, and the reward is voided..

To most people, this future scenario seemed reasonable: a necromancer creating an undead bride that satisfies his every sexual fetish wasn’t unusual, right? And distributing the position of the happiest wife to an undead creature as a nod to minority inclusion on the Gospel Ranking seemed quite politically correct, didn’t it?

But for those who knew Harvey, this was absurdity to the max—if Harvey really needed an undead for sexual function, he wouldn’t have only one undead, and that being Alice (?)!

Yes, Harvey did have someone he liked before, but those feelings arose before he delved deeply into the Necromancy Sect, much like cicadas in summer—once missed, never to return.

Even if someone else liked him now, Harvey, engulfed in the cold winter of necromancy, could never embrace summer again.

Therefore, Harvey now only looked at people’s functionality, not their sexual function.

This was something Ashe and Igor had much to say about. Over the past few days, sharing bunk beds with no private space had given Harvey plenty of time to observe them. He had meticulously planned various undead enhancements for them—ghoul enhancements for their hands, bone demon enhancements for their legs, lich enhancements for their hearts… When Harvey looked at people, it was really no different from how one would evaluate cuts of pork.

And after all, a partner is ultimately for emotional comfort. However, as a madman so powerful that he didn’t even need friends, Harvey didn’t need any emotional comfort. In the dead of night, he wouldn’t be wallowing in nostalgia; he’d be incessantly planning his own death scenes.

“Harvey,” Ashe asked, “what are your thoughts on this?”

“I don’t rule out the possibility of having a mental breakdown in the future,” Harvey replied calmly. “Who knows, I might come up with new ideas when I see Igor getting married? After all, human emotions are regulated by hormones, and reproduction is one of the major concerns of those hormones. It’s not surprising if I succumb to biological instincts.”

“But undead can’t reproduce…”

“Hmm?” Harvey looked at Ashe with a peculiar expression. “Isn’t reproduction essentially creating a new, intelligent life?”

“So, you still haven’t…” Ashe trailed off, suddenly catching up with Harvey’s line of thought—in a certain sense, necromancers did indeed reproduce.

“So, isn’t she both your daughter and your wife?” Igor said casually.

“Igor, have you lost your mind? I didn’t even say that out loud!” Ashe hastily covered Lise’s ears. “There are kids here, mind your influence!”

Lise broke free from Ashe’s hands. “Aunt Bukin, tell me more, I want to hear.”

Ashe: “?(°?°|||)??”

Next up, in 7th place, was The Happiest Red Hat, and the lucky winner was none other than someone everyone knew—Cleos. Before they could finish introducing her glorious achievements, Ashe swooped in. Just like before, he easily lured Cleos away, and Cleos seemed to become Ashe’s simp. Resulting in another ranking invalid and the rewards voided.

The 6th place was The Happiest Merchant, featuring the honorable appearance of Yvaren. Character introduction, Ashe’s swoop-in, and recruiting her as a lackey…

The 5th place…

The ranking continued to grow more outrageous, featuring people who were almost all somehow related to Ashe and his group. In each piece of footage, Ashe made an inevitable appearance, using various methods to divert the ranked individuals from their original paths, leading them to follow Ashe instead.

And the most absurd part was that nearly all the unmarried females in the ranking, including Cleos, Yvaren, and others, displayed strong affection for Ashe. Ashe seriously doubted whether the Gospel Ranking had misidentified his race—he was human, not a Bewitcher!

A well-meaning “Happiness Ranking” had morphed into Ashe’s personal collection tour, turning the Gospel Ranking into a matrimonial Firm.

Lise clung to Ashe like a koala, earnestly picking out potential stepmoms, critiquing them for being too short or not gentle enough, as if Ashe had any real say in the matter.

“Happiness Ranking, 2nd place: The Happiest Patriarch”

Seeing this title, even though Ashe had already gotten used to the absurdity of the ranking list, he still couldn’t shake the sense of foreboding.

“Synopsis: With the help of her sister Nona Senhaeser, Qenna Senhaeser has successfully expanded their Family…”

Lise keenly noticed Ashe’s body suddenly becoming tense and asked, “Dad, why do you get nervous when you see Annan’s mom?”

Annan turned to look at him.

“No way!” Ashe quickly shook his head. “I’m nervous because I’m scared! Qenna almost captured our Sanctuary spellcaster. Isn’t it perfectly normal for someone to be afraid of her?”

Lise and Annan gave Ashe a suspicious look before looking back at the footage.

The initial scenes were quite normal, depicting Qenna building up the Senhaeser Family with Nona’s support. Until a familiar scene flashed by and ‘Ashe’ suddenly appeared in the frame.

“You!” Qenna immediately stood up, tense. “Why are you here!?”

“Isn’t it perfectly normal for me to be here?” Ashe walked up to Qenna. “Haven’t you always wanted me to become a Senhaeser clansman? Now that I’m home, you’re not happy?”

As he spoke, he reached a hand towards Qenna, only for her to slap it away. “Ashe, the Senhaeser Family does not welcome you. Hurry up and—”

“Ashe pressed Qenna back into the chair, their faces so close that their noses nearly touched.”

“‘Manners,’ Ashe said, staring at her. ‘Your heart is racing. Are you nervous?’”

“‘It’s fear. I’m scared of you!’ Qenna gritted her teeth. ‘Ashe, how dare you—’”

“‘You got it wrong again.’ Ashe gently touched Qenna’s face. ‘What are you supposed to call me, hmm?’”

“Qenna’s face turned bright red. The mighty Sanctuary Red Hat didn’t dare to resist but instead leaned stiffly against the chair, her chest heaving as she averted her gaze and bit her lower lip. ‘Master…’”

“The next scene shifted to a large bed.”

“Banjeet, help me out here.”

“Sure.”

Ashe and Banjeet quickly shielded Lise’s eyes and ears, instantly cutting her off from the global channel. Lise was, of course, defiant, squirming and protesting, “Why can’t I watch Dad and Aunt Qenna!? Let me watch, I wanna see! Did they kiss?”

They didn’t.

Given that the footage was meant for the entire Gospel audience, the depiction was quite mild. The screen only showed Ashe lying alone in bed, covered with a blanket, which was enough to make him breathe a sigh of relief.

Inside the Senhaeser building, a maid who saw this scene gasped.

“It’s true after all!”

“What they told me was spot on! I thought it was just a lie… but that man really is intimate with the heads of the family…”

“The Patriarch, even she would act coquettishly! She even begged him, begged him to stop… I couldn’t have imagined this scene even in my wildest dreams!”

“Happiness Ranking, 2nd place: The Happiest Patriarch”

“Synopsis: Qenna Senhaeser could have become the happiest Patriarch with the help of Nona Senhaeser, but unfortunately, she encountered Ashe Heath, becoming his captive. This ranking is invalid.”

“Reward: Voided”

“Culprit: Ashe Heath”

When the 2nd place on the ‘Happiness Ranking’ ended, the room suddenly fell into silence.

The atmosphere was so heavy that even the mental spellcaster, Heath, couldn’t think of anything to lighten the mood.

Lise gave Ashe a resentful glance, then turned to Annan and said, “Sister Annan…”

Although the greeting was still as mundane as ever, at this moment, the title “Sister Annan” seemed to carry a new meaning.

Annan glanced at them expressionlessly and then looked down, saying, “The first place has been updated.”

“Happiness Ranking, 1st place: The Happiest Empress”

“Synopsis: …”

There wasn’t even a synopsis for the first place. It transitioned directly to the footage, and this time, the Gospel Book didn’t even bother with a pretense, featuring Ashe right from the start.

“In a grand palace, Ashe lounged lazily on the throne at the top, with a young empress sitting on his lap, her back to the camera, obscuring her face. She held Ashe’s neck intimately, looking like the favored consort of the Calamity Demon Lord.”

The footage ended.

“Happiness Ranking, 1st place: The Happiest Empress”

“Synopsis: With Ashe Heath involved, ranking invalid.”

“Reward: Voided”

“Culprit: Ashe Heath”

Ashe closed the Gospel Book with a sense of immense relief.

This was the most uncomfortable ranking list he had ever seen because he appeared as the villain from start to finish.

Unlike the Family Ranking, where he was at most a lackey, with the chief culprit being the necromancer Harvey, in the Happiness Ranking, he practically monopolized the mischief. From the lowest place to the first, he had indulged in everything, leaving no grass unplucked.

If evil had a color, it certainly wouldn’t be enough to describe Ashe’s shade.

Ashe noticed Lise rewinding to view the empress scene and said, “Stop looking, she’s definitely not your stepmom. I don’t even know her… Huh?”

Lise suddenly tensed up, quickly closing the Gospel Book. “Dad, why were you surprised?”

“Nothing, it’s just that the empress’s pose was similar to yours,” Ashe replied.

At that moment, Lise was also sitting on his lap, one arm around his neck. The resemblance to the empress scene was indeed striking.

Lise froze but then quickly returned to her usual self, hands on her hips as she laughed loudly, “That’s right, I am the empress! So, Dad, you have to listen to me. Tomorrow, you need to buy ice cream!”

Ashe ignored her, turning to Annan and Igor. “Now that the ranking list is over, can you explain what’s going on with the Weaving Festival?”

Annan closed the Gospel Book and carefully considered her words.

“Do you know ‘Divine Illusion’? In ancient theater, when the plot required a major twist, and roles like angels needed to appear, illusion spellcasters would create scene effects to make the angel appear abruptly on stage.”

“Later, in theater and novel works, ‘Divine Illusion’ came to refer to those contrived, forced, and completely unprepared plot twists. For example, when writers didn’t know how to continue, they would either have an angel save everything or a meteorite destroy everything.”

Ashe pondered, “Are we the angels?”

“No,” Annan said. “You are the meteorite.”