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Chapter 103 Reasons for Delaying Troop Deployment

After seeing off the drunken Claudius, everyone came out of the bedroom and saw Renn leisurely pouring himself a drink.

"You still have the mood to drink?" Dia snatched his wine glass and said irritably, "Hey! Marquis Faher, your territory is about to be ravaged by savages!"

“Most of the Faher family’s territory is located in the Serpent Mountain Range,” Rein said calmly. “It’s almost entirely fortresses for military purposes. Even if they’re destroyed, it doesn’t matter much; in fact, it can even improve the family’s financial situation.”

"The core territories of the Faher family are, firstly, the coastal corridor between Eagle Castle and Searock City, which is responsible for providing the family with food production. Secondly, Searock City and Salt Island, which serve as the headquarters for smuggling trade with the Gem Islands, responsible for providing the family with financial revenue," Ellina explained to Dia. "If either of these is destroyed by the savages, the Faher family will immediately face a survival crisis."

"Therefore, if it comes to the last resort, as long as we abandon Eagle Fortress and allow the savages to move north smoothly into the Fertile Lands to plunder, they will definitely not choose to attack Searock City to the east."

Renn was immediately filled with respect. "I only knew the answer beforehand, yet you were able to solve the problem directly!"
“But if we do that, the nobles of the bountiful lands will definitely turn their attention to the Faher family,” Bersalia objected. “Even if the family manages to survive for a while, their future will certainly not be good.”

"The key to solving the problem lies in obtaining military support. The forces of the Nightbane Legion and High Rock City are both indispensable."

“I have a question,” Fatin asked, puzzled. “Why does the Imperial Legion have two officers?”

“Decentralization,” Rein replied. “If a legion commander wields too much power, he has the ability to rebel against the empire. Therefore, the Second Human Empire has set up the position of Tribunal above the legion commander to check and balance the legion commander and prevent one from becoming too powerful.”

“But the price of this mutual checks and balances is that once the Empire encounters a similar major crisis, the legionary leaders will have to be wary of each other and won’t be able to spare all their strength to fight against the Empire’s enemies,” Fatin questioned. “Isn’t that putting the cart before the horse?”

“Of course,” Renn laughed. “You can’t have it all, can you? The first human empire in history declined due to the corruption and bloatedness of the church and was destroyed by the out-of-control rebellion of the Royal Guard. Therefore, the second type of empire learned from the lessons of the previous dynasty, completely abolished the church’s territorial rights and armed forces, and also carried out a decentralized reform of the legion’s upper structure.”

"At present, this decentralization reform is more beneficial than harmful. Without the existence of tribunes, wouldn't the Nightshade Legion be completely controlled by Claudius? This legion commander has served in the Nightshade Legion for more than 30 years and has almost turned the legion into his independent kingdom."

Everyone had to admit he was right, because the Nightmare Legion's duty was to guard against rebellions by the nobles of the River Bend Province. Now, the Imperial Legion was not only selling ships to the Faher family and helping them find channels to dump their goods, but they were even providing information in times of emergency. They had almost become an unbreakable community of interests.

“If we take down the tribunes of the Nightshade Legion, Claudius should be willing to send troops to support us, right?” Aurora made a plucking motion, frantically signaling to Rein with her eyes, “Give this task to me.”

"The prerequisite is to persuade Claudius to entrust us with the task of assassinating the tribunes and disguising it as a death in battle," Dia concluded. "In addition, simply dealing with the Nightshade Legion is not enough; we also need to find out why High Rock City is unwilling to send troops."

“Besalia,” Renn instructed, “go find Martha Malone and see if you can get any information about the Grand Duke out of her.”

“Okay,” Bersalia readily agreed.

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The following morning, a raven from the Imperial Capital military camp brought over Daryl's letter.

The actual situation on the family's side was far more severe than Renn had originally anticipated. According to Darrian's letter, apart from Ravencrest, which had reported "not yet been breached," a third of the knightly fiefdoms along the line from Ravencrest to Eaglecrest had lost contact.

Therefore, it can be inferred that the savage army mostly chose a split-force tactic. The vanguard bypassed Ravencrest and marched directly north to attack, capturing the various military fortresses set up by the Fahre family in the mountains; a portion of the army was left to surround Ravencrest to prevent them from cutting off the vanguard's supply lines.

In other words, Gull Castle, Eagle Castle, and Raven Castle were now all exposed to the onslaught of the savage army.

Of the three, the area surrounding Gull Castle is the core area of ​​the family and must not be damaged in any way; Eagle Castle is the southern gateway to the Fertile Lands, and abandoning Eagle Castle would be tantamount to allowing the savage army to advance unimpeded.

Ravencrest was the original fiefdom of the Fahr family, and it's highly likely it can't be held now. If reinforcements don't arrive in time, then Rennes will face the same problem the old Marquis faced in the original timeline:

To sacrifice the family to defend the fertile land? Or to offer up the fertile land to preserve the family?
After pondering for a long time, Renn suddenly exclaimed:

"Dia!"

"What's wrong?" Dia asked, peeking out from the maid's side room.

"Go and call Fatin over here."

Fatin Taramussor, the former princess of the Golden Sands, is currently reading history in her room.

Several books were piled on her desk, all borrowed from High Rock Castle by her steward. They included "A Brief History of the First Human Empire," "The Holy Daughter Beatrice," and "The Land of Gold Sands: Tribes and Totems," among others. She wanted to find out whether the First Human Empire, after her death a thousand years ago, had been destroyed by church corruption and legion rebellion, as Raine had said.

The Imperial Legion's predecessor was the Slave Legion, with its overall system designed solely by Fatin; while the Church's predecessor was the Propagation Mission, which was said to have been founded by the saint Beatrice. In reality, it was also designed by Fatin under the guise of a handmaiden, in order to use religious faith to persuade more human slaves to join the Legion and resist the tyrannical rule of the Elven Empire.

If what Raine said is true, then it means that while Fatin was building the foundation of the First Human Empire, he also sowed the seeds of its eventual destruction.

After reading these history books, Fatin finally had to admit that the system he had designed did indeed have many problems.

Because the disparity in strength between the slave legions and the elven empire was too great, Fatin only thought about how to increase his strength at all costs, without considering the separation of powers, checks and balances, and oversight. After Fatin's unfortunate assassination, Beatrice, who ruled the church, and the slave generals who commanded the legions, obviously could not voluntarily weaken their own power.

By the end of the First Human Empire, the imperial authority had completely vanished. The emperor himself was frequently installed or overthrown by the Imperial Guard, while nobles sent large numbers of family members to join the church, which quickly made the local church as close as family to the local nobles, further weakening the central government's ability to rule.

Fatin closed the book with a heavy heart, when suddenly he heard Dia calling from outside:
"Fatine! Ryan wants you to come over."

Princess Jinsha arrived at Renn's room and heard him give the following instructions:

"Go find me a castle mouse."

"Rat?" Fatin asked, puzzled. "You mean thieves on the black market or receivers of stolen goods?"

“Neither,” Ryan said, shaking his head. “It’s a four-legged rat crawling on the ground. Kill it and give it to me.”

“I just shot one dead,” Aurora said.

Renn turned his head and saw the wood elf climb in through the window, pointing downwards and saying:
"I just shot in the corridor on the side of the courtyard below."

“You should get a key to Aurora’s room,” Fatin said with a smile, “so she doesn’t have to go through the window every time she comes in.”

“Thanks, Fatin,” Aurora said seriously. “I just like the view from up here.”

The two had a fairly good relationship. Princess Jinsha's hatred for the ancestral elves clearly did not extend to the wood elves.

Fatin went downstairs to retrieve the dead rat. Aurora, sitting on the windowsill, asked curiously:

What do you need the mouse for?

“I doubt that Berthalia could get any information from Marshan either,” Ryan explained to her. “Perhaps rats can overhear some secrets that are impossible to find out normally.”

“That makes sense.” Aurora nodded seriously. “After all, you humans always like to build castles that are so big that a few rats can wander by without anyone noticing.”

“Aurora,” Renn suddenly had a flash of inspiration and asked, “Have you wood elf rangers received any training in disguise?”

“Of course,” Aurora said confidently. “The ability to blend in with the natural environment is something every Wood Elf Ranger must master, whether it’s a forest, grassland, desert, or snow-capped mountain…”

“No, no, no, I’m not talking about that kind of disguise,” Renn said, waving his hand. “I mean, pretending you’re a wild elf and infiltrating the wildling army.”

Aurora frowned slightly, looking confused, as if to say, "What are you talking about?"

----------

Fatin quickly retrieved the dead rat and even thoughtfully wrapped the carcass in a rag to prevent its intestines from spilling out of its ruptured abdomen.

Raine quickly repaired the hole, then cast a simple Resurrection spell, turning the rat's corpse into a ghoul.

The ghouls have no body temperature, and their blood has stopped flowing, causing their skin color to differ from that of ordinary people. Upon closer inspection, one can see flickering, eerie blue soul flames in their eyes, a symbol of the surging magic of the undead.

But obviously no one would bother to check a rat's body temperature, skin color, or eyesight, so Renn easily manipulated the rat, guiding it along the rat tunnels outside the castle. As Aurora had said, a building as large as High Rock Castle couldn't possibly be built completely seamless. Many gaps were left in the corners of the walls to ensure that water and stagnant air could escape, and after years of gnawed by rats, these formed a network of rat tunnels that ran through the castle.

Raine manipulated the rats through the long rat tunnels, moving between the various rooms, corridors, and towers of the castle, eavesdropping on the conversations of the butler, maids, and guards, and learning a lot of gossip about the Malorne family.

For example, Martha Malone recently had another argument with the Grand Duke, and was so angry that she wanted to take her husband back to his family's estate. She only reluctantly forgave her father after the Grand Duke had to apologize to her in person.

For example, the new guest, Ryan Fahre, was extremely handsome, and many of the maids who considered themselves to be well-endowed discussed how to get into his bed, but the prerequisite was to find a way to get rid of the little maid named Dia.

For example, Claudius, the commander of the Nightshade Legion, dismissed all the servants sent by the castle to serve him and replaced them with guards from the legion—all young and handsome lads—making the maids suspicious of the commander's sexual orientation.

It was all worthless talk. But that made sense, because the Grand Duke wouldn't let the maids overhear his truly important matters as gossip.

After searching for a long time without finding a single clue, Ryan decided to let the rat take a risk and let it sneak into the Duke of Malorne's study, hiding in the gap under his bookshelf.

Several hours later, the Grand Duke finally entered the study. Accompanying him was another mysterious person, but unfortunately, the mouse was hiding under the bookshelf, so he couldn't see the other person's face.

“You must stall for time,” the mysterious man said. “My people are thoroughly investigating the accounts from all sides. Once he is forced to mobilize manpower and resources on a large scale for war preparations, he will inevitably expose loopholes that cannot be concealed. If you choose to send troops to support him, he will have a reason to delay mobilization and continue to fight against my people.”

"I'm under a lot of pressure too," Grand Duke Malorne's voice rang out, cold with a hint of displeasure. "The ravens at the top of the castle are almost overflowing with ravens flying in from the Land of Abundance. Some nobles from the Land of Abundance are even threatening to complain to the capital. How am I supposed to explain to them why I'm not sending troops? Oh, because I want to force the Nightshade Legion to send troops?"

“I’m sure you have a good solution,” the mysterious man said slowly. “They are all your vassals.”

"Damn it! A lord can't treat his vassals like children and order them around at will, especially since even my own children don't listen to me anymore," Grand Duke Malorne said irritably. "The nobles of the bountiful lands have already begun to conscript knights and mobilize spearmen on a large scale, preparing to go to Eagle Castle to assist the Faher people in their defense. I will not allow them to ignore my wishes and act on their own."

“I can tell you very clearly. Once I receive news that the savage army has left the Serpent Mountains, I will immediately issue a war mobilization order. This is my bottom line as the Grand Duke of River Reach.”

Although the Grand Duke's tone was extremely stern, both the mysterious figure opposite him and Renn, who was eavesdropping through rats, knew that "the bottom line for a showdown is definitely not the final bottom line."

“I understand,” the mysterious figure said slowly. “Your bottom line is that Eagle Hold must not be breached by the savages. I can solemnly assure you that I will seize Claudius’s weakness as soon as possible, and then lead the Nightshade Legion south to provide support. I will absolutely not allow a single savage to set foot on the soil of Fertile Lands.”

Upon hearing this, Ryan finally pieced together the whole truth.

The mysterious man who met with the Grand Duke of Malorne was clearly Rosa, the tribune of the legion who opposed Claudius.

Just as Claudius had suspected, he had already colluded with the Malorne family to find loopholes in Claudius's accounts. The reason for delaying the deployment was also to force the Nightshade Legion to carry out a large-scale mobilization. After all, once the River Bend Province was threatened by the Savages, the Imperial Legion would face political pressure from the capital. The legion commander did not have the time or resources to wear down the Grand Duke.

That makes things simple.

After the Grand Duke and the tribune had left the study, Renn manipulated the mouse to crawl out from under the bookcase, then climbed up the wallpaper to the windowsill and jumped.

Aurora sat on the windowsill of Renn's room, watching the rat in the distant tower fall and smash into a pulp on the roof below, and slightly raised her delicate eyebrows.

"Stop looking," Raine's voice sounded behind her. "Help me kill someone."

"Who?" Aurora asked without turning her head.

“The tribunes of the Nightshade Legion,” Raine said coldly. “He is in this castle right now.”

"If I remember correctly, didn't that legion commander once say that the death of the tribune would arouse suspicion from the upper echelons of the empire?" Aurora asked leisurely.

“That’s right.” Renn sneered, “But there is one person who will also be suspected by the upper echelons of the Empire.”

"Who?"

"Of course, it is the master of High Rock, Grand Duke Malorne."

Aurora was silent for a moment, then quickly understood what Renn meant.

To ensure the Empire's control over the border provinces, the Imperial Legions needed to be wary of the Grand Dukes. At the same time, the Legion's unique dual-leadership system often resulted in discord between the Legion Commander and the Tribunal.

The legion commander, the tribune, and the Grand Duke—these three men were ultimately enemies. If the tribune had died in the heavily guarded High Rock Castle, Claudius would certainly have been a suspect, but the Grand Duke of Malorne was the one with both the motive and the ability to commit the crime.

Even if he later defended himself by saying he "would never violate the rights of a guest," how can one explain Claudius's ability to assassinate his guest on his turf? He's most likely going to take the blame for this.

“You…” Aurora turned her head, her gaze towards Renn somewhat complicated, “Anyone who offends you will never be let off the hook; it’s just a matter of time.”

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Renn asked, bewildered.

"Although you're trying to force the Nightshade Legion and the Malorne family to send troops, you're also shifting the blame onto the Duke. Aren't you retaliating?" Aurora asked in surprise.

“Nonsense,” Raine said. “How can this be considered retaliation? If he dared to meet secretly with the Legion’s tribunal in the castle, he should have been prepared to bear the corresponding risks. Besides, River Bend is about to face complex external threats, and one leader is always more effective in enabling the Nightshade Legion to fight than two. You were once the Eye of Nature, you should know this very well.”

Aurora opened her mouth, paused for a long time, and then defended herself:

“My death had nothing to do with the Hand of Nature, Quen. I died trying to turn the tide and fight the White Walkers alone. Quen should have been in Skyfall Valley at the time.”

“I didn’t say that Quen murdered you.” Renn waved his hand dismissively and said, “What I mean is, thanks to your early death, Quen was able to go against the majority and lead the Wood Elf army to join the Continental Alliance, and finally complete the mission of saving the world. Dictatorship is the most efficient administrative model, after all.”

Aurora paused for a moment, then said:

"Believe it or not, I'll die again for you to see?"

Raine, of course, didn't believe it. The wood elf hero, trapped in a cage, didn't even have the right to choose death; even when mocked by his master, he could only protest angrily.

After sending Aurora off to work, Besalia returned from outside.

“I’ve found out,” she said succinctly. “Marsanne said her father has already written the letter to summon vassals. The reason it hasn’t been sent out seems to be that he’s waiting for Claudius to send troops. She once accidentally overheard the two arguing, and the Grand Duke said he would never leave a poorly defended High Rock to the Nightshade Legion.”

“Your efficiency is really too slow.” Renn proudly told Bersalia the information he had overheard through the rats.

The Rose Queen listened, speechless. Using necromancy to resurrect animals as spies? It sounded simple, but in reality, very few necromancers could do it, because the souls of animals are vastly different from those of intelligent life. It requires extremely profound knowledge in the realm of the soul to effectively utilize the sensory organs of undead animals.

Most necromancers do not pursue such refined techniques; they are only obsessed with creating more powerful undead creatures—Marconius of the Imperial City sewers is a typical example.

"So what do you plan to do? Get rid of that tribunal?" Bersalia volunteered. "I haven't finished using the poison I gave Jenna Pfor last time. If I add some black nightshade extract and dried leeches to it, the tribunal will die suddenly within a few days of leaving High Rock City, as if from an acute illness."

“No need,” Raine said. “I’ll have Aurora snipe him directly.”

“Sniping? That’s not…” Before Bersalia could finish speaking, she instantly saw through the conspiracy and exclaimed, “You’re retaliating! That makes sense. The Malone family refused to send troops to rescue the Faher people. You’ve probably been thinking about how to get revenge on the Grand Duke for a long time, haven’t you? Good, I like your style.”

"That's enough." Renn was also a little puzzled. Did you all think I was the kind of petty, vindictive, and vicious person? Why were you all so hung up on retaliation? "Don't be so loud, the walls may have ears."

“I’ll sense if anyone gets close,” Bersalia shrugged. “What about Ellina?”

"She seemed to be in the castle courtyard, sparring with the High Rock Knights," Renn said.

Bersalia went to the window and looked down. Sure enough, she saw Ellina, holding a half-sword, beating three or four fully armed and experienced knights to a pulp. The fighting prowess of ancient heroes was truly unreasonable.

"Hey! Eileen!" the dark elf shouted from the window.

At the same time, Aurora on the distant tower suddenly released her bowstring, using Besalia's shout to mask the low whistling of the arrow as she sent the deadly arrow directly into the throat of the tribune standing by the window.

(End of this chapter)