Do you have a problem with necromancers?

Chapter 87 A Mess (6k)
Killing one's parents is a grave sin that is intolerable to the gods.

The reason it was officially classified as a serious crime was, of course, because cases of patricide were far too frequent among the nobility.

If the old Marquis Fahre had treated his sons better, perhaps Dolores wouldn't have taken such a risk. Unfortunately, the old Marquis had too many sons, resulting in little fatherly affection between them; he used them all as tools for his rule, and naturally, his sons had no filial piety towards him.

Dolores was now in a state of frenzied excitement. He had already killed his father and eliminated all the clansmen who had come to attend the Divine Revelation Festival. If he could kill Rein next, he would be the only one left in the Faher family.

The River Bend province needed the Fahr family to hold the southern frontier and block the savage tribes from invading the fertile lands from the north. Therefore, Grand Duke Marorne had no choice but to reluctantly accept the appointment as the new Marquis of Fahr.

The remaining family knights, having no other place to serve, had no choice but to surrender and submit to him.

The next morning, Dolores rushed to the port and directed the Eagle Knights to board the ships and attack Salt Island.

Every Faher was well aware of the situation on Salt Island. The land was saline, and supplies had to be provided by Sea Rock City, making it impossible to support a large population. The family knights looked down on such a barren territory, so in the end, Rein had to recruit a group of young boys from knightly families as squires. They were all children who hadn't even grown up yet, and their fighting ability was nothing to worry about.

We are certain to win this battle! I simply cannot imagine how we could possibly lose!
As for the navy, Dolores had already investigated thoroughly. Although Salt Island had a shipyard and a naval port, it had always been controlled by the old Marquis, who appointed his own people to govern it, leaving Renn with absolutely no room to intervene.

Maybe apart from a few small fishing boats, there's no other navy they can mobilize, hahaha!

Dolores was feeling quite pleased with himself when he suddenly saw a fleet of ships with their sails fully unfurled on the distant horizon.

A surprise attack!

Raine stood at the bow of the ship with his arms crossed, staring at the approaching Sea Rock City, and yawned boredly.

It's incredibly easy.

In this era, naval battles required ships to aim their flanks at the enemy vessels to facilitate the aiming and firing of the slow-moving ballistae and catapults mounted on either side of the deck. However, the ships anchored in the harbor of Searock City all faced outwards, like cars neatly arranged in a parking lot.

If we cannot leave the port as soon as possible and turn to face the enemy, we will become targets for enemy ships.

The Eagle Knights were nearly scared out of their wits and rushed onto the deck, roaring and urging the sailors to set sail immediately.

But the other side was even faster than they had anticipated.

The fleet that Raine dispatched this time consisted of naval warships rented from the Nightshade Legion. Not only did they have sails to provide propulsion, but there were also oarsmen's positions on both sides of the hull, allowing them to accelerate by manpower when charging into battle.

Large numbers of lizardmen sat in two rows facing each other, frantically rowing their oars in unison, propelling their warships like arrows cutting through the waves and quickly rushing into the sea near the port.

On the lookout tower atop the warship, Aurora briefly fired a few arrows to confirm the wind direction, wind speed, and trajectory before commencing her sniping mission.

Remotely eliminate the sailor in charge of steering.

After every sailor who tried to steer the ships was shot down by arrows flying from afar, the fleet attempting to leave the port inevitably collided.

The ships collided and rolled against each other, causing intense friction and flying wood chips. Many sailors and knights lost their footing and fell from the tilting decks into the sea.

These out-of-control, colliding lead ships blocked the ships behind them from leaving the port, plunging the entire harbor of Searock City into chaos.

Gazing at the cluster of ships, Dia couldn't help but murmur:

"Just let me breathe dragon's breath..."

"Shut up!" Ryan warned her immediately. "What do you want to do to my ship?"

"It's still the enemy's ship!" Dia immediately retorted.

The Dragon Daughter's breath burned too large an area; the wooden hull simply couldn't withstand her fire. As for the ballistae, catapults, and even Berthalia's Burning Clouds spell, the localized damage could be repaired afterward.

But Raine had no intention of using weapons or magic. Even with the Redsail Pirates generously donating ships, he still didn't have nearly enough, so how could he waste so much time on repairs afterward?

The Salt Island fleet finally approached the scene of chaos, and the lizardman sailors rushed out of the oars and began throwing the winch-attached hooks at the enemy ships ahead.

Once the grappling hooks onto the opposite ship's side, the sailors will turn the winch to quickly pull the two ships closer together, preparing for a boarding maneuver.

Elrina, with a long spear slung over her shoulder, stood beside Bersalia, who wielded twin swords, and coldly addressed the knights and squires:

"In naval warfare, it's impossible to be clad in heavy armor. You need to fight with agility and mobility, which gives you an advantage over those muscular giants who are used to wearing heavy armor."

"If you kill a Knight of Eaglehold, you will be promoted from squire to knight; if you do not get a head, even if you survive, you will have to hand over your weapons and go home."

"Salt Island doesn't support idlers! There are plenty of people who want to be knights. If you don't want to be, plenty of others will!"

"Go to war!"

The ships finally collided violently. Armed knights and squires followed Elrina and Bersalia, rushing swiftly onto the enemy ship's deck.

Renn calmly observed from the rear flagship that the knights' squires' fighting style had indeed improved considerably. They operated in groups of two or three, with one wielding a sword and shield to defend against the Eagle's Fortress knights' attacks, while the other would seize the opportunity to launch thrusts from the side with a lance or shoot arrows from behind, never engaging the enemy in a direct confrontation.

This multi-person cooperative fighting tactic was completely contrary to the modern knightly fighting style that emphasized individual bravery, but its battlefield killing efficiency was extremely high. The Eagle's Castle Knights had little experience fighting on ships and lacked unified command, so they fought individually, and their lines were quickly broken up by their squires.

Occasionally, a few particularly brave and fierce Eagle's Citadel knights attempted to break through the enemy lines with their superior individual strength, but when faced with the elven heroes Ellina and Bersalia, the outcome was hardly surprising. Spears and swords pierced through the gaps in their armor, proving that the only advantage of the large men was that they could bleed more.

At noon, the battle at the port was finally drawing to a close.

The lizardman sailors began boarding the ship to clean up the battlefield, binding the hands behind the backs of the Eagle's Keep knights who had dropped their weapons in surrender.

Raine summoned Ellina and confirmed that Dolores was not at the front line—the patricide had not boarded the fleet at all. Seeing that things were not going well, he organized his men to retreat to Gullburg, seemingly intending to make a final desperate struggle.

When the Salt Island Knights arrived at Gull Castle, they saw that the drawbridge had already been raised.

If conventional methods were to launch a direct assault on Gullburg, it would require enduring enemy archery fire, dismantling buildings within the city to fill the moat with the rubble, or building bridges and digging tunnels to get there... In short, all of these methods would take a very long time.

"Now it's my turn to turn into a dragon, right?" Dia asked eagerly. "All I have to do is ram into it, smash a hole in the castle, and then spew dragon breath into it..."

"Shut up! What do you want to do to my Gull Castle?" Renn immediately shouted to stop him.

"It's still the enemy's Fortress, isn't it!" Dia shouted. "Let's see what you're going to do about it!"

Renn's solution was simple. He called Aurora to his side, pointed to the archers on the high tower, and said:
"Shoot him."

Aurora raised her longbow and fired an arrow, and the opponent fell to the ground as expected.

After a moment, he stood up unsteadily again.

After a moment of stunned silence, everyone finally realized what was going on and couldn't help but marvel at how powerful necromancers were in some aspects, truly deserving of their reputation as an evil profession capable of unleashing undead calamities to destroy the world.

The resurrected ghoul archer pulled the arrow from his neck and staggered up the castle tower, only to encounter another castle guard.

"Hey, Talis!" The other person recognized him. "Shouldn't you be on duty at the West Tower? What happened to your neck? It's bleeding..."

Before he could finish his concerned words, the ghoul archer suddenly moved closer and pierced the man's neck with his arrow.

A little while later, the slain guard also staggered to his feet.

Death Plague is one of the basic spells of the Scourge. Those killed by Plague Wraiths will automatically become infected and turn into zombies, without requiring a necromancer to cast a special spell on them, thus easily creating a chain reaction.

The castle guards, under Dolores's orders, were mostly gathered near the city gates and surrounding towers to guard against attacks from the outside, but they were not much wary of sabotage from within.

By the time everyone realized something was wrong, the plague ghouls had grown to more than a dozen and were engaged in a fierce battle with the guards near the city gate.

The Salt Island knights outside the city were unaware of what had happened when they saw the raised drawbridge suddenly fall.

After the ropes of the suspension bridge were cut, the last plague ghoul fell to the ground, the color of the dead fading from its eye sockets.

The Salt Island Knights swarmed in and stormed into Gull Castle, beginning their sweep and annihilation operation.

Renn strolled leisurely at the back, his hands tucked into his sleeves, looking as content as if he were surveying his own territory. He arrived at the lord's study and saw Dolores in a stance ready to draw his sword and charge, but Ellina's spear had already pierced his chest.

"Hahahaha!" Dolores laughed miserably, blood spilling from his mouth. "Raine! You think you've won?"

“As long as I die here, you will never be able to clear your name of suspicion! Even as you enter your grave, people will still suspect that you killed your father, brother, and clansmen with your own hands last night and today. You are a kinslayer who deserves to be cursed by the gods!”

His laughter gradually turned into violent gasping for breath, and his pierced lungs emitted hollow, leaking sounds as he died. His consciousness gradually became hazy due to excessive blood loss, and he suddenly noticed that everyone present was looking at him with pity and sympathy.

It's like watching a idiot talking nonsense.

Dolores died filled with hatred and confusion. Ryan turned to Berthalia and asked:

"You mean he sent a letter last night, requesting that the family knights stationed outside return to Searock City?"

“Yes,” Berthalia said with a smile. “I asked the maester in charge of the ravens. Dolores’s coup was so sudden and unexpected that no one was prepared, and the aftermath will be difficult to handle. He probably intends to present the fact that all his family members are dead and force these family knights to acknowledge that he is the only lord who can represent the Faher family.”

Dia listened silently from the side, thinking to herself, "How can a murderer inherit the victim's estate?"
However, the court education she received from Ellina told her that this was feasible.

For the family knights, their loyalty was to the old Marquis Fahel, and the moment the old Marquis died, the contract of loyalty was dissolved. There was no chivalrous spirit of "a subject should repay his debt with his life"; at most, they would seek to be loyal to the Marquis's heir.

The dead have no rights whatsoever; on the contrary, they are the perfect scapegoats. Even the higher-ranking Marlowe family, who rule the River Reach, would likely judge the entire Fahl clan as "a normal family feud" after learning of the attack and annihilation by Dolorwell, and would not seek justice for the dead... after all, the dead can't cry foul.

Now that the only survivor is Renn, the situation remains unchanged. However, Renn is even more cunning than Dolores; he not only wants the entire Faher family's wealth, but also doesn't intend to lose face for their innocence.

I have to be all!

Soon, under the effect of the Great Resurrection spell, Dolores stood up again with a blank expression, his eyes filled with a complex mix of disbelief, resentment, and despair.

“Once the family knights arrive,” Renn coldly commanded through the caged bird, “you shall publicly reveal all your crimes in detail, and then commit suicide in front of everyone to atone for them.”

"Yes," Dolores said stiffly, lowering his head. All emotion had vanished from his eyes, leaving only a vast expanse of chaos from suppressed consciousness.

--------------

Inside High Rock, in the lord's study, Grand Duke Malorne was gazing at the long river flowing eastward when suddenly someone burst in.

She is the Grand Duke's most beloved daughter, Martha Malone.

"Father!" she cried out anxiously, "I heard something happened to the Fahre family? Where is Renn? Is Renn Fahre alright?"

"See for yourself," Grand Duke Malone said calmly.

Following her father's gaze, Martha looked at the letter spread out on the desk. It requested that Renn Fahl come to High Rock as soon as possible to accept the investiture from the Malorne family on behalf of the Fahl family. It was also stamped with the seal of the Grand Duke Malorne at the end.

The plump noblewoman finally breathed a sigh of relief. Since her father had summoned Renn, it meant Renn was alright; he was still alive…

Then she noticed the strange look in her father's eyes.

“Marsan,” Grand Duke Malorne said helplessly, “I’ve also heard that Renne is handsome, but you are now a married woman. Even if you were to find a lover, you shouldn’t choose him. It would cause a conflict between the Tanfrew and Fahl families…”

“Father, what are you saying!” Martha said speechlessly. “Raine is indeed handsome, but the reason I care about his safety is not because I have feelings for him, but because he is one of the few men in the world who can understand and empathize with us Amazons!”

Grand Duke Malorne was even more exasperated. After her marriage, his daughter joined some kind of Amazon Society in the capital, where she often discussed some inexplicable historical and philosophical questions with other members. Then one day, she suddenly claimed to be an Amazon, with the blood of an Amazonian slave girl, which almost made the old duke laugh in exasperation.

He even took out the Marorne family genealogy and showed it to his daughter by hand, page by page... Every woman who married into the Marorne family was a noble lady from a prestigious imperial family, and there were absolutely no Amazonian slave girls.

“Then how do you know that these noble ladies don’t have Amazonian slave blood in their ancestry?” Martha argued with her father.

"Do you think the ancestors of the Marlohn family would marry a noblewoman whose family lineage is unclear and whose bloodline is questionable?" Grand Duke Marlohn asked her in return.

Marshall quickly fell silent and began to grumble, "I knew you couldn't understand the Amazons' plight," and "Speechless, typical imperial aristocratic hegemonic thinking, I can't talk to you anymore." This greatly troubled Grand Duke Malorne, who couldn't understand why his obedient daughter, who had always been well-behaved since childhood, had started saying things he couldn't understand. Was it because he was getting old?
Now that he has learned that Raine can actually talk to Martha about that so-called "Amazon dilemma," Grand Duke Malorne is quite interested.

He planned to summon Raine to High Rock for two reasons: first, to formally appoint him as the new Marquis of Faher and help him stabilize his family's situation as soon as possible, so as to prevent the barbarian tribes of the Serpent Mountains from taking the opportunity to cross Eagle Hold and attack the Fertile Lands; and second, to ask him how to communicate and exchange ideas with Marshan.

Whether by luck or strength, Rein has now earned the right to be summoned by the Grand Duke to become the ultimate winner in the internal power struggle of the Faher family.

Outside Highrock City, at the Nightshade Legion's encampment.

Upon receiving the latest intelligence related to the Faher family, Legion Commander Claudius Pantoré simply smiled.

The strategy that Raine used to deal with Dolorwell was remarkably similar to the way he had dealt with the previous tribunal of the Legion, giving him a strange feeling of having met a kindred spirit.

Well done! It wasn't for nothing that I sent a legion courier to give you the intelligence.

Both the Malorne family and the Nightshade Legion have their own intelligence sources, and the Imperial Capital naturally has its own information channels.

Queen Margarita received the secret letter and excitedly shared it with Emperor Nilocas.

Nilocas was overjoyed after reading it. "I told him I'd give him time to fight for the family marquisate. Now, he's skipped the heir process altogether and become the sole candidate for the marquisate!"
As expected of the young talent I value!

“In that case, summon him to the capital after he has finished arranging the clan’s affairs,” Nilocas instructed.

“That’s right, he also needs royal approval for the investiture.” Margarita suddenly realized.

“It’s not just royal appointments,” Nilocas said casually. “The capital’s election season is also fast approaching.”

Margarita immediately became serious.

The democratic election system of the human empire differs greatly from that of the commercial city-states of the Fjords. It's unnecessary to detail all the rules and regulations, as that could fill a thick book.

In short, it was divided into a Senate composed of nobles and a House of Representatives composed of citizen representatives. The election of the former was limited to the noble parliament and was an internal negotiation of "sitting in a row and dividing the spoils," without much fighting or gunpowder.

The latter is much more complex in composition. There are representatives of the royalist party who are loyal to the royal family, representatives of the conservative party who represent the interests of the capital's aristocracy, and representatives of the Labour party who rose to power in the capital's streets and have a strong base of support... In order to win seats in the House of Representatives, bribery, lobbying, street debates, and the inevitable attacks, fights and assassinations will bring unprecedented and terrifying pressure to the capital's security and order.

At such a sensitive juncture, the position of commander of the capital's garrison must be filled by someone trusted by the emperor, and the reason is self-evident.

“Then I’ll write to him right away.” Margarita stood up gracefully.

The emperor was concerned with the election season and the royalists, but Margarina missed Bersalia, who was by Rein's side—this dark elf noble was both unassuming and intelligent, and would surely come up with many useful ideas for the Amazon Association.

To say that Queen Maglinna truly cared about the suffering of the ancient Amazons would be to mistake her for a fool with overflowing sympathy.

In fact, what Margarita cared about was using this name to unite the noble ladies and wives into a more secretive, cohesive, and readily mobilizable underground club.

In the human empires of this world, noblewomen have no opportunity to wield real power and are therefore often overlooked by schemers and ambitious individuals. In reality, however, they can influence their husbands and fathers who truly hold power. What Queen Margarita needs to do is to unite these noblewomen, who have nothing to do but yearn to exert influence, through a series of issues.

In their operation against Raylo Dacros, they proved their fighting prowess, further strengthening Margarina's resolve to make the Amazonian Association bigger and stronger.

Therefore, Berthalia's help is even more necessary.

On the distant border of River Bend Province, Raine has officially taken up residence in Searock City to clean up the mess left by Dolowell.

The Fahre family, apart from some unacknowledged illegitimate children and remote branches that had long since left the Reach, has now been completely wiped out.

The only one to blame is Revelation Day, the "Spring Festival" of the Western fantasy world. The custom is to gather with family around a warm fireplace and chat happily... Who would have thought that Dolores, that idiot, would launch a coup while the people of the tribe were gathered on Revelation Day?

He almost caught them all!

Even with his vast experience and knowledge, Renn had no idea where to begin with the complete extinction of his middle and upper management. Perhaps he should simply abandon the outdated, primitive family system and adopt a system like the capital's four border regions, where civil servants are recruited through open recruitment and elections?
However, such unconventional behavior would inevitably make one a target of the River Bend aristocracy...

While Renn was still hesitating, he suddenly saw Berthalia approaching with an envelope.

“Bad news, Renn,” she said with a smile, “the Queen is calling us back.”

(End of this chapter)