Do you have a problem with necromancers?

Chapter 118 The Duke's Hand
If we were to ask which people in the world most revere heroes, the people of the North would undoubtedly be the answer.

In the Age of Heroes, the families of the North were nearly bled dry in their desperate struggle against the White Walkers and the Corpse Cult. Take House Isaac, who ruled the North at the time, for example: the High King died in battle, his three sons died one after another, the Queen died in battle, and his eldest sister died in battle. In the end, only Helene Isaac, the youngest daughter, was left, known as the "Orphan of the North." She still donned armor, took up arms, and led her army to confront the White Walkers head-on.

Finally, the White Walkers were banished from the continent, and Helene Issa returned to the North as a tragic hero, eventually being crowned the High Queen.

Unfortunately, she lost her fertility due to war injuries and remained unmarried for the rest of her life. She adopted a war orphan and named him Ruvand Issa, who later became King Ruvand.

The cause of Helene's death is subject to much debate. Some say she died suddenly from an illness, others say she died young from a relapse of an old injury, and a more common theory is that Ruvend instigated a palace coup, forcing Helene to commit suicide and abdicate—because Her Majesty Helene was destined to have no heir, so many Northern nobles sided with Ruvend in advance, betraying the High King.

The end of the heroic era, accompanied by the regrettable fate of each hero, is something that is truly unavoidable.

The Issa family has declined to comment on the popular rumors that Lu Wende murdered his mother, a statement that implies defeat. However, many people believe these rumors, with some even referring to the Issa family as a "usurper family."

After all, the original House of Isa died out for the North, yet its honor, bloodline, and even its name were usurped by a shameless murderer. How could the honest and simple Northerners tolerate this? In fact, the fact that the House of Isa didn't completely disappear until decades ago is already a testament to the Northerners' mercy.

In the lord's study, Raine, having snapped out of his thoughts, looked at the silent wild dog mage and asked:
"Are you a descendant of the Issa family?"

“No,” said the Wild Dog Mage.

“There are no Northerners here, you can just say so,” Raine said with a smile.

“No,” said the Wild Dog Mage.

“If you’re not a descendant of the Isa family, then just say ‘Helene Isa is a big idiot,’ and we’ll believe you,” Berthalia began to fan the flames.

The wild dog mage simply fell silent.

The answer to why they would rather endure suspicion that is detrimental to themselves than speak ill of an ancient person is already obvious.

"Actually, I don't care who your ancestors were," Renn said calmly, staring into her eyes. "As long as you don't cause us any trouble. I've heard there's a group of Northerners wandering around the four borders of the Empire, looking for some remnants of the Isa family. I believe that has nothing to do with you, right?"

“It has nothing to do with me,” the Wild Dog Mage said again.

“Very good.” Renn clapped his hands. “Besalia, take her to make potions.”

To say he didn't care would be a lie. Historically, King Ruvend moved the tomb of High Queen Helene, leaving many Northerners without a place to worship her, forcing them to set up statues of the goddess Helene in their homes. This also meant that any necromancer who wanted to resurrect Helene Isa in later generations would be unable to do so due to the lack of her remains.

If anyone in the world still knows the location of Helene Issa's tomb, they must be a descendant of the Issa family.

Of course, this woman is now like a frightened bird, and unless you kill her and then resurrect her to search her soul, it will be difficult to get her to talk.

Raine wasn't in a hurry to resurrect the fifth ancient hero; what he needed more right now was this wild dog's pharmaceutical technology. After all, Hell's Cauldron was a notoriously difficult 100-player dungeon, and many players who went there to farm class book fragments would repeatedly enter and exit the dungeon to clear mobs, unable to even defeat the first mini-boss.

Even with the addition of ancient heroes, this journey remains extremely dangerous, so we can only do our best to make thorough preparations.

In Raine's plan, the entire tactic needed to be executed from two directions. First, on the main battlefield, the Reach coalition needed to put enough pressure on the Savages to force most of their forces, except for the Wraith Legion around Hell's Cauldron, to be tied down in the northern Serpent Mountains.

Secondly, a surprise attack will be launched from the west, bypassing the Serpent Mountain Range. This requires an absolutely elite squad to eliminate all the savages along the way, and finally storm the Hell Cauldron to attempt to kill the Wild Elf King.

This plan has many variables. For example, can the Reach coalition forces on the main battlefield hold back the main force of the wildling army? If the nobles suddenly back down and Duchess Marshan fails to maintain order, then Raine, who is leading his heroes deep into enemy territory, will be in an extremely unfavorable situation.

The most valuable lesson that Renn, who was familiar with the game's storyline, learned was: never trust the virtues and integrity of nobles.

He spread out the letter paper again, pondered for a moment, and then began to write furiously:

"...The awards have been officially announced, and the judging committee is functioning smoothly. Everyone is amazed by Master Bird's professional competence. This demonstrates that court mages appointed by the royal family still enjoy extremely high prestige in River Bend Province..."

"...Grand Duke Malorne was unfortunately killed by assassins from the Legion of Wraiths, and the nobles are in a state of panic. Kyle Malorne is far away in the East, and if we wait for him to arrive at Eagle Hold to take charge, the allied forces will probably have already fallen apart. Therefore, we can only invite the Duke's daughter, Martha Malorne, from High Rock."

"...Marsan Malorne is very prestigious. She quickly won over the hearts of the people upon her arrival, and the nobles of both the Fertile Lands and the Riverlands have complete faith in her. Given that the Grand Duke Malorne did not designate an heir before his death, the nobles hope to recommend Marsan to the court to succeed his father..."

In the Imperial Palace in the capital, Empress Margarita's fingers brushed across the letter, and she could no longer hide the smile on her face.

“My dear,” Emperor Nilocas said cheerfully, sitting beside him and playing with the parrot in the cage, “please tell me, is that Martha Malone one of yours?”

“Marsan is definitely one of my people,” Margarita said with a smile. “She is one of the founding members of our club and a loyal admirer of mine. We correspond almost every month and maintain close social ties.”

“Excellent.” Nilocas laughed triumphantly. “In this way, we will have a grand duke who is close to the royal family.”

“Don’t be too happy yet,” Margarina cautioned. “Kyle Malone is currently the adopted son of Duke Borot. Once the Borot family gets this news, they will definitely use every means to send him back to High Rock as soon as possible, so that the Malone family will recognize him as the Duke’s designated heir.”

“Raine has handled this matter exceptionally well,” Nilocas said, raising an eyebrow. “So far, even those ministers have been completely unaware, let alone the Bolot family, who couldn’t possibly have gotten wind of it, much less take any action.”

“So we need to act fast,” Margarita concluded. “We can’t expect all the Reach nobles to support Marsham; the news will leak out sooner or later. At least for now, we have the upper hand.”

“That’s right.” Nilocas quickly made the decision. “In that case, I’ll bypass the court meeting and directly appoint Martha as Grand Duke of the Reach! Let’s see if the Malorne family dares to defy the Emperor’s decree after receiving the news!”

“And then there’s the Legion.” Margarina remembered something else. “The Nightshade Legion is currently fighting the Savages on the front lines, and High Rock City is in a state of lack of military deterrence. It’s hard to guarantee that no one from the Marorne family will choose to take risks because of this.”

“I will mobilize the Warrior Legion into the Reach,” Nilocas said thoughtfully. “Isn’t Raine in need of Imperial support? Let the Warrior Legion enter under the guise of providing support!”

After a long period of secret discussion, the two finally finalized all the details.

Back in her palace, Queen Margarita summoned her confidante and began dictating her reply to Renn.

The reply was written in beautiful handwriting and used ornate language, and the content was almost lengthy, but it could be summarized in one sentence:
"Well done, I will reward you accordingly."

After receiving and reading the reply, Ryan realized that he was facing a problem:
Should we wait until the Warriors arrive on the battlefield before launching the decapitation strike?
This was a very tempting option, and it seemed like a safe bet. But Renn soon realized that the arrival of the Warrior Legion was to ensure a deterrent against the Reach nobles and the Marorne family. Expecting their legion commanders to obey Duchess Marsan's orders was extremely difficult—Claudius was easy to talk to because Renn had a strong vested interest in him, but that didn't mean other Imperial Legions would be so "lenient."

The original plan remains unchanged, but just to be on the safe side, we'll ask Claudius what kind of personality the Warriors' management has.

“The commander of the Seventh Legion, Aurus, is a typical old-fashioned man,” Claudius commented bluntly. “He is pretty much the most rigid and conservative old imperial man you can imagine.”

"If our loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor is more flexible, then his loyalty is more foolish; we will carry out any order from the Royal Family without question, no matter how absurd the order itself may be."

“The tribune Gaius is now over seventy years old and is said to be unable to see clearly. Almost no one in the Seventh Legion takes him seriously. The reason His Majesty the Emperor has not replaced him is mostly because he trusts Aurus’s loyalty.”

With just a few words, Claudius made it clear to Renn that he shouldn't rely on or care about the Seventh Legion.

Although it's unclear what orders the Emperor gave to the Seventh Legion, it's safe to assume it was mostly to intimidate the Malorne family. After all, the royal family wouldn't care in the slightest whether the Fertile Lands would be completely destroyed by the wildling army. The only thing the Emperor and Empress truly cared about was whether Marsan could become a Duchess.

“However,” Claudius changed the subject, “it is beyond my expectations that the royal family is willing to send the Warrior Legion to provide support. In history, apart from the collective rebellion of the River Reach nobles, the royal family has never sent a single soldier here.”

"This shows that the royal family fully supports Martha Malorne's succession as Grand Duchess of the Reach," Raine said. Claudius laughed heartily. With Martha Malorne as Duchess of the Reach, the pressure on the Nightshade Legion would be greatly reduced, after all, this woman was much easier to deal with than her father.

“A toast to the new Duchess.” He picked up a wine glass from the coffee table.

"To the Duchess," Renn said, raising his glass in return.

Several days later, a royal messenger from the capital brought the emperor's edict of investiture.

According to convention, the Malorne family should decide on the Grand Duke themselves, then report to the capital for the court meeting, and finally the emperor would issue the decree of investiture. But now, they have skipped directly to the last step, which shows that Emperor Nilocas has probably gotten a little carried away lately.

"His Majesty has instructed me to convey this to you." Handing the edict to Renn, the royal messenger lowered his voice and said privately, "The court council is unaware of this edict, nor is the Marlowe family."

“Understood,” Raine said with a smile. “Please also convey to His Majesty that the Reach will have only one Grand Duke in the future, and that will be Martha Malorne.”

Upon arriving in the courtyard outside the castle, Renn handed the decree of investiture to the gathered River Reach nobles, allowing them to freely circulate it among themselves.

The crowd gathered to read the imperial edict, each person displaying a peculiar expression. Initially, most were surprised and solemn, but this quickly turned into encouragement and exhilaration, culminating in a look of unwavering loyalty and righteous indignation.

The edict explicitly stated that the Seventh Legion of Warriors would be dispatched to witness the ceremony and ensure a smooth transfer of the Dukeship of the Reach.

In other words, the royal family not only supported Martha becoming a duchess, but also mobilized the Imperial Legion, which is an unprecedented level of support!

Normally, if the emperor dared to openly interfere in the succession of a grand duke, the ducal family would immediately and vehemently oppose it, then summon all vassals to gather and demand an explanation from the capital. The final outcome would almost certainly be a court meeting yielding and backing down; otherwise, the border nobles would simply declare the "imperial decree invalid." What would you do next: quell the rebellion (inciting a revolt) or admit defeat (losing face)? Neither would be appropriate.

However, in the Reach today, there are already a large number of nobles who support Marsanne, and those who support Kyle are not even aware that the Grand Duke has died. Therefore, no noble will oppose this decree, and it may even become an important cornerstone for uniting the "Marsanne faction".

Martha Malone is the Grand Duke to whom we serve!
Amidst laughter and cheers, old Earl Tanfield—the father of Martha's husband—summoned Renn to the edge of the hall and asked in a low voice:

"This royal edict was not sent to High Rock, was it?"

“Of course,” Ryan said with a smile. “The court seems to think that Martha Malone, not the Malone family, should be in charge of the Reach in the future.”

Old Earl Tanfield blinked and said:
“Your Excellency, you must be careful of Tortak Malone. Although he has been married for many years, he has no children and therefore treats the Grand Duke’s son, Kyle Malone, as his own son. On the contrary, Tortak dislikes his niece, Marsan Malone, and has even said that ‘Marsan has been corrupted by those noblewomen in the capital.’”

“Yes, that’s how the old-fashioned Reach nobles are,” Renn said slowly. “They always feel that women aren’t enough to hold their own. Now that the entire Fertile Lands and half of the Riverlands are standing behind His Excellency the Duke, I’d like to see if this old Marlowe can still be so stubborn.”

“He certainly will,” old Earl Tanfur said firmly. “I’m telling you this to warn you not to take any chances. Toltak is an extremely stubborn man; he might not give in even with a knife to his throat. At the same time, as long as the Marlowe family refuses to acknowledge His Excellency the Duke’s status, the situation in the Reach will never be truly settled.”

Renn gave the old count a meaningful look.

Even with a knife to his throat, he might not let go; doesn't that mean I should just chop off his head? This old count seems to be implying that I can assassinate Toltak, but secretly he may also suspect that I'm involved in the Duke's death. After all, the biggest beneficiary of this matter isn't Martha, but me.

Marsan hasn't even become the lord of High Rock yet, and you're already planning to set me up, are you?
“Your Excellency,” Renn said leisurely, “if a nobleman does not have enough prestige, he has to try to persuade his family, vassals and the empire to support him. But if he has outstanding achievements to show for it, people will spontaneously unite around him, without having to bother persuading anyone.”

“You mean…” Earl Tanfol quickly turned his head, “Your Excellency, it’s not that I don’t believe our Duchess can win the war against the savage army, but it will certainly take a long time, and time is very precious to us.”

The old count's meaning was very clear, he was practically saying, "You hurry up and kill Toltak, then we'll quickly escort Marshan back to High Rock to officially ascend the throne, and then we can turn around and fight the wildlings."

Renn pretended not to understand, because the Grand Duke was indeed killed by the vengeful assassin, and all the nobles present at the time could testify to this. On the other hand, if Toltak died under mysterious circumstances, even if there was no evidence afterward, people would most likely try to pin the blame on him.

“Indeed, time is extremely precious and cannot be wasted.” Renn immediately said solemnly, “I will report to the Duke immediately and inform him that we need to send troops to attack the Serpent Mountain Range as soon as possible!”

The old count opened his mouth, wanting to explain that he didn't mean it that way, but Renn had already strode upstairs.

Upon learning that she had been bestowed the title of Duchess by the Emperor, Martha showed no reaction, but when she heard that Renn wanted to start a war as soon as possible, she immediately flew into a rage:

"We should have started the war long ago. Why did we have to wait until the emperor conferred the title? Now that I am a Grand Duke, issue my order: all vassals must assemble their armies and prepare to attack the Serpent Mountain Range to avenge my father!"

"Wait a minute, you can't declare war like this," Renn quickly stopped her. "Otherwise, if things go wrong, all those who secretly oppose you will take the opportunity to incite the nobles to rebel against your orders."

"As a qualified lord, you should first summon those noble lords with status and prestige, probe, hint, and persuade them to support starting a war. Then, gather all the remaining nobles together, let those nobles propose to formally launch the war, and have all the nobles vote and collectively agree before you make the final decision. In this way, the responsibility for failure will be shared by everyone, and you can take the greatest credit if you win."

“Why is it so complicated?” Martha frowned and complained. “Am I not the Grand Duke?”

“Only those who are supported by the nobles are Grand Dukes,” Renn said with a smile.

Martha didn't immediately understand the meaning of those words, but she instinctively trusted Ryan's advice, so she urged him on:

"Then go and call them over. I really don't want to wait any longer."

The selection of a noble lord with status and prestige is actually not difficult. There are only a few noble circles in the fertile lands. Just look at which families are close to each other and frequently intermarry. From these, you can choose the one with the strongest power or the highest rank.

Upon arriving at the lord's study, everyone offered their congratulations and pledged allegiance to Duchess Marsan. Although she had only received imperial recognition and had not yet returned to Highrock for her formal coronation, most nobles unanimously believed that the Malorne family had no choice but to acknowledge her as duchess, leaving Toltak with no other option.

These nobles were also well aware that duchesses and barons had many differences in their thinking habits. First, they valued loyalty and affection more, so when dealing with them, one should talk less about reason and more about feelings; second, they often had excellent memories, and even the slightest offense would be remembered for a long time, so one should never offend them rashly; finally, they generally valued a sense of honor and self-respect, so one should say nice things and go along with their ideas.

"We must fight!"

"I've wanted to avenge the Grand Duke for a long time!"

"My sword thirsts to drink the blood of the murderer!"

Seeing that the nobles were all taking the initiative to challenge her, Martha was immediately pleased and turned to Ryan, saying:

“In that case, you shall be in charge of the war, Marquis Faher. I await your presentation of the murderer’s head to me.”

After saying that, Martha left, satisfied.

The nobles stared blankly at the duchess's retreating figure. Wait, she's gone already?

Martha's thinking was actually quite simple. "Do I know anything about warfare? Do I know how to deploy troops? Do I know how to distribute spoils of war? I know nothing. Even if I stayed here, I'd just be a listener, wasting my time. I'd rather do my own thing."

What she didn't know was that even leaving the final decision to the meeting would have solidified her authority in the eyes of the nobles. But rashly shirking responsibility and dumping all the "hard work" on Renn would, in effect, be handing over the Duke's authority to him as well.

The nobles present silently looked at Renn, knowing that this Marquis Fahl would most likely replace Tortak and become the new Hand of the Duke... No, considering that Marshan would most likely not be able to make independent decisions on anything, in the end it might become "Fahel calls the shots in the Reach"!

“Gentlemen,” Renn said with a smile, “Since His Excellency the Duke has entrusted the war to me, I must live up to this trust.”

"Next, let's discuss the specific tactical arrangements."

(End of this chapter)