Do you have a problem with necromancers?

Chapter 40 Nightmare Legion
The Imperial Legion, carefully selected from loyal Imperial citizens, is a powerful military force spanning seven provinces across the Empire.

Or more accurately, it is a military force that protects the four borders of the empire and deters the seven border provinces, and is also a key piece in the empire's "strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches" policy.

The Eighth "Nightmare" Legion is responsible for guarding the River Bend Province and is stationed year-round near High Rock. If any River Bend nobles attempt to rebel and establish their own rule, the Nightmare Legion will be dispatched to suppress them.

If the Nightshade Legion is unable to defeat them, the 7th "Warriors" Legion and the 19th "Ravens" Legion in the South, as well as the 10th "Forge" Legion and the 13th "Champions" Legion in the East, can enter the territory to provide support at any time.

Any ambitious border nobleman should consider whether he can withstand a combined attack from five imperial legions before actually raising the banner of rebellion.

Although the Nightshade Legion's mission is to garrison River Bend Province, its main concern is the Malorne family, and its relationship with the other border marquises is not bad—not "good" nor "bad," but "not bad."

This situation arises from the delicate relationship between lords and vassals within the imperial nobility. Legally speaking, vassals should share the same hatred and honor as their lords. However, if this were truly the case, Marquis Fahr wouldn't have gone to such lengths to send Rein, bypassing the Marorne family, to directly curry favor with the royal family.

Raine calmly ate his bean soup, watching the Nightmare cavalry galloping in the distance, their speed undiminished even when they saw the knights of the Faher family stationed in the woods.

"Step back!" Mather gestured for the family knights to raise their shields. "This is the Faher family!"

The Nightmare cavalry charged to the front of the family knights' formation. Raine noticed that the cavalryman's eyes were bloodshot and his expression was haggard, as if he had suffered considerable mental torment and long-term suffering.

"You!" the cavalryman shouted at the top of his lungs, "Is there a mage in your ranks?!"

Everyone looked at each other.

"Are there any mages?!" the Nightshade cavalryman shouted again. "We need mages!"

Her voice sounded rather mournful.

Unlike elves, humans do not possess an innate talent for spellcasting, resulting in a very small number of mages. Furthermore, for the sake of facilitating academic exchange, most human mages are concentrated within the four borders of the empire, specifically within the Spellcasters' Guild.

Asking passing caravans everywhere to see if they had any mages is a desperate act, suggesting that the Nightshade Legion has probably encountered some kind of thorny occult problem that requires a powerful mage to solve.

Ryan's mind raced slightly, and he asked:

"What's the matter?"

"Are you a mage?" the Nightmare cavalryman shouted from a distance.

Raine did not answer, but instead gestured to Ellina and Bersalia beside him.

As we all know, elves are skilled at casting spells, just like how people on Earth believe that "Germans are meticulous and French are romantic"—it's a stereotype ingrained in our minds.

Upon seeing the two elven women's pointed ears, the Nightshade riders immediately showed expressions of relief and shouted:

"We cordially request that you grace our legion's headquarters with your presence! A generous reward awaits you!"

He turned the cloth bag at his waist upside down, letting the gold crown coins inside roll into the mud.

The knights of the family frowned, because the Nightmare Cavalry's act of directly bribing them with money might be useful to greedy caravans, but it was suspected of being an insult to the nobles.

Raine didn't dwell on it; he was simply searching his mind for possible legion missions.

No, I don't remember.

All quests in the original game world were automatically generated by the server using AI. If skilled players completed quests alone without posting about it on forums, no one would know about the quest.

Go take a look; if it doesn't work, then leave.

"Lead the way," Renn said calmly.

Knight leader Maxie gestured for the knights to put away their weapons, then consulted with Renn and asked:

"Should we go with you, or stay nearby and wait for your return?"

“You wouldn’t be of any use even if you went,” Renn said calmly. “They’ve clearly encountered…mystical problems.”

“Yes, but I suggest splitting the knights in two,” Mather said. “Half of the knights will accompany you. Even if they can't solve the occult problems they face, at least it will ensure your and their safety as much as possible.” “Agreed.”

With Raine's approval, Mather commanded the knights to split into two groups. One group escorted the maids and attendants to a nearby village to rest, while the other group, along with himself, followed Raine and the Nightshade cavalry to the legion's encampment.

The Nightshade Legion's base is located east of Highrock City, on the south bank of the Long River. Centered around Nightshade Castle, many public facilities have developed to serve the Legion, making it not much different from an ordinary town.

However, the group quickly realized something was wrong as soon as they entered the legion's encampment.

nobody.

An eerie silence descended upon the entire legion's encampment. The streets, shops, and markets were all deserted, not a soul in sight.

But it's broad daylight now!
The group rode their horses to Nightshade Castle and saw several mages rushing out of the hall, looking quite flustered.

Inside the castle hall, dozens of Imperial Legion soldiers surrounded two generals, talking intensely and rapidly, before turning to look at the group of Renn who were entering the castle.

Their eyes were also bloodshot, as if they hadn't slept for three days and three nights.

"Report!" shouted the Nightshade cavalryman leading the way, "I've brought a new mage!"

While being scrutinized by the two generals, Renn was also observing these two high-ranking officers of the legion.

Standing on the left is the legion commander, and on the right is the legion's tribunal. The Imperial Legion employs a dual-consul system. The legion commander is responsible for all military affairs related to the armed forces, including training, preparation, deployment, and warfare; the tribunal is responsible for monitoring the soldiers' thoughts and loyalty, as well as the legion's financial operations and logistical management.

If the legion commander is the emperor's sword, then the tribunal is the emperor's hand wielding that sword; the superiority of one over the other is self-evident.

Raine looked directly at the Legion's militia officer and asked:

"What problem needs to be solved?"

“Look this way,” the tribunal said, raising an eyebrow and gesturing for Renn to look at the ground beside him, where a person was lying. “Our military judge suddenly fell into a coma in the early hours of yesterday morning, and we have tried all sorts of methods to wake him up, but we have been unable to do so.”

"The doctor said there were no signs of illness or poisoning in his body, so the problem must be with his soul."

His voice suddenly became serious:

"It might be a curse from magic."

“Magic is magic, and curse is curse,” Renn said with a sneer. “The two cannot be confused.”

“Young man, if we understood magic, we wouldn’t have come to you,” the legion commander said coldly, his voice even hoarser and deeper than the tribunal’s. “We will pay you for solving our problems.”

The rewards for Legion missions are nothing more than money and reputation.

Raine had absolutely no interest in money, but establishing connections with the Nightshade Legion was an extremely rare opportunity. It's important to understand that the Legion Commander and the Legion's Tribunal were on par with Grand Duke Malorne in the Empire's power hierarchy.

Even if Marquis Fahel came, he would have to be careful when speaking with the high-ranking leader!

“Alright, let’s take a look first.” Renn led the two elves to examine the military judge lying on the ground.

As the doctor said, the military judge was in very good health, breathing evenly, and had a rosy complexion. The only problem was that he couldn't wake up. His brows were slightly furrowed, and his eyeballs under his eyelids kept moving, as if he was being tormented by some unknown fear.

No wonder the tribunal suspected it was a curse. In Raine's memory, there were indeed three or four obscure and uncommon witchcraft curses that could achieve similar effects.

But this military judge did not have a curse.

He's trapped in a dream woven by evil magic; the signs seem to suggest it...

The style of the Hell series.

(End of this chapter)