Our Family Has Fallen

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Combing Through the Truth_1

Lance indeed noticed their gazes and spoke with composure.

”I am the true Lord of Hamlet Town. That woman was nothing but a trick by the evil cult, aimed at luring them here to commit slaughter.”

As he said this, Lance steered the conversation back to the captain.

”I’m guessing that woman also told you she’d marry you, allowing you to become a noble too, right~”

The captain remained silent, but his facial expression said it all.

”Is it for this reason you abandoned your humanity? To satisfy your desires, following a woman’s words to kill the innocent?”

Dismas and the others also came to a realization, looking at the captain with contempt.

They never doubted their Lord’s intentions; they were just a bit curious about the woman’s identity. From what they had seen and experienced firsthand on their journey here, no one was more qualified than their Lord to inherit the noble title of this place.

If anyone dared to challenge the right of succession, Dismas would take care of the fool without waiting for Lance to give the word.

Only their Lord could lead them to redemption!

To be honest, Lance himself was somewhat surprised to hear of the woman’s identity. His ancestor had been notoriously debauched in his youth; no one knew how many offspring he had sired, let alone how many letters he had sent out. So Lance couldn’t be sure of the woman’s true identity. To some extent, a direct descendant definitely had more right to inherit than him, a distant relative whose exact connection was obscure.

But he held steady, not showing the slightest hint of fear. His confidence stemmed from the fact that the Butler was dead, and the woman was dead too. No matter what her identity was, the dead could not inherit~ Moreover, the food and army of Hamlet were firmly under his control, and everyone in town recognized him. As the one holding the power of narrative, what he declared false became false. Even if a true heir existed, a single word from him could dispose of them. This was the domain he had fought for; no one could take it from his hands. Never mind those unworthy Fellah heirs; even if the old man himself showed up, he’d have to face Lance’s artillery.

”It was you!” the captain suddenly exclaimed. Aided by the dim candlelight, he finally recognized the man standing beside him as the same one who had gone up the mountain to deliver the message.

Wasn’t he supposed to have died in the Barbarian attack? How was he still alive?

He surely wasn’t foolish. Having graduated from a military academy as a commoner and risen to the rank of Artillery Captain, his earlier confusion and Dismas’s different equipment were the only reasons he hadn’t recognized him sooner. Now, in an instant, he put the pieces together, guessing that Lance had engineered all of this to instigate conflict between the Artillery Regiment and the Wolf Faction.

”You’re the ones who killed my brothers!”

With that, the captain became agitated, struggling against the pain in an attempt to get up.

Reynard, seeing this, moved to restrain him, but before he could act, the captain collapsed back onto the bed. He was too weak. He was already suffering from severe blood loss, and with his injuries still unhealed, even the slightest movement pulled at his wounds, leaving him with no strength to resist.

”Let me ask you one question: as Lord, when my domain is looted by bandits, should I not suppress them? Are you aware of the damage you’ve caused this town? Do only your men count as human, and my people do not?”

The captain fell silent. Although he didn’t want to admit it, he recalled what he had done after regaining consciousness and naturally lacked the confidence to retort. Powerlessness and guilt once again overwhelmed his heart, and his already pale complexion visibly waned further.

With a single sentence, Lance had cowed the captain. Looking at his state, Lance scoffed and directly pointed out the root of all this.

”Heh~ The one who killed them was you. You, seduced by women, money, and power, led those soldiers, who merely wished to return home, down a fatal path toward the bandits. Even without my intervention, how long did you think you could prance about? Bandits are bandits. They’re either annihilated by the Regular Army, or they completely fall to the evil cult and are *then* annihilated by the Regular Army. No matter what, it was a dead end. It was you who killed them with your own hands, and now you want to pin the responsibility on me? Don’t you find such evasion of responsibility ridiculous?”

Lance suddenly raised his voice, his entire being exuding a formidable aura. His question startled even Dismas and the others. ”Well?! Tell me!”

Not to mention the captain, who was already out of his wits. Now completely stripped of his facade by Lance, he was left with nowhere to hide his shame.

”No... I... It’s me... I killed them...”

Lance, seeing him like this, just curled his lip disdainfully. He ignored the despairing captain and began to reconstruct the situation in his own mind.

In simple terms, the old man’s scheming had caused riots to erupt in the town. With the Church and the Guild—two major powers—still present in town, the old man hadn’t dared to act directly. Instead, he’d used the evil cult as a front to recruit bandits and Mercenary Corps. But those guys were just a ragtag bunch. The Wolf Faction was focused on preserving its own strength. With Balistan training the militia, and the evil cult seeing their prolonged siege failing, they had a Heretic Priest charm the captain to bring in the Artillery Regiment. The cannons blasted a path, and Hamlet Town fell swiftly, followed by the bandits’ unrestrained revelry.

But why would the bandits retreat?

”Right, why did you retreat directly instead of occupying this place?”

The captain, caught off guard by Lance’s sudden question, paused but then answered, ”Because the Knights of the Holy Light intervened. There were twelve of them, not from the Church within the town but from outside. Neither we nor the Barbarians’ Gunners could injure them. They were extremely agile in the narrow town streets, so our cannons couldn’t hit them at all. With just one charge, the Knights broke through the Allied Bandit Army. The Barbarians were the first to flee. The rest scattered, so we had to follow suit. If they had pursued, few bandits would have survived.”

Lance, unaware of this, turned to Reynard.

Reynard thought for a moment based on the description, then explained, ”They must have encountered members of the Order of the Holy Light, not ordinary Crusaders. These Knights wear armor blessed by the Holy Light, which even bullets cannot penetrate. However, they usually have important duties and rarely appear in towns like this.”

Hearing this, Lance fell into contemplation, and understanding dawned on him. If that was the case, everything made sense. The Prophet had proclaimed that the old ancestor’s excavation would lead to the end of the world. With even the common folk rioting, it was bound to alarm the Church. It was only natural for them to send people to investigate. It was precisely for this reason that the old ancestor had to fake his death to escape, simultaneously having the evil cult bring in the Artillery Regiment to attack the town and conceal the truth.