Our Family Has Fallen

Chapter 327: Chapter 238: Strike Hard!_2

Barton and Balistan were leading sweeps outside. Their teams would return to rest tomorrow, and then it would be his and Dismas’s turn to lead another team.

Such widespread talk had never occurred before. The bizarre rhetoric instantly alerted Reynard.

Reynard’s scolding sent the man into a panic, forcing him to stammer a revised, disjointed account.

”I heard it from others, and the sheriff’s team really did take people into custody.”

Reynard didn’t know the specifics of this matter, but he had met William. William regarded justice above all else and couldn’t have done such a thing. There must be a problem here.

That the situation at the scene was under control was known even within the police department. Just then, the department’s gates opened, and William walked out.

”Today, I’m going to clear this up for you all!” William shouted, raising his hand to signal. ”Bring the criminal forward for a public trial!”

As soon as he had spoken, two sheriffs brought out the foreman.

Just moments before, he had been shouting madly, but now he was dragged out like a dead dog. He realized the situation was hopeless once the military took firm control.

What is a public trial? It means announcing the matter publicly.

William’s intention was simple. Some people wanted to cover this up, didn’t they? Well, I will expose it in front of everyone!

William possessed the spirit to sacrifice everything for justice; he didn’t care who was behind the foreman.

With both witness testimony and material evidence present, the outcome of the public trial was clear even before it began. As the evidence was pieced together, the crowd’s fury turned towards the foreman. They looked as if they couldn’t wait to tear him to pieces.

But they had completely forgotten what they themselves had done earlier. Sometimes their anger was just so cheap and meaningless.

However, Reynard was not about to let the situation get out of hand again. After understanding what had happened, he realized the event had a provocative nature; there were instigators among the crowd, or perhaps Heretics had infiltrated...

”Seal off the town entrances and exits! No one passes without an order,” Reynard commanded, and the soldiers began to move.

After communicating with William, they divided their forces. One group went to the foreman’s home to collect evidence, and the other pursued the one spreading the rumors.

William led a team away, while Reynard took charge of the scene.

”Speak! Who did you hear it from? What exactly did he tell you?”

Reynard wasn’t one for beating around the bush. His investigation method was simple: catch one person, get them to reveal who they heard it from, and then quickly follow the leads to the culprit hiding in the crowd.

”Everyone points to you! Come clean, quick!”

With that, Reynard unsheathed his Longsword with a backhand. He was not William—in this era, there was no need for evidence.

”I’ll speak! Others put me up to it...”

The manager observing from atop the Mercenary Building was shocked by this scene.

It’s over...

At that moment, he couldn’t even afford to indulge in his daydreams. He hastily packed a few things, preparing to flee.

However, no sooner had he left the building than he encountered two soldiers head-on. The manager tried to pretend he hadn’t seen them, but the soldiers directly blocked his path.

”Sir, please come with us.”

At that moment, the manager knew that by trying to save that fellow, he had implicated himself.

Regret... indecision... fear...

A flood of incomprehensible emotions washed over him. Why did I do such a foolish thing?

Soon, the culprit was apprehended, and William quickly found more clues during a raid of the foreman’s house.

But the matter was far from over. Like a spark on gunpowder, it ignited a vast array of issues.

Soon, people started to report similar incidents. And it didn’t stop there—more corruption and chaos were being reported as well.

Previously, no one spoke out because everyone was afraid. Besides, life, while not perfect, had been tolerable compared to the times of refuge, so they didn’t expose it, or they were silenced by those in power before they could act.

Now, seeing Sheriff William’s decisiveness, they naturally chose to seek justice and protect their own rights.

Reynard realized something was amiss and decisively ordered martial law, having his soldiers assist in handling these cases.

”A vicious incident occurred in the square three days ago...” William looked up at My Lord before continuing.

”This case has led to the identification of... one hundred and twenty-seven people directly involved, among whom...”

Many issues arose during William’s investigation.

For instance, some could use money to alter their work points, attributing others’ contributions to themselves while those who worked hard received nothing.

Some claimed their subordinates’ work as their own, rising three ranks in a short time by threatening those workers.

Even more alarming, this investigation uncovered a heinous crime: someone had killed a local who tried to resist...

”Good, good! I’ve just returned, and you’ve already prepared such a grand ’welcome’ gift for me...” Lance’s gaze sharpened instantly upon hearing this.

He had just returned from the wilderness to find many construction projects in town halted and soldiers stationed at every intersection.

At that moment, he realized something else had happened in town.

However, he wasn’t too surprised. After all, if there were no incidents, it wouldn’t be Hamlet.

Listening to William’s report, Lance understood what had transpired in Hamlet during the few short days he was away.

But Lance’s words put tremendous pressure on William. The matter was too extensive, involving too many people. Those who were caught kept implicating others to reduce their own sentences, to the point where the situation was spiraling out of control.

His investigation had halted construction projects, and the populace had inexplicably fallen into a panic, casting a heavy pall over the entire town.

Truthfully, William hadn’t expected this. After all, under My Lord’s leadership, Hamlet was supposed to be better than most towns in the Empire, yet so much evil still lurked.

”This isn’t your fault, William,” Lance said. ”I can only blame myself for focusing on other matters and overlooking the loopholes left from before.”

Lance didn’t blame William. The root of the problem lay in his own past actions: he had simplified the promotion process to quickly restore productivity, and the work point policy designed to encourage labor had been exploited.

It was better for these issues to surface now rather than being dragged out and causing even bigger problems later.

There were things William arguably shouldn’t say, but seeing My Lord’s attitude, he ventured deeper into the issues behind the incident.

”Most of the culprits have identification numbers below nine hundred, and the engineering team is particularly rife with corruption. They abused their power to promote cronies, suppressing...”

Identification numbers below nine hundred—what did that mean? It referred to the original residents.

William was implying that the engineering team leaders practiced nepotism, suppressing talented individuals and promoting original residents regardless of their competence.

Lance was no fool. Having seen the reports, he had already guessed as much.

It seemed the arrival of the refugees had instilled a sense of crisis in these original residents, leading them to form a faction against the newcomers to protect their laughable positions of power and interests.

Damn troublemakers! If they’re dividing people like this, wouldn’t I be an outsider too?

Lance had assumed that factional strife, a phenomenon typically emerging at the national level, wouldn’t appear in a small place like Hamlet.

Indeed, wherever there are humans, there is infighting. A bunch squabbling over benefits, no different from monkeys fighting over banana peels.

Yet, these original residents had developed a bizarre sense of superiority over the newcomers.

This sense of superiority struck Lance as ridiculous. These fools seemed to forget that the true power lay with the Lord, not with them.

In Lance’s eyes, everyone was merely a pawn in his battle against the Old Ancestor. The only difference was that some pawns carried more weight and some less; there was no real distinction between original residents and newcomers.

As far as I’m concerned, a broken part simply needs to be replaced.

They’re dissatisfied with the life I’ve provided? Then I’ll help them recall their former ’wonderful’ lives.

This thought seemed to provide Lance with an outlet, and he began to decide their fate.

”You know I don’t like bloodshed...”