Our Family Has Fallen

But Bruce had heard similar words too many times. Whether from the family’s preserved documents or the elders’ fleeting remarks, all indicated how powerful Hamlet once was.

When he was born, Hamlet had already fallen into decline. Thus, his impressions were only of his father leading Bastia’s rise and suppressing the Mountain Barbarian Tribe.

Especially during this inspection tour, discovering that those Barbarian Tribes dared not move an inch in his presence made him somewhat defiant, and he almost blurted out.

”We in Bastia can do it as well!”

Upon hearing this, the Earl actually laughed, his gaze like that of someone watching a child at play.

”Currently, we are probably only one-tenth of Hamlet at its peak.”

He had only heard about it before but lacked a precise understanding. When the words ”one-tenth” came from his father’s mouth, Bruce was visibly stunned.

Perhaps fearing he might demoralize Bruce, the Earl then waved his hand, signaling him to come to his senses.

”That is a thousand-year-old family, even older than the Empire itself. You’re young; you still have time.”

He then sighed and added, ”But such a millennium-old family declined with a speed that defied all expectations. Who could have imagined Hamlet would end up like this...”

As the Earl spoke, his earlier ease vanished. He involuntarily leaned back against the thick, soft chair back, his eyes unfocused as if lost in memories. He paused for a while before continuing.

”No one knows exactly when Hamlet began to decline, but several pivotal events must be mentioned. The first was when the new Heir became the Lord.”

The Earl briefly explained the situation at that time to Bruce.

At that time, the Earl had not yet joined Hamlet’s army, but he too had heard that the new Lord, rather than managing affairs of state, preferred to immerse himself in decadence.

He lived a life of extreme extravagance, even spending vast sums of Gold Coins to build an enormous courtyard for his pleasure.

But Hamlet’s long survival clearly indicated it could not be brought down by one or two Heirs; it remained stable throughout those ten years.

It was similar to what Lance and Amanda had discussed regarding the decay and obsolescence of Totnes.

The reason was that Hamlet’s system, after many years of development, had long since matured. It possessed strong feudal characteristics that could even hinder progress.

Yet, this very hindrance also played a role during its decline. It was indeed somewhat ironic. However, everyone was part of a community of shared interests; whether genuinely for Hamlet’s sake or their own, they would spontaneously maintain this system.

With numerous mid-tier nobles providing support, the system could essentially continue to function, albeit strained, even if the Lord did nothing.

Thus, to outsiders, Hamlet still appeared to be thriving. At least at that time, the Earl saw no issues and plunged right in, joining Hamlet’s Order of Knights like other noble offspring who had not inherited titles.

As the saying goes: what the superiors favor, their subordinates will pursue with even greater fervor.

The Lord’s decadence spread throughout the Nobility of Hamlet. That courtyard echoed with revelry night after night; the Gold Coins spent on lighting in a single evening likely surpassed what a common person could earn in a lifetime.

The castle beneath the Earl’s feet alone required over a hundred people to maintain its operations. One can only imagine how many were needed for that courtyard where travel between rooms necessitated a carriage.

And what of the vast consumption of materials to supply those nobles’ entertainment?

Due to his military achievements, he had the fortune to enter once. For him, despite his noble birth, the outrageous scenes within were profoundly shocking, even terrifying.

Even now, recalling it stirred a certain indescribable, unsettling emotion.

”But... the Lord’s decadence did not significantly shake Hamlet. What truly shook its foundations was the courtyard incident.”

Speaking of this, the Earl seemed somewhat bewildered. Back then, he had no access to matters of that level; he only learned of them afterward.

It was known that the Lord often invited the Nobility of Hamlet and the surrounding territories, both great and small, to the courtyard for amusement. However, what transpired within the courtyard that particular time remained a mystery to everyone.

In any case, none of the invited nobles managed to leave. At least ninety percent of Hamlet’s Nobility vanished, with only the Lord returning.

Even more terrifying, the exceedingly luxurious courtyard vanished without a trace, becoming Hamlet’s most unsettling legend.

For the Earl, this incident was very likely a turning point in his fate. His Big Brother, who had originally been his superior, also accepted the Lord’s invitation. Ultimately, he did not return from the courtyard, so naturally, the Earl had no choice but to go back and take over the Baron’s Domain.

Because of this event, Hamlet immediately fell into turmoil. With the loss of these nobles, chaos began to show its first signs.

However, as the saying goes, ”a starved camel is still bigger than a horse.” If the Lord had come to his senses and focused on managing this matter—promoting new talent and injecting fresh blood—he could have stabilized the situation. It might even have been an opportunity to break the shackles that restrained Hamlet.

But the Lord instead focused his energy on various bizarre matters, and Hamlet, having lost control, hurtled downwards as if on an accelerating, uncontrolled descent.

However, at that time, the Earl had taken over a barren Baron’s Domain. Due to the chaos in Hamlet, the invasion by the Mountain Barbarian Tribe intensified. He lacked the strength to confront the barbarian invasion alone. He appealed to Hamlet for aid several times but was completely ignored.

Hamlet’s long-suppressed enemies, like wolves catching the scent of blood, all wanted to tear a piece of flesh from it.

Having lost a significant portion of their command structure, the armies too fell into disarray. At such a time, how could they possibly attend to others’ pleas for help?

At that time, everyone fought for themselves. To combat the increasingly rampant Mountain Barbarian Tribe, he could only leech off Hamlet.

Leveraging the reputation and status he had accumulated in the army, he took in many of Hamlet’s former soldiers.

With these soldiers, he stabilized the war against the barbarians. Simultaneously, taking advantage of the disappearance of those nobles, he annexed surrounding territories through various means.

The specific methods are not convenient to detail; suffice it to say, he gradually expanded his domain, and the war with the barbarians grew increasingly fierce.

Initially, he still feared pressure from Hamlet, but who would have known that no one would bother with him? It was then that his ambition began to swell.

Yet, Hamlet was remarkably resilient. Even under such circumstances, it held on for several years, until…

”During this time, Hamlet’s decline worsened. But what truly brought an end to Hamlet was a great cataclysm.”

When he spoke of this, even the Earl, a man who had crawled out from piles of corpses, couldn’t help but wear a solemn expression.

A plague, or perhaps a Curse, erupted without warning within the city of Hamlet and spread rapidly.

In the end, from a metropolis of several hundred thousand people, only twenty to thirty thousand managed to escape. Most of these survivors were from the city’s outskirts or the surrounding villages and farms.

According to survivors, they had witnessed the infected: their Flesh would turn waxy, peel away from their bones, and then fall off.

It wasn’t that no one wished to investigate what had truly happened in Hamlet, but those who entered never returned. In the end, Hamlet City became forbidden territory.

Bruce only knew that his father had always been very guarded about Hamlet, rarely mentioning it. Even when he did, it was merely to remark on its past might as a way to motivate himself, never speaking of these events.

Only now did Bruce begin to understand that such things had occurred, and he somewhat grasped his father’s reasons for concealment.

However, upon hearing this, he pondered for a moment and then uttered a term.

”Supernatural Power?”

The Earl, upon hearing this, neither denied nor confirmed it. To be honest, even now, he wasn’t sure what had truly caused the great cataclysm in Hamlet.

”I’ve encountered many Transcendents. If those individuals were truly that powerful, they wouldn’t be suppressed by the Church to the point of hiding like rats in a sewer, afraid to show their faces.

To kill everyone in an entire city in an instant... I fear only a god could do that...”