Our Family Has Fallen

Chapter 1281: Chapter 700: Situation Analysis (Filler)

Without a doubt, what Lance said plunged Grendel into unease.

Because she knew what those so-called factions represented: the Empire, the Church, the Mercenary Guild, the Association of Healers, the Commercial Alliance...

These are just the major ones; the smaller factions aren’t even taken into account.

”Right now, we’re under great pressure; the issue with the ruins requires deploying troops for defense, and there are so many noble threats around.

More importantly, there are the various factions to worry about. What if the Association of Healers blocks our medicine sales and those merchants cut off our supplies? What should we do then?

Also, if the Church intervenes, those nobles won’t be as dismissive as they are with the Empire but may form an allied army to attack us...”

”Hahaha!”

Lance couldn’t help but laugh seeing her so serious, which made Grendel somewhat displeased, frowning and questioning.

”You can still laugh at a time like this?”

”You overestimate those guys; if they were really as you said, they’d be indeed terrifying, but the truth is that’s impossible.”

Lance spoke eloquently, providing Grendel with a deeper analysis of the current situation.

”I need to clarify the situation here. Firstly, although the Empire’s side is in a stalemate without a major war, the two armies facing off on the border don’t have the energy to trouble us.

The Church is in a similar state. According to gathered information, the Holy War failed, the Holy City was captured, and many of the Church’s regiments were scattered and lost over there, severely weakening them.

Even the civil war within the Empire is a reflection of the Church’s diminished control, allowing many disruptive elements to surface; otherwise, for such a significant event as the ruins, they wouldn’t remain completely unresponsive.

Secondly, about the various factions you mentioned, what can the Association of Healers block from us? Have you forgotten the medicinal fields you developed back then? The raw materials are always in our hands, plus we use the Romani channels; how can they block us?

The Mercenary Guild, those guys are scattered themselves. If they want to cause trouble, they can only recruit some mercenary corps, but the problem is that all mercenary corps that have come over go to the wilderness.

They have witnessed Hamlet’s power; do you think they will confront us for the guild, or do they go to the ruins to earn money?

As for your worry about being blockaded leading to supply shortages, it’s even more unlikely. You might have been away from the system for a while and aren’t quite clear, but you should know that Hamlet has always been exporting agricultural products, and what’s most in demand now?

It’s grain. The Empire hasn’t recovered from the natural disaster, coupled with the chaos of war, bandits, and robbers are rampant, which means whoever controls the grain now holds the initiative.

And do you know how exaggerated the grain storage is in Hamlet after the harvest was completed? It’s now a matter not of them wanting to do business with us, but whether we want to do business with them.

It’s not that I look down on them, but as seen in their retreat this time, they each have their own interests, scattered like sand, cautious and timid.”

Why is Lance so confident?

Because he’s really got a lot of confidence, having begun early reconnaissance of the surrounding situation, and constantly building warehouses to store various supplies.

You should know that Lance collected a million Gold Coins from a wealthy district in Totnes at one point, which is hugely exaggerated; many surrounding territories don’t have this income annually.

Only certain special ones like Bastia, which monopolizes the mountain trade routes, would have that accumulation, but without the Deerhead Tribe, they directly shrunk by half, and now with the mountains severed, it’s uncertain whether they can afford those knights.

Why did he spend that million Gold Coins so fast, forcing Tiffany to corner him?

The reason was, besides welfare policies, Lance kept spending regardless of the cost.

Land convoys crazily acquiring grain and various supplies in Hamlet and neighboring areas were all his people, and few could refuse the lure of money.

Especially the waterways, at its most exaggerated, a single ship’s goods were priced twice the market rate, and even now, they offer profits above market rate; it’s no exaggeration to say that Lance built that trade route with money.

But it’s precisely this that opened up the situation, allowing them to reassess the value of Hamlet, while also stockpiling abundant supplies.

Especially metal, gunpowder, food—these basic supplies ensure that even if they are blockaded for half a year, it won’t affect ordinary people’s daily lives.

If Lance can’t manage the situation within half a year, he might as well give up.

Lance’s extensive explanation made Grendel, who wasn’t very sensitive to the situation, clearer as if a fog was lifted.

She recalled that the raw materials for herbs and various potions were indeed supplied internally within Hamlet, which dates back to the strategy of opening three farms and initial wilderness development, and beginning the transplanting of herbs for cultivating medicinal fields.

This matter was originally her responsibility, and after it took off, she handed them over to others for management, but in her earlier distress, she completely forgot about it.

When the raw materials were not an issue, the sales of those potions were similarly outsourced to Sela, making such special channels even harder to block.

As for Hamlet’s reserves, they’re indeed exaggerated, and now the initiative is in her hands.

She initially felt great pressure, but now it suddenly alleviated substantially.

However, upon further reflection, Grendel was somewhat astonished, because Lance had prepared these foundations long ago, back when Hamlet was still destitute.