Our Family Has Fallen

”What happened?” Grendel was somewhat surprised. This matter had been in preparation for so long, and it had just been mentioned, so why was it suddenly called off?

”Amanda just up and quit,” Lance said, also somewhat at a loss for words.

Amanda’s choice to quit indeed affected his plan, but what truly worried him was something else.

”Do you think she could be a spy for the Romani? Those Romani Elders might have sensed our intention to support her and decisively sent someone from Totnes over to take her place, then planted their own person inside our ranks.

Isn’t that exactly what the Seeker of Omens would do? Don’t forget she grew up inside the organization. If she abandons her tribe so easily, I highly doubt her loyalty.”

Amanda’s strength was indeed notable. More importantly, she came from a Seeker of Omens background, making her extremely familiar with intelligence and espionage. Having her train Hamlet’s intelligence department would certainly be a step up from Vick, who is still fumbling as a novice.

But the problem was that Lance also wasn’t sure whether Amanda really wanted to join Hamlet. This wasn’t a case of Lance being overly suspicious; after all, one of the Romani’s businesses was trade in intelligence, and they were all too skilled at planting spies—just a small part of their ruse.

”That is indeed a problem, but I actually don’t think it’s so severe. In the past few days, everyone has seen how the other Romani people have treated her. If it really were an act, it would require the cooperation of everyone, and flaws would inevitably show. This would be too...”

Although Grendel hadn’t been dealing much with the town’s affairs these days, she had witnessed the despicable conduct of those Romani people firsthand. By comparison, Amanda had made a much better impression on her.

Women’s intuition is quite sharp, not to mention someone like her who is Transcendent. In fact, she could sense from their ordinary interactions that Amanda was in a position of helplessness.

She had once had a profound understanding of this, and no one was clearer about that feeling than she was. So, Amanda’s keen eagerness toward Lance was understandable; in Hamlet, there probably was no one more reliable than him.

”I think the simplest method is to conquer her.”

Lance, after a moment of thought, looked somewhat doubtful and then turned to Grendel. ”What do you mean?”

Grendel inexplicably looked towards Lance, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly uttered a sentence.

”The Romani are a matrilineal clan and generally carry a certain sense of superiority, so they look down on men.

Usually, only when faced with men truly strong enough to subjugate them will they express normal respect, as was the case with how they treated you previously.

The simplest way to test if she is sincere is for you to take her, and then watch her attitude. If there’s no resistance, it will be enough to prove she truly submits.”

”Stop joking around, we’re discussing serious matters.” Lance finally understood what she meant and couldn’t help but be caught between laughter and tears.

”I’m not joking. This is the simplest and most effective method.” As she spoke, Grendel took out a vial from her bag and gestured with it. ”This is a byproduct of the Ascension Potion. Miss Parla must have told you about its effects.”

”Enough!” Lance frowned, showing none of his usual gentleness toward her, and directly rebuked her. ”Such a test yields not loyalty, but a mockery of loyalty! And a mockery of myself!”

Grendel realized that Lance was truly angry and did not continue speaking.

In truth, she wasn’t joking, nor being sarcastic; she actually thought it could work. Conquering Amanda was the simplest and easiest method to accomplish. If it were an ordinary man facing this suggestion, it might be hard to resist Amanda’s charm, but unfortunately, he was a naïve Lord. That she had met him was indeed her greatest fortune.

”Let’s end this matter here. Just take care of your tasks.” Lance, clearly not wanting to waste any more words, stood up and walked out of the room, shouting back into the house.

”Boudica! Get to work.”

”Boss, who are we chopping this time?” As soon as Lance gave the command, Boudica ran out with her Axe Spear, her face as excited as a Husky ready for a walk.

No wonder she was like this; she really had no entertainment or pastimes, especially since the prohibition of alcohol. The veterans at the training camp were better suited to training newcomers than she was. Boudica was a coach who didn’t know her own strength and would easily break someone’s bones. Lately, Joan had been busy learning other things too, like cavalry, swordsmanship, muskets, and such. At night, after classes, she’d torture Ryan together with Reynard. Only in the mornings would she come to seek training from Boudica. This left Boudica idle all day, which was very distressing for her. Fortunately, Lance often engaged her to test Extraordinary Equipment, giving her something to do. Otherwise, she’d probably ’tear down the house’. But the effects of the high-intensity training provided by Lance, as she tested the equipment, were evident. Her potential was being unlocked. Even without the boost from the equipment, her stagnant abilities saw a significant enhancement. Now she was just a small step away from becoming a Master. With such talent, it was no wonder she stood out from those male warriors of the Barbarian Tribes.

”Those Romani… teach them a lesson.” Lance, who wasn’t in the habit of pressuring others, regained his confident and casual attitude as he faced Boudica.

”I don’t like them. Last time they tried to trick me out of my stuff,” Boudica said, wrinkling her brow at the mention of those Romani, even for someone usually carefree like her.

Lance knew a bit about that incident too. Boudica wore Extraordinary Equipment, so she had naturally caught the attention of those Romani. Some wanted to steal, but did they even see how she got those sinews and muscles? If it wasn’t for remembering Lance’s warning against fighting, she might have already torn those pickpockets to pieces. When their initial plan failed and they saw Boudica didn’t fight back, they thought she was easy to bully. They laid out a trap to coax her into damaging an item they falsely claimed was an antique, trying to make her owe them money and pay with her Extraordinary Equipment. But Boudica was not really a fool; besides, the equipment was her leader’s. She rejected them outright. This time, the argument almost turned physical. Luckily, the sheriff’s team was always keeping an eye on the Romani and intervened in time to prevent them from fighting. Boudica was combative but rarely caused trouble on her own. That she felt this way about the Romani said enough about why they had a bad reputation worldwide.

”Don’t worry. I’ll help you vent your frustration later. Anyone who dares to resist, give them a good beating for me!”

Lance comforted Boudica, then headed toward the Sheriff’s Office in town...

At this moment, the atmosphere inside the police station was somewhat off. The whole sheriff’s team, including William, appeared disheartened, and there was also a sense of pent-up pressure that had no outlet.

The reason, of course, was that the Romani were causing various problems every day. The sheriff’s team was nearly reduced to cleaning up after them exclusively. This made the sheriffs feel utterly dissatisfied, believing the Romani were too nefarious, yet they felt powerless to stop them.

And at this moment, Lance stepped into the police station.

”Are you all perplexed? Why do you think those Romani, despite committing crimes, can still walk free, flouting the laws of Hamlet without being punished?”

Lance struck a chord with them with just one sentence. They didn’t understand why the Lord wouldn’t let them punish the offenders directly but instead had them only register the incidents and let the people go. This seemed like condoning the crimes.

And it was then that Lance finally revealed his reasoning.

”Remember, we sheriffs represent order. There is order because there are rules, and I absolutely won’t allow anyone to disrupt Hamlet’s order.

However, the maintenance of this order is about evidence, not about determining the truth of a matter with just one or two sentences. So, we need to investigate and let evidence speak so that everyone recognizes our authority.”

Lance raised a thick stack of files in his hand.

”And now that the collection of evidence against those Romani criminals is complete, all personnel are to cancel their leave and prepare. Operation codename: [Big Sweep]. It’s time to clean up some trash.”