Our Family Has Fallen

After the monk disembarked and looked at the slightly busy dock, he couldn’t help but sigh.

”This really looks like a bustling and lively place.”

To be honest, this person didn’t seem as terrifying as Amanda had described. His tone wasn’t affected negatively by the rumors, presenting a stark contrast to Amanda’s nervous demeanor.

In contrast, the priest beside him, who acted as a guard, kept a vigilant eye on the surroundings, and holding a warhammer and great shield, appeared as if he had entered an enemy’s lair.

”We should head to the church first to understand the situation here.”

Typically, a church is found in the central area of any place, even big cities, because most areas develop around the church.

Also, local buildings rarely surpass the grandeur of the church, so it’s usually easy to spot.

However, after new city planning and development here in Hamlet, many new buildings have sprung up, making it hard to discern its exact location.

”Excuse me, may I ask where the church is?”

The monk reached out to stop a passerby and asked, but upon seeing their church attire, the person seemed odd, with a hint of aversion.

”I don’t know, I have to work now.” The person left in a hurry, clearly not wanting any interaction.

Truth be told, Lance had been quite forceful in eliminating the church’s influence, screening and suppressing openly and covertly.

Due to the Lord’s ”heretical” ideology, and their own grievances with the church, people here naturally harbored a vigilant, even hostile, attitude towards church members.

As the saying goes, extreme actions lead to adverse reactions.

With these fleets arriving, bringing in a crowd of people, the security corps would naturally assign people here to prevent any malicious events from disrupting order.

That person who had been stopped earlier went straight to an on-patrol sheriff to explain the situation.

Thus, the two church members entered the sheriff’s sight, and he followed them from a distance, watching as if monitoring them.

The two church members might have noticed this, but the monk didn’t get angry; instead, he approached the person at this moment.

”I’d like to ask a few questions.”

”Go ahead.” The sheriff had undergone professional training, capable of controlling his emotions better than ordinary people, and it was his duty to provide explanations to visitors.

Indeed, they were visitors; this wasn’t the church’s territory, so these sheriffs, selected by the Lord, wouldn’t necessarily show any goodwill towards them.

”Where is the church here?” The monk, seemingly unaffected by the scrutinizing gaze, asked calmly and amicably.

”There is no church in Hamlet.”

”How could there be none?” Even the monk couldn’t help but show some emotional fluctuation at this point.

The church’s core control lies at the grassroots level; even larger villages have church buildings, how could such a large town not have one?

”Because previously, Hamlet was invaded by bandits, and the church members fled. As the bandits plundered, the church was naturally destroyed.”

If you asked someone else, they might not be clear, but this sheriff was one of Lance’s earliest local recruits.

He later retired from the army due to injuries and transitioned to become a sheriff, dedicated to his role, making him a high-ranking figure among sheriffs, responsible for today’s dock security patrolling.

”They must have wanted to go outside to seek help from the city’s church…” The monk wanted to say more, but the sheriff interrupted his defense with cold words.

”I don’t know about that; I only know that because the church members fled, ordinary townspeople were massacred by bandits, and even when nearly everyone had died, we didn’t see any church people come over afterwards.”

Perhaps back then, some really harbored such fantasies, but what Hamlet awaited wasn’t the church, but the Lord.

He had experienced despair back then, and the facts were undeniable.

”Remember! There was never!”

This statement bore heavy hostility, but the monk and priest were powerless to refute, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Others committed the sins, yet they were getting scolded.

”We will thoroughly investigate this matter.” The monk became serious, as their faction emerged to rectify the declining church, which is why he appeared here.

Unexpectedly, before investigating Hamlet, they stumbled upon such a situation.

The church members back then actually did such things, tarnishing their church’s reputation.

”We have no issues with you, but please follow the rules here, we don’t want any misunderstandings.”

Not forgetting to advise, or perhaps to warn.

”Thank you, young brother.” The monk slightly raised his head, revealing a terrifying, burn-like face.

The sheriff, upon seeing this, couldn’t help but slightly daze, hard to imagine how it turned out this way.

There was no conflict between the two parties, after a ”friendly” exchange, they parted, just as the sheriff had mentioned earlier, he wouldn’t deliberately target church members.

”There will be devout followers here.” The monk held the magic wand in both hands, making a praying gesture, then walked away.

As a church member, he wouldn’t just easily believe the sheriff’s words, believing there would be followers here to aid him.

The church’s strength lies in numerous grassroots devotees.

But this approach doesn’t work well in Hamlet.

The monk wandered around the dock attempting to contact a few people, all claiming not to know, showing no desire to have anything to do with them.

This situation ultimately placed them in a certain embarrassment.

Isn’t the Empire supposed to be their stronghold?

This isn’t right...

The monk could remain calm, but the priest said in a deep voice: ”It seems the people here have already been corrupted; we must strike hard!”

”This place indeed differs, but I haven’t sensed any corrupt power within them, perhaps they just lost the Holy Light’s illumination, we have a responsibility to bring them back to the embrace of the Holy Light.”

Long-time ascetic practice granted the Mendicant Monk the patience to deal with the common people, existing to save the church’s reputation among the masses.

The Mendicant Monk believed he could bring light to this Holy Light-forsaken place...

Meanwhile, the members of the Association of Healers also disembarked, unreservedly exposing their ”fraud-busting” intent.

The aloof attitude displayed by those calling themselves doctors irked Grendel, as if things they couldn’t accomplish meant that others certainly couldn’t achieve them either.

Thus, she needed to suppress them, putting them aside.

But in fact, the matter concerning leprosy patients in town wasn’t a secret and could easily be known with a simple inquiry.

In fact, those revealing the information were arranged by her.

It was clearly a setup, signaling to those guys that such a thing does exist in Hamlet, yet not allowing them easy access.

Do they hope to probe Hamlet’s secrets without any benefit?

This is Hamlet’s top-secret, requiring extra charges.

”Immediately warn them under the ’Epidemic Emergency Management Regulations’ not to privately disturb the leprosy patients in the outskirts camp.

Moreover, we’re not obligated to explain to them, if they can’t do it, that’s their issue, they lack the qualification to inquire about leprosy treatment.”

Grendel was dealing with the Association of Healers, while the sheriff who had just interacted with the Mendicant Monk came to report.

After listening thoroughly, Grendel thought carefully before instructing.

”We have nothing to hide, let them roam, but we need to be cautious of them interfering with Hamlet’s normal operations.

Avoid going yourself, arrange a few plainclothes to observe their actions, especially whom they interact with, try to avoid any conflict, at least we shouldn’t initiate.”

”Yes!”

After the sheriff retreated, Grendel still felt a bit uneasy.

Was Amanda’s divination referring to these guys?

This Lance just left for a day and so many things have happened, the situation on the front lines is also unknown...