our family is gone

Chapter 781: Escaped Eagles

Lance found the interaction between the two a bit funny. It's starting to get literary, right?

It is really hard to explain the matter about Margaret, even Reims can't do it, because the count is dead, and all the secrets are buried with him.

"Okay, let's reminisce later. Let's talk business first."

"who are you?"

After Lance spoke, he finally caught Bruce's attention, or perhaps gave him a way to change the subject.

"Your father must have often talked about me in front of you. Perhaps he regarded me as your enemy, but facts will tell him who the real enemy is."

Lance said something strange like a Riddler, which made Bruce a little confused. When did his father ever mention enemies?

"This lord is Lord Hamlet, the true owner of this land."

Lawrence couldn't stand it anymore and gave a reminder, but it seemed like he was shirking responsibility, as if he was hinting to Bruce that he was the real mastermind behind all this.

Bruce seemed to understand something after getting the hint. Wasn't Hamlet's cult causing trouble? He paused for a moment before speaking.

"So you set all this up, right? Alvin was corrupted by the cult in Hamlet. It was—you!"

As Bruce said this, he suddenly gritted his teeth and roared, and his bound body suddenly burst out with a force and wanted to rush towards Lance in front of him, like a mad tiger.

But Barristan hit him with his shield and he rolled back to the ground.

Lance didn't care at all, he just smiled and walked up to him and continued talking.

"You're right. The evil cult was indeed brought here by Hamlet. Actually, it has something to do with me because they were driven out because they couldn't defeat me.

But Alvin was not corrupted when he was redeemed, otherwise he would not have been able to return alive. I even asked someone to remind you that the cult is rampant in Bastia, and I hope you can pay attention.

But it's clear that you don't care, and the result today is just because you are blinded by greed, or you think you are in control of the situation."

Lance's casual words gave Bruce an unquestionable answer.

Yes, I have mentioned the matter of cults to my father many times. If he could take it more seriously, if I could...

"Untie him."

Lance said casually, and Leonard picked up the sword and cut the rope without much hesitation.

Bruce, who was freed from his restraints, calmed down instead and looked at Lance with vigilance.

"why?"

"You still have the nerve to ask me why? Because I'm here to clean up the mess you idiots made.

Do you see those people freezing to death on the roadside? Do you see those people selling their children? This is what you losers have done to my land.

Damn it, how can I heal the territory with a bunch of bugs like you!"

Speaking of this, Lance is a little speechless. The internal strife has become like this, the whole city is destroyed, there are so many refugees, and there are people frozen to death everywhere along the way. In the end, I have to take action.

"Fortunately, you have blocked the city. No matter what your reasons are, you have some ability to prevent them from spreading. Go down and help collect the refugees and tell the army to stop resisting. I don't like blood."

The reason why Lance let Bruce go was because Lawrence had just said that this guy was very prestigious in the army, and Lawrence was not sure of his control over the army, so there was no time to waste here.

He glanced around and said, "Where's Disma?"

"The leader of the eagle group noticed something was wrong and fled into the mountains with his men. Ms. Greendale is leading people to chase him. Disma and the barbarian warriors have also gone."

That's right, the one who was responsible for drugging this side was Greendale, and in order to control those knights and champion knights like Bruce and those people from the church, most of the heroes were specially sent here. Lance was responsible for Lawrence alone.

But he didn't expect that there would be someone who could detect the abnormality and run away with his people. Speaking of this, Lance remembered that the earl had such a special type of troops under his command [Eagle Group].

Laura is very easy to use, even Lance likes her very much. She is very powerful whether it is for reconnaissance, lurking, or transmitting information.

Lance can also control birds and understand bird language, but the consciousness of most birds is too weak, unlike humans, so once they are separated, the effect is gone.

The eagles were born from the barbarians in the mountains and mastered the unique secret method of bird taming. They can also communicate with birds. The secret technique uses the power of birds to make their bodies light and flexible, allowing them to perform movements that mortals cannot do, and they can also obtain the vision of birds.

It would be a shame to kill them like this. It would be much more convenient to train a group of eagles belonging to Hamlet. For a moment, Lance's stamp collecting passion was aroused.

"I'll go. Take away Bruce and take the others away to wait for processing. Reynard, you select those soldiers in the army who are qualified to be the personal guards. When I come back, we will go into the city together to deal with those cultists."

Lance turned to look at Lawrence, "You and Bruce go and start sorting out those refugees. My affairs officer will assist you. You just need to show up and comfort them. The people in this land have suffered enough. We should not delay it any longer."

"Yes!"

Leonard and others responded, and when Lance turned around and left, they quickly took the others away, leaving only Bruce and Lawrence in the huge tent.

"Tell me what happened. I'm already a loser. There's no need for you to hide it."

"There's nothing to say. That's a grudge between the older generation. Let's leave it at that." Lawrence didn't mention those things. "You should really thank the lord for his mercy. He forgave you."

"Thank him? He took everything from me!"

Bruce came back to his senses, and the huge body was suddenly filled with anger.

Lawrence was not afraid of the furious Bruce at all. With a mocking look on his face, he complained, "Forget it. Everyone knows how the city was lost. It was obviously your fault that you couldn't defend it and caused such a serious disaster. Now you have to trouble others to help you deal with it.

In fact, you know very well that this land originally belonged to Hamlet. Your father and I were just Hamlet's soldiers. Seeing that the earl was dead, he didn't bother with you, a junior, about the occupation. You still shouted at him. Aren't you afraid of losing face? "

Lies don't hurt people, the truth is the sharp knife that pierces the heart...

"My father was conferred the title of Earl by the Emperor of the Empire, and this place belongs to the Bastia family!"

"That's enough. Your grandfather was appointed by Lord Hamlet. Emperor? That guy couldn't even defeat the rebels. What do you expect?"

Lawrence's words made Bruce's face change continuously, and finally he was left in the pain of helplessness.

My father died, killed by my younger brother. I was the only one who escaped from the family in the castle because I was working outside at the time, and now I have lost my territory.

Everything was ruined, the territory, family, confidants... All the emotions burst out at this moment, even Bruce couldn't bear it, and whispered in a lost soul, "Our family has fallen..."

Lawrence could only comfort him by saying, "Every era has its protagonists, but this era doesn't belong to us. If we lose, we lose. Can't a grown man afford to lose?"

"Father!"

Bruce seemed a little scared when someone suddenly broke in. After all, his education prevented him from showing his vulnerable side in front of others.

Lawrence was even more amazed at the person who came in, his daughter Margaret.

She was no longer wearing the usual aristocratic hunting suit paired with a wide-brimmed hat decorated with beautiful feathers, but a neat military uniform, which made Margaret's already tall figure look even more heroic.

She carried a rifle on her back, and her long hair was tied up in a narrow-brimmed hat, but this time there was no decoration because the decorative feathers would become a mark of the enemy on the battlefield. For example, she liked to aim at those prominent targets.

"Oh~ my daughter, why are you here? That's not what you said in the letter you wrote to me. That guy promised not to put you in danger."

Lawrence was very happy. He finally saw his daughter in person, which was a joy that could not be compared to any number of letters.

But wasn't it agreed that she should be kept safe? Why did the lord let her join the battle?

Margaret naturally knew what her father was worried about. In fact, she was the one who took the initiative to do things and quickly adapted to the battlefield. Her marksmanship was even better than many sharpshooters.

"It's none of the Lord's business. I asked to join the battle myself. Father, I'm not a child anymore. I've fought against cultists and rebels... In the last battle, I shot and killed two knights with this gun."

Margaret took off the rifle she was carrying and showed it to the public. "Do you know what this is? It's the latest model of percussion cap rifle. Only a few people can get it. I rely on my own strength."

If you are familiar with these, you will know that this is Hamlet's latest percussion cap rifle, which is only equipped with a few sharpshooters to obtain test data. The fact that Margaret was able to get it is enough to show her strength.

"Wait! You're Margaret, shouldn't you..."

After Bruce restrained his expression, he also interrupted the conversation, looking strangely back and forth between the two of them. "Didn't they say that your daughter was assassinated by the Earl's men?"

Margaret was interrupted, but she lost interest after just one look at Bruce, and even had a hint of disgust in her eyes.

Along the way, she not only participated in front-line battles, but also, because of her familiarity with the nobility, was able to identify some aristocratic emblems and objects, and participated in the investigation and interrogation of the so-called aristocrats, bureaucrats, the church, and wealthy businessmen.

This is why I understand that not all nobles are as righteous as Lord Lance!

As if remembering something, he turned to look at Lawrence and warned: "Father, I hope you have not become one of their fallen ones."

"what are you saying?"

Not only Bruce, but even Lawrence didn't understand the incomprehensible words.

But after that simple explanation, it was hard to describe their expressions.

"Nonsense! You know the people under my rule, how could I do such a thing!"

Lawrence was still a little angry. What did Lance teach his daughter that she started to doubt me?
In fact, we can tell what kind of person Lawrence is from Margaret. He is an old-fashioned knight.

When his wife died, he felt heartbroken. In addition, his family had only one generation to build their fortune and there was no stable heir, so he had no interest in accumulating wealth.

That's why he focused on military and strength, and put his main energy into training those knights. Not to mention Alvin, he even taught Bruce when he was a child.

The management of the territory mainly adheres to the principle of laissez-faire. He only collects the taxes that should be collected, and there are not too many exorbitant taxes. The messy robbers and bandits in the territory are all used by him to train the Knights, so the public security is relatively good.

Based on what Margaret had seen and heard during this period, she also knew that her father was a well-known lord in the entire empire.

But some people can’t say…

"Baron, you know me well." Bruce watched the two gradually focus their eyes on him, and couldn't help but quickly explain, "Don't look at my age, I am still... commonly known as a virgin."

Bruce is not even twenty years old, yes, he is only eighteen years old now.

But it’s not surprising to think that Alvin, who was only sixteen years old, dared to take the old man’s gold coins.

Under the strict training of the Earl, Bruce put most of his energy into study and training. He trained and lived with those knights, fought bandits with them, and fought against barbarian raiders together. Otherwise, how could he have such loyal followers?
Alvin, this idiot thinks the Count is biased, and he doesn't even look at how self-disciplined Bruce is.

While he was hanging out in clubs, eating, drinking and having fun with his friends, Bruce was studying.

When he was in the army, he could have wiped out the Knights Templar, but Bruce led the army to stop the barbarian raiders and led the knights to chase the barbarians away.

Alvin inherited the Earl's dark resentment, and Bruce inherited more or less of his bravery and self-discipline.

"Isn't that right? Your brother is engaged, so why don't you have an engagement?" Margaret asked with a little suspicion.

"Because my father wants to obtain a more powerful marriage. This concerns the future of Bastia."

Bruce didn't want to explain, but he still said something, more with emotion.

"Tsk!" Margaret snorted coldly. It was rare to see her look so contemptuous, because she was the victim of the aristocratic marriage.

This made Lawrence feel a little inexplicably nervous, after all, the marriage was arranged between him and the Earl.

But Margaret didn't think too much about it. She came here for another matter.

"Father, I hope you agree to let me join the mission of going into the city to eliminate the cultists."

That’s right, this is her real purpose. The lord will not let her go without Lawrence’s nod.

"No."

Lawrence blurted out without any hesitation.

"Father, this land has suffered enough. As a former member of this land, it is my responsibility to eliminate those evil cultists."

Margaret was also a very stubborn person. She did not back down at all. Instead, she argued and emphasized her point.

"You're the one who told me - all for one, and one for all."

It was unknown whether Lawrence was shocked or not, but Bruce fell into deep thought...