Our family is in decline

Not to mention that the territory has been divided, and Hamlet's rule has been lost in various places for a long time. Who the hell knows him when he goes up there?

There must be local rulers and interest chains in those places. Wouldn't it be more troublesome if those guys joined forces with the mayor to get rid of him?

However, Walter's words reminded him not to reveal Hamlet's name when he went out, otherwise he would attract enemies.

The heat in Walter's heart slowly calmed down when he heard that the lord had no such plan. He also realized that it was not the time yet and it was too early to say this.

Taking out a pen and paper, Walter drew a map of the surrounding route, while Lance asked about the local situation and the operation of the caravan from time to time.

Walter's caravan mainly has two routes. One is to transport food to Ovindo, the nearest city in the southwest, and then obtain various daily necessities from the city and transport them back.

The main thing on the way is to pass through several villages and towns, buy some agricultural products along the way, and then sell the goods in the city when you return.

This is a stable and long-term route, but the income is very average, mainly to maintain the operation of the caravan.

The real money maker is to head south to Totnes. This route takes more than a month and passes through several villages and cities. The round trip takes two months, so it is usually only taken two or three times a year.

Lance does know this place, the second largest city in the empire, the center of imperial trade, and the seat of the governor-general of the eastern province.

Totnes has two huge advantages. The first is that it is located at the mouth of the Donowes River, which runs through seven countries. The river shipping industry is developed.

Secondly, it is a natural deep-water port and is a famous seaport city.

The combination of these two innate conditions has always made Totnes a gathering place for shipping, known as a merchant's paradise, and a place where gold coins flow.

This kind of place is hard to come by, it's equivalent to sitting and waiting to be paid. Even Reims covets its unique geographical location.

"How long is the fastest route to Totnes without taking a detour to other places?"

"If you take the land route, it will take half a month no matter how fast it is. If you take the water route, you can reach Totnes directly from the sea in only four days."

"Too slow~" Lance looked at the situation marked on the map and fell into thinking. If he had a ship, would he still be talking nonsense here?

"There is no way. Originally there was a direct road to Hamlet, but it has been abandoned for many years. It has either been covered by the wilderness, or there are only sections of road left." Walter also realized that he was talking nonsense and quickly explained.

"Okay, tell me about the empire, or your impression."

"Why do you ask this, sir?"

"Hamlet's position is very critical. Logically speaking, if there is chaos on the border, the empire will intervene. Why is there no response?"

"I'm just a businessman, so how do I know about the empire?" Walter shook his head in denial.

Lance did not force him to do this and asked him to explain the situation in the surrounding villages, towns and cities.

If you want to formulate a detailed development plan, you must know more information. Now the only person in the town who has seen the world and is familiar with the surrounding situation is Walter, so you can only ask him alone.

Walter also felt a lot of pressure, and the information he had accumulated over the years was about to be emptied out.

As for talking nonsense, it’s because I think my life is too long~

Lance is physically strong and his mind can be active for a long time, but Walt can't stand it~

Fortunately, Susan soon brought a message that temporarily interrupted the conversation.

"Sir, Barton fainted."

Lance finally moved his eyes away from the map and looked outside only to realize that half a day had passed.

"I understand, take Walter down to have a rest, and call Disma and the other three over."

Although Walter was a little curious, he couldn't care less now and followed Susan away. His throat was almost smoking after talking for a long time.

Lance walked outside and looked at the captain lying at the door and recognized his determination.

Only this kind of person is qualified to use it for himself~

Soon Leonard and the others returned here. As soon as they entered the door, they saw the captain lying on the ground and passed out.

"Sir, what's going on?" Disma was also curious about the current situation.

"Everyone, sit down and let him speak for himself."

Lance raised his hand and activated [Blessing] to directly pull the captain out of coma.

The captain who woke up was still in a daze looking at the surrounding situation, but Lance's voice had already reached his ears.

"Tell me, what's the matter?"

"I want to stay and make up for my mistakes, and please give me this opportunity, Lord!"

The captain blurted out without much hesitation, but when Lance heard this, he didn't agree directly, just said it lightly.

"Do you know what you did? You led the bandits to invade the town and killed more than 500 people for your own selfish purposes. Later, because you blocked the road, an unknown number of people starved to death, and now you tell me Want to make amends? Do you think you can atone for your sins?"

Lance's words directly brought the atmosphere on the court to a freezing point, and Disma and the others didn't look good.

As for the captain, he was even more ashamed...

But Lance didn't stop talking and continued to talk.

"Do you know why you're still alive?"

Lance's sudden question really stopped him.

Yes, why didn't he kill himself?

The attention of several people around him was also attracted by this sentence. They also wondered why the Lord wanted to keep the captain behind when he simply killed the third child.

"Because I found that you are just a pathetic man who was manipulated~" A strange look appeared on Lance's face, and he explained himself.

"Originally, our purpose from the beginning was to exterminate you bandits, and at the same time investigate why so many bandits suddenly gathered near Hamlet. As the leader of these bandits, you have already been marked for death by me, but later investigation found that there was something behind all this. It's the cult that's doing this, and you're just a poor guy who lost everything under their control."

As he spoke, Lance took out the incense burner in front of the captain and threw it over like a magic trick.

"Do you remember this?"

The captain subconsciously took it and looked at the thing in his hand. Of course he knew what it was, that woman's thing.

"Didn't you ask me about a cult last time? I'm telling you now that this is the method of a cult. They will prepare a drug and burn incense to arouse your desires, and they can also brainwash you through sorcery. Under this method Not many people can withstand it, and you are no exception."

At this point, the expressions of Disma and others changed a bit, because they were also hit at that time, and if the lord hadn't reacted quickly enough, they might have overturned.

"So do you understand?" Lance put down the work at hand and walked up to the captain, "They are the ones who forced you to kill people, they are the ones who pushed your soldiers to a dead end, and they are also the culprits of what you are like now. From the beginning to the end, you are nothing but a knife held by the cult."