Our family is in decline

"Sir, why did you come back just now?"

Disma couldn't wait to open the door and welcome Lance in. Without the lord to control the field, staying with several unknown people was torture.

Lance glanced around and saw that the room was so big. The woman was sitting on one side with her child in her arms, the sheriff and the dog were squatting on the other side, the girl was lying on the bed, and the gangster was tied up and huddled in the corner.

He also understood the situation on the field, but he was not as embarrassed as Disma, because he knew what each of these people needed.

"All the cults in the town have been eradicated, so you don't have to worry anymore."

Sure enough, these words directly dispelled the solemn atmosphere on the court, and at the same time, the woman's heart, which had been hanging for a long time, finally relaxed.

But the Sheriff has a lot of questions he desperately needs answered, like...

"Who are you?"

"Let's put this question aside for now. Let's talk about a more pressing matter first, that is, there are so many people missing in the town. How can we cover it up?"

As expected, these words directly made the newly warming atmosphere become solemn.

They have all listened to Lance's analysis and know that there cannot be a cult, otherwise the church will be in trouble if it finds an excuse to conduct a thorough investigation.

"Is it true that we can't tell the truth? We have caught all the cultists, and it is useless even if the church knows."

"Do you think those in the church will believe you? Or do you think they will give up this hard-won opportunity to make money and expand their influence?"

The Sheriff wanted to struggle, but was shot back by Lance.

It is good for the church to make a decision to combat cults, but the question is who will implement it. Do you really think that everyone is a saint who believes in the Holy Light?

Everyone needs to eat~

Normally, we levy religious taxes and then wait for believers to donate money. Other than that, there are not many reasons to make money. Now that you say you want to search for cultists, there are many ways to make money.

Many restrictions were put down, and one copper coin per person was worth thousands. The shops and the mayor had to spend a lot of money to prevent the church people from causing trouble.

So even if they deal with the cultists and save the church army from coming to attack them, if they can't explain the matter, they will still be given an excuse to trigger a large-scale search. No matter how hard it is, ordinary people will suffer.

"Is there no other way?"

"Of course, we just need to find someone to take the blame." Lance grinned and looked at the tied up gangster.

The sheriff actually spotted the man as soon as he came in, but everyone was silent at that time and he didn't ask more questions.

"He is from the slave-catching team. Six of those people were captured by them. One was captured by the cult. In fact, there was another one..."

Lance stopped inexplicably as he spoke, looking a little gloomy, and turned to talk about the situation of the slave-catching team.

The Sheriff couldn't help but become solemn when he heard this. The dog felt his owner's mood and became aggressive. He bared his teeth at the gangster, as if he was about to rush out and take a bite in the next second.

The gangster, who had been tortured by Lance, had long since lost his courage. Seeing this situation, he just huddled in the corner and shivered.

"What I mean is very simple. The Sheriff entangled a group of people and kidnapped the girls in the town and gave them to the slave catching team to sell. Then they couldn't agree on the price tonight and fought with each other. Then the slave catching team was captured by us. Found, rescued the girl, and of course captured a gangster.”

As he spoke, Lance came to the gangster and untied the strip of cloth from his mouth, "And as long as you admit what you did to the slave-catching team, I will let you go, how about that?"

"How could you do this?" The Sheriff frowned. The sinful transaction was taking place in front of him, and the justice he believed in did not allow him to stand by and watch.

"Do you have any better idea?"

Lance was not in a hurry, and fell into silence with just one sentence.

"I promise!" He had no choice but agreed without hesitation, even fearing that he would be too late and would not have a chance.

After all, the dog's saliva dripped on his body~

"Okay~" Lance chuckled and raised his hand to pat his shoulder, "I like smart people."

The gangster who faced him didn't know why he felt weird looking at that smiling face, but he couldn't stop his hope of survival and nodded in agreement.

"Then everything has been taken care of." Lance stood up, the smile on his face became sunny, and he said cheerfully, "The horse bandits broke out, and the police chief died violently. How pleasant it sounds~"

The Sheriff was still entangled, but as Lance announced the result, he realized that he could not find a better way and could only be forced to accept this reality.

What is going on in this world?

Are the justice and laws you uphold wrong?

Lance did not dwell on this issue, but instead invited him: "We are going to visit the house where they keep the girls. Do you want to come?"

The Sheriff followed without much hesitation. Without any scruples, Disma opened the lock directly in front of him. He was about to break in when he heard the lord's voice.

"Wait, there's something wrong with the air."

Lance noticed that the dog was shaking its head after opening the door, instinctively avoiding it, as its sense of smell is more sensitive than humans.

These words gave Disma a bad feeling, and he subconsciously took a step back. At the same time, he drew out his musket vigilantly, and was about to reload when Lance raised his hand to stop him.

"The smell is very light, it must have been there for a while."

As soon as the door opened, Lance smelled a slight smell, but it was not obvious. It dissipated as soon as the wind blew at the door, just like opening the room after overnight mosquito coils.

As he spoke, he took the initiative to walk in, and when the light of the candle lit up, the whole room was revealed.

In fact, they all have the same layout. Simplicity and dilapidation are synonymous with the lives of ordinary people in this era.

"My lord." Disma noticed something that attracted their attention.

Lance looked at a jar on the table, with the remaining incense embers on it, and a few sticks of incense placed next to it.

Lance picked up the embers and smelled them. Based on his research on these, he knew that this was the same medicine used in women's incense burners.

"What's this?"

When the Sheriff saw Lance, he immediately approached this thing and couldn't help but asked curiously.

"This is a common method used by cults. After burning incense, it can release smoke with special effects, and this can make the person who inhales it pass out."

As he spoke, Lance looked at the ropes scattered on the bed beside him, and quickly judged their method.

"They kidnap people, bring them here and tie them up, then light incense and leave. If the victim inhales the smoke, he will fall into a coma. Moreover, the smell of incense can also interfere with the sense of smell of hounds, making it difficult for you to detect the missing person. people are in town.

You can't find it during the day. When they hold a ceremony in the slaughterhouse late at night, you won't be able to find anything more under the cover of the smell of blood. "

"No~ Fergus is not an ordinary hound. It has undergone the most rigorous training and can find the target among those interferences, just because of me.

Because I was deceived by the police chief and thought I was being robbed by bandits, so I didn't search carefully. I could have saved them..." The police chief was a little disappointed, and the dog rubbed his trouser legs to express comfort.

"So leave it to me and I'll take care of it."

"who are you?"

The Sheriff couldn't help but think of the previous question, why was this man so active in helping the town solve this problem?

But Lance didn't have anything to say yet, so he smiled and waved his hand.

"I will say it when the time is right, but not now~"