Chapter 1014: Bastia and the Mountains’ Predicament (4)

He spoke with great indignation, the kind of unwilling humiliation bursting out at this moment.

But if there were people who truly experienced that battle, they’d find that many inexplicable reasons didn’t exist; they just charged out from the forest, then clashed in confrontation.

The reason he said this wasn’t because he was also Lance’s undercover agent, but because deep down, he truly believed this.

Why it ended up like this needs to be traced back to after that battle ended.

Lance was a master of psychological warfare; no one understood these knights’ pride better than him. Although they lost to Hamlet’s cavalry, they were surely not conceding defeat.

In reality, if it weren’t for Lance operating the [Flesh Reconstruction] behind the scenes, those cobbled-together cavalry could not have defeated them. This is a fact.

So after Lance saved the people, he kept instilling in them that it was because those people kept wearing them down before they were finally defeated.

This excuse that conformed to their thinking slowly integrated into their minds, even leading them to imagine some nonexistent scenarios back then.

Making them internally believe they didn’t lose; it was because of pre-battle exhaustion, an unfair duel.

"Who made the decision! What was Lawrence doing? Didn’t he know that horsepower is crucial in cavalry duels? Why engage when the soldiers hadn’t yet recovered their strength?" The Earl furrowed his brow, his breathing becoming a bit heavier.

There was no way around it, he rose through the ranks as a knight and was particularly concerned about these matters; otherwise, a typical domain wouldn’t set up an Order of Knights, and not just one, but three.

This crap was practically a slap in his face.

The knight seeing this state hesitated for a moment but decided to speak out.

"It was Knight Alvin who made the decision; Baron Lawrence even advised against it, everyone heard it."

The reason he earned the Earl’s trust was because he was straightforward and had little scheming.

Yet this directly silenced the Earl.

"Because seeing from a distance that the opposing cavalry was also regrouping, they wanted to seize the opportunity to crush them, not realizing it was a trap."

The knight wanted to explain in detail, but the Earl couldn’t bear to listen any further and hurriedly inquired about another matter.

"Who was the first to surrender? Alvin or Lawrence?"

The Earl always failed to understand, damn it, how could a fifty-men Order of Knights end up with more than forty captured?

It must have been the leader’s surrender leading to a mass capitulation; after all, those cavalry lacking lances and full armor facing a fully equipped Order of Knights couldn’t possibly lose?

Even if they lost for various reasons, many couldn’t have survived; does he think I’ve never been on a battlefield?

"None of us surrendered; instead, we fought to the death, exhausted and captured. As for Baron Lawrence, he fought till the last moment until he was gravely wounded and lost consciousness, everyone can attest to this."

The knight spoke while lifting that simple garment, revealing several scars underneath that had evidently healed not long ago, and some more severe wounds still wrapped with bandages.

"We survived because after the battle, those who cleared the battlefield didn’t kill us but instead provided emergency aid. We then underwent prolonged treatment. However, some of the lightly injured were sent for hard labor after recovery."

In truth, with their full armor, regular attacks couldn’t breach it for lethal injuries, nor cause limb severance, hence many minor injuries were merely flesh wounds.

Lance essentially kept them alive—the money was worth it after all.

Wounds don’t lie. The Earl was not senile to the point where he needed to take out his grievances on these people.

"Thank you for your hardships, go back and rest well."

After sending them away, the Earl summoned a few more people. The descriptions were not much different, combining all these, he caught sight of the troublesome nature of Hamlet, but also saw Alvin’s reckless ambition burying the Order of Knights.

However, Lawrence’s situation...

"How is Baron Lawrence faring? Did he say anything to you on the way back?"

The Earl was a veteran himself, and while it was understandable for Lawrence and Alvin of such high rank to be held separately, he still wanted to know what had happened.

"The Baron is in poor condition, silent all the way, without any particularly odd behavior."

"Did he return with you? Did he stop by his Baron’s Domain when entering Bastia?"

"No, he followed us back the whole way."

"Alright, you go out and rest, I believe this setback won’t defeat Bastia’s knights."

After sending the others away, the Earl sank into thought; Lawrence currently had a very troubling issue, and it wasn’t about his capture but rather his daughter’s disappearance.

At this point, his only heir was missing, forcing the Earl to consider political factors.

No wonder Lance and Lawrence had malicious suspicions about the Earl while in the sanatorium, because when he initially learned of this, he indeed pondered on seizing Lawrence’s territory.

But a sudden major military corruption case diverted his attention, and now that Lawrence is back, should he act?

The defeat and capture in war, bearing full responsibility, coupled with his daughter’s disappearance—Baron Lawrence couldn’t bear the pressure and "suicide" seemed reasonable.

Only intelligent people were not in short supply, and after Bastia went through this military corruption case, all those noble knights had become highly tense.