Raised in Dungeon

Chapter 180 The Culprit

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Once they had picked up all the potatoes, Peter asked Allen to use the amnis fire to burn the frozen potatoes. The result is that only a few potatoes were left, not including the ones that failed.

"Are we going to eat these failed potatoes?" asked Allen.

"Yes, even though they failed, they are still filling; we need as much food as possible for the water month."

The failed potatoes were placed in the fireplace to become roasted potatoes and be eaten immediately.

"So, how did things come to this?" asked Allen.

"As you can see, it's man-made," said Peter to Allen, "Since they didn't take the potatoes, it's not thieves. And it wasn't just our farm that was attacked; it was every farm in the Barkaley area."

"Every area?"

"Yes, all of them. The neighbor's carrot garden, onions, spinach, potatoes, mushrooms—everything was destroyed. As a result, Barkaley's farm income has halved, and everyone is now in a panic."

"Has the culprit been identified?"

"Not yet."

Moments later, there was the sound of armor clashing from outside. Two soldiers were running on the road ahead, followed by several villagers. Curious about what was happening, Peter and Allen approached them.

·??m "What's wrong? Where did everyone go?" Allen asked one of the soldiers.

"They say the culprit has been found."

"Really?!"

Peter and Allen also followed the group. They walked for a few meters until they came to a crowd of people under a tree. In the crowd, people were shouting angrily. The two soldiers who were running quickly entered the crowd. Allen and Peter also tried to follow the two soldiers.

When they managed to get free from the crowd, it turned out that inside was a boy who was probably Pascoe's age; his face was swollen, and his body was full of bruises; it seemed that the residents had beaten him.

"What's going on? Why is this boy tied up?" asked the soldier.

All eyes turned to the boy who lay on the ground, his hands and legs tied up with rough ropes.

"He's the culprit! He's the one who damaged the field!" A furious woman from the crowd pointed at the boy, her face contorting with disgust.

The soldier approached the boy, carefully examining his features. It was apparent that he had suffered terribly at the hands of the villagers. His legs were pale and reddish, with traces of mud and dirt. His hands were also ghostly white, suggesting he had been destroying the fields without gloves.

His clothes were tattered, but they seemed damaged even before the villagers beat him up.

"Could someone tell me how you got him?" the soldier asked, trying to diffuse the tension.

The villagers exploded into a frenzied cacophony of voices, everyone trying to get their version of the story across. The soldier tried to calm them down, but it was like trying to put out a raging wildfire with a drop of water.

"Hey, Jack! Why did you do it?!"

"Do you know what the consequences will be after doing this?!"

"This is a big deal!"

"You're really inconveniencing others; what have we done to you to make you do this?!"

This child, called Jack, was an orphan who grew up on an estate. He did every job on the estate and received food in return. People believed they had treated the boy nicely all this time, so they wondered why he was suddenly rebelling like this, especially since the boy had no parents, so they couldn't ask anyone for compensation.

"Hey, don't you want to say something?!"

Jack just sat there, sobbing.

"The whole estate was damaged, right? Did he really do it all by himself overnight?" Allen asked that at just the right time when everyone was quiet and whispering so everyone could hear him.

"That's right; there's no way he did it alone."

"He must have had other friends."

"What do you think, Mr soldier? What should we do with this kid?"

The soldier then replied:

"Unfortunately, Lord Barkaley is now away. You know that this estate is the food source for the entire region during the water month. Because of this case, the lord will have to buy food supplies to Herrwade City."

'Herrwade City? If I'm not mistaken, that's where Miss Lavinia went because of the suspicious movements of the church's enemies,' Allen thought.

"Yes, it's good that our lord will try to do something about it. But this kid's gang will definitely do something if we leave it alone."

Peter then came forward and grabbed the boy by the shoulders.

"Hey Jack, do you know me? You used to play with Pascoe when you helped out on our farm."

Jack nodded, he clearly remembered the person who always gave him food, especially since he was also one of Pascoe's friends.

"Can't you say anything about your other friends?"

Muddy shook his head; he then cried and bowed his head.

"What should we do now? Do we have to torture him to talk?" asked one of the people behind Peter.

Peter then yelled at that guy "Stupid, that's just going to put more pressure on this kid! What kind of adult tortures a child!"

The crowd fell silent, and they did not mean to suggest it in the first place. It was just that they were now angry and panicked because what was happening at the moment was really too much.

Peter spoke again to the boy,

"Tell us, son, tell us why you did this. How did you damage all the fields? If you stay like this, the soldiers behind me will take you to jail, and lord Barkaley could punish you by cutting your hand and maybe your head. I'll ensure they won't take you if you tell them everything."

Hearing Peter's words, the boy raised his head and asked, "Is it true?"

One of the soldiers immediately protested, "Alas, Uncle Peter! You can't just decide that! The boy must be taken to prison and judged by Lord Barka-"

Behind him, someone punched the soldier hard on the head and said, "Oh come on, just let Jack go; he must be doing all this for a reason; someone is probably treating him since he is just an orphan; he has no one to rely on."

Other people joined the defense "Right, just let him go. We've beaten him up bad enough; he'll regret it after this."

After hearing the defense of many people, the soldier sighed and said "Sigh, alright. For now, we'll keep our mouths shut. In fact, it will be even more dangerous if there is a mastermind behind this incident."

Peter turned to the boy and said, "How is it now? Look at these behind me. They are all nice people who will help you. Can you tell us what really happened?"

The boy bowed his head and said.

"We... We were told by Mr Wyncall to do it."