Chapter 353: Going to the City of Snow
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Just by looking at the man in the wheelchair’s expression, Benjamin knew that his "infamous" legacy had spread to ears of the hermit mages in the eastern desert of Ferelden.
That was not an easy thing to do.
In this era where information travels entirely through word of mouth and letters and where the distance between the kingdom of Helius and Ferelden was far away, the fact that the news had traveled here proved how startling the news was. Whether it was the water ball blowing up the city or conquering the gate, it was the epic news of this era and had spread over to every corner of this world.
It was also precisely because of these two incidents that Benjamin had continued to hide his identity.
However, now that matters had progressed to this stage, no matter how shocking the incidents were, it was impossible to compare to the situation at hand. Therefore, he chose to reveal his identity so that the man in front of him would shut up for a bit.
And the man in the wheelchair was indeed dumbfounded for quite awhile.
"This name, Benjamin... I see." He kept quiet for a long time. Then he said slowly, "Many years ago, before I betrayed the Church, I used to admire a talented little brother like you. I had always wondered why was the Church was so willing to execute him, but now I know why."
Benjamin shrugged his shoulders and turned around to say, "Tell me, where are they hiding at? How strong are their forces in Ferelden?"
The man in the wheelchair shook his head and said: "I have betrayed them a long time ago. I do not know anything about them now. At that time, their numbers were not large. A majority of the upper-class mages in the Mages Freemasonry were elites. As for their leader, Aldrich, he was the most loyal servant of the Church. He joined the Mage Guild when he was little and had been working for the Church ever since."
Upon hearing this, Benjamin felt lingering fear in his heart.
He knew that there was a problem with Aldrich!
Fortunately, when he attended the King's dinner, that old fox Aldrich did not seem to see through his identity. Otherwise, he probably would not have gotten out of the City of Snow that day.
Thinking about it in detail had Benjamin feeling chills running down his spine. The Mages Freemasonry was one of the most influential mage organizations in Ferelden and they had a good reputation all around the world. But in reality, they were being secretly controlled by the Church.
All these years, how many things had they been secretly doing for the Church? If we allowed them to continue on with their plans for the next ten years, what would become of Ferelden?
— It might be the case where without needing a single soldier, they would be able to turn Ferelden into another Kingdom of Helius.
"If you know about all this, why are you not spreading the information around?" Benjamin asked.
"Do you think it helps?" The man in the wheelchair shook his head and said, "What do you think will happen if I spread the news? Nothing will change. They will always be the superior mage organization. No one will believe in what I say."
"Of course it helps." Benjamin said without hesitation, "If that news got spread around, surely someone would be suspicious and would investigate it. As long as someone investigates it, there will be a clue. And in the end, even if only one person believes in what you said, that is also an increase in that person's strength."
"Then allow them to kill another innocent mage?" The man in the wheelchair looked extremely tired and weak, "I tried to retaliate, but it was useless. It’s impossible to win against them."
When he was saying that, he was holding his legs tightly with his trembling hands, he was holding it so forcefully that it would leave a bruise. However, looking at his legs, he probably did not feel anything.
Benjamin saw it and shook his head
"No, I can," he said, "The King of Ferelden has begun to doubt the Mages Freemasonry. In fact, the king is supporting me secretly and hoping that I can develop a force to go against the Mages Freemasonry. If I tell the king about this news, he will definitely do something."
Hearing that, the man in the wheelchair finally had a glimpse of hope in his eyes.
"The king is really doubting them?"
Benjamin nodded his head.
He had also thought this through. The Mages Freemasonry — or rather the Church, will soon set a trap to kill him. In the face of this situation, if he did not want to hide, he would need to face them head on, devising a counter-attack and destroy the Church's plan. To do so, he would need to allied forces together for more strength
Without a doubt, the king was his best choice.
The king already had doubts, if he knew that Aldrich was a spy, he would not be able to contain his anger —no country's ruler would put up with having another country meddling their business. Just like the Queen of Icor who was trying to eliminate all the spies, the king will certainly make a move and think of ways to take down the Mages Freemasonry.
Therefore, Benjamin would join forces with the King and together, they will prevent the Church from eroding Ferelden.
"Unlike the puppet royalties, the King of Ferelden has real power and strong influences." The man in the wheelchair said while narrowing his eyes, " But... If I remembered correctly, the Church had something prepared for the King already."
"They've prepared something?" Suddenly, Benjamin’s heart started pounding, "What did they prepare?"
The man in the wheelchair sighed and said, "It's a very confidential plan that has been in preparation. I’m not too clear about the details but my guess is that it is probably ways to try to weaken the king and take over his authority and let the whole of Ferelden fall into their hands."
However after hearing about it, Benjamin suddenly thought of something, he shook his head and his facial expression turned serious.
"No... Their plans might not be to secretly weaken the king. Instead, they would imprison the king and take over this authority."
The man in the wheelchair was puzzled: "How do you know?"
Benjamin took a deep breath, looked up at him and said with an exceptionally heavy tone:
"Because their plan has already been carried out."
The man in the wheelchair was stunned.
Ten minutes later.
Benjamin ended the meeting in this hidden weird house in the midst of the vast desert, opened the door and walked out heavy heartedly.
In the end, he left the bracelet there.
Benjamin did not have confidence in what he was about to do next. What the man in the wheelchair said was right, regardless of the bracelet being the key to the Abandoned Valley of Gods or not, this thing absolutely cannot fall into the hands of the Church. So, he ended up passing the bracelet to the man.
— If he failed, at least it could leave a little hope to the world.
The man in the wheelchair told him everything and it sounded quite real, but since the matter was so important, he did not believe it completely. Therefore, he decided to verify it himself.
He will make a trip to the City of Snow.
The Mages Freemasonry headquarters was in that city and he would be able to verify what the man in the wheelchair said there. But... This trip to the capital was not just to verify the truth, it was also to enter the palace and warn the king. In such a critical moment, he needed the true ruler of the country to step forward and fight against the Mages Freemasonry.
And... To verify what he was guessing in his heart.
There in the sky of the eastern desert, he flew with his greatest speed towards the city in the west.