Chapter 363: The Reunion at the Abandoned Warehouse
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Benjamin could only leave helplessly.
He had actually seen this coming. This book of "Declaration of the Freedom of Magic" not only challenged the mages freemasonry that was in the control of the Church, it also affected those benefactor minority of the mages’ circle. Mage Vinci was the nation’s largest benefactor, it was natural for him to oppose.
The reason he brought the booklet along with him was to take advantage of the impending crisis for Mage Vinci to sacrifice a little — After all, he was the richest in Fereldan and if he did not oppose to the booklet, then there would be less opposition.
It was such a shame that he did not realize how the current situation could be dangerous for the mages of Fereldan.
But Benjamin was not disheartened by this.
What could he do? If there was opposition then let there be opposition. For those who were well advanced in their era, which of them would not face any form of difficulty?
Varys had already been in touch with the printers. Although printing was not cheap, Benjamin had accumulated some wealth and could still afford it. Hence, their initial step was set to print a thousand books.
Once the printing was done, they would have to think of a way to release the "Declaration of the Freedom of Magic" to have it circulated within the largest pool of lower rank mages. He firmly believed that its contents would be hottest item of the whole of Fereldan overnight.
These mages would rise to fight against the mages freemasonry.
Benjamin returned to the inn.
After assassinating the king, he never did return to that home, and had been staying at the inn for a few days now.
What happened to his former home? Nobody knew. But Benjamin was sure that Aldrich had put a tail on the surroundings of that home and patiently waited for them to come near.
If they hadn’t migrated away, concealed their identity and take precaution in their moves, the plan wouldn’t have taken off smoothly.
They would have been bothered by the assassins that were sent over.
They continued to be busy with matters concerning "Declaration of the Freedom of Magic".
A day later.
During the evening, Benjamin and his subordinates arrived early nearby the warehouse.
Five days ago, he dismissed the hundred over mages here. Benjamin had arranged with them that if they wished to go against the Church together, then they should meet here five days later. He would be waiting here for the whole night.
Now, the time had come. Benjamin was a little nervous to find out how many would stay out of the hundred and fifty-three.
And... Another thing.
"Careful now, there’s an ambush." Standing outside the warehouse, Benjamin scanned the area with his water element sensing technique. He quickly found a few suspicious people hiding around.
They were mostly in black and armed, hiding in an isolated area. At times they craned their necks to look around.
But of course...
Benjamin was certain where these people came from.
There weren’t necessarily spies. In over one hundred people, surely there were a few that was cowardly. They were afraid after finding out that the mages freemasonry controlled the palace and rushed to whistle blow. This caused Aldrich to find their gathering location and send his men to disrupt them.
Although he was not sure what kind of orders they would receive.
To assassinate Benjamin? To kill them all?
Unfortunately for these people in the ambush, these assassins were here for their death.
Benjamin leisurely recorded the location of each assassin, then turned around to let the mages that came with him to leave while he walked into the abandoned warehouse alone.
The moment he appeared, he could feel countless gazes on him like a sniper locked into him.
... Not making a move yet?
Benjamin smirked within and entered with composure.
The warehouse was as empty as a shell. No mages that came to show fidelity nor assassins lying in ambush. It seemed that Aldrich has misunderstood Benjamin’s sensing technique and thought that Benjamin could spot him outside the window during that time was due to the short distance, hence he had ordered the assassins to hide further away.
Unfortunately for him, Benjamin’s water element sensing technique now was amazingly able to scour a few hundred meters.
"Why don’t you just finish them in one go instead of dilly-dallying here?" The System asked out of the blue.
"They’re standing too far apart, so I wouldn’t be able to eliminate them in one strike." Benjamin spoke within, "Moreover, they are waiting for the mages to arrive before they strike. I could make use of them. I’ll take care of these assassins together with those mages that decide to pledge allegiance while establishing authority and strengthen the cohesiveness of the group."
To a certain degree, these assassins were pretty useful to him.
Benjamin sat in the middle of the warehouse and patiently waited for the courageous mages to arrive.
In a jiffy, the night befell.
"Huff... Sir Benjamin, that’s great, you’ve really waited here." Tony and another two who first seeked refuge with Benjamin, dressed with a cape, popped their head in from the side door and looked about.
Benjamin flashed a smile.
"I knew you would come."
The three walked in and nodded, "That is without a doubt. The Church is such a bully, we can’t just sit and take it."
Benjamin smiled and nodded back.
It ain’t too bad. At least there were three so he wouldn’t need to face the awkwardness of waiting all night without anyone arriving.
Although the trio came from the Mages Freemasonry, they have been rolling with them and so they were familiar with the meditation of dual practice. They had known each other for some time now. Benjamin believed in their loyalty and that they were not spies from the freemasonry.
Honestly speaking, he personally handpicked these hundred over mages. Even if there were any traitors between them, Benjamin felt it would not be more than ten of them.
After the salutations, Benjamin and the trio continued waiting for the rest to arrive.
Another quiet few minutes passed by and finally, more mages came one after another.
"Sir Benjamin, I am not afraid of death. If we allow the Church to take control of Fereldan, then death is not far from us. I hope I could be of your assistance!"
"Sir, I wish to join your team. I may not have the most amazing capabilities but I know many of the mages in neighboring cities. I could come up with a way for them to help you!"
"We are here too. The people from the mages freemasonry have disappeared in these few days. Something fishy is going on here!"
"..."
One mage after another, wrapped in identity concealing cloaks, quietly came to the abandoned warehouse. Although the amount was incomparable to that of five days ago and by midnight, there was only over thirty of them, Benjamin was satisfied.
Not everyone has the guts to stand up and fight against forces that were much stronger.
At the very least, these people were prepared to become an underground organization.
They were all draped in large capes, covering their faces. A glance over a row of them and they looked freakishly identical. Benjamin stood in front of these cloak group and suddenly felt like the leader of the F class (See: Baka and Test).
The time was now past midnight.
Seeing the turnout, Benjamin smiled satisfactorily.
"I am very touched that everyone would gather here. It is a really courageous thing." He spoke up as he prepared his first opening speech as a leader.
He nodded at such a harmonious atmosphere but suddenly changed the topic and with his cold eyes, glared at a direction in the crowd.
"But..." His tone turned deep, "We have a traitor amongst us."