Chapter 42: The Bishop Invites You for Tea
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Benjamin was still asleep when the people from the church arrived.
He had originally wanted to take out Divine Arts 101 and the water element crystal to properly study them. He then thought about the possibility of the people from the church coming at any moment to get him, so he decided to hide them in a safe place instead.
Thank God he did not take them out from the hiding spot.
Approximately 1am or 2am past midnight, the people from the church came. It was a middle-aged man who dressed like a priest, and he seemed to be well-mannered as he only came in after he knocked and waited for Benjamin to wake himself up enough to utter ‘Come in’.
Aside from the fact that he disturbed Benjamin’s sweet dreams, he was indeed a ‘well-mannered’ person.
Whenever the bane of their existence - the mages - was involved, the church was always this domineering, yet well-mannered.
"Sir Lithur, the bishop was very touched after he heard about your experience of fighting the Fallen Ones in the outskirts of Havenwright. We would very much like to invite you to the church and discuss matters regarding the Fallen Ones. Would it be convenient for the sir to do so?" The priest walked towards Benjamin’s bed and spoke with a steady and friendly voice.
The moment Benjamin heard this voice, he could not help but think that this person was indeed very much suited to be a priest. Even if this person said something like ‘I will kill you’, he would make it sound as if he was saying it for your own good.
Benjamin suddenly felt nauseated, like he just ate so much low-quality artificial sweeteners that it made him sick.
"Alright, hold on for a moment as I get out of bed now. I wanted to see the bishop and tell him something, too," He rubbed his sleep-heavy eyes and said as he sat up on his bed.
What else could he say? The priest’s words were like a soft knife pressed against his skin, leaving no space for him to back away from this.
Besides, he already expected this.
"Is the fake memory that we prepared for the church ready?" Benjamin quietly asked the System in his heart as he got down from bed.
"The Memory Document: formed; the input of all memories: completed, the exchange of magic-related memories: completed. Maintaining real-time update of the memories. Input of data from the last second: completed; input of data from this second: In process."
The System never sounded so reliable before this. Benjamin was somehow deeply moved by this.
"...Thank you," He whispered in his heart.
If the System was not in his brain, if it did not talk to him, go crazy with him, and help him out in the most crucial of times, Benjamin would have probably broken down long ago.
The System did not reply, instead is only repeated words like ‘Input of data from the last second: completed; input of data from this second: In process.’ It dawned on Benjamin that the task to falsify memories probably took up most of the CPU of the System, thus the System no longer had sufficient internal capacity to banter with him. That was why it seemed to be so trustworthy.
Well, he wasted his feelings there.
Benjamin got up and followed the priest down the hallways of the Lithur manor past midnight. Everyone was fast asleep, and they got out of the manor undetected.
Outside, a knight was silently waiting.
Benjamin glanced at him, and was slightly disappointed that the knight was not one of the two whom he recently acquainted with.
‘How are they?’
Benjamin wondered as he was led to St Peter’s Cathedral by the unknown knight and the priest. This was not the first time he was in the Cathedral in the dark hours of the night, but he always felt a chill down his spine whenever he was here.
Did these priests, knights, bishops and the pope feel that too?
Finally, they stopped outside a door, "You’ve arrived, Sir Lithur. The bishop awaits your presence."
Benjamin could not help but to feel anxious. His previous meetings with the bishop were always in the confessional, and there were no direct, face-to-face conversations before. This time around, he will be meeting the bishop in the silent room where the latter rests and practice. The church was serious about this.
It appears that the abilities of the elder mage was of great importance to the church.
Benjamin’s steeled his expression, smiled slightly at the knight and priest behind him before he pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The interior of the silent room was less adorned than the magnificently decorated cathedral. Aside from the statue of God and a painting of Abel, the room only has a table and a few books on top. There was not even a chair.
The bishop had his back against the door, and he seemed to be studying the painting. He turned around and smiled after Benjamin entered the room.
"Sir Lithur, you’re finally here."
Benjamin’s heart was hammering before he opened the door. However, once he stepped into the room and approached the bishop, his heart calmed down gradually, for some reason.
Maybe, it was due to the repetitive voice of the System that tickled Benjamin’s funny bone. Benjamin nearly laughed at the System, which dulled his nervousness in exchange.
He has nothing to be afraid about, now.
"Oh, sir! The outskirts was terrifying! The Fallen One made a huge wave with just a fling of his wrists! If it weren’t for you, oh bishop, if you didn’t give me the cross, I would’ve died there!" Benjamin blurted, his face full of fear.
After much practice, he has become much more masterful in the art of acting.
"Time is of essence, Sir Lithur, and I will cut to the chase," Benjamin could not sense any emotion from the bishop’s smiling face, "Again, you met some new Fallen Ones in the outskirts, and this time, they were quite strong. In order to execute the God’s calling, we hope to read your memories on that incident to search for some clues. Sir Lithur, are you willing to sacrifice this for the workings of God?"
As expected.
Benjamin could only be grateful that he prepared for this. Or else, his life would be over.
Despite him being prepared for this, he still portrayed an expression of panic, "Re-read my mind? Will there be any detrimental effects on my well-being?"
The bishop smiled like a doll as he comforted Benjamin, "Relax, reading your memory will not bring harm to you. All you have to do is close your eyes for a moment, and it will be done. You wouldn’t even feel a thing."
Benjamin looked perplexed, as if he did not understand the bishop’s words. Still, he nodded and said, "Close my eyes? O-okay then…..."
Obediently, he shut his eyes. In his heart however, he muttered to himself: ‘The crucial moment is here.’
2 seconds after he closed his eyes, he felt a sudden ache in his head. It was not severe, but the System’s repetition of words stopped abruptly as the pain was felt.
Dead silence.
"It’s done! When the investigative force was spread in your brain, I passed the fake memories to it. Then, it disappeared," the System elatedly said in Benjamin’s mind.
Benjamin’s heart finally relaxed, and he decided to open his eyes. Standing in front of him, the bishop has his eyes shut, and he was no longer smiling. Instead, the bishop was frowning, as if he was going through the fake memories made by the System.
Benjamin felt unconvinced when he saw the bishop’s expression, "Are you sure that there’s nothing wrong with the memory? He wouldn’t feel that something is off, will he?"
The System beamed fearlessly, "A mere mortal who wanted to find a bug in the plot that I came up with? Hah! Don’t worry, the person who could see through my tricks has yet to be born!"
"..."
Benjamin felt that something has gone terribly wrong.
What kind of memory did the System make for the bishop?