Chapter 86: The Secrets of the Inn
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Benjamin frowned.
"You’re the mafia lord?"
The old man once again looked disgusted, "I am no mafia lord."
Benjamin was confused, "Why did you say that you’re Chief Silverfox then?"
"Because I am Chief Silverfox."
"Shouldn’t Chief Silverfox be a mafia lord?"
"Who told you that Chief Silverfox must be a mafia lord?"
"..."
Benjamin was made speechless. The word ‘chief’ started to sound alien to him.
This was another awkward aftermath of him overthinking.
The old man looked at Benjamin as if the latter was retarded. His look was so intense that Benjamin nearly started questioning himself of his intelligence.
"Silverfox is my nickname. I was the eldest son in the house, which was why everyone called me Chief Silverfox," the old man stared at Benjamin before he suddenly laughed as he explained, "There’s no future for the people in the mafia here in Havenwright. The church is too powerful; any uprising mafia was killed off before they could grow to become a formidable force. The gangsters in the outskirts usually just fight amongst themselves. No one dared to form a group."
"...Forgive me for being rude. Sorry," Benjamin apologised after a brief pause, his face red with embarrassment.
The old man barked out a laugh as he gave Benjamin a once-over.
"You disguised yourself as a beggar and came to me. Say, who do you want to find?" The old man asked.
Benjamin took a deep breath, mustered his courage despite the utter embarrassment and tried hard to put his shame aside.
"I wanted to find one of the new subordinates that the lead bandit from Mount North recruited after they came here. People usually call him ‘bamboo’," Benjamin said, "The new bamboo, not the old one."
The old man’s face changed after he heard ‘lead bandit from Mount North’.
His nonchalant demeanor slid off to become a more serious one.
Benjamin narrowed his eyes; something was up.
After a brief pause, the old man suddenly said, "Don’t spout rubbish. The bandits of Mount North were already killed off by the church. None of them survived the ordeal. What do you mean? I don’t understand."
Benjamin’s face darkened.
…...F*ck.
Was the old man seriously doing this to him after receiving payment? Benjamin felt genuine anger. Benjamin thought: so what if he had a cool name like ‘Chief Silverfox’? I f*cking have Mozilla Firefox installed in my brain, alright?
"No, you did not have Mozilla Firefox installed. You use Sogou," the System popped up and commented.
"..."
Why would the world be against his brilliance?
Benjamin was at the brink of hopelessness.
As he was thinking of whether he should show some of his magic to scare the prideful old man, he felt a huge force from his back. He did not manage to find his balance and was pushed aside, nearly falling to the ground.
"I…" Benjamin nearly cussed, furious. However, after he turned to take a look, he forced himself to swallow his words.
Three Holy Knights and a priest stood right in front of the inn, and one of the Knights withdrew his arm. It was apparent that he was the one who pushed Benjamin aside.
Benjamin suddenly recomposed himself.
This was because he recognised who the priest was. The priest was the one who came by to his bedroom and ‘politely’ asked for his presence in the church for the bishop to read his memories.
Why would the priest be here?
There was no time for Benjamin to think. He quickly bowed his head and let his hair cover his face, as if he was terrified. He could only hope that the priest did not recognise him.
"Welcome, sirs, how can I help you?" The old man’s face was like a chameleon; it switched so fast as he fawned over the four. He then turned to scowl at Benjamin as he scolded, "What are you looking at? I told you, I don’t have money for you. Stop loitering around here! You’re dirtying the eyes of the good sirs!"
Benjamin was not enraged by his rude words.
The old man was helping him; that was evident to Benjamin.
Hence, he played along and bowed as he pressed his stomach. "I...I just wanted some money for food, where else could I go," Benjamin said, his voice shaking as if he was crying, "I really did not intend to anger these good sirs."
The priest said with a benevolent smile, "It’s fine, we will not blame you."
Benjamin was relieved.
Thank God he was not recognised.
After he recovered from his shock with the sudden change of events, he was quickly filled with confusion.
What was going on here? The church should be busy battling the nobles, why would they be free enough to send people over to this tiny inn?
What was in the inn?
Benjamin sprawled at the side of the inn, shielded his face as he watched. He was very similar to a beggar who refused to leave.
"Greetings, old man. We are not going to bring you trouble," The priest turned to the old man and showed the typical smile of a priest, "We are just doing a routine check here to keep the Fallen Ones away from your inn. Do not be afraid."
The old man was momentarily stunned, but he soon continued with a smile on his face, "Oh, of course! Thank you for your kindness. What do you want to check, sir? Help yourselves!"
The priest smiled and nodded. He turned and shared a look with the three Holy Knights. The Knights nodded and walked towards the hallway, and started doing a sweep in every single room of the inn.
Benjamin immediately felt like something was off.
What were they trying to find?
Was this really an ordinary routine check?
The Knights’ method of searching was oddly violent. They kicked down doors that were within their sight, regardless of whether there was anyone behind the doors. In an instant, the inn was in a chaotic mess; a few poor couples were made awake in shock from bed, some of them could even develop a lasting trauma from this.
They kicked and searched all the way to the ends of the hallway. If there were any guests in the room that they visited, the guests would run amok and leave the inn, shouting in displeasure. The priest stood by the receptionist desk, and did not stop the leaving guests. Instead, he just smiled at the old man while waiting for the result for the search.
The old man nodded and smiled back at the priest, his back slightly bowed. Neither of them talked.
The atmosphere in the inn was strange. Benjamin felt things were odd as he squatted at the side and observed.
After God knew how long….
"Sir, please come and take a look," Suddenly, a Holy Knight emerged from the hallway and said to the priest, "There’s a person in a room on the second floor, and we’re unsure if he is the one you’re looking for."
The priest suddenly smiled wider and looked at the old man, surprise evident in his eyes. The old man returned his look, his face one of innocence and confusion. The eyes of the priest lingered on the old man’s face for approximately ten seconds, as if they were trying to find something. The old man’s expression didn’t change, though; he looked very puzzled and dumb.
Without warning, the priest stopped his scrutiny and turned to the Knight, "Alright, lead the way."
The Knight nodded in silence as he turned and started marching to the second floor. The priest followed suit and walked towards the stairs at the end of the hallway. The old man still sat unmoving as he sent the two off with baffled eyes.
The two left just like that.
Benjamin, who witnessed everything without any summarized information of what happened before, had no idea what was going on. He understood that the priest and the old man were having a fight for dominance, but he had no idea why.
Who was the priest finding? Why was it related to the old man?
Although Benjamin had a few guesses, he could not to confirm them.
However, the expression of the old man behind the counter suddenly changed. He stood and walked over to Benjamin with quick strides, crouched and whispered into Benjamin’s ears.
His voice was filled with the intent to kill, and it sounded just like a mafia lord.
"Help me kill the four of them, and you can find whoever you wanted. Forget about the subordinate of the bandits of Mount North, I could even find you the Pope’s lover!"