Chapter 614: Homeland and Old Friends
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
At last, Benjamin allowed Accius leave with more than ten of the captive mages.
He did not mention to Accius the details of his plan, after all, they were planning to rock the boat during the Queen’s birthday party - that had to be kept a complete secret. Therefore, he only gave a vague reply and confirmed that the Church’s attention would be diverted soon enough.
Although Accius looked doubtful, he did not express his feelings but merely nodded with a fake smile like a businessman who was pleasing his clients.
"Since the director says so, we look forward to your showing in the Kingdom of Helius."
Benjamin nodded then inquired about some recent activities in the Kingdom of Helius. He had already heard about matters like the uprooting of the Academy of Silence, however, it was not until he heard from Accius that he found out that the Church had sent out almost their entire army to achieve this.
There were no survivors from the Academy of Silence.
Even though Accius did not witness the incident at that time, he seemed to have someone in the army who described the scene of slaughter vividly; he also purposefully described how Grant managed to destroy the entire place with just a finger. Upon hearing this, Benjamin could not help but feel surprised.
Grant... How could he be so powerful?
He found it hard to imagine that Grant was using divine arts. There was no singing, no shining of the Holy Light, it was clear that Grant’s standard had reached a whole new height, totally different from that of normal mages or priests.
And Benjamin thought that his own improvement was considered fast enough...
As he thought about this, he felt conflicted. One they he would revolt against the Kingdom of Helius and would do his best to eradicate the Church. But when that happens, who would Grant side with?
Needless to say, the Church would try to groom him into being the next Pope. And Grant still remained a part of the Church even though they tried to burn him at the stake, which is shown by him destroying the Academy of Silence. If this continued any longer, a conflict was bound to happen between them.
What would be the outcome of that? Benjamin himself was not sure too.
However... He would not pull his punches if a war broke out between them.
After sending off Accius and the mages, Benjamin started thinking about the Queen’s birthday party and the task to divert the Church’s attention. After a while, he realized that they needed to do some preparations beforehand.
The Church’s attention would quite precious to them. Something huge must happen for them to be distracted enough to let the nobles in the country slip out of their sight, so that the nobles would have a chance to breath. Benjamin felt that it would not be enough if he were to just liberate the Mage Guild during the birthday party.
After some thought, he deciding to set foot in the Kingdom of Helius.
It was still a month before the Queen’s birthday and there would still be some free time in between. At the very least, he could stir up some mess in the Kingdom of Helius and reduce the stress of those nobles so that they would not die pre-emptively.
If the Fulner family was destroyed before the birthday party, Benjamin would not be able to get the twenty thousand gold or the hundreds of elemental crystals.
Moreover... It seemed like it had been forever since he had returned to the Kingdom of Helius.
He felt nostalgic while he thought about it, as it brought back memories.
Therefore, after telling Varys about his plan, Benjamin started on his journey. Since the operation of the academy had become more systematic, there was no need for him to worry about it and he was free to do what he wanted to his heart’s content.
Of course, when he mentioned returning to the Kingdom of Helius, Varys and Benjamin’s initial group of mages wanted to tag along. Unfortunately, they were packed with classes in the academy so they had no choice but to stay put and bid Benjamin farewell.
"If there’s a chance, I will visit your hometowns."
After saying this, Benjamin activated the field of the water elemental energy and disappeared into the sky above.
In the academy, the twenty-something people who were there from the very beginning stood beside the windowsill in the conference room, watching as Benjamin left. As the sun set, they looked towards the direction of the Kingdom of Helius. Everyone was silent for a while, their eyes gleaming with all sorts of emotions.
"... Let’s go, the night classes are about to start."
After a while, Varys said.
"One day, we’ll be able to return as well, and we’ll return with pride and honor, right?" Joanna rubbed her eyes, her voice overflowing with bitterness.
Lara shook her head helplessly and laughed.
"What do you mean? When we left, we left with pride and honor too. When we eventually return, we’ll make those dumb*ss priests piss their pants in fear."
Upon hearing this, Joanna wiped her tears away and laughed.
After a brief moment of lamentation, they turned around and left, throwing themselves back into the busy everyday life of the academy, patiently waiting for that day to come.
Meanwhile in mid-air.
"If you really want to do something in the Kingdom of Helius, it will be best to contact Miles, maybe he’s still there." The System suggested to Benjamin.
After hearing what it had to say, Benjamin decided to take its advice.
He took out the transmission woodpiece and sent a message to Miles. He was not sure if Miles would reply but it was worth a shot.
After flying for about a day, he reached the borders of Icor and the Kingdom of Helius. As he took a look at the heavily guarded Crusader Gateway, Benjamin hesitated for a while before deciding to take the route along the mountains.
With his current power now, it would be just a matter of time before he would break through the main gate, but that would mean revealing his identity - he still wanted to return to Havenwright! Besides, the magical beasts around the mountains were not a threat to him anymore.
Therefore, he took off towards the mountains near the main gates.
"Feathers from a griffin, fresh blood from the long-tusked beast, pistils of the Windflower... There’s no way I can fit all of them in my bag, I have no choice but to throw them away."
There were countless rare magical beasts on the mountains and Benjamin had unexpectedly collected quite a number of valuable items. Unfortunately, he did not have enough bags to store them, and harvesting was not the main purpose of his trip. Thus, he only stored those that were more expensive before entering the Kingdom of Helius.
After disguising himself, he headed towards the Town of Crewe - A border town located near the main gate.
As he walked through the streets of the Town of Crewe, he felt that nothing seemed to have changed from the time they had left. Of course, the stores of the boss lady, old blacksmith and the others were long gone and were no replaced with new faces, but that was a given.
Benjamin activated the water elemental induction magic and scanned the whole city quietly.
If what Accius had said was true, that the Church had enforced their powers in capturing the mages, then there would be more mages gathered in the Town of Crewe, attempting to escape the country. Thinking about it, Benjamin felt that it would be best for him to give them a hand.
Or else... They would most likely fall into the Church’s traps and end up like wheat being harvested at the end of each season.
However, after a brief search, Benjamin felt a little surprised.
Inside the new tavern to the west of the small town, he found a few mages. Among these mages, Benjamin felt that three of them were exceptionally familiar.
It seemed like...the two brothers, one taller one shorter, were from the Academy of Silence, and... That female mage, she was quite familiar, but he could not recall who she was.
In the end, the System reminded him.
"Elizabeth Wood, you met her once at the banquet in the Imperial Capital. She used to be the fiancée of Benjamin Lithur, but was forced to break off the engagement by Benjamin. After that banquet, her family spread the message that she had passed away from a serious illness. She has never made an appearance in the Kingdom since then."
Benjamin was stunned as he suddenly recalled what had happened back then.
Bloody hell...
That lady who was previously thought of as dead was now in the Town of Crewe, hanging out with the two idiot brothers from the Academy of Silence,?