Chapter 858: A Sudden Attack
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"That's strange… Is the defense for the capital so tight now?"
Benjamin walked out from the village next to Perseus Lake and turned his head, glancing doubtfully in the direction of Havenwright, talking to himself.
Before bringing the King to the Queen so that he could offer his incense, he had come here first due to the short distance, in an attempt to contact Duke Collin. However, the strange thing was that the tavern in the village had shut down, and the tavern owner, who had been their middleman, was nowhere to be found. He was said to have left for some business, so Benjamin had made the trip there for nothing.
At first, he had even felt worried, thinking about whether the Wood family could have been gotten rid of by the nobles. However, he immediately heard news that the capital was in a stable situation, and the Church had not done anything to the nobles at all.
Benjamin could not wrap his mind around it.
After some guesses, the only conclusion he could come to was that the Church had tightened their searches, so Duke Collin had decided to lay low until the dust had settled, thus, shutting down some of his secret businesses.
He would wait and see how things were, after a few days.
For Benjamin and his men, although the nobles were a source of assistance, they had not been too dependent upon them. Because of that, it was not a big blow to have temporarily lost contact with them.
Taking the King and the two siblings with him, they flew for approximately two hours before they arrived in Havenwright. After hiding and circling in the clouds for a few rounds, they began to slowly make their way towards the tomb that was still in construction, in the northern district of the city.
"This should be it." Benjamin used the water elemental sensing technique to scan the area once. Confirming that there was no problem, they landed on a spot nearby. He spoke to the King, "Your Majesty… My condolences to you."
They hid in the bushes at the back, lifting their heads to look at the nearby tomb. The King remained quiet beside them for a long time.
"Do… you still need to get closer?" Seeing that, Benjamin hesitated for a moment, before asking again. "There aren't many priests in the vicinity, it's alright to get closer by another ten or so meters."
The King, however, came back to his senses. Sighing, he shook his head.
"...Let this be."
He took out a bunch of white flowers from his bag and placed them on the ground, in the direction of the tomb. Then, he stood up, and drew a cross on his chest, murmuring something beneath his breath. He seemed to be praying. After having done all that, he slowly turned around.
Benjamin nodded.
It was good that the King had thought things through clearly as well. The capital was in a messy situation now, so it was best not to stay too long in the area. Although he had not discovered anything amiss, but… he could not help but feel a bit of emptiness in his heart.
They should quickly rush back and prepare for the distribution of the newspaper, before anything happened!
However, it was at this moment that the transmission woodpiece in his pocket began to vibrate.
Was there news?
Benjamin took the woodpiece out and activated it. The voice of the person in charge of the academy's Black Operation in Worchester sounded out.
"Director, sir, there's trouble! Many priests have suddenly turned up in Worchester, sealing the city off and making a thorough search for the Black Nightmare Society! Even the Pope has shown himself here! Many exposed members have already been bound up in the city square, to be burnt at the stake this evening!
He was immediately stunned.
...What the f*ck?
"Quick! We must rush back immediately!" After being stunned for half a second, Benjamin waved his hand and instantly brought the King and the two siblings, who had not yet been able to react, into flight. They began to move swiftly towards Worchester.
That night.
Worchester, a trading city located by the sea. Right then, however, the city gates were shut tight, as though a war was going on. Tight lines of soldiers stood on the city walls. Inside, the red light district that had always been bustling and alive, was now so empty that not a single shadow could be seen.
Everyone hid in their homes, drawing the curtains close. They were afraid of seeing things that they should not see, if they were to look out.
When Benjamin and his companions had rushed here, they had been unable to enter the city due to how heavily guarded it was. They could only land outside the city, looking in somewhat anxiously.
The Church had sealed up the city of Worchester too suddenly. It had happened so unexpectedly; they had not heard the slightest bit of news about it before. However, it was very obvious that some information had been leaked out. The Church even knew what the Black Nightmare Society was about, otherwise they would not have ploughed in so much effort and manpower.
Sealing up the city, capturing the members… Everything seemed to have been prepared.
As they had rushed there, Benjamin had received several messages, one after another, from the Academy's Black Operation. Grant's presence there was confirmed. Everyone had thought that he would stay to guard Havenwright, but no one knew when he had snuck secretly over to Worchester.
At the same time, the situation in the city looked extremely bad. About half of the members of the Black Nightmare Society had gone missing; the worst was feared to have happened. Furthermore, with the Church's ability to read minds and obtain memories, the list of members had, most likely, already been exposed. It was difficult to tell whether the remaining people would be all dragged out by the Church.
However… The only consolation they had was that, before the Church had started to move, the Academy's Black Operation had quickly shifted to a prepared outpost, and had not been captured by the Church.
"I've told you earlier that they would strike during these few days," the System gloated. "But you're also quite fortunate, to have just left with your companions before they arrived, right in the nick of time. I don't even know if you're to be considered unlucky or not."
"...When did you motherf*cking tell me?"
"Two seconds ago."
"Go the f*ck away."
He was not in a mood to joke around with the System at such a time as this.
The Black Nightmare Society had just grown stronger, but in the blink of an eye, they had been reduced to this. He rushed back at his highest speed, but the first batch of members who had been captured… It was obvious that he could not make it in time.
By the time the Academy's Black Operation had sent news to him, the burning at the stake had ended. The first five people who had been tied to the crosses in the city square had started off screaming in pain; their voices began to quieten down, bit by bit, in the fiery flames, before turning into a dead silence.
It was an excruciating sacrifice.
Benjamin did not know why they had chosen today to strike. Was it a coincidence? Or had they known that he would not be there today, and so had started their operation on purpose?
Thinking about this, even the expression he looked at the King with began to turn slightly strange.
However… Taking a deep breath and calming down, he gradually felt that this should all be a coincidence. Grant had appeared there, so he had definitely come to handle him. If it was just for a newly formed Black Nightmare Society, the Pope himself would not have needed to step out personally.
Very soon, a new piece of audio sent by the person in charge of the Black Operation also confirmed his guess.
"Director, sir, don't try to rush in for now. The Pope is still in the city, searching from house to house, and even carefully checking every face for traces of disguises. It's clear that they are looking for you. Also, another five members have been tied up in the city square. The Church has immediately spread the word that tomorrow noon, they shall be burnt to death. I feel it is likely that all of this is done to force you into coming out!"
"...motherf*ckers."
Having finished listening to the audio, although his hypothesis was confirmed, Benjamin's face looked worse than before.
This bunch of people…
Unquestionably, the Church had rushed in for them. To be more accurate, they had rushed in for him! Grant seemed to have been utterly enraged by the series of actions they had pulled off, and had prepared something in an effort to combine the Church's other forces to get rid of him!
Perhaps, they had found a clue and discovered that Benjamin had been sighted in Worchester, so they had put together such a sudden attack. Only, Benjamin had coincidentally brought his companions out with him today, causing the situation to be as it was now.
How could he rescue them?
He remembered, a few days ago, the sight of the members of the Black Nightmare Society, telling their stories one after another. Benjamin could not help but clench his fists. These people believed in him, believed that he could really lead them into bringing the Church down, and yet now, there were already people burnt to death. As for the remainder… They were like meat on a chopping block, for the Church to abuse and kill.
He could not allow such things to continue happening!
However, at the same time, Benjamin's rationale told him that if he were to dash in right now, he would be playing straight into the Church's hands. Other than Grant, he did not know what other traps lay within the city. He also did not know, when the time came, whether the Church would use the rest of the members as hostages to force Benjamin to surrender.
"It's my fault," the King lowered his head, "I, I shouldn't have begged you to take me away…"
"This has nothing to do with you," Benjamin took a deep breath, answering coldly, "if we had not left Worchester by that stroke of luck, perhaps right now, Your Majesty would have been caught and taken back by them already."
As he spoke, he activated the transmission woodpiece once more.
However, this time, the person to which he transmitted to was not the person in charge of the Black Operation in the city.
"Varys, how many available teachers do we have in the Academy now? How many students fulfil the fighting requirements? I have an urgent mission for you to handle, the more the merrier…"