Chapter 134: Uncle and Loli
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Benjamin caught on some weird conversations when he was dazed.
".....Hey, wake up."
"Why isn’t he awake yet? Is he dead?"
"Probably not, he’s still breathing; see?"
"Why did you take him back in the first place? He looked so pale, is he sick? They said there’s a pandemic in the kingdom where many people died, what if he got the plague with him?"
"Hmm... Okay then, I’ll kill him with the axe now so he won’t be able to spread the plague here."
Benjamin somehow felt a chill down his spine as he jolted awake in the bed.
W-What was going on?
Pain once again overcame Benjamin who just got up. Not only his head hurt, his arms, waist, back, knees.....; every part of his body was in severe pain. It felt as if he rolled down ten over meters down from a cliff and injured himself badly.
.....Eh?
Hold on.
Benjamin suddenly recalled that it was not ‘as if’. He really did roll himself down a hill.
Although the ordeal was unpleasant and he did pass out halfway through, but he did not seem to have sustained serious injuries. His brain still worked adequately.
He recalled the chain of events that happened before he passed out.
It was within his expectation that Michelle would betray him by pushing him off the carriage when the situation became critical. Coincidentally, the hillside was just by the road, which was why he rolled himself down like a barrel of oil drum before going unconscious when his head hit a rock. Thankfully, he did not seem to suffer from permanent side effects.
Yes, he should be thankful, but when he recalled everything, Benjamin realized how weird this seemed to be.
He could not understand the reason behind Michelle’s actions.
Betray Benjamin for the favors of the Church? If that was what she wanted, there was no need for her to wait until this moment. Furthermore, it would be difficult for the Church to locate Benjamin; he rolled too far down the hill.
Also, he was still safe and sound, not captured by the Church. All evidence showed that Michelle did not intend to betray him.
However ...
His present situation now seemed rather bizarre.
Who would roll down a hill and miraculously land in a bed?
Something must have happened between these two events.
Benjamin decided to let bygones be bygones and focus on understanding the present.
He looked up and scanned his surroundings. He was in a modest wooden hut, cluttered with little things like bows, pans, brooms... Basically, it looked homey.
Around him, three faces stared at him like he was a monkey in a zoo.
"...."
It was an awkward atmosphere.
One of the three was a strong adult male, while the other two were young girls. The man was stunned, surprised at Benjamin’s awakening; one of the girls stared at him with curiosity while the other with hostility.
What now? Benjamin felt groggy. He guessed that these were the people who found him after he rolled off the hill, and they were the ones that brought him here. Still, this could not stop him from feeling dumbfounded.
Who were they? Where was he? Why did they bring him here? He got to get all the facts down.
"Um, nice to meet you. How are you?" Benjamin attempted a conversation as he scratched his head. These three only stared at him, so he had no choice but to initiate this conversation.
However, once he started talking, the curious girl began wailing.
"..."
W-Wait. What?!
Benjamin was pretty sure that his voice was normal; he did not sound raspy like a perverted old man. He was polite! Why would this loli cry? Benjamin was dumbfounded.
The other girl immediately pulled the crying girl into her arms and pointed accusingly at Benjamin while she caressed the girl’s head to comfort her, "You! Did you catch the plague and come here to spread it to us!"
"..."
Benjamin was once again went speechless. It took him a moment to muster up a reply, "I am perfectly healthy."
The three exchanged looks, and the crying girl stopped sobbing. She turned to look at Benjamin innocently, and soon the atmosphere suddenly took a turn: they shared a look before breaking into a cheer.
"Great! Finally, someone could play with Harry now!" The fierce girl jumped joyfully as she exclaimed.
"....."
What were they up to?
Benjamin could only resort to asking the System, but unfortunately the System was unable to give him any useful answers. It had no idea who these people are, too.
It informed Benjamin that after he fell, he rolled into a cave and continued rolling to a far, far place. Then, this man found him, and he was carried into this hut, and that was how he got here.
Everything happened for quite a long time, too. Benjamin woke up a day after he was pushed off the carriage. The System briefly explained the location of the hut. It was most probably near Mount North. However, this area was relatively remote, and it was unpopulated; only three of them lived here.
Benjamin further questioned the System on the situation with the Church and Michelle. The System’s voice dripped with disdain as it told Benjamin that it had no idea what happened outside; it was always here with Benjamin, and there was no wifi; how could it possibly obtain data?
"...."
Benjamin was very disappointed and could not help but ask the System, "Why else do I need you again?"
"I do have some television advertisement in store, so if you want to feel the rumbling excitement, I could always play it for you," The System replied with enthusiasm.
".....Bye," Benjamin answered dryly.
He returned to the real world after the short banter with the System and looked at the delighted trio, and suddenly felt less intimidated by the prospect of communicating with them - they would definitely be easier to talk to than the System.
Benjamin could not help but sigh - The System was indeed great, it could always make the world feel wonderful.
That was probably the biggest function it contributed to date.
"Uh... Thanks for saving me," Benjamin said as he cleared his throat, successfully capturing the attention of the trio, "I need a favour. By any chance, do you have any information with what’s happening outside?"
"Yeah!" The girl who broke into a tearful smile now cheered as she answered, "It’s raining now, there’s mud everywhere, and if you go out your clothes will get dirty."
"..."
Who the f*ck said the world was wonderful?
After about half an hour of very difficult communication, Benjamin finally had a cursory understanding about these three people. The man was Howl, and according to him, he was a bandit in Mount North. When the Church raided the bandits that year, he hid under a pile of horse manure in fear and escaped. He was the only survivor aside from their leader. He crawled out of the manure after the raid was done, escaped the mountains and met these girls at the foothills.
These girls were sisters, and the fiercer one was the older sister, Nina, and she was 10 years old. The shy one was the younger sister, Sandy. According to Nina, they came from a troupe from the South, and Nina was furious when she found out that the troupe leader had been sexually harassing Sandy. Hence, she poured half a bottle of glue down his underwear when the leader was asleep before she escaped the troupe with her sister.
They performed on their journey to survive before they stumbled into this place and met the cowardly bandit Howl who was just running down the hill. Thus, the three of them met like old friends, and somehow they decided to find a place to stay and lived happily for a whole year.
"That’s great! There’s still hope in humanity, love and compassion still exist," The System sobbed dramatically in his mind.
"...."
Benjamin inhaled deeply and immediately put aside these weird thoughts and asked in real life, "Then...... Can anyone tell me what happened in the kingdom?"