Chapter 29: An Encounter with An Old Friend
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Once again, Benjamin dreamt.
Finally, this dream did not involve his boss. He dreamt of himself drowning in the deep blue sea, surrounded by a group of mermaids. The faces of the mermaids were the faces of the people he knew after he arrived in this world.
Their expressions were cold and a tad bit scary.
In a flash, these swimming mermaids all transformed into blue symbols, and they flew faster and faster around him. The vast sea also disappeared around him, and what surrounded him was darkness without end.
Benjamin tried hard to identify the symbols, but for some reason, he could never see the symbols clearly.
By his ears, a buzzing sound was heard.
He studied his surroundings. He suddenly had an epiphany: Was this not the space of his consciousness? He recalled the time when he unlocked the space, and a thought came to him as the slightly eerie sound continued buzzing by his ears.
He started chanting the Waterball Spell in the direction of the sound.
Nothing happened.
Benjamin found it odd. He pricked up his ears, and began swimming towards the buzzing sound.
The close he got, the louder the sound. He suddenly had a hunch that this noise might be able to tell him the secrets of the space, and let him possess a power without limits. He began swimming harder, and listened a 100 times more attentively than when he was at an English Listening Test.
The noise gradually became distinct. It sounded like a sentence.
Benjamin was thrilled. He was one step away from the answer!
Finally, like a sea creature that finally evolved to be able to inhale for the first time on land, or like the moment of contact between a bubble and the tip of a needle, the noise escaped from ambiguity and became coherent:
"Don’t die, young master!"
Benjamin froze in his dreams.
Wait, what?
Suddenly, he inhaled abruptly and his eyes snapped open, as if he was hit by an immense force. He was awake.
"Young master.... Young master! You’re.... You’re finally awake?" Overjoyed shouts filled his ears.
"Just.... Just be quiet for a minute."
Benjamin was drowsy, and he felt a splitting headache when he sat upright. He stabilized himself by holding his forehead, and could only regain full consciousness after a few moments. He could finally muster up some energy to study his surroundings.
The surroundings.... The surroundings told him that he was back in his room in the Lithur Manor.
He was lying on his bed. When he saw this, he exhaled in relief and sprawled backwards in with a wham.
He was brought back by someone else.
Michelle’s curse.... It was really fucking torturous. Thank God he fainted in pain at the last part, or else he would have experienced the agony of both childbirth and his nuts splitting.
From another perspective, he needed to be appreciative towards the spell, as its attack was right on time.
Remembering the farce happened in the castle, Benjamin was still traumatized - the feeling of having a gun pointed at him was not a pleasant feeling. If the spell did not attack when he was struggling with Dick, if Dick did not assume that his shot hit Benjamin, if that shot actually did hit Benjamin....
What happened would be even more unforeseeable.
This was just a teleportation, why was this so worrying?
"Young master, are you okay?"
Benjamin lifted his eyes as he heard that, and he saw Jeremy standing by the bed, cautiously studying him.
"....Alright now, stop fussing, I’m fine," Although he knew Jeremy was just doing his job, but he was still touched.
"I’ll go and tell the madam and the others now," Jeremy smiled shyly before he turned and ran away. He was gone in a blink of an eye, Benjamin did not even had the chance to stop him.
He wanted to send Jeremy off to do an errand, though....
Forget it, he could not rush this matter anyways, he still had a headache to deal with! For now, he would put these problems at the back of his mind and get some well-needed rest.
Benjamin closed his eyes, relaxed his whole being and buried himself underneath the soft covers of his blanket.
However, he was unable to lie down for long.
"Long time no see, Sir Lithur. Are you satisfied with the tiny gift I sent you?"
A voice abruptly rung in his room.
Benjamin was jolted awake and snapped his eyes open. He sat upright on his bed and turned to look at the source of the voice.
"....Michelle."
A silhouette, clad in a cloak of Brunswick green, stood in the shadows in the corner of the room. Michelle’s appearance was the same as before. She looked like a killer on stealth, and no one could see what was hidden under her cloak.
Benjamin inhaled.
His emotions was calmer than he imagined. He probably should be shocked at the ghostly behavior, but he was not. He just stared at Michelle like how a long lost friend would, unfamiliar to the point where they regard each other with hatred, but also familiar until the point of yearning.
Why did he not think of this? The spell just had an outbreak, it’s after effects were still lingering in Benjamin. To Michelle, this was the perfect timing for her to show up, as the advantage in momentum would greatly increase her stakes in the negotiation.
On the matter of how she sneaked into his room, if she could place a letter under his pillow without detection, what else could she not do?
Benjamin felt his blanket turning cold.
He has a plan to immediately call for help. The Lithur family was around, and the knights from the church would not be far too. As soon as he opened his mouth, Michelle would most probably be forced to leave.
However, Benjamin was also aware that if Michelle dared to show up in this manner in his room, she probably would have the confidence to safely leave the room. If he could not succeed in one hit, a temporary retreat would have no meaning, and would maybe even anger Michelle.
Thus, he decided to see what Michelle was up to.
Benjamin felt safer when he felt the cross hanging from his neck. At least he still had a playing chip, no?
"Time is of essence, and I will cut to the chase," After a tense exchange of looks between them, Michelle finally broke the silence, "I do not have time to teach you magic. I will leave this Holy Bible to you, and you would find the answer you seek in it."
Then, she took out a booklet and threw it onto Benjamin’s bed.
"Holy Bible?" Confused, Benjamin gawked at the book on his blanket, but did not touch it. He could not see what Michelle got up her sleeves.
"I know what you’re thinking," Michelle replied, "It is different to the blasphemy that was distributed by the church. This is our Holy Bible, and inside it is true magic. If I’m not wrong, you learnt your magic by accident. I believe you’ll need this."
Benjamin looked at the booklet once again. He contained his curiosity towards magic and said instead, "You wouldn’t give me something without wanting anything in return, so what do you want?"
A fox paying a visit to the chicken will always have an ulterior motive. He wanted to know what hidden agenda Michelle has.
She took quite an effort to leave him a letter, telling him that she will be here in 10 days; she also wanted him to hand the letter to the church to lead them down the garden path. She would not come all the way to him just to give him a book, right?
"My goal is simple, you should’ve known since the start," Michelle did not waste her time talking much, "You can view this as an equal exchange, an exchange with the treasury for your life."
After he heard this, Benjamin was silent before he softly spoke, "Regardless if you believe me or not, I really don’t know the way to open the treasury."
He confirmed this with the System long ago. There was no ‘Method to Open the Treasury’ in Benjamin’s memories. Maybe Michelle’s original target for the kidnapping, Grant, knew how to open the treasury, but unfortunately she got Benjamin, and Benjamin had no idea how to do it.
He had no intentions to continue the nonsense about opening the treasury with the bloodline of a Lithur. The situation now was different from before, and he was not afraid to be truthful with Michelle anymore. What could she do, kill him? Furthermore, he had a feeling that Michelle was already aware about this.
Naturally, Michelle was not surprised. .
"I know that, Sir Benjamin Lithur," Although she sounded calm, Benjamin could sense the displeasure in her voice. She was probably embarrassed to the point of anger at the fact that she kidnapped the wrong person. She continued, "But, you’re still the young master of the Lithur family. Even if you don’t know how to open the treasury now, you would already know that by the time I pay you a visit next time."
"How would I know it by then?"
"That is none of my concern," Michelle was obviously furious, and she decided to express that onto Benjamin, "I believe in your intellect, so please don’t disappoint me."
Shit.
Benjamin could not help but lose his cool, too.
From the second he knew about the curse, he already expected something like this to happen. He had no choice as he has a weakness in someone else’s hands. Michelle was also a hardheaded character, and she once again wanted others to be her slave.
Still, he wanted to try and get something more. Even information would be sufficient for him, as he would understand more about the situation.
"What’s up with this Holy Bible? What exactly is it? Do you have anything similar...." Benjamin cut himself off, as if he has seen a ghost.
Michelle was gone.
There was a cupboard at the corner of the room, which blocked the light and casted a shadow. Within that shadow, Michelle, who was standing there with her cloak just seconds ago, disappeared without a trace. It was as if she was never here in the first place.
Fuck, she left?
Benjamin felt a chill down his spine. He suddenly felt that he might really have underestimated Michelle’s abilities.
From matter to nothingness, he was unable to see the process, he did not even feel a slight ripple of magic. If she could only play tricks, she would never be able to do that. So that was why she could toy around with the church for such a long time even if they were much powerful than she was.
He felt a headache, literally and figuratively. Although he never wanted to admit this, but he really needed to ask about the treasury now.
Although Michelle’s actions infuriated him, but when he saw the booklet that was thrown on his bed, his managed to contain his emotions.
....The Holy Bible - Mage Version?
He cradled it carefully in his hands. For a religious text, it looked too thin. It was pitifully thin no matter what edition of the Bible it was compared with. It looked more like a health and hygiene campaign brochure, if he was honest.
However, Benjamin felt that it was still a book worthy of high expectations. Michelle said so, no? In fact, Benjamin was already excited for it, and he could not contain his urge to read it.
Just as he wanted to flip it open....
"Young master, the madam and the others are fast asleep. I’ll request their presence tomorrow."
Jeremy’s voice rang at the door, and it startled Benjamin so much that he stuffed the book hastily under his blanket. He finally understood why Michelle said there was not enough time, and why she disappeared without a warning.
Jeremy, oh Jeremy.... Benjamin could not blame him either, Jeremy was just fulfilling his occupational obligations.
"Do you have any other orders, young master?" Devoted, Jeremy walked towards the bed as he asked.
"No. Go and rest, as I will also be resting now. Everything else could wait until tomorrow," Benjamin felt like a child watching the television without permission when his parents were away. His parents returned suddenly, and he could only turn off the television in a hurry while nervously prompting his parents to leave without being obvious that he was still preoccupied with the plot in the show.
He was going to learn new magic! Can’t everyone just leave him alone?
"Alright, good night young master," Jeremy nodded and turned to leave.
"....Wait," Benjamin called out. Jeremy turned back to Benjamin and looked at him, puzzled.
"Uh, the matter that I sent you to do before, what became of it?" Benjamin remembered that moments ago, and could only suppress his agitated heart about the recovery of Annie’s effects. It was also possible that nothing in Annie’s effects was more valuable than this Holy Bible.
"Ah, right," Jeremy said when he was reminded about that incident, "I just remembered. You said that the carpenter would understand what you meant, but when I asked him, he said he had no idea."
"No, he would understand," Benjamin answered, a stoic expression on his face.
"He said he didn’t know, though."
"No, you don’t understand. Just go and tell him that he would understand."
"....Really? I still don’t understand."
"Really, it’s fine if you don’t understand. Just go and find him, then tell him that he would know."
It would be a miracle if the carpenter understood, as Benjamin had no idea what he was saying either. He was this close to not knowing the word ‘understand’.
Jeremy was clearly confused as he stood staring at the ceiling for a long moment. Then, he snapped back into reality and asked Benjamin in a slightly mortified tone, "Now?"
Benjamin nodded and looked at Jeremy affectionately, "Now."
Jeremy was stunned, but he did not complain about how late it was, or how far the route was. He just nodded dumbly and walked out of the room, dragging his heavy steps behind him. He felt empty.
Rumor has it that after that night, the carpenter at the East of the kingdom suddenly fell ill and closed his shop. He did not leave his room for a month, and everyone who saw him said that he suffered from a high fever and was mumbling in his sleep, "I don’t understand.... I don’t understand...."
Of course, that happened much later. At this moment, Benjamin sent Jeremy away in the night, made sure the doors and windows were locked properly, and no one would interrupt him again.
He withdrew the book from under the covers, held it the way an avid believer would with the actual Holy Bible, and took a deep breath.
At last.
He could finally learn magic outside of the Waterball Spell. What else could he say?
It’s mealtime, let us pray.