Chapter 396: Hail
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
There was no way for Benjamin to set spies in the City of Snow, so it was not easy for him to gather information about what had happened at the Palace. He could only send some people there to investigate carefully.
Nevertheless, the next morning, the investigators had barely departed before news from the City of Snow reached them.
"Sir, last night... it seems the Palace was almost buried."
Benjamin was stunned.
"What? Give me the details."
The other answered, "Last night, the weather in the City of Snow underwent a huge change. It had been really dry, hot weather, but a huge piece of cloud suddenly appeared in the sky above the Palace. Right after that, the sky started raining hail."
......Hail?
Benjamin was dumbfounded.
It was still autumn now; normally it would never have hailed. Adding to what had happened last night, he could not but connect the ice hail to his own icebreaking spell.
Could it be his doing?
"And then?" After thinking, he continued to ask.
"Actually, nothing serious really happened. When the sky started to hail, the people had already fled into their houses, no one got hurt. But the hail was amazingly intense, and what was stranger was that it was all concentrated on the Palace. The street right next to it was unaffected. So at last, the ice near the Palace had piled up to be half-a-metre high. After that, the people in the Palace were all stuck inside, they couldn’t come out. It was only after an entire night’s cleaning and shovelling that anyone can squeeze in and out of the Palace."
"...Amazing."
Benjamin stared, dumbfounded. That was all he could say.
To be honest, after listening to this speculation, he was starting to doubt that his was his doing. He was very familiar the icebreaking spell’s power; although it could summon a huge block of ice, but to create a hail which had almost buried the Palace... He did not think he had the ability.
"So... Has the Palace released any statements? Or, concerning how the hail came about, are there any related gossip?" He asked further.
"The people at the Palace are still busy clearing up the ice, they have had no time to offer an explanation. However, some rumors are that moments before the hail appeared, a huge elemental change had occurred near the Palace, so everyone thinks that it had something to do with mages. But then there are also rumors that there wasn’t any magic oscillation, so there are also people who feel that this is some sort of elemental natural disaster... In any case, there are all sorts of rumors going on. There is no conclusion."
Hearing that, Benjamin took a deep breath.
Elemental change... No oscillation of magic...
However he looked at it, it seemed as though he could not release himself from being responsible.
Thinking back to last night’s events, he had picked a fight in Pure Blue World, but it had only slightly affected the Bishop. And his casting of magic in the Pure Blue World had probably caused some abnormality similar to an elemental natural disaster in that area.
Pretty amazing...
He felt, the Pure Blue World was like a mirror. Some things, passing through it, are weakened beyond recognition; some things, passing through it, become limitlessly magnified.
At that moment, Benjamin really wanted to return to the space of consciousness, grab a hold on the system and tear it into three, and enter once more into the Pure Blue World to experiment on how this strange magnifying effect happened— from what he could see, this was not something that is easy to control. But if he really could effectively control it, it would be a nuclear-level killing strike!
It was too bad that, even if he could tear the system into a few pieces, that would likely not be counted as splitting it up; there would be no way into the Pure Blue World.
Because of that, even if Benjamin’s current state was any more curious, there was no way to fulfill his desire.
However, he did not feel too disappointed. If it was supposed to split up, it would split up sooner or later. And the icebreaking spell he had used was, although not very effective on the Bishop, a huge nuisance to the Church at least.
Also... The hail was not necessarily a disadvantage.
"Pass on this order, we have a new plan." Thinking thus far ahead, Benjamin suddenly smiled, saying, "Doesn’t the Church like talking about the Gods’ will? In that case, they should experience what it feels like when the Gods’ will is against them."
Thus, a new wave of rumors were set to be spread.
While the Church was still busy with the hail and did not release any public announcements, Benjamin quickly gave the command so that the mages would once again slip into taverns everywhere and spread rumors, saying the reason for the abnormal hail was that this Church was a fraud!
The royalty had angered the Gods for believing in a false Church, so the hail had been sent as a warning. If the Church was still not driven out, the Gods will send even more disasters, and would even cause the people in Ferelden to suffer horribly!
With regards to the spread of such rumors, although the Church could set it right to some extent, but in the vast population, the effect was still significant. The ordinary citizen may not care about the battle between the mages and the Church, but when it came down to it, some people might be brainwashed and believe in the rumor, subsequently joining the fight against the Church.
In any case, what Benjamin wanted was to tarnish the image of the Church in Ferelden.
Therefore, the order was given, and the mages swiftly took action by quietly releasing the rumors in various places in Ferelden. However, the Church’s reacted quickly. After the hail was cleaned up, they released a public announcement, proclaiming that this was a terrorist attack by the mages, and flagrantly condemned the wickedness of magic.
Although they did not point out which mage was responsible and did not mention any repercussions, but there was a clear, deep animosity between the lines.
The moment he saw the public announcement, Benjamin realized that the conflict between the Church and the mages had intensified.
Slowly, it was as though Ferelden had entered the calm before the storm. Under the calm surface was restlessness. There was no end for the various kinds of discussions in the nation; the people did not even know what to believe anymore. Some people, guided by the rumors, began to hate the Church; there were also those who trusted the royalty and chose the Church... At the time, Ferelden was in a mess.
The only thing that everyone could agree on was that the Church and the mages were probably going to take up arms soon.
Other than clearing the newspapers and righting the rumors, the Church did not take any further action. But everyone knew that they definitely would not do nothing. Also, since the serial assassination, the newspaper and the hail, the mages had also quieted down momentarily. There seemed to be no new movement.
It was during this solemn moment of calmness that Benjamin finally, in a small town, met with the representative of the rebel officials, the Prime Minister.
"This... Is the famous Mage Benjamin? To persistently fight for Ferelden at such a time as this, your actions, sir, have touched me greatly."
A smiling old man walked forward and shook Benjamin’s hand, speaking steadily.
"This must be Prime Minister Pace, yes? To risk it all by standing out and to contribute in person for the overthrowing of the Church: your spirit is most admirable."
Benjamin smiled. He knew how influential this man was; these flattering formalities were not easy to avoid.
"No, we are just going with the flow. It is still great heroes like yourself, sir, that are most honorable." As the Prime Minister spoke, Mikel, who was following close behind the Prime Minister, nodded quickly at Benjamin.
"Lord Prime Minister, since you are here, let us cut to the chase." Seeing this, Benjamin quickly put an end to the endless flattery, saying, "I heard that you have now gathered a group of people amongst the officials too, to rebel against the Church?"
The Prime Minister nodded: "Yes."
Hearing thus, Benjamin continued to ask, "Then... To drive the Church out of Ferelden... What do you intend to do?"