Chapter 63: Fulner’s Theatre of Happiness
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
What the heck happened?
Optimistically, Michelle might have just been delayed by something she encountered on the way. However, on the other hand....
What if the members of the church had found out about her true identity?! If they did, they would definitely arrest her, and what would happen to Benjamin then?
Under the pressure of the church’s intense interrogations, would Michelle give Benjamin up?
Luckily, Benjamin still had quite some faith in Michelle. If she could survive meddling amongst the church’s paladins all these years, all while leading the church about in circles in the search of her, she must at least have had a few tricks up her sleeves.
Someone with her abilities wouldn’t be so easily discovered by the church.
At the same time, Benjamin believed that Michelle left him here with plans to ditch him. Regardless of how much or little trust he had in Michelle, he knew one thing for sure: he was still useful to Michelle. If Michelle were to ditch him, it wouldn’t benefit her at all, and Michelle never does things that don’t benefit her.
Thus Benjamin was stuck in a dilemma, he wasn’t sure what to make of the situation at all.
He couldn’t sit around her any longer, he had to get out and do something.
So he decided.
He stood up from the barrel, and then he proceeded to roll about on the ground, not stopping until he had gotten dirt and mud all over his body. Then he proceeded to tear up his noble top and bottoms until they were ripped all over. Lastly, he took a good amount of dust from a wall nearby and rubbed it all over his face.
He still had his bruises from the military training, as he rubbed dust and dirt over them, it hurt slightly, but he could only suck it up for now.
Once he was done with all that, he stuck his fingers into his hair and ruffled them; not stopping until his hair looked like nothing short of a bird nest.
"Like this, nobody will be able to recognize me!" He muttered to himself as he checked out his new beggar-like outfit, and he nodded in satisfaction.
If only he had a mirror now, then he would be able to really see how big the difference is from before.
"If one were to look closely, there are many dead giveaways," and the system began to speak, "the material of your top and bottoms are still way above what a typical beggar would ever be able to afford. Not to mention the dirt on you are too fresh. A true beggar would have dirt and mud stains from different times and occasions, one would be able to observe a layered pattern even."
"..."
One must forgive him, he simply couldn’t become a beggar with layers.
Benjamin was at his wit’s end, and plus, it wasn’t like passerby’s would come look at him up close. Should they do so though, they would immediately be able to tell that he’s one of the Lithur family members with his facial features.
He had neither any tools, nor reality bending make-up skills, this was the best he could conjure. From afar, it didn’t look too bad, and to Benjamin that was good enough.
It wasn’t as if he was planning to get pass the bishop with this disguise anyways, he just wanted to get out of this storeroom. If Michelle had been caught, and under the torturous interrogations of the bishop she had given up Benjamin along with his location, they would definitely send men here.
To be safe, he must move.
Plus, as a beggar, he could go onto the streets and try to sniff what’s in the air on the get-go, which was way better than just sitting in the dark here like a blind sitting duck.
"You should prepare memories on how to deal with the church just in case something happens and if we’re caught off guard without any counters," he commanded the System in his head.
"...alright," the System unwillingly agreed.
Just like that, Benjamin became a beggar. He dug a hole and kept all his belongings inside it. Then swiftly, he left the abandoned cellar.
Under the guidance of the System, he quickly arrived at the closest street that also happened to be the one of the main streets of the outskirts.
As it was night time, the main street was filled with people going back and forth. Every shop was open with their lights brightly shining. At the top of the street, a theater proved to be the most attractive. Few uniformed men stood at its doors trying to get people passing by to visit their theater, as if some sort of massive performance was about to begin.
When Benjamin first arrived on the street, he felt a little suspicious.
The exterior of Havenwright was no different from the usual. Yet, there were no holy knights patrolling at all, neither were there any priests running about in a rush. Everything seemed to be in a state of euphoria, as if nothing had ever happened.
The church actually didn’t do anything?!
Benjamin felt that this was incredibly weird. With the way the church has historically dealt with things, something at this scale would’ve easily warranted sending a good amount of men to investigate it. No matter what, the church can’t possibly just let a whole squad of Cleaners just die without any explanation.
With this thought in mind, he suddenly closed his eyes, in hopes of sensing the water molecules around him.
As the triangle symbol strengthened, his water molecule sensing abilities have expanded in both detail and range significantly. Now, Benjamin can roughly sense everything within a 20 meter radius.
Once he completed his sensing, Benjamin scrunched up his face.
There was not a single church person in the vicinity.
As he kept thinking, he began pacing along the street, and like a beggar, he sat beside the street to continue sensing.
Still nothing.
Benjamin felt this was incredibly unusual. Even during normal days, the streets would be populated with at least one or two church personnel patrolling about. Yet now, it seemed like they had all disappeared.
This was weird, really really weird.
Is this the calm before a storm?
Benjamin began to try to think like the bishop. If he was the bishop, what would he do? In fact, would this have something to do with why Michelle still isn’t back yet?
What in heavens name had happened...
No, he had too little information to process a proper conclusion.
Just as he was deeply immersed in his thoughts, Benjamin suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Do you fools even know how to do this?! How come there are only so little people? If today’s performance isn’t a big hit in the city, can you even begin to imagine what will father think of me?"
Not far away, in the theater that was garnering a lot of attention, a noble was lecturing the workers.
Benjamin was stunned at that sight.
Wasn’t that...the son of a gun who’s had a chamber pot dropped on him twice? Named....named....Dick Fulner?
What was he doing here?
Benjamin tried to recall the last time he met Dick. It’s been a while. The last time was probably when they were playing military simulations in that abandoned castle where Dick tried to get revenge for the chamber pot incident by pointing a gun at Benjamin.
Luckily, the curse of Benjamin activated just in time and attracted nearby cavalry, which ended up with him and Dick being taken away. Later, Benjamin heard that Dick received severe punishment for the crime of unauthorized possession of a firearm.
However, Dick’s father, Accius Fulner, did everything he could to protect his son. From donations to the church, to getting in contact with other nobles, he tried every way to beg for mercy for Dick. In the end, Dick was only held in detention for a week by the church, and released after as if nothing had happened.
Benjamin couldn’t care less about that, Dick could be released all he wanted as long as he didn’t find trouble with him again. He had little care for Dick’s life or death. From what he could tell from the silence since the incident, it seemed Dick had moved on, and was no longer interested in revenge.
It seems, that curse activation in the abandoned castle must’ve shook this young noble’s nerves.
However, for the life of Benjamin, he would’ve never expected to meet Dick here.
"The Fulners have always held a monopoly over the entertainment industry in the kingdom. Just look at the name of this theater, and you will understand," while Benjamin was still stuck in deep thought, the System suddenly spoke.
So, Benjamin looked at the sign of the theater’s name:
Fulner’s Theater of Happiness.
"..."
What kind of freak’s name is that?!
Benjamin wiped the sweat off himself, and slowly understood why Dick was here. This was his family’s business, and from what he said earlier, it seemed like he was in charge of this particular performance.
The Fulners sure are invested in the entrepreneurial training of their descendants!
In this aspect, it seemed that Claude still had a lot to learn from Accius. Just look at the two sons of the Lithur family, one sent to military training, and the other still trying to learn basic magic. Yet here are is a Fulner already diving into practical experience!
Of course, Benjamin wasn’t really concerned about this since most of the Lithur Family’s assets were farm lands. What? Would Benjamin have to sign up for farming lessons then?
"Oh right," he stalled for a bit as if he had suddenly thought of something important, and said to the system, "aren’t you supposed to be busy falsifying memories? How come you can still speak to me?"
"Falsifying memories is a tiring ordeal, let me rest for a bit and continue later"
"..."
Benjamin was so done with the System. He turned around and looked Dick, who was standing not too far away. Afraid that Dick might make out who he is, he decided to find somewhere else to gather information.
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard Dick say,
"I wonder what is going on with the church, they suddenly summoned my father and all the nobles over. If it wasn’t for that, father would’ve definitely come for today’s performance!"
Benjamin couldn’t help but pause his steps.