Chapter 863: Not Withdrawing, Bullheaded
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The tragedies happened one after another. Very soon, every house in the Kingdom of Helius had hung up more black flags.
Compared to the death of the Queen, the Church was handling the publicity with even more fanfare this time. Numerous priests walked upon the streets, chanting hymns as they were accompanied by two lines of Holy Knights who guarded them, and loudly mourning the dead King. White flower petals were scattered from the heads of the streets until the ends; cries filled every corner of the kingdom.
In the Kingdom of Helius, all the rumors and the gossip, as well as the debates about the Church and the mages, stopped abruptly at this time and were completely suppressed.
The Church also took the opportunity to once again comb through the administrative system. The death of the King had caused the people to lose their desire for stirring trouble. Thus, the disorderliness was forcibly broken up.
Of course, when it came to the cause of the King’s death, the Church had immediately turned the mages into the scapegoats. However, so far, most of the people were still sunk in the midst of shock and grief. They had not thought much about this aspect of the matter, but slowly, new discussions began to sprout.
How on earth had the King died?
After being bombarded by various news, the people did not know what to believe anymore. The fanatical believers of the Church hated the mages even more, whereas the opposition became more firm in their belief that the Church was full of lies, and there must be some greater plot in the midst of it all... As for most people, they no longer wanted to think about such questions.
There was no proof of death. Such matters would forever be argued without ever coming to a conclusion. They simply wanted to pay tribute to their King, and worry about the fate of not just themselves, but also the entire country.
As for the Black Nightmare Society...
After the death of the King, the blockade on Worchester had been lifted. The remaining members were then able to meet again on the ship. They held an underground funeral; Benjamin kept the body at a low temperature, in an ice coffin, so that it would not decay due to the passing of time, like the fresh flowers laid inside.
However, other than the funeral, it was without question that they had other more important matters to attend to.
"Does everyone still want to continue on?"
"Yes!"
"Does everyone still wish to topple the Church, to the point where you’re even willing to sacrifice your life?"
"Without hesitation!"
Unlike most of the people who were kept in the dark, they knew the cause of the King’s death. It had clearly been the Church who had killed the King, and yet they had sent out so many people to mourn the death of the King pretentiously. Every time they thought of this, there was not a single member who would not be furious.
Because of that, their conviction had strengthened although they had just been through a huge raid.
"So... it is necessary that we move," Benjamin continued speaking, "everyone’s identities have been exposed. We can no longer stay in Worchester. It’s best if everyone goes through a makeover and hide your identities, starting over in another location. This will facilitate our upcoming plans."
Hearing that, everyone nodded. The expressions on their faces were of anger and determination.
Thus, Benjamin restarted the arrangements for the movements of the Black Nightmare Society members. All of them were no longer concentrated in a certain city, but, like the Academy’s Black Operation, were scattered throughout the Kingdom of Helius to establish new branches of the Black Nightmare Society.
Their task was to draw in as many people as they could.
Without a doubt, the death of the King was a huge blow to them. Not only had the Church been able to immediately turn over and be the first to occupy the high ground in public opinion, they had also lost the support of the local officers. At the moment, Benjamin had lost the trump card in his hands as well. He was afraid that it would now be impossible to go against the Church with such great fanfare, as before.
They could only go underground and carry out work of a more secretive nature.
"I feel... you can take a break for now." After the meeting, as Benjamin stood on the deck, the voice of the System sounded in his mind. "With the King dead, what’s the point of rebelling here? It would be better to return to the Academy and rally your forces once again, so you can think of other ways to get rid of the Church."
Benjamin looked out to the sea quietly.
Seeing that he had not replied, the System spoke again, "You want to use the Black Nightmare Society to get rid of the Church, but without the support of the royalty, how many years would it take to progress if we wish for the Black Nightmare Society to contend with the Church? Really, I’ve never spoken to you so seriously before. There’s no point staying here, go back to the Academy."
Benjamin remained quiet once more, for a long while. Finally, he shook his head.
"No."
"What do you intend to do, if you’re not going back?"
"Whatever we’ve planned before is what we’re going to do now," Benjamin took a deep breath, speaking, "the first issue of the Truth News has arrived, and it is necessary that the stories on it are made known."
"...How are you so bullheaded?"
"Maybe I’ve never been before, but now I am."
"Up to you, then."
Unable to persuade him, the System could only toss those final words at him helplessly, before resuming silence once more. Benjamin leaned upon the railings, drawing a long breath of relief.
It was still not yet time for them to give up.
In fact, from the day he had rescued the King until now, they had already transformed this country completely within two months. The Church had regained the upper-hand once more, but amongst the people, how many would believe them with all of their hearts, without a strain of doubt? Likely, not even half of those that had before.
They had already chopped off a few of the Church’s thickest and strongest roots. They could not stop now just to give the enemy a breather.
Thinking thus, Benjamin stretched his hand, suddenly taking out a letter from his pocket.
"Duke Collin..."
After the news of the King’s death had been spread, he had tried to contact the Wood family once more, and finally obtained this letter. The letter indicated that they hoped to be able to meet with Benjamin, after such shocking situations.
Seeing the word "they", Benjamin knew that Duke Collin meant for other nobles to join the meeting this time.
He was not yet clear what such a move meant, but there must be some very important reasons for the nobles to do so. In actual fact, from the beginning, Duke Collin had repeatedly contacted Benjamin only for the King. Now that the King was dead, it would also create a huge impact on the plans of the nobles.
Benjamin had his suspicions. Was it still necessary for the nobles to contact him?
Under such circumstances, they could even have fallen towards the side of the Church, and so they wanted Benjamin to come over. Perhaps, it was another trap, or something like that...
However, because the time and place of the meeting were entirely up to Benjamin’s decision, his safety could still be guaranteed. The only thing Benjamin hesitated about now was what those nobles could possibly bring to the table for him.
With things having come to this today, they should have exhausted all their tricks.
"...Whatever. Send word to him, state that tomorrow night, I will meet with them in the Skyfall Mountains. Ask them to come on time, I will not wait up if they are late."
After some thought, Benjamin finally took out the transmission woodpiece and sent such a message to the people at the Academy’s Black Operation.
The Black Nightmare Society was not in such a good position now. They had lost the support of the royalty, so they had to fight their best for even more support forces. They could not miss out on any potential allies.
Benjamin sighed again, casting a glance at the coast in the distance. He then leapt up, and took flight off the ship.