When A Mage Revolts

The distance between Amber City and Gealorre Capital wasn’t that far. Should Benjamin take flight at high speed, he would be able to reach Carretas Palace a little over an hour.

However, he had to bring someone along with him and that would slow down his speed quite a tad.

"You’re sure?" Benjamin turned his head back midair, and asked Miles solemnly, "The King really wants to see me and not setting a trap waiting for me?"

Miles nodded, "Trust me, the King is perplexed over the Church."

Benjamin sounded contemptuous, "But... Wasn’t he the one who looked for the Church in the first place?"

"Yeah." Miles continued, "But, people make mistakes. The King sensed he was inching to becoming the Church’s puppet and losing authority, so he regretted."

Benjamin went deep into thought and said no more.

When Miles came to tell him that the king wished to see him, he was in shock. After all, it was undeniable that the king was leaning towards the Church. At the same time, he was quite surprised to find that Miles was working for the King of Carretas.

However, he still chose to head to Gealorre.

Carretas was irresolute about its sides. As an outsider, it would be hard to keep up without making a trip to the capital. Moreover, it didn't look like Miles had any ill intention towards him; or else he would simply take him down, why the going around?

And in the end, Miles did finally explained the whole situation happening in the nation to Benjamin.

The Church had already started assassinating mages in secret — This was a very shocking news. After all, the King did invite the Church in and this made them even more the reckless. The mages of Carretas from the very beginning, were slow being pushed away from worldly affairs as played by the King and the Church.

For an example — To dismiss all government employed mages, instigate the relationships between mages group and spreading rumours about mages that shouldn't be meddling into commoners’ affair. And the one that broke the camel’s back was Aldrich’s death which gave a huge leap to the Church.

They used this as an excuse to shut down all the mages freemasonry within the nation, execute many mages and even created a misconception that "these mages may be spies" for those mages dabbling in politics.

Under the influence of this atmosphere and the fall of the supposedly neutral unbiased mages freemasonry, the mages within the nation became disheartened. They then slowly retreated away from mainstream of Carretas and hid deep within the mountains, without a care of the world and focused on their magic.

Benjamin couldn’t help but shake his head.

The mages here seemed too naive?

Distancing themselves from cities and towns and hiding in mountains. What difference did it make from the situation in the Kingdom of Helius? The Church has yet to formally seek and arrest and they were already into making another "Silent Academy"?

Yet, Miles gave this kind of answer,

"There are also those who are not naive but they have been taken care by the Church in secret before they could do anything. It is unknown what happened to the remaining mages. Perhaps they have gotten frightened and followed the majority to retreat away from the city."

Benjamin finally realised the severity of the issue.

From a certain perspective, the Church has already completely more than half the process of recreating Carretas into the Kingdom of Helius.

A little trickery in the dark and they let the mages voluntarily retreat away from the public’s eye. They then slowly spread ill rumours about the mages and fabricated public opinion as well as brain washed the people. Bit by bit, magic was tagged as the devil and by then, even if the mages wished to return, they would not be able to.

Without the disagreeing mages, the Church could then rightfully stand in front of the stage without anyone to ever stop them.

Benjamin sighed as his thoughts reached here.

He didn’t think that after using violence and opposition, the Church was now opting for a more "boiling frog in tepid water" strategy. And the worst part was they were succeeding!

Benjamin felt he may be too late.

Based on what Miles has said, the moment the King seek refuge from the Church, the plot has been ongoing for six seven years. In other words, their progress has reached around eighty percent and this time, Benjamin has only just arrived.

Suddenly, he felt intense pressure mounted on his shoulders.

"But... the King had already side the Church and now he has changed his mind. Isn’t he afraid of the Church’s revenge?" Midair, Benjamin has been silently flying for long and finally returned to his senses and asked.

"He’s afraid and that's why he's secretly doing it." Miles responded, "The Church has been busy taking care of mages in Carretas in recent years and hasn't really infiltrated elsewhere. Therefore, the King still has his authority and hasn't been taken over completely by the Church."

Benjamin thought about it, "... So he needs someone to seek the Church’s trouble in the open so that he could make time to secretly stab the Church in the dark?"

Miles nodded, "Yeap, just like that."

Benjamin turned his head back and ‘uh huh’ without able to read into him.

If that were the case, then collaboration with the King was not impossible. After all, the Church has come so far and without external help, Benjamin would have a hard time stopping the progress’ last few percentage.

But... could the King really help him?

First, not mentioning the King’s lack of loyalty anywhere, the Church has been around for so many years, how could they only be able to take care the mages? Although Miles mentioned that he King still has authority but how much authority was left?

Let’s not forget that during the split of the empire, the eldest prince was the most unsuccessful one. He was the eldest yet experienced the worst outcome. This was enough to prove his capability was not all that great.

To collaborate with this kind of person, even if he was a leader of a nation, Benjamin was afraid the possibility of him being a hindrance.

But... it’s better to meet first before deciding anything.

Benjamin shook his head and tossed these thoughts aside. There was no necessity to be so pessimistic as a potential ally stood before him and no matter what, this was a matter to be thankful for.

Any issues could be taken care of later. He couldn’t be without faith right from the start.

As he thought about this, he felt the amount of pressure lifted a little.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his head.

"Right." He earnestly spoke, "Just as we entered Carretas and leaving that Greenland, there were three thugs that followed us. The Church may be aware of my existence."

"Oh, you’re talking about those three." Miles was without a worry, "They are my friends. They were asked by me to look for you. They’re not from the Church."

"..."

Benjamin rendered speechless for a moment.

Those three suspicious fellas were our people?

"What? Is it weird?" Miles explained in such a matter of a fact, "I heard about Fereldan and guessed that you would leave there and head to Carretas so I found some trustable friends and wait out at the green land and find ways to contact you."

Benjamin helplessly replied, "But during that time, they watched on from afar. They didn’t seem the least bit friendly."

"You guys were dressed like merchants. So they weren’t sure." Miles replied, "And then you guys were on high alert. Once my friends confirmed your identity and inform about the situation, you guys flew under their noses. They were in panic mode then. I had a headache trying to detect you."

Benjamin was left speechless and innocently raised his arms, "... So it’s my fault now?"