When A Mage Revolts

Upon seeing this, Benjamin could not help but let out a sigh.

How could the Church think of such a thing?

It seemed that the Declaration of the Freedom of Magic had gained some popularity and now even has a song about it which has been sung by bards all around Carretas. Magic was mysterious and powerful, and people yearned for it. The people’s reaction to it was no surprise.

But now the Church was willing to use dictatorship and fear to suppress its circulation.

The commoners would be afraid to get into trouble and would end up minding their own business to avoid trouble. The Church had only captured some "examples" so there would not be any resistance. At the same time, they strike terror into the hearts of those who still hid the books.

Using this method, they had managed to subdue the sudden burst of interest in magic.

Benjamin even saw the decree that encouraged the people to snitch on each other. You would receive fifty gold coins for every neighbour you revealed that had been hiding books — To the middle-class families, this was an irresistibly large sum of money.

Benjamin had encountered a huge hurdle. If people were willing to rat out each other, then the Church’s eyes would grow exponentially, and they would easily be able to squash the trend.

Benjamin finished reading all the secret letters sent by the King and fell deep into thought.

The Church’s tactic was effective but not without its flaw.

They should counter-attack.

He took a moment to take it all in before picking up the transmitting wood chip to inform his subordinates nationwide about a new set of orders.

"The Church now has increased manpower. Take precautions during missions and do not bother looking for budding mages for now. Instead, get in touch with the commoners and start spreading rumours about Church’s control over Carretas and how the King has been turned into their puppet. The more demonic you make them sound, the better."

The magic oscillation then spread out, carrying Benjamin’s message across the whole nation.

Benjamin nodded in satisfaction.

Things had finally advanced to this stage. They were just about ready to rip open the curtain and reveal the Church’s true colours to the country and show that the ban of the Declaration of the Freedom of Magic was not from the King himself!

This would also mean they were declaring war against the Church.

If the rumours took form, there would soon be rebels within Carretas just like there was in Fereldan. When that happens, the entire Carretas would stand in opposition to the Church.

Of course, the condition for this to happen was that they had to make everyone believe the rumours.

This would not be an easy task.

Spreading the news was the first step. They now had to plan their next move.

Benjamin and gang returned to the city and immediately started working on it. Benjamin himself headed out to go befriend some of the local big shots.

After some time, he arrived at a rich merchant’s home in Amber City.

"Mage Benjamin, your tactics have impressed me. But… How true is the statement about the Church secretly being in control of His Majesty?"

Benjamin smiled coyly.

"Mr Howl, it is just as you heard. The situation in Carretas is not looking good right now."

Mr Howl was a middle-aged man and unlike the regular merchants, was dark and skinny. He had honest eyes and from what Benjamin had heard, his coal mining business was quickly expanding nationwide. He was a man with influence.

The Church had yet to try to touch the higher-uppers, so it was safe for Benjamin to visit them.

After Howl heard Benjamin’s reply, he let out a dry laugh, "Really? Well, I’m just a businessman. The Church’s actions really have nothing to do with me."

Benjamin replied smugly, "If it indeed had nothing to do with you, then why did you keep a copy of the Declaration of the Freedom of Magic and have your young son learn its contents?"

To be honest, the reason he could even contact this man was that he had shown a great interest in magic.

"Need you say more? One gains power after learning magic." Howl let out a few hearty chuckles and did not bother denying it, "As for the Church… I heard that the nobles of the Kingdom of Helius have quite of a few mages under them. As long as one can hide well, the Church’s actions won’t have any impact on them."

His lassez-faire approach rendered Benjamin speechless.

His intentions were quite obvious. He wanted to gain magical powers but did not want to bear the responsibility. He could even be hoping that the Church was successful so that all commoner mages would be sealed off – thus making magic a rare and valuable commodity.

No wonder he’s in the business, his monopolizing mentality was something else.

It was a shame that reality hardly ever followed theory.

Benjamin carried on smiling but his tone was firm, "If you are aware of the situation in the Kingdom of Helius then surely you must have heard that the Fulner household was forced to kill all mages under them. The Church uses divine arts to spy on the nobles, do you really thinking they will close one eye just because the practitioner is your son?"

Howl was silent for a moment before replying, "Mage Benjamin, I thought the purpose of your visit today was to provide my son some pointers on learning magic."

Changing the topic, huh?

Benjamin felt the resistance. Trying to gain the support of these rich merchants was not going to be an easy task.

However, he had all the time in the world.

"Naturally. I’m just chatting casually with you." Hence, he decided to go along with the flow. "Did he encounter any problems with his magic? I’’ do my best to help."

Truth be told, Howl collecting the Declaration of the Freedom of Magic and letting his son learn its contents was a stroke of good luck.

These people have yet to experience the Church’s savageness. Once his son is oppressed by the Church, there was no way Mr Howl would continue standing on the sideline.

What’s more… Benjamin’s had achieved his goal.

Today, he had told the news about the king to one of the country’s biggest merchant. This meant that their efforts of spreading information had just been handed a huge boost.

Although Howl displayed a negative attitude and did not look as though he would support them, the fact that he had heard the news was good enough.

After all, a lie repeated a thousand times will eventually be taken as truth.