Chapter 122: Cursed City
Chapter 122 – Cursed City
“You have already gotten what you wanted, why did you return to the capital?”
“I have nothing better to do, and just wanted to return.”
“…”
Benjamin discovered that Michelle has found a way to shut him.
That is — to bullshit.
The relationship between them was sandwiched between being a companion and enemy. They didn’t trust each other and kept their guards up. But on the surface level, they appeared cooperative. If he was to ask Michelle a question, Michelle would answer.
But her way of answering wasn’t to Benjamin’s expectation.
Thanks to the tear and the excruciating headache Benjamin was having, Michelle was the winner in this ‘cooperative’ relationship. Hence, she didn’t have to seek Benjamin’s opinion and if Benjamin had any concerns, it was her way or the highway.
Benjamin was helpless under these circumstances.
He was, after all, living under her roof.
He had the time to think of his current predicament. After casting that Water Ball, his relations with the Church was now severed to the point of no return. There could only be one party standing. It wasn’t wise for him to linger any longer in the Capital where the Church had a lot of influence.
Benjamin had no choice but to bid farewell to the few months of noble life.
He had to leave the capital.
On top of that, he made the situation worse by casting the Water Ball in the middle of the city square. It’s no wonder the Church sought to closing the city gates in order to capture him.
It was apparent that in his current condition, it was virtually impossible for him to depend on himself to escape. Recovery from the tear was rather slow and by his estimations, it may take up to one or two months. During this period of time, he wouldn’t be able to cast any spells or the tear may widen.
A month or two would be enough time for the Church to dig him out from the darkest corners of the Capital.
Therefore, his only option was to ‘cooperate’ with Michelle.
He was in no position to second guess Michelle’s true intention.
Even if this witch had a hidden agenda, what could he do? Benjamin’s current situation was between the devil and the deep blue sea: He would be burnt alive if he was caught by the Church or trapped and left to die by Michelle like Annie. It was death either way, he might as well naively ‘believe’ that Michelle was kindhearted enough to rescue him.
He was, after all, a broken rag doll now.
He had always thought that fortune favors fools. If that was the case, he didn’t mind becoming the fool and see if Lady Luck was on his side.
“Where are we heading?” Benjamin inquired as both of them headed to a remote lane in the outskirts in the dark of the night.
“To the Church, to kill all the pretentious parishioners,” Michelle nonchalantly replied.
“Great, I have always wanted to do that!” Benjamin said while suppressing his speechlessness and tried his best to look like a fool with an enthusiastic expression.
It was not easy to put up with his migraines, all the while rebutting Michelle’s bullshit.
Benjamin felt as though he could not go on.
In other words, the headache did suppressed his insatiable curiosity and he did not badger Michelle on her intentions.
It was just as his situation now where he followed Michelle endlessly without knowing their destination. Yet, he felt light at heart. It was as if he would not mind if Michelle was to sell him off to the Church.
It was like…. There will be an exam tomorrow and he had not revise the materials, and yet he was at ease, kind of feeling.
He was better off following Michelle while returning to his Space of Consciousness and continued the repair works. Whatever that was happening in reality were left to happen.
To tell the truth, in such conditions, if Michelle had led him to the Church, he would probably be caught unaware.
Thankfully, he knew Michelle wasn’t off her rocker.
Time passed and they soon came to a stop. Benjamin was alerted by the System to leave the Space of Consciousness and to come back to reality.
Once he came to, he began to observe his surroundings.
It was an abandoned backyard somewhere in the outskirts. The yard was empty with a dimly lit moonlight. The only thing visible was a withering tree and a well.
There wasn’t a trace of people around. It looked like it has been awhile since it had visitors.
Even if Benjamin has resigned to give up his life and couldn’t be bothered by what was happening, he couldn’t help but feel slightly puzzled.
Why did Michelle brought him here?
Weird…
Although he knew he wouldn’t receive a straight answer, he could help but inquire, “Why did you bring me here?”
Luckily, Michelle answered truthfully this time, “The Church was almost catching up to us, we had to move on or risk getting caught. It’s not as though we could keep hiding like that.”
Moving base?
Benjamin seemed wistful until suddenly, his expression changed as his sight landed on the well in the yard.
He had a creative imagination. He sized up the well and connected it with what Michelle had said.
Could it be that the well has as secret passage?
As if she was trying to prove Benjamin’s theory, Michelle continued walking and stopped at well. She looked deeply into the well as though it held secrets that would aid their escape.
Benjamin was filled with expectation.
Havenwright, being the capital of the kingdom, had the perfect defense. If one would like to enter or exit the capital, one has to go through the city gates. Now that the city gates was sealed by the Church, no one was allowed to pass through. Therefore, it was impossible for them to leave. They could only play hide and seek in the outskirts. If they were not careful, their trail would be caught and traced by the Church.
Now, if there was a secret passage, that would be a game changer.
Just like before where they had use a secret tunnel at an inn to escape detection by the Church to escape out of the city. The Church would still be scrambling around in search of him while he makes a break for it.
That would be… awesome!
“What are you looking at? You don’t seriously think that the well has a secret passage?” Michelle turned to look at Benjamin, crushing his very hopes and dreams. “The city does not have any passage leading out. When they build the kingdom, the Pope casted an Anti Incantation on the city walls, that the walls will never crumble nor could anyone dig a tunnel crossing the walls.”
“…”
Crap.
However upon closer inspection, Benjamin could see that the well wasn’t dry and had a steady stream of water. There could not be a secret passage.
He was excited over nothing.
Just as Benjamin was beginning to feel perplex, Michelle took out a dagger. She pulled her sleeve up and cut herself on the forearm. Blood trickled down her arm and into the well.
Benjamin was stunned.
What… is this?
Michelle sat by the well and allowed her blood to drip into the well. She started to chant an incantation Benjamin had never heard of. The whole scenario was looking like a cult sacrifice.
Benjamin, who was standing the sidelines, suddenly felt a surge of Spiritual Energy coming from Michelle. The surrounding particles fluctuated unusually.
The level of Spiritual Energy surpassed that of the Bishop and was almost rivaling the Pope’s.
“Holy…” Benjamin cursed.
What the hell?
He comprehended the magical talent of Michelle and when Michelle had cast spells before, he could also felt Michelle’s Spiritual Energy. Honestly speaking, Michelle was slightly above him in terms of Spiritual Energy but it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Granted, they hadn’t met in a while but how did she obtain such a powerful Spiritual Energy?
Benjamin was shocked beyond words and he almost wondered if he might be hallucinating.
This… this didn’t seem right.
If it wasn’t because of his damaged Spiritual Energy, he would definitely cast the Water Particle Detection to observe the changes within Michelle. But now, his hands were tied and could only stare at what was going on.
Benjamin had a funny feeling in his gut and he had thought of stopping Michelle. However, out of pre-caution, he decided not to do anything.
Michelle…. what was she planning to do?
Soon after, Michelle has finished with her incantation and turned to look at a grave-looking Benjamin.
“You need not be afraid, I’m only opening the city gates,” Her voice was coarse as a rattlesnake in the desert and sent chills down Benjamin’s spine. “The Church depends on the faith of the citizens and temporarily close the city gates. But if there were to be an outbreak of disease in the Capital, that would force everyone to panic and the Church would be forced to open the gates again regardless of their influence.”
Her gaze returned to her bleeding arm. She paused then continued, “In order to initiate a mass hysteria, I have spread the curse to the entire city.”
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