Benjamin never thought that he would find this kind of thing in this kind of a situation.
Was this useful to him? Without a doubt, it was. But the way that it came to Benjamin made Benjamin suspicious of its authenticity.
It obviously was an invitation to a mage, but it somehow fell into the hands of a mafia boss. Then, this mafia boss accidentally allowed Ricky’s mercenary’s friend steal the invitation. And in the end, the invitation somehow coincidentally fell into Benjamin’s hands and answered his needs.
He could not help but be suspicious if there was really even a mage’s gathering?
"Is this real? Could it be a trap?" He glared at the thief, Will, and asked softly.
Will hesitated before saying, "I’m not too sure about that, but the "crow" boss did not take this thing lightly. I heard that he spent a lot of money to buy it from another mage. To steal it, I had to put in a lot of effort, so it should not be fake."
Benjamin still thought it strange, and asked, "He is a mafia boss, why would he need to spend money to buy an invitation to a mage’s gathering? What is the use?"
Hearing this, Will had a surprised look on his face.
"This is an invitation to a mage’s gathering? No wonder..." He really was illiterate, he only knew now what was written on the invitation. With a look of surprise, he said, "That guy, he is known for yearning to make connections with the mages. But the master mages were always at a higher ranking, even the mercenaries are not worthy of their regard, what more of us who are like rats hiding in dark and dark corners."
...to make connections with the mages?
Benjamin could not help remembering the men’s acts of flattery. If it really was like that, the whole situation was still going smoothly.
The thing was, hearing what Will has said, the position the mages of the city of Rayleigh was very different from Icor.
Interesting.
"Are the mages here very proud?" When he thought about this, he asked.
Will and Ricky exchanged a glace, and nodded in defeat.
"Yes, I thought you knew," Ricky scratched his head and said, "In the beginning when I met you in the valley, I was very surprised. The mages are very eccentric and strange, usually they would not even look at a mercenary like me. Even those mage groups that are registered with the Association, unless it is regarding the task, they don’t like to work with other people, they go about on their own all day. A group of mages like yourself are rare."
...the mages in Ferelden are like this?
At that moment, Benjamin sunk deep in thought.
He was confused, how did this odd difference occur? The mages in Icor were very close and did everything together, it was nothing odd for people to see them together. But if it was really like they say, then the mages in Ferelden must be proud loners in a high position, who always looked down on people, and did not like to be in a group.
It has not even been ten years since the empire split up. For mages from the same place to already have this kind of a separation, it really was an odd sight to behold.
...was it because of the Mage’s Guild?
As he thought about it, Benjamin felt that this has to be due to various reasons. Maybe during the split of the empire, some things occurred behind the scenes, which would be tough to investigate.
And so, he looked at the invitation in his hand again.
He was not sure if the invitation was real or fake, but if it was real, according to the isolated nature of the mages, this must be a rare event, maybe held once or twice a year. If he missed this, they might have a lot of difficulty in meeting another mage.
And the date on the invitation was a week later at night.
Hmm...
There was still time, enough for him to understand this huge city, and then decide if this invitation is real or fake.
"Forget about the invitation," So, he raised his head, looked at Will, and went back to the reason he was here, "I need to understand everything about the city of Rayleigh, every district, every street...if you can provide a map, the benefits would not pass you by."
At that moment, Will was not even surprised, instead he had an excited look on his face.
"Really?"
"Of course it’s real."
"Good, just you wait, I will get you one in an hour!"
With excitement, Will turned and rushed into the other room. Just then, a loud noise like something fell was heard, like a husky being let loose in a room full of things.
Benjamin saw this, and could only shake his head, found a chair in the living room, and sat down.
If it was an hour, he could wait.
"Master Mage, you must not find this weird." Ricky said with an apologetic look, scratching his head he said, "Even though Will’s hands are not clean, having done many bad things and being sneaky all the time, but...he is a good person."
...I have a tattoo, I smoke, I drink, I curse, but I know I am a good girl?
Benjamin shrugged but did not say anything.
It did not matter, good guy or bad, he did not mind. Not to mention, a "good person" itself is a false claim, if he were to ask himself, he would not think that he was a good person.
Most of the time, it is easier to judge a good person.
"Your friend... his skill is to steal?" when he thought about it, Benjamin suddenly asked.
"This... is not very good, but he can only rely on this to survive," Ricky was embarrassed, but he still answered, "He has stolen plenty of things, money, jewelry and treasure, even from mages. The thing is, people always find him at his house, so he has no choice but to move from one place to another, if not he will just get a beating and then return the things. The fact that he
is still alive must be due to the protection from heaven."
Hearing this, Benjamin nodded thoughtfully.
He might not be a good person, but he might be a useful person.
And so, the rest of the time, they waited patiently, simply talking about the situation in the city of Rayleigh, waiting for the map to be ready.
Will was true to his word, after about half an hour, he brought out something that looked like sheepskin, and with an expectant look on his face, he passed it to Benjamin.
"Here you go, if you can memorize this entire map, then you will be no different from a citizen of Rayleigh who was born and raised here.
Benjamin took the map and scanned through it. The System already took note of the contents on it, he gave them a satisfied smile and said, "Don’t worry, I will memorize it to the letter."
A map drawn in less than an hour will definitely not be as detailed as an encyclopedia, but... it will do.
He pulled out a few gold pieces and passed it to Will, as payment for the map. Then, after he asked a few more questions regarding the "crow" mafia situation; he bid the two of them farewell, turned, and left the isolated house.
Ten minutes later, he was back at the hotel.
He found Varys, and gave him the map, letting him pass the map on to the other people in their group to read, to ensure that everyone would be familiar with the city.
After that, the naturally busy him didn’t rest. He just passed the map on, turned and opened the large door, and went out into the streets of the city of Rayleigh again.
The System had already memorized the map, and with its help, Benjamin’s plan to permanently reside here could finally start.
First things first, he had to decide where they were to stay.
After half an hour, after he turned the corner at the quiet area on the west side of the city, he stood in front of a huge double story house and smiled; he walked up to the porch and knocked on the front door.