Lance looked at Benjamin and was silent for a moment before replying, "Please do not worry, sir. We will help you get justice for the attempted assassination."
Benjamin’s heart skipped a beat.
He did not need the justice. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t seek justice himself. He needed proof — enough to have them on the chopping board. However, judging by Lance’s tone, it looked like there wasn’t any.
"Thank you for your kind gesture." He smiled after much difficulty, "It’s better to be straight forward. Did the man... refuse to speak?"
Lance sighed, "Yes, I’m not sure what’s gotten to him. After waking him, he kept screaming and shouting in his own language as if he had gone all crazy. No matter what I asked him, he would not respond."
Of course...
Benjamin was silent.
This was no surprise. He already prodded him to obtain information and now the man was on the brink of collapse, there was no way he would reveal anymore.
This fellow could not be the decision evidence.
"Don’t worry, we will send him to the gallows." Lance continued, "It’s such a pity that he could not provide us with any leads. There’s no way we can pursue the entire cult now."
Benjamin snorted, "Because you have no proof."
It was a rare sight to see Lance and Mikel on the same side, nodding in agreement.
Benjamin suddenly took a deep breath and made a decision, "Then if... I could provide you with deciding evidence?"
At that very moment, he felt that his voice was overly calm.
Lance replied, "If you really have proof that the cult is at all preparing to commit treason, I will personally send them to the gallows."
In an instant, Benjamin got up from his seat.
"Great, if it’s proof you need, it’s proof you’ll get." He walked to the door and turned. His eyes were as sharp a blade, "Come with me. I’ll show you something out of the norm."
He ended his speech and without bothering to observe Lance and Mikel’s reaction, pushed open the door and left.
"You..."
Lance and Mikel stood up but did not move. Benjamin’s actions were so sudden that they did could not react to it. They simply stared at one another.
However, it may be due to the sturdiness of his voice that after hesitating for a while, Lance shook his head and ordered his men to follow Benjamin.
"This... Sir Benjamin, wait up!" Mikel frowned. Seeing that the rest had departed, he hurriedly ran to join them as well.
Around twenty people exited the building which left the soldiers on guard duty totally confused.
"Where are you guys heading?"
The last soldier of the pack turned his head and shrugged, "I have no idea."
The soldiers that were guarding were left even more confused. He wanted to ask more questions but unfortunately, the lot had already left. He was left behind, scratching his head, with question marks all over his face.
While in the streets of the City of Rayleigh in the middle of the night.
Benjamin walked ahead, his pace was quick as he made no attempt to turn back to explain. The group followed him from behind and were getting curiouser by the minute.
"Where is this Sir Mage heading to?" One of the soldier whispered.
"Don’t know. Let’s just watch." Lance shook his head and answered.
They had no leads. Apart from patrolling the streets, there was nothing much they did.
For a case to be dragged on for this long, he was almost going to call quits on it. The appearance of this mage named Benjamin gave him a glimmer of hope.
Lance was quite happy when he heard Benjamin’s testimony as he thought he could finally crack the case. However, the mages freemasonry’s ambiguous statement stifled his hopes.
"Mm... what he has said is true, but the Mages Freemasonry’s aim has always been to steer clear of the outside world, so we won’t be able to testify. Sir Lord Knight, we are really sorry and hope th
at you will be able to solve this case without our testimony."
Lance felt like killing someone upon hearing this. He felt that he must have been tormented too much by Mikel that he had been able to hold back from flipping the table right there and then.
He hasn’t been in contact with the mages freemasonry before but that didn’t mean that he was in the dark. The influence of the mages freemasonry was huge beyond imagination, and yet they did not want to be involved with the outside world? The political matters in Fereldan in recent years had the freemasonry’s fingerprints all over it. Even His Majesty the King was in contact them, and yet they called for non-involvement with the outside world?
That was why Lance was filled with rage – yet, there was nothing he could do. He could only thank them and obediently leave empty handed.
He was dissatisfied.
Although he already knew the truth, there was no concrete evidence, so everything was in vain.
Perhaps this was why when Benjamin spoke without prior explanation, he bit his tongue and ordered his men to follow him.
If it was just a spur of a moment...
Then let it be a spur of a moment!
It wasn’t as if he could stay in this shitty place any longer.
And that was how they ended up following Benjamin. They walked for about ten minutes and were leaving the center area of Rayleigh City. Benjamin still bit his tongue and continued forward without stopping. This caused everyone to be even more confused.
If they continued, wouldn’t they end up outside of the city?
"Sir Mage, where are we heading?" Lance take it any longer and asked.
Benjamin turned his head, still pacing, and smiled, "Don’t worry. Although the place we’re heading too is a little isolated but as long as you’re able to hide yourself well, the evidence will show up on its own."
Lance thought him mad. However, seeing that Benjamin still looked sane, and not out of his mind, he decided to be patient and follow him until the end to see what was really going on.
Half an hour later.
In an extremely remote area on the outskirts of Rayleigh City, there was a few abandoned houses. There were rumors that the area was haunted and thus, nobody liked to come by here, leaving it neglected.
An eerie wind blew, causing a hissing sound.
"S-sir Benjamin, there’s some horrible rumors about this place, haven’t you heard? Are we really stopping here?" Mikel looked around with eyes gleaming with insecurity.
Benjamin nodded.
"You should look for a place to hide. The evidence you are seeking will be here in half an hour."
Mikel failed to grasp Benjamin’s point, "Why does it have to be here? Sir Benjamin, if you have any special plan, you could have done it in another area. But here... here..."
Lance suddenly interrupted him, "Mikel is such a coward that even going to the brothel has to be a midday affair when the sun is up. I apologize on his behalf Sir Benjamin, you have to be understanding."
"Who... are you calling a coward?" Mikel saw red, "I seem to recall a certain someone who didn’t even dare to clean out the Valley of Abyss. Who’s a coward now?"
"Oh really? I don’t recall such a person. I guess nobody knows." Lance raised his brow and continued, "Now everyone has seen with their own eyes that Mikel is afraid of some folktale and has no guts."
Mikel remained silent for long as if resigned to his fate. He took a deep breath and spoke, "Alright, I will wait here for half an hour. Sir Benjamin, please do not let us down."
Benjamin smiled, "Of course not."
Benjamin turned and left in a hurry.
Mikel hid with the troop of soldiers and asked a few of the times for them to surround him. Perhaps he felt safe this way.
Lance snorted but said no more.
He was curious on the kind of evidence Benjamin was about to present to them.
Although he did not understand why the need to hide, but they still followed Benjamin’s instructions and hid in an abandoned house for half an hour.
"What say you? Do you think this is a trap and the kid is trying to hurt us?" Suddenly, Mikel spoke.
Lance shook his head, "Didn’t you trust him from before? Every time you meet someone, you are all smiles but, now you’re worried?"
Mikel snorted coldly, "What do you know? It’s called politeness. Not everybody is like you, dumb as a log, it’s no wonder you can’t make a name for yourself."
Lance snorted impatiently but couldn’t be bothered to continue the conversation. Seeing this, Mikel too, kept silent and shrunk into the protection of the soldiers. He stared at the pitch-black night sky through the window.
The minutes inched by.
Fortunately, Benjamin arrived even before half an hour.
"Here he comes..." Mikel stared out the window and suddenly lit up and exclaimed.
"Shhh, be quiet!" Lance quickly pulled him back and whispered.
Bursting with curiousity, both of them looked out. In the night sky, Benjamin was flying at top speed and zoomed over as if fleeing from something.
... Fleeing?
Lance instantly felt something was not right.
Once Benjamin flew into the area, he did not continue forward. He turned and stopped. Lance saw from afar, a familiar figure flying toward him through the window.
That’s...
Unsure thoughts surged through his mind.
The figure flew nearer and nearer and yet, he couldn’t remember.
Who was that?
"It’s... the old fart from the temple." It was as though Mikel had read his mind, and suddenly spoke. His usual voice which was high, sounded stern.