"Wait….. You mean, you took Bishop Cameron out of the picture?"
At the town hall of Long River Town, the King leapt from his chair and asked in disbelief. A few officers and Benjamin shared an equally astonished look.
Miles just nodded.
"I hid in Geallore for a while, waiting for the perfect opportunity to present itself. Coincidentally, Mage Benjamin caused a commotion in Geallore a few days ago, and almost all the guards were busy trying to get the situation under control again. Bishop Cameron was left alone, and so, I assassinated him."
The king was left speechless after he heard this as if the news was too shocking for him to comprehend.
After all, this bishop was the one that the church had assigned to deal with him initially. From the fake cooperation to the fall-out afterwards, the king still felt traumatized by his experience of gradually getting his power snatched from his hands.
But the effects didn’t just extend to the King, Benjamin was bewildered as well.
"Why didn’t you contact us if you wanted to assassinate the bishop?"
Miles shrugged. "The whole city was on lockdown not long after I arrived in Geallore. I had no way to contact you, and the woodpiece of yours that could transmit voices would send out a slight magic oscillation when used. I didn’t dare bring it with me, so I found a place to bury it instead."
".....Alright then."
Benjamin could only nod.
However, if his information was accurate, then this was probably the last bishop within the borders of Carretas.
Benjamin suddenly perked up.
"Your Majesty, we must take action now, even though we might not
have done complete preparations," Benjamin said to the king, "With the death of the last bishop in Carretas, the priests and Holy Knights within the kingdom has lost their leader. Without a centralised command, it will be chaotic for them - which is the perfect time for us to send our army to take Carretas back!"
Quite a number of people present were stunned by the sudden announcement.
A general at the side came forward to support Benjamin’s suggestion. "Your Majesty, this is indeed a great opportunity. We must regain control over Carretas as soon as possible, as well as distribute our forces across the kingdom to stop the invasion of Icor."
However, as he said this, the king’s expression changed to doubt.
"Can we…. Can we do it?"
He had probably been under the church’s influence for so long that he had now formed an irrational fear towards the organisation. Even though he now had the chance to finally break this trauma, he still felt the instinctual worry and fear.
Could they really win against the church?
"No one can be 100% sure about the results, but if we don’t act now, getting back the kingdom will remain nothing but a pipe dream, with no hope of ever being achieved." Benjamin spoke slowly, "We could take it slow, but Icor’s soldiers will not wait for us to catch up, and the Church will have the chance to call for backup from the Kingdom of Helius. This is probably our best shot."
Everyone else nodded in agreement to Benjamin’s wise words.
The invasion of Icor had always been a thorn in their side. As people born and bred in Carretas, they longed to protect their kingdom;
kingdom; instead, they were limited to acting in a tiny town because of the Church. They were feeling suffocated by their situation.
They had actually wanted to send out their soldiers long before this.
"But… What if we fail?" The king was still hesitant.
"Then we’ll start over." Benjamin’s voice was abnormally determined, "Your Majesty, it is inevitable that we will need to face the church head-on. Our fear will only grow the longer we spend preparing for the fight."
The king was silent again. Finally, he made his decision – he drew a sharp breath and nodded his head aggressively.
"Alright then. We will send out our men to get Geallore back."
Even the guards standing by the side looked visibly excited by the declaration, their fists clenched tightly against their sides.
The General immediately went to organise his soldiers and prepare for the expedition. Meanwhile, the other officials within the Long River Town started a heated debate on military strategies with the King in the Town Hall.
Benjamin, on the other hand, left the Town Hall and rushed towards the area where the mages were located in Long River Town.
"Long River Town is quite a good choice," Miles commented as he followed Benjamin.
Benjamin turned and frowned at the man. "The war is going to happen very soon. What are you doing, following me around instead of preparing for the battle?"
"I have nothing to prepare." Miles shook his head. "What else I can do? My job is to either protect the King and act as a bodyguard or slaughter some people alongside the soldiers on the ground."
"....True."
Miles suddenly became serious, "Are you confident in
confident in our chances of winning this battle?"
Benjamin shook his head while he walked. "Not really. Even if the bishop is dead, there are still a good number of priests left. I do not have an accurate estimate of the number of them left, but I do not doubt that our fight will be a tough one."
"If that is so, then why do you insist on staging the revolution now?"
"If we don’t do so now, we won’t get another chance." Benjamin sighed. "Don’t you know about Icor’s progress? At their current pace, they will reach Geallore within a month. If that happens, then we will have no chance of achieving victory."
"Actually…. Icor taking over Geallore would probably affect the mages very much, no? It will be fine as long as it isn’t the Church, right? So, why are you still pouring so much effort into assisting the king?"
Benjamin burst into laughter.
"You do not understand the turmoil the mages in Icor lived in."
After some thought, he decided to briefly explain the circumstances to Miles as they were on their way back to the mages. After he heard that the Queen was controlling the mages using some sort of potion, Miles nodded, deep in thought.
"So that’s why…."
A thought popped into Benjamin’s head as he heard Miles’ response. "Don’t tell me you’re planning to assassinate the Queen too."
"Well, I could try."
Benjamin laughed as he shook his head. "Alright then, go give it a go. If you actually succeed, the King and the whole of Carretas would be eternally grateful to you."
And Miles left just like that, as if he had just received a new challenge a new challenge for him to pursue. Benjamin had no idea if he actually intended to plot out an assassination against the Queen, but did not bother about him in any case. Instead, he continued to rush towards the mage area.
He first sent a message to the team of mages at the plains. Then, he gathered the people in the mage area of the Long River Town.
"The final battle is upon us."
The mages and apprentices now filled the square where usual magical practices take place. They listened to Benjamin’s passionate speech. First, Benjamin made a cursory glance to all of them present and noted the increasing amounts of apprentices. There was more than a hundred of them now, and they all stood together wearing the same uniform. Admittedly, they emitted a unique aura from the way they stood together.
Benjamin felt a sliver of regret.
If they had the time, they would definitely have uncovered some amazing mages among the apprentices. However, circumstances did not allow this.
Benjamin planned to bring every single mage into this battle against the priest army, even if they only knew how to cast a Fireball Spell.
Thankfully, none of them looked afraid after they heard Benjamin’s declaration.
"Teacher Benjamin, does this mean that we can finally chase the church out of my home?" An apprentice asked after taking a deep breath, his voice shaking with emotion.
Benjamin smiled, then nodded.
The worries in the apprentice’s mind were no more.
They all knew that quite a number of people, including the apprentices, would probably perish in this battle. However, history will forever remember them for who they really were - heroes of Carretas.