Chapter 510: The Lockdown
After disposing of the elderly bishop, the king rounded up his troops and conquered Long River Town.
There was no more resistance from the town’s side. The townsfolk all saw the castle in the sky and were overwhelmed by Benjamin’s magical power. They believed that with this mage here, foreign soldiers could not hurt them, so they were happy to be occupied by his forces.
The mayor, however, was rather unlucky. He was frail and died from the impact after getting thrown from the sky b the bishop, despite the fact that somebody had caught him. The only management left in Long River Town was the head guard, treasurer... you know, low-ranked people.
The king gathered them at the governing hall and they all pledged their loyalty to the king. Thus, they kept their positions and there was no huge change to the town’s governing circle.
"I... have finally returned."
In the governing hall, after everyone had left, the king sat on the highest seat in the room, his hands softly gripping the armrests of his seat.
Even though the chair was just a normal wooden chair, the king’s expression looked as though he was cherishing it more than his throne in Gealorre.
He had gone through much hardship to sit here now.
"Congratulations Your Majesty! But... this is only the beginning, we have yet to fully gain back Carretas!" Benjamin walked in and saw the kings smile but could not help but chime in.
The king raised his head and looked at Benjamin, "... Let me be happy for at least a little while."
Benjamin walked forward and said," Your Majesty, it is not yet time to be happy."
The king was helpless and shook his head and the response," Okay, okay... anyway, didn’t you mention you had something to do after helping me conquer Long River Town, why are you still here?"
"I will depart soon." Benjamin nodded, "But before that, there are things I still have to do."
After saying this, he took out a book before giving it to the king.
The king frowned and took it before flipping it open. There were names that he had never heard of before in the book, written line by line like a name list.
"This is..."
"The Church has listed everyone around the area with magical talent." Benjamin replied, "Does your Majesty still remember my condition for helping you? Right now, the situation in Long River town has stabilized and it is now a very suitable place to start a magic academy."
The King was confused, "You want to do it now? But... there are no other mages around, and are you not leaving soon? I can send people to find them, but who will teach them?"
Benjamin smiled and spoke calmly, "Relax, I have already told my mages about it, they will make their way here soon enough. Besides, I won’t be out for long and will return soon."
The King heard this and was relieved.
"That’s good."
Even though they had conquered Long River Town, the Church still had a lot of manpower under them. The Church could attack anytime; without Benjamin representing the mages, the priests and holy knights would send them running away with their tails between their legs.
They were still in a rather dangerous position.
That is why they had hoped that Benjamin could watch over Long River town and help them get rid of the Church or Icor’s forces. But, knowing Benjamin, such a request would be pointless.
"Alright then, farewell." Benjamin took out the communicating wood and gave it to the king, "If there are any incidents, please notify me with this."
The king nodded and took the wood quietly.
Benjamin smiled and quickly walked out of the governing hall.
It was still noon and the day was still young. People went to and fro on the streets of Long River Town and the soldiers were busy giving out the King’s orders, recruiting people to join their ranks. The whole town was full of life.
It was a place worth developing.
After the news spread, all of Carretas would turn to look at them. The Church would look at them with hatred, while those who were willing to support their cause would pour in from all over the country.
For example, the merchant Hal met with the king in the morning and had even written letters to other merchants to try to influence them to join the king at Long River Town.
Benjamin walked outwards and waved at everyone that passed by him. After last night, his fame in the whole town was greater than even the king’s, everyone looked at him with curiosity and admiration, making him feel quite uneasy.
Thus, he decided to fly to remain low-profile.
Flying in the sky, Benjamin headed for Gealorre.
"There’s still no news." He took out the communicating wood and muttered to himself after checking it, "Even if Gealorre was indeed the hive of the enemy, it has already been a few days, why has Mikel not returned with any news?"
The System chirped up suddenly, "Who knows, he might have died there."
"... "
"I don’t mean it in a bad way, just stating a possibility."
Benjamin shook his head helplessly.
With Mikel’s resistance to magic, being killed by the Church was near impossible. Thus, he could not help but suspect, could there possibly be a change going on inside Gealorre?
Ever since Icor attacked, everything inside Gealorre had been kept secret; not a single bit of news leaked out, not even rumours. Last night a bishop appeared mysteriously in Long River Town, and another vanished without a trace.
What was the Church doing?
Benjamin had to investigate.
Long River Town was quite far from Gealorre, so despite using his fastest flying speed, he only neared the imperial and ancient city around evening time.
But, as the city gates came into sight, Benjamin could not help but raise his eyebrow.
The gates were closed.
The whole atmosphere around Gealorre seemed eerie. The gates were shut tight and there was no sign of it opening anytime soon. There were tons of patrols on the walls, but, upon closer inspection, the people patrolling were not regular soldiers, but figures that wore the holy knight armour – the Church was no longer hiding their presence.
He initially thought Icor had surrounded the city but turns out Gealorre was actually on lockdown!
He looked at the main road outside of the city. The air around the road was dead with nothing to kick up the dust and sand. The whole area was dead quiet.
There was no one he could try to take advantage of.
This was troublesome... did he have to force his way in?