"... Is this, my nightmare?"
After a brief silence, Don Juan Geraint spoke softly.
After he saw "John" using Sir Silver's magic, he roughly understood it.
"That's natural."
It was not Annan who answered, but Benjamin Foster.
He patted Don Juan's head, and said with a soft smile, "Didn't you expect it a long time ago, Don Juan?"
"... No, I'm just a little worried."
Don Juan Geraint shook his head.
His eyes were not the loss of knowing he was dead.
Instead, he frowned tightly, not knowing what he was thinking about.
This attitude is... a bit strange.
On the other side, Benjamin smiled slightly at Annan: "Long time no see, 'Ghirlandaio'."
"But I'm not that Ghirlandaio."
Annan declared in advance.
Benjamin shook his head: "Of course I know. I am also very clear about what 'Ghirlandaio' is.
"Just when I saw your face... I knew where you got your password and what you were going to ask me. People who can be recognized by Master Michelangelo have natural character and ability. It's guaranteed."
"...let me guess."
Annan replied softly: "Did you already guess that the third prince would want to kill you?"
Benjamin smiled slightly upon hearing this.
He didn't answer directly, but instead asked Annan: "How many times have you come to this nightmare?"
"Counting the number of failures, this is the third time."
Annan quickly replied.
Benjamin chuckled.
Three chairs with backrests and armrests slowly grew out of the huge wooden fist.
He stretched out his hand to signal Annan and Don Juan to sit down.
"Since you can get Master Michelangelo's approval, you can meet him... I speculate that what you entered should be Gerald's nightmare."
Benjamin asked slowly: "In other words, Gerald is dead... right?"
"Yes."
Annan replied honestly: "In addition, I also saw Don Juan was killed. You were killed by Klaus with a counter-curse."
Hearing this, Benjamin grinned and smiled silently.
Don Juan at the side also looked at Benjamin in a daze.
Don Juan looked at Annan curiously, and asked, "What counter-curse... you mean, the teacher's curse?"
"… What's wrong?"
Seeing Don Juan's reaction, Annan asked back in his heart, "It's your old butler—he fed Benjamin poisoned wine mixed with squid juice. Is there something wrong here?"
"This is where the problem lies."
Benjamin smiled.
He knocked on the armrest and asked Annan, "You should know my curse, right?"
"Yes. 'You can't eat squid' and 'You can't refuse wine from someone older than you'."
"—So, how many spells did I break when I drank the poisoned wine?"
Benjamin asked.
Annan's pupils shrank slightly.
Suddenly he realized something—
He had been thinking about "poisoned wine" before.
But the real problem is...
If Benjamin drank the 'poisoned wine mixed with squid juice', and the poisoned wine itself was enough to kill him, there would be no need for it to be mixed with squid juice.
And if the power of the poisoned wine is not enough to kill him, then his drinking of the poisoned wine means that he did not refuse the poisoned wine. That is to say, it did not violate the latter curse.
— In other words.
The two curses held by Benjamin are actually mutually exclusive.
No matter what, he can only satisfy one...
And Klaus will use this as a trump card, there is only one possibility.
"—The information obtained by the third prince is false news?"
Annan blinked and realized: "He thought your curses were 'can't drink wine from the old man' and 'can't eat squid'?"
Don Juan looked at Benjamin in a daze.
But Benjamin nodded calmly: "It's 'you can't drink the wine from the old man' and 'you can't eat the roasted green plums'.
"It's not bad, the reaction speed is not bad, and the memory is not bad. It's just that my brain can't move."
Benjamin commented somewhat harshly: "Let me ask you again—you should have seen my dead body, right?"
"… Yes."
Annan nodded.
He recalled the scene when he came out of the dungeon:
At that time, Benjamin was lying prone on the table, his mouth was full of blood, his teeth and plates were stained red, and his eyes were dark. Beside him lay Don Juan, whose mouth was also full of blood, and the old housekeeper who was pierced by a long sword in the back and died with regret.
The only difference is that the silver ring on Benjamin's right hand is gone. His robe and jewelry were also removed, just like an ordinary old man.
… like an ordinary old man
Annan's pupils shrank.
— Until then, he finally understood everything.
Benjamin is extraordinary!
Bronze-rank transcendents will not show any obvious changes after death.
But the Transcendents of the silver rank are different...
Just like Gerald at the time. When he died, his whole body was turned into a skeleton, and then directly disintegrated into pieces.
How could Benjamin's corpse be so normal
It's just that the load and the robe are missing, just like an ordinary old man...
But the problem is that Benjamin is not an ordinary old man at all!
"...That is, a fake corpse."
Annan quickly replied.
Benjamin nodded approvingly and said, "That's right. It's like the body you're using now... This is the basic spell of the Idol School, called 'Puppet Body".
"My original plan was to use 'I'm not here' to shield my own existence after drinking poisoned wine and feigning death. Then I used the shaping spell like now, so that a double that looks exactly like me will grow on my seat , and then use the 'body of a clay puppet' to make my substitute.
"So if you have carefully examined my corpse, you should be able to find that its weight is much heavier than that of an old man."
In Benjamin's words, he habitually carried a hint of the temperament of a mentor, and commented:
"Those people's emotions can't be hidden at all. That Klaus is just a countryman who made mistakes in his advancement and couldn't achieve gold in his life. He doesn't know how great a wizard is... The fear and restlessness in the hearts of those people he brought, It's clear to me."
... There is no way, I was not a superhuman at that time.
Annan shook his head and remained silent.
—Benjamin was indeed able to use the soul-snatching spell.
Annan still remembers what Salvatore told him.
Benjamin can use the four spells of 'soul capture', 'transformation', 'shaping', and 'idol', but only transformation and shaping are close to the golden level.
... In other words, the spells of the two schools of soul capture and idol should at least have the level of the bottom of the silver class.
The answer to a question caused more questions in Annan's mind.
"So, what happened to Klaus in the end?"
Annan asked.
The corner of Benjamin's mouth raised slightly: "Are you asking about my future?"
He didn't say anything, but just answered: "I should let him go... because we don't want to startle the snake."
"... Teacher, am I really dead?"
Don Juan Geraint asked a little impatiently.
Benjamin looked at him with a flat and calm gaze: "That depends on you...how you define 'death'.
"This is something your father asked me to do. He doesn't want you to enter the frozen water port, because there is a real god there. The god will know where the fragments of the truth are. But your majesty has an order... you must Die here. Only Frozenwater Harbor, completely out of reach of rotten people, but still in Noah's kingdom—so, you're only allowed to die here.
"Your Majesty would rather give the fragments of truth that you are about to conceive to Duke Bones than give it to a rotting man.
"The Three-Eyed Raven will never betray the Crown, so you have no choice.
"Because you are the one who incubates the truth. Only when you die can the fragments of the truth be revealed.
"If you stay in the capital, you will die suddenly one day, making the rotten man a real god...
"So your father and I's plan is to let you die here directly. Throw out the hot potato that is the fragment of truth. Try to find a way to try to steal your soul out and revive you. After all, you are a transcendent... Although it is only bronze , but at least there is a slight possibility of resurrection.
"I didn't tell you about this in advance because your acting skills are not real enough. Only a real death can win the trust of Klaus."
Benjamin said flatly: "So, 'Don Juan Geraint' must die, but you may still survive. This time I brought the lantern that imprisoned the soul, and it may be able to rescue you. I will give you Find the body of an infant in the direct line of Geraint...and you may be resurrected.
"But from now on, you are not Don Juan Geraint. You must not take him for you. You will never have anything to do with this name - remember.
"Don't covet the name of the previous life."