In the next few days, Freden maintained a calm appearance, but secretly there were turmoils.
Benjamin and his group did not stay in Riley City all the time. On the contrary, while preparing the "Declaration of Free Magic", they split up and traveled to almost half of Frieden's town.
Everything they do must not be limited to a few cities. Especially the death of a king would have been national news. Aldrich was unwilling to publish it, so Benjamin had to help him and give him a national announcement.
Of course, in this case, they did not dare to be too high-profile, that is, they would dress up in disguise, sneak into taverns in various cities, and become the initial source of rumors.
"Hey, have you heard? Your Majesty... His Majesty seems to have passed away."
"What? You... weren't you fine a few days ago? How could this happen? Where did you hear the news?"
"I heard it from my friends at the palace. It is said... It is said that the murderer is named Aldrich, and he is the president of the Freemasonry. Now he has completely controlled the palace."
"You... there are so many people here, please keep your voice down! Forget it, let's leave quickly."
The same conversation is repeated in prime-time pubs across the country. Benjamin's mages were divided into two groups, pretending to be passers-by, and performed such a drama among the lively crowd. They don't deliberately lower their voices, and people at the next few tables can naturally hear a few words.
It is indeed a bit rough, but with news of this level, even if the public has only heard a little bit, even if they don’t believe it, they can’t help but ask around.
"Um...have you heard any news from His Majesty recently?"
"What? Have you heard about that... news?"
"Yes! It's spreading everywhere now. Even my sister who married in the next town came to me and asked me, is it true?"
Just like that, they were a little frightened just by asking around. In addition, the king has indeed not shown up in the past few days, and the entire palace is also in a closed state. Therefore, the entire people of Frieden gradually began to believe this rumor.
And, most importantly, there has been no official clarification announcement for several days.
Just like that, the people panicked, and some even began to secretly pack their luggage and prepare to run away. There were half as many pedestrians on the streets as usual, and prices across the country also skyrocketed. Merchants felt that the storm was coming, so they began to stock up on goods, and many shops closed their doors.
As for the branches of the Master Freemasonry in major cities, their doors are also closed during this period. Almost every day, angry mercenaries or people come to their doors to make trouble. For example, in the Masonic branch of Riley City, the walls are covered with traces of dirty egg yolks, and the eggshells on the ground are piled up several centimeters thick. As you get closer, you can smell a terrible stench.
And since the turmoil has reached this level, there is no way in the mage circle to pretend that nothing has happened.
Many mages have found their friends in the Mages and Freemasons and want to ask them what happened. But as a result, they found that all the Masters and Freemasons seemed to have disappeared without a trace. As for the branch in Carites, the people inside looked confused and had no idea what was going on.
Therefore, there is actually some confusion in the mage circle, and no one knows what to do.
"Master Benjamin, is all of this... really what you said?"
Late that night, in the abandoned houses on the outskirts of Riley, Master Finch asked Benjamin standing in front of him with an unusually troubled expression.
—After spreading the initial seeds of rumors, Benjamin hid back in Riley City and waited to see what would happen.
After the rumors became more and more fermented, Master Finch really couldn't sit still. After he received no response from the Masters and Freemasons, he still found a way to contact Benjamin and meet tonight.
"It's absolutely true, I was in the palace at the time." Benjamin nodded and replied with unusual certainty, "A month ago, an assassination of His Majesty occurred in the palace. At that time, the assassin came out of the Freemasonry, but it was just Austrian But Derich passed the responsibility to his subordinates and pretended not to know. His Majesty was suspicious and entrusted me with a private investigation. As a result, when I quietly went to see His Majesty the King a few days ago, I ran into the scene where Aldrich killed His Majesty."
Finch also sighed after hearing this.
"You are in a very dangerous situation now." After a moment of silence, he advised, "Aldrich will definitely attack you if he frees his hands. You should pack your things and leave quickly."
But Benjamin shook his head and said, "I won't run away."
Finch frowned: "You want to stay?"
"If I escape, what about the other mages? Besides, if the church completely controls Freden, wouldn't it be the same wherever I escape?"
Upon hearing this, Master Finch nodded helplessly and said nothing.
When Benjamin saw this, he knew that the other party had been convinced. So, he suddenly took out a pamphlet from his pocket and handed it to Master Finch.
"This is..." Master Finch was a little confused.
"This is what I can do for everyone." Benjamin replied, "Look, we just made it up. Maybe it can change the current passive situation."
Master Finch took the pamphlet and flipped through it quickly.
However, after a while, his expression began to become a little complicated.
"What are you..." After a few minutes, he closed the page of the book, as if he was hesitating to speak, "Is this really necessary? There are many things in it that shouldn't be spread out so easily, right?"
Benjamin shook his head and said: "You are referring to those potion formulas. I know that if these things are spread, the potion mage may not be recruited by you. But have you ever thought about it? Why is the potion world Development has been slow precisely because most of the knowledge is held in the hands of people like you and me and refuses to be released.”
"I don't think potions are slow to develop," Finch retorted.
"That's because you haven't been to the Kingdom of Hori." Benjamin replied, "The production level of magical props has far exceeded your imagination."
“…”
Master Finch fell silent.
Benjamin continued to persuade: "Moreover, if there are no formulas and spells, how can it become popular among mages? The church has actually controlled Frieden's government. If this continues, you and I will become nothing. .”
Finch remained silent.
"You should understand the seriousness of the matter, right?" Benjamin was also a little anxious, "How many years ago, the Kingdom of Hori was not a hell for mages, but why did the church later drive the mages there into the boundless abyss? Because Mages always work on their own, and by the time they realize they need to get together, it's already too late."
"Master Finch, don't let Freeden become the next Kingdom of Hori."
Benjamin felt that his mouth was dry as he spoke, but in the end, Master Finch still shook his head.
"Master Benjamin, I think you may be a little too pessimistic." He handed the pamphlet back to Benjamin. "The people in the church are certainly hateful, but... we are not the same group of mages in the Kingdom of Hori back then. There are so many mages in Freden. , the church does not dare to act rashly.”
"Master Finch..."
Benjamin wanted to say something more, but the other party shook his head, turned and left, leaving Benjamin alone and sighing in disappointment in the dark night.