The distance from Amber City to the capital city of Glory is not that far. If Benjamin flies at high speed, he can reach the palace of Carrites in more than an hour.
However, he had to take someone with him, so his speed was naturally slowed down a lot.
"Are you sure?" In mid-air, Benjamin turned back and asked Miles with a serious face, "Does the king really want to see me, instead of setting a trap waiting for me?"
Miles nodded: "Believe me, the king is also very troubled by the church."
Benjamin's tone was a bit contemptuous: "But... didn't he find the church himself?"
"Yes." Miles continued, "However, people always make mistakes. The king realized that he was becoming a puppet of the church little by little, and the power was draining from his hands, so he regretted it."
When Benjamin heard this, he fell into deep thought and said nothing more.
When Miles told him that it was the king who wanted to see him, he was quite stunned. There is no doubt that the king turned to the church. At the same time, Miles is actually working for the king of Carites, which also surprises him.
However, he still chose to go to Glory.
The situation in Carites was too confusing. As an outsider, it would be difficult for him to keep up without a trip to the capital. Besides, judging from Miles's appearance, he shouldn't really have any ill intentions toward him. Otherwise, he could just do it directly, so why go around here
Then, the other party finally gave Benjamin a rough explanation of the domestic situation.
The church has begun secretly assassinating mages—this is very shocking news. After all, it was the king who brought the church here, so they acted more unscrupulously. As for the mages of Carites, from the very beginning, under the deliberate guidance of the king and the church, they were gradually squeezed out of worldly affairs.
For example - fire all officially employed mages, sow discord among mages groups, and spread rumors that mages should not participate in the world of ordinary people. In the end, Aldrich's death became a great help to the church.
They directly used this as an excuse to close down all branches of the Freemasonry in the country, executed many mages, and created an atmosphere in the business and political circles where they had more contact with mages, that "these mages may also be spies."
Affected by this atmosphere, coupled with the arrest of the Freemasonry, which originally boasted neutrality and neatness, the domestic mages were disheartened. Therefore, they slowly withdrew from the mainstream vision of Carites and hid in the mountains one after another, ignoring worldly affairs and focusing on studying their magic.
Hearing this, Benjamin couldn't help but shook his head.
Are the mages here too naive
Staying away from the town and hiding in the mountains, what is the difference between that and the situation in the Horli Kingdom? Before the church officially started hunting, they couldn't wait to set up a "silent academy"
However, Miles gave this answer:
"There were also some who were not innocent, but before they had time to do anything, they were secretly dealt with by the church. The remaining mages didn't understand the situation, or were a little scared, and finally followed the trend and hid away from the city. "
After hearing this, Benjamin finally realized the seriousness of the problem.
From a certain perspective, the church has already completed more than half of the process of turning Carites into the Kingdom of Hori.
Using some strength in the dark, they made the mage withdraw from public view. Next, they only need to quietly spread bad news about the mage, build public opinion bit by bit, and brainwash the people. Slowly, magic will really be labeled as a demon, and when the time comes, even if the mages want to come back, they will not be able to come back.
Immediately afterwards, without the opposing mages, the church could stand on the stage legitimately, and no one could stop them.
Thinking of this, Benjamin sighed.
Unexpectedly, after using violent suppression and confrontation, the church is now trying this "boil the frog in warm water" strategy again. And the most terrible thing is that they were very successful!
Benjamin felt like he was late.
According to Miles, this layout planning had been carried out secretly for six or seven years since the king surrendered to the church. In other words, their progress bar has reached more than 80%, and at this time, Benjamin has just arrived here.
In an instant, a mountain of pressure fell on his shoulders.
"But... the king has turned to the church, and now he has other ideas. Isn't he afraid that the church will retaliate against him?" Benjamin flew in silence in mid-air for who knows how long, and finally came back from his thoughts and asked.
"I'm afraid, so I have to do it secretly." Miles replied, "In the past few years, the church has been busy dealing with mages in Carites, and has not penetrated much in other aspects. Therefore, the king still holds real power. Not completely controlled by the church.”
Benjamin heard this, thought for a while, and then said: "...So, he needs a guy who can cause trouble for the church openly, so that he can find time to quietly stab the church in the back?"
Miles nodded: "That's it."
Benjamin turned his head back and hummed inaudibly.
If this is the case, it might not be a bad idea to cooperate with the king. After all, the church has progressed to this point. Without some external help, it would be difficult for Benjamin to stop the progress bar from reaching the last ten percent.
But...can the king really help him
Regardless of the fact that this king bounces back and forth like a faggot, the church has been operating here for so many years, how could it only do one thing: deal with the mage? Although Myers said that the king still holds real power, how much real power does he have
Don't forget, when the empire was divided, this eldest prince was the one who failed the most. He clearly has the status of the eldest son, but he ends up with the worst outcome, which is enough to prove that his ability is not very good.
Working with such a person, even if he is the leader of a country, Benjamin has to worry about the possibility of being held back by his pig teammates.
But... let's talk about it after we see it.
Benjamin shook his head, pushing these thoughts away. There is no need to be so pessimistic. Now he has a very powerful potential ally in front of him. This is something to be thankful for anyway.
If there are any problems, they can be solved slowly later. He certainly cannot lose confidence at the beginning.
Thinking this way, the pressure in Benjamin's heart eased a little.
Suddenly, another thought flashed through his mind.
"By the way." He spoke again, solemnly, "When we first entered Carites and left the grassland, we encountered three thieves who were following us. The church may have been aware of my existence."
"Oh, you're talking about those three." Miles showed an indifferent expression and said, "They are my friends. They were entrusted by me to find you, not from the church."
“…”
Benjamin was speechless for a moment.
Those three sneaky guys are actually our own people
"What? Is it weird?" Miles explained matter-of-factly, "I heard about Frieden and guessed that you would leave there and come to Carites, so I specially found a few A trustworthy friend is squatting outside the grassland, trying to find a way to contact you."
Benjamin said helplessly: "But at that time, they just followed from a distance and did not show any intention of being allies."
"You are pretending to be a caravan, and they are not sure." Miles replied, "Then you are so vigilant. My friends have just confirmed their identities and want to tell you the situation, so you can just start with them. They flew away under their noses. At that time, they were almost dying of anxiety. I haven’t found any trace of you since then, and I have a terrible headache.”
Hearing this, Benjamin was speechless for a moment, and could only spread his hands innocently and said: "...blame me?"