It only took Benjamin half a day to recruit the entire Angus Village.
After digging the well, he and several mages split up to eliminate the bandits in the area. In a desolate place like this, there are not many bandits, not to mention that in front of a group of mages, the bandits' combat effectiveness is basically zero.
In this way, it took about a few hours, they finished the matter and returned to the village, where they received a hero's welcome.
"Master Mage, although we don't know what you will do, many young people in the village are willing to go with you." The village chief held Benjamin's hand and said with a smile, "They are all very He is a good hunter, and he will definitely be useful in helping His Majesty restore his country."
Benjamin could only smile and shake his head.
If nothing else... he has no plans to build an army yet.
The little money he has in his hand can be used to support a mage, but it is a bit reluctant to support an army. What's more, in their current situation, they can only operate in small groups. If they form any kind of rebel army, they will be a target for the church.
"No need, those two people with magical talents will follow me, that's enough." Therefore, he said.
"Is that so...how many days will you stay here?" the village chief asked with a somewhat regretful look.
Benjamin said, "We'll leave right away."
There are so many villages in the country, and it is impossible for them to stay in one village for too long. Angus Village is just the beginning, and the system has planned a route for them.
Along this route, they will recruit as many mage apprentices as possible and spread their influence to all the countryside in Carites.
Moreover, if you stay in one place for a long time, it is easy for the church to catch flaws.
In this way, the villagers' efforts to retain them did not take effect. Taking the two new mage apprentices with them, Benjamin and his party left Angus Village and continued their journey.
The remote low mountains here are quite large, and there are many villages scattered here and there. So, just like what they did in Angus Village, every time Benjamin and the others went to a village, they first used their identities as kings to gain trust, and then used magic to quickly solve the living problems of the local people.
Finally, they rushed to the next village with the newly absorbed magic talents from the local area.
In the process, Benjamin's apprentice team also grew little by little.
"Teacher Benjamin... Well, I have a question for you."
Ryan is a villager from Angus Village. He used to be a hunter. After being exposed to magic, he was instantly attracted to it and followed Benjamin out of the village without hesitation. He has an outstanding talent in water magic, and with the number of apprentices increasing, he has gradually become the leader of the apprentice group.
About seven or eight days after leaving Angus Village, at night, Benjamin and his group were camping at the foot of the Five Mountains. He suddenly found Benjamin and expressed that he had something to say.
Benjamin nodded naturally.
"go ahead."
Ryan cleared his throat, and it was obvious that he was a little nervous: "Teacher Benjamin, why have we been running around these days and have such a busy schedule? What kind of enemy are we... going to face?"
When Benjamin heard this, he shook his head helplessly.
Still couldn't help but come over and ask.
The actions of these days are witnessed by the apprentices. Although they ran away with Benjamin in a hurry, they were not fools, and they could naturally feel the pressure on Benjamin from his hurried schedule.
Benjamin didn't want the pressure to fall on them, the apprentices, but... they should know something.
"The enemy we have to face is the church."
"Church?" Ryan frowned and said, "I think... I've heard of it, but they seem to be destroying activities in other countries, and we have already banned it here."
"Yes, but the church is far more powerful than you know." Benjamin sighed and said, "To tell you the truth, I come from the Kingdom of Hori, a place ruled by the church. We fled abroad, only to find that There is still no paradise for mages here. The minions of the Church are everywhere, trying to bring every country into their territory. And now, Carites is in danger."
Hearing this, Ryan took a deep breath and said, "Then... the person who usurped His Majesty's throne is the church?"
Benjamin nodded.
He continued: "Actually, being a mage is not as wonderful as you think. The church is like a curse. Once you become a mage, it will haunt you for the rest of your life. I actually brought you into the world of magic with selfish motives. After all, , only those who have fallen into the quagmire will find ways to get themselves out, so I am just trying to get as many people into this quagmire as possible."
To a certain extent, he has forced these people into danger.
—They could have lived an ordinary and happy life.
Hearing this, Ryan was also stunned at that moment.
When Benjamin saw this, he smiled self-deprecatingly and said, "What? Has my noble and great image in your minds collapsed? If you want to leave, I won't stop you. But don't forget, one day, the church will It will be found on your heads.”
Although his tone was joking, he knew in his heart how despicable he was when he said this.
He used magic to force these people and himself into a boat.
"No... I just didn't expect that your purpose was actually this." Ryan suddenly came back to his senses and shook his head.
Benjamin was confused: "What do you think my purpose is?"
Ryan looked around for a while, then suddenly lowered his voice and said: "Um... I was looking at the schedule for the past few days, and a group of our apprentices were discussing privately. You want to win people's hearts, recruit mages, and then become the king yourself!"
“…”
Benjamin was speechless.
It turns out... am I such an ambitious person in the eyes of others
Congested.
Seeing Benjamin's reaction, Ryan also scratched the back of his head and laughed sheepishly.
"Because what you have been doing these days is so purposeful. And you are so busy and laborious, so we all thought that your goal must be... terrible."
When Benjamin heard this, he could only laugh dumbly.
Well... I have to admit that the actions he took in each village were too simple and crude. If he does this in every village, the villagers may not be able to tell anything, but these apprentices will naturally notice something is wrong after following him and watching the routine over and over again.
However, he really doesn't have that kind of "ambitious" goal.
After all kinds of hard work, he just hopes to live a good life as a mage.
When this extremely simple wish is so difficult to achieve, it means that something is wrong with this era. Therefore, he can only use up all his efforts to change this era.
It sounds like a fantasy, but Benjamin has also experienced so many hardships and setbacks...
But he still felt there was hope.
"So, you don't think I deceived you?" Looking back at Ryan, who didn't know what to say, Benjamin asked.
Ryan answered him in a matter-of-fact tone: "It doesn't matter, as long as you can learn magic, anything will be fine."
Benjamin looked at the other party, stunned for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
He suddenly remembered what he was like when he first learned magic.
At that time... He seemed to be like this, full of longing for magic and full of expectations for the future - in order to learn more magic, he even ran into St. Peter's Basilica and risked his life to act in front of the bishop. As a result, now, time has passed, and a new group of apprentices came to him and told him that as long as he could learn magic, he was not afraid of swords, mountains, and fire.
This kind of energy... can be regarded as a kind of reincarnation.
He didn't know why, but suddenly, Benjamin was full of expectations for this group of little apprentices who didn't know anything.
"In that case, then you should study hard." He slapped his thigh, stood up, and said with a smile, "I'm going to say something ugly before you, but the burden on your shoulders is very heavy. If you can't learn magic well, I won't let you It’s better, do you understand?”
The devilish tone that would only be used during torture was also used a little bit at this time.
Suddenly, Ryan's smile froze and sweat broke out on his forehead: "Okay, okay..."