Benjamin didn't continue to hide behind the rocks. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 He walked out and walked to the middle of the mountain path and looked directly at each other.

“...... Andre. ”

Andrei stood in front of him, spread his hands, laughed playfully, and said, "Surprised?"

Regardless of the action and demeanor, it is like two people in between.

Benjamin was silent for a moment, shook his head, and suddenly said: "Actually, I should have thought that the books on the production of magic props in the kingdom were almost collected by the church, and it was too difficult for mages to learn this kind of thing. What's more, the interconnected beads you make for other people are too similar to the church's 'Vision'. ”

Now that I think about it, Andre disguised himself as a stammering mage who is proficient in magic props, and is hiding in the mage group in Crewe Town, revealing a lot of small flaws.

It's just that...... He always refused to believe that he was a mage, so why did he take refuge in the church.

"Really?" the smile on Andrei's face faded and he regained his composure, "If you really wanted to, you shouldn't be here." ”

Gradually, as he spoke, the sound of footsteps near and far came, dense like the tiny sound of night rain hitting the roof. Soon, in the dark mountain roads on both sides, groups of figures began to appear.

The first to appear was a group of priests dressed in priests' robes, and when you counted, there were probably more than a dozen of them. The one standing at the front was dressed differently from the others, and his red robe looked more solemn in the cold moonlight.

Bishops and priests in the Crussard Gate.

The bishop and more than a dozen priests blocked both sides of the mountain road and surrounded Benjamin.

"I don't understand. Benjamin's eyes still fell on Andre, "You are obviously a mage, why do you want to be an undercover agent for the church?"

Andrei turned around and saluted the bishop who appeared, before squinting his eyes and looking over.

"Because the church is the future. His gaze was filled with reverence and indifference, as if he was not answering Benjamin's question, but talking to the divine will in the dark, "I just chose the right path." ”

Hearing this, Benjamin snorted coldly.

"Then we don't have much more to say. ”

To this day, there are still mages who do not understand this truth - the church is their mortal enemy, and the two sides can only destroy the other, and the victor will completely rebuild it all. Other than that, there is no other possibility.

At most, the mages who take refuge in the Church can only become sheep in the shadow of the cross, shaved their sheep, milked them, and finally lose their effect, and they will be made into a good meal and served to the table of the gods.

"Grant Reese. The Bishop glanced at André indifferently, then turned to Benjamin, "When I first met you ten years ago, I really couldn't have imagined that we would meet again in such a place today. ”

Benjamin wanted to laugh a little.

How many times has he been recognized as Grant?

It seems that the news that he was burned at the stake in place of Grant was blocked quite well in St. Peter's Basilica, and even the bishop stationed at the border did not know it, let alone outsiders.

"Your Excellency. Thinking so, Benjamin looked around for a moment and asked, "You have worked so hard to lure me out, and you want to encircle me, there should be more than these people, right?"

Hearing this, the bishop showed a slightly surprised expression, and laughed lightly, saying, "That's right, I should also give you more respect for being able to cause such a big mess in the royal capital and the famous water balloon demon." ”

As he spoke, he snapped his fingers.

With a calm smile on his face, soon, countless footsteps came. But unlike the others, the footsteps sound neat and massive, like the rhythmic bass bass of a rock festival.

So, countless soldiers stepped forward from the darkness behind them. They stopped behind the priest and moved in unison, forming a solid backing for the entire encirclement camp and making the narrow mountain path even more crowded.

"Enough of these people. The bishop waved his hand, as if to show Benjamin his grand ambush, "Apart from them, I have sent a priest and a squad of soldiers to guard every junction in this vicinity, just to make sure that you will never escape from this place." ”

Is it......

Benjamin looked at the soldiers who couldn't see the end in front of him, and didn't say anything.

It's not that he was flustered, it's just that he suddenly thought of the beginning, he probed the inside of the Cruzard Gate with the water elemental induction method, and stayed on the bishop for a few more seconds, only to be discovered by the bishop.

"So...... In the first place, you found out that I was in Crewe?" so he asked.

At that time, Benjamin thought that the bishop was just a sixth sense and didn't care much. Unexpectedly, the other party found out about him from that time.

The bishop also nodded and said, "That's right, but at that time, I wasn't sure of your identity, so I asked Andre to guide you behind the scenes and pull you into that small group of mages." It wasn't until you met with André again later that we really confirmed your identity. ”

...... A small group of mages?

Hearing this, Benjamin was silent for a while, and suddenly, his face changed slightly, and he said, "You have long known about the existence of the mage group. ”

As soon as these words came out, not only the bishop, but also the other priests present also showed a somewhat mean smile.

"It's more than knowing. The bishop shook his head and said, "It's like killing rats, we're going to drive them together, keep them there, save enough, and kill them all at once." Every two years, we will guide the mages who are stuck in Crewe Town to form a group of mages, and then see the right time to eliminate them together. Actually, it's time for this batch to be harvested, but I guess you can and will want to escape from here, so keep them for a while and use them as bait to lure you in. ”

Hearing this, Benjamin couldn't help but take a deep breath.

...... Therefore, the existence of this small group is actually just a trap for the church.

No, it's not even a trap, at most it's just a small trick for them to try to make it convenient. It's like sowing seeds every spring and harvesting grain in autumn, where can such a simple thing be a conspiracy?

Yes, it is simply impossible for a group of half-mage apprentices to establish a mage group under the nose of the church.

Benjamin sighed inwardly.

He was not surprised, only sad.

People like the proprietress of the proprietor, Augustine, and the old blacksmith have all been in Crewe Town for almost a year, and have opened their own shops, and even faded the thought of fleeing abroad, so they want to live here incognito. Everyone also felt that they were happy to find so many of their kind in the town, as if the wandering mage career had finally found a home.

Together, they would discuss meditation and magic, as well as their parents' shortcomings and talk about the new gossip that came out of town. Whoever is in trouble, the others will find a way to help - they are not strangers in this town, in fact, they are already each other's family.

But...... The result?

At the end of the day, everything they belong to and affirm is really just a mousetrap for the church.

They don't even realize it's a conspiracy.

Even if, in the end, the Church closes its net and kills them all, their deaths will be nothing more than a biennial routine, and not even the only, special, commendable and remembered - they die old-fashioned.

After all, this kind of old-fashioned deceptive death had already been experienced by countless hopeful mages before them.

"You don't have to be afraid, if I were going to kill you, I would have done it a long time ago. Seeing that Benjamin had remained silent and had not spoken for a long time, the bishop continued, "You can also see that there are priests who are doing things for us, and my attitude is different from that of the bishop of St. Peter's Basilica. ”

Hearing this, Benjamin came back to his senses, let out a few sneers, and said, "Yes, you have always refused to do anything, and you have to lead me to this kind of wilderness before you are willing to show up, probably because you don't want the church in the royal capital to know my news." ”

Otherwise, the bishop would have done it a long time ago, and there would be no need to go to such great lengths to make up some "soldier to escort the cross" and lure him here.

However, when he heard this, the bishop did not mean to be annoyed in the slightest, but showed a little appreciation.

"You guessed it right, I can't let anyone else know you're in Crewe. He nodded and said, "If the people over there in the royal capital know, they will definitely be alert, and it will be detrimental to what I am going to do next." So at first, I sent a quartermaster to bring you a key, and I sent someone to the merchant mage to buy food, trying to lead you inside the gate. As a result, that guy was so bad at drinking that he didn't get the key to you, and he almost ruined my big deal. ”

...... I see.

At this moment, Benjamin was a little surprised.

He didn't expect that the quartermaster who was drunk and dangling the key in front of him before was actually just a bait sent by the bishop. Wallis's food order was just a trap for the bishop to lead him through the gates.

What a big game of chess.

Thinking of this, Benjamin could only say that fortunately the bishop was in a more anxious hurry than him, and threw this trick before he was ready to sneak into the gate. Otherwise, Benjamin would have been blocked inside the gate.

But......

The bishop wanted to keep everything from the people in the royal capital. This point is still worth pondering.

"You want to rebel, aren't you afraid of your so-called divine punishment?" he said, glancing at the others behind the bishop. However, the other priests and soldiers did not seem to care, as if they were not surprised.

...... Interesting.

It seems that the entire Crusadard gate now nominally belongs to the royal family and the church, but in fact, it belongs only to this bishop.

"Under God's will, no one can rebel. The bishop had a solemn look on his face, "His Majesty the Pope did not show up for eight years, and after he appeared, he went into retreat again two months later, and there are too many doubts in this. I just want to know whether His Majesty the Pope is dead or alive. You came from the royal capital, and the chaos before the retreat of His Majesty the Pope was also caused by you, so you must know what was hidden from the royal capital. ”

Benjamin shook his head indifferently.

Truth be told, he didn't even listen to what the bishop was going to say next. Isn't it just that the pope is in retreat, this bishop is in power, but the bishop is not, so there is suspicion within the church, which leads to infighting...... Who will hold the cross of power in his hands, Benjamin really doesn't care at all.

He was a little reluctant to admit it, but he cared about the silly mages in Crewe.

He just wanted to take them out of the hellish kingdom of Hori.

"Shake your head, do you not know, or do you not want to tell me?" the bishop narrowed his eyes, a faint murderous intent leaking from his eyes.

Andre was also on the side, and said in a threatening tone: "You have no place to escape, speak out, and you can have a bright future like me." Not to mention, you won't end up with anything but death. ”

Hearing this, Benjamin shrugged helplessly.

A bright future......

Suddenly, he sighed, touched his forehead with his hand, and began to talk to himself: "There are more than two thousand defenders in the Crussard Gate, and now there should be more than a thousand people besieged here." I don't know the number of priests, but there are more than a dozen priests here, plus the guards at every intersection of the nearby mountain road, it should be about the same. If you count it this way......"

As he spoke, his voice slowly became smaller, his eyebrows furrowed, and he muttered some strange numbers in his mouth, like a student who was called up by his teacher in math class and had to start mental arithmetic.

Seeing this, the bishops and priests who looked at him all showed some strange looks.

"What do you want to say? ...... How do you know how many people are in the gate?" asked Andre after a moment's hesitation.

It seemed that there was some unprovoked panic, and he smacked a stump in his words, but compared with the stutter that he disguised before, this stump sounded much more natural.

Listening to Benjamin's ears, it also seems much more comfortable.

"If there are only so many people left in the gate, then this point in time should be about the same. At this point, Benjamin also stopped his incomprehensible self-talk. He raised his head to face the endless crowd that surrounded him, and spread his hands to reveal a somewhat innocent smile.

Innocent like a short-haired cat, deliberately overturned the vase, and then blamed all this on the husky sleeping next to him, showing that innocent and ignorant appearance when facing the owner.

"I just think you should go back and take a look. He kindly reminded.

Hearing this, all the priests were stunned. Then, with a look of suspicion, they turned their head slightly and looked at the town of Crewe in the distance behind them.

Originally, it was so dark that they couldn't see anything by the moonlight alone. However, at this moment, a fire rose above the Crusade Gate, and it was that firelight that made the outline of the town faintly visible to their eyes.

"That's, that's ......"

Except for Benjamin, everyone present showed a look of shock.

The light of the fire looked strange, it was not the kind of fire that burned naturally, but a flame floating in the air out of thin air. If you look closely, it's a bit like countless fireballs coming together and piecing together into a specific shape under the deliberate command of people.

The night was dark, and the firelight was the only bright color in the neighborhood. It was like a ghost floating in mid-air, smiling at the town of Kru, at the thousands of people in the mountains in the distance, and at the entire kingdom of Hori.

The light of the fire converged into a fairly simple phrase, and it felt like someone had written a line of fire over the Crusade Gate, or a slogan, a banner, or something.

That's really a very simple sentence.

It was so simple that the people of Crewe understood it, the travelers on the nearby roads, and the thousands of people surrounding Benjamin on this narrow mountain road. The people who were hundreds of miles from the Crusaded Gate, even if they were about to sleep, were attracted by this firelight and looked over with curious eyes.

Looking at it, some people showed stunned expressions, some people let out panicked exclaims, some people burst out laughing, and some people stomped their feet in anger. But in any case, at this moment, it became the protagonist of the night. Soon, this picture will spread throughout the kingdom of Hori, spread throughout the continent, and become a topic of conversation in everyone's mouth.

The light didn't last long, and after about two minutes, it was gone, but the commotion it caused did not subside. In fact, the heated discussion had just begun, and the words written by the flame in mid-air had already left a deep impression on people's hearts.

It's like turning on the repeater, and everyone reads it silently, or can't help but read it out. It seems to have become some kind of strange incantation, repeated over and over again by people in different places, different identities, and different countries, and blurted out so simply and crudely:

"The church is stupid. ”