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Benjamin spent around half a day to win over whole Angus village.

After digging a well, he and a few of the mages split up to eliminate the bandits around the area. These mountain thieves were not very strong to begin with, so needless to say, they stood no chance against a group of mages.

After a few hours, they completed their task and headed back to the village to receive a hero’s welcome.

"Sir Mage, we aren’t clear what you are trying to achieve, but the youngsters in this village are willing to follow you," The village head held Benjamin’s hands with a large grin on his face, "They are good hunters. They will surely be of help to help His Majesty regain his throne."

Benjamin could only smile while shaking his head.

He did not have any plans to amass an army.

He had enough money to cover the mages’ expenses, but feeding an entire army would be overkill. Moreover, they were only using guerilla tactics right now. Building an army would be a declaration of war against the Church.

"There’s no need for that. The two with magic talent will be more than enough," thinking of this, Benjamin humbly declined.

"Oh... Then how long do you plan to stay?" The village head asked again, slightly dejected this time.

Benjamin smiled at him, "We will be taking our leave immediately."

There were many villages throughout the nation; they couldn’t stay in one village for too long if they were going to go through them all. This was just the start; the System had already planned their route out.

They were to follow this route to recruit as many mage apprentices as possible as well as to spread their influence throughout Carretas.

Besides, staying at one place for too long also put them at risk of getting detected by the Church.

So, with that, Benjamin and the rest, including the two new mage apprentices, took off from Angus Village and continued on with their journey.

This part of the remote low uplands was vast, and many villages were scattered around. With every one of them, they repeated the process they carried out in Angus Village. They would travel to the village and use the King’s identity to gain the trust of the people, then they would use magic to resolve the local’s problems, thus, winning their loyalty.

Lastly, they would take in the new mage recruits before rushing to the next village.

Over time, Benjamin’s apprentice team slowly grew.

"Teacher Benjamin, I have a question to ask you."

Ryan was a villager from the Angus Village. He was once a hunter, but after his encounter with magic, he was instantly drawn in and decided to follow Benjamin without any hesitation. He had an incredible talent with the water element magic, and as the number of apprentices grew, he started to act as their unofficial leader.

About seven days after leaving Angus Village. Benjamin and the gang were setting up camp on the uninhabited foot of a mountain when he suddenly came to look for Benjamin.

Benjamin grinned warmly at him when he saw him, "Go ahead."

Ryan cleared his throat and seemed a little nervous, "Teacher Benjamin, why have we been running around these past few days with such a strict itinerary? What kind of enemy are we facing?"

Benjamin couldn’t help but shake his head.

They still couldn’t resist asking.

The apprentices were curious, what with everything that was happening over the past few days. Although they were hot-blooded, they were not stupid - they could naturally sense Benjamin’s burden from his constant rushing about.

Benjamin did not want the burden to fall onto the apprentices but, they deserved to know at least a few things.

"The enemy we are facing is the Church."

"The Church?" Ryan’s brows furrowed as he frowned, "I think I heard of them, but they only seem to be active in other nations."

"Yes, but you see, the Church is far greater than you can possibly imagine," Benjamin let out a sigh before continuing, "I am originally from the Kingdom of Helius, where the Church ruled. A few of us escaped the Kingdom but found that there is no paradise for mages outside, either. The Church is merciless and attempts to usurp every nation they possibly can. Now, Carretas is at risk of becoming their next victim."

Upon hearing this, Ryan drew a sharp breath, "So... the one who overthrew the throne... was the Church?"

Benjamin nodded.

He continued, "Being a mage isn’t as wonderful as you think. The Church is like a curse. Once you become a mage, they will hunt you forever. I introduced you to the magic world with selfish intentions. After all, those who fall into a ditch will do their best to find a way to get out. So, I’m pulling in as many people as possible."

To a certain degree, he was driving these people to the end of the road instead of letting them have a peaceful, uneventful life.

Ryan was momentarily dumbfounded upon hearing these words.

Benjamin smiled coyly at the sight, "What? Has the image of me being heroic and noble now crumbled? If you wish to leave, I will not stop you. But do not forget that one day, the Church will be after your tails too."

Although he said it in a joking tone, he was well aware of how despicable his words sounded.

He used magic to forcibly drag them on to a sinking ship.

"No... I just didn’t think that this was your purpose," Ryan suddenly came to senses and shook his head.

Benjamin was perplexed, "What did you think my purpose was?"

Ryan looked to his left and right before lowering his voice at continuing, "Over the past few days, we apprentices have been discussing and had concluded that you were pulling people in to become mages so that you could become King yourself."

"..."

Benjamin was rendered speechless.

Did he really seem that power hungry?

He felt slightly ashamed.

Looking at Benjamin’s reaction, Ryan scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously.

"That’s just because you were moving about with so much intent. You seemed to be putting 110% into everything you did, so we thought that your goal had to be quite... terrifying."

Benjamin burst out laughing at their logic.

He had to admit that he went about every village quite directly and in a brusque manner. With the same movement repeated in every village, the villagers themselves may be enchanted, but the apprentices who have been following him every day and watched the same ruse, again and again, would have noticed that something was off.

But their conclusion was way off. Despite all the fuss, all Benjamin wanted was to become a mage and live his life to the fullest.

"You don’t feel that I have cheated you?" He turned his gaze back to Ryan who did not know what else to say.

Ryan answered casually as he shrugged his shoulders, "It doesn’t matter. Anything is fine as long as we get to learn magic."

Benjamin stared at him and was momentarily stunned before finally nodding in acknowledgement.

He suddenly recalled when he first learnt magic.

At that time... He too had the same attitude. He yearned for magic and was hopeful for the future — In order to learn more magic, he even ran into the St Peter Cathedral and risked his life by playing a fool in front of the bishop. Now, it was a feeling of deja vu when he heard that this group of new apprentices were willing to plunge into the worst trials for a chance to learn magic.

Their zeal reminded him of himself.

Out of nowhere, Benjamin suddenly felt a sense of anticipation towards this group of unsuspecting apprentices.

"If that’s the case, then do your best in learning," He patted his thigh and got up, "However, let me tell you the ugly truth first. The burden you carry will be heavy and it is one that is shared with everyone here; if you do not learn well or work hard, I will not go easy on you. There is no free lunch here, and I will personally make sure of that. Do you understand?"

His stern tone instantly changed the atmosphere in the room and he instantly went from being warm and approachable to being far off and powerful.

Ryan’s smile disappeared from his face and sweat started to drip from his forehead.

"A-alright..."