Chapter 53

: The True Motive of the Bandits
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

I can tell you information on that woman, but in return, you have to bring one of your lackeys over, I have questions for him.
Benjamin requested.
The knife-scarred man already sent all his men away, only he and Benjamin remained in the sewers. Benjamin could kill the knife-scarred man with magic and no one would notice.
But he would not do this.
After killing the knife-scarred man, it would be troublesome for him to find that assassin. Rather than using force, he might as well negotiate with the opposition. After all, the assassin was under the command of the knife-scarred man, so it would be easy for him to be summoned.
Benjamin could kill the knife-scarred man after he is done questioning the assassin who will be sent away. After killing the knife-scarred man, he would find another exit and escape. The lackeys would have no idea what happened.
There was no other option as there were too many of them, so it was impossible for Benjamin to kill them all. Doing so would also be too bloody and attract attention.
On his way here, Benjamin had already thought of a plan. The plan was rather perfect, the only hard part was that he had to figure out how to persuade the knife-scarred man.
He would not agree to Benjamin’s suggestion so easily.

Trade? Who do you think you are, trying to talk terms with me? I already killed the paladin, what makes you think I won’t kill you?

Saying this, the knife-scarred man drew out his gun and pointed it at Benjamin’s forehead. His finger was on the trigger, ready to blow Benjamin’s head up anytime.
If it was his first time being pointed at by a gun, he would probably mess up his whole plan. But sadly, it was not.
Facing this situation, he was a little nervous, but his thoughts were still clear. The knife-scarred man would not kill him. He was only doing this to scare him.
From the day he crossed over until now, how many times has he been threatened?

If you kill me, you’ll never know where Michelle is,
He stared directly into the opponent’s eyes and said this.
The knife-scarred man did not move. With the gun was still pointed at his forehead, Benjamin could feel the coldness of the steel barrel and the fire in the body of the gun. For two seconds, he thought the opponent would fire away.
This continued on for half a minute.
The knife-scarred man grunted and drew his gun back.
Even though it was already expected, Benjamin was still relieved. He wiped away the sweat and the mark made by the barrel.
What could he do? Even if he knew clearly what was going to happen, would you not panic if you had a gun pointed at your forehead?
Right when he thought the knife-scarred man would start speaking, he suddenly grabbed Benjamin’s hands, held him down and began searching his body.
Benjamin was a bit surprised, but not caught off guard.
The knife-scarred man was cunning. Seeing as Benjamin was so brave, of course he would be suspicious.
In a while, the gun that the paladin gave Benjamin was confiscated.
The knife-scarred man held the gun, let Benjamin go and chuckled.

I say, for a noble kid to be so calm with a gun pointed to his head, of course there would be something suspicious.
He inspected the gun and fit it into his belt,
I underestimated you, if I didn’t pay more attention, I would probably be facing a problem now.

Benjamin stared at him furiously.
Damn, do not make me jam my gun into your anus, I am afraid of it being dirty.
The knife-scarred man obviously misunderstood his anger, and laughed even more joyfully.

How about now? Master Benjamin, do you still want to talk terms with me?

Benjamin said:
Of course, if you don’t call your lackey over, I would die, and I won’t tell you anything.

The knife-scarred man was surprised.
He looked at Benjamin again, and made some ‘tsk tsk’ sounds. He walked left to right then right to left, and after inspecting Benjamin, he started chuckling.
He said:
I have not seen a nobleman this brave, interesting. Alright, it’s only asking a few questions. If you tell me where the woman is, I would let you ask as many questions as you want! Who do you want to see, I’ll call him over.

His attitude changed really quickly. His previously wicked demeanor changed into something like a good person.
Benjamin did not care about this sudden change. Hearing what he wanted to hear, he was happy.
The hardest part was done.
Everything went according to plan, and the knife-scarred man agreed easier than he expected. After this, nothing much could go wrong anymore.
Or he agreed so easily, because he thought Benjamin was suspicious and wanted to test him.
But who cares, if he continued testing him, would he even know he was a mage?
Benjamin could kill his opponent instantly, he had nothing to fear.

It is the tall and skinny one, the one with freckles, wearing the rag shirt, I saw him at the pub.
He replied.
Hearing this, the knife-scarred man nodded, and said:
Alright, I accept, but you have to remember your promise.
After finishing the sentence, he turned around, walked to the sewer entrance, and shouted.

Bamboo shoot, where is he, call him over!

After a while, a reply came:
Boss, which bamboo shoot?

The knife-scarred man was frustrated. He shouted:
The new bamboo shoot, not the old man, the one that came a few days ago! Ask him to come down, I have stuff to ask him!

There was no reply, and they both had to continue to wait. Finally, a sound came:

Boss, the new bamboo shoot said he wanted to pee, so he went and he has been gone for some time, we can’t find him. Rat says he was probably too scared and ran away.


….

The situation was awkward.
What the hell?
Benjamin felt that this world was playing tricks on him.

Did that guy recognize me as well, and before I wanted to find him, he escaped?
he asked the System, full of hatred.

Probably not, seeing that guy, he probably won’t recognize you.
The System replied,
But seeing the way he walked just now, he really was holding his pee.

Benjamin was silent for a while, then said:
You’re saying that he really went to pee, lost his way and is not coming back?

The System replied:
Who knows, it probably is based on his previous behaviour.


….

What now, the System seems to be making sense, and there was no way for him to retort.
Sigh…
What are you playing at?
Right when he wanted to question this man, this man was gone? Was he really this unlucky?
It was hard for him to make his way here, and even harder for him to plan and continued to battle the knife-scarred man with wits, and finally, he lost to an
urge to pee?

Benjamin was depressed.
As for the knife-scarred man, after hearing the reply, his emotion did not change. He shouted back:
Alright, that’s all, carry on!

After shouting this, he walked back to Benjamin, and said:
You heard them, it is not me who is not willing to help, he ran away, what can I do? You can’t blame me for that.

Benjamin had no choice, his plan to question the assassin has failed — and it failed to a really unexpected reason.
But he has yet to give up.
After some thought, he said:
Well, at least tell me stuff about that bamboo shoot. When did he come, where did he come from, where does he normally hang around, what is he called? If you can’t even provide these, I wouldn’t tell you where Michelle is.

Hearing this, the knife-scarred man’s face sunk.

You’re asking for too much, do you think I have to rely on you to find her? You really think I don’t dare to kill you?
he said, with an urge to reach for his gun.

Of course, other than me, no one else knows where she is.
Benjamin replied confidently.
He was not arrogant, but he was understood very well how Michelle was an expert at hiding. Even the Church had to rely on Benjamin, how much more this bandit leader?
From the looks of it, the knife-scarred man has probably been looking for Michelle for months and had not been able to find a trace. Under these circumstances, Benjamin was his only hope, so how could he harm Benjamin?
Benjamin was fearless because of the power he held.
Maybe this thought is a bit too egoistic. This is not right, Benjamin thought he had better remain calm and cautious.

Damn, this little bastard, how dare you be so arrogant in front of me,
As expected, the knife-scarred man withdrew his hand holding the gun, reached for Benjamin’s collar, lifted him and started scolding.
With this kind of reaction, what else could he say?
It proved that the man had no other choice, of course, he could only curse and do nothing else.
Seeing this, Benjamin was curious. What kind of vendetta did this man have against Michelle that would make him try so hard to find her?
Cautiously, he started testing the knife-scarred man.
Revenge probably did not give him so much energy, so it was probably… benefit.
Suddenly, Benjamin seemed to have thought of something. He saw that knife-scarred man’s eyes in proximity, those violence-filled eyes.
No, they were not eyes of violence, what were hidden in his eyes were helplessness, unwillingness, and ambition … He was the kingdom’s most-feared bandit, yet his whole gang was destroyed by the Church, and only he survived. He should not be hating Michelle, instead his hatred should be towards the Church, but he didn’t have the power to fight them, unless…
An idea popped up in Benjamin’s head.
An idea without proof but seemed convincing.
He wanted to learn magic.
The knife-scarred man wanted to find Michelle, not for revenge, but because he wanted to learn magic through Michelle and obtain even more power.
Right when Benjamin wanted to make this conclusion, the knife-scarred man looked at Benjamin as if he has seen through Benjamin. He looked at Benjamin’s unchanging expression, and suddenly, he frowned and said:

Are you a mage?