The Pawn's Choice

"Young master, there doesn't seem to be much food in the kitchen either. There are only these two pieces of bread left!"

Benjamin was sitting on the bed, lost in thought as he held the letter, when Jeremy returned from the kitchen. Before he even came through the door, Benjamin heard him call out.

Benjamin's heart gave another jolt. To keep anyone from noticing anything amiss, he hurriedly shoved the letter and envelope back under his pillow, concealed every sign of anything unusual, then turned to watch Jeremy come in.

Jeremy stood in the doorway, holding the bread and looking at him. He looked back at Jeremy, and for a moment, neither of them said anything.

"Young master, is something wrong?" Jeremy asked uncertainly, seeming to sense the strange atmosphere.

"It's nothing. Just give me the bread. This will be enough. It's hard to get anything else at a time like this, isn't it?" Benjamin hurriedly replied, changing the subject.

"Oh, yes." Jeremy answered blankly. He didn't seem to think much of it and handed the bread to Benjamin.

Benjamin took the bread and looked at Jeremy. Still afraid that he might ask questions, he immediately continued, not giving him a chance to dwell on anything:

"What about the thing I asked you to take care of earlier? How did it go?"

That question completely diverted Jeremy's attention. Looking somewhat flustered, he fumbled around in his pockets for a while before finally pulling a wooden cross from his coat pocket.

He held out the cross to Benjamin. "Young master, I bought it for you."

Benjamin had more or less calmed down by then. He glanced at the cross in Jeremy's hand, put on the poker face of a boss inspecting his staff, and gave a dismissive snort without saying a word, looking inscrutable.

"Young master?" Jeremy grew nervous at once and asked cautiously.

Benjamin glanced at him again, then suddenly said, "This isn't right."

Jeremy looked even more flustered. He had probably already forgotten everything that had just happened.

"Go back. Find the carpenter in the east and tell him this isn't what I wanted. He'll understand what I mean." Benjamin fell silent for a moment, then resumed issuing orders.

At that, Jeremy's eyebrows drew together again. "Right now?"

Benjamin nodded. "Yes. Leave now."

Jeremy's face fell once more.

Sending a manservant out in the middle of the night should attract the Church's attention. Once they found nothing, they would probably pay less attention to Jeremy. So even at this hour, Benjamin had no choice but to put Jeremy through another long errand.

All of it was for the sake of obtaining Annie's keepsake.

Although Michelle's letter had thrown all of Benjamin's plans into disarray, he still had no intention of giving up on this. He didn't believe Michelle would sincerely teach him magic. On the other hand, he didn't dare simply do whatever she wanted either. Who knew what schemes that woman might be hatching?

He still trusted himself more.

"Young master, I'm off. If the butler asks, remember to explain things to him, or they'll dock my pay."

Having already made one long trip, Jeremy didn't complain this time. He left the room with the cross in his hand and a miserable expression. Benjamin nodded and gave him an encouraging smile as he watched him set off on yet another long delivery.

He trusted Jeremy more or less, but not enough to let him know this much. After all, magic was involved. He still had to send the simple, timid servant away.

The Church's brainwashing was effective. In the eyes of ordinary people, mages were the incarnations of demons, wicked beyond redemption. No matter how loyal Jeremy was to him, he would probably struggle to understand what Benjamin was doing. Keeping him in the dark was better for both of them.

Once Jeremy was far away, Benjamin went over and closed the door.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

At least it had only been his manservant, and not a particularly clever one. He was easy enough to send away. If it had been someone else, Benjamin really wouldn't have known what to do. Even the butler from before might have grown suspicious and started rumors.

Having too few and too dim-witted servants could certainly be frustrating, but from another angle, it could also be a good thing.

After closing the window and drawing the curtains, Benjamin made sure no one else would interrupt him, then reached beneath his pillow and took Michelle's letter back out.

The importance of the letter to him at this moment was self-evident. He had barely read the beginning, and already he was breaking out in a cold sweat.

He had to finish reading it.

There were actually two sheets of paper inside the envelope. At first, Benjamin had assumed Michelle had a lot to say, which was why she'd written two pages. But he soon realized just how wrong he was.

The entire first page contained nothing but the opening sentence, "You have a talent for magic. I'll come teach you in ten days," followed by one unusual instruction:

"After you finish reading this, burn this page, then give the second page to the bishop at St. Peter's Cathedral and convince him to believe what it says. There are plenty of ways to contact the bishop. I doubt I need to teach you."

When Benjamin saw that Michelle wanted him to hand the letter over to the Church, he already had a bad feeling. By the time he finished the second page, he couldn't help letting out a long sigh as an overwhelming sense of helplessness washed over him.

The second page read: "In five days, meet me at the Prison Ruins in the Lower District. Don't try anything clever. The curse will activate for the first time soon, and you'll wish you were dead."

Benjamin felt a chill run down his spine.

Once again, he had underestimated Michelle.

This witch's ambition was enormous. She didn't just want Benjamin to obtain the Riser Family's Treasure Vault for her; she was also plotting against the Church. She intended to use Benjamin to set a trap, lure the Church into the Lower District in five days, and then exact a brutal revenge on them.

This was no longer a conflict between him and Michelle. It was a conflict between Michelle and the Church. And he was merely a pawn in Michelle's hand.

What was he supposed to do? What could he do?

Michelle had truly seen through every thought in his head.

If he did as Michelle said and handed the second page to the Church, they would very likely fall for it and go to the Prison Ruins in five days, straight into Michelle's trap. That would deal a blow to the Church and let Michelle act with even greater impunity.

If Benjamin didn't give the second page to the Church, the curse would make him suffer terribly. At the same time, he would lose the Church's help and face Michelle alone, putting himself in grave danger.

And if Benjamin tried the opposite approach and gave both pages to the Church... they would discover his magic and purify him on the spot.

Never mind the idea of burning both pages, claiming the letter had spontaneously combusted, and trying to persuade the Church with nothing but his word. The bishop was a crafty old fox. Without concrete evidence of Michelle's whereabouts, would he believe him? He might pretend to believe him, then, just like last time, offer a bunch of pretty words and a few irrelevant details without giving Benjamin any real help. He had no other keepsake to look for this time; the information he had now really would be irrelevant.

Every road led to death. No matter how he played this move, he'd have only the slimmest chance of survival.

Benjamin realized he had fallen into despair once more.

"Ahhh... What am I supposed to do?" He covered his face, looking utterly frazzled. He didn't even feel like eating the bread in his hand.

"Hmm... Maybe you should listen to Michelle. Didn't she say she'd teach you magic?" The system pondered for a while, then offered this suggestion.

"And then what? I learn her magic and become the next Sally, the next Annie, or maybe even worse. My life will be in her hands. Do you think she'll truly treat me as an ally? Or do you think she'll lift the curse for me of her own accord? That's wishful thinking." Benjamin shook his head as he spoke.

"That's true." The system gave an uncharacteristically sensible reply, though its good sense was completely useless.

Benjamin fell into thought. He felt every loose thread in his mind whipping about as enormous pressure bore down on him and shadows closed in, forcing him to make a choice in a short amount of time.

He had to decide quickly.

If he wanted to give the letter to the bishop, he had to leave tonight. Once today was over, the letter's "in five days" would become "in four days," and it would be difficult to explain everything to the bishop. No matter how he explained it, the bishop would end up mistrusting him.

And if he tried to use the difference between "in five days" and "in four days" to pull something, the result would only be worse. The bishop would find nothing there and trust Benjamin less; Michelle would think Benjamin was disobedient, and the curse would make him wish he were dead.

Benjamin was caught between two impossible choices.

He was trapped between the Church and Michelle. The Church wanted to use him to catch Michelle, and Michelle wanted to use him to strike at the Church. One misstep, and he'd end up pleasing neither side. It was incredibly difficult to maneuver between them and keep both sides satisfied. But he had to do it, or he'd have little chance of turning the tables.

In the end, he had to make the decision that would maximize his own interests.

—And he had to make it quickly.

The clock in the corner chimed nine times, as if even it had become inconsiderate, urging on the flustered Benjamin.

Dong... dong... dong... dong...

When the ninth chime faded, he finally stood up.

The Royal Capital imposed a curfew starting at ten. No one was allowed to wander the streets after that. If he wanted to get back to the Riser Family before ten, he had to leave now.

That's right, leave. He had finally made his decision. He would do as Michelle said, give the second page to the bishop, and lure the people from the Church to the Lower District for her.

He carried the letter over to the table, burned the first page in the oil lamp's flame, then poured the ashes into the chamber pot.

As he did so, he thought that he and the chamber pot seemed to have quite a history together.

"You're really going to follow Michelle's plan to the letter? If the Church takes a serious blow, who knows whether they'll take it out on you? Don't be impulsive." The system rarely offered a kind reminder.

Benjamin didn't look surprised. As he prepared to go to the cathedral, he replied silently, "The Church might take its anger out on me. But if I fall into the trap with them, get badly injured, and nearly lose my life, will they still suspect me?"

The system suddenly understood. "You're going to use a ruse of suffering!"

Benjamin sighed and nodded, answering helplessly, "If you want to gain something, you have to sacrifice something. If I'm hurt badly enough, I might even earn the Church's trust. Then it'll all be worth it."

At that, the system fell silent again, perhaps weighing Benjamin's choice, or perhaps just replaying a series of Yida gum commercials in its head.

Benjamin paused for a moment, then spoke, as if answering the system, though perhaps he was talking to himself:

"As a negligible pawn, if I don't make a few moves of my own, what else can I rely on to build up the capital I need to become a player?"

Once everything was ready, he slipped out of the Riser Family under cover of night and hurried toward St. Peter's Cathedral.