Reunited with an Old Friend

Benjamin had another dream.

This time, the dream finally had nothing to do with his boss. He dreamed he was submerged in a deep blue sea, surrounded by mermaids swimming around him. Their faces belonged to everyone he had met since coming to this world.

Their expressions were unfamiliar and cold, and they looked a little terrifying.

But soon, one by one, the mermaids swimming around him turned into blue characters, which flew faster and faster around him. The vast sea suddenly vanished, and everything around him became endless darkness.

Benjamin tried to make out the characters, but for some reason, he just couldn't see what they looked like.

A buzzing sound reached his ears.

As he looked at everything around him, he suddenly realized: wasn't this his Consciousness Space? He remembered how he had first opened up his Consciousness Space. Listening to the strange, faint sound, a thought suddenly struck him.

He began reciting the incantation for the Water Ball Spell toward the buzzing.

Nothing happened.

Benjamin was puzzled. So he pricked up his ears and began swimming toward the buzzing sound.

As he drew closer, the sound grew louder. He suddenly had a premonition that it could tell him every secret of the Consciousness Space and grant him boundless power. So he swam even harder, focusing on the sound with a hundred times the concentration he used for English listening exercises.

The sound slowly grew clearer.

It seemed to be a sentence.

Benjamin was excited. He was just one step away from the answer.

At last, like the first breath of air taken on land by a sea creature that had evolved to live there, like the contact between a bubble and the very tip of a needle at their point of closest approach, the sound emerged from the chaos and suddenly became clear:

"Young master, please, you absolutely mustn't die!"

Dream-Benjamin froze. What did that mean?

Suddenly, it felt as though a tremendous force had struck him. He sucked in a huge breath and opened his eyes.

He woke up.

"Young master... Young master, you—you finally woke up?" a voice cried excitedly by his ear.

"Y-You... don't make a fuss just yet."

Benjamin felt groggy all over. He sat up, wincing at the pounding in his head, and held his forehead as he tried to collect himself. After a while, he gradually began to feel clear-headed again, with enough energy to take in his surroundings.

His surroundings... this was his bedroom in the Riser Family home.

He was lying in his own bed.

Seeing that, he let out a long breath, then flopped back down with a thump.

Someone had brought him back.

Michelle's curse... was fucking agonizing. Thankfully, he'd passed out from the pain near the end. Otherwise, he really would have experienced the double pleasure of childbirth and having his balls crushed.

Still, from another perspective, he had to thank the curse. It had struck at just the right time.

As he recalled the farce in the castle, Benjamin still felt shaken—having a gun pointed at him wasn't pleasant. If the curse hadn't suddenly struck while he and Dick were fighting, if Dick hadn't thought his shot had hit Benjamin, if that shot hadn't actually missed Benjamin...

It was hard to say how things might have turned out.

How had a perfectly good trip to another world gotten so damn stressful?

"Young master, are you all right?"

Benjamin came back to himself and looked up. Jeremy stood by the bed, watching him cautiously.

"...All right, don't worry. I'm fine." Although he knew Jeremy was only doing his job, Benjamin still felt a little touched.

"I'll go tell the others and Madam." Jeremy smiled sheepishly, turned, and ran off. He was gone in the blink of an eye, before Benjamin could even call him back.

He'd been going to ask him to run another errand...

Forget it. That could wait. His head still hurt! For now, he'd put all those troubles out of his mind and get some rest.

Benjamin closed his eyes, relaxed his whole body, and sank deep into the soft bedding.

But he hadn't been lying there for long when—

"Lord Riser, long time no see. I wonder if you were pleased with my little gift?"

A voice suddenly rang out in the room.

Benjamin jolted awake and opened his eyes. He sat up and looked toward the voice.

"...Michelle."

A figure wrapped in a dark green cloak stood in the shadowy corner of the room. Michelle was dressed exactly as she had been last time, like an assassin lurking in the dark. It was impossible to tell what she had hidden beneath her cloak.

Benjamin took a deep breath.

He felt calmer than he would have expected. Perhaps he should have been shocked by Michelle's ghostlike movements, but he wasn't. He simply looked at her, as if they were old friends meeting again after a long separation: distant enough to have grown hostile, yet familiar enough to feel a little nostalgic.

How could he not have guessed? The curse had just struck, and its lingering effects had yet to fade. This was the perfect moment for Michelle to show herself. The advantage in presence would give her the upper hand in negotiations.

As for how she had sneaked in here—she had managed to leave a letter under his pillow without anyone noticing. What couldn't she do?

Benjamin felt the bedding beginning to grow cold.

He was ready to call for help. Everyone from the Riser Family was here, and the Church's knights assigned to watch him couldn't be far away. If he called out, there was a good chance Michelle would have no choice but to leave.

But Benjamin also knew that if Michelle dared show up here, she was confident she could get away unharmed. If he couldn't take her down in one strike, driving her off temporarily would be pointless—and might only provoke her.

He decided to see what Michelle wanted.

Feeling the cross hanging around his neck, Benjamin felt a little safer.

At least he still had something going for him, didn't he?

"I don't have much time, so I'll keep this brief." At last, after a moment's standoff, Michelle spoke. "I don't have the time to teach you magic. I'll leave this Bible with you. You'll find what you're looking for in it."

As she spoke, she pulled out a small booklet and tossed it onto Benjamin's bed.

"A Bible?"

Benjamin didn't understand. He looked at the book lying on the covers without touching it.

He couldn't figure out what Michelle was up to.

"I know what you're thinking," Michelle replied. "It's not like the Church's hypocritical hymnal. This is our Bible, and it records real magic. If I'm not mistaken, you only learned magic by chance. I'm sure you'll need it."

At that, Benjamin glanced at the booklet again. He suppressed his curiosity about magic and instead asked, "You wouldn't give me something for nothing. What do you want?"

They said a weasel never visited a chicken without bad intentions. He wanted to know what Michelle was up to.

She had gone to great lengths: leaving a letter saying she'd come in ten days, then sending a letter to the Church to throw them off the scent. And now she'd staged this sudden ambush. Surely she hadn't done all that just to give Benjamin a book.

"My goal has always been simple. You should know that." Michelle seemed unwilling to waste words. "You can think of this as an equal exchange: the Treasure Vault for your life."

After hearing that, Benjamin was silent for a while. Then he suddenly spoke, his voice quiet:

"Believe it or not, I really don't know how to open the Treasure Vault."

He had confirmed it with the system a long time ago. There was no way to open the Treasure Vault in Benjamin's memories. Perhaps Grant, whom Michelle had originally intended to kidnap, knew how to open it, but unfortunately, Benjamin didn't.

He also wasn't going to keep up the lie that his bloodline could open the Treasure Vault. Things were different now, and he wasn't afraid to tell Michelle the truth. What could she do, kill him? Besides, deep down, he had a vague feeling that Michelle already knew.

Sure enough, Michelle didn't look surprised.

"I know, Lord Benjamin Riser." Her voice was calm, but Benjamin could hear anger in it. She was probably furious and embarrassed about kidnapping the wrong person. "But you're still the young master of the Riser Family. You may not know how to open the Treasure Vault now, but by the time I come back, you will."

"How will I know by then?"

"That's not my problem to worry about." Michelle was clearly angry, and just as clearly taking it out on Benjamin. "I believe in your intelligence. Please don't disappoint me."

Damn it.

Benjamin couldn't help getting angry too.

Ever since he found out about the curse, he'd known this moment would come. There was no helping it; he was at her mercy. Michelle was as stubborn as ever, still wanting people to work like slaves for her.

But he still wanted to try to get something more out of her, even if it was just a little information.

"What about this Bible? Where did it come from? Do you have anything else like it—"

But halfway through, Benjamin stopped as if he'd seen a ghost.

Michelle was gone.

A cabinet blocked one corner of the room, leaving it poorly lit and shrouded in shadow. But Michelle, who had been standing there in her cloak just moments earlier, had vanished from that patch of darkness as if she'd never been there.

Holy shit, she'd left?

Benjamin felt a chill run down his spine.

He suddenly realized he might have seriously underestimated Michelle's abilities.

She'd gone from there to nowhere, and he couldn't tell how it had happened. He hadn't even sensed a trace of magical energy. She couldn't have managed that with cunning alone. No wonder she'd been able to contend with the powerful Church for so long.

A headache—in both senses of the word.

He really would have to ask around about the Treasure Vault.

Although he wasn't thrilled about working for Michelle, one look at the little booklet tossed onto his bed helped put him in a better mood.

...A Bible for mages?

He carefully picked it up.

For a book bearing the name of a great religious work, it seemed far too thin. Compared with any version of the Bible, it was pitifully slim, more like a public health pamphlet.

But Michelle had said as much, so Benjamin believed it was a book worth looking forward to. In fact, he was already looking forward to it, practically itching to try it out.

He was just about to open it.

"Young master, Madam and the others have all gone to bed. I'll ask them to come see you tomorrow."

Jeremy's voice suddenly came from the doorway. Benjamin hurriedly stuffed the book under the covers.

He suddenly understood why Michelle had said she didn't have much time and had disappeared so abruptly.

Jeremy, oh, Jeremy...

But he couldn't blame him. Jeremy was only doing his duty.

"Young master, is there anything else you need?" Jeremy asked dutifully as he came to the bedside.

"No. Go get some rest. I'm going to rest too. Whatever it is, we can talk about it tomorrow."

Benjamin felt like a kid sneaking a look at the TV while his parents were out. His parents had come back unexpectedly, so he'd had to switch it off in a hurry. Now he couldn't stop thinking about the show and was impatiently hoping they'd leave, but he didn't dare make it too obvious.

He was about to learn new magic!

Could everyone just leave him alone?

"Of course. Good night, young master." Jeremy nodded and turned to leave.

"...Wait."

But Benjamin suddenly called out to him again.

Jeremy turned back, looking at Benjamin with a puzzled expression.

"Um, how did that thing I asked you to do last time go?" Benjamin had just remembered. Suppressing his impatience, he continued with his plan to uncover Annie's belongings.

Although it was quite possible none of Annie's belongings were worth as much as this Bible.

"Oh, right." Jeremy looked as if he had just been reminded. "I just remembered. You said that carpenter would understand, but I asked him, and he said he didn't understand."

"No, he does understand," Benjamin said expressionlessly.

"But he said he didn't understand."

"No, you don't understand. Go tell him he understands."

"...Really? I still don't understand."

"Really. It doesn't matter if you don't understand. Go tell him. He'll understand."

As if he'd understand. Benjamin didn't even understand what he was supposed to understand.

He was almost starting to forget what the word "understand" meant.

Jeremy was clearly getting confused too. He stood there staring at the ceiling for a while. Then, coming back to himself, he asked in alarm, "Right now?"

Benjamin nodded, looking kindly at him.

"Right now."

Jeremy stared blankly for a moment. This time, he didn't say anything about it being too late or the journey being too long. He just nodded woodenly and trudged out of the room, looking dazed, as if his soul had been drained from his body.

They say that after that night, the carpenter in the eastern part of town suddenly fell seriously ill, shut up shop, and stayed inside for an entire month. Everyone who saw him said he had a high fever and kept muttering, "I don't understand... I don't understand..."

But that was all in the future.

For now, that night, Benjamin saw Jeremy out and made sure the doors and windows were shut, so nobody else would come in and disturb him.

He took the book back out from under the covers. Holding it as a true fanatic might hold a true Bible, he couldn't help taking a deep breath.

Finally.

He could finally learn magic beyond the Water Ball Spell.

What else could he say?

It was time for the main course. Let us pray together.