First Forged Memory

Benjamin realized he was far too prone to getting carried away.

The heavens are helping me? He was dreaming. Just look at everything that had happened to him since he'd crossed over. The heavens weren't going to help him; they hated him. They hated him to death. If they really wanted to help, they wouldn't have dumped him into such an unlucky body.

He'd also forgotten one of the three great illusions of life: "I can turn the tables." He'd already fallen for that one once.

Damn it...

He'd just been hoping Michelle would show up, and then she really had. Except that before she appeared, the curse had flared up. Benjamin had collapsed onto the bed, without even the strength to pick up his gun and aim at Michelle. Turning the tables was out of the question.

How devious!

"I didn't want our meeting to become so unpleasant either, but I have no other choice. After all, you're now capable of killing me." Michelle spoke calmly, as if telling a child a story. "I just want to remind you that I'm a mage, and so are you. The Church is our real enemy. If you side with the Church to deal with me, you'll regret it someday."

Benjamin wanted to open his mouth and curse her out, but the pain from the curse left him barely able to speak.

"Don't worry. This time, the pain will pass fairly quickly. I only wanted to remind you." Michelle clearly knew Benjamin couldn't speak, but continued anyway. "Find a way to open the Treasure Vault, and I'll lift the curse. If I truly meant you harm, I could simply take your gun and bullets right now. You wouldn't be able to fight back at all."

As she spoke, she walked over to the bed and picked up the gun that had fallen to the floor.

Struggling in pain, Benjamin instinctively reached for the flash of silver in Michelle's hand, like a traveler dying of thirst in the desert, gazing at an oasis in the distance.

Seeing this, Michelle chuckled and handed him the gun. Benjamin tried with all his might to grip it, but his trembling hands wouldn't obey him. The gun slipped from his grasp and hit the floor again.

"But I won't take them," Michelle continued. "Aside from what I want from the Treasure Vault, I won't take anything that belongs to you. That's my way of showing good faith in this deal. I hope you can trust me."

Trust you, my ass! Benjamin couldn't say it aloud, so he could only roar it in his mind.

Just then, he suddenly felt the pain from the curse ease, and it stopped. His spirits lifted. He immediately jumped out of bed, grabbed the gun, and watched the shooting interface unfold rapidly before his eyes.

But when he looked up to aim, Michelle had vanished.

The room was empty. The corners were empty. He was alone in the room, as if Michelle had never been there.

Benjamin stood there holding his gun in silence for a long while.

In the end, he lowered his gun and sighed.

Same old routine.

He collapsed onto his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling in despair. Every time he thought the psychological shadow Michelle cast over him was already bad enough, her next appearance always put even more pressure on him.

Had she installed a camera in his room? Had she planted a listening device on him?

Otherwise, why did she act as if she knew everything?

She was already this capable. Why not just kidnap Claude and make him hand over the entire Treasure Vault while trembling in fear?

Why not just blow up St. Peter's Cathedral? Strip the bishop and the others naked, hang them from the city gate, and whip them eighty-one times—that would surely satisfy her.

Damn it...

Only after cursing Michelle from head to toe in his mind did Benjamin gradually calm down.

He couldn't let Michelle lead him around by the nose. His despair and anger were exactly what she wanted to see. He had to calm down and think carefully. Only by analyzing Michelle's actions thoroughly could he possibly defeat her.

Think it through...

What had Michelle's appearance today meant?

Benjamin knew perfectly well that she'd come to intimidate him.

Why had she come to intimidate him?

Because she was afraid.

As his emotions faded, Benjamin's thoughts slowly grew clearer.

She was afraid that the next time she appeared, he might shoot her without a word and kill her. So she'd come right up to him and put on this little show, hoping to make him fear her and keep him from shooting. But why should he fear her? The mage he'd shot and crippled in the outer city was undoubtedly far more powerful than Michelle!

Benjamin couldn't be afraid of her. This was a psychological game. Whoever backed down first lost.

But there was another question. Why hadn't Michelle taken everything from Benjamin?

Because she was bluffing, pretending she wasn't afraid at all to scare him. But actually...

Wait, that didn't make sense... Did she need to bluff?

If she took everything, he'd have no way to fight back—not even enough to scare her. By leaving the gun behind, she'd made herself much more vulnerable. One little slip, and she could lose control of the situation and get herself killed by a single shot from Benjamin.

Why would she do that? It didn't seem useful for anything except showing off. Or was she just creating confusion and putting on a mysterious act?

"Why? Why didn't she take the gun and bullets?"

Benjamin's train of thought, which had only just started to clear, ground to a halt.

"Didn't she tell you? She did it to show good faith. You really are hopeless. You take kindness for cruelty." The system suddenly spoke up again, sounding as if it had seen right through everything.

"..." Benjamin couldn't be bothered to answer.

If the system was right, then he'd be all for it!

A deal was supposed to be based on equality between both sides. But as long as Michelle held his life in her hands, they could never be equals, and there could be no such thing as a fair deal.

He could help Michelle get what she wanted from the Treasure Vault. But what then? If she refused to lift the curse and kept using it to threaten him, what could he do? Keep working like a beast of burden for Michelle? He'd rather be dead.

Hoping Michelle would have a change of heart and lift the curse after she got what she wanted from the Treasure Vault was far too passive. And, frankly, far too naive.

So Benjamin could only stall, draw things out until Michelle slipped up and he could deal with her—or until he came up with another way to get rid of the curse.

More stalling...

He was exhausted.

He hadn't been able to relax for more than a few days before all these troubles came crashing down on him again. It was almost suffocating. He had to play cat and mouse with Michelle on one side and stay on guard against the Church on the other. He felt like a bomb that could go off at any moment.

And with Claude dumping military training on him, how was he supposed to find the energy to learn magic?

Right, the Church...

Holy crap, the Church!

Suddenly, Benjamin seemed to remember something extremely important. He sat bolt upright in bed.

"Um... You said that when the Church rescued me last time, they extracted my memories." Benjamin's voice was unusually serious as he spoke to the system. "Can you quickly create another set of memories now? Start from when I returned to the Riser Family. Most of it can be true, but remove everything related to Michelle and magic. Make it a set of memories that the Church can look at without becoming suspicious."

Whenever magic was involved, the Church acted with considerable arrogance. He was worried that if the Paladin reported what had happened tonight, the bishop might get irritated and send someone to extract his memories again. He needed to prepare in advance.

His memories contained things he absolutely couldn't let the Church find out about.

He'd gotten away with it last time through sheer luck. If it happened again, he'd be finished!

"Oh my gosh, how would I know how to do that? You're asking too much of me!" The system sounded as if Benjamin's words had startled it, and answered without hesitation.

"It's not that hard. Just copy the format of the file containing Benjamin's old memories, create a new file, then input the memories we made up. When someone from the Church comes to extract them, you can transmit that file to them. That's all there is to it!" Benjamin didn't dare give up. He tried again, explaining it from an angle the system might understand.

When it came to dealing with memory extraction, he had no other option besides the system. So no matter how unreliable it was, Benjamin could only make it put together a set of memories.

"Hmm... Put that way, I think it really is possible." Thankfully, after a moment's thought, the system finally said that.

"Then get started. I'm worried that after the Paladin reports what happened, they'll summon me tonight." Benjamin urged it again. Ever since he'd realized this, he'd had a very bad feeling.

With something like this, he had to prepare early—as early as possible.

He really did seem to have a gift for jinxing himself. He'd just been thinking, "I have to play cat and mouse with Michelle on one side and stay on guard against the Church on the other," and now he was truly caught in the middle, unable to move.

But it wasn't long before he discovered that his knack for jinxing himself went far beyond that.

Because three hours later, the Church really did come.