"Strange... Are the Royal Capital's defenses this tight now?"
Benjamin emerged from the village by Pearl Lake, turned back, and looked toward Havenlight with puzzlement, muttering to himself inwardly.
Before taking the King to offer incense for the Queen, and since it was nearby, he had come here first in an attempt to contact Duke Colin. Yet strangely enough, the tavern in the village had shut down completely, and the owner serving as their contact was nowhere to be found. They said he had gone out on business, leaving Benjamin with a wasted trip.
At first, he had worried that even the Wood Family had been taken down by the nobles. But he soon learned that the situation in the Royal Capital was stable, and The Church had not laid a hand on the nobles at all.
Benjamin could not quite make sense of it.
After all his speculation, the only possible conclusion was that The Church's investigations had grown stricter. Duke Colin had decided to lie low for the time being, so he had closed down some of his secret operations.
He would check on the situation again in a few days.
To Benjamin and the others, the nobles were an asset, but they had never depended on them too heavily. Thus, losing contact for the moment was hardly a devastating blow.
With the King and the two siblings in tow, he reached Havenlight roughly two hours later. He first circled within the clouds a few times, then slowly approached the tomb being constructed north of the city.
"This should be the place." Benjamin swept the area with the Water Element Sensing Method. After confirming there were no issues, he landed nearby and said to the King, "Your Majesty... please accept my condolences."
They hid behind the bushes and