บท 22: 22. Stay Over
After he defeats the ninja mage, Ben try to sense his surrounding again. The previous ninja mage can hide his presence and magic power from Ben. So Ben needs to be more vigilant now.
'That black color of his magic must be shadow magic. He can hide in the shadow to avoid detection. It is the most suitable magic for stealth and infiltration.'-Ben
Ben returns to his team & Arthur's group while the Mayor's men tie up the ninja mage.
"Everyone okay?"-Ben
"Y-yeah, we're more worried about you, though."-Arthur
"Don't worry about me, I can handle things like this better than you guys. Anyway, we need to be careful in case if there's someone who is still hiding. Let's wait here in the open, so we won't get cornered inside. I can protect you better in here until the magic council mages come."-Ben
"Alright, we'll follow your advice."-Mayor
They wait there for 15 minutes before the mages from the magic council come with their flying magic ship. There's no attack again during their wait, it seems the ninja mage is the enemy's last resort.
"I'm Geld, from Magic Council. Are you the mage who capture them?"-Geld
"Yeah, we're mages from Cait Shelter."-Ben
"Cait Shelter? Ah, alright, I understand. Can you tell me about these mages and the chronology of their attack?"-Geld
Ben tells Geld about the dark mages, and what happened before. Geld record the talk with his lacrima and nod along. He is surprised by Ben's feat and how the battle went on.
'This kid doesn't lie, I know it from his tone. So he defeated the 6 of them alone, and just now he defeated the last one in here. This kid has good potential, I'm glad he's not raised by a dark guild.'-Geld
"Alright, I've collected everything I need, so we will leave now. Thank you for your cooperation."-Geld
"What will happen with their employer?"-Ben
"If it's proved that they were hired, then we will capture the one who hires them. Hiring dark mages is already a crime, not to mention the assassination job. If it's proven, then we will put them in prison."-Geld
"Alright then."-Ben
The mages from the magic council leave with the captured dark mages. They've also checked the vicinity and didn't find another suspicious mage, so it's safe now.
Team Ben & the Mayor's group can finally enter the mansion now. They go to the living room and some maids give them iced tea & snacks. Ben takes the iced tea and gulps all of it fast.
"Phew, that feels great. Can I get some glasses of iced juice? I need to cool my body's temperature after some battles."-Ben
"Understood."-Maid 1
"Hoho, I like the way you drink, boy. You will be quite a drinker in the future."-Ray
*BONK* The Mayor's wife knock her husband's head
"Don't teach a child to be a drunkard like you!"-Mayor's wife
"A-Alicia, I'm just praising how the boy drink his iced tea."-Ray
"Hmph, it's the same."-Alicia
'It seems that no matter what the world is, the wife will be the 1st in command in most families.'-Ben remembers his family that has a similar structure.
They just rest & chat calmly while waiting for Joseph's group. The group finally reaches the mansion after 2 hours. Horse carriage is slow. Even more, when they need to take some detours.
The group doesn't get attacked at all by mages. It confirmed their suspicion that there is a spy inside their group. The spy also seems to have a high rank in their group to know about this plan.
"You won't ask me to find the spy, aren't you?"-Ben
"No, of course not. We will do it ourselves, it's our internal problem."-Joseph
"Alright, I think our job ends here, so we'll take our leave."-Ben
"Wait! Why don't you join the dinner with us and stay here for the night? It's almost dark, so I think it's better to return tomorrow."-Arthur
"Oh, that's a good idea, Arthur."-Ray
"I don't think we can do that, right, girls?"-Ben
""We want to stay.""-Girls
"What? Why?"-Ben raises an eyebrow
"We want to explore the town tomorrow, like when we explore Clover Town."-Wendy
"Oh, alright then."-Ben
Team Ben decides to stay in the mansion tonight and explore the town tomorrow. They have a big dinner with the 2 families to celebrate their success today.
Ben doesn't restrain himself and eats a lot of food on the table. His appetite has grown along with his power growth. Everyone except his team is dumbfounded by Ben's appetite.
"How can he eat so much with that small body?"-Maya
"Mages are truly mysterious."-Ray
They continue their dinner, with Ben devouring a lot of food. After dinner, they take a bath in the mansion's big bathroom with hot water.
"Rich people really have everything in their house."-Ben said with a pissed expression.
"I don't think you can say that just after seeing the hot bath."-Arthur sweatdrop.
"That's what a rich person always says."-Ben said, forgetting that he is a billionaire.
"Sigh, whatever, just enjoy the bath."-Arthur
They enjoy the bath before going to their bedroom to sleep. Wendy & the cats want to sleep in the same room with Ben, and he agrees. They must feel wary to sleep by themselves in a foreign place. Nothing noteworthy happened that night, and they just sleep peacefully.
The next day, Team Ben explores the town and sees many new things. They buy some items that intrigue them like usual. Then at the end of their exploration, they go to a magic store. Ben wants to buy another magic spells that he doesn't have.
[12 low-level spells, 2 medium-level, and no high-level spells. Other spells have been owned and recorded.]
'Hmm, I guess the spells on public stores are not that different from each other, huh? Guilds have more variation of spell & magic collection after all.'-Ben
[Finding some unknown books about Gods, Demons & Curse.]
'Gods, demons & curse? That's new, let's buy the books.'-Ben
Ben buys all the new spell books & the books about gods, demons & curses. He knows that God exists, because of his reincarnation. But he hasn't confirmed the existence of demons. This is a Magic World, so Demons should exist too. He just never learned about them nor seen them, yet.
Team Ben finished their exploration and return to Mayor's mansion. After bidding their farewell, Team Ben leaves the mansion and returns to their guild. It takes 3 hours to reach the guild because Ben drives slowly. So they can enjoy the scenery.
"What take you so long to return from a simple job?"-Roubaul
"Sigh, the job changed."-Ben
Ben then tells Roubaul about their job, and the old man just nods along.
"Well, it's good that you have a good heart, Wendy. But you need to think of the danger it poses to you & your friends! Even if Ben-boy is strong and can defeat strong mages, but it will be harder to fight while protecting you. If not for the car's defense system, you, Bella & Carla might get injured too."-Roubaul lecture Wendy.
"Yes."-Wendy looks down.
"Well, it's not a bad experience for you guys. With what happened yesterday, you should understand that our jobs as mages are dangerous. That's why we need to choose wisely on what job that we'll take. We also need sufficient power to protect ourselves."-Ben
"Yes, we'll train to get stronger, right Carla, Bella?"-Wendy
"Of course."-Carla
"Strong."-Bella nod
"I'll wait for it."-Ben rub their head
The three girls immediately leave to train in the training ground.
"They don't need to do it right away."-Ben sweatdrop
"Hahaha, that's how children are."-Roubaul
"Old man, I think you need to choose the job that we did as a team to be the easiest job. I will take care of the more dangerous jobs myself, so we won't be in trouble like yesterday."-Ben
"I know, I will look into the job more carefully next time. I didn't realize that the job has been rejected by the mages who took it previously."-Roubaul
"Alright, I leave it to you."-Ben
______________________________________________________________
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I've upload Chapter 43 & 44 there today.
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