Chapter 1123: Chapter 276: Witch_2
Of course, as long as Ben hasn’t lost his mind, he wouldn’t want to impersonate these figures. For the same reason, the two Marquis Lords and Prince Luike are likewise, which leaves only the five Privileged Earls of Erune. Among them, Count Rangdenier is naturally impossible, Count Vitokin is the Commander of the Black Blade Legion and must be excluded, Count Yanilasu is the Commander of the Royal Fleet, thus also can’t be chosen. Therefore, Ben can actually impersonate only two people.
One is Count Cordo of Grey Mountain, the other is this Earl of Yan Castle. However, Count Cordo’s territory is right next to Kerkova, and is surely known to the world. In contrast, Yan Castle is located at the northern border of the kingdom, being the weakest of the privileged Count’s Domains. Its Lord Earl seldom interacts with other nobles of the kingdom, staying reclusive, even Ben, who often roams about, hasn’t seen this Lord Earl, and even fewer in the internal noble circle of the kingdom know him.
With such a comparison, the answer becomes clear.
"Regardless, let’s check it out first," kidnapping a noble’s envoy sounds simple, but the Earl of Yan Castle is a Privileged Earl, how could he not have tight security? However, Ben believes in the strength under his command, so he decided to check it out first.
The manor where the Earl of Yan Castle resides is located in a secluded forest near the town. This Earl doesn’t have any reliable friends in Ambeser, so the manor is temporarily rented. Many merchants and nobles temporarily stay in Ambeser, so there are many such manors around. Before coming, Su had already sent people to inquire, and this manor is a merchant’s property without any background.
This news also made Ben feel much more at ease about the whole plan.
The group soundlessly infiltrated between a copse of dense Alex hazel trees just a hundred meters away from the manor, where the shrubs are thick, not worrying about the guards inside the manor noticing anything. Nevertheless, Ben ordered Medisha, wearing a faintly glowing silver armor, to stay even further away. The Elf Princess is adept at stealth combat, so he simply let her and Qian arrange the Fire Claw Lizards at an appropriate distance, so at least there would be backup in case of any accident.
No matter how they phrase it, their next actions might be considered somewhat insane, so Ben had to act cautiously.
Beside Ben are the Rubis Mercenaries, ’two’ adorable Miss Vampires, and the black derivative ’Bloodline’ under Andreg, all resembling young boys and girls, with strength ranging from Black Iron Peak to Silver Rank initial stage, exceptionally skilled at stealth combat, rivaling even the experienced mercenaries from the Ten Cities Region.
In addition, there was an extremely untimely presence—the Merchant Lady secretly followed without anyone’s consent. She moved like a kitten, almost unnoticed following behind Ben, if not for her sneaky persistence nearly eluding even him.
This is undoubtedly an impressive stealth talent, especially without formal training; even the most skilled nightingale among the Rubis Mercenaries couldn’t help but praise her. But in Ben’s view, it was more like this lady was Innate at those skills used for wrongdoing, utterly unrelated to the term ’lady’.
However, Ben figured that instead of letting this small thing stir trouble unnoticed, it was better to keep her by his side, at least to monitor her from causing major trouble. Therefore, after strictly ordering Romantic to not leave beyond a five-foot radius, he let the Merchant Lady be.
Little Roman seemed quite satisfied with Ben’s order, in essence, she just wanted to go on adventures with him.
After settling this small interlude, Ben released several Wind Spirit Spiders, which couldn’t share senses with him, barely useful for terrain scouting, but incredibly practical for alerting him to surrounding conditions. Then, he looked up towards the manor, asking, "How many guards are there?"
"Saw one at the front gate, but not sure if there are hidden sentries, my lord." In dark conditions, vampire’s vision is much better than human’s, answered immediately by a Bloodline. This answer somewhat satisfied Ben, behind layered woods, it’s immensely difficult to clearly see inside the manor from over a hundred meters away.
He nodded, first using Wind Spirit to sense if there were hidden sentries around, then just before ordering everyone to close in on the manor, Roman suddenly said, "Roman saw there’s someone inside the manor too. I saw someone near the fountain in the courtyard—oh, he seems to have kicked something, then he bent down to pick up a stone and tossed it into the fountain."
Everyone stared at the Merchant Lady in shock, and Ben suddenly remembered he indeed had a human radar beside him. At that very moment, he felt that having the Merchant Lady along was a great idea, hurriedly asking, "Did you see hidden sentries?"
"Hidden sentries?"
"Those hiding."
"Oh, well, there are two."
"Where?" Hu Que raised an eyebrow and asked immediately.
"Right behind the guard at the door."
Hu Que quickly leaned over to Ben, saying, "The opponent is quite experienced. Uncertain about the numbers inside the courtyard, this is troublesome, my lord." As an experienced mercenary, this Rubis Mercenary squad leader is extremely sensitive to sentry locations, often deducing a rough idea even from mere clues. Ben always trusted his judgment, hence nodded, pondering, "Any methods?"
"Find a way to capture one tongue." Hu Que replied.
Ben nodded again, "Medphis, come with me." Saying that, a layer of misty black smoke suddenly emanated from his clothes, quickly enveloping the conspicuous Red Blessing and Earth Sword. This is the Dark Element manipulated by the Dark Messenger; Ben, wanting to conceal his identity, found disguising as a Cultist the best choice.
He pulled up the cloak’s hood, preparing to move, but right then, Roman suddenly took out a small exquisitely fashioned Silver Cage, with a little proud expression, saying, "Ben, want to capture someone, Roman will help, okay!"
Before Ben could react, Roman clapped her hands, chanting, "Caged one, caged one, who has imprisoned your freedom." As she clapped, the cage flashed white, and the empty Silver Cage now contained a little person, Ben and others were fine. Yet Andreg, Medphis, and other vampires stared at the Merchant Lady in sharp astonishment.
"What is this?" Ben immediately stopped, looking at the frightened little person in the cage.
"L-Lord," replied the previous Bloodline, with a peculiar expression, "This... this is the guard at the door."
"Black Witchcraft!" Ben instantly petrified.
... (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation.)
