Benjo the Great? (2)
1453 Words
I show my adventurer's identification badge to him.
By the way, for one to become a full-fledged adventurer, they must first register at the adventurer's guild in the town they are a legal resident of.
Once they have been tested of their skills and have themselves certified to be of a specific adventurer type (melee fighter, ranged fighter, offensive spell-caster, healing spell-caster, and supporter), they will earn the adventurer's identification badge, which contains pertinent information embedded on a magical identity storage medium contained in an ultra-durable badge. The information can be displayed via a mystic hologram at will by the user.
It's important for an adventurer to never lose their identification badge, or they will be in hot water. In particular, they will be charged 200,000 guintos (the kingdom's official currency) for a brand-new badge, and their lost badge must be deactivated by the adventurer's guild to prevent identity theft.
I display everything he needs to know about me.
Name: Walter Deschantes
Age: 25
Birth Date: 2nd day of Watermonth, 994 CE
Place of Residence: Lebenswasserheim Burghal
Adventurer Type: Melee fighter
Highest Completed Quest Difficulty: 7
Currently in a Quest: Yes
Current Quest ID and Name: 1019-567, “They're Hunting Me Down!”
“Do you believe me now... Benjo?”
I ask him firmly.
“Yes! Yes! S-Sorry if I doubted you.”
“Good.”
“You know why I hired you, right, Sir Walter?”
“Yes. To protect you against those so-called 'Anti-troll Warriors'.”
“That's basically it. I'm holed up, literally, in this underground shelter, relying on nothing but food I've stocked up for months... and my pen.”
Ah... so that explains the scrolls, bottles of ink, and fountain pens I spot in a corner of the shelter.
“You've explained before that they're out to get you for good, and they've even targeted your friends.”
“Yes. They even claimed that I sold my soul to the devil as a result of supporting Mayor Portanalto.”
If I recall correctly... this town's mayor, Wilagun Portanalto, is a public servant who was brought into power for his tough anti-crime stance. However, his rule was marred by controversies, namely hiring his private “death squad” to slay alleged criminals, having shady deals with corrupt merchants, and using “propaganda shills” to maintain his good, albeit shaky, reputation among the town's populace.
Even though I am friends with His Highness the King, I personally don't dip my hands into politics.
I do have my stances on certain issues such as environmental conservation (which the entire kingdom and I fully support) and equal treatment of the sexes in the workplace (I have some female friends who end up with less pay than their male counterparts), but I'm sick and tired of people mudslinging and making mountains out of molehills over issues they are passionate about. It also helps that His Highness gives everyone equal opportunities to be heard, and their combined voices serve as bases for his policies.
“Say...”
I ask him.
“Mind if I read some of your writings that incensed those two?”
“I will, if you won't leak them to anyone.”
“I won't leak them, promise.”
He hands me a freshly-written scroll.
The ink hasn't dried yet, but I can still see clearly his passionate advocacy in his short essay.
Manipulated Numbers
By Rodimus Morga
Taking a life is a horrible thing. But even worse is the manipulation of the number of the lives taken violently just to smear the reputation of our beloved Mayor Portanalto.
A week ago, a random person claims that in this town, there are 27 cases of possible extrajudicial killings. When I first heard of that news, I just rolled on the floor, laughing, stating to myself, “Oh, it's a feeling expert level comment. Cite your sources for your 27 deaths claim, hater.”
Yes, Mayor Portanalto did confess that he uses his “death squad” on criminals that escaped the long arm of the law.
But what grinds my gears is that the day after, that same person sent me an angry message that contains the source of her claim: A report by a supposedly-independent crime watchdog. Ha! You want me to disprove it even before you've proven your claim? Well then, the day after that, I've humored you and your fake news by citing an unbiased source. In that source, the town's official periodical says there are only six proven cases of proven extrajudicial killings! Proven, not possible! Go back to reading the dictionary, woman with the poor reading comprehension! You're seriously doubting the official number? Who are you going to believe? That bleeding heart Garscon? Because he said, "IT MIGHT BE HIGHER"? MIGHT BE? ASSUMPTION? So where is he getting his info, then? Those spreadsheets again?
Get a real, actual job and stop dipping your filthy hands into this issue!
Man, his writing exudes the same passionate fury that the two armored guys I've met before have.
So, the two sides are fighting fire with fire.
So much that they're willing to take the lives of their supposed ideological enemies due to the beliefs they hold close to their own hearts.
Indeed, the pen is mightier than the sword.
It can stop a war... and even start another one.
Since I want to honor the unwritten contract right to the very end, I ask him...
“How long will you be here, anyway? Those two will always find a way to bust your cover.”
“Don't worry about that. I've already perfected the art of evasion.”
“Really...”
“Not convinced? Here, I'll show you.”
He rummages through a wooden chest, and then pulls out a shoddy-looking cloak.
“This is the Cloak of Invisible Stealth. I've purchased it from an adventurer not too long ago, for 100,000 guintos. As the name indicates, this allows me to walk around safely without being seen by anyone, especially not those two. If you're still doubting me, the adventurer told me that he got it that way, and the seller told him that it's deliberately made to look shoddy to prevent unwanted attention.”
“Fine, fine; I get it.”
I then hear some growling.
“Hah. All that writing sure burned up all the energy stored in my body. Better replenish it with some milk tea, since I'm in the mood for one. With lots of tapioca pearls, preferably.”
“Alright, I'll guard you once you go out.”
“Thanks.”
We promptly leave the shelter, taking care to make the scrapheap that covers it remain inconspicuous.
With his Cloak of Invisible Stealth already draped all over his body, Benjo should be ready to go.
Except for one tiny problem.
Despite the Cloak proving its effectiveness in making him hidden from plain sight, footprints generated from his steps can alert the two people who are still hunting him down.
Time for a simple solution, then.
“Flevioat.”
With a simple galdr, or a specific word for a specific type of magic spell, I can instantaneously solve simple problems.
Every adventurer, regardless of type, must be taught basic spells that will prove useful in situations other than the usual “fight random encounters” thing.
In this case, the Flevioat spell basically makes the target levitate from the ground.
This will take care of the “footprints leaving traces of a person's whereabouts” problem.
With only my feet planted on the ground and not his, I ask Benjo...
“Shall we proceed, then?”
“Sure!”
We both walk through the streets of Forhampe, looking for a milk tea shop as compliance to his request.
And in those streets, I can see some depressing scenes.
One house has some people gathering over the coffin of someone.
Those people cry to the heavens...
“No! Why'd they have to take my son away?! He's innocent!”
Ah, a wake for an alleged victim of an extrajudicial killing?
I say “alleged” because it could be anything.
Maybe the son was lost to, say, a stress-induced heart attack.
And I can't bother asking the grievers why, because that would compromise the VIP's security.
And in another house two street corners from that wake...
I can see people gathering for an impromptu meeting.
I can barely hear what they're saying due to distance, but what I can decipher amidst the gibberish is that they're supposedly planning to oust the mayor.
And most likely plunge the town into civil war, and drag the kingdom into the mess they will most likely start.
- Writer
