When A Mage Revolts

The leader of the resistance was stunned.

"Who… Who exactly are you?"

The man probably never expected someone to interrupt their execution, totally incapacitate them, then start spouting nonsense.

"It doesn’t matter who I am. The point is, your unit doesn’t have a concrete plan" Benjamin spread his hands and smiled, "Let me ask you this, aren’t you looking to take revenge on Stuart?"

The leader looked to have been completely caught off guard but nodded anyway.

"Then, stop doing what you’re doing right now," Benjamin said as he patted the man’s shoulder, "As the underdog in this situation, you’ll have to be extremely efficient and fully utilize all available resources. You must be unpredictable in your tactics, so much so that it will exhaust your enemy to even keep up with you. What you’re doing now will do you no good except provide you an outlet for your emotions. I may even end up costing you your life."

"...."

The men in the resistance blinked.

W-What is this mage doing? Was he…. Was he teaching them how to properly stage a revolution?

They had totally lost their grip on the situation.

"Sir mage, why don’t…. Why don’t you release us before we go into all that? We’re willing to listen to you!" The leader looked absolutely bewildered but quickly understood the situation. It was evident that Benjamin was not someone from the newly established Mage Guild, or on the spot.

They slowly got over the overwhelming despair of death and felt quite grateful despite all the confusion.

However, Benjamin simply shook his head.

"What’s with all the demands? You should display a proper learning attitude if you’re genuinely here to learn." Benjamin suddenly conjured an ice ruler and hit the leader on the palm with it. He continued blabbering on, "All of this is for your own good. If I hadn’t shown up today, all of you would have no doubt been slaughtered."

The leader of the resistance was completely unprepared and nearly let out an embarrassing yelp. Benjamin was still the one that was in charge, though. Thus, he dared not to complain, and instead just clenched his fist and nodded shakily.

On the inside, the leader felt like crying but had no tears. No matter what, he was still the leader of a rebel force. Even if he was not a very capable man, people still thought of him as a tough guy. He was fearless; why else would he start a fight against the ruling power?

And yet here he was, cowering like a baby in front of his troops.

The mage toyed with his and his men’s lives and yet he could do nothing but bow down and listen respectfully.

At least the mage did not seem to want to kill them.

"Sir mage, with all due respect, what do you actually want?" The leader took a deep breath before asking.

Benjamin scanned the crowd coldly, "Haven’t you realized? Stuart’s army will arrive in less than 5 days, and when they do, they’ll have your heads."

Everyone froze.

".....Are you speaking the truth?"

"Why would I want to lie to you? You did not lock down the town when you first appeared. Some people managed to flee and soon they will spread the news to the City of Snow," Benjamin explained slowly, "You even wanted to kill the mayor. If that had happened, the matter would escalate drastically, and you would have no chance of survival."

The leader was silent for a moment before he spoke, "Then, we’ll escape to Carretas."

Benjamin’s words were icy cold, "They could always dispatch mages and assassins to hunt you down. There would be no escape and you would die like a dog in the street"

"I…. I didn’t realize that…"

"What should you do to be an actual threat to Stuart’s position? What is your escape plan in case you get overwhelmed? What should you do to bolster your forces quickly? As their leader, have you ever considered these questions?"

".... I have not."

"Amazing! It really seems that you have got it all figured out, huh?"

"Wait, no. Please… please help us."

"Good." A smile finally returned to Benjamin’s lips. "You’re not beyond saving. There’s still a chance for you to hurt Stuart’s regime if you take advantage of this opportunity."

The leader of the resistance was baffled by Benjamin’s words.

"What opportunity?"

Benjamin approached him and spoke softly, "You could take control of the town, and force the Mayor to write a letter to the City of Snow saying that there are bandits attacking the town. Needless to say, the letter would need to arrive at the City of Snow before news of your takeover does."

"B-Bandits?"

Benjamin nodded and continued, "There’s a mountain to the west of the town, no? One would need to go through a narrow valley in order to reach the mountain from the Town of Snow. As long as the Mayor states that it is just a bandit attack, then those in power would not pay it too much attention. They won’t send an army of thousands – I would say it would be closer to a couple of hundred. Then, in the valley…. explosives, falling rocks, traps. I don’t need to teach you what to do next, right?"

The leader was mystified as he listened to Benjamin. At that moment, a lightbulb lit up in his mind.

"Um…. Could we ambush the soldiers?" He asked, mumbling slightly.

"Why not?" Benjamin shrugged. "The military is not as strong as you think. With proper preparation, they would not be much different from the soldiers that you’ve tied up in this town."

The leader went quiet. After quite some time, he inhaled deeply and swallowed, as if he had made up his mind about something.

He looked like he had forgotten that he was still currently captured by Benjamin and that he was in danger; instead, he was fully focused on thinking out a battle plan.

Benjamin’s lips curved into a satisfied grin.

[Task: Induce the Resistance] completed! Now, the leader was thinking of ways to ambush the army sent by the City of Snow.

How interesting.

Benjamin was still quite pissed off at the fact that he had been used as a pawn by the prime minister and Stuart. Benjamin did not argue with them because he still needed their help to eliminate the church. However, he could always let someone else cause them trouble, no?

He did not expect them to really topple Stuart, he just wanted to overload Stuart with work so that he could not think straight. Not to mention that it would be much harder to crush the rebels since they were now newly inspired and would fight full of passion. Benjamin would be happy to stand aside and watch the events unfold.

Basically, all he was doing now was spreading seeds before he left Ferelden. It would be great if the seeds would sprout, but even if they didn’t, Benjamin would not lose anything. Again, Benjamin studied the people around him. The citizens were watching from the safety of their homes and would not be able to make out what Benjamin and the resistance were talking about. Thus, they were not much of a threat.

However, what the civilians saw next confused them greatly. Benjamin suddenly clapped, and all ice bushes immediately melted before disappearing into thin air. The resistance that was subdued just moments ago was now free.

But the most dumbfounding thing was the resistance’s attitude towards Benjamin after they had regained their freedom. They no longer treated Benjamin with hostility or fear, but with immense respect.

No one could explain what had happened. The soldiers who were tied up at the corner of the street were so surprised that they had to pick their jaws up off the floor.

Only the mages in the inn understood what had happened. They smiled at one another while shaking their heads.

"Sir Benjamin’s interests are indeed….. special." Tony said as he rolled his eyes.