Before long, Benjamin left the confessional.

He blended into the bustling crowd, leaving St. Peter's Cathedral without drawing any attention.

This conversation with the Archbishop had been quite fruitful for him. Firstly, he learned that he was cursed. Though this was bad news, it was still better than finding out only after something went wrong. You could say it was a form of gain, in a sense. Secondly, and most importantly, he had obtained information about Michelle.

After the Archbishop nodded his assent, he shared some intelligence regarding Michelle with Benjamin. Only then did Benjamin learn that Michelle had a long history of nefarious deeds. Starting from five years ago, she had been active in the vicinity of the capital: assaulting nobles, stealing treasures, spreading rumors, preaching heretical ideas… Not only that, she had survived the Church's relentless pursuit for five years without a scratch, never even going into extended hiding.

You could say the Church's people had been led on a wild goose chase by her, unable to lay a finger on even a single strand of her hair.

Even now, the Church had no clear grasp of the true extent of her magical prowess. The Archbishop believed she had already reached the level of a Grand Mage, and that without the strength of an Archbishop or a Grand Knight, it was impossible to contend with her. This was why the Church treated her with such wariness.

To this, Benjamin could only say: you're overthinking it.

Though he couldn't be certain of Michelle's true capabilities, the mere fact that she feared a squad of "Cleansers" to such an extent proved she couldn't possibly be as formidable as they imagined.

This empty fort strategy of hers was truly a masterstroke.

Of course, among the information the Archbishop provided, what interested Benjamin the most, aside from the lengthy struggle between them and Michelle, were the bases she had used that they had uncovered.

Through their pursuit of Michelle, the Church had discovered over twenty of her abandoned hideouts.

Benjamin now committed the locations of these bases to memory.

At this moment, he was walking along St. Peter's Street outside the cathedral, pondering his next move. It went without saying that he would have to search all twenty-plus of those bases. But he had to be cautious not to arouse the Church's suspicion. If they saw through his true intentions, he would end up in the same boat as Michelle.

He had no desire to be added to the Church's hit list so soon.

Because of the curse, the Church was using him as bait, so naturally, they would pay extra attention to him. Trying to dig through over twenty bases right under the Church's nose was nothing short of a pipe dream.

He would have to find someone else to do his dirty work…

"Hey, didn't you mention before that I have a personal manservant named Jeremy or something? How come I haven't seen hide nor hair of him?" With this thought, Benjamin asked the AI.

"Wow, your memory is even worse than I thought! Jeremy is feeling under the weather, remember? The butler literally JUST told you that when he woke you up this morning. Do you have the attention span of a goldfish?" The AI immediately seized the chance to roast Benjamin.

"Oh, was that what that rando was yammering about? I tend to tune out the NPCs." Benjamin shot back with a shameless grin.

The AI was left speechless. This guy was impossible.

However, speaking of servants…

Come to think of it, Benjamin suddenly realized his status within the Lither family wasn't as low as he had imagined.

He did have the servants he was supposed to have. Though his grandmother's attitude towards him was nasty, that was merely due to her own charming personality and had nothing to do with Benjamin. As for the servants, they didn't look down on him for being a natural-born screw-up or anything like that. Take that random butler, for example. He cleaned the floor, prepared the washing items, and served with an impeccable attitude of respect, as a good little minion should.

That was the professional demeanor a hired lackey ought to have!

When you thought about it, no matter how useless he was, he was still a blue blood. Ordinary servants couldn't compare. Scenes of underlings pointing fingers at their masters and throwing all sorts of wrenches in the works probably only appeared in trashy dime novels.

"Though Benjamin is a good-for-nothing, his life isn't actually half bad." With this thought, Benjamin mused.

"Well, DUH. Being a rich waste of space is totally different from being a regular joe schmoe waste of space," the AI drawled. "But hey, just to really drive home how pathetic you are - you only have one manservant. Meanwhile, that golden child brother of yours? TWO manservants AND a maid. Oh, and get this: your lone servant makes a measly thirty pounds a year. Each of his servants rakes in fifty. Still wanna claim you're living large, buddy?"

"…"

Benjamin felt the AI's brutal assessment had a point.

For a moment, he suddenly felt this life was truly unbearable. A life where he couldn't blow a hundred and fifty pounds a year on a small army of personal butlers and footmen? What was even the point? He might as well lay down and rot. There was no dignity in such a paltry existence.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

He had fallen so quickly. The corruption of the aristocracy was a hell of a drug.

Keeping up with the Joneses was indeed the original sin of mankind.

"Yo, space case. Why'd you suddenly bring up the manservant thing? You wanna sic him on Annie's buried treasure?" The AI asked, yanking the derailed conversation back on track.

"Ding ding ding! Got it in one, Jeevesey ol' pal." Benjamin snapped his fingers and pointed at the AI.

Hiring some random stooge would only complicate matters. Better to stick with a known quantity.

Sure, there was a chance his own manservant might also tip off the Church, but he wasn't exactly Suspect #1 here. The choir boys would be laser-focused on him, not his entourage.

Plus, after ditching the cathedral, he had sensed a few nosy parkers on his tail. A quick scan with his water mojo revealed a patrolling knight and some priest playing dress-up as Joe Peasant.

A whopping two goons. So this was the "Almighty's watchful eye", huh? To avoid spooking Michelle, the Church's surveillance sure was phoning it in. Benjamin mentally scoffed, but hey, easier for him to give 'em the slip, so no complaints here.

Seriously, two measly guards? What, did they think he was under house arrest? As long as he was holed up in his family's fancy digs, they wouldn't dare snoop around too much. Gotta love that noble privilege.

Not that he was planning to get sloppy. When it was time to put his scheme in motion, he had a few tricks up his sleeve to lull the God Squad into a false sense of security.

"Based on what you've told me, this Jeremy character seems pretty ride-or-die, yeah?" Benjamin mused.

"Loyal, sure. But I dunno if he's got the cojones for this particular caper, if you catch my drift." The AI's doubt was palpable.

Benjamin was puzzled. "Come again?"

The AI hemmed and hawed before finally spitting it out: "Let's just say the dude's not exactly a profile in courage, if you know what I mean. Heck, my grandma's chihuahua has more backbone."

Hearing this, Benjamin couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Right at this moment, a panicked voice cut through his chat with the AI, dragging him back to reality.

In the distance, a rather spazzy silhouette was booking it in his direction. In a tangle of flailing limbs, the mystery klutz skidded to a halt before him.

"Young Master Benjamin! Thank heavens I found you!"

Upon taking a good look at the man, Benjamin had to stifle a laugh. Short and scrawny, with a pointy chin and beady eyes, the fellow was clad in the typical black jacket and white shirt combo of a manservant. However, his filthy clothes gave him away - he hardly resembled the prim and proper staff of a noble household.

He looked like a rat, but without any of a rat's cunning - only its cowardice.

But Benjamin didn't laugh or show any unusual expression.

Because the AI informed him: this was his manservant, Jeremy.

"What's the matter, Jeremy? Did something happen?" he asked with a straight face.

Jeremy, still clutching his knees and panting, finally caught his breath. "I'm so sorry, young master. I took the day off due to a bad stomach, so I didn't do the laundry. I've embarrassed you in public, I…"

"…"

Benjamin hadn't meant to ask about that. He just wanted to know why Jeremy had come running in such a hurry.

But… whatever…

"So why did you come looking for me?" Benjamin had no choice but to ask again.

Jeremy hastily waved his hands. "Ah, no, it's not me who wants to see you. It's the master. The master, mistress, and Young Master Grant have returned from the domain, and the master wants to speak with you now!"

Oh?

Upon hearing this news, Benjamin still felt a chill in his heart. However, he had already rehearsed this scene countless times in his mind. So he wasn't flustered, just a tad nervous, but only a tad.

What was meant to come would come eventually.

Though biological parents might seem closer, the gulf between parent and child could be the widest of all. Children almost never let their parents truly understand them, and parents also hide many sides of themselves.

Especially the least favored child in the family; especially during the most rebellious teenage years.

From the snippets of his past life shown by the AI, he and his father were practically strangers. Every conversation between them was awkward and stifling. The old Benjamin was always silent and withdrawn in front of his parents, unable to utter a peep no matter what. Imitating this to such a degree shouldn't be difficult even without any acting cheat codes, right?

In any case, he was confident he wouldn't be exposed.

"Understood, I'll return right away."

After saying this, Benjamin glanced at the timid Jeremy and suddenly added, "By the way, do something for me."

"Young Master, what is it?"

Benjamin thought for a moment. "If I'm not mistaken, there's a carpenter to the east. Go there and buy me a crucifix, and be careful. Oh, and no riding in a carriage. I don't have that much pocket money to cover your fare."

Jeremy's face immediately fell. "But… Young Master, it's very far. If I have to walk, I won't be able to buy it and return until the middle of the night."

Benjamin flashed a warm smile. "No problem, take your time. I'm not in a hurry."

The farther the better. If it wasn't far, he wouldn't have sent Jeremy at all.

This was Benjamin's little ploy: constantly sending Jeremy on errands to do insignificant things or display his piety. If he ran around like this day after day, going on a dozen or two dozen trips, the Church's people would be quite impressive if they were still willing to split their attention and keep an eye on Jeremy.

Once the Church's vigilance was completely diverted, he could have Jeremy dig up Annie's belongings.

Even the AI, picky as it was, had to admit this was a pretty good plan.

And so, with a long-suffering expression, Jeremy took the first step of his own Long March. Benjamin, too, stopped his wool-gathering and quickened his pace, heading towards his home.

If his father was looking for him, he couldn't very well keep strolling around out here, could he?

The Lither family's residence was already in the upper district, not far from St. Peter's Cathedral. Before long, Benjamin arrived home. The servants at the door said nothing, merely bowing and opening the door for him to enter.

"The master and the others are all in the parlor."

The servant at the door reminded him.

He nodded to the servant and walked into the house, arriving at the parlor.

However, the instant his right foot crossed the parlor's threshold, he immediately sensed something was off.

This atmosphere was a bit frightening.

And… why… were there so many people in the parlor?

That massive long table suddenly didn't seem so long anymore. A stern-faced, imposing middle-aged man sat at the head of the table - Benjamin's father. To his left, a row of people were seated: an elegantly dressed lady with an anxious expression, Benjamin's mother; a fifteen or sixteen-year-old blond boy staring blankly at the table, his younger brother; an old woman rolling her eyes, Benjamin's grandmother; another bejeweled middle-aged man whom Benjamin didn't recognize; yet another blond youth, still a stranger to Benjamin…

There had to be at least a dozen people in total, and half of them were completely unknown to Benjamin, not part of the Lither family at all.

They all sat there in silence, the atmosphere oppressively tense.

Especially when Benjamin appeared, a row of gazes shot over in unison, each one like a police interrogation lamp. It felt as if the next second, accompanied by a warning of "Don't move!", bullets would come flying.

Clearly, they had all come for him.