novelBenjamin and Grant
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Chapter 12: Benjamin and Grant
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In this short moment, Kubei envisioned of all the things that could happen next.
It could be that the stranger runs away after being frightened, or it could also be that he would lunge at him with the dagger, then Kubei would proceed to wrestle him; if he was lucky maybe the family members would rush in to his help, restraining the stranger...
Looking at the bright blade, Kubei was sure of the motive of this person already.
It can't only be evil intent.
It was more like straight up murder!
After having frozen there for a while, Kubei's mind suddenly started processing at an inhuman speed. What should I do? Fight him? Forget about that, with this frail body I have right now it would be equivalent to suicide.
Call for help loudly? It seemed like a possible solution, at least it was better than blasting the person to death with a waterball, but he did not know how efficient the guards were and whether they would make it in time...
Right when he was about to call for help, the stranger wielding the dagger did something completely unexpected by him.
The person replied to Kubei.
"Nope, I slept pretty well, and I don't like taking walks. This isn't a fruit knife, this is a dagger. I've never cut any fruit with it, it probably isn't convenient to use to cut fruit."
"..."
What, what is he trying to do?
Was this person here for chit-chat? Should I have discussion on which fruit knife was better?
Kubei was stuck, he had no idea on what to say.
"Then why did you come here in the dead of the night?
It was the System, asking in Kubei's place, Kubei could not react in time, thus saying the thought out loud to the strange.
The stranger's reply was direct,
"I'm an assassin, assassins mostly come out at night to kill people."
"..."
Kubei was once again left speechless.
Yes, assassins were meant to kill people at night. You make a lot of sense, I choose death.
"Ah, he's awesome, I like frank people!" The system appeared again, which made Kubei feel like spitting out blood. He wished that he could force the system to shut down.
Kubei felt that the situation was suspicious. The dagger was still pointed at him, but the opponent did not seem to want to make a move anytime soon, but what would follow, no one had any idea. The opponent's mentality was something a normal person could never understand.
What should be done now? Seeing this person's eyes, it looked like...... he wanted the conversation to go on.
To prevent some awkward situation that would make the opponent do his thing, he could only try his best to continue on:
"Well...... who are you trying to kill?"
After saying this, he really wanted to beat himself to death instead.
His way of making small talk was horrible.
If the opponent were to reply: "I'm here to kill you." He could only say: "Then why are you standing still there?" Then the person would say: "Oh, i'll make my move now." Then a sword flash would follow, defeat is common, please start over from the beginning.
He realized he really had a knack of making a situation worse than it already was.
He was prepared to call for help again.
But what he should have expected was that this Mr. Assassin's replies were something that you could never predict.
"I'm here to kill Benjamin Lithur."
Kubei was stunned, his "Help" that already travelled halfway up his windpipe was pushed back down.
Benjamin Lithur...
Who?
At this moment, the situation made a sharp turn and went in a direction which he had no idea of once more.
"I'm not Benjamin Lithur, I'm Grant Lithur." Kubei couldn't think of anything better to reply, so he cautiously said this.
After hearing this, the assassin seemed to be confused. He put down his hand that was wielding the dagger, frowned, then scratched his head with his other hand, then looked at the ceiling, with a face like he was stuck trying to read the "Chu Shi Biao".
Kubei felt creeped out, so he did not say anything but just stared at him.
The opponent though for awhile, then put down his other hand and said:
"Oh, sorry, I think I walked into the wrong place."
"..."
What the hell?
In that moment, Kubei was starting to suspect that he was not experiencing insomnia, but that he was fast asleep, and everything in front of him was a dream? If this was a dream, it had to be the most random dream that he's ever had, even more outrageous than his boss' "Balala Energy" dream!
Dear Lord, or whatever other god there was, why are you fooling me like this?
"Do you know where Benjamin Lithur's room is then?"
The assassin asked earnestly.
"... No idea."
"I see, we'll, I'm off. My apologies, see you again."
"... Safe travels."
He put away his dagger, waved at Kubei, turned away, then left the room.
He's gone.
He came sneakily, and left sneakily.
Kubei could tell from the way his eyes looked, the moment he said goodbye, underneath that mask was a honest smile. He even closed the door properly...
Kubei felt like it was too bizarre, he did not know how to start to analyze the situation.
"Ah, he's a really kind person. The system said.
"... You can go be his system instead." Kubei said.
Really, if the system and the assassin were have a conversation, they would probably find a lot to talk about.
"Nope, this person's IQ is really unacceptable, he didn't even know who he was trying to kill. If I were to become his system, it would be a waste of my talents."
Kubei didn't wanted to pay any heed to the System.
After escaping from the absurd situation, he had more to worry now. Even though he somehow managed to escape from the danger, but an assassin managed to slip in. Even if this assassin was not even capable, was he to pretend that nothing happened? Did this so-called big family not even have proper security?
And, that person called 'Benjamin Lithur', what should I do about him? Based on the surname, this person probably was not another insignificant person. What if the assassin found his way to him, what can be done then?
"We have to stop him."
After thinking about this, Kubei suddenly said this to the system.
"He has already left, you don't have to get involved, it will only bring you more trouble." The system advised.
"I'm not trying to find more trouble, but what if he really kills that 'Benjamin Lithur'? I can't pretend that I didn't know anything about it." Kubei explained, " If someone in the family died, they'll definitely investigate it properly. If they were to find out the assassin came to find me first, they'll never let me go."
Even though he just came to the Lithur family and did not want to care too much, he had no choice but to intervene.
Even so, under normal circumstances, if someone saw an assassin, they would probably wake everyone up right? He could not act oddly just because the assassin was weird and that he forced himself to strike up a conversation with him!
"You don't have to worry, no one would die by his hand." The System sounded really sure.
"Why, how can you be so sure?"Kubei frowned.
"Because you are Benjamin Lithur, the person he was supposed to kill was you, how would he end up killing someone else."
"Well you're not wrong..."
But he realized something was wrong.
"Where did you get your facts? When did I become Benjamin Lithur, is everything in your hard drive just trash?" Kubei said.
The System stopped for awhile, then said, its tone full of intellect:
"Trust me, you ARE Benjamin Lithur."
Even though Kubei did not really want to care, but he could not just ignore it, so he asked: "If what you said was true, then why did Michelle say I was Grant Lithur?"
The System replied: "She's got it wrong."
"And how are you so sure?"
"Based on the memories of the body's original owner."
The System seemed to gloat for a while, then used a tone that sounded really sure: "Based on the memories, you're the eldest son of the family, your parents named you 'Benjamin' when you were born, and you were the most spoiled child. All these sixteen years, everyone has called you by that, you have never changed your name, and never used any fake name or nickname. In conclusion, you are Benjamin Lithur, and the assassin was supposed to kill you."
"... You sure?"
"Yes, very sure."
"..."
Kubei was shocked.
What's going on? He thought this body's original owner's name was Grant Lithur, but now someone was telling him he was actually Benjamin Lithur? These confusing western names were already hard to remember, this made him even more frustrated.
He did not suspect what the system said though. The system was already concise, and had access to the owner's memories. Even if it was unreliable, it would not end up making any mistake on matters like these.
He really was Benjamin Lithur.
He had more questions now: Why did Michelle think I was Grant? She was so cunning, how could she get the wrong person?
It was really strange.
"Who's Grant Lithur then?" Kubei asked.
"He's your biological brother." The System replied.
Hearing this, Kubei raised his eyebrows, and could not help but feel a little shocked.
The System continued to explain: "A year after you were born, your younger brother was born as well, your parents named him Grant Lithur. You and your brother grew up together here, and your relationship with him wasn't bad."
Younger brother...
Kubei suddenly had a bad feeling about this.
"Please don't tell me that this is one of those dramas where the younger brother is a genius and the older brother is useless, and I was chosen to teleport into the older brother." Kubei was unsettled, he has read countless of novels with this kind of setting, and he could only pray that he was not so unlucky.
"You're not as dumb as I thought." The System sounded really happy to the point where it was taunting, "You didn't guess wrongly, The day your brother was born, a holy light rose from the Lithur family household roof, it travelled through half of the kingdom, then landed on the sculpture of God's fingertips which was in the church courtyard. Then came seven sounds of the bell at dawn from the cathedral, which marked the beginning of a new era. In the hundred days of baptism, your brother was deemed to have an extraordinary talent for godly spells, and was deemed to be the future bishop, and the successor to the pope."
"... What about me?" Kubei asked with the little hope he had left.
"In the hundred days of baptism, you were deemed worthless, the whole family was disappointed. After that, you started growing weaker, becoming more susceptible to diseases, to the point where you were frailer than your younger brother, crushing your dreams of becoming a knight. You are considered the most laughable person amongst all the nobles in the kingdom."
The system sounded really rigorous in its explanations.
"..."
Kubei felt like banging his head on a wall.
Even though he was prepared, after hearing the answer, he still felt helpless. After hearing what Michelle said at first, he thought he had been teleported into a gifted body, but who knew, this world still was unfair to him.
As an older brother who lived in the shadow of his genius younger brother, he probably did not have a good life in this family. Especially after hearing this system's explanation of him being the laughing stock of the family, he probably also did not have a high position of power.
Michelle probably messed up and thought he was the younger brother and kidnapped him, causing all this unnecessary trouble. This Benjamin Lithur person was really unlucky. But of course, he was beaten to death by Annie, thus passing his misfortune on to Kubei.
Even after everything I have been through? This is really unfair!
But Kubei was not in a disappointed state for long.
"Well, who cares."
He wanted to become a great mage, holy arts or innate talent can go to hell. Even though his body was weak, after discovering that triangle rune, he felt as if an aura was slowly rejuvenating his body, and he did not get exhausted as easily as before. Because of this, he was not so worried. Even if other people looked down on him, he did not care at all.
Useless means useless, which novel did not have a useless main character?
He was rather optimistic.
Kubei realized he was too optimistic. Maybe he was affected by that assassin, and his brain was wired into a different circuitry, he managed to throw all these bad news into the deep recesses of his mind in just a short while.
It felt like he banged his head on something.
...... Am I high?
"Don't be too optimistic, what are you going to do about the assassin?" The system popped his bubble once again.
Oh...
That assassin came to kill him, and was not his happy little pal.
After calming down, Kubei could feel the danger looming over him. Even though the opponent was not a reliable person, but this person's existence has proved something: Someone wanted him dead.
Who could it be? He was a useless nobleman, he had no position or power, other people even looked down on him, and no one would specially hire someone to get rid of him. But his younger brother who was a genius seemed more like a likely target.
It was strange.
Who could it be, who would have such an evil intent towards the family's laughing stock? He had to find this person. He did not want to live the rest of his days in fear, fearing someone would stab him in the back someday.
"That simplified version of the memories, it should be done by now." After thinking of this, Kubei asked.
He wanted to find out who was pulling the strings, and the best way was to figure it out from the memories of the body's original owner.
Who has this Sir Benjamin offended? Did he have any enemies? If he died, who would gain the most out of it? If he could find the answers to these few questions, the person who hired the assassin would be immediately revealed.
"It has already been arranged." The System replied.
Hearing this, Kubei nodded satisfyingly, and said:
"Let's begin then."
It was time he became Benjamin Lithur.
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