The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 613: Doreen & Bella

Annan had taken many things into consideration.

However, he insisted on bringing along Doreen, the werewolf, with him when he returned to Austere-Winter Dukedom this time.

Annan had yet to figure out why Doreen and Bella looked so similar. Based on Doreen’s disclosed identity and background, their hometowns were far apart, so they were not relatives.

Their ages didn’t match at all.

If Bella was alive now, she should be around 24 years old.

Here’s a brief outline of the timeline.

Bella the Betrayer joined Winter’s Hand eight years ago on December 30, 1496, when she was 16. About a year and a half after joining Winter’s Hand… which was about six years ago, she betrayed Dmitri in the gambling match, causing Dmitri to lose his fertility.

After a rebellion that lasted for three years – approximately three years ago, Bella’s strategy caused “the Frost Maul Disaster” and led to the recruitment of werewolves to form the “Windrunner”. By this time, Bella should have already made contact with Professor Wolf.

However, Doreen was only 13 years old now.

The explanation of a mother-and-daughter relationship was not quite right either. Doreen had a biological mother. Her mother couldn’t have been 16 years old at the time.

However, there was indeed a relationship connection between Doreen and Bella.

When Bella joined the Winter’s Hand eight years ago, Doreen met Professor Wolf.

Doreen’s mother went into a frenzy and killed a foreigner’s child at that time. Then, the event proceeded with both her parents being imprisoned. Doreen, who was only five years old, lost her parents.

At that time, Doreen met Frederick Wolfheart, Professor Wolf, who called himself “Nicolas LeMay”.

The “Frederick” at that time had been replaced internally by Trisino Seti. As for why Professor Wolf called himself “Nicolas LeMay” at that time, it was also a noteworthy question.

For an Idol Wizard, the name was necessary.

If the coincidence happened only once, it might be a coincidence.

However, Doreen and Bella happened to look alike. Coincidentally, both knew Professor Wolf, and they happened to experience a major life change in the same year that completely altered their life trajectories. Moreover, Doreen’s father also happened to be an Idol Wizard.

With so many coincidences piling up, Annan would be dull if he ignored the clues.

There must be some connection between Doreen and Bella, even though the answer remained unknown.

If Annan left Doreen in the underground world, Professor Wolf might notice that Annan and Doreen were separated. At that time, the other werewolves might assassinate Doreen.

Annan took Doreen back to Frostwhisper Province to protect this vital witness and clue.

This time, Annan only brought three players along to activate the teleportation waypoint of Frostwhisper Province.

The players wouldn’t be moving together with Annan. They would separate after Annan led the players out of the subway station. After activating the teleportation waypoint, they would go back underground.

Annan had already instructed the players of Silver Rank to notify him when they encountered danger.

Before that, the players were expanding their influence in the underground world without any secrecy, assuming the “Secret Eye” identity.

Let me establish a teleportation circle here.jpg

Just like the expansion of the Zerg, even the Wise could not detect that the players were establishing the teleportation circle without any evidence.

After all, the players didn’t harm anything.

The players would visit a place, find a hotel, and rent a room for a month. Then, they would go out to cleanse the nightmare. When the amount of purification was sufficient, they would leave directly without seeking money or fame.

If one didn’t know in advance that it was a ritual to create teleportation circles, who would have noticed the meaning behind these baffling actions of the players?

The players had indeed purified the nightmares in the underground world—those perilous entities that nobody wanted to confront but profoundly impacted their lives.

Even if the Wise could see into the future and knew the players’ purpose, they would know the benefits Annan and his “Secret Eye” brought them.

Then, he, too, would be silent about it.

At that time, he also became Annan’s accomplice.

This was Annan’s conspiracy.

Only the Prophet Wizards, who cared about the underground world, would discover the players’ objectives. However, they would see the benefits of these actions, so they would become Annan’s ally instead, choosing to acquiesce or support Annan’s efforts.

Through countless films and video games, Annan had developed a wariness towards those Prophet Wizards. With their abilities, they could easily disrupt even the most intricate plans. As Arthur Searing-Fang had once said, no secret could remain hidden in the presence of a prophet

As long as they would know about it “later”, they could learn about it now.

Hence, Annan had prepared strategies to deal with these prophets.

That was right.

As long as Annan stayed on the path of righteousness and ensured that their cause was just and beneficial for all, at least the neutral Prophet Wizards would not choose to oppose the players. Even if a few Prophet Wizards wanted to stop Annan, they would be intercepted by the actions of many more Prophet Wizards beforehand.

It was not difficult to prevent something wrong when everyone was united. However, the difficulty of stopping something right was multiplied a thousandfold because they would become divided.

Annan had gradually mastered this technique.

Compared with the technique of Mind Manipulation, this manipulation technique was more advanced. It rode on the power of a “trend”.

Of course, this was also the ability Annan had to train in advance to inherit the position of Austere-Winter’s Grand Duke.

Annan didn’t want to be an incompetent Grand Duke.

Annan wanted everything Ivan guarded to continue. He didn’t even want to see the people of Austere-Winter Dukedom suffer more than Ivan under his governance.

Annan’s motto was always to do his best.

This was how Annan had acted since long ago.

Soon, Annan returned to the Grand Duke’s Residence.

Although Annan was a little worried if he brought Doreen along, would that remind Dmitri about Bella and worsen Dmitri’s mood? Fortunately, Dmitri was busy.

Dmitri wasn’t usually in Frostwhisper Province, so he didn’t see Annan and Doreen.

That went beyond Annan’s expectations.

Even though Annan returned to Austere-Winter with a werewolf until he entered the Grand Duke’s Residence, Winter’s Hand never appeared to stop him or question Doreen’s identity.

Annan even prepared a set of rhetoric in advance, but it wasn’t needed.

However, Annan quickly had an idea after giving it a few thoughts.

Annan was not Dmitri, after all.

He had always been self-sufficient and didn’t require others to worry about his affairs.

Annan had always held a high position at home and among the high-ranking officials — perhaps stemming from his insightful decisions in the first playthrough and his keen strategic vision.

Now that Annan was about to inherit the position of Grand Duke, those Winter’s Hands would become his subordinates at any time. Maybe they were already treating Annan as the new Grand Duke… Naturally, no one would dare to express one-sided opinions before Annan.

To remain silent if not necessary was also one of the dogmas of the Winter’s Hand.

Unlike Three-eyed Crow, they could not be in a safe place to spy on the country’s secrets. They had to do everything personally. Naturally, they would witness many things they shouldn’t see.

However, they were just the “hands” of the Grand Duke.

The hands didn’t need to have their thoughts. That would only add unnecessary burdens to the brain or lead to mistakes.

They only had to follow and believe.

Young members of the Winter’s Hand only focused on “not looking”; they compelled themselves to fulfill their assigned tasks and ignore everything else.

Alongside the frequent usage of the Falteration Spells, their hearts would become colder and colder. These mature Winter’s Hands usually chose to “keep silent” because the Grand Duke might occasionally need their eyes to recount what they had seen.

Except for Austere-Winter’s Grand Duke himself, even Grand Duke’s wife and child must be under the surveillance of the Winter’s Hand.

That is to say…

Am I actually the Austere-Winter’s Grand Duke from now on?

Just pushing open the door of the Grand Duke’s Residence, Annan was in a daze for a moment.

“Let’s go, Doreen.” Annan was silent for a moment before saying softly.

He put down his hood. Doreen, who was following him, was also nervous, imitating Annan’s movements and putting down her hood.

She still hadn’t gotten over the fact that Ghirlandaio was Annan Austere-Winter.

“The Grand Duke is waiting for you in his chambers.” Silently, a female voice sounded behind Annan, startling Doreen. Her gray hair stood up instantly, her tail drooped low and was tightly sandwiched between her legs. She even trembled a little when she walked.

However, Annan just nodded silently.

In the Grand Duke’s Residence, Annan walked forward without looking back.

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