Super Righteous Player
Chapter 500 - 41 Annan: On the Road gū.jpg_1

Chapter 500: Chapter 41 Annan: On the Road gū.jpg_1

"Giralda" calmly watched as Dorin was taken away by Lady Leona and the tamed Frost Beast followed her out.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

Annan, of course, knew...

Should Dmitry and his companions investigate the origin of this Frost Beast with Dorin, they would instantly notice the loophole in the identity of "Giralda".

——But that didn’t matter.

Annan hadn’t intended for this identity to last long, nor had he planned to deceive Dmitry with it.

Vasily Manning was simply slightly delayed in receiving the news and didn’t know that Annan had already gone to Winter. But he would find out sooner or later.

After all, Annan left Noah precisely to avoid suspicion. Therefore, this news wouldn’t be hidden — one would know, thinking about it, that a close relation of one of the candidates for the throne of Noah, Grand Duke Winter, resided in the capital of his homeland.

It wouldn’t matter much if Kafney didn’t take the throne.

But if Kafney succeeded, there would certainly be idle talk... rumors that Queen Kafney was controlled by Grand Duke Winter and that the Kingdom of Noah had no future.

This could even shake the foundation of Noah’s power.

Those with ulterior motives would then have a topic to stir up others.

...Of course, even if Annan wasn’t in Noah, those that should do so would still proceed. But the trouble would be considerably less.

Once Vasily relayed the message back to Winter, Dmitry would immediately guess from the numerous details Annan left behind that "Giralda" was Annan.

And he would quickly realize that if Annan was hiding his identity to return to the country, it meant he needed such a disguise. So, he would help Annan keep the true identity of "Giralda" hidden.

Instead of worrying about his pseudonym being exposed,

Annan was keener on taking the opportunity to inquire about some matters Dmitry might not tell Annan:

"...Speaking of which, my brother."

Thus, "Giralda" asked Dmitry Winter beside him, in a low voice, "Since werewolves are so dangerous, why doesn’t the Grand Duchy of Winter simply banish them?"

The innate Berserk talent of werewolves made them akin to ticking time bombs.

No one would want a werewolf near their children — even if it was judged that the individual wouldn’t go Berserk temporarily due to age or gender.

Not to mention a werewolf who could potentially kill.

Even if it were genuine humans... if someone had been to prison, or had been sentenced, even for stealing a loaf of bread or a few silver coins, parents would still be uneasy about them being around children.

"The permanent solution would be to completely expel the werewolves from the lands, wouldn’t it?"

Giralda said with a smile that was not quite a smile, "After all, now... it’s already almost the case."

Dmitry glanced at him: "Are you a sympathizer of the werewolves?"

Giralda shrugged his shoulders: "I’m not, and I’m not even from Winter, so what right do I have to sympathize? Just purely curious, that’s all.

"You are the heir to the Grand Duke of Winter, aren’t you? Then you should know the answer to this question... Can you tell me?"

"There’s nothing that can’t be mentioned. It’s no secret,"

Dmitry said leisurely.

He casually sat on the table, pulling out a copper box from his chest. It should have held a row of cigars, but now only three remained.

He took out one of the dark brown cigars, used a cigar cutter to snip an opening in the rounded end, and unceremoniously picked up a thick match from Giralda’s table, striking it and carefully toasting the cigar as he turned it.

With his left pinky finger, he lightly tapped the cigar box, glancing at Giralda.

Seeing that he didn’t react, Dmitry looked up in mild surprise:

"...You don’t smoke?"

"I am hardly of the age to smoke,"

Giralda said with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, seemingly meaningful.

But Dmitry didn’t seem to grasp the intent behind Giralda’s words.

He just clicked his tongue.

Dmitry shook his head and murmured softly, "Everyone dies eventually... what’s the point in living so carefully?"

"What did you say?"

"No, it’s nothing."

Dmitry denied.

He fell silent for a moment, then slowly said, "The answer is simple.

"It’s not that we don’t want to banish them... it’s that we can’t. Although we still haven’t thoroughly researched the rules of werewolves’ Berserk state, the general rule is that when their own or their tribe’s lives are in danger, there is a chance that werewolves will go Berserk.

"For example, being severely injured by someone, or when truly desperate, werewolves can go mad. According to our research, this seems to be some kind of curse inherited in the blood... Who knows. Who cares."

A hereditary curse?

Like... the Heart of Winter?

Annan pondered.

So that’s how it was.

That’s why the Duchy of Winter had deliberately left a way open.

Although they discriminated against wolfmen, suppressed them, and restricted their access to power, they never expelled them from the territory. Instead, they provided them a certain way to survive—because once the wolfmen were truly driven to desperation, the power they could unleash would be enough to riddle the Duchy of Winter with holes from within.

With the Kingdom of Noah covetously watching from the sidelines, the Duchy of Winter dared not deal with the wolfmen issue with extreme measures.

But not daring to didn’t mean not wanting to.

If possible, they would wish for nothing more than for the wolfmen to leave the Duchy of Winter as soon as possible.

It didn’t matter whether they fled to the Underworld or the Holy Nation, as in both places, the wolfmen’s status would be relatively higher.

The Underworld, with its vast lands, sparse population, and abundant resources, meant that the black-furred wolfmen entering it seldom triggered berserk; whilst in the Holy Nation, the wolfmen’s status was slightly higher than in the Duchy of Winter.

The people of the Holy Nation were equally wary of wolfmen. However, the difference was that in the Holy Nation, some wolfmen had already ascended to the higher echelons of power, able to speak for their own kind.

After all, wolfmen were natural war machines, and they belonged to the "blood and desire" populace.

Wolfmen could not produce followers of Grandmother but could easily generate worshipers of Red Knight and the Goddess of Cup.

You know... there is a bronze-tier Transcendent occupation called "Wolfman."

No prerequisite occupations were needed for Wolfmen, no swordsmanship or stealth skills required. Once they reached adulthood and passed a certain nightmare, they could have a chance to become Transcendent.

...And, they also easily trod the path of corruption.

They could almost be described as natural-born corrupt entities.

Of the twelve True Gods, only Red Knight and the Goddess of Cup were willing to accept devil worshipers.

The Red Knight even had an apostle legion known as the "Slaughter Squad," entirely composed of devils that had been accepted into the fold; and in the rituals of the Goddess of Cup, there were even high-tier rituals that directly transformed mortals into blood demons, a Long-lived Species—according to Annan’s understanding, they could also be labeled as "vampires."

Then it became quite strange.

Since the Duchy of Winter, by and large, couldn’t wish more for the wolfmen to scram.

Why was Bella accepted... and even qualified to become a Hand of Winter?

Seeing Dmitry’s reaction, Annan guessed that Bella had most likely gone berserk already.

She might even have attacked him in the first playthrough... otherwise, given Dmitry’s appearance of severity but his actual laziness, he wouldn’t have developed such a strong disgust for wolfmen so suddenly.

But Annan couldn’t ask about Bella’s situation.

Whether Bella was in trouble or not.

In his character, he was a person from Noah.

If he directly revealed the true name of a member of the Hands of Winter, the one likely to be seized on the spot would not be just Dorin, but one more...

"Don’t even think about running away."

As he watched Giralda stand up, Dmitry suddenly said, "I’m relatively free right now, and I’m here to find that Frost Beast. Until your suspicion is cleared, I’ll be watching you."

"Mm, I understand, I understand. I’m just going to grab some wine... no problem with getting some wine, right?"

Annan said with a smile, "I now also understand why you absolutely have to find that Frost Beast.

"Research value is not important... it’s the wolfmen, they’re not very stable. Right?"

"...Tch."

Dmitry seemed to feel something off about Giralda’s comments.

He smacked his lips and pulled a face, taking a displeased puff of his cigar.

Annan shook his head, stood up, and prepared to head to the wine rack by the door to grab a few bottles of wine.

He still hadn’t tried whether he himself could use the new function of that teleportation point... so, for now, he’d better not be reckless. It was fine to stay put here, and it wouldn’t be for long.

He truly wanted to see Dmitry’s face when he learned the truth.

Annan thought to himself with a smile.

Thinking of the three-man group still endlessly failing and anxiously waiting for him to lead them in the Underground City, Annan’s smile grew even broader.

It was quite amusing to watch their various flops.

"I’m not intending to stand you up on purpose... you see, I just can’t help it."

I’m actually in jail, my bear brothers.

You keep working, don’t wait for me.jpg

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