Super Righteous Player
Chapter 804 - 343 The Painter Approaching the Limit

Chapter 804: Chapter 343 The Painter Approaching the Limit

Captain Alexander did not lead Annan and his entourage to his own Noah First Bank, where he served as the chairman, but instead, he took them to the Iris Bank.

The side door of their carriage bore the insignias of the iris and the lion. And on the streets they passed through, there was not a single commoner to be seen... This was to prevent assassins with malicious intent from blending in with the populace and disrupting this diplomatic meeting.

On both sides of the street, there stood the same armored elite that Annan had seen when he visited King Henry VIII, viewed from that palace which resembled a clock’s face.

As the carriage moved forward, the guards on either side would neatly halt the metallic spears in their hands and bow their heads while placing a hand over their chest as the carriage passed by.

This was partly in respect for the great Duke of Winter.

The other part was to pay homage to the symbols on the side of the carriage itself.

The iris and lion were symbols that belonged to the Noah royal family.

Being able to name itself "Iris," the Iris Bank was naturally no simple entity.

It was neither the largest bank in Noah nor the one with the most customers... but a royal bank with a majority stake held by the royal family and with noble shareholders from the Silver Baron church.

The Iris Bank did not accept regular customers or small investments and loans. It did not accept any nobility as shareholders but was directly connected to the very treasury of Noah.

Nominally, it had only one chairman.

And that was the reigning King of Noah.

It appeared to be a bank on the surface, but in fact, it was one of Noah’s organs of power. Its primary duty was to provide loans for certain "national institutions" that had been personally approved by the King.

For instance, road repairs, bridge construction, maintenance of the great barriers, building of national theaters... Projects that needed funding in the name of the royal household, all had to go through the Iris Bank in the end.

If any great noble or merchant wanted to invest in or manage a project under the royal household’s jurisdiction, they also had to discuss it with the Iris Bank.

The close relationship between the Iris Bank and the royal household meant that the bank’s physical location was naturally near the Noah Palace. It was even so close that its rear end was embedded inside the palace itself... Walking southwest from the fountain blessed by the Silver Baron would lead directly to the back entrance of the Iris Bank.

After all, it needed to transfer funds directly from the treasury every week, and that entire process never left the palace. Those protecting the bank, apart from the silver knights of the Silver Baron church, included the secretive Crow agents.

Annan, Maria, and Victor Frostword were casually catching up over tea in the private offices of the Iris Bank directors.

The Hands of Winter and the Crows waited together just outside the door.

The players were enveloping the bank from even further outside.

...Annan always felt that this had gone beyond the definition of "secret protection" and was gradually shifting towards "staking out" the place.

To the uninformed, it might appear that their "three men and a dog" or "payday" gatherings had become overdone...

It had been less than half an hour since Annan and the others had sat down.

Then there came a knock at the door.

"...My lord,"

a voice as soft and gentle as one not wishing to disturb a sleeper, rang from outside the room: "Sorry to keep you waiting."

As the door opened, Kafney Noah, now dressed in a different outfit, appeared at the doorway.

Gone was her usual attire of a black lace dress and the beret often worn by painters... Instead, she was remarkably dressed up for the occasion.

Kafney had put on a pure white off-shoulder gown, her hands covered by long white gloves. The fluffy hem of the dress didn’t hang down to her feet as before, but instead ended above the knees... The back of the dress was long, but rather than a hem, it resembled more of a cape.

In addition, she had slipped into pure white high-heeled boots.

This was, without a doubt, a standard evening dress. The colors and style even evoked thoughts of a wedding gown.

The impression Kafney gave was immediately transformed—her formerly somber temperament had almost entirely vanished.

Adorned in an outfit that was pure white from head to toe, Kafney seemed to be glowing. It made her waist-length curly hair look even darker. If she were to close her eyes at that moment, her stance might even bring to mind a statue of a deity.

But it was precisely because Kafney opened her eyes that she lost that sense of the divine.

Yet in Kafney’s nearly glass-like, translucent crystal-red pupils, which were clear enough to make one suspect blindness, there was still that nearly drowsy, entranced feeling.

"...Hmm?"

Maria let out a light exclamation, somewhat surprised, and focused her attention.

Previously, when she locked gazes with Kafney, she had experienced a feeling of a vision that was "extremely distant."

It was as if what Kafney saw was not Maria, nor was it Maria as an individual human being, but something very far away, very abstract, and very elusive. To compare, it was closer to the momentary fear one felt when a prophet broke the secrecy with a single sentence.

Yes.

Kafney’s clear pupils were filled with a demonically magical gaze. It would involuntarily instill an intense sense of dread in people.

"...Is it a vision?"

Maria murmured to herself.

This might be a commonality shared by those of the Painter profession.

It is said that Yawen and Paper Princess’s gazes also possess this demonic quality.

Yawen had already dissected all things of this world; his gaze was so sharp that it gave people the illusion of being dissected. And that illusion was so vivid that it could not only convince the mind but even deceive the world.

Therefore, those with weak wills and little courage must not lock eyes with Yawen. Otherwise, they might truly, in their moment of cowardice, be spontaneously dissected by Yawen’s subconscious imagination into a "corpse for teaching anatomy."

And the gaze of Paper Princess conveys extreme beauty—this was Paper Princess’s self-seal, meant to protect those mortals who glimpsed her.

Those who had not locked eyes with Paper Princess would only perceive an "extremely beautiful silhouette" and not have their reason and consciousness taken away. But the moment one looked into Paper Princess’s eyes, one would momentarily lose all other meanings of life... Not only could it overturn one’s perspective on life, but it could also instantly drive one mad with an extreme love for beauty.

The deeper one’s understanding of "beauty," especially Painters who have stepped into the abstract realm, the greater the mental shock received when locking eyes with Paper Princess.

Because the essence of "beauty" held by Paper Princess is considered beautiful under all circumstances, in all aesthetics. And if one were to lock gazes with Paper Princess, one would see an existence that is the pinnacle of beauty in one’s understanding, even far beyond one’s imagination.

And such a vision is not necessarily a beautiful girl, may not even be human, or to say, not necessarily a physical form...

Since a vision can be produced.

Regardless of Kafney’s abilities as a future queen.

In the realm of a Painter, she indeed seemed to have approached the human limit.

"——Milord!"

The moment she saw Annan, a faint smile bloomed on Kafney’s face.

The "vision" generated from that hollow and profound gaze that invoked fear was instantly shattered by Kafney’s smile.

That’s right. The reason Captain Alexander had chosen this place for the meeting...

Obviously, it was because Kafney had arranged it beforehand—

She couldn’t come over openly with Annan, but she could enter from the back door of Iris Bank.

The Silver Baron Church, which was closer to the fourth Prince, naturally preferred Kafney to become the new king.

"...And Princess Maria."

Kafney turned to Maria, who was sitting beside Annan, her expression growing solemn as she formally bowed:

"Nice to meet you... I am Kafney Noah. I will be the future queen of Noah."

She declared earnestly, "I am also a faithful ’believer’ of His Majesty Annan."

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