Chapter 62: Mr. Plannerâs Analysis
It started to rain.
It was a sparse but heavy downpour.
Judging on how the passers-by sheltered from the rain, it seemed that the rains had gone on for a while.
But Annan and the others didnât notice it.
It was as if they had entered another world just now.
âIs it an illusion?â
Salvatore reached out his hand to support Annanâs shoulder and asked in a low voice, âIs it that person
(Translatorâs Note: Dr. Gerald)
?â
It seemed Salvatore had grown some trust in Annanâs wisdom.
âNot really.â
Annan replied slowly.
The event made no sense.
If Gerald could easily create a boundary that could isolate passers-by without anyone noticing, even the Black Tower leading graduate would not realize it.
Then, he could easily separate and kill them. With such a stark difference in power, the strategy would be meaningless.
âHow much do you know about this person?â
Annan asked suddenly.
âYou meant Bishop Daryl?â
Salvatore shook his head, âI only heard the name. This name is unlike a common name in the kingdom. There is no such surname either. Plus, I havenât seen this name in previous newspapers.
âBut the news from the Black Tower confirmed that he was indeed the bishop guarding Roseburg. So, I suspect the name might be a pseudonym.â
âCan bishops use pseudonyms?â
âVery few, but there are.â
Salvatore replied affirmatively, âBecause some ânamesâ are dead alreadyâŠ
âI think you can understand what I mean.â
âI see.â
Annan nodded slowly.
With the âNameâ dead, the personâs true identity was already dead in most peopleâs eyes.
Thus, the usage of pseudonymsâŠ
âYou, hello⊠Dear Sir!â
At this moment, Annan suddenly heard a faint young boyâs voice, âIs this Young Master Don Juan Geraint?â
Annan looked back and found that it was a thin boy with freckles on his face. He looked at most seventeen years old. The moment when the boy met Annanâs ice-blue pupils, his eyes were glimmering in pleasant surprise. But soon, that gaze was overwhelmed by fear and cowardice.
âItâs me.â
Annan answered plainly, âWhatâs the matter?â
His voice was childish but calm and melodic. Even if there were many players between the boy and him, the words could be transmitted clearly to the boyâs ears.
âItâs your invitation!â
The young boy did not dare to look up at Annan but blushed. The boy said in difficulty, âItâs Master Viscount Barberâs invitation! He prepares dinner for you and invites you to come right awayâŠâ
As the boy spoke, he handed over the invitation.
The first player reached out and accepted the invitation. The player then took a photo and handed it to the next player.
The next player did the same thing as well. After taking a photo with the invitation, the player passed it onto the next player.
Salvatore looked at the group of people, shaking the invitation in their ear and then solemnly handing it over to the next person. He felt a little at a loss.
What are they doing?
Is this also some kind of etiquette of the royals?
He stretched out his hand to accept the invitation. Then he subconsciously copied the playersâ actions, shook the letter in his ear, and then handed it to Annan.
â
Pfft.
â
Salvatore vaguely heard suppressed laughter.
He was immediately upset.
Is my action substandard? Ah, yes, Iâm pretty frigid. I donât dare to raise my hand openly.
âYou donât need to do that.â
Annan looked at Salvatoreâs troubled state. He couldnât help but advise Salvatore. Then, he reached out, took the invitation, and opened it.
Salvatore nodded without saying much.
But he couldnât help criticizing his subconscious timidity in his heart.
No, itâs simple. Iâm just quite frigid. Is it because I came from a rural area, so Iâm a little shy about it?
I need to overcome this.
The status of these guards was lower than him. Yet, he was a little nervous and a little tense. After meeting the wizard from the royal capital, how could he converse normally?
Fortunately, Salvatore had made full use of his excellent memory and had carved this etiquette deeply in his brain. He had constantly been refreshing his memory of Annanâs followerâs bizarre actions and silently wrote them down carefully.
At the same time, he also deeply felt the cultural differences between small places like Freezing Water Port, the swamp, and the prosperous capital city.
âOnly three people?â
Annan shook the invitation in his hand and asked softly, âDo you understand what it says?â
His ice-blue pupils quietly watched the boy who came to deliver the letter. The boy instinctively bowed his head in fear.
âYes. Master Viscount specifically asked me toâŠâ
âI think such a big viscountâs mansion shouldnât be too poor to accommodate my guards, right?â
Annan interrupted the boy, âAll of us will be there. Just reply like that.â
âYes.â
The young boy didnât dare to say anything. He just bowed to Annan anxiously and left in a hurry.
Annan looked at the boyâs back. He then summoned Salvatore and Jiu Er back into the carriage again.
Salvatore couldnât help but ask, âAre we going? Didnât Bishop DarylâŠ?â
âItâs raining heavily.â Annan replied while steering offtopic, âWe have to find a place to shelter from the rain. I donât think viscountâs mansion will have rain leakages.â
âNo, I meanâŠâ
âThree people.â
Annan interrupted Salvatore again and reminded him.
Salvatore was slightly startled when he heard the words.
He realized something.
He frowned and said in uncertainty, âBut, there are only two of us.â
âThat is his plan.â
Annan replied, âSince we have two Transcended, he is declaring his hostility if he directly said that only the two of us are allowed to enter, which meant only transcended is allowed to enter. Such conditions are way too blatant.â
The black-haired and blue-eyed boy looked at Salvatore and asked seriously, âThe question now is, senior⊠how did he know that we have two Transcended?â
âIt is easy to detect.â
Salvatore quickly replied, âThose with the profession âHunterâ can do it.â
âHunter?â
â
Well
, curse hunter. A relatively rare profession. They can delineate their âhunting ground,â monitoring cursesâ existence, and locating the opponentâs location. Transcended and nightmare are both curse carriers. The only exception will be those equipped with the ability to hide curses. Otherwise, all the Transcended will be revealed within the hunting ground.â
Salvatore frowned slightly and warned, âThere will be Gold Rank hunters at the underground passagesâ entry points in various countries. Hunters will also guard many grand rituals. Transcended living in big cities will be summoned from time to time for identity checks.
âViscount Barber is a veteran nobleman. Itâs expected for him to be able to recruit hunters. But it should be noted that the Transcended hunters can absorb new curses through ritual. They can also get some abilities from it.
âItâs unlike the typical method to destroy the Transcended curse vessel and acquire the Trascendedâs abilities through inheriting the curse. Curse hunters establish a new curse. They alternate the opponentâs curse vessels to be a curse vessel of their own temporarily, bypassing the existing curse to utilize the abilities.
âGenerally speaking, in the new curse established among the hunters, they canât utilize the same method they used to kill the Transcended in harming others. Therefore, the higher the hunterâs rank, the more limited the fighting style. But it is usually powerful in the first place.â
âSo, are we being targeted by hunters?â
Annan laughed instead.
Annan was more confident with the speculation in his mind.
First of all, this must be a Hongmen Banquet [1].
They had already faced off against each other. If Viscount and Gerald were in the same group, he didnât need to commit such an extra move.
In general of Transcended common sense, a hunter and a wizard duo must be far superior to the two young wizards duo. Worse still, one of them was the Alteration wizard with no way to fend for himself at all. This was in the condition where the viscount had not recruited any other Transcended for the battle. He already occupied the higher ground.
After all, as Salvatore said, a wizardâs capability largely depended on age. The older the wizard, the greater the power of the spell.
The opponent couldnât know that Annan had four times the mana value of ordinary wizards. In other words, the viscount had underestimated Annanâs combat power.
With this dedicated invitation for Annan to bring in only two people, Annan would refuse to attend the banquet out of vigilance.
After all, this was tantamount to revealing the truth that a âhunterâ was likely to help the viscount, revealing the hunter lurking in the dark.
As a matter of fact, the viscount didnât even dare to send a large army to intercept Annan on the road. The current way was the surefire way to kill Annan. Even Annan didnât know how to deal with it, resorting to escape at any time.
But as soon as Annan entered the city, the viscount made a move. But, the viscount still dared not send an army but tried to assassinate or poison Annan at the banquet.
In other words, the viscount didnât take Annan to heart at all. He didnât regard Annan as an equal enemy to fight against, but an enemy that could be easily killed through conspiracy.
Annan sneered.
But this was also reasonable. Annanâs age was the best disguise. Especially for an elder like Master Viscount, he would undoubtedly be more contemptuous of Annanâs young age than ordinary people.
Because the viscountâs only advantage was âexperience.â This was the strength he relied on to maintain his dignity and prove his wisdom. Of course, he would not discard this strength.
Therefore, the viscount would design a conspiracy out of âexperienced advantage.â He would never overestimate Annanâs wisdom. He might think that Salvatore was the team leader.
âThatâs how it is, senior.â
Annan calmly analyzed, âThe question is, what would you do if you were the leader? I mean, without encountering Bishop Daryl.â
âI will still attend the banquet.â
Salvatore thought for a while and replied softly, âBecause our number is a disadvantage in front of Gerald.
âHe can control many people. The more your guards, the greater our danger. Having the three of us go in, it will be easier to act if a fight breaks out.â
âThatâs the problem.â
Annan said, âThere is no doubt that the viscount must also know this. He knows that our number is a disadvantage in front of Gerald.
âSo, they exposed one thing.â
âThe two of them are not on the same side.â
Salvatoreâs pupils shrank and blurted out.
âThatâs why I asked the messenger to go back and inform Viscount. I will bring my men in.â Annan added calmly, âFrom how the viscount plots his strategy, Iâm sure he will back down. A dozen elites who follow Geraldâs command are undoubtedly a threat to him. So no matter if he has left the banquet or not, he will leave after hearing the reply. When we enter the banquet, I am afraid we will never see the hunter nor the viscount.
âThere will only be one person waiting for usâGerald. But this is our chance.â
Annan crossed his fingers and put on his knees. He said humbly, âThis is my simple analysis.â
That was common sense in planning.
[1] Banquet set up intending to murder a guest.
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