Chapter 104: The Strategy of Retreating to Advance Later

“It’s already six in the morning.”

Annan looked at the sky outside, lost in thought.

He hadn’t stayed up for a long time, let alone staying up all night without sleep.

It was a habit that would take an enormous toll on the body.

Moreover, Annan was made to realize yet another critical problem.

He didn’t feel tired at all now.

Although he stayed up all night watching the stream, he was still in good condition. He didn’t feel sleepy, nor did he feel unusually excited after staying up late, as if he was sleeping normally and waking up normally.

Annan simply found it dangerous because his body no longer showed early warnings to him.

“Let’s wait for Salvatore.”

Annan sighed, put on his clothes, and got up from the bed to do some light exercise, to soothe his stiff body lying on the bed all night.

Viscount’s bed is indeed quite comfortable. But it’s still a little uncomfortable lying down all night.

Annan lamented.

Since it was 6 a.m., Salvatore had only slept for three hours.

Knowing that this hard-working senior could only sleep for six hours a day, Annan found it inhumane to disturb him again.

Worse still, this place was not where he usually lived. It was hard to sleep if he could fall asleep immediately after 3 a.m.

Annan convinced himself so in his heart.

What I’m doing now is to prevent this dumb rich guy from dying out of lethargy at a young age.

Fortunately, Annan’s “moral sense” and “common sense” were still functioning normally.

Otherwise, Anna might do evil things for his pleasure.

“

Hmph

, maybe I should get some breakfast first.”

After twenty minutes of light exercises, Annan took a long breath.

Senior is only waking up at 9 a.m. So I should head out without

waiting for him.

All of a sudden, there came a knock on viscount’s house.

Who will that be?

Annan thought.

“It’s only half-past six in the morning.”

Annan frowned slightly and opened the door.

Standing at the door, there was a smiley bald priest. He had a chubby face and big ears.

The bald priest smiled and revealed two rows of golden teeth in the face of Annan, who opened the door alone. He took out his pocket watch a little exaggeratedly and bowed to Annan, “Good morning, our upright feudal lord, I wish Silver Sire blesses you today.

“I am so happy to see that it’s you who opened the door.”

It’s Bishop Daround.

Annan suddenly realized.

Oops, that’s not right. It’s Bishop Daryl.

Annan couldn’t forget the glaring golden teeth.

This person appears erratic, as if he knows a lot.

Especially, the bishop first claimed to be familiar with the Gerant family’s elder and the current family master. But he didn’t recognize that Annan was not Don Juan Geraint at all.

Or it could be that he recognized it but didn’t point it out.

Because he persuaded Annan, “This is not your hatred. You’re not involved with either side.”

Annan knew what the bald bishop said was right.

Regardless of whether it was Gerald or Viscount Barber, their target was “Don Juan Geraint,” not “Annan Austere-Winter.”

The reality had proved it.

After Annan revealed his true identity, they both temporarily gave up their hostility.

“Tribute to the silver coin, Grandpa Daryl.”

Annan hesitated but chose a more familiar address and responded to the bishop.

“Since you came to me, is there something wrong?”

Annan’s tone was tender and humble. Though, his attitude was direct with no cowardice, “If I can offer any help, please don’t hesitate to voice it out.”

“

Oh no, no, no

. There’s no need to trouble you, my dear sir.”

Bishop Daryl smiled and said, “I came to you in advance to get an alignment. How do you plan to disclose this matter to them today?”

The bald and fat bishop didn’t point out “them.”

But, Annan understood what the bishop meant.

What he said must be the group of people who were bewitched and controlled by the viscount.

As the spokesperson of Roseburg’s Silver Sire Church, Bishop Daryl was obliged to align with Annan in advance.

He and Annan were the supreme rulers of Roseburg and even the entire North Sea Territory. If the two disagreed in public, it was equivalent to publicizing the fact that “Roseburg’s was politically unstable.” The underlings might bear ill intention with many clowns emerging.

Though, Annan felt that Bishop Daryl came for other reasons.

Annan was silent for a while, then responded, “I’m not sure what you are talking about.”

He was asking Bishop Daryl in a tactful way –

What you plan to do on your side?

Bishop Daryl smiled and said, “Naturally, the matter will be concluded as heathens ambushed and killed our viscount.”

Can this be done?

Annan was a little surprised.

No doubt that this narration, which Bishop Daryl picked, was more beneficial to Annan.

It was like saying the entire Silver Sire Church endorsed Annan’s reign.

“Do I need to do anything?” asked Annan tentatively.

Upon seeing this, Bishop Daryl couldn’t help laughing.

“It’s good to talk to smart people.”

He smiled and said, “You are a little like your grandfather.”

Whose grandfather? Can you be clear about it?

Annan muttered in his heart.

But Annan couldn’t speak it out bluntly. He could only nod humbly and said in a cold and childish voice, “Thank you for your praise.”

Bishops just smiled meaningfully and didn’t say much.

“Right, Grandpa Daryl.”

Annan suddenly asked, “Do you know about the… at the beginning of every nightmare?”

As priesthood personnel and the vanguard to purify nightmares, they should have a better understanding of nightmares than ordinary Transcended.

Sure enough, Bishop Daryl thought for a moment and knew what Annan was referring to, “Are you talking about that whisper?”

“Yes.”

Annan nodded.

Bishop Daryl smiled and said with a smile, “This, we generally call this “dictum.” If you want to talk about the principles and exceptions, it becomes complicated. You only need to know at the application level. In most cases, “dictum” will not lie to you.

“It will always reveal the core rule of every nightmare. But remember not to be misled. After all, the dictum has only one sentence, and it is typically misunderstood.

“They’re like a prophecy.”

Bishop Daryl sighed softly at the end.

Annan was keenly aware of it. But there was too little info for him to infer something.

Bishop Daryl seemed to have thought of something and asked Annan, “Do you mean to ask me what kind of nightmare Gerald has hatched?”

“If you can tell me, that would be great.” Annan nodded and said seriously.

Looking at Annan’s ice-blue pupils, Bishop Daryl felt a little lost.

Upon seeing this, Annan was seemingly occupied with thoughts.

The bishop was silent for a while before showing the harmless smile again, “No problem, I have already cleansed the nightmare once. Of course, this nightmare is a bit more complicated, but it’s still something you can handle.

“Do you want the key?”

“If you’re fine with giving me that.” Annan nodded.

In the meantime, Annan secretly memorized the term “key.”

Bishop Daryl seemed to be prepared. He took out a hard object wrapped in layers of cloth from his waist.

Annan reached out to touch it and quickly realized that it seemed to be a broken bone.

“You can enter the nightmare by touching it for more than thirteen seconds.”

Bishop Daryl was stern in this, “Although it is not difficult for you, it is best to enter after the early morning.”

“Wait a minute, Grandpa Daryl.”

Annan suddenly said, “If I enter the nightmare now, can you wake me up in three hours?

“There are not many people whom I can trust here. I am afraid that apart from Salvatore, you are the only one who can be trusted.”

Hearing that, Bishop Daryl was startled. Of course, he knew what this meant.

After Annan entered the nightmare, the body left in reality would become vulnerable. If Bishop Daryl chose to kidnap him or kill him directly at this time, Annan would be defenseless.

This was undoubtedly a gamble. Annan was using his life to bet on the trust of others.

But what is Annan betting on?

Bishop Daryl hesitated.

“I don’t recommend this. It would be too dangerous for you.”

Bishop Daryl became stern which was contradictory to his typical nature. He reprimanded Annan, “When you enter a nightmare, you can’t even let outsiders know about it, let alone having others take care of your body, especially those you can’t trust. This is equivalent to making yourself vulnerable.”

“Then can I trust you?”

Annan looked at Bishop Daryl with pure and clear eyes, “Can you wake me up?”

Looking at the icy blue pupils, Bishop Daryl was in a daze again.

He was silent for a while, and sighed helplessly.

“Then, you may go to sleep. I will wake you up in three hours.”

Bishop Daryl walked in the door, closed and locked it.

Hmph, as predicted.

Annan got the clue he wanted, completely felt at ease.

Annan’s action might look like a fanatic at the gaming table.

But in fact, he had secretly cheated.

—Although Annan made this request to Bishop Daryl, it did not mean that Annan had completely believed the bishop.

Annan had no power to fight back at all if Bishop Daryl had ill intention.

But if the bishops’ response seemed off at even a slight, Annan would immediately comment, “Oh, I’m just kidding.” This would not hurt his reputation to the bishop too much while he assessed the bishop’s bottom line.

It might seem like a gamble, but it was a cover-up. The other party was unprepared with the request being incidental. With that, Annan had control of the topic.

Though, Annan somehow found out a new clue in his attempt. He became more convinced now that Bishop Daryl knew ‘Annan.’

(TN: The MC’s real identity still seems fuzzy to me, even though we can be sure that MC isn’t John nor Don Juan. Hence, I will refer him to the “name” the author had referred to.)

Moreover, Bishop Daryl should know someone from Annan’s family and know the person quite well.

Bishop Daryl added abruptly, “After you enter this nightmare, don’t be too nervous even if you meet an acquaintance. But, don’t hesitate too much too.

“Always remember, this is just a remnant of history. You can’t change anything, and they are just illusions. Kill if you need to. Don’t trust people you shouldn’t believe.”

Wait, what does this mean?

Annan was startled.

This bald fatty. Are Gerald’s nightmare, deepest obsession, and resentment not related to the incident in which Salvatore and I killed him?

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