"Don’t covet the name from your past life?"
Annan was slightly puzzled.
Benjamin glanced at them and explained for both, "Curses must be bound by the power of an ’oath’ to be utilized by others.
"And a ’name’ is the most powerful oath that one is bestowed with from birth—an oath that accompanies one for life.
"If one chooses to use a name they have previously abandoned, it signifies that they are swearing to pick up that fate again. Thus, all the curses and the destiny that one has once escaped will come back to find you, with even greater force. Since you’ve chosen to run from your debts... you can’t turn back. Otherwise, you will only face an even greater accumulation of debt."
In this world, all supernatural powers are Curses.
So the domain of "fate" also naturally belongs to Curses.
After all, the god of luck and surprise, "Lady Haoyun," is also a True God.
...Doesn’t that mean, if I casually use Tan Juan as an alias, "Tan Juan" himself, or the Geraint family, won’t come after me?
And the King won’t have any objections to my existence either?
After all, he just wants "Tan Juan Geraint" not to die at old Fu’s hands. Hearing that Tan Juan is not dead, at most, he would be surprised and think, "Huh, I didn’t expect his highness the skeleton to be quite amiable," and then he wouldn’t bother with it anymore.
But as long as Annan doesn’t stray too far from Frostwater Harbor, the King probably won’t care where he goes...
The only one who might feel something is off would be the third Prince.
But at most, he would simply think that Annan is just an impostor...
Doesn’t that mean... no one can hold me accountable?
Annan suddenly felt a rush of excitement.
He had been very obedient before, not daring to stir up trouble or make a noise. Fearful of attracting the attention of the Royal Capital... but he didn’t expect the identity of Tan Juan to be this safe!
Nobody cares whether he’s alive or dead.
—They just prefer that if he has to die, he dies a bit farther away.
"But whose nightmare is this?"
Annan asked again, "If we’re saying that Tan Juan Geraint is still alive..."
"It’s Tan Juan’s. Since he is going to be reincarnated, the curses accumulated inside him naturally need to be cleansed—he can’t be born carrying metal ornaments."
Benjamin smiled slightly at Annan, patiently explaining, "I assume you didn’t enter this nightmare through the Curse Binding of little Tan Juan, did you?
"Transforming curses, that is the profession of a conversion wizard. It’s simply a matter of transferring the curses in Tan Juan’s corpse to someone else... completely doable.
"Little Tan Juan’s final resentment must be a desire to ’kill’ or ’catch’ those traitors. Otherwise, it would be a wish to learn their purpose.
"And by doing so... it can turn the information in this nightmare into false news. Make those who come back to investigate think that both I and Tan Juan have died."
In this nightmare, the Tan Juan and Benjamin who died, are actually still alive—just that before realizing this, one would be kicked out after failing the challenge or would leave upon leveling up. They wouldn’t see the story after the ending.
The only one who died was "John."
In a social sense, Benjamin is already dead.
Everyone thinks he’s dead, and he has completely vanished into the shadows.
And Tan Juan’s soul was captured by Benjamin. Maybe he successfully revived, maybe not.
"—But why are you telling me all this?"
"Because I guess you are the new inheritor of the Pages of Truth. You’re here now to ask me some questions."
Benjamin spoke with a smile, "Otherwise, I find it hard to imagine why you would want to return to this nightmare. It is just a bronze-ranked nightmare, only able to provide power to bronze-ranked Transcendents...
"Not just anyone can inherit the Pages of Truth. If there’s a single Curse Binding that conflicts with its elements, it simply cannot be accommodated; and if the talent of a Transcendent is not enough to rise to Gold rank, then it won’t manifest before you at all.
"In other words—you might be somewhat weak now, but you are definitely the future keeper of truth.
"Truth Rank... is like a reserve force of gods. As long as there’s enough time for the keeper of truth to look for other Pages of Truth, to complete their Book of Truth, to store enough curses, then it will hatch into a new god.
"Since it didn’t manifest before me, it means that my truth does not fit with yours. So it’s no problem for me to be most respectful to a future god, to answer any questions you have—just ask... if I can answer, I definitely will."
Benjamin stated openly.
He was being very straightforward—I want to make friends with you while you’re weak, I want to give you benefits. And I’m outright saying it, this is to make friends with you. Do you have any complaints?
Annan had no objections.
Annan was very well-behaved.
"The Book of Truth" was, in fact, equivalent to godhood.
As long as a Gold Rank could obtain a Page of Truth, they could ascend to the Truth Rank. The process of the Truth Rank involved the strong individuals of the same book searching for each other and hunting each other down to complete their own Book of Truth.
Once someone could complete the Book of Truth and accumulate enough power— or one might say "experience"—they would inevitably become a new god.
... It sounded, perhaps, not too difficult.
Annan was currently at the Bronze Rank, but he already had two pages...
If he continued at this rate, he might collect them all before even reaching Gold.
But the Book of the Celestial Chariot...
Whose truth was this?
Many thoughts flashed through Annan’s mind.
He decided to tell the truth.
After all, the real Benjamin and Tan Juan in the outside world wouldn’t know about their conversation here. The worst outcome would be a refusal to cooperate... In which case, Annan could just commit suicide three times to exit the copy.
That way, after three days, Annan could re-enter the copy and ask again.
And if the information was diluted... it didn’t matter.
After all, Annan wouldn’t wholly trust their words to begin with.
Annan nodded, "I indeed need your help.
"I am Annan Winter. I have temporarily lost part of my memory and am trapped in the Kingdom of Noah... Due to my resemblance, I am temporarily using the identity of Lord Tan Juan, managing his territory. With the power of the Pages of Truth, I am fighting against the Bone Consort and the Rotten Husband at Frostwater Harbor.
"And now, Master Michelangelo is about to be resurrected. My friend Salvatore wishes to help Master Michelangelo complete his revival... But the Rotten Husband Church plans to use the ’Ritual: Breaker of Reincarnation’ to stop the ritual on that day. I hope you can tell me more about Tan Juan’s habits. Master Benjamin, do you know of any schemes the Rotten Husband Church has in Roth Fort? How should I assist Michelangelo, how to stop the Rotten Husband Church’s plan..."
Annan had also intended to say, "If it succeeds, I will surely repay you in the future" and so on. But as he spoke, he felt that something about these words was off.
It sounded a bit like the "Hello, I’m Emperor Qin Shi Huang. I ate the elixir of life and didn’t die, now I’m sealed in the mausoleum with billions of soldiers..." joke.
Benjamin and Tan Juan exchanged glances.
After a long moment of thought, Tan Juan slowly nodded.
Tan Juan answered seriously, "Then, my lord, the future Duke and Divine Majesty... I hope you will treat my people kindly."
Annan breathed a sigh of relief.
His goal this time had finally been achieved.
"...However, before that, I have a question. Why would they believe that you would drink that wine?"
This was what puzzled Annan the most.
He asked carefully, "In the false information they have received, they would think your Curse Binding is ’cannot drink wine given by someone older than yourself’ and ’cannot eat roasted green plums,’ so they used green plum wine for the counter-curse. Then why would they believe that you would drink wine sent by the old butler? Couldn’t you have just not drunk it?"
"It’s because... Adolphus isn’t actually older than me,"
Benjamin said leisurely, "The Earl is aware of my real Curse Binding. He wouldn’t send someone older than me to serve me wine, and I am acquainted with Adolphus... He has always been Tan Juan’s butler, and I know him thoroughly. He has always been the one pouring my wine.
"So, they had to curse Adolphus to kill me. I have just smelled the scent of decay... That’s the smell of the Ritual: Aging Curse.
"—And this is a voluntary curse."
As Benjamin spoke, his expression grew somber.
Tan Juan also realized something and fell silent.
Benjamin said softly, "To avoid triggering my perception, they could only use the excuse of murdering Tan Juan to divert the murderous intent. That means, Adolphus would rather accept the aging curse to assassinate his master, Tan Juan... than believe me and the Earl, than ask us for help.
"Well then... it is what it is."
The old Wizard heaved a long, deep sigh.