After noticing Albert’s expression was off, Annan quickly found an excuse, hastily bid farewell with Salvatore in tow, and left the rotting husband’s assassin to Albert for personal interrogation—
After all, the intelligence spat out by the assassin might include parts that "Annan Winter" shouldn’t know. And now that Albert and Annan are firmly allied, if there really was anything, he would share it with Annan.
Once Annan and Salvatore left the church, they immediately assigned new tasks to the players.
Without hesitation, they too set off.
As if fleeing from crime.
Annan instructed them to head to number 12 Xiushui Street in the eastern district.
That is next to Gerald’s dental clinic.
The "current" residence of Notre Dame.
He lives there with his new wife.
This "reserve" wife of his has neither formally married him nor, let alone, become pregnant.
Meanwhile, Annan and Salvatore personally went to check on the situation at number 44 Clearwater Street, where the truly pregnant Melis Nortada resided.
The players were specifically instructed by Annan to make no movements. They were to just observe and record, checking for any anomalies.
Annan and Salvatore were going to conduct an experiment.
He wanted to see if, when the door at number 44 Clearwater Street in the western district was closed...
Would the door at number 12 Xiushui Street open as well?
In other words, were these two ritual sites interconnected by a lock mechanism?
Because Annan remembered that the door was open the first time they went to number 44 Clearwater Street—and there was no one inside. It was after all the doors were closed that the "past" from three or four years ago had flipped to reality.
If the two sites were indeed interconnected, then Annan had to make sure... if, at the time of childbirth, this "past" side was flipped over, would it be considered a "nonexistent" ritual failure, or counted as a successful "hidden" one?
If it was the former, then Annan would have to set up defenses at both locations, defending both sides simultaneously... but if it was the latter, then setting up at Xiushui Street alone would suffice.
But if the rituals at the two locations were not interconnected.
Then that would be a big deal.
Not to mention anything else.
Annan just wanted to know one thing—
"Two ’Notre Dames,’ what would happen if they met one another?"
Annan analyzed with a serious face, "Aren’t you curious, senior brother?"
Even though his identity was now exposed, he still habitually called Salvatore senior brother.
And Salvatore was still accustomed to calling him Tan Juan.
But now, even Salvatore looked at Annan with an odd expression.
"...To be honest, Tan Juan—are you acquainted with Princess Kafney?"
Full of curiosity, Salvatore asked in a hushed tone, "Just tell me, I promise I won’t tell anyone else."
Annan looked resigned: "I really don’t know her..."
Seeing the senior brother’s persistent questioning, Annan couldn’t help but sigh, "It’s really true..."
Whether the old Annan knew her or not, the current Annan genuinely did not.
This kind of baseless good will, Annan was actually rather reluctant to accept.
Annan didn’t object to deceiving others, nor was he compulsive about his teammates or temporary allies getting hurt—as long as the goal could be achieved, Annan would allow the weaker teammates to take the bullet.
The goal was to temporarily preserve the more important teammates.
Everything for efficiency.
Yet somehow, Annan didn’t feel like deceiving someone as easily tricked as Salvatore...
As for Kafney coming forward to claim she wanted to protect him, Annan didn’t want her to give up her blood either.
And I really don’t need your protection. I have proxies who can be revived at any moment to give up their blood for me...
If there really were enemies, Annan could max out his revival privileges. With four bronze players sacrificing themselves one after another, they should be able to fend off any attack. Even if the four of them can’t stop the enemies, adding Kafney to the mix would probably not make much difference.
It would even divide the experience.
"However, with Princess Kafney here, the preparations we made earlier seem to be of little use now," Salvatore sighed. "It’s a pity, yet a relief... that the Philosopher’s Stone is no longer needed."
"It’s better that it’s not needed," Annan said without hesitation. "Do you believe that once we take this thing out, we will face a whole lot of trouble afterwards?"
"Of course, I believe you."
Salvatore shrugged, "The Philosopher’s Stone... that’s something all the transmutation wizards are pursuing. Even those who are not transmutation wizards would find a lot of influential people wanting to get their hands on it."
"...Speaking of which, senior brother."
Annan felt it was an opportune moment to naturally ask this question without seeming suspicious, "Even if you suddenly dreamt up the method to create the Philosopher’s Stone... where did the inspiration come from?"
"I don’t know either..."
Salvatore choked on the question and replied with a wry smile, "Dreams...are just dreams, right?"
"—Idiot. How could I possibly know the future without prophecy spells?"
At that moment, the shadow spoke in a deep, hoarse voice, "It’s Teacher Benjamin’s notes, the one you saw before you left the Black Tower... Your memory seems to be getting worse, Saul."
That’s because you’re not letting me sleep well—
Salvatore almost cursed out loud.
"—Oh right, Teacher Benjamin’s notes!"
Salvatore pretended to have just remembered, a look of realization on his face, "The ones I saw before leaving the Black Tower!"
Annan’s footsteps suddenly came to a halt.
He turned around, asking with some surprise.
Seeing Annan’s reaction, Salvatore blinked.
"...What’s the matter?"
"I forgot to tell you some information earlier, Senior," Annan said quietly and quickly, "Lord Benjamin was indeed not dead... He even came to Frostwater Harbor ten days ago;
"I saw in my nightmare that Gerald, whom you are hunting, had been on good terms with Benjamin years ago... At least they trusted each other;
"And both Gerald and Benjamin were witnesses to Master Michelangelo’s ritual, and now they have come together again. So I’m thinking..."
"—You mean to say, that me creating the Philosopher’s Stone might also be part of Teacher Benjamin’s plan?"
Salvatore quickly grasped what Annan meant.
For a moment, he almost believed that was the truth—because he was familiar with Benjamin’s way of doing things. Benjamin also knew he had a shadow, so maybe making the Philosopher’s Stone at this time was also part of his plan.
"Teacher Benjamin indeed is a person who plans three steps ahead..."
But he quickly denied it, "But it’s impossible. Because Teacher Benjamin doesn’t know any prophecy spells..."
"But Master Michelangelo does."
From the moment he heard the name Benjamin, he suddenly realized something.
Every ritual requires an executor, right?
Annan originally thought that this ritual was arranged by "the past Michelangelo" himself. But if everything was in Michelangelo’s plan... If Benjamin and Gerald were just pawns.
Why wasn’t there any trace of being manipulated in Benjamin’s voice when he heard about Michelangelo planning to resurrect, in Annan’s nightmare?
They were the executors of the ritual themselves?
"What would happen if Gerald isn’t dead?"
Annan muttered, "He would be able to take control of the situation immediately upon meeting the Viscount. The Bronze-rank Hunters cannot resist Gerald’s mental control, much less Viscount and those rotten clergy followers.
"As the controller of the ritual, he’s undoubtedly the most stable choice. After Gerald’s death, Benjamin became the executor of the ritual..."
"What exactly are you trying to say, Tan Juan?"
Salvatore pressed on.
He had a vague, unformed idea in his mind but couldn’t quite grasp it.
The shadow muttered disdainfully.
"—It’s quite simple."
The next moment, Annan’s and the shadow’s voices overlapped:
"—What if the conflict (hatred) between Benjamin (Teacher) and Gerald originated from this very incident?"
That is, the resurrection of Michelangelo!
Because Annan clearly remembered that a few years ago, Gerald killed all of Benjamin’s students, but at the time, their relationship was still not bad.
But afterward, as Benjamin’s new student, Salvatore seemed unaware of their relationship... He thought Gerald and Benjamin were long-standing enemies. The Black Tower even issued a warrant for Gerald, "to take back that hammer."
But what use does that hammer have for Heath Tower of Black?
And Gerald, he’s trying to use Salvatore to advance to Gold.
Salvatore is the Tower’s Child. If Gerald killed him, he himself wouldn’t stand to gain anything.
But why was he in such a hurry?
Probably because Benjamin was competing with Gerald for the right to execute this resurrection ritual!