Dark Moment and Xitan Pulan didn’t keep Annan waiting for too long.
By 10:10 in the morning, the two had rushed to the town hall.
To their surprise, Annan had arrived even earlier than them...
Although Annan went to bed late, he still consistently woke up at six o’clock in the morning.
After washing up and having breakfast, he walked to the town hall, a journey that took only five minutes.
It was unclear whether it was because his physical attributes were much higher than Salvatore’s... or because Annan’s ancestry was more complex.
In any case, even if Annan had slept for less than four hours... he indeed seemed to be more spirited than Salvatore, who slept six hours a night.
...Of course, it could also be because Annan could catch up on sleep.
Annan, with practiced ease, pointed to another set of contracts and said, "Sign here... Just sign ’Dark Moment’ and ’Xitan Pulan’, in whatever script you want. As long as it’s your own handwriting, the contract is valid."
The significance of these contracts was that, once they were signed, even if Annan’s identity was exposed and he was no longer the lord of Beihai or the acting lord of Roth Fort... these houses were indeed already belonging to these players.
Moreover, those who came after could not tell through paperwork from whom the players had bought the houses—what Annan had stamped was the private seal of the Viscount of Roth Fort, and the date on the contract had been filled out eight or nine years ago.
I’m such a good person, even considering the legality of the players’ housing...
Annan couldn’t help but sigh to himself.
"After signing, come take a look at your keys."
Annan handed over the two sets of keys to Dark Moment and Xitan Pulan, showing each key to them:
"Dark Moment, you live upstairs in Eleven, Xitan Pulan, you live above Jiu’er. You’re living with your guarantors... Is that okay?
"This largest key is the front door key."
Annan pointed to a key about the size of an adult man’s palm and patiently explained, "The yard that you enter from the front door is yours. There’s nothing planted in the yard and no pond dug out... When you leave Roth Fort, if you come across any rare plants, you can bring them back to plant. Just make sure it doesn’t affect the neighbors.
"The key after the yard is the back door key—the first floor is where your guarantors live. If you go up the stairs from the lobby, that’s where you live. There’s a small compartment in the yard that contains weed removal tools and such, but it can also be converted into a pet’s den. This key and the front door key are shared by the three families upstairs and downstairs."
Annan added, "I won’t give away your third-floor rooms to anyone else without your agreement. But if you do a good job on your tasks, I might sell you the third-floor keys... whether to extend the rooms or for storage. It’s all up to you.
"As for your furniture, I already bought it for you last night. Someone will deliver it to you tonight, so remember to have someone at home. As for personal necessities and such, related to privacy and safety, you’ll need to buy those yourselves."
Annan spoke earnestly and seriously.
Although he sat on the chair, his height not even reaching Dark Moment’s chest... he still appeared very steady and convincing.
...Truly worthy of a duke’s son.
Xitan Pulan nodded silently.
And Dark Moment was almost flabbergasted.
It won’t do, it won’t do! Lord Annan... no, Your Highness Annan!
Just at first meeting, giving me a mansion... and even the furniture is free, how how how... this is so embarrassing!
—But Dark Moment only muttered this in his heart.
He was worried that because of cultural differences, if he really blurted out "It won’t do, it won’t do" and then Annan didn’t understand the joke, nor the courtesy, and said something like "Oh then never mind, extremely sorry," and took back the house...
He would regret it until he coughed up blood.
After the two of them sincerely thanked Annan again, he sent them back home.
He didn’t stay in the town hall for long.
Before lunch, Annan tidied up his things and went home.
At Annan’s request, Vasily had explained to Maria the situation Annan was currently in.
Upon learning that Annan had received a direct task from the Silver Baron and had to make a trip to the Royal Capital— but with the protection of Silver Baron and Paper Princess, safety wasn’t an issue, Maria grudgingly agreed to it.
Still, she repeatedly emphasized to Annan not to cause trouble, not to wander around, and to keep a low profile. She also demanded that Vasily stay by Annan’s side, write a report every week detailing where Annan went and what he did, and report back every three days to assure his safety.
After confirming that Vasily was trustworthy, Annan then made a request to Vasily:
"I’m indeed very good at eliminating influence..."
Vasily frowned slightly, "But the elimination of influence is nothing more than ’counteracting’ and ’consuming’. But as for ’Wheel of Celestial Chariot’s Residue’, nightmares related to ’Radiance’ and such... I have never heard of them."
The old ritualist had never heard of this influence and therefore didn’t know how to eliminate it.
Vasily had indeed seen nightmares with "darkness" as the keyword mentioned in books. But "Radiance" really wasn’t— it sounded very incompatible with the word "nightmare".
So Annan could only mention to him about obtaining the Pages of Truth.
But to Annan’s surprise,
Old Vasily didn’t show any shock at the news.
Although he didn’t know who Annan was, nor did he know about Annan’s battle with the Corrupt, he could tell that Annan had used the Philosopher’s Stone.
If one didn’t grasp truth... even with the Philosopher’s Stone, it would be absolutely impossible to defeat the Corrupt.
"I have indeed heard some news that recently, new Books of Truth have begun to emerge."
Old Vasily answered as if it were a matter of course, "About half a month ago... someone from The Holy Nation obtained the title page of the Book of Truth known as ’The Machine’. And your footsteps have already crossed several nations, along with Divine Blood... I’ve never doubted whether you and Princess Maria could obtain new Fragments of Truth.
"In my more than sixty years of life, Your Highness—you are the most outstanding young people I have ever seen. If there is anyone in this world who might be recognized by the Book of Truth, your names would definitely be among them."
But all compliments aside, all flattery aside...
Vasily still had no clue about the Book of the Celestial Chariot.
However, this also answered another question for him—Vasily was very clear that Annan Winter did not have those guards with strange names and very peculiar ways of doing things, who could keep being reborn.
But if it was said that their existence was influenced by the Pages of Truth, then that would be understandable.
In Vasily’s view, it was quite natural for Pages of Truth to be able to summon and control eternally living strange humanoid creatures from the Otherworld. He even felt this power was somewhat weak... He believed that Annan had not developed it to the limit.
Indeed, that was the case. Annan had not fully gathered his people.
After all, he was more or less in enemy territory at the moment, so he preferred to take the elite route, the smaller the target and the stronger the individual, the better.
Nevertheless, although Vasily could not help Annan get rid of "the remnants of the Wheel of Celestial Chariot."
There was another thing he could do—
Tonight was the night that Annan was to fall into a new nightmare.
Even someone like Priest Louis, a holy clergyman, could carry out a ritual... to ensure that Annan’s death in the nightmare wouldn’t affect his actual self.
Vasily was a professional Ritualist.
The knowledge he possessed allowed him to provide Annan with various blessings according to the type of nightmare. For example, if the nightmare had "frost" as a keyword, he would give Annan frost resistance; if the nightmare had "desert" as a keyword, he would prepare Annan with wind protection and water-making abilities.
Though "radiance" as a keyword was unheard of...
No matter what, it was no problem for him to give Annan a comprehensive enhancement.
The only Twisted instance Annan had ever fought was the Gallery.
Upon seeing that it was a Twisted Nightmare, Annan initially just wanted to survive within it... To be alive when the dream ended was to win.
But considering Vasily’s blessings...
Annan was now seriously considering, should he try to clear a Twisted Tier nightmare in one go?
Annan spent most of the day quietly at home, waiting for the ritual’s preparations—Vasily was to use cinnabar to draw strange red runes all over Annan’s body. This was so that the efficacy of the ritual, conducted in reality, could reach into the dream realm.
At sunset, Vasily began the long-prepared ritual.
He lit eight candles of varying lengths—August was Mr. Radiance’s season, He is the god of light and purification. In nightmares, He is the most powerful protector.
Soon, Annan, lying in the middle of the ritual, fell asleep.
This experience was different from the cold sensation of drowning he had in the nightmare: Reflection—Annan clearly felt warmth and comfort. It was like lying in a bed with a stove beneath and a freshly sunned blanket... as if there was also a small sun in the room.
...Damn, it’s a bit hot.
That was the only thought in Annan’s half-asleep, half-awake state.
Words began to appear in front of him:
["High-Level Influence: The Residue of the Wheel of Celestial Chariot" has resonated.]
[Entering Dream Realm.]
[Detecting presence of Dream Key: Kafney Noah.]
[Searching for nightmare, keyword "radiance"...]
[Falling into nightmare, instance generation in progress...]
[Detected that the current instance has a special property: Memory.]
[This instance will not result in any mutation.]
[Instance difficulty is Twisted.]
[This instance has no save points. Each death increases corruption by 25%, with forced exit from instance after 1 death.]
[This instance provides intro to plot and decrypt rewards.]
[Instance clear reward: Any job level increases by 3.]
[Instance decrypt reward: Element (Radiance) awakening depth increases by 10%.]