The next day at 9 a.m., Annan departed as planned.
Grand Duke Ivan initially intended to assign a member of Winter’s Hand to assist Annan, but Annan firmly declined.
Annan thought that the presence of a Winter’s Hand member would make Vasika Rasputin more cautious and prevent him from speaking his mind freely.
However, if Winter’s Hand were added to the picture, these two possibilities would be gone.
It would be treated as a “conversation under the watchful eye of Grand Duke Ivan”, making Vasika hide, which was detrimental to negotiations.
Annan was not afraid of Vasika telling lies.
His left eye could detect betrayal.
Some lies would reveal more information too.
Why was Vasika lying? Why did he lie about this? What mattered to him? What did he want to hide? Which direction was he leading Annan to? How should Annan respond to him?
If Annan had figured those answers out, he would get more information.
It appeared dangerous to have the dukedom’s sole heir meet a Silver Rank Transcender, who was also a great ritualist, in his place.
However, considering Annan’s ability and the loyalty of the Rasputin family to the Austere-Winter family, Ivan agreed to Annan’s plan.
Annan didn’t bring Doreen, the wolf girl, along. She was temporarily left in the Grand Duke’s Residence. Her appearance was similar to the betrayer, Bella, and she was a werewolf. The other Winter’s Hands were dissatisfied with her existence.
With Winter’s Hand’s loyalty to Austere-Winter and Winter’s Hand’s “silence” principle… No matter how hostile they were to Doreen, at least they would not rush into Doreen’s room and hack her to death while Annan was away.
Annan just left Doreen alone in her room.
Annan thought it was an excellent plan to have the Winter’s Hands scare Doreen with their murderous looks.
Whether Annan wanted to intimidate her later with these Winter’s Hands or comfort her with “The Scammer And The Missionary”, it would be effective.
“So, the ‘Fourth Exhausted Collection’ is here,” Annan murmured.
That was the address on the card.
He had investigated it last night.
This was an art collection museum the Rasputin family invested in. It had an inner and outer gallery, with the inner gallery not open to the public. Entry was only allowed with a one-time invitation or a unique identity card.
The black card with a metal core was the unique identity card.
The outer gallery housed a collection of various artworks, while the inner gallery contained rare enchanting materials and artifacts.
There were even handicrafts made by the Elegant Elder, paintings by the Paper Princess, and fragments of the chevalier’s armor.
[TN: A reminder that Chevalier is related to the deity, Red Knight.]
Some items were for exhibition only, and others were available for rent. Some were also being regularly auctioned off.
The inner gallery would only receive Annan that day.
At the entrance of the inner gallery stood a tall guard wearing thick black leather armor that covered his face. The guard inserted Annan’s card into the jade hammer in his left hand, which looked like ice cream. Then, Annan reached out his finger and wrote his name on the surface of the jade hammer shaped like ice cream. The jade glowed green.
This ID card detection device with a signature is quite advanced. It even has touchscreen functionality.
Annan thought to himself.
The reason for not using fingerprints was probably that changing one’s fingerprints or palm prints in this world was much easier than changing one’s real name.
After the green light came on, the tall guard said in a muffled voice, “Dear guest, you may enter now.”
Annan vaguely saw that the other party’s wrist was inlaid with silver bracelets like handcuffs.
Does the security guard have to be a fully armed Silver Rank transcender?
That’s quite expensive.
“Alright.” Annan nodded, tightening his cloak.
After all, this was Frostwhisper Province, not the Noah Kingdom or some remote town.
Having a Destruction Wizard on the street would kill at least eight nobles or ministers.
In other words, there was a significant number of people who knew Annan here.
Although Annan left the Grand Duke’s Residence, getting information on his travel destination wouldn’t be challenging. However, Annan didn’t want his whereabouts to be exposed too easily.
Otherwise, even if Vasika Rasputin didn’t plot against Annan, some local nobles might have malicious intent.
So Annan covered her mouth with a scarf and put on a thick white cloak. This was the unique attire of the “Winter Walker” of the Austere-Winter Dukedom. This outfit was probably equivalent to the camouflage attire tied with leaves worn by Noah’s hunters.
Winter Walkers took the gatherer role in the wild.
The profession was considered a shady profession. In the wilderness beyond the barriers, evidence would be buried under the deep snow no matter what happened. During the resource-scarce winter years, the best way to gather supplies was naturally plundering from others.
Sinners who were exiled beyond the barrier, travelers trying to cross the snowstorm to reach the next city, and the Winter Walkers wandered in the snow. Fighting amongst each other was common, resulting in many death in the wilderness.
This white outfit was for camouflage in the snow.
At the very least, avoid being ambushed… Once injured in the wilderness, survival became highly unlikely. Whether getting hit by an arrow or shot by a bullet, the lack of sufficient warmth made it difficult for wounds to heal on their own, leading to worsening infections.
Even bandaging or immobilizing a wound would result in a substantial loss of body temperature.
Therefore, the consensus was that every Winter Walker must have taken a few human lives, possibly the enemy, the prey, and the companions. Although they were not necessarily transcenders, they must be ruthless characters.
Therefore, Winter Walker rarely revealed his face.
That was to prevent people from discovering their true identity and taking revenge on their family members… or being poisoned in food or drinking water by someone who had a long-standing hatred of him.
It wasn’t a scenario that could be found in hunters in warm regions.
Disguising yourself as a Winter Walker was the best way to keep others at a distance.
So although Annan turned around and walked toward the inner gallery, other tourists were curious, but no one dared to follow.
Annan paced into the empty inner gallery.
There were many glass cabinets here.
Glass technology was better than the Earth if the comparison was made across the same era. However, the technology of bulletproof glass had yet to be invented.
Instead of bulletproof glass technology, runes and ritual magic were engraved in the glass.
After all, what was inside were priceless treasures.
For ordinary people, everything was a dangerous item to avoid.
The items included: A black flame burning on a constantly moving ice-blue candle, a cat-shaped haze swirling like dark clouds, a man’s right hand crawling around in the cabinet, a human brain covered with numerous eyes, devoid of hair and eyelashes, yet wide open and keenly observing Annan’s stone skull, a bird’s heart made of rubies pulsating…
An elegant voice sounded, “How are you feeling?”
Annan turned around.
A “human being” walked out from the silent dark corner.
While she could be considered a human, her pupils were dark golden vertical pupils close to orange, giving people a dangerous feeling; she had four ears, two human and two cat ones.
A deep brown ponytail tied high at the back of the head, divided into two strands, one cascading loosely over the left chest and the other gathered into a ponytail hanging in front of the right side.
Her left eye was adorned with a mysterious emerald green eyeshadow, while her right eye was black. Her fingernails were also painted in black and red, respectively.
Her legs remained human legs. She wore a boot on her right foot while her left foot was bare. Her footsteps were swallowed by darkness, making no sound.
She stood at least a head taller than Annan, looking down at the white-clad traveler wearing a cloak.
The catwoman said softly, “Your Majesty… Annan?”
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