While Annan and Kaphne were talking in a whisper in the corner of the main hall, old Merlin appeared out of nowhere.

"His Highness Annan."

Old Merlin didn't look at Kaphne, but whispered to Annan, "His Highness Dmitry is looking for you." ”

There was not the slightest emotion on his thin face.

His atmosphere of silence and coldness was very similar to that of Dmitry.

But even if it was the same expressionless face, because of the difference in appearance and clothes, Dmitry embodied an awe-inspiring sense of majesty; But if you put it on Merlin's deeply sunken cheeks, it only feels like a terrible monster.

The Noah Kingdom here will generally only punish the extraordinary who violate the law with a "soft notice".

That is, his name was hung on the wanted notice and notified to the grassroots, but he never really sent out pursuers. But a wanted person is like a normal wanted criminal, he cannot cross the border, cannot borrow money, cannot get married and have children, and will not enjoy the protection of the law.

By depriving those who have broken the law of their legal rights, they suppress the scope of their activities and provide punishment that is better than nothing. When they do commit a great sin, they will actually send out the Transcendental troops to hunt down.

In fact, it's a compromise and a tacit understanding—as long as you have the self-awareness of being a rat and keep a low profile and don't mess around, then the kingdom will be treated as if you and your sins don't exist.

After all, if the transcendent jumps over the wall in a hurry, the threat it brings is too great...... And if it really kills him, it will only leave a new nightmare.

But in the dead of winter, it's different.

Especially in the already turbulent winter years, where the nerves of the Winter Grand Duke are tense, the blizzard minimizes the adverse effects of the death of the transcendent. Moreover, the population density of the Duchy of Winter in winter was originally much smaller than that of the Kingdom of Noah.

So they won't make any compromises.

The Hand of Winter is a special operations unit tasked with hunting down the Transcendent.

Even if an extraordinary person kidnapped an ordinary person as a hostage, the Winter Hand would never compromise in any way. Even if the transcendents kidnapped nobles and even the Winter family, the Winter Hand would kill the hostages without mercy.

The Hand of Winter relied on this harsh style of doing things without exception and without accepting any negotiations, in order to maintain the stability of the Duchy of Winter.

According to Annan's understanding, this generation of the Grand Duke of Winter ...... That is, Annan's father, Ivan Rindon. When he was only a teenager, he was kidnapped once:

It was a group of seven transcendents. There are four silver, one gold, and one bronze...... There is even a ceremonial master.

They kidnapped Ivan, as well as Ivan's brother - naturally, they couldn't have asked for money.

Their goal was to force Yuri Rindon, then Grand Duke of Winter, to release a political prisoner.

The exact origin and name of the political prisoner were vague in the information brought by Salvatore, and Annan did not find out. It is only known that he is also a native of Winter, and even a nobleman, and was later imprisoned as a political prisoner.

But even his own two sons were kidnapped...... Grand Duke Yuri also did not compromise with the kidnappers.

Grand Duke Yuri sent troops to surround the target and negotiated for two days and three nights. And at the end, when the patience of the kidnappers is about to run out...... The Winter Hand forces broke through the door and delivered a lightning blow to it, killing six people and capturing one.

But in this unsuccessful rescue, Ivan's younger brother unfortunately died.

- And the person in charge of this operation is Merlin.

But not only was he not held accountable for the rescue failure, but he was credited for his decisive actions, the successful capture of one person, and the torture of the conspiracy behind it.

According to Annan's knowledge in Nightmare: The White Tower, Merlin should have retired five years ago due to a leg injury. At first, Annan thought Merlin was really a mute...... It wasn't until the end of the White Tower that Annan saw that Merlin had a tongue.

And the average winter hand has to have their tongues cut out when they retire - those information are like mysterious knowledge, encrypted and cannot be written. It can only be transmitted a limited number of times through speech.

So cutting out the tongue is the best way to deal with it.

But from now...... Merlin is supposed to have been privileged and still retained the ability to speak.

He was even able to gain the trust of Grand Duke Ivan, allowing him to protect Annan and Dmitry as they went to Noah.

Did Grand Duke Ivan have no feelings for his younger brother?

Referring to Dmitry's case, this is unlikely.

Annan speculated that this was because Grand Duke Ivan had a very high trust in Merlin.

Why, on earth, is a silver-tier disabled wizard...... Will be so trusted by the Grand Duke?

The Duchy of Winter is not without a golden talent. And there are several.

But this time, among the escorts who followed Dmitry and them to Noah by subway, the highest-ranking transcendent was Merlin.

It's a pity that in the White Tower, Annan didn't see Merlin go all out......

He decrypted it too quickly.

Annan didn't even know what Merlin's spell was now.

Presumably, Dmitry and the original Annan should know something.

Annan vaguely realized that if this nightmare could not be successfully overcome on his own...... It's time to find some way to borrow Merlin's power.

But how could he get Merlin's aid without revealing his identity? What is the approximate level of Merlin's power?

In Annan's heart, many thoughts flashed.

He quickly had some calculations.

He stood up and nodded silently.

Annan gave Kaphne a look and motioned for her to stay here.

Kaphni looked at Annan seriously, indicating that she understood.

She knew what Annan was going to do this time-

Three minutes earlier, Annan had said to Kafni:

"I need to go to those six places. But I can't shake off Merlin's tracking...... I need your help. ”

“……？”

Kaphne tilted her head silently.

She didn't know exactly what kind of help Annan needed.

But then, Annan explained his plan to Kaphne:

He needed Kaphne to take her into a private room with a secret passageway. Annan would then go out from the other side of the secret passage - and Kaphne would be required to pretend that Annan was still in the room all the time during this time.

Until Annan returned.

And such a private space is easy to find.

Kaphne is also more or less a princess.

Her own room meets all of the above.

Annan was a little worried about whether Kaphne would understand his plans as a child......

Another concern is...... As a stranger of the opposite sex who met for the first time - would Kaphne be willing to take Annan into her room?

But Kaphne hesitated, but finally agreed.

- Then the rest of the question is Annan's.

Annan got up, straightened his clothes, and followed old Merlin to Dmitry.

He was going to ask his brother Dmitry for leave.

Let him know...... He was going to follow Kaphne to a more intimate place; and convince him that he doesn't need Merlin's following.

…… It seems, is not very simple.