Image projection crystal, a seemingly unremarkable one.
An image projection crystal modified by Anselm's father, the greatest alchemist in the world, imbued with twelve special effects such as aura concealment and existence self-adjustment.
When Anselm brought out this item, the old man on the communication line kept his composure, but the Howlingwinds Viscount, gravely wounded and lying on the ground, turned extremely pale.
Question: When a psychopath who could potentially kill you on the spot comes before you, disregarding the dignity of nobility and proposing to use necromancy to examine a corpse, with your plan likely to be ruined and only three days remaining, what would you do if you had the contact information of a savior in your hands?
Undoubtedly, the Howlingwinds Viscount, in the dead of night yesterday—
"Grand Duke! That Hydra wants me to find a necromancer to examine Lundbeck's body, and he's only given me three days. What am I supposed to do now?"
In the images projected by the crystal, as soon as the Howlingwinds Viscount opened his mouth, Sitana couldn't hold back.
This is too hilarious, how dumb can you be, like a damn pig? If I were that old geezer, I'd just let Hydra off you in a heartbeat.
Naturally, that's the distinction between Sitana and the Grand Duke.
The Graytower Grand Duke gazed at Anselm, his face a mix of surprise and confusion: "Young Hydra, what's the purpose of showing me this ambiguous recording? There are thirteen Grand Dukes in the Empire, are you suggesting he reached out to me? Moreover..."
The old man set down his teacup and chuckled heartily, finding the scene immensely amusing: "How could a viscount possibly have such direct communication with a Grand Duke? Young Hydra, you're underestimating us a bit too much."
Behind the small round-framed glasses, the old man's wrinkled eyelids narrowed slightly: "My busy daily life doesn't have room for trivial matters like the survival of a viscount, young Hydra."
It wasn't a shameless denial out of desperation, but rather a swift and unwavering response, using words that were logically flawless to distance himself from the situation.
The Graytower Grand Duke's statements were purely rational.
Anyway, Sitana was confused by his words and thought that his argument appeared to be sound.
Anselm simply smiled, and without any hesitation or contemplation, he responded: "Your Grace, such a reply would surely dishearten the Howlingwinds Viscount."
"Oh~ Should I feel sorry for that?"
"No, certainly not necessary, for you are aware that he won't bite back at you at this moment."
Anselm spread his hands: "I know too well about nobles like him who claim to have a 'warrior's sentiment.' In reality, they are just bandits and perverts who roam around plundering and killing, delighting in capturing victims to torment in the dungeons beneath their castles, yet they delude themselves into believing they are someone extraordinary—"
"'Rather be killed by a pure noble like the Grand Duke than die at the hands of that insane Hydra brat,' with such thoughts, how could the Howlingwinds Viscount possibly accuse you of anything due to your disdain?"
"It's truly strange," the young man sighed, "Both you and I regard his life as a speck of dust, yet he chooses to support Your Grace instead of accepting my mercy."
The old man, sipping his hot tea, smiled, seemingly quite interested in the topic: "That's because he hasn't had the chance to understand you. You truly are a merciful child, young Hydra—of course, I merely express my agreement with your mercy. As for this viscount friend of yours... are you planning to execute him in front of me? Although I'm not aware of what he's done wrong, please don't frighten an old man like me."
No one cared about the Howlingwinds Viscount's fate—perhaps Sitana did, as she was eager to see what kind of end this son of a whore noble would meet, taking pleasure in his misfortune.
"...Your Grace," Anselm sighed, "If it were feasible, I would gladly engage in such idle chatter with you for the entire day, but you too have responsibilities to handle, correct?"
The Graytower Grand Duke concurred, raising the scepter he held in his other hand: "Its weight always burdens my mind and body."
"Then I won't waste any more of your time."
Anselm changed his posture, shifting from sitting upright and conversing with the Graytower Grand Duke to lounging lazily back in the large chair.
"The Scarletfrost, I have no interest in that place."
"……"
This time, the Grand Duke did not smoothly respond to Anselm's words, but after a brief pause, he said with a smile: "I know, after all, it's the territory of the Scarletfrost family, isn't it?"
"Indeed," Anselm said with a smile, propping his cheek on one hand, "But according to the Empire's laws, the families with the same rank as the Scarletfrost Earl within Scarletfrost have the right to temporarily manage the territory's affairs when the Scarletfrost family fails to select an heir in time."
In fact, it is rare for multiple nobles of the same rank to reside in a large territory for an extended period.
Having already achieved the rank of Earl, rather than being a minor noble like a Viscount or Baron, why not take possession of their own vast fiefdom instead of squeezing in with other Earls and being overshadowed in someone else's territory? Even Viscounts and Barons rarely stay long-term in another's territory.
But Scarletfrost ... had such a peculiar situation. The Hardstone Earl, also an Earl, had not stayed in his own fiefdom but had been stationed in Scarletfrost for a full seven years.
And in recent times, he had been growing closer to Anselm.
"Unfortunately, although the Scarletfrost Earl has, well... many mistresses, he only has one eldest son, and no siblings of the same generation. And, as luck would have it, this only son has gone missing. This is quite a predicament, Graytower Grand Duke."
The young Hydra remarked nonchalantly: "You must have lost contact with him for some time now, haven't you?"
The Graytower Grand Duke gently stroked the exquisite teacup and suddenly laughed: "Would young Hydra be willing to help Scarletfrost find its original master?"
"Ah, that's hard to say, the Northern Lands are vast, and people are difficult to find."
Anselm shook his head, but then quickly said jokingly:
"But perhaps, after I leave, the heir of the Scarletfrost family will just pop up on their own?"
After about four or five seconds of silence, the communication crystal's projected image transmitted the Graytower Grand Duke's laughter.
An increasingly hearty, louder, and more unrestrained laughter.
"Too wonderful, too wonderful... You truly are his masterpiece, young Hydra."
The old man exclaimed in marvelment: "I was perplexed back then, questioning why you merely stripped Cantrell of his title instead of removing the entire noble status of the Scarletfrost family. I had assumed that Ulysses had taken care of Cantrell's son, but it seems you were anticipating this moment?"
Within the Empire, the significance of an individual's noble title is vastly different from that of a family's noble status.
Serious crimes can result in the stripping of an individual's title, but according to imperial law, it is extremely difficult to abolish the honor of an entire family. This is why the nobility in the Empire had gradually become decadent and muddle-headed; even if they consistently produced rotten people, the legacy left by their ancestors still protected them.
That's why the nobles were so afraid of Hydra.
Because when Hydra says they'll kill your whole family, they really mean it, and most of the time, they will actually do it.
Anselm may not have inherited his father's authority, but he could easily find reasons to equally attribute all the misdeeds of the Scarletfrost Earl to every member of the Scarletfrost family and then eliminate them all. If anyone objected, he could invoke his father, the madman who not only killed entire families but also turned all of them into alchemy potions, to have the most terrifying monster in the entire Empire stand behind him.
Or, he could seek solace from the Empress—the upper nobility of the Empire were all well aware that the great Empress harbored an exceedingly abnormal fondness for the young Hydra, to the point where it could lead to some extremely dangerous speculations.
In any case, Anselm could have wiped out the entire Scarletfrost family, but he didn't. What pleasantly surprised the Graytower Grand Duke was that Anselm did this not out of fear of anyone or to save face for anyone.
But rather, he was waiting for this moment, for the moment when they could have this conversation.
If all the pieces were wiped out and all the efforts were destroyed, then the Graytower Grand Duke would have no reason to pay any attention to Anselm.
But now, he not only had to carefully consider the Hardstone Earl, who had been arduously stationed in Scarletfrost, or rather, the one behind him... the Ironblade Grand Duke, but he also had to take into account Anselm's demands.
This young Hydra, only sixteen years old and without any Contract Head, had managed to, in just over a month of venturing deep into the Northern Lands with only a group of servants, without resorting to any unnecessary violence or directly leveraging power, manipulate the conflict and game of chess between two Grand Dukes to secure the greatest benefit he required. How could the Graytower Grand Duke not be filled with admiration?
Now, he was becoming curious about what demands this unique Hydra would make.
Author's Note:
ps:
This is my first time writing a scene like this, I hope it's not too silly (scratching my head). If it's really not working, just bear with it for now, and I'll try to minimize direct descriptions of such scenes in the future.
Comments
Post a Comment