The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 345: Layers of Deceit

Annan didn’t immediately return to Roseburg to look for Bishop Daryl.

After all, when Annan finished advancement, Mr. Eugene Geraint (Don Juan’s second brother) had not yet set off to return to Noah’s Royal Capital.

Through Lin Yiyi’s vision, Annan could see Eugene’s attitude towards “Don Juan,” who was temporarily absent from the fief.

Eugene was forthright with nothing to hide at all. Thus, Annan easily noticed that he had no intention of figuring out where the real “Don Juan Geraint” was.

Still, the players decided to treat him politely. He stayed in Roseburg without being nervous at all and didn’t put up any defense against the people under Annan, even when Annan did not show up.

Eugene did not urge Lin Yiyi or ask where Annan went. At the same time, he did not return to Noah’s Capital. Instead, he stayed in Roseburg for three days, left a letter, and returned leisurely.

Then, Annan immediately realized what Eugene was here for.

Eugene didn’t come to see his brother “Don Juan Geraint”.

He obviously knew where the real Don Juan was.

Fortunately, Annan was not in Roseburg at this time.

Otherwise, it would add embarrassment to both parties.

Eugene came here in person probably to pass on some wrong information to mislead someone in the capital.

Since he had stayed in Roseburg for three days, it showed his standing was friendly with Roseburg’s forces. If he returned and proclaimed her had met Annan, the others might believe that Don Juan did arrive in the North Sea Territory safely.

Annan also noticed a clue based on Eugene’s behavior.

Benjamin might have settled down with Don Juan’s soul already.

Old Crow was the person who handled this matter directly. So, he should know the truth.

If Ferdinand hadn’t been imprisoned, the Old Crow would continue using him as a tool.

The crow family only obeyed the King, no matter who the King was. They only served the one on the throne.

So before His Majesty issued a command, the Old Crow would never take action against Prince Philip.

Instead, the Old Crow would only utilize strategies to disrupt Philip’s plans.

In retrospect, many things had happened that the Old Crow would not easily forgive. Firstly, Ferdinand Geraint believed in the Rotten Man and murdered his brother. Most importantly, Don Juan was the Old Crow’s favorite son.

Old Crow had sent Don Juan over to the border for safety.

Suppose something terrible happened to the Crow Family. In that case, Don Juan could at least escape into the Austere-Winter Dukedom and survive there with his mother’s noble blood of the Austere-Winter Dukedom.

However, Ferdinand’s betrayal had almost put all his efforts in vain. Given his status as the Rotten Man’s believer, he might have plans to harm Old Crow himself and the other siblings of the family.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the Old Crow killed him outright. He couldn’t harm Philip directly, but he could do something against the executor who desired his son’s harm.

However, Annan had never heard information such as “Ferdinand died unexpectedly”.

Apparently, Eugene knew the truth.

Then again, Klaus Cass was still alive and well.

Annan had gradually deduced the story and even vaguely outlined the political situation in Noah’s capital.

It was classical deceit wrapped in three layers.

The first layer covering the matter was the “news that could be made public” in which this matter was euphemized before being known to most people.

The narration went with, “Klaus sent Don Juan Geraint to Freezing Water Port safely. After the unfortunate death of Roseburg’s viscount, the governing power was officially handed over to the Great Wizard Benjamin, who remained at Freezing Water Port to take care of Don Juan”.

On the second layer, the understanding of the matter would be “Klaus had assassinated Don Juan and the Great Wizard Benjamin. At this moment, there was an unidentified black-haired and blue-eyed person impersonating Dong Juan at Freezing Water Port”.

On the third layer of deceit that warped up the story, the narration was “Don Juan and Benjamin had inexplicably survived. Benjamin also completed the advancement ritual and became the new deity’s pope”.

Of course, all three layers of narration were lies.

Very few people could unveil the manner to the third layer. For example, Prince Philip. He was probably the person closest to the truth, but he had no proof.

Klaus himself was on the second narration, and he thought Old Crow had only figured out the matter at the first layer of lies.

However, the Old Crow had uncovered the matter clearly.

He was the only one who knew everything aside from Benjamin.

Eugene should have access to the third piece of narration. Ironically, the eldest son of the Crow’s family, Ferdinand Geraint, was still the only person fooled in the first layer of deceit.

This way, Annan had figured out what the Old Crow’s goal was.

He would send Eugene to “take a look”. In Ferdinand’s view, it represented his father’s suspicion that “Don Juan was still alive.”

But after Eugene returned to the capital, he said that he saw Don Juan.

Then, Ferdinand would think that Don Juan was not dead.

He would then pass this information to his master, Philip (the Third Prince).

In this way, the three pieces of information Philip got from his three sources – Klaus, Ferdinand, and the connection of the Roseburg’s viscount were utterly contradictory.

Philip would have thought that Klaus’ mission had failed. At present, he was more willing to trust another person who provided him with information than Klaus.

However, Philip didn’t punish Klaus either, which meant he wasn’t sure if the second layer of deceit was the truth, even though it was the closest narration to the fact.

With this deduction, Annan believed Philip was a doubtful person. He wasn’t an authoritarian leader and acted cautiously.

Ferdinand, who was the first to defect to him, gave him a completely different third answer.

After that, Delicious Wind Goose would give Klaus pieces of evidence again. (TN: the dungeon cell part)

All three pieces of intelligence were credible, but their content was contradictory.

Philip would be put in chaos.

He wouldn’t dare to make a move until he found out the truth.

In other words, the Old Crow’s conspiracy was to buy time.

If Annan guessed correctly, the Silver Sire Church had already communicated with the Old Crow.

If the Old Crow agreed to the plan proposed by the Silver Sire Church, there could only be one answer.

“Has the King or Princess Royal been persuaded?” Holding up the envelope Eugene had left for him, Annan murmured.

With the support of the upper echelons, all this should be calmed down soon.

But why am I a little uneasy?

What did I miss?

Annan thought and opened the envelope.

He skimmed through the letter roughly and found that his speculation was accurate. In addition to that, Eugene also offered another piece of information.

“…Hermetic School?” Annan muttered.

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

He recalled what he had neglected.