Viscount Dolgoruky.
During the players’ investigation in Saltpeter Ranch, they found only this name. It seemed that only this person was dealing with Fallen, and the others were completely unaware of it.
However, that was unlikely.
The political composition of the Northern Brotherhood was composed of one count and multiple subordinate viscounts.
Dolgoruky was not the most authoritative viscount among them, nor was he the one most loyal to Count Urie. He did not have the strength, nor the courage to contact Fallen on behalf of others.
The truth lay blatantly before their eyes.
Viscount Ostoff Dolgoruky was a scapegoat the Northern Brotherhood put forward.
Annan then realized that they had long since prepared a contingency plan for “if they were discovered”… and the content of this plan was to push forward Viscount Dolgoruky and the entire Dolgoruky family behind him to take the blame.
“Are you trying to buy time?” Annan thought.
No matter who proposed the “Satiated Gold” plan, who taught them the curse shaft technology, why they believed in this plan, and why they agreed… In short, all they needed now was time.
If Annan didn’t know about the “Satiated Gold” plan, then him coming over to tackle the Dolgoruky family would also be considered a success of his political objective.
Firstly, arresting them with concrete evidence would undoubtedly suppress the arrogance of the northern nobles and increase the deterrence against other inland nobles.
And through the interrogation by Winter’s Hand, it was also possible to dismantle their channels of communication with the outside world… If one was meticulous enough, even the leverage on several of his “accomplices” could have been uncovered.
It would be a bountiful harvest.
It could even be called a great victory—if there were no unexpected events afterward, the Northern Brotherhood would no longer be able to cause any trouble.
However, Annan knew about the Satiated Gold scheme.
That made him realize…
“—This is the strategy akin to a gecko cutting off its tail.”
The Northern Brotherhood bought time by ceding a large number of political interests and shrinking its sphere of influence on a large scale.
That indicated there was a deeper level of conspiracy.
However, there was a problem.
Annan learned of the evidence of the Dolgoruky family’s involvement in Fallen at the same place where he learned of the “Satiated Gold” project.
Since they had already made plans that “evidence of collusion with Fallen” would be discovered, were they so sure that the “Satiated Gold” plan would not be leaked?
So, what if their goal was to make Annan think “they are just stalling for time” and thus he hesitates to act?
That would be another layer of inception. Things going in a circle.
The question now was which level of deception they were in.
“There is a Wise in the north…” Annan thought with interest.
There was only one question. Annan couldn’t figure it out for the time being.
The Northern Brotherhood had used “Viscount Dolgoruky” as bait, putting him forward.
How could they be so sure that Annan absolutely couldn’t persuade him to leak information… or in other words, were they so confident that Viscount Dolgoruky could withstand the interrogation of Winter’s Hand?
Then, on the other hand…
Annan took a deep look at the man in military uniform with a scar on his face next to him.
—Is he really Viscount Dolgoruky?
As if feeling Annan’s gaze, Ostoff Dolgoruky suddenly turned around, nodded to Annan, and showed a kind smile.
This smile made Annan narrow his eyes slightly.
If he really is Viscount Dolgoruky… isn’t he too calm?
Annan temporarily gave up the idea of directly confronting and arresting the person.
That was because he smelled a trap.
And Annan was well aware that there was no need to be afraid of traps.
Just by cracking the opponent’s trap, it would instead have put the enemy at a disadvantage. Because there was too much information hidden in the trap, it would have in turn exposed the opponent’s situation, as well as their understanding of us.
This was undoubtedly an opportunity.
Through the route Ostoff Dolgoruky led them, Annan noticed that this feeling became more obvious.
After leaving the subway station in Frangell Province, the group walked west for a while and stumbled into a high mountain.
Although it was the first time Annan saw it, he could immediately recognize it as the Mountain Frangell—which was also where the name Frangell Province came from.
The name Frangell meant “deep well” in the Elvish language. It was one of the few mines in Austere-Winter and produced rare coal resources.
What lay before them was a rugged mountain road.
Even though the small barrier had already blocked the fierce snowstorm from outside, it still could not keep out the chilling cold that seeped up from the ground.
It was noon, yet there was not the slightest feeling of warmth.
The air in the mountains was damp and cold as if it would stick to the soles of one’s shoes. Rather than calling it a “road” to the viscount’s mansion, it would be more accurate to describe it as a narrow path leading to a hunter’s cabin in the mountains.
Not only were there no stones paved, but even the dirt on the road was not completely leveled. Its width did not even allow more than four people to walk side by side.
The only difference from the dense forest was that it, at least, had the trees chopped down. Occasionally, they would step on a not-yet-excavated tree root or trip over a stone.
This inevitably made them wonder — do people really take this path?
Or, rather…
“With such transportation conditions, how is the daily food and drink supply for the Lord Viscount delivered up here?” Citalopram asked.
She was not a Winter’s Hand, but she was still a young girl after all. It was not impolite for someone of her status to ask such a question, nor did it seem like she was pressing for an answer.
“Actually, there is another path up this mountain that wraps around from the west side. It’s just that the entrance is too far from the subway station… It would be more accurate to say that what we’re on now is the lesser path. But a little further up, you’ll be able to see the road.”
Viscount explained, “As for the miners, they usually enter from the mine on the south side and do not need to climb up the mountain.”
He said, leading everyone out of the dense forest.
The scene suddenly opened up before their eyes—although there still weren’t any stone pavements, there was a wide and flat dirt road winding up around the mountain. The Viscount’s manor was at the very top.
“Lord Viscount, do you usually live at such a high altitude?”
Citalopram asked, “Wouldn’t this be inconvenient?”
“Ah, because I like to see the sea view.”
“Sea view?”
“That’s right, you might not have seen the map. Beyond the Frangell Mountains to the west lies the Black Sea… that is the sea north of the Noah Kingdom.”
The viscount smiled gently, calmly explaining, “If you live at the top of the mountain, you can see a very beautiful sunset every evening. This is the most beautiful sight you can see in the desolate place of Mountain Frangell.”
Annan narrowed his eyes slightly.
Unexpectedly, Annan felt that the viscount was not lying.
However, he had a vague feeling… that something was wrong.
Zoya also seemed a little silent. She hadn’t said a word since seeing the viscount. She followed Annan quietly as if she was thinking about something.
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