Chapter 269: Annans Plan (1/2)

Chapter 269: Annan’s Plan

Old Merlin appeared out of nowhere as Annan and Kafni hispering in the corner of the hness Annan” Old Merlin whispered to Annan without looking at Kafni, “Your Royal Highness Dy face showed no emotion

His silent and indifferent aura were very sih they were similarly expressionless, there was aDave off a formidable and majestic aura, whereas Merlin’s deeply sunken cheeks onlybeast

In the Noah Kingdoainst Transcendeds who had broken the law

It was to put the Transcendeds’ name on the wanted list and notify the officials but never to pursue them in brute force However, the wanted person would be just like any other wanted criminal They were not allowed to cross borders, borrow money, form their own families, nor enjoy the protection of the law

They restricted these Transcendeds’ scope of activities by depriving those who had broken the law of their legal rights, providing a better-than-nothing form of punishment Transcended troops would be dispatched for the hunt only when they had committed a serious crime

In fact, this was a kind of co as you had the self-awareness of an undesirable, kept a low profile, and didn’t dom would take it as if you and your crimes did not exist

After all, the threat that would coht out of desperation was too significant Plus, killing thehtmare

But it was different at Austere-Winter, especially during the winter years and the turbulent political environment — when the Austere-Winter’s Grand Duke was most anxious

Also, the blizzard would have kept the detrimental effects of Transcendeds’ deaths to its minimum Moreover, the population density of Austere-Winter Dukedo the winter years was dom

So they wouldn’t make any compromises

The special operations unit responsible for chasing down Transcendeds was the Winter’s Hand

Even if the Transcendeds kidnapped ordinary people as hostages, the Winter’s Hand would never compromise in any way Even if the Transcendeds kidnapped nobles or even people of the Austere-Winter faes and kill the Transcendeds anization had relied on this ruthless and stringent otiations to preserve the stability of the Austere-Winter Dukedoe, the current Austere-Winter’s Grand Duke… Annan’s father, Ivan Austere-Winter, had been kidnapped once when he was only a teenager

It was a Transcended group of seven There were four Silver, one Gold, one Bronze, and even a ritualist

They kidnapped Ivan and his younger brother— of course, they couldn’t be asking for money

Their purpose was to force Urie Austere-Winter, then Austere-Winter’s Grand Duke, to release a political prisoner

The inforue; hence Annan was unable to find out the specific history and name of that political prisoner It was only known that he was also an Austerian, even a nobleman as later locked up as a political prisoner

But even with his two sons kidnapped… Grand Duke Urie didn’t compromise with the kidnappers

Grand Duke Urie sent troops to surround the target and negotiated for two days and three nights When the kidnapper’s patience was finally about to run out… The Winter’s Hand troop broke in and attacked at lightning speed, killing six and taking one prisoner

In this not-quite-successful rescue, Ivan’s younger brother unfortunately died

——And the person in charge of this operation was Merlin

But not only was he not held accountable for his failure to rescue the hostage, but he was instead credited for his decisive actions, successfully capturing one of the kidnappers and uncovering their conspiracy through interrogation

According to Annan’s understanding in the Night injury five years ago In the beginning, Annan thought that Merlin was mute Only until the end of White Tower did Annan see that Merlin had a tongue

A regular Winter’s Hand would have their tongues cut off when they retire The intelligence they kneas sie, encrypted, and couldn’t be written down They could only be passed on verbally for a limited number of ti tongues off

But by the looks of it, Merlin e and retained his ability to speak

He had even gained the trust of Grand Duke Ivan to protect Annan and Ddos for his brother?

Regarding Dmitri’s case, this was unlikely

Annan speculated that this was because Grand Duke Ivan trusted Merlin greatly