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Chapter 15
Chapter 15 Danger Warning
On the night the celebration ended, Oswald returned to the Ducal Estate in a daze, swaying left and right.
At first, he had only intended to drink a moderate amount and treat it as giving himself a day off. He had not expected those old men to be so capable of drinking, and they had insisted on making him pay for the treat.
“Sigh.”
Oswald supported himself against the doorframe, forcibly endured the discomfort in his body, pressed his swollen forehead, and quietly sighed.
Е n̈u m а
“Your Grace?”
A voice came from behind him. Oswald turned his head and discovered Eileen, dressed in a nightgown and holding an oil lamp.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Damn it. My subordinate has discovered me drunk...
Oswald panicked for a moment. He had thought that since he had given every member of the Ducal Estate a day off, no one would see him. But he had forgotten that Eileen’s home in Ice City was the Ducal Estate.
Sigh, forget it. If it was embarrassing, then so be it.
“It is so late. Have you still not rested?” Oswald asked, pretending to be relaxed.
Е̊nu m̊а̀
“Because Your Grace had not returned yet.” Eileen approached step by step. After smelling the alcohol on him, she suddenly asked, “How much did Your Grace drink?”
“I drank for an entire day...” A blush surfaced on Oswald’s face. Whether it came from drunkenness or embarrassment, he hurriedly waved his hand. “Go rest. It is getting late.”
After saying that, he grabbed the doorknob, immediately pushed the door open, and then fell flat onto the floor with a THUD...
Eileen brought over hot water, personally wiped Oswald’s face, then slowly applied ointment to the bruises on his face.
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Her movements were very light, and her fingertips were very cold, so cold that Oswald felt his face was hotter than a coal stove.
When she came close, Oswald seemed to smell a breeze blowing from nature.
É nù m ӓ
The two of them avoided each other’s eyes. Neither of their faces showed the slightest expression. Only after Eileen stepped back a few paces did she sigh and ask, “Does anywhere else hurt?”
But she knew that asking was pointless. The most troublesome thing about drunk people was this: even if they were injured, they could not feel pain.
“It was just a fall.”
Oswald slowly walked to the bed and sat down. With his head lowered, he said, “Am I a very troublesome person? I keep making you help me with so many things...”
Eileen had her back to him as she quietly lit the candlestick and replied, “Your Grace, please do not forget that being a personal maid is also my job.”
The room quickly grew bright. Firelight flickered and shone across Oswald’s uncertain face.
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“You are all indeed considerate toward me, but I... I have always wanted to find a chance to apologize to all of you. In truth, I have no idea what I actually want...”
He clutched his own head. His breathing grew rapid, and he gritted his teeth, holding back tears until his eyes reddened.
“I am nothing at all, yet I still make all of you muddle along after me...”
Just as Oswald’s words grew more and more incoherent and his emotions gradually began to collapse, a cool, gentle hand covered his lips.
A soft voice sounded beside his ear. “You are merely drunk, Your Grace. Sleep, and everything will be fine.”
After coaxing Oswald to sleep, Eileen carried the lamp and walked out of the room, just in time to meet Janice, who was standing by the window and looking at the stars.
Ѐ nu mа. і̀ ď
“I apologize for overhearing your conversation.”
Janice was a person of strong principles. Since she had heard it, she felt she should not sneak away and pretend she knew nothing.
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“It is fine. The soundproofing in the Ducal Estate’s rooms has always been poor.”
Eileen did not need to guess the reason Janice had come over. With the sound the Duke had made when he fell, if the servants had not been off today, even the old butler would probably have trembled his way over with a sword to protect him.
As for Luna, who had extraordinarily good sleep quality, she would probably only roll over and continue sleeping.
“His Grace is actually that sort of... sensitive personality?”
Е̄n̂ ŭ mа̀_
Janice asked with great difficulty. She weighed her words again and again, only to find that no phrasing was appropriate. Was she supposed to describe the supreme authority of the Northern Territory as sentimental?
Yet outside, Oswald had always been a representative figure of iron-blooded politics. How many nobles could fight elite soldiers of the demon race on the city wall for an entire day...?
However, a lord who would voluntarily apologize to his subordinates was indeed very rare.
Faced with Janice’s question, Eileen merely tilted her head. Her rose-like, splendid long hair slipped down as she asked in return, “Sister, when you receive praise, what do you feel?”
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Janice did not understand, but she answered, “I would probably feel happy, as though I had been acknowledged by others.”
“Yes, we are all like that. But whenever the Duke is praised, his first reaction is always fear and unease. Then he strongly suspects the other party’s purpose until he exposes this so-called ‘lie.’”
W e.b̃ ño v̂ е ĺ Е num̆ a
“Why?” Janice was shocked. This was the first time she had learned that human emotions could twist to such a degree.
A faint sorrow appeared in Eileen’s eyes. She looked at the pitch-black night sky and softly said, “Yes... why?”
When Oswald woke up the next day, he kept feeling that something was off. He stood by the window and looked outside, only to find that the sky was still just as blue and the city was still just as orderly.
He washed, ate, put on his armor with Eileen’s help, and prepared to head to the Broad Valley City military camp. Still, Oswald could not help asking, “Eileen, is there something wrong with me today?”
“When Your Grace returned last night, you fell once.” Eileen fastened the longsword to Oswald’s waist and responded calmly.
Oh. No wonder some places hurt so badly. I thought it was a hangover.
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No, although it is very embarrassing, that is not what I am sensing.
According to his experience from the previous life, Oswald’s intuition was always excessively accurate. The System said this was a normal phenomenon, because he had come from another world and also knew the full picture of the story, so his subconscious would perceive unknown dangers.
Oswald: You said a whole lot, but in truth, you did not understand it at all.
System: Omniscience is, in a certain sense, equal to omnipotence. Just treat this as a transmigrator benefit. Why do you need to understand so much?
Right, I still have the System. Oswald slapped his forehead and quickly called out in his heart to a certain role-playing system that was either slacking off or truly sorting out the story line.
(System, hao are you?)
Ẁ е̌b ǹo v̈ e l̀ Е̂n̂u m а
[I’m fan, thank you, and you?]
The familiar mechanical voice sounded. Oswald was delighted in his heart. Good. Their rapport was still there. So he continued asking.
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(How are you feeling today?)
[I am very well, thank you. And you?]
(I am practicing Chinese-English conversation with an idiot system.)
[...]
Wе̂b̃ nо̂ v е́l̀ Ĕ n um̈ ä
[Apologies, Host. The current story line has not yet been clarified. This System cannot assist you in investigating the danger. At present, it can be inferred that the goddess’ blessings and curses are very likely to erupt in concentrated form within the current story line.]
[Next, please work hard to investigate this yourself. Goodbye.]
Goodbye, my—blessings and curses?
Oswald immediately thought of this world’s background setting.
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The four great races created by the goddess were humans, elves, the demon race, and dwarves. Before the goddess left the world, all four great races requested a blessing from her, and were then given a curse by the goddess.
The blessing the elves received was longevity, and the curse was also longevity.
W̌ еb̆ nо v́ê l Е̄n̆ ũm a
The demon race liked invasion and war. They hoped the goddess would make them stronger. It was later confirmed that their curse was that their newborns became even frailer, causing the mortality rate of young demons to remain high.
The dwarves loved exploring for wealth underground and in caves, but that kind of dangerous environment caused most of them to become disabled. The saying “out of ten dwarves, seven are lame, and two dig aboveground” originated from this.
So the goddess granted them an endless supply of a certain kind of soil. This heaven-defying soil could instantly restore living flesh and blood, even allowing severed limbs to grow back at once.
Then the dwarves obtained a curse that no one knew whether to call a curse or not...
The upper class of the dwarves began treating the lower-class dwarves even more cruelly, forcing them to keep mining and plundering their wealth, creating the “Dwarven Kingdom,” which still remained in a slave society even now.
In the truest sense, it achieved this: as long as work did not kill them, work them to death!
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As for the cunning humans, they cried and sobbed, hoping the goddess would not leave them.
Sure enough, the crying child got milk. Humanity received five Wishing Stars that could be used to make wishes to the goddess.
Then, Gul’dan, what was the price...?
A good question, because Oswald did not know the answer either.
According to the setting, humanity should indeed have suffered a curse related to the Wishing Stars. But whether in the game from Oswald’s previous life or in the System’s supplementary explanation of the story, the matter of humanity’s curse had never been mentioned.
Moreover, the Wishing Stars of this world had been passed down for many generations, and a great many wishes had already been made, yet humanity had never suffered any backlash.
Е̇ n̈ ú m̂ а̂ .і́d̄
Humanity: Yes, not only am I the eldest child, I am also the goddess’ favorite child.
Oswald fell silent. Surely the so-called curse would not fail to erupt earlier or later, only to erupt precisely in this era of ours, would it?
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Damn it. Why is it that the moment this thought appeared, I felt a sense of certainty that this was probably exactly the case?
“Eilee... no, have Luna come see me.” Oswald issued the order with a dark expression.
Eileen’s eyes trembled slightly. This was the first time that after sinking into thought, the Duke had not discussed the matter with her.
Ten minutes later, inside the Duke’s exclusive office, Luna saw Oswald standing alone by the window.
W е̊ ḃ ǹov el̆ Е́ n̈ u m̄ å
Perhaps it was the oppressive feeling of his full armor, or perhaps it was because she had never been formally summoned alone before. As soon as Luna entered, she panicked and dropped to her knees.
It did not matter what the reason for the summons was. In any case, kneeling first was always correct.
“Luna, have you ever cultivated a trusted confidant?”
Oswald’s first sentence left Luna stunned. But she also knew that when facing her brother, honesty was the best—or rather, the only—choice.
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“I do not know what kind of confidant Brother means. Do the noble young ladies who follow me in cursing the Hero count?”
Her innocent answer left Oswald speechless as well. He turned his head, met those clear eyes, and could not help feeling troubled.
È n̊ u̇mа
After thinking for a short while, he continued asking, “The ancients said that one must know the proper measure in advancing and retreating. Do you know why retreating is just as important as advancing?”
Luna immediately answered, “I believe it is the same as swordsmanship. A sword must be able to thrust out, but it must also be able to be drawn back. A sword that is drawn back can be used for defense, and it can also gather strength for the next attack.”
“Mm. That is the way of battlefield formations, but it is not the way of politics.” Toward his younger sister, who was also his heir, Oswald was always willing to teach her the most essential knowledge.
He nodded, counting it as acknowledgment of Luna’s understanding, then taught her, “War is the continuation of politics. It may be a thunderous strike like floodwaters breaking through a dike, or it may be endless like waves striking a coastal cliff. It may be as short as several days, or as long as a hundred years.”
“From the perspective of history, war always has moments when it ceases. Compared to war, politics is highly dangerous. Because from the moment politics was born, it has been a giant whirlpool in the ocean that never stops.”
“Once you are drawn into this whirlpool, you cannot only look at those who summon the wind and rain. You must also see the many more people who are buried at the bottom of the sea. If you plunge in headfirst, how should you advance and retreat?”
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Luna understood. This was a naked test.
She thought for a very long time, then combined it with the first question her brother had asked about confidants, and gradually arrived at an answer.
So she raised her head, looked at her brother’s eyes, which were full of encouragement, puffed out her chest, and answered, “Brother means that I should find a stone that can resist the force of the whirlpool, then tie myself to that stone with a rope. Only then can I advance and retreat properly within the whirlpool, correct? And that stone is my trusted confidant!”
...
Oswald felt his heart clog. He suddenly understood why the Ming Dynasty’s Tianqi Emperor had told Chongzhen, who would inherit his position: My younger brother should become Yao or Shun.
Was that not Yao and Shun indeed? These people could take the same principle and understand it in the exact opposite direction.
Ẇ е b̌n̊o̊ ṽe l̈ Ёn̊um̃ a
After sighing wistfully, Oswald pinched his chin and sharply pointed out, “Is there a possibility that you are the stone?”
Oh... Luna suddenly understood. Her eyes brightened a few degrees. So the meaning of advancing and retreating properly was to let others advance and retreat while I remain unmoving like a mountain. Understood. Understood.
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“Luna!” Seeing that she had already understood the principle, Oswald prepared to truly entrust her with a task. This was also the first time Luna would participate in political work in a true sense.
“Present.” Luna’s expression turned serious. Imitating Eileen, she gave a brief and forceful reply.
“After you go to the Royal Capital, I need you to privately cultivate a trusted confidant and fund him so that within one or two years, he can obtain a job opportunity at the Central Library. Apart from you and me, no one else may know of this matter!”
“Yes!”
Ën umа̇
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