"Do you know about the Nightmare Shard?"
Salvatore held a cup of tea in his hands, sitting opposite Annan.
With his always tired-looking eyes, burdened by thick bags from staying up late, he slightly opened them and said in a low voice, "It is said, just said... that the restriction on the foreign trade activities of Frostwater Harbor might not be due to the intensifying conflicts with the Winter Principality in the north."
"Instead, it's because someone has cursed Frostwater Harbor."
"...Go on."
Annan's heart skipped a beat as he asked, "What kind of curse? Who cast it?"
If someone had said that a place was cursed, he would naturally not have believed it before. But he had already learned that this world's transcendent powers are all composed of curses and even witnessed firsthand the fate of those afflicted by curse backlash.
Therefore, if a region were cursed, it wasn't entirely impossible...
"It is a False God," Salvatore also lowered his voice, as though worried about disturbing something, "True deities..."
"Deities..."
Annan repeated the word, his heart leaping again.
Although he did not know the difference or distinction between a False God and a True God, just getting involved with such powerhouses made him somewhat anxious before he had even begun his own journey.
Damn it, why!
Why had he, just by randomly choosing an alias to get by, gotten involved in such troublesome matters?
"Specifically, it is said that anyone who utters or even thinks the name of that False God within sight of Frostwater Harbor will be dragged into a nightmare."
Salvatore slowly explained, "I haven't told you his divine function, fearing that you might unconsciously think of the name and be unable to restrain yourself from saying it inadvertently."
"This is a puzzle lock made of multiple Nightmare Shards, whose chain feature is 'Reenactment'. That means if you die in this nightmare, you will lose all memories of the nightmare and start over from the beginning."
"It's not too bad if it's a shallow nightmare. But if you fall unconsciously into a deep nightmare, the death rate will suddenly increase... After all, you don't know how many times you've already repeated the same mistake. It's easy to get trapped in an infinite cycle of death within. Until you are completely eroded by the curse and turn into an uncontrollable monster."
The young mayor took a deep breath.
His expression was very serious, "The church of the Silver Baron sent someone here to purify the nightmare of this place."
"Because this nightmare cannot accommodate many people. No matter how many people the church sends, they will be alone in their own nightmares. To prevent someone from dying in the nightmare and becoming nourishment for it, the church sent only one person here."
"He is Priest Louis. Although he is just an ordinary priest and not even considered a Priest, he actually comes from the Hand of Silver and is a proxy with extensive experience in purifying nightmares."
"He has to perform at least three hundred effective purifications in the nightmare in order to weaken the entire nightmare and break the chain. So his main purpose here is not to encourage trade or heal people's wounds. His duty is to constantly enter shallow nightmares, purify them, and then immediately escape... It's a very dangerous job."
Salvatore yawned, sipping a small mouthful of tea, and emphasized, "And the reason I came here is to prevent this secret from spreading. On one hand, it is to take responsibility for people's safety; on the other, it's to prevent Priest Louis from cleansing desperately for a while only to find out that the nightmare here is becoming stronger..."
...So, Priest Louis was sent here to grind dungeons, huh?
Salvatore didn't see Annan's expression become a little strange.
He had been worrying about this issue before.
If players arrived at Frostwater Harbor but there were no dungeons for them to grind, would the energetic players cause some trouble...
After all, there are really few people here, and there aren't any monsters outside for them to kill. Moreover, Annan couldn't be sure whether NPCs could give players tasks or not.
If players entered the game but could only do farm work, fish, build houses and such, then this continent of mist might as well be renamed "Life Simulator of Yearning."
Now things were better.
Annan decided if the players were energetic, he would just throw them into the high-difficulty dungeons.
After all, masochism can be cultivated...
However, Annan was quite curious and even cautious about another matter:
"...Senior, why did you tell me about it?"
"Because Frostwater Harbor doesn't need two Mayors. The main responsibility for purifying the Nightmares lies with Priest Louis, and since I don't have Holy Light or the ability to use spells in the Nightmare, what could I possibly do there? To speak frankly, my duty is simply to write a letter to the Royal Capital asking for support, should Priest Louis lose control or die."
Salvatore said with a smile, clearly in a good mood, "That is to say, once you, my Lord, take over this task... I will have to return to the Black Tower and advance to Silver rank."
Annan's heart skipped a beat.
...You're not planning to slip away, are you?
Empathizing, Annan immediately began to suspect that Salvatore had discovered some great danger and was looking for an opportunity to escape...
Seeing that Annan appeared somewhat displeased, Salvatore quickly said, "I'm not going to leave right away. Before I leave, you can come and look at my books anytime... If you don't understand something, you can talk to me at any time. After all, I was the top student and even a year leader, so teaching you should be no problem."
That's more like it.
Upon hearing this, Annan's expression improved significantly.
After all, he was not truly Tan Juan Geraint. If a serious problem that couldn't be resolved did arise, he had no choice but to run away...
Compared to future risks, the benefits obtainable now were the most tangible.
The most important thing was that he would finally get to read some books—hopefully, he could catch up on the common knowledge of this world while at Salvatore's place.
Relying solely on acting to interact with people was also very exhausting for Annan.
So Annan agreed rather quickly.
"Do you have any plans for what comes next?" Annan then asked.
Looking at Annan's expectant and earnest gaze, Salvatore coughed lightly, somehow unnaturally turning his head away.
"I guess I'll probably stay in the Black Tower for a long time... I'm thinking of working directly at the Black Tower as a professor, teaching classes. When I have free time, I can also do some research. It's quite comfortable," he said.
At this point, he glanced at Annan and sighed softly, "Of course, if the situation in the Royal Capital continues to worsen, I suspect the Black Tower won't be peaceful for long either.
"Once war breaks out..."
He didn't finish his sentence, and Annan didn't ask further.
The succession rights of the royal family, the high-level issues of the Winter Duchy, and the False God that was eyeing Frostwater Harbor...
All these matters were intertwined. The deeper Annan delved, the more he felt his power was insufficient.
"I may have to trouble you with the Advancement Ritual later, senior," Annan said as he stood up, speaking earnestly to Salvatore.
Salvatore slowly nodded.
His tired eyes opened slightly, warning, "You should go and read up first, adjust your state. The Advancement Ritual needs to take place within a Nightmare, and I will go to Priest Louis for some information, to summarize a few key points of that Nightmare for you.
"Remember, do not do anything unnecessary. If you fall into a deep Nightmare, no one can save you—understood?"
"No problem."
Annan nodded affirmatively, and confidently replied, "I definitely won't do anything reckless."
Others had always described him as steady like a defensive tower, and he must surely be a very steady person.
Annan always had a high opinion of his own assessment.