It was highly possible that Bernardino would look for Nicholas after his resurrection.
However, Annan and the Paper Princess did not plan to stop him.
It seemed unnecessary.
There was a saying that having the thieves eyeing your possession was much scarier than the thieves themselves. As long as Nicholas was alive, Bernardino could go to him anytime.
However, Annan would not have the Paper Princess by his side all the time. After all, he would not be roaming around the world freely.
If Bernardino had a grudge and followed Annan, he had no solutions to that.
However, Annan had another place to visit.
In front of Noah First Bank, a large amount of white dust gathers in the air, piling up into the figure of Annan and the Paper Princess.
“It’s here.” The Paper Princess replied.
Naturally, she held Annan’s hand again.
When Annan took her hand, even Annan’s presence was wiped away by the incantations revolving around her.
The Paper Princess was a deity with the element of “beauty”. She usually would not reveal herself when traveling. Instead, she only showed herself when looking for someone to sell her paintings. Otherwise, the ‘Influence’ she incurred on the world would harm many ordinary people.
This was what the Paper Princess did not want to see happen.
So she used her original ritual, “Shadow in Painting”, to remove her sense of presence.
She also handed this ritual to Annan.
To put it simply, when the Paper Princess did not make a sound, anyone who saw her with their eyes would not be able to perceive that she was a “three-dimensional” existence in this space. It was just like Paper Mario but turned sideways, becoming a real “paper man”.
No matter from any angle, she was only that “thin piece”.
Only those with outstanding perceptions could capture the three-dimensional existence of the Paper Princess.
This ritual might be useful in the future, so Annan noted it down.
However, the material required was to consume the influence from the Paper Princess. It was pretty limited, and it was not effective against wizards and priests. At the same time, it was only effective until “sound” was made.
On the other hand, this ritual could remain in a state of no consumption and continue forever if no sound were made.
Thus, it probably could come in handy during nightmares.
As a material that could create the required ‘influence’ at any time, Annan learned the Paper Princess’ real name.
“My name is [Lisa Gladini]. This is the name my lover who gave me life, once gave me.”
The Paper Princess said, “If you use up this knowledge, just call my name in the ritual. I will charge the magic back up for you.”
Since the Paper Princess told Annan personally, this had fallen into the category of occult knowledge, imbuing it with remarkable power.
[You have acquired the occult knowledge: the Deity of Painting and Illusion “the Paper Princess” real name.]
[This occult knowledge can be used as “Ritual: Summoning ‘the Paper Princess’”, “Golden Spell (Idol): Assimilation into the Painting”, “Novice Influence: Remains of the Most Beautiful”.]
[This occult knowledge will be forgotten after using “1” time. You may recall this knowledge only after “listening to the voice of ‘the Paper Princess’”]
This was the fourth real name Annan got.
The real names Annan learned included Old Grandmother’s [Reguetto], Rotten Man’s [Atabanus], and one of the Man in the Mirror’s two real names. However, that could only be utilized after Annan learned the second real name. After that, Annan learned about [Lisa Gladini] from the Paper Princess.
Also, it was a name that Annan found somewhat familiar, just like how he was exposed to the names “Michelangelo” and “Nicholas” previously.
Annan happened to have heard this name before.
Lisa Gladini.
The name had another widely known identity.
That was the prototype of the famous painting “Mona Lisa”.
In every sense, it was a suitable name for her.
Annan and the Paper Princess infiltrated the Noah First Bank directly after using the ritual to be invisible.
Of course, they did not come here to rob a bank.
It would be fine if it were another country or city.
However, the Silver Knights guarded the bank in Noah’s capital.
It was the bank…
If the Silver Knights were determined to hold the fort, even a Gold Rank transcenders team might be unable to break through it.
They came in here just because Annan was looking for someone.
A senior Silver Knight, which Old Bread mentioned to Annan previously.
He was not a bishop, but he had personally killed a Gold Rank Hunter without a high-level divine art nor divine blessings.
That transcender’s profession was “Shadow Hunter”, which was challenging to deal with. It was a unique profession that could jump and traverse in the shadows at will. He would attack the opponent’s shadow to inflict immobility, curse, poison, and physical damage. They said that this profession specialized in dealing with human targets.
However, such a remarkable hunter was beheaded by that Silver Knight.
His name was Alexander Robin.
Alexander was the chairman of Noah First Bank and the director of Noah Second Bank and Iris Bank. Old Bread had written to him long before Annan set off, informing him of Annan’s visit and the news that he would appear with the Paper Princess. Of course, it included a letter of introduction to Annan.
Old Bread told Annan that if he faced troubles inconvenient for him to attend to personally, and he did not want to rely on the Crow’s family, he could use this letter to visit Old Robin; if Annan had a conflict with the Crow’s family, he could also seek asylum at Noah First Bank.
Well, if nothing happened for the time being, Annan could visit Alexander to learn sword arts.
Alexander’s swordsmanship was remarkable. He had only changed his profession to Silver Knight after acquiring the Silver Rank. Before that, his Bronze Rank profession was called “Champion”. Before stepping into the Transcendence path, he had to win the Noah National Swordsmanship Competition before he could get the “Champion Medal” and acquire this rare profession.
The profession was a relic that the “Deity of Sword and Duel” Marquis Iris left in the world.
He was the third generation of false deity, the holder of the world’s most famous Book of Truth, “The Sword of Victory and the Crown of Glory”. A rare elven deity, who was now one of the only three subordinate deities of the Red Knight.
When he was still a mortal, he got the title page of the Book of Truth.
Afterward, he traveled the country as a mortal and a “future deity”. At the same time, he participated in all the swordsmanship competitions he learned about. He would utilize the Book of Truth to remove the unbalanced power, regardless if it came from his opponent of himself. Under the context where both parties had equal attributes, they would have a fair duel only in swordsmanship.
As he won the championship in all competitions, the empire made him a marquis.
After that, he became known as “the strongest of swordsmanship”. He quickly advanced to the Gold Rank and entered the desert as an elf, embarking on a lonely journey eastward alone. His goal was to look for the legendary Orser remnants who did not go to the western oasis but stayed in the desert.
It was the empire that the elves’ ancestors lived in and abandoned.
No one knew what happened to him in the eastern deserts.
But when he returned to Yaselan again, he had become a deity.
His four favorite medals were engraved with the swordsmanship of Marquis Iris. Those who won the national swordsmanship competition and entered the nightmare with this medal could attain the profession “Champion”.
Of course, it was naturally impossible for this curse vessel to be given directly to the winner. Therefore, after the advancement and the power accumulated from the swordsmanship competition were exhausted, the medal must be returned to the country.
But even so, Noah would at most give birth to one “champion” every year.
Old Bread hoped that Annan could learn this swordsmanship from Alexander.
Annan also happily accepted it.
Although his usual weapons were a bone knife or a hammer, he would not say no to goodies.
