The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 620 Rasputin's Bad Name Ceremony

"...So that's how it is."

After listening to Annan's report, Grand Duke Ivan sighed deeply.

His mood was a little complicated, and his right hand holding the scepter tightened slightly.

"Anya..."

Ivan whispered someone's name.

There were extremely complicated emotions in his eyes.

sad?miss?calm?Open-minded?
Or neither.

Even Annan couldn't understand that extremely complicated emotion.

Those are the eyes that can only be had when recalling the past after spending most of your life and half buried in the loess.

Just looking at those eyes can make others quiet down unconsciously.

"Are you sad, father?"

Annan couldn't help asking.

Although Ivan is not responsible for this whole thing...it was just a tragedy caused by Lily's own clumsiness in the first place.

But after all, Anya performed that ritual in order to find extraordinary wisdom, to find a way to marry Ivan, and to change Lin Dong, and Lily had an accident because of this.

After all, Ivan Winter is old.

It is not surprising that old people look back on the past with regret.

Rather, it is because Ivan has achieved many successes in his life, so those failures will be more unforgettable...

Just like his two wives.

"Nolan Geraint..."

Ivan was silent for a long time, whispering the name of the old crow.

"what?"

"If you see him again, remember to thank him for me."

Ivan said slowly: "Anya also told me... I hope that one day, I can see the winter passing and the harvest coming. She wants to see a blooming flower, even if it is just a small one.

"... But such a simple wish, I can't fulfill it for her. I'm not as good as Nolan. He made Lily live a very happy life."

"But you are a very good Grand Duke."

"I am."

Ivan replied calmly, "But I can't be considered a good husband."

When he said this, he took another deep look at Annan:
"...Not a good father either."

"That's not so."

Annan shrugged: "At least you must not be a bad father."

Grand Duke Ivan treats his children in a pure free-range state without any management or restraint.

It can be seen from the copy of Wolf Kiss that when Annan was very young, he was brought up by his elder brother Dmitri.Except for the Hand of Winter who takes care of his life, his older brothers and sisters are basically with him.

Only when Annan was learning Frost Swordsmanship was it taught by the Grand Duke himself.

When Annan just woke up from the frozen water port, the oil of silence hadn't leaked out...so Annan's past memories were only temporarily sealed, but not completely lost.

At that time, the first thing Annan recalled was that Ivan was teaching him the frost sword technique.It can also be seen from this that the "common memory" between Annan and Ivan is probably extremely rare.

Given Ivan's busy schedule, Annan might not see him several times a year.

At that time, Ivan was still in good health, unlike now that he needs to lie in bed all year round.He must have been running around... roughly, he should have passed the house three times without entering that level.

At least he can make the two brothers Annan and Dmitri, so bad that they call the rotten man to gamble at home, and they don't realize that something happened to their cubs.

After all, Ivan is the best Grand Duke in the history of Winter.

This is what all Winter people will admit from the bottom of their hearts.

There is no generation of cold winter that can handle various affairs of the winter year better than Ivan.At least after the death of his first wife...or maybe before that, Ivan had dedicated his entire life to the Duke of Winter.

It is normal to neglect one's own family.

After all, his time is not infinite.

Of course, Annan said it lightly... After all, strictly speaking, this was not his childhood.When he arrived in this world, he already had an adult soul in his body.

And today's Annan has completely forgotten what happened in his childhood.It can be said that standing and talking does not hurt the back—at least Dmitry and Maria will definitely be affected a lot by this.

At least their childhood will not be so pleasant.

However, they still have a relatively normal mother.Especially Dmitry...his mother seemed to be a rather gentle person.It can even melt the solid ice of Ivan.

...Perhaps, part of the reason Dmitry and Maria have always cared and loved Annan is that Anja passed away shortly after Annan was born.

Grand Duke Ivan was busy with government affairs and had no time to take care of his children.So the two siblings volunteered to take care of Annan.

The so-called elder brother is like a father, and the elder sister is like a mother, roughly the same.

...But I'm afraid that people will compare with others.

Compared with the Melvin family's style of simply treating their offspring as tools, the Lindong family's side is already considered good and couldn't be better.

"However, although Lily had a good time with Noah...but it's better to talk to Rasputin."

Ivan coughed lightly.

He raised his right hand, which was so thin that he could faintly see the shape of bones, and handed Annan a hard card like a greeting card or a business card.

After Annan handed it over, he gently pinched it with his hand——and found that there was some kind of thin metal sheet sandwiched in the middle of the thick paper.

And it has an address and a name written on it.

"Vasika Rasputin...going to see him tomorrow?"

"He is Anya and Lily's cousin...or cousin. He is also the patriarch of this generation of Rasputin. You can call him aunt or uncle."

"……What's the meaning?"

Annan was a little confused.

Is this person male or female?

"Rasputin is a keeper of secrets, so naturally there are many taboo rituals... Vasika has performed a special ritual to integrate himself with a female cat. So he will constantly change his body shape with the phases of the moon gender and physical appearance."

Ivan glanced at the copper calendar plate on the wall: "Now Vasika should be a female...may have some characteristics of a cat. After you see it, remember not to be afraid and not to be rude."

... Cat girl, I'm afraid of a hammer.

Annan thought from the bottom of his heart.

"...However, the frequency of taboo rituals held by Rasputin's people...isn't it too high?"

Annan couldn't help asking.

So far, all the Rasputins he's heard of seem to have held taboo ceremonies.

However, Ivan shook his head: "For Rasputin, this is a normal situation-this is how the surname Rasputin came from in the first place."

The old man said slowly: "In Frost language, the word 'Rasputin' is usually used to describe a person who has misbehavior...it is not a good word."

It's more than "not a good word".Ivan's words were too tactful.

It is a word that will be covered by asterisks when typed, and can insult a person's moral character.

"...but why would Rasputin use that word as a surname?"

"It's called the 'Bad Name Ceremony.'"

Ivan replied: "Their purpose is to let others insult themselves unconsciously. With this, you can easily get a commonly used influence 'Three Words of Cursing'. This influence needs to be issued by three different people within a day. Insults from the heart'.

"This is also the reason why in the story, some ceremonial masters who have fallen into darkness will use cruel means to do evil everywhere and leave their names... They are deliberately collecting insults, curses and hatred. If these are condensed to a certain extent, they will will be an influence.

"It causes weak villains to fall into nightmares and die...but it also empowers real villains."

To put it simply, they are looking for scolding.

Annan thought.

"And this influence is a common influence necessary for many taboo ceremonies and rituals that curse and kill others. Rasputin is a very traditional family of ritual masters. They have multiple influence pools... and his own name is naturally one of the influences. one.

"So they used the 'Bad Name Ceremony' to replace their family names with this ancient insult. Although there are very few people who understand the Frost language, as long as they pronounce this last name, it can be regarded as a 'heartfelt insult. '.

"In addition to the name, they will also participate in large-scale events such as ceremonies, funerals, and weddings, with the purpose of collecting influence as much as possible.

"Almost all of these influences will be used to perform rituals before they expire. Therefore, every Rasputin will perform at least one forbidden ritual. They will be more or less different from ordinary people. Although they all Weird and weird...but when you succeed Lord Winter, Rasputin will be your best friend."

Ivan reached out and patted his three-color scepter, and said meaningfully: "Because they always need Winter's help.

"Remember this sentence. I can't reveal too much to you for the time being... But in the conversation with Chief Vasika tomorrow, don't be deceived by his bluff.

"—Remember, you have absolute initiative."

　update completed!
　　Just like I asked for leave two days ago, today is one more and later...

　　Good night kids, go to sleep~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)