The Laws of Werewolf Hunting

Chapter 537 National Policy
A train, billowing smoke, travels along the tracks toward Arsenal, the capital of the Kingdom of Dorne.

Inside the train carriage, you can hardly feel any vibration. The walls and floors are covered with solid wood, a natural material that effectively keeps the heat insulated. On the ceiling, a row of flat crystal chandeliers runs from one end to the other.

The train has a separate dining area, and naturally there is also a corresponding kitchen and food storage. The chefs in the kitchen will use the most exquisite methods to process the stored high-quality ingredients, ensuring that passengers do not feel that the quality of their food has declined on the train.

To ensure passengers' other living needs are met, the train also has separate bathrooms, changing rooms, waiting rooms, studies, and guard rooms, with each carriage serving its own purpose.

No one thought it was excessive, because this long train was a private train and served a supreme being.

Harren IV, the Supreme Lord of Dorne.

At this moment, the Queen is in her study talking with her close advisors.

Even in luxury, four people can only sit in the narrow space of the carriage.

The Queen sat at her desk, with a lady-in-waiting standing beside her, while her two mystical advisors were forced to squeeze into the aisle of the carriage. The two men, one an old man with a hunched back and the other with the typical features of a foreigner from the Western Continent, could only sit on small chairs with their legs crossed. The scene was pitiful.

"It's two months ahead of schedule, as you guessed," the Queen said to Fast Delant after learning of the Dark Moon's news.

Out of disgust with the air quality in Asia New Zealand, forty kilometers away, she draped a veil over her face under her light green, round-brimmed hat, so the wizards couldn't see her expression.

An hour earlier, a motorcyclist on a train suddenly developed a second face on his abdomen, which sealed his political career and his life.

With this incident as a prelude, both great wizards believed that this was a serious topic.

Although Delant was not an astrologer of Stellaris, he still defended his colleague: "Your Majesty, no one has ever been able to make a completely accurate prediction about that cursed king. He is distortion and curse itself, and any divination or prediction will be distorted, just like his many minions."

The Queen's voice was tinged with laughter.

“We are not blaming you, but we are thinking of Bishop Igorsi, who wrote to us a week ago to take credit for the public welcome he prepared for us today. He must be feeling bad now.”

She made it sound too lightly; it was more than just unpleasant, and it was more than just Bishop Igorsi's experience.

The appearance of the Lord of Curses on one of the church's holiest holidays was a slap in the face to the church.

“Since His Majesty does not wish to blame Igorsey, he will soon recover,” said Heleson, whom the Queen addressed as “the Barbarian,” in cold Dornish, sitting beside Fast Drant. “But Ser Noah, he will not recover; I think we may prepare a eulogy for him.”

Sir Noah was the knight who was cursed an hour earlier.

"Is it that serious?" The Queen sounded somewhat surprised. "Can't your magic help him? Perhaps we can have our royal physicians treat him."

Delant and Helisson both shook their heads.

"The curse in Sir Noah's name is called the Second Side, which even the wisest wizard king cannot remove, because it is too closely related to the cursed one."

"Will this cause him any harm?" the Queen asked.

“You’d have to ask him,” Delant replied.

Queen Heron IV was not satisfied with such a brief answer. She leaned to one side, resting her elbow on the table: "Sir Delant, please do not be stingy with your words. We admit that we are ignorant in the field of magic, and it is your and Helisson's responsibility to fill this gap."

Delant had to stand up and bow, then sit down again to explain the evils of the curse in more detail.

"The second side is actually another Sir Noah, with the same memories and personality. Their lives are even one, so whether he will harm Sir Noah himself depends on his own thoughts and ideas."

"But how could a person harm himself?" King Harun IV asked.

“The problem is that the second person might not see Sir Noah as themselves. Their memories were connected before, but not afterwards.” Delant chose his words carefully. He was a man of few words, but his job required him to speak.

"Imagine you've only been distracted for a moment, and suddenly you can't control your body anymore. Only your face can move, and it's not even in the right place. Then your body starts moving on its own, and you realize there's another face on your head. It sees you, screams, and yells that you're a monster and it's going to cut you off, and you're powerless to resist."

"Enough, I understand!" The Queen interrupted Delant, clearly disgusted by the thought of such a scene.

But after a few seconds of pause, she asked if it was possible for Sir Noah to reconcile with her second side.

"I'm afraid not."

Hailisson's answer was consistent with Delant's.

There are people in this world who can reconcile with the second side of their chest, but no one has ever heard of reconciling with the second side of their abdomen.

They had all seen Sir Noah's body; the location of the second growth was terrible, especially for a man. Every morning, the second growth had enough reason to murder the host.

Of course, the specific reasons were difficult to state to the Queen.

"In past records, even without hands, the hateful second face would constantly reveal the host's secrets, providing opportunities for others to kill the host. And whether it was blinded or had its tongue pulled out, the injury would be reflected equally on the other face. Two beings with the same memories and personalities would eventually torment each other to death. This is the curse of the second face."

Curses are not synonymous with power; their essence is suffering, and only a lucky few can harness their power.

Delant knew that it was only because the Dark Moon had been gone for so long that the most afflicted by the curse had died during that time. Those who remained were able to use the power of the curse to survive and enjoy its existence, which is why some people misunderstood the curse.

Now that the Dark Moon has returned, this misunderstanding will soon be dispelled.

The Queen sighed with regret at Sir Noah's fate. "What a pity. His father placed his hopes on him among his four sons, expecting him to inherit his uncle's armor in the Iron Ring Knights. He had already passed the Knights' test, but now his promising life has been cut short by this misfortune."

However, she did not grieve for long, and then instructed her lady-in-waiting to fetch tea and refreshments to enjoy with her close advisors.

The consequences of Sir Noah becoming a Darkborn were similar to the effects of being assassinated by the rebels; at most, it affected his personal honor and disgrace, but otherwise, the impact on the country and her was negligible.

"Barbarian Master" Hailisong turned to look at Delante, then stood up and offered his suggestion.

"Your Majesty, the power of the Dark Moon is stronger than it was in the last millennium. Turmoil is inevitable. I believe we should take immediate measures to ensure stability within the country and in the colonies."

"Hailisong, taking measures is certainly important, but first we need to know what will happen before we can prevent it."

The Queen handed a document from the table to a lady-in-waiting beside her. The lady-in-waiting then went to the two advisors and handed them the document. It seemed that Hailisson's suggestion was originally her plan.

"Look at this report from Weaudi. Several gentlemen of the Kingdom's intelligence department bravely sacrificed themselves to obtain these things."

It took the two wizards less than ten seconds to finish reading the report.

“Incredible,” Hailisong said stiffly.

Delant didn't say anything.

“It seems we have two choices, and they’re opposites, don’t they? Weodie has shown us.” Heron IV didn’t look at them; his eyes, hidden behind his veil, were fixed on the window in the carriage wall, where the scenery was rapidly gliding to the left.

“Conriona, or the Friendship Society?” she asked.

“Conionai betrayed their master,” Delant said.

“The Society of Friendships has also betrayed its master—me,” said Heron IV.

“The Friendship Association is abusing government power,” Hailisong said.

“Konrienne opposes the new land administration law,” said King Heron IV.

Delant was a bit of a headache; he was not good at dealing with the powerful, especially the king: "Your Majesty, you cannot oppose everyone."

“We oppose no one; we rule over all,” the Queen said earnestly.

This is true.

Hailisong bluntly stated, "I don't think an isolated case is enough to prove anything; we should let the police try their skills again."

Unlike most people in this country, Hailisson never doubted the capabilities of the police force.

Dorne's police organization may have been founded in Arsenal, but it was perfected in Loren.

Hailisong is a Lorenzo.

He became alarmed when the new policy simultaneously called for military downsizing and the establishment of local police forces. The influx of veterans into police departments was an excellent supplement to local power; even if the effects weren't immediately apparent, it established the military structure locally, facilitating future expansion and troop movements.

“They are merely a supplement,” the Queen said in the gentle voice of a young woman. “This country needs more decisive and clear plans. We need your wisdom.”

"We are just consultants for the occult."

"Just treat it as a casual chat."

Delant was silent for a moment: "I thought that protecting the economy was the most important thing under the influence of the Dark Moon."

"indeed so."

"To safeguard the economy, we need to ensure the production security of key industries. Considering the anticipated surge in the number of superhumans, this will be difficult to achieve. Alternatively, people could maintain a constant flow of money for consumption, making up for the losses caused by disrupted production. However, our country has too many poor people; we need to encourage them to consume."

Delant paused for a moment: "We can let them borrow money to spend. Legislate to limit bank loan interest rates, and more people will be willing to borrow money."

“A very good proposal, worthy of a public vote. Sir Delant, you could practically be my Chancellor of the Exchequer.” After praising Delant, the Queen turned to Helisson, expecting him to say something more.

Hailisong lowered his head.

“I don’t know much about the situation in Dorne, but I think that those who disagree with each other are more dangerous than those who are obviously different.”

The Queen turned her head and said teasingly, "It sounds like you prefer Conionnai."

“Conionne’s mistakes are in the past and in the future, the mistakes of the Friendship Society are in the present,” the barbarian said earnestly in a stiff tone. “In my country, those who resist obeying the king’s orders are called rebels, even druids.”

The smile behind King Harun IV's veil gradually faded.

"indeed so."

Thanks to the user "Don't say my name" in the character post in the book club for providing Fast Delant.