The God of Jesters
Chapter 139 - 3.03.4 Our eyes met.

Chapter 139: 3.03.4 Our eyes met.

The term Gutters had different meanings in the city of Bothal.

Before industrialization, the Gutters were the name of the cave systems where the outcasts lived.

People with no skill and only good for mining. To them, the mines were their home, even if these mines brought them death due to the lack of fresh air.

The dwarves that lived here were at the bottom rung of society most of the time, some were criminals who came looking for safety, some were just unskilled labor without a place to stay, some were kicked out of their tribes and then there were the opportunist that came here to look for leftovers.

Veins of ores that were left behind by the dwarven tribes. And from time to time, some of them might get lucky, striking it rich. Before they were killed by their companions.

These underground tunnels were hell on earth, even when the world was reeling from the old ages and setting foot in a new one. The gutters remained the same, lawless and unbridled. Filled with death and destruction all over.

A place ruled by the might of the fist, rather than wisdom.

And the same remains even now. The Gutters were considered a well-known secret among the public of Bothal. All of them knew of its existence, though all of them would deny it if an outsider were to ask about it.

For the Gutters were the stain on Botham’s prestige and no one wished to speak about it or let the world find out about its existence. Which was almost laughable due to how many came to the Gutters to try certain vices that were never available in the rest of the world.

Most of the reason why it was so much frequented by many people in the world was due to the lack of government control over these cave systems. Causing many illegal activities to become a common norm here.

"This place is dangerous," Sheva said, her head covered in a hood while speaking about the public she had come across till now.

Most of the people were like her, covered in a giant hood and walking with their heads down, no one wanted to expose their face here, some even went as far as to wear a mask.

Max on the other hand was calm, showing his face and without any cover, he just walked proudly in the market, which was unlike what Sheva had imagined. In her understanding, a person like Max would do his best to hide his face in fear of attracting any unwanted attention.

And her answer surprised her.

"I don’t have anything to hide, and with these clothes, no one would ever bother with me." Although strong, Max was a thin man due to his weak physique since he was a kid, always looking sickly and short. He didn’t seem like someone from an influential family at all.

The only thing that did stand out about him was his eyes as well as his height, which was still a bit too big for most of the dwarves.

Though none cared for such things in the Gutter. To most, Max appeared as one of the Gutter Natives, who fed themselves by acting as a guide to newcomers. And the newcomers in this case were none other than Sheva.

"Of course madam, none of the men you see are good. I would suggest maintaining a distance from them." He acted like a guide while leading along the main road and deeper into the caves, ventilated through giant fans that always caused the whole cave to vibrate.

’So loud?’ She thought, but she didn’t mention much and entered the shop following Max, who had a smile on his face, which turned serious the moment he stepped into the shop.

"Tharra, where are you?" In the shop with old watches on display, Max called out a name that he had come to learn in the last few months. And it was due to knowing this man, that he knew the bastard was probably watching him from somewhere.

"Sir Max?... You should have mentioned it was you" Then one side of the wall rolled over and a Dwarf appeared wearing a welding mask on his face. "Change your clothes, sir, I have a few new things if you are interested."

"Your previous stuff is working fine, I came here for her!" Max said pointing toward Sheva, who showed a surprised look on her face hearing Max’s words. "Me?" She asked, before shaking her head and saying. "I am not interested in watches. I have a good sense of time."

Fighting on the battlefield for a long time had given her an innate ability to correctly guess the time. It came in handy during her active duty hours, hence there was no need for her to own a watch.

"What is your name Miss?" Tharra asked, but Max shook his name and stopped her from speaking. "Let’s call her Lotus. Now, the wares?" Max asked, showing that he had no intention of giving away Sheva’s true name, while also proving that the name Max itself was a false one. As Max had stopped Sheva from using her real name, but Tharra had called him by the name Max, the very name he had used to introduce himself to her.

Of course, Sheva was not good at such detailed thoughts. These were the thoughts of the dwarf who smiled under his welder’s mask, confirming that the name of his best customers of these past few months was nothing more than a lie.

’No wonder I couldn’t find anything about him.’

"Wares, what kind of wares?" Sheva asked Max, confused over what this place was. Wasn’t this a watch shop? And aren’t the wares right in front of her?

But Max shook his head. "The man in front of you in a black market dealer, ask whatever you want, and he will bring you."

"Sir Max, you Jester. I am not so great."

"Yes you aren’t... if not for your no-nonsense method of operation, I would have picked someone else. At least their prices would have been cheaper."

"But none of them will be able to get you the stuff I get you."

"This is why I bring you a new customer today, so prove me right and show that my choice was correct today. Show us the available guns." Max walked closer to the watches and then turned to the dwarf while his eyes shone with a greenish tint.

"Guns?"

"Of course, I broke yours before. And think of it as a thank you for that porridge of yours."

"Of course, please Ma’am, come this way." With a hurry the dwarf climbed over the counter of his shop like a dog, before falling to the floor, appearing like a giant fat dog for a while. But Max was used to this man’s eccentricities. Either an act of truth, he was still not sure, however he did know that these actions in a way dropped down the guard of his customers.

Knowing all of this, he didn’t show any mood swings, he was not going to fall for it again, as for the woman who only knew how to fight in a war, let her experience the treachery of the real world.

’No, it’s my treat.’ With those thoughts, a clicking sound came, and one of the watch cabinets turned open

Although surprised at how the shop expanded all of a sudden, she was led by the dwarf into a deeper room, with all kinds of guns arranged neatly on the walls of the shop.

Though, before she could walk any deeper, Sheva stopped for a while and asked. "Are you sure... this seems expensive."

"I believe it will be worth it."

*****

"Most of the cases that we got our hands on, all of them were handmade. As for who made them, we don’t know. Lots of people are hiding from the world in this place." Salveraz complained while drinking some Malt beer with a reddish face.

On the other hand, Fahna was reading the report that Detective Salveraz brought. Report on the current investigated front of this case, before she paused at a particular scene.

It was slash wounds on one of the human victims, the last moments and emotions of the man were imprinted on his face before his death. The blade marks, when kept under the microscope also told a detailed story of the kind of weapon it was.

There was even a sketch of the blade that might have been used in this battle.

"Are you sure the enemy was not at Master Level?"

"If he was, none of the men would have survived for so long. Hic.."

"..."

"Seems like the work of a professional."

"A weak one at that... the bastard could barely scratch the armor and not dig deeper. High chance it is a new adept-level assassin. One who hasn’t consolidated his strength."

"But would someone like that be capable of fighting and killing the knights of dragon lineage so one-sidedly?"

Salveraz was silent for a while, before saying in an embarrassed laughter, "I might have drunk too much today, I am sorry for my foolish assumptions."

"I understand, not every day does an incident as big as this happen."

"Yes, I haven’t slept for the last two days."

As the two started having talks, Fahna’s head turned outside the window for an instant second.

She looked straight at Max, who also turned to look into her eyes almost as if fate planned this meeting.

Though that was it, Max reverted his eyes back to the path and Fahna went back to discussing the case with Salveraz. Ignoring the weird man who only felt somewhat familiar.

As for the reason?

’I was right, she is here.’

Max smiled, finally seeing how right it was to hide his face while training Fahna all those years ago.