The God of Jesters
Chapter 157 - 3.07.2 Change in plans.

Chapter 157: 3.07.2 Change in plans.

The Driver was weird, there was no denying it. Yet there was a bodyguard for Krugal, an adept level Knight who had stayed by his side all the time, and almost acting like Butler.

But even that Knight showed some weakness in front of the Driver. Which were not so noticeable on the surface. But Max who had finessed his senses through years of lurking in the darkness and studied the body language of a person, he knew who was the weaker one between the two.

’Hidden Knight?’ Knights were not like Mages, they didn’t radiate any energies that would make them stand out from the crowd. But this didn’t mean it was hard for one to identify a Knight.

Their vigor and physique was always a level above normal humans and then there was the simple overbearance they exuded. A suppression on a biological level that made it easier for one to identify them, but only if you are close to them.

Otherwise, they were good at hiding. Much better than mages. And if not for the fact that Max could sense his target’s vigor, he would have assumed this to be the same case.

Which makes it even more weird.

So something bizarre was going on and he was going to find it. As for asking for Sheva’s support?

That might not be needed if the fight was to be concerned, even if this man was Master rank, Max still had his own methods to employ And it was not like he was going to a war anyway.

All he needed to do was take down this man and get some answers from him. Which would fail and be useless if a fight were to break out and the targets were guarded against his attacks. Not to mention, the rest of the city might be attracted by the fighting noise.

Max truly wanted to curse the people who attacked the detective a few days ago, it’s due to them that the city is in such a tense state. But ignoring all of that, Sheva still had a part to play here.

So he waited, the trucks came and some of them left, mostly at an interval of 2 hours. Showing how active this storage house was. But Max was not bored while watching all of this, his eyes had remained on his target without a pause, never letting him leave his vision.

Which assured Max of his suspicions even more. ’A normal human should have gone to relieve himself two times by now. But no panic or any signs of illness on his face. "

With this fact confirmed, Max took out his blade and laced it with some potent poison. A Neurotoxin capable of making one’s muscles completely useless for hours on end, and named the Sting of the Sloth.

Usually, this would kill a normal human, but after hours of watching this man, Max knew that his target could take it.

The best time to hunt his man was not now though, Max was just making some preliminary preparations and readying himself for his attack.

*****

The sky changed colors and it was nighttime now, the overflow of trucks had stopped for a while and there had been mostly silence in the storage, with most of the workers slowly leaving the area after closing the doors and changing into some casual clothes.

Then there was Krugal Smeltver basking in the greetings of his workers while walking towards his car with his bodyguard, who also appeared casual and indifferent to people around him. But when confronted with the man who was standing there, opening the door to the car for Krugal, the same sort of power dynamics were seen once again.

’Go.’ Max, as the car drove out of the storage house, moving toward Krugal’s house. Which would take around an hour of journey, or even more, depending on certain circumstances.

’She should be here by now.’ Catching up with a vehicle? That was close to impossible. Max can maintain a burst of speed and overtake a vehicle, but there is a limit to that and it would drain his energy as well.

Meaning there was only one way for all of this. He had to reach the destination a bit earlier than these men. Destination that was none other than Kurgal’s home, the place where Sheva should have arrived by now.

Her job in all of this was simple. If something were to go awry, she had to silently kidnap the son Krugal. And using him as leverage to shut him up.

A method that Max doesn’t wish to employ, but he has to be ready for all kinds of unpredictable elements.

So he rushed, taking the metro, he changed lines a total of four times, before entering one of the rich districts of Bothal. Even the air here seemed cleaner than the factory district he just come from. ’The mountains really do keep the pollution out.’ he thought to himself, as he moved ahead and reached the destination on time

"You were here on time? You were not noticed, right?" Max asked and Sheva nodded in response. "All I had to do was take down that kid?"

"I would prefer it if you didn’t harm him."

"He is a Knight apprentice."

"You are stronger than an apprentice," Max spoke, before turning toward the gate of the house. "Did you read the blueprints properly?"

"The son is on the third floor, no mother, and around three housemaids that manage the house, all of them share a big room of their own on the 2nd floor."

"All three of them are dwarfs here, so find the room of Krotal by listening to the snores." A bit of racism once again from Max. But he was not wrong here. Dwarves were infamous for their snores and this method might just work.,

"Should I leave now?... It would be better if I place myself in the home before you strike."

"No, I don’t know the abilities of their bodyguard. Can’t predict if he has any abilities of that nature or not."

"He lives in the room next to Krugal, there is a high chance he will do a thorough sweep of the house. And you might be found out."

"So move only when I fail my attack. And things might get too big. I will be able to attract the Bodyguard’s eyes and you will be able to use it as a cover to apprehend his son."

A simple plan, made up on the spot. But there was not much of an option to begin with. Too much time was being wasted and he knew that I would meet him soon enough with a new job.

And in case he was lied to, he has to be ready to confront me with proof.

However that won’t happen, for this man was going to have a harsh revelation soon enough.

As he had expected, the car came to the house as usual, and the bodyguard came out to open the door for his master, while the driver remained oddly in his seat.

’Odd?’ Max wondered, while standing on top of the telephone pole, while he was looking over the boundary of Krugals’ house from above. But he didn’t think of it much, he just saw how the Driver slowly drove the car to a curb after his master had left and then slowly climbed out of the car.

’This is it.’ he thought, but he didn’t strike just yet. He just saw the driver slowly come out, clean the car, and then cover it with a cloth, all of it in darkness making it hard for Max to see the details clearly. But he can still make out movements and he didn’t mind them as much.

It would be better if the driver leaves this house and creates some distance. Even better if he has a home he can go to. But considering this is a rich person’s house, the driver should have his own room to stay, like the three servants and the bodyguard from before.

But oddly enough, there had been no intel he could find about this detail, so all he could do was wait and see where the Driver went.

"Sheva, giving you thirty minutes, once the lights go off in the house, you move and track down the son’s room and be ready to take him down. Knife is silent."

Max ordered as he got ready for his attack.

Dwarves rarely employed the use of magic, so the chances of any magic trap triggering were low. Not to mention, this was meant to be a simple home, having any bizarre traps would be an overkill. Instead, it would attract countless eyes that might wonder, why such a high security.

So taking all of this into account and then praying to some dead god. Max jumped into the veranda of the house unnoticed by anyone.

There were no alarms or any triggers, the driver had long gone to the back of the house and Max could see the bodyguard roaming the house, probably looking for any oddities or intruders.’

*****

A chance this was, a wonderful one. From the looks of it, the Driver was not on guard and alone. This might not be the case if he enters the house and comes in close vicinity to the Bodyguard, who was a Knight himself. And the closer one is to a Knight, the higher the chance of being noticed by them.

So he moved, creeping into the darkness like a rat walking close to a wall. Even the little critters that were making a cacophony of noises in the darkness didn’t notice his existence, croaking, and ricketing as they were, enjoying the night as they usually do. By hunting for food or being the food themselves.

Lacking any intrigue and fun, unlike the humans and dwarves.

’That’s it.’ While walking, he noticed the driver was closing the garage door, and as if on time, the lights of the house also went away. Which was a sign for him to act.

So he rushed, his blade danced in his hand and his muscle stretched like a bowstring before he burst into the direction of the driver.

’Throat first.’ The transparent blade covered in oily poison slashed toward the driver.

*sheww.

There was no cry, the driver wasn’t even able to react, as some other blades hit his ankles and then his knees. ’No.’ Thought Max, as he backed off from the body of the driver.

This was too smooth, it was too simple and easy. He had expected some struggle, just a little bit. And as if to confirm his suspicion, he saw how the fallen driver just died in front of him. A fact that was not possible.

Failed.

He thought and understood that he had fallen into a trap at least. This was not the driver, he was sure of it. Then he turned his eyes to the left, into the house where Sheva just entered.

’Fuck.’ Leaving Sheva here would be the correct choice. As it would seem due to his clean and cut actions, whoever is waiting in the darkness for him hadn’t acted yet. They hadn’t noticed how he had taken out the driver. But this only gives in a few seconds and it won’t be long before those hiding in the darkness pounce in his direction and try to zero him in.

’Should I leave?’ He struggled to make a choice, as going inside the house was the same as falling into the trap of enemies. But not going there would also mean that Sheva will die or be apprehended at least.

******

The darkness was odd, it was a giant house and she had expected a bit of struggle while entering, hence the reason she bought some tools to open locked doors and some fire to deal with any traps that might be in front of her feet, most of them were tools that could deal with home defense measures.

But things were a lot simpler than she expected. Well, this was a place where a family lived and not some famous household or government building. The more traps there are, the weirder it would have been.

So she walked confidently in the dark corners of the house while using a piece of thin wire to inspect the path forward, in fear of any traps.

’He should have attacked him by now.’ She thought and reached the stairs. ’No snores.’ She thought. Meaning that most of these people were not asleep yet. A fact that made searching a bit harder. But she still lurked in the darkness and started to recall the map of the first floor and walked along the wall first and when she reached a door, she had the appropriate size of the room in her mind. Letting her know who might be in it.

And from the cleanliness of the door and its design, she might be able to identify the one who occupies the room. However, before she could feel the first door, it opened by itself and a short dwarf looked at her in darkness.

"??" In the darkness, she couldn’t see much. But instinctually, she jumped to the short dwarf, closing the door with a push of her kick, and then tackling the dwarf gently on his bed before he could make any noise. An apprentice Knight was only in the early days of Knighthood and their bodies haven’t completely metamorphosed and still remain at mortal level. Making the inhuman strength that Sheva was born with easily overpower Krotal.

" mU HEp U" No words were legible to Sheva’s ears. But the noises from the corridor that came suddenly surprised her. Making her perk up her ear and put more pressure on Krotal’s head, so that he might just suffocate in his bedsheets.

If it was a single figure, then she might have assumed it was the bodyguard or one of the maids. But multiple noises came from the other side. Some move from door to door and even try to open them.

’??"

Although a bit confused over who might this be. She knew it was only a little time before the one in the hallway came and checked this room. "Listen to me, a single slip and there will be a hole in your throat. So remember to not make any weird moves. Or even speak." Hearing these words, Krotal nodded in panic.

A panic that was filled with smiles for some reason. A smile that was harder for Sheva to notice in this darkness. But it didn’t matter anyway, she turned him around and explained her plan. "There are people coming in here. And I want you to let them know that nothing weird is going on here." She ordered him to go back on his bed, while her knight remained on his neck.

While Sheva hid under his bed.

Then as if in queue, the door was opened once again, this time breaking the door’s look on the way as if the man on the other side didn’t bother to call to ask for Krotal’s response. Which confused Sheva and made Krotal shout with some excitement. "You, who are you?" He said as he turned on the lights from the side. Making Sheva hide a bit deeper into the bed.

But no voice came at first, with the hallway in darkness, the man in a coat didn’t move a muscle, giving Krotal one look then turning around and then doing the same thing with other doors.

This made Krotal a bit confused, but he didn’t speak much. He just enjoyed the bizarre experience he was promised.

But the face of Shiva was not the same. She knew this was not normal., Nor was the man the bodyguard.

And although she couldn’t see the man, she knew that she stood no chance against him. Then before she asks anything. A crashing sound came from the next room, before screams.

Making the smiling face of Krotal turn a bit worried. Swiping away the Knife of Sheva, as if he didn’t fear it at all, he walked in worry toward the broken door. But before he could glance at what was going on. The voice of his father came.

"Don’t come out of that room. You will be fine as long as you stay inside.’ His voice was filled with tiredness and pain. But This was Krugal, the man that was worshiped by his men not too long ago.

Hearing such words, Sheva wondered if Max had been found out and if he was doing what he had planned to do before, making her get out and wish to help him a bit. But then her mind calmed down and she recalled the weird figure.

’No, it’s not Max.’ She thought, looking at her knife and then at the young dwarf that was by the side of the gate. ’Something weird is going on.’

"Father?.. What is going on there?" Krotal Asked, but the moment he tried to check outside, he was dragged by Sheva. "Stop being a fool." She ordered while looking toward the young dwarf that she had followed for a couple of days. The same young face that finally showed some care for his father. But if Max’s words held true, then his father was a criminal.

But this young man was not one of them. So she didn’t wish to see any unneeded sacrifices. "You... you work for him, right? Can you save my father?" He asked in panic, as the sound of the fight started to lower down.

Making Sheva confused. But she just stabbed the thigh of the young Dwarf and said in a harsh voice. "I am not your friend. Don’t expect any help from me." With those words and ensures that he can’t move. She took out a gun and then walked close to the gate, not daring to leave the room, she looked toward the disaster that had befallen the transport manager Krugal Smeltver.

’Too dark, she thought to herself.’ But then a figure came next to her and asked. "So guess, there is a change in plans."

A familiar voice, which when heard confirmed that the fight in front of her was not caused by Max.

"What is it?"

"Save Krugal and his son." Then Max looked inside and some blood on the floor, before asking. "Did you kill the son already?"

"Just made sure, that he doesn’t become a problem during our operation."