The God of Jesters
Chapter 214 - 4.02.1 A swift decision.

Chapter 214: 4.02.1 A swift decision.

What were curses?

In most commonly understood terms by mages, it was the power of human consciousness to affect reality and fate.

The fear of curse had driven countless cultures. Curses are what fuels superstitions. It’s the power that the weak can utilize to fight the strong, a power of hope that wishes for someone’s destruction. Or the power of karma that devours the assailant.

It’s pretty bizarre if one were to think about it.

And if the Mages were to be believed, then the curses were obviously impossible to destroy.

But there were people in the know why such a description came into being. This was the mage’s way of saying that they don’t truly understand the truth and that others shouldn’t explore this venue as well.

Their reason is simple.

"Do you know what a Daugr is, Knight Wyrmwood?" Doctor Pal asked while moving the sword away from his neck.

He knew now, there was no way Remira was going to kill him. He has just seen the thirst for knowledge in her eyes, something which is hard to hide.

And as he had expected, Remira took back her sword and pushed it back into its sheath. "Explain!" There was no need to threaten her host anymore. It didn’t seem he was planning to hide it anyway.

"Daugrs are nothing more than servants of great figures, servants who were buried with their dead master, alive in most cases. Just so that they can take care of their master in the afterlife like they did in the material plane."

"A practice adopted by the nobles, kings, and even mages at a time. You must have heard of soldier burials or bridal burials."

"Then there is the horrific practice of Sati, where the woman is burned along with her husband, you must have known of this, right?"

All the words the doctor spoke, Farhad had learned of them in his books. Some of which were even practiced in Cynark as well. So he was not so surprised by it.

"And if one were to look at the origin of the practices and trace them all back. One would see that all of them originate from the northern hemisphere, just like this one."

"Of course, something got lost in translation and fools tried to mimic it out of their sense of grandeur or fear of what came after death." The doctor then took out a few hieroglyphics from his drawers.

"What the fools failed to learn was the nature of the master that usually died."

At this point, Remira was the first to ask. "A Daemon died here?"

"In truth, I can’t say for sure... although the nature of these undeads is awfully similar to the Daugr of old. But the ritual to create the Daugrs had long been lost. Not to mention, Daugrs are created through a mixture of curses and magic. Artificial creations filled with intelligence."

"All of it done so that they can keep the resting place of their master safe, in case their master wakes up one day."

"They won’t harm as long as someone tries to enter their tomb, nor are they as mindless as many might think."

Hearing such details, the eyes of Remira became perturbed for a moment. If what the Doctor has said is true, then there was something else going on here. Something much more sinister and artificial than she had previously assumed.

"You said Daugrs are made, but on the records, it’s stated the curse was infectious... What is it Doctor, which one is the truth?"

"As I said before, this is what confuses me as well. Among the notes I have found. A servant needs to be willing to serve their master in death, only then would the curse of Daugr take effect. But this is obviously not what happened."

"Then what happened? From your words, this doesn’t seem to be an accident, is it?"

"Well... the Daugrs were one of the rare intelligent undead in the old days. You can imagine the applications they might possess in the present day. And what better place to experiment with this tech than an isolated village that few knew about." As the Doctor Pal said these words, his eyes looked toward Farhad for a bit, finding him fascinating.

"But they still won’t compare to your friend there. Although he had remained silent till now, I can see the intelligence hidden in his eyes. Making me really want him." The doctor didn’t hide his desires when it came to Farhad. And at this point, Remira didn’t mind it much.

It was better to have someone open about their intentions than someone hiding them and planning something in the dark.

"I am sorry doctor, but my companion is not someone you can afford to mess with. Even I don’t have such liberty." Her words were sort of like a warning to the Doctor. But it didn’t mean she forgot about the insinuation the doctor made.

"But don’t get distracted, Doctor. Explain in simpler terms, do you have any proof to back up your claims?"

"... I haven’t been lying Sir Knight, all you need to do is follow me below. And I can assure you that I have no bad intentions. I am even ready to sign a contract if you will, so you can be at ease."

Remira had already entered potential enemy territory, but if she were to walk deeper, who knows if this enemy had any tricks with him, which could put her in a tough situation.

Or so Remira might think, so Doctor Pal was already ready to sign a contract if need be.

Which confused Remira a bit.

"What is down below... I find it hard to believe someone as covert as you would be so open to a stranger like me."

"Please Sir knight, the very fact that you belong to the Radiant hall is proof of your identity. Not believing you in matters concerning curses would be complete idiocy." The Doctor said before he took out an empty contract.

"And just to give you peace of mind, put the conditions down below. As long as we can come to an understanding and work together to weed out the true mastermind. I am ready to face any consequences."

*****

I felt it again from this man. He was a bit similar to the people from before, and the over-amplified emotions that surrounded him turned him almost unreal in my eyes.

Was this some illness? Something akin to a curse?

No, if that was the case, the Radiant Knight like Remira might have caught on to it. But she didn’t mention anything. But I can’t be sure if she was acting ignorant or not. There have been multiple times when I have read her wrong, and this might be the same case as well.

’Again that look.’ His gazes were so predatory, so much filled with hunger. Something similar to those mercenaries, but much more mature and lethal in nature.

He was not a good man, or so I believed. But I won’t come to any conclusion too fast. The very fact that he had been so open about the nature of his operation and his conjecture, told me enough about his intentions.

The Doctor really wanted to work together, that was for sure.

Would it be a forced cooperation or a genuine one, that was still not assured at the moment?

But never in a million years, I would have thought that he would agree to a contract. All of it is done just so that we walk deeper into his place.

And I had hoped that Captain would refuse it and chose to leave already.

Although what this man spoke of was interesting, I believe that he had some ulterior motives as well.

Not to mention, it was not in Captain Remira’s nature to listen to suspicious people like these.

Hell, she didn’t even listen to me, so why would she do so here?

"I agree, I will jolt down the condition."

With those words, I knew something was wrong. There is no way for the Captain to agree to such a request. It was too dangerous.

So for the first time, I said. "Captain, you might be under some influence."

At my words, the Captain turned to look at me with an eerie glow. She didn’t seem to appreciate my words. Or so it seemed.

With a slash of her blade, the table was cleaved in two, along with the contract. Before she aimed her sword at Doctor Pal’s throat again.

"Sir Knight, I don’t know what your companion is speaking of, but there is no way anyone is capable of affecting the mind of a Radiant Knight. You know how impossible it is..."

"Stop it, enough mind games. I had felt something was off the moment that girl met me first, but I chose to ignore the warning and follow her to this place. But who would have thought, I would fall for your tricks."

If not for Farhad, Remira understood that she might have fallen into this man’s trap.

As for what it was and for what purpose, she didn’t know.

Though it won’t be long before she gets her answer.

"There are no tricks involved madam...." Before Doctor Pal could explain, a cut appeared on his neck. "Wha??... This..." Before he could end his sentence, a fountain of blood erupted from his neck, and he fell down to the ground.

"Truly a mortal." This Doctor was weak. Too weak.

"Come, we have to escape." Remira then turned toward Farhad, who was still surprised over the sudden death of the Doctor.

He thought Remira would try to pry for some answers. As for killing him so suddenly?

He never thought this would happen.