The God of Jesters
Chapter 230 - 4.05.3 A lie to cover a lie.

Chapter 230: 4.05.3 A lie to cover a lie.

They were mere soldiers without any family nor any future, if not for conscripting young and if not for Sheva looking older than her true age, she would have obviously died due to malnutrition.

The army in a way saved her and let her meet that weird man, a man she called a friend.

And it was due to this friendship, that her friend told his secret to her.

"Sheva, don’t be angry. But I lied to you about some things." He spoke the truth for the first time to her.

And Sheva, young and confused over her own feelings, asked. "What do you mean? Another one of your jokes?"

But the man just shook his head, while making a painful face. "I did lie to you... I joined this army due to a mission by some people and if I were to succeed, they say they have a way to awaken my blood."

"Blood? Do you belong to a Knight’s bloodline?"

"A forgotten one, there are no records or so they say. But I wonder, if there are no records, then how did they find out about it."

"Be Frank with me, are you joking or are you being serious." Sheva at first didn’t believe his words. It would be absurd to think a lower-level soldier like him had a Knight’s bloodline.

Because it was a well known fact that even without bloodline awakening, the physique of such people is way better than the common people.

There would be a higher chance of Sheva being one with such a bloodline than her friend, who looked feeble and weak. Closer to one who would consider a petite woman, a bit similar to Max.

"Please Sheva, I... I am being serious here. Listen for a bit, please?" He begged her, letting her know that her friend might not be joking as she had assumed.

"If you are speaking the truth, then isn’t this great news? If you were to awaken, you could directly be promoted to the elite. Why are you acting so seriously?" She didn’t like the face of her friend.

He looked worried, sad even. Unlike the usual calm and jovial mood he had maintained till now.

"I was happy at first and was ready to do anything, even accepting their offer of proving myself by coming here." It was a test for him, he needed to show his worth by surviving on such a gruesome battlefield where every day was like hell.

And he did survive, he used Sheva as his shield.

"And thanks to you Sheva, they finally gave me the chance." Her friend had taken out an injection, showing it to her. "According to them, if I use it, there is a chance I can awaken that blood."

Although there were some suspicions before, when Sheva had looked at the syringe, she knew, her friend was not lying. Not one bit.

For she instinctively felt a sense of horror from the syringe. A biological reaction that was ingrained deeply in her body. A primal fear that she hadn’t experienced before.

"Take it awake." She said, walking back a bit. Which surprised her friend for a bit. "So it’s true as they say." He laughed, before hiding it in his pocket again.

"..... What was that? What kind of people gave that to you?" She asked, but her friend just made a pained expression. "I can’t say, nor understand what this is... but I can tell you one thing. While you feel fear and disgust, I feel a need to devour it. It’s as if this thing is beckoning me."

"They have fooled you... that thing can’t be good for you, there is no way."

"... but it is, it’s the ingredient needed to awaken my bloodline."

"What is your bloodline... and don’t lie to me. You know something." If her friend had nothing to hide, he would have injected it by now. There was obviously some issue with the syringe, or maybe, his bloodline?

However that day, she never got the answer, causing a rift to form between the two. She remained against the syringe, but that’s all she could do, hope that he never did it to himself.

There is one thing about hope though, sometimes they come true but most of the time, they don’t. In just a few days, her friend ended up using the syringe after both of them got surrounded.

******

"If not for him, we both would have died."

"I suppose, that would have been better than the pain I experienced soon after," Sheva complained. Before shaking her head and asking. "Just tell me your reason for coming here, it’s obviously not me. So it has something to do with Max, isn’t it?"

Baldar felt sad hearing the words of his old friend, but the sadness on his face didn’t stay still for long, as it twisted into a weird smile. "Haha, Sad to say. You are on point Old Friend." Instability.

There were moments of true emotions on her friend’s face only when he talked with her. But the moment work was mentioned, he reverted to what he called "Baldar" instead of Jara. A moment of instability that was becoming rare as more time went by.

Before all of this even happened, she was able to have a normal conversation for more than ten minutes, but it ended in just a few seconds at the mention of Max.

A sign that the individual known as Jara was slowly disappearing. Or in a certain sense, being devoured by his perverted Bloodline.

A bloodline, she still didn’t understand or know about anything.

"Still not leaving him alone at this point. Max isn’t even what he used to be anymore and from the looks of it, he won’t survive for long. Can’t you just give him peace in the last few days he has left?"

"Oh friend, I never expected you to notice." Baldar smiled as he scratched his skin, where a dead skin flake fell off. "He is going to die, from what the Great Jester told my captain. The assassin is going to die and no amount of operation can help him anymore."

"So abandon the thoughts of cutting his hand, it’s not his hand that is the problem here." When he spoke these words, Sheva backed off a bit, turning to look all around the jungle.

"How did you know what my intentions were?"

"My Master is a curious entity and no matter how much I hate it, he seems to give a lot of his attention to Max. Even my captain is jealous of that old man."

"So it’s obvious that he will keep a watch over the people surrounding his target."

"Does this focus bring Max any further harm?" Sheva had abandoned the thought that her old friend would help her. She just did what was needed in hopes of receiving her promised gift. And nothing more.

"I don’t think even my Master is capable of harming Max more than he already had done to himself. Instead, in a way he brought harm to him and us. A foolish weak fella." He was angered whenever he thought about Max. But seeing the annoyed face of his old friend.

"Baldar shut up... control your anger." He spoke to himself while showing some hint of embarrassment to Sheva.

Which she didn’t appreciate very much. As the more she looked at her old friend, the more painful it got for her.

"Just speak your reason for coming here. I don’t wish to talk to you anymore."

At this point, She was in no mood to entertain this man, who used to be her friend.

"Of course, you see, while your group was busy with attracting some attention. We succeeded on her mission."

"Congratulations I guess, but is it all you came here for? To rub salt on our wounds?"

"No, what I mean to say about a gift we met there. Or I think it was a girl. And before you get angry, I am speaking about that man’s daughter."

"..."

"She is dead."

"Yes, she was skinned alive and her soul was grafted on her skill, which was used as the cover for a humanoid machine of sorts. In a way, she is alive."

"So you came here to negotiate? Let me guess, considering what Max is doing currently, you wish to steal that boy’s chance?"

"Nothing like that, Master is just here to fulfill his promise and nothing more. As long as you nod your head, a girl will drag his daughter here"

******

After the meeting had ended and Baldar was coming back alone in the dark of night, he couldn’t help but say.

"Master please, just send someone else next time. I can’t... it’s becoming hard for me to look into her eyes." His words were weird and echoed in the forest. But there was no response in his ears.

But she knew that his master had heard it.

He had to keep his act of madness, his persona of Baldar. It’s the only way he can ensure that Sheva would detest and soon forget about him. It’s the only way to push her out of his world, the only way she may find happiness.

And it would have usually gone this way, but I can’t help but speak.

"Poor Jara, sad to say, you were the one to make the mistake. Just endure for seven more months."

Although surprised by those words, in a downtrodden way, he could only nod and say. "Of course. I understand Master." That was all he could do.

He had to pay for his crimes. And he had to pay for it with a smile on his face.

A smile appeared on his face once again as he lifted his head up.