The God of Jesters
Chapter 233 - 4.06.1 Fahna’s arrival.

Chapter 233: 4.06.1 Fahna’s arrival.

An unexpected visitor she was, with her dark hair and emotionless eyes. But the distrust on her face can’t be hidden from Sheva’s eyes.

Who was she to come here? How dare she come at this time? It was better when she had left, leaving Max with her, because in no way can she expect a woman like Fahna to take care of Max.

She was selfish and had sacrificed many of her soldiers on the battlefield just to hunt her regiment down. Things like loyalty, kinship, and mercy were alien to such a woman. Even Max had claimed as such when he spoke about her.

How can she let someone like her take Max?

"Go back Woman, don’t make me regret saving you more than I already do." Sheva didn’t drop her guard, her gun remained aimed at Fahna at first, before it turned toward her butler. "Move or I will shoot him down."

"Don’t be childish, I am not here to fight and I appreciate the kindness you showed me. But staying here in the jungle all alone, while taking care of a man as ill as a teacher. We both know how dangerous it can be."

Of course, Sheva understood what this woman was speaking about. She had seen it multiple times already behind enemy lines. There were many in her group that have lost their lives not due to the enemy’s hands, but due to diseases and gangrene that they accumulated through the war period. Without proper treatment and with limited supplies, only those like her were able to survive.

"And we both know that Max’s case is a bit different. So just go." Sheva was in no mood to tell Fahna about Max’s situation and how he had come about.

For an ill man like him, who considered his memories "false", who knows what kind of ideas Fahna would fill in Max’s mind?

Of course, then there was the little boy named Crow. Whose existence was hard to explain. Of course, hiding the truth from Fahna was not hard, as the boy was pretty smart when it came to lying.

But in front of a mage like Fahna, it’s always better to keep him away from her or the fact that he is going to be the inheritor of Max’s bloodline.

*****

Fahna had been tired and defeated in Bothal. All her planning was for naught as the force Bothal reacted to was too much for her to handle.

In a way, one can say that she looked down on the enemies, she looked down on the people that she believed were working for him. And it was only due to her master, who also seemed to be their enemy that she survived.

What a fate. One can’t imagine the disappointment and the feeling of defeat that Fahna felt at the moment.

She chews more than she could eat, which causes her to choke and face death.

It was why, while her emotions were in a mess, she left the scene without bringing her Teacher with her.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t thankful for Sheva’s choice and his request, which showed that he still cared. But with all the chaos that was running in her mind at that point, all she could do was leave to not turn into baggage for them.

And it was not until she had calmed down, did her mind started to run again.

She scrapped the Salvarez angle, he was too far gone and out of her reach at the moment. A regrettable fact that she has to face. But why did this happen to begin with?

In her plan, she never expected the CBI to partake in the whole event, nor the arrival of a GrandMaster level knight, whose mere existence derailed the entire plan.

So what happened? Why did he join in and what was the game plan of her Teacher?

Why would he join in on the fight?

With the foreknowledge that her Teacher held animosity toward these people, it was not hard to see all those assassinations were done by him. And if there was a time, she could look deep into all the victims and find a common thread.

But that’s not what she was wondering. Besides Salvarez being the one who handled Max’s case initially. There was no other interaction between the two parties. And from what Sheva had told her, it was Max’s plan to save Salvarez.

Even that can’t be considered suspicious, considering there should be some conflict of interest here that Max would have found through his earlier victims.

The point of interest came when Fahna recalled one thing.

’Max knew I would come here and he had requested that woman to save me.’ A simple request on the surface showed that Max was aware of her existence and was planning to protect her.

But now here’s the question though. How did he know of this? It didn’t make sense at all no matter how hard she thought.

Because in the eyes of all, She had long left Bothal with no plan to come back. She even used a fake skin mask along with her transparent flames to hide from the masses and make sure she was not found out.

But for some reason, Max was assured that she would be here and things might go wrong. Otherwise, why would he order that woman to do such a thing?

Then again, the existence of Sheva was also odd to begin with.

Wasn’t it too much of a coincidence that a woman who she fought against in the past, was now helping her teacher?

There was something going on here, something she had failed to notice due to her shock.

"There are no coincidences in this world. And if you think there are some, then you were not looking hard enough."

These were the words of her late father and although she didn’t know it then, with the knowledge that her father faced that existence before, it can be seen why he thought in such a way.

And now, when she faces a similar situation, she can’t help but recall those words again and again in her mind.

’I was right the first time, the assassin was working with him and this assassin just happened to be my Master.’

She recalled the warnings and fears of her brother, his paranoia, and the notes.

Soon, things started to fall into place.

’I don’t know about this woman, but my master obviously had a connection to him. And whether he knew this or not, he was somehow forced to meet me.’

In her mind, with all the legends she had heard about that being, she knew that coming here was something akin to falling into its trap. A trap that she was ready to fall into if it meant that she would finally learn about this monster and have a chance to end him.

Even if it meant forcing her ill master to remember.

It didn’t matter if her Teacher was just a shadow of the person he used to be, it didn’t matter if he couldn’t remember everything. As long as she can get her hands on him, there are various drugs and magic she can use to extract that information out of his mind.

This is why she was here.

This was her true intention.

An intention which will provide the worst death possible to her Teacher.

Of course, she won’t go so far as to claim such things on Sheva’s face. The threat of that existence was heavy here. And making any foolish move would put her in danger. So she put on an act, hoping that she could take her teacher away from her, without the situation turning ugly.

"Don’t be belligerent Sheva, this is no time to care for personal vendetta. And this is not a battlefield anymore. Don’t let your thoughts be driven by what happened long ago, think of the teacher."

"I have thought enough of him. There is no need for you here, just go."

"You want him to live in the jungle during the last days of his life? At least let me provide him with a good environment where he can be worry-free. This is the least I can do for him..."

When Fahna said those words, Sheva really started to consider her words for a bit.

Who was she to stop her here? From the looks of it, her tenure was coming to an end and she was going to be paid handsomely at the end. So why struggle against Fahna’s request?

Why deny Max some peace during his end?

Of course, she was driven by some personal reasons, which in turn was driven by the actions Fahna took in war against her.

But Fahna and the current one were different.

Maybe, she can trust her for a bit.

"I will say one thing and it is that I hate you," Sheva spoke, before sighing. "But I also wish for it to end, you can take him if you want but not for now."

"What do you mean, not now, the longer he stays here, the more he will suffer."

"He is healthy enough to live for a few months, not to mention, he took in someone as his student and is currently teaching him. Wait for a week at most and then come and take him. We won’t be moving till then."

The words of Sheva were a shock to Fahna. "He is teaching someone? Then do you mean to say that he has come about?"

"Partially yes, and knowing he was going to die, he took in a boy that had been helping us through supplies."

"So go for now, what happens between the two is private."