The God of Jesters
Chapter 351 - 6.04.1 He is here?

Chapter 351: 6.04.1 He is here?

There were times when you had to be cruel to your subordinates and this was one of the moments for Amir to do so.

There was someone who had dared to come so close and drop a dead rat in front of his locker. Not to mention, there was a high chance, it was that very person who cried about murder before disappearing altogether, directly under the watch of countless transcendent beings.

A sign that this individual was capable of much more than he just showed them.

As for the guard who suffered the consequences due to it, Amir considered giving the punishment would be much better than him being sent to a tribunal and facing military punishment which would have been way worse than his own.

It was his way of saving the innocent guy.

"This place is not safe Prince, it’s better to leave the premises."

"And leave for where? This person did this right under your nose and had the audacity to cry ’Murder’ before disappearing." In simpler words, nowhere was safe from the looks of it, which actually was a stain on the Military’s reputation. But Amir was shrewd enough to not mention it when among so many normal soldiers who were eyeing him.

It’s never too good to be too obvious. And he believed that this Archmage should have understood well what he meant.

So after confirming there was nothing left for him to do, and his classes were canceled again, he went back to his home. "Seems like I could work on my project for longer." He told himself before leaving the training area.

But unlike when he had arrived, his entourage while leaving was much bigger and the streets were shut down beforehand wherever his jeep was driven to, including the randomized path that was weaving in between the building before he finally reached his manor.

"Sir, I heard something happened during your Combat training?"

"Yes, something good did happen." Amir smiled and left the premises, not bothering to humor this old man at all.

Burghim also didn’t say much, he knew that for now, Amir had to stay at home anyway, and it would be better if he was occupied with his project than looking for the perpetrator on his own.

What he didn’t know was that the perpetrator was already in Amir’s room by the time he arrived.

"He is here at the moment, and you dared to show your face?"

"No, he isn’t."

"Meaning, you are close by and can see what I am doing, isn’t that it?"

"Close like the mirror?" She asked and Amir smiled before taking off his clothes, exposing his chiseled muscles and broad back that only developed in the past decade.

A body without a single blemish.

"Explain to me, who are these people and what they want?" He asked, looking in a mirror without the slightest embarrassment.

"As I said before, they want you, just like me. All that differs is our approach."

"And would these people hurt the normal people?"

"I can’t take responsibility for that, it’s not like we are part of the same organization to begin with."

Amir didn’t believe the last part one bit. Beforehand he was a forgotten prince who was trained for a purpose he didn’t even know himself. But one thing he did know, he was never meant to take part in the country’s politics, a powerful puppet is what he was meant to be. So there was no reason for others to care for him. Hence, there was no need to off him unless it was some other personal reason.

That was until her arrival and the interest she showed in his work which eventually led to these odd events.

So only a fool would believe her words at this point. And Amir was no fool.

"Well... what I gleam from your words, these people, your people do hurt normal people?"

"I can’t speak for them, but as for the organization I am part of. We do hurt innocents for greater gains. So in a way, we are bad people."

"Didn’t expect you to be truthful." Amir was genuinely surprised and also came to understand some parts of this organization from this simple exchange. ’Anyone in her position would have lied about it. Her truth means that there is no secrecy, and she intends me to know what kind of organization I will be working for if I were to choose to go with her.’

"Guess time is up." She said and then disappeared before Amir had any time to ask more questions.

One among which was how she was able to hide from the mages all this while.

No, more importantly, what is that trick with the mirrors or shiny surfaces? Considering she did appear on the shiny surface of the cart.

"Sir, evening’s tea is here." Came Burghim dragging the same old food cart from before where he talked with her once.

"It’s been an hour, I believe there should be some update on the situation in the training center?"

"Yes, the officers found that a janitor might be the one who cried Murder before hiding in fear. He is currently held in detention."

"... Pretty odd a janitor would cry Murder instead of dealing with the rat... and aren’t Janitors only allowed on the training grounds after the training center is closed?"

"No, there are some active Janitors who deal with any accidents during the day."

"Oh." Was it the lies again? Burghim seemed to be the kind that didn’t wish for Amir to get involved with whatever the issue was. And Amir also showed no interest, on the surface at least.

With some other small talk, Amir completed his dinner and found the onion soup was the same as the other four times, which surprised him for a bit before he ignored the detail altogether. ’Seems like a dependable chef was found.’

*****

On the other side of the colony, Black Sun looked at the report with some worry. "Is this bitch Anna’s doing? Just because we were mocking her for this rat king theory. She does this?"

He recalled a meeting not too long ago where Prince Wortham had called him along with some other mages to research a weird thing Master of Tower of Contracts, Anna had brought something special with her, along with a known criminal of the duchy, Kassandra.

Who was somehow allowed by the Duke to attend the meeting for some reason?

And in that meeting Black Sun learned about the most absurd thing ever. "It’s just a wraith, I sense no intelligence in it." These were his words at that time when he looked at the floating ball in Anna’s hand.

His words were soon supported by his Wife, who agreed with his assessment, as being a Transmutation Mage of Life faction, she was much more perceptive to intelligent life than her Husband who was an Arcanist of Fire faction.

Both of whom were brought down by the words spoken by Anna and supported by the criminal Kassandra. Words too absurd to believe for them and as the story got deeper, and they learned more of his deeds including its connection to Yethel, they found it even more unbelieving.

The Demon by Ikaros Yethel’s side, the Puppeteer behind the scenes, and the self-proclaimed Rat King. There was just too much to even be believable and made many among the mages think that these witches got to be lying in order to earn the Duke’s favor.

They succeeded at under the constant warning of many Archmages, including him and his wife.

Who was soon kicked out of the Duke’s Palace along with a contract that forced them to remain silent over the matters that were discussed there?

While those left were probably going to use the so-called captured clone of this Rat king and learn what he is and how to counter him.

"I won’t put it past her to do something like this. Lies are second nature to her..." Lying might be looked down upon among mages, but for a contract Magician like Anna, lying while creating contracts was a must. It’s what made it easier for her to fool many beings into falling for her contracts and turning them into her slaves.

But there is also one thing that Twilight Flower won’t deny. "But she is not foolish enough to lie directly to Duke... there might be some truth in her words. It’s not like we are not ignorant about the demon of Yethel. But we always thought it was a game of Ikaros to keep his own involvement in some unsavory matters clean."

"It’s just a rumor that grew out of control. And now someone is messing with us, playing these tricks." Black Sun said, before sighing and nodding. "But it’s never wrong to be sure. I will inform Duke of the matters... and let’s kill all the rats that are in this city."

"That is virtually impossible. But I have few ways to deal with it."