The God of Jesters
Chapter 394 - 7.02.1 It didn’t work.

Chapter 394: 7.02.1 It didn’t work.

The room was small and filled with a musty smell.

There were even some personal belongings of the soldiers that were active here, along with dirty plates on the corner with some fungus growing out of them.

They lacked uniformity and discipline when one considers that their primary warning was to shoot at the suspicious individuals. And if Farhad didn’t think wrong, if not for their bad aim, they might have killed someone.

No, they should have done it multiple times. And most of their victims might have been lost villagers who knew little of the world outside their village. An issue specifically unique to Luthanza is that the villagers were warned against going outside and facing the struggles that the rest of the people suffer from.

The years of propaganda had made them scared of the outside and of the strangers who visited their land. So it’s rare for someone to go out, which is then used as an excuse to execute the villagers who dare venture out.

Luthanza can be considered in a simpler way, a giant prison built to support the war efforts of Duke Wortham. And these were not Farhad’s beliefs. But the direct sentence his father had once said to his peers when they came to visit him at home.

And Farhad can see it.

As he walked to this outpost, there was no sign of a proper road anywhere.

And if there was in the past, it was destroyed the day the railway tracks were built.

All of that was done to make it harder and harder for spies to infiltrate and move in the state or even know where they were going as there are no landmarks whatsoever.

But this is definitely a lie now that Farhad thinks about it. Under the guise of perfect defense against foreigners, Slavers were running rampant.

"It’s a curse, this place," Farhad spoke, attracting Remira’s eyes who seemed to be in similar thoughts. "It’s the first time I have heard a place considered a curse," Remira replied with a mild tone, tired from her journey and the fact of losing Number Two, so much so that she didn’t wish to discuss Number Two’s sacrifice. Not at this moment at least.

"Isn’t it? You can see those soldiers, barely trained and lacking the discipline that people of their should possess. A ragtag group of people who were given weapons and asked to protect this place." The more Farhad got exposed to the greater world, the more his expressions developed, and the more he became opinionated. This can be seen from how he fought against Remira on the ship.

Showing that he was not as passive as he used to be. The same was the case here "There is a reason why Yethel could hold Cynark back for so long while lacking resources and population."

The comparison between the two countries when it concerned the defense force was immense. But that would have been the case if one were to think about how soldiers get recruited in their respective armies.

And there was another issue that Farhad had overlooked. "Did you know the weak are always given a simpler job and when these same weak people are under zero pressure for long, they become complacent? Lazy even."

"The same is the case with these soldiers, they are not on the border, you can’t expect to compare the two nations so easily." Even Remira who appeared tired spoke some words of wisdom that she had experienced herself.

And this was none other than her old family, who lost their fangs after living in their village for so long that there was no competition for them in the snowy peaks anymore.

It’s why the stronger in the Drischal family was only at the Adept level when the tragedy struck.

If only there was someone stronger, even if they were Master Rank, many lives might have been saved, and she would not have become a Radiant Knight. But the past can’t be changed, she could only reminiscence and learn from it. Nothing more.

"You expect things to be different?" Farhad asked with a laugh, before shaking his head and intending to end this discussion.

Although he had never held any interest in the business of his family due to his lack of strength. But one thing he did remember during the meetings his father had with his peers was the problem of deserters.

The people who Farhad once hated for their cowardice during the war. But now, he knows the truth.

"They are basically farmers with a month of training. Do you think they would be any different?"

The reason was generally the pay. A country can’t sustain a long-standing army for long. So it’s generally the case that farmers would be forced to conscript just before the war where they generally end up dying.

As a result, the families of their bereaved get to earn some extra money as well as hatred for the people who killed their sons, fathers, or brothers. This is how the leaders generally divert the hatred of their citizens towards others.

"From the looks of it. You seem to be on the side of Yethel." Remira had noticed it for a while. Back on the ship and even now, Farhad seemed to hold little good things about his country, which was pretty similar to Remira. She also understood that things were not as black and white, not anymore at least.

But it didn’t mean she would unilaterally believe that Yethel is good and Cynark is bad.

Darkness exists everywhere and Farhad needs to learn this on his own. As for teaching that to him, considering how strong-willed Farhad had been recently, she knew that most of their words would probably go over his head.

And whether he accepts it or not, the year of living among his enemies did make him more sympathetic towards them.

*****

Their discussion didn’t continue much after that, Remira went to take a rest and Farhad just closed his eyes to keep up an act and nothing more.

He just did that to appear more human and not scare the soldiers that were guarding him out of the outpost.

But maybe, it was because of this reason that he found something odd.

’It’s morning. And those people still have not arrived?’

He wondered for a bit, before turning his eyes toward Remira, who seemed to have genuinely fallen to sleep.

’Hah’. Leaving her alone in her bed, Farhad walked out of the lodgings, or so he would have done, but he paused as he noticed something odd. ’There is no one outside?’ He chose to not open the door and used his eyes to sense the surrounding vitality.

And who would have expected, there were a bunch of people that surrounded the whole outpost, and from their body posture, all of them had aimed their weapons towards him.

"Hmm." They were still busy surrounding the place, meaning that there was a gap in their defenses.

If Farhad plans his path properly, he would easily escape this ambush if he wants with the least amount of sacrifice on the side of the soldiers.

But that would be tantamount to turning the military into an enemy.

And this was a military. As Farhad can sense multiple stronger auras closing him on in from the distance. Probably transcendent beings who were at least Adept with someone stronger in between which matched Remira’s prior vitality.

Meaning a Master Rank individual.

"Captain, there seems to have been a misunderstanding." As Farhad woke Remira up, she came to understand the situation pretty fast through her nose alone.

She can smell it. The smell of gunpowder and the sounds of guns being aimed their way.

"It’s Luthanza, this was to be expected." One can only through Luthanza on a train, but rarely can they get off at any station unless they have a special pass or belong to the military.

Sheva had once held such a Pass, but due to her nosy behavior, she came under the eyes of Mukhbeer or informants who were keeping an eye out for suspicious individuals all the time.

So what of Remira and Farhad?

Although they claimed to be from the Radiant Order and Military, they even gave out their ID. But the very fact that strangers like these were able to walk so deep into the territory of Luthanza lacking the pass was proof that they might be a suspicious individual hoping to get access to a vehicle or someone who might know their way around this state.

It’s why they spared the soldiers at the outpost and requested an extraction.

Such a sharp plan thought the officer in charge of the outpost. The only one who actually had a training.

So act oblivious of their intentions and a bit scared of what might happen when the jeep arrives. He used the military to inform the closest barracks about the strangers and the strength they possessed.

It’s why this was all possible. Now there was a chance for them to survive and even earn an accolade for handling the situation so perfectly.

But were things going to be as simple as he had expected?

"To the ones in the Lodgings, get out and state your business." Said the leader of the current platoon in charge of handling Farhad.

Just an adept-level Knight who appeared to be the only one with any transcendent strength. But Farhad knew that there were a total of three more Adepts hiding among the soldiers with one Master Ran waiting to strike at any moment.