The God of Jesters
Chapter 423 - 7.09.3 The floating specter.

Chapter 423: 7.09.3 The floating specter.

Walking ahead, into the crowd along with my superior Henkle, I noticed that the words these men said were not wrong.

’Squirming even after death.’ It was an oddity, an oddity large enough to attract some mages and even occultists who held an interest in Ghouls.

"If not for the bullet exploding its spine, it would have recovered and long run away." One among such Occultists said, seeing the smoking silver nitrate that was eating away at the flesh of the ghoul.

Which made it all the odder than before. I seem to have seen some similar things before. ’Something is odd.’

Never in my life had I expected to see something like this again, and not in person, and definitely didn’t expect myself to be among the first ones to witness such a scene. Usually, it’s my minions or followers who find things of interest for me with me following up on their report.

I never expected to be the one to find it first myself. ’It’s really fun.’

The men were confused, the mages interested, and a particular occultist appeared worried after noticing the oddity, he probably understands what this means, and it won’t be long before the ghoul extermination squad is established again in the future, all in order to prevent a disaster from brewing again.

But more proof was required, as it’s not easy to move funds and personnel during times of war so easily.

All I can hope is that they don’t overlook it, otherwise the war will be an afterthought.

******

"It’s been a while." Farhad took a deep breath of dirty air that he had been so used to before. "This city never changes, even after all the tragedies." Currently standing on the platform, he saw the very same beggars he used to watch beg for a living on the sidewalks. The very same that saw him as easy pickings and rushed to drain his wallet due to how ignorant of life he was before.

But now? Was it a biological sense of oppression or was it the bodyguards that walked beside me, none of the beggars even dared to come close to me. They remained at the distance with fear in their eyes.

A sight that Farhad knew that he had to get used to. As he would get such stares a lot in the future, so he didn’t hide from it and just walked proudly, followed by two Dusk Knights and a Dawn Priest, who currently wore civilian clothes, which failed to hide their muscles and the holy aura that emanated from the Dawn priest, who seemed to attract all the attention away from Farhad.

’I don’t know if this was the correct choice?’ Wondered Farhad for a bit, thinking that it would have been better if he had stayed at the church. But as things remained, some oddity occurred in areas around Durum. Chaos in which a bunch of Radiant Knights raided some prestigious noble families based around Durum, causing some political issues that just can’t be ignored anymore.

But due to the state of borders, there was no way for the Cynark military to suppress Radiant Knights with their force alone, instead, they had hoped to work together in the future so as to not make their meeting turn hostile, they planned to bring Farhad, who attracted interest from both parties and can hence act as mediator.

’But I am nothing more than a figurehead... the real one to do this is just the Priest behind me.’ With his presence, both parties would act with civility in order to not lose him, making the whole negotiation much smoother.

As for how he was able to confirm that he was nothing more than a figurehead? It was easy as well, as he never got informed about the issue that Radiant Knights caused, and from the very fact that they refused to speak about the matters to Farhad, it was easy to see what their intentions were all this time.

’Either one party messed up, or both. Well, it’s definitely only one.’ And it was sad to say that Farhad was well aware of what the issues could be. Issues that had plagued his country for a long while, but people had chosen to ignore all of them in pursuit of profit.

’Durum, the city of mages.... And slaves.’

Although no one spoke about it, it was common knowledge that there was a huge subset of mages who bought slaves for their experiments. Who they kill by the end of it all.

Something which was done openly in Lucien’s Abode where he used to study at. All due to the fact that they were established way below underground and barely anyone could enter it without using the teleportation tunnels.

Making it harder for people to investigate it.

And they were never the exception.

When added with the fact that Remira’s intent to annihilate slavery and the anger he had seen on the face of the Knights when they learned what Remira had to endure, it can be easy to see what might have happened here.

’They came to the source of slaves, and found nobles behind it... just like she mentioned.’ The ’she’ he spoke was about being number two, who had given up her life in order to let him as well as Remira escape.

A fact that he had never forgotten, but he still hoped that things wouldn’t go from bad to worse if he tried to do things forcefully. And besides, there was a level of understanding between him and Jester. So he believed that Jester wouldn’t make any stupid choices.

But back to the topic.

The Knights who had once again been barred from this city appeared in droves and attacked some nobles or organizations that operated under those nobles, and this time, they even had plenty of evidence, otherwise they wouldn’t have made such a stupid move that might earn them the wrath of the international community.

And from the fact that Cynark didn’t publicize this matter, it would seem that Radiant Order had succeeded in doing whatever they planned, putting Cynark on the weaker front, so now Cynark is using Farhad as leverage to calm down the Knights.

’Truly a figurehead.’

Of course, it doesn’t mean he was happy to be used by them for free, there was another reason he came here after learning of the meeting.

"Priest Boman, I have been waiting for you." When Farhad’s group walked out of the station, the scene that appeared in front of him was somewhat unexpected.

The man that stood with his head bowed was none other than Mayor Payson, who currently held a fanatical look as he stared at the Dawn Priest that came with him, while completely ignoring Farhad.

’Hmm?’ Which made him curious about this silent Priest, but for now, Farhad remained quiet and followed the Mayor to the car.

’Never expected I would be treated this way by the mayor.’ Even his dead father with his position in the military had to show some respect to the Mayor due to the difference between their positions. But now, this very same bastard was licking the feet of this priest.

Sitting in the car, Farhad remained quiet, never attracting any attention, nor giving away any information of his own, while he heard the Mayor keep speaking words of comfort and his accomplishments in the city. But all I had in my heart was disgust.

The very fact that this bastard had been able to keep his seat even after the Dream Tragedy in Durum goes to show how corrupt this country was.

A man like this should be in jail, for it was his inaction and loss of control of his people that caused the tragedy to happen in the first place.

Even when he had called the Radiant Knights, he had done his best to impede them in their investigations, or so he had heard from Remira, as he had long lost his body to Jester by then. And there was a certain chance that she must be lying, but knowing how this country operated, the chances of it being true were higher.

’The rot has spread too deep in this land, someone needs to fix it.’ that was the only thought in Farhad’s head at this moment. Hatred mixed with disappointment.

It was no wonder that his love for his country was dying down as time went by. But it didn’t mean he wished for its downfall.

Farhad was a realist person, he understood that even if rotten, these nobles and leaders protected the commoners from things far worse that existed in this land. So the best thing to do would be reformation and not annihilation. That’s the goal one should strive for and not like Jester, who just enjoys cruelty for entertainment’s sake.

And while Farhad was having such thoughts, the car drove through an open road with a giant monument in the center of it all.

A monument carved with countless names, starting with big names at the very top, before the names got shorter the broader the monument became.

"This is the monument for all those that lost their lives during the Dream disaster."

But Farhad completely overlooked the words of the Mayor, he just stared at the monument like a puppet, without any emotion or any sound.

He even forgot to breathe due to the thing he noticed above the monument.

The thing that floated above it right under the shining sun.

’This can’t be.’

The figure appeared ethereal, and he only saw it for less than a second. But Farhad was sure, it was his father.