The God of Jesters
Chapter 425 - 7.10.2 The autistic mage.

Chapter 425: 7.10.2 The autistic mage.

More than fear, the nobles felt disgusted when hearing about ghouls, for they are the bringer of rot and diseases and absolutely disgusting smells while generally being treated like a pest on the battlefield that can’t be ignored.

They hide underground during the day and only come out at night to scavenge what remains of the dead, sometimes even dragging living people to their tunnels if there is a large population of ghouls present, where their victim would generally die and rot until ready for the ghoul consumption.

So one or two might not be dangerous, but with enough ghouls together, they can turn into real problems for the military.

The very fact that an extermination squad was active during the day so close to the Barracks meant the population of the ghouls they had been hunting was not very low.

"Sir, you are allowed to leave, it would be better that you stick to the roads." The soldier informed Amir, who nodded and turned to look at the nobles behind him, before shaking his head and climbing in his Jeep after he heard how they were interested in hunting these ghouls themselves, hoping to gain some achievements through this method.

There was no need to warn these fools, the captain of the regiment holding down the checkpoint had already given enough information to assess the situation for those who had even a little bit of common sense, so if these people behind him were to jump into danger themselves, there is nothing for him to do.

Besides, from what he saw of their earlier expression, it can be easily seen that these won’t even dare to get close to ghouls due to the bad smell they carry, keeping these pompous nobles away from them.

But ignoring them, there was something else that bothered Amir, who after arriving in the Barracks, directly walked into General Vera’s office.

And to his luck, the General was free at the moment.

"I had thought you would be in the city by this point. Not here, holding such a questionable face." General Vera spoke, enjoying the air from the Fan that Amir had gifted him.

"I had been stopped at the checkpoint due to the pest problem... which I am hearing just now." The matter was serious as far as he can see.

The very fact that a pest like that could come so close to the barracks set a dangerous precedence. In the past month, he had been busy with too much stuff on his hands, from learning from the noble factions to his collaboration with Wilhelm Faust. There was barely any time for him to keep track of what was going on in the camps or the border as a whole.

It’s why he had requested his servant Lavani to keep track of the happenings in the camp, and he had heard nothing about ghouls till now.

He even asked for a confirmation after leaving the checkpoint and Lavani only replied that it was his first time learning about this as well.

"It’s the ghouls, they always get a bit jumpy during summers. Specifically when they smell war on the horizon." But General Vera was not concerned over the matter, in his eyes this was a common occurrence that happened regularly at certain time intervals.

So, although in Amir’s eyes, this was a bit concerning, for General Vera, this can be considered very normal. "You can’t fathom the amount of bloodshed that has happened on this land, which in turn caused countless ghoul nests to form over time."

"And due to regular extermination operations, the ghouls kept digging down and down until it became harder for us to root out the problems... it where they prosper, right under our feet. And when their food resources die down, they climb back up, looking for more food."

The tunnels that Ghouls dug were too deep and confusing, and the direction they dug upwards always turned into a tangent sometimes, causing the current issue where they dug up closer to the barracks, which was far away from the battlefield.

"So there is nothing to worry about, and most in your position already know of the matter, I just thought of not informing your servant of the issue out of concern for you and your work... we both know how important this day is to you."

At such words, Amir paused and finally nodded in understanding.

Who is he to worry about things outside his control? General Vera is a much-learned person who built his knowledge through life experience. How can Amir’s book knowledge compare to his own?

And besides, if the matter was truly concerning, the General wouldn’t have allowed for the gathering of nobles to happen during this time. Meaning the situation was not as taxing as Amir thought initially.

So, after his doubts had been dealt with, Amir bowed in understanding to General Vera and then walked out.

Not noticing the face of General Vera to crumple a bit. "This one is too insightful, but it’s good that he still holds some respect for elders at his age." Of course, General Vera had lied about certain details.

Yes, the appearance of ghouls so close to barracks can be considered normal, but there was one aberration that he chose to keep silent over.

He is going to wait till this event is over, only then will he announce a broader ghoul extermination plan.

He is going to use these nobles to clean the bizarre ghouls that have been cropping up recently.

*****

I took a leave from my regiment which is something no normal soldiers can hope to ever obtain. They have to serve their time on the border, otherwise they can’t go back. But for me, using some connections, was the easiest thing to achieve.

Of course, to not sow discord among the soldiers, the excuse given was that I would be leaving for some important operation. And thinking that I might die, the poker-faced Henkle appeared and gave him a small keepsake of his. A misprinted coin that he thought brought people good luck.

And how can I not reciprocate? So handed him a coin as well, a genuine coin of fate that Remira once held and still retained some uses if I were to hunt for someone. But in general, this coin held little value for someone like me, so I gave it to Henkle in return, hoping that this coin of fate might bring him some luck during this upcoming war.

As for me, I returned to my old self, carrying the face of Krogal, then back to a human with a much older countenance, I sauntered into the mortuary that kept the corpses of the recent ghouls the military had hunted.

"Sir!" At my arrival, everyone stood straight and made a salute, to who I nodded. "At ease." The room currently had two doctors, a Mystic and an occult Magician who seemed to carry a fanatic face while looking at the ghouls.

’Not again.’ I didn’t speak, I just looked at the squirming corpse on the table and asked. "When was it hunted?"

"Two hours, this is the freshest one that the soldiers were able to get their hands on." The doctor explained on the side, while I went to pick up a scalpel and calmly dissect the corpse in front of me, while the people around me remained quiet.

Of course, with one exception. "Sir, I would prefer if you don’t ruin the material. We have much to learn from it, and it would lose its value if you dissect it completely." These words sounded respectful in a certain way. But the tone it carried was annoying enough.

The mage was not making a request, but it was a direct order from his side. And the only reason he had to keep up the act of respect was due to my identity. And it was also due to this identity that he held little to no respect for me.

The identity I currently used was a mage scholar affiliated with Tower of Storms which especially lied in the occult and the monster of the night. This when added to my senior doctorate degree made me an exceptional Officer holding the title of Special Grade Sergeant, which held similar authority to a Commander in the military.

But I was still a weak mortal in the eyes of this mage. So how dare I stand on top of him and steal his prey?

"Doctor Mansi, send a formal complaint about Mage Yaslov to the mage union and also write down a slip over the funding cut for Mage Yaslov’s research. 10% should do. I would stamp on both of them." As I spoke my words, the face of Mage Yaslov, who had made the comment before crumpled.

Causing him to exude heavy radiation from his body while shouting. "You dare." Making the two doctors struggle to breathe.

But before the aura could harm the doctors, a higher level of coercion came over the body of Yaslov, which caused him to crumple on the ground. "Change it to 50%," I said to the doctor, who had trouble breathing, before resuming my work and ignoring the man who was soon carried out by the soldiers.

’This is why occult mages are hated.’ Yaslov was a fool, with the rate at which ghouls were being hunted recently, it would be easier for him to obtain a sample, but he still had to cause a scene here.

But this is how mages are generally, stubborn and incapable of seeing the big picture.

Not to mention, due to the issue of the radiation their bodies exude all the time along with their habit of engrossing in their research for greater power, these mages have come to have underdeveloped social skills.

Many times causing them to act like children.