The God of Jesters
Chapter 434 - 7.12.3 Runaway.

Chapter 434: 7.12.3 Runaway.

In the barracks, close to Durum, General Vera had just received a report that had turned his jolly mood soured after giving it a look. "This, the timing can’t be any worse." The thing he feared had happened, the sightings of Ghouls suddenly increased, and before the cleaning crew could follow them to their burrows, they were overwhelmed by what appeared to be an ambush by the ghouls, causing one death and some injuries.

A devastating news, considering the ghouls have always been treated as nothing more than a simple pest, since the invention of the anti-ghoul bullets, which were capable of killing the ghouls in a single shot.

General Vera, on the other hand, wondered if another question. ’Do they suffer from the same issue?’ His eyes turned for the traces of ghouls on the map, to the land of Yethel, where besides a few outposts, everything was dark. They didn’t know if their neighbors as well as enemies were facing the same problem or not.

And even if they were, how severe it was. "Recall all the soldiers for Durum, this is no time for the party." There was no need to delay anymore. He needed everyone to man their position and get ready for battle.

For he was sure that with these ghouls suddenly striking them from behind if the word of it were to reach Yethel in any way, this would be the start of the war.

Which was a bit too close to the truth, as Jester had already started to move his legs, offering some information on the side of the Army, while even sending some of his men to inform Archmage Orvillia, of the problems he had found on the battlefield.

The only reason the war hadn’t begun is because of a simple reason.

Amir hasn’t learned of it, so Jester had no way to gleam such information through Hemant. Turning him completely blind. This only delayed him by a few hours, as the whole event, which had reached its peak after the battle of the two Princes, came to a sudden end after a recall was announced along with a red alert, which suddenly made many of the younger participants in the event ugly.

There were some who even considered running away now that they were away from the camp and in a giant city.

But knowing how these youngsters might react, General Vera had already sent a group of commanders to handle the matter cleanly and bring everyone back.

With Ludwig of all people supporting them, helping these people catch the runaways.

As for Amir, he walked out of the tower, wearing the robe of a mages, which barely hid his muscles. But he was in no mood to care for such simple things. He just looked around for a bit, before finding Ludwig in the crowd, along with some mages. "Cousin." He spoke, walking toward him, while Hemant followed behind.

Amir understood that this was the time.

It was time to fulfill one of the wishes of his grandfather and make some achievements. So he needs to leave as early as possible.

"Are you sure? There are those that are using all sorts of excuses to not go back." Even if Amir’s strength had surprised him to no end, the fact that Amir was more of a nerd was not hidden from him.

Amir might be strong, monstrously strong that reached absurd levels. But he was not warlike by nature, instead, he preferred to stay at the back and provide logistical support to the people.

But talking to him now, Ludwig can only shake his head. ’He already did so much for me.’ There was another reason Ludwig didn’t wish for his cousin to go there so early and was even going to support him for it.

The reason was, that the simple action of beating his brother Lucius had helped Ludwig a lot. The people were a lot more welcoming to him after the battle and he even heard an apology from Sehra in more ways than one.

Which was good enough.

"If you are so intent on coming, there I won’t stop you." Ludwig can only agree to Amir’s request and join the convoy and leave the city at the fastest time possible.

Most of the nobles were still confused over what had transpired, and why the red alert would be given so suddenly.

And people who were in the know like Amir even wondered if an attack similar to Luthanza happened on their land again. But in parts of Amir’s mind, he can’t help but think of the mention of ghouls.

"Wait..." Suddenly his eyes turned around and flickered, causing Hemant to wonder and ask. "Is something the matter my Lord?"

"Lavani, my servant. Did you see him climb any of the convoys?" Amir asked not from Hemant, who was new to this place, but to Ludwig, who was sitting alongside him with his Knight Sarlen.

"Him?" It was also now that he noticed that the figure of Lavani was nowhere to be seen, but soon the group can only choose to ignore it for now.

Who knows he might be in another truck.

*****

Lavani was not in any of the trucks, he had long obtained all he wanted and there was no need to stay with those dirty royals. Nor did he expect to see their faces again, which is why he had left a small gift for both of them when they went back to their respective camps.

A gift that would only cause more confusion for those involved. Which was good in Lavani’s eyes.

He wanted to see chaos and this was the perfect opportunity for this.

However, the issue arose when the red alert was given out and everyone was recalled from Durum. Including the ones that tried to hide in shops or stores, to hide from the war.

But eventually, one way or another, they were dragged by soldiers back to the battlefield. And the same would have been the case of Lavani, if not for him to hatefully go back to being a woman.

All done to hide from the soldiers among the commoners.

Of course, it’s not like she had no rebel contact in Durum. But due to the higher intensity searches of the military, none dared to come to her rescue, putting her at risk.

But Lavani believed that no one would actually be able to catch her so easily.

The fake identity and the house she kept for emergencies turned out to be useful as expected. The only issue was the landlord of this house, who appeared surprised over her appearance. "Ah, you... you were here?" He appeared panicked for a bit, which caused the face of Lavani to twist a bit.

A twist that turned into anger after learning that assuming that she had long left Durum, her old unoccupied room had been given to someone else. "Are you a fool, I paid for a whole year." She screamed at the landlord, though the only answer he could give was sorry.

The woman in front of him was a transcendent person, he knew of this fact very well, an adventurer no less.

And considering how infamous the adventurers have been in recent days, it’s never a good thing to make those people angry. It’s why in panic, after much considering the landlord can only say one thing. "Don’t worry, I moved out all your luggage beforehand and shifted it to a different room, you can use it for today. As for your original room, I will talk to them about it tomorrow, it’s getting too late at this moment."

Although beating this man for such a slight was the first thought in Lavani’s mind, she chose to calm herself down.

The runaway soldiers were being captured in the streets and any commotion might attract some unwanted eyes, so it’s better to just accept the deal and wait for her contacts to come out.

However, she soon regretted such thought after entering the room and finding a mushy smell of fungus in the air. "How long has this room been closed for?" There was water damage on the walls along with some dried fungus.

It can be seen that this room hadn’t been cared for a while.

"This room used to belong to my nephew, sadly he is not in this world anymore, and out of sentiments, I hadn’t opened this room and even treated it as a storeroom... but with a bedsheet change and airing out the room, the smell will go away. I will even send some cleaners tomorrow morning if you like this place."

"No need, I just want my old room back, so deal with them or I will be forced to deal with you myself."

"Yes.. yes ma’am." The man sweated while running away to his house.

He ordered some maids to clean the room as much as they could, while he bowed to Lavani again and again, thanking her for her mercy.

But on the inside, of course, he was just smiling from mouth to mouth.

’Hah, those bastards have only booked that room for a night." One can imagine what kind of things were happening in that room and the Landlord was very much aware that it became a kind of young people to spend the night together and he didn’t stop them, as officially, it was an occupied room and these people can be considered guests of the owner and nothing more.

As for the room he gave to Lavani? It was an accursed room from an even more accursed tenant who only lived for a while, but left a strong mark in that room, turning it haunted.

Just a student who seemed to have run away from his college.

A student who seemed to have died just a few months before the Durum Incident.