The God of Jesters
Chapter 44 - 2.11.2 The fear for family.

Chapter 44: 2.11.2 The fear for family.

There were two methods a demon can exist in the material world. One was possession and the other contract. And in both the cases, a medium was always required which would become the anchor of its existence.

So generally, the best method to deal with this was to destroy the anchor, sending the demon back to his realm.

And out of ignorance and lack of information, the group made a horrific discovery.

"It was a parasite of the mind. And before we could learn more about it, it had disappeared in a smoke, leaving us with confusion."

"Which became our biggest mistake of our life."

Maxim recalled the days after the incident. Nothing changed for the Republic of Yethel, just a new leader took seat and things continued to get worse for Wortham principality. Of course, he was never a slave to a country, he was a slave to a belief.

The belief to eradicate the curses and demons that cause suffering through the world. But in that blind faith, he made a mistake. He killed an innocent.

Becoming one of the knives of Wortham Principality.

"Those that survived never found any peace. The being was angered and caused those that took part in the assassination to go mad, one by one."

"Which forced these men to slowly end themselves."

"I probably survived due to losing my sight, as for Marshal Maisel. I don’t know why he was able to live to this day. It was probably my Master’s flames. That kept the monster at bay."

The story was horrific, an ugly truth of Wortham Principality that had been hidden thoroughly by everyone. Though the rumors of it happening never died down. It became one of the conspiracy theories that remains on everyone’s tongue, but if someone were to speak of it in the public, they would have been mocked.

Remira still found it hard to believe all of this. It was surprising to hear that her current trainer was actually responsible for such an infamous incident in the past.

"Yethel disappeared, but its beast didn’t. With Yethel gone, the monster hid deeper and still led that small country. It’s why we couldn’t do much after that. Majority of politicians in the Republic of Yethel also knew the truth, but for some reason, they chose to make it seem that Yethel disappeared. While they took power." There was no reason for Maisel to hide anything anymore. The word was already out and the dirty laundry of his country was now going to cause even a bigger disaster.

Hiding won’t help much. The better his current companions understood the reality of the situation, the better they would be able to handle it.

"Though, it was only later that we discovered that there was not much change in the way Yethel had been conducting itself. Showing that the true leader was still alive."

"The same guy I have been fighting for the last 20 years..."

"But who would have thought, that bastard would be hiding behind us. He even took my son from me... Just to call me here."

Maisel still feels sorry for his child. He understood why this happened.

There was one thing neither he nor Maxim mentioned here. The method that the monster used to make the original participants mad, after that accursed assassination/

The monster harmed their loved ones, slowly draining away the sanity by harming those around them, eating away their memories, and forging new ones.

Or so, what Maisel had learned. Few were left alive in the family of those participants and the torment only stopped when the participants eventually killed themselves.

It’s what became the reason why Maisel feared being close to his family. Always wondering if with a slight display of kinship, would his family suffer the same end.

And suffer they did, or at least his only son.

His son died a sad death, not ever knowing how his father actually felt about him. The guilt of failing his blood ate away at Maisel’s soul, but he can’t show it.

Because showing it would give away his weakness, causing the monster to target his family.

The same monster that had been plaguing this city for who knows how long.

On the other side, Remira, found everything unbelievable. The man she considered her teacher, although misled and ignorant, still took part in the death of a kind man.

And kind Yethel was. Even if there are various tales of Yethel’s brutal rise to power, his actions when considering the lives of the people in his nation were filled with nurture. He was a man that wished good for the common people and there are many who had believed if Yethel was still alive in this day and leading The Republic.

None of the wars might have happened.

Though, what these people might not know, the reason why this war has been going on for the last twenty years is due to their leaders themselves.

Assassinating a leader of a nation can earn immense hatred from the victims or those that come after.

"So this is it?... everything that thing is doing is to take revenge on you?" Remira was a bit disillusioned for a bit.

She understood the reasoning behind why Wortham Principality did it. What she was shocked about was the actions of her own organization.

The Radiant Society, the group formed by the world’s strongest Curse user, ended up killing an innocent man out of ignorance and fear, without even attempting to understand the origin of their target. A blind belief in their indoctrination had led to a war that had spanned for the last two decades.

And all for what?

To end what they considered to be a demon?

Though, that was not the worst part. What she found odd was, even after making such a massive mistake that had caused who knew how much misery. The Radiant Society still operated normally, as if they did no such thing.

There was no apology, no guilt and no attempt at reconciliation.

One can even see this from how the Radiant Society has no branches in the Republic of Yethel, that their country still doesn’t trust them.

But would Remira treat it as a well deserved revenge?

No, she won’t.

The harm done to the innocents was too big to ignore the crimes of that angered spirit. "What do you wish to achieve by telling me this?..."

Maxim paused at this question for a bit, before saying with some shame. "When the time comes, we don’t wish for this information to be used as a weapon by that monster. That is a monster of mind as far as we can tell."

"And for beings like that, a weak mind is their perfect playground as well as a puppet."

"So remain steadfast, don’t give that thing any opportunity."

The answer was surprising, just for this little reason, she was told the truth.

But considering the fear that remains in the heart of these two individuals over that being. She didn’t dare to look down on it.

That being had been keeping track of her as well as everyone around her for a long time, without her knowledge.

How much he had planned for them, they can’t even fathom. So the only way to break his game is by doing things which will be too unexpected.

"So what now, what are you going to do?"

Remira asked, making up her mind.

Yes, she held the Radiant blood in her veins, but so did Maxim too. But looking at his current situation, this monster is not so simple.

Looking down on him would be same as suicide.

"The Blue Lotus, they seem to be working with this monster. Dealing with them should produce some results." Maisel said, recalling the words he was able to learn from his stalker not so long ago. "But they will come later, if what you have told me before is true. I will deal with Kairut, first."

The anger of a father who lost his child was hard to quench. And even though Maisel knew that it was the work of that monster from the past, the weapon that monster used was still Kairut.

Making him an accomplice in his son’s death.

"Don’t be foolish Maisel, Kairut is untouchable, when in this city. His earth would become a catalyst for straining the relationship between the mage union as well as the military. It would be better if you don’t do such a thing." Maxim denied Maisel’s suggestion.

Kairut was not some simple mage without an identity, he was a political figure and the leader of Occult mages.

His death would bring too many eyes over movement of Radiant Society members, which would impede the progress of their investigation.

"So you just mean to say, its ok to kill him as long as its outside of the city?"

"..."

"Then I believe I am right there."

Remira, listening to all of this was a bit confused. Not so long ago, her master had said to let Maisel deal with Kairut. But now, when in front of Maisel, he was suggesting against it.

But she soon understood the reason.

It was a play by Maxim.

"Do whatever you want, we will go do your job... which is to deal with the Blue Lotus."