The God of Jesters
Chapter 446 - 7.15.2 The perfect contract.

Chapter 446: 7.15.2 The perfect contract.

The man before me, Ludwig Von Blood Crow was an enigma in my eyes.

Yes, I had heard of him before, but the fights and subjects he partook in were none of my concern. The only interaction between him and my people might be one led by accident, where he got some inspiration from them, but nothing else. Ideas are meant to be spread, it depends on how a person uses that idea is what matters.

So I was surprised to see such an insignificant figure has reached such a level. However I have to say, his dream was a bit too ideal. Impossible to achieve by any metrics possible if he truly understood how the world worked.

This was not the land of meritocracy, but all that mattered was if you had proper connections.

This is one of the reasons why he had been suppressed for so long by his own family, always forced into deadly situations and surviving with an inch of his life.

It was easier to imagine that to survive such experiences, this man was not as normal as he let on in front of Amir.

I can see the demon hiding under that false smile of his. I can see the monster that he had suppressed all this long just to survive in this cruel world.

’Such a perfect target.’ I would have loved it if someone like him joined my group. But sadly, he had been eyed by the Grand General from the words that Amir spoke to Hemant.

Either Ludwig goes under Amir, or he dies. Those were the only options for him.

Pretty pitiful, isn’t it?

But even such sad characters can be deemed to be useful to me. "I have killed an entire platoon of soldiers..." At those words, the air in the room turned heavy and filled with killing intent. I could see, the words that I spoke were a bit too offensive to the ears of the Knights.

I was an enemy, talking about killing their companions not too long ago. Anyone in their position would act the same.

Not everyone was like me, shameless without any pride.

"There is no need to be angry, we are at war. This was to be expected." I spoke, trying to smooth out the mood among these Knights, and it would seem that Ludwig seemed to have shared my sentiment, asking others to back off. Though he did add. "If I don’t like what you say, won’t mind handing you over to my men."

Yes, for me to kill an entire platoon, the reward over my head should be immense. Why should Ludwig chance betrayal against his country and not just end me here and now, earning the title of a hero in the process?

In his eyes, I was already in his bag, a bag of achievement for him.

’Or this whole negotiation can be a trap, to make it impossible for me to run away.’ I was a shape-shifter, it wouldn’t be odd for me to run away when in the open, but in this tent, I was surrounded, it was harder to escape the eyes of the Knights and with the guns that were aimed at me, I can see that they held the power to end me in one shot.

’Devastating.’ But I walked in here knowing all of these things, because I believed that no matter what happens, this man would buy into my offer.

"This is war, and death doesn’t discriminate... And I hope to use it as a cover to end Prince Lucius’s life. And besides, I have gained some notoriety due to the massacre I conducted before... if I repeat all those things with the corps that Prince Lucius leads, the blame will never fall onto you."

Were my words to be believed so easily? Of course not, neither did Ludwig react at first. But then thinking again, this was truly a good opportunity for him. "Then how about it, would you like to sign a contract? The war’s intensity will die down in a few hours or a day at least, you will lose the best opportunity to strike.," I asked, intending to force him to choose as fast as he could.

And he did consider as much as anyone in his position could, before nodding the head. "Of course. As long as you end my poor brother’s life, I would gladly tell you a way into Lucien’s Abode." He said, acting as if things were under his control.

Of course, there were some among his knights that asked Ludwig to reconsider, how it was dangerous for him to work with someone like me. But Ludwig didn’t budge, he just requested for a contract and wrote down the rules. "Under a day?" I wondered, looking at Ludwig.

"Didn’t you say that time was of the essence?" He threw my words back at me, looking at me with a curious glint in his eyes.

And at the end of it, I could only nod. There was no other way besides this.

"As stipulated by the contract, we never met, and you can’t ever convey in any way or form who sent you to kill him."

"You speak as if you think I would be captured."

"Just precautions in case of failures... we are strangers to begin with." I nodded my head at him, understanding his perspective. And even smiling at the end of the contract over what would happen if I failed to meet the expectations, which went both ways.

"Failure to fulfill condition means I would be your servant?" This was a bit surprising.

I had many reasons in my head over why Ludwig would give me an audience, but his intentions to take me under him were not one of those.

"A master level Shapeshifter.... Even if you fail assassination, asking for your death would be too much. I am not in the habit of ruining such a perfect tool so easily.’ Ludwig smiled like a devil as he saw me write my name on the contract with my own blood.

And with a burst of light, the contract seemed to have been established. And the smile on Ludwig’s face turned greater.

"Well this is done, please tell me the location of Prince Lucius’s camp and I will do the rest of my work." After getting to the destination, I slowly left the tent, disappearing from the camp as if I was never there to begin with.

*****

"Lord, no good comes from interacting with enemies... specifically one such as him." Sarlen was a man with an acute sense to detect the true nature of a person. And from the little he can see from Crow, one thing was certain.

’This man, he... he is fake.’

"There is no need to worry about it." there were only Ludwig and Sarlen left in the tent, so Ludwig also opened up without worry. "It doesn’t matter if he came with bad intentions, to begin with, nothing will matter after a day goes by," Ludwig said, putting forward the contract. "It’s not every day you get an opportunity to employ a shape-shifter like this."

A shape-shifter was one of the most dangerous beings to have as an enemy. They could change their entire being whenever they want and hence are best to be utilized in undercover work or assassinations.

And in a distant past, most of the forces in the world employed the services of shape-shifters, until the weakness of shape-shifters became apparent as well.

"This one still maintains his sanity, he shouldn’t have become a Shape-shifter for long... a new Master rank at least. So there are still a few years I can use him."

All shape-shifters went mad due to the conflicting identities they played. When added to the fact of how long it takes to cultivate a talented person to Master Rank and unlock the true talent of their bloodlines, the price-to-performance ratio was never good.

"Is this why you sent him there?" Suddenly as if catching something Sarlen asked, and Ludwig nodded.

"It’s his fault for asking the wrong question."

"He should have asked where my older brother was, and not his camp." Ludwig laughed, enjoying the fact that he had played his enemy well enough.

’So what if you know about me?’ He thought, internally. ’My brother is currently in Durum, receiving treatment after his spar with Cousin Amir.’

The directions he sent that shape-shifter to was in the opposite direction of the city of Durum.

And with how he was on his feet, it would be easier to see that it would be next to impossible for him to reach and assassinate his brother on time, even if he finds the truth halfway.

’Checkmate, a dwarven shape-shifter.’

*****

In a distance, far from the eyes of Ludwig’s crows, a small platoon of Ghoul burning platoon was reduced to corpses with a singular survivor among them, who called out for help with a flair while he remained surrounded by the burning corpses of what was the remains of his friends as well as dead ghouls.

Following the flair, it didn’t take long before a team arrived to take over the matters and support the injured soldier onto the back of the jeep. "What happened?" Asked the nurse, while treating the burns on the soldier’s body.

"The beast hit the canister... It all exploded." The soldier spoke with a feeble voice.

"Hah, it would seem your group’s luck was not any good." The nurse can only shake his head with some sadness. "Don’t worry, after a few pickups, we will reach the barracks soon enough."