The God of Jesters
Chapter 457 - 7.18.1 The murder in casino.

Chapter 457: 7.18.1 The murder in casino.

"You wish for me to meet one of his followers knowing full well how much I hate him?" It was a lie on Farhad’s end, calling it hate would be wrong, as his feelings over Jester were a bit complicated.

In his heart, he still considered himself to be a good person who doesn’t cause harm to the innocents and even might lend a hand from time to time if the need arises, which became one of the reasons for his conflicting feelings as he knew full well the kind of country he was in as well as the true nature of his father’s job.

"I have no choice, I am under contract constraints and need to fulfill his request in time otherwise I will receive backlash which might in turn give away a broken contract on my end, furthering the suspicions over me. I can’t afford that." Ludwig spoke in a kind voice even though he understood full well that he had been played with.

He still remembers the smile on that shape-shifter’s face as he asked for direction from Lucius, knowing full well where he actually was.

Such a perfect mind game, it would seem that he had eyes in the tournament from before. But that’s not scary, even if he had eyes there, the transfer of information takes time, and with how fast he reacted approaching him at a fast pace, it can only mean that he received information after he was already on his way here.

"And isn’t he the one who took your friend? I recall it being a shape-shifter as well."

"..." Of course, he remembers that face, a face that he wishes to chew upon the moment he meets him, but he held himself back. Knowing that the life of a friend was on the line, he needed to keep it cool. "You know I can’t move, there are eyes on me all the time." Ludwig was not ignorant of how Farhad lived at the moment, nor was he ignorant of the little deal that was made between the three involved parties where he himself was present as the only uninvolved party.

Which gave him a massive edge as well as pull in the military, otherwise it would have been much harder for him to obtain such a perfect location in the camp.

So in a way, the gains Ludwig got from that old transaction outweighs what he gave to Farhad by a large margin.

"That won’t be an issue, all you need to do is just provide him the details as the badge, the rest will be handled by me." Following such words, Ludwig explained the details of the plan, how he would meet this shape-shifter, and how the little badge in his hand functioned.

Haring gave Farhad a level of security, but the issue still remained, he really had eyes on him all the time. This can be troublesome. "Prince Ludwig, you know if I do this, you will owe me big time." But such troublesome matters can be dealt with easily if Farhad thinks about it.

He was already planning on getting lost in the cave from before... explored it on his own and collected as many samples of Ghouls as he could.

As for the tracking mark on his body?

That was the easiest to get rid of for him.

His soul was protected by the flames of Samadhi, so it was impossible to put a tracking hex on his soul, which is why they relented and placed it only on his fleshly body.

Which with some effort can be dealt with easily just by directly removing the piece of flesh or organ.

That’s what was monstrous about his physique.

"I understand, I will do anything you ask, even if you ask for my limbs, I am willing to give it to you." At those words, the eyes of Farhad shined for a bit, he truly wanted to see what the flesh of a Royal might taste lik... ’These animal desire.’ He suppressed such thoughts before nodding to Ludwig, who gave a thanks while his body turned to ashes revealing a small crow at the center, which took flight and left his tent.

’So not a true body.’

Some things started to make sense for a moment. ’But this is going to be a troublesome task.’ Yes, it was. The entrance to the Tunnels was easy, but there was only one exit to the main cave where a garrison was annihilated whatever came out of the cave at the moment’s notice.

So to exit, he has to find a different way. But then again, with a hint of his will, Farhadbody turned bulkier with longer arms, even the shape of his skull changed for a bit. ’This is power.’ He had already copied the digger ghoul’s talent without much issue.

Which was why he made the choice to play this little cat-and-mouse game to begin with.

’Hopefully, it works.’

Though ignorant of it all, not too far from Farhad was Vance, who kept his eyes on Farhad’s tent. ’I knew something would happen... but I never considered that something would be this serious.’

A powerful artifact was used to prevent any kind of snooping that happened in the tent, but for a Grandmaster, it was easy to break such restrictions with ease. ’This prince, I know of him, he made a transaction with us on account of rescuing Remira.’ The reason he had obtained the blood of a Progenitor all depended on his achievement of saving Remira. As for the case with Farhad, in truth, they haven’t given anything to him to save him.

Because in their eyes, Farhad’s true value was just the holder of the flames, and nothing else.

If not for him, the flames would already be in their hands.

’An escape plan, the talent to copy the abilities of ghouls... what is he planning.’ Vance never liked Farhad for various reasons, and the more he snooped up on him, the more his hatred grew. But it never meant he would do something radical out of nowhere. Instead, he treated this as an opportunity.

’Perfect this time.’

As for the talk about the assassin who killed Prince Lucius?

For him, Vance has something other in his mind.

He was no fool, from this small conversation alone along with some of the context he had been made aware of through Remira, he knew full well what kind of individual they were talking about and who his backing was.

’Two birds with one stone.’

He will eliminate Farhad, take the badge, and approach that Shape-shifter.

Then... well there is no then.

That will be the end of this whole farce. And the best part of it all is there won’t be any controversy. ’Still, this feels dirty... but I have to do it, I have to do it for my master, for the Knights.’

’This dirty burden, let me shoulder it all on my own.’

*****

The Dorian City Market, a haven for adventurers and vagabonds, is A customer base that attracted countless merchants with their own expertise.

Some sold food, some sold weapons, some sold their bodies, and some people. Businesses that can only be conducted down below the ground.

But there was one business that Dorian Street freely publicized attracting countless affluent people from all kinds of noble families, mage families, or even businessmen.

As for what that business was?

"Please be seven, please be seven.... Hah, I lost." Cursed a customer who threw his chip toward the dealer. "40 coins on 32."

In simple words, it was gambling.

It was the most profitable business of Dorian Street, hence receiving full protection from the Dorian Gang, the biggest gang in Durum city with legs in all aspects of the commoner life.

It can be even said that there was only one gang in Durum city to begin with, while other gangs, no matter how much they fought for control over the city streets, all of them in the end had to pay Dorian Gang for their operation charges.

And it’s not like the government is unaware of the power this gang holds in the city, no, they are well aware and even profit from it. This can be seen from the simple fact that while the rest of the city is under Martial Law, Dorian Street still has some activity going on, just like the influential street where the nobles lived.

"I needed this... I seriously needed this." A man spoke to his friend on the table while drinking a glass of wine as he held some chips in his hand.

"Ho, even someone like you will get scared of those fireworks?"

"You call that fireworks? If not for the shield, this whole casino would have been rubble by now."

"Well it was scary... but with great mages protecting us, nothing will happen here. And if they all fail there is always the lord of Dorian Street."

"Isn’t he just a Master rank? What can he do?"

"You might now know this, but there are rumors that he recruited a powerful Grand Master Knight recently who will be in charge of protecting our street..."

"Ho."

And while these people were having their jolly talk, suddenly a scream came from the door of the casino that led to the VIP area, usually frequented by nobles.

"Huh?" They wondered what happened for a bit before shaking their head and sitting back down. "It’s better to not be nosy." They were veteran Adventurers, They understood their circumstances well and sat back down.