The God of Jesters
Chapter 474 - 7.22.2 Old friend.

Chapter 474: 7.22.2 Old friend.

Amir never expected his end to be so, simple.

"Hah?" He grabbed the bones sticking into his stomach, desperately trying to remove them.

But no matter how much he struggled, they didn’t move an inch. "Why?" He asked while recalling the life he had lived.

Born in a civilian family, he never thought of himself as someone special. Just a nobody born in a poor household who dreamed of nothing but bringing joy to his parents. But who knew that fate had something else stored for him?

He was an Imperial, and belonging to the bloodline of the Grand General Deimos of the Cynark Army. A man whose prestige suffocated virtually all the powers on the Brihma continent.

Not to mention, he was one of the seeded sons among the Imperials whose future could be anything but ordinary. He was born to lead his country to a better place through strength alone.

Although he was a bit stubborn due to his upbringing and still focusing on his hobby which was mechanics, inside Air understood one thing. "Only individual strength matters in this world." He had realized this truth a long time ago, he knows that what his Grandfather expects of him is the right thing.

But Amir was always obstinate, even while knowing the truth himself he still tried to fight against the expectations forced upon him by his grandfather. To him, his upbringing as a civilian is as important as his present identity as a Prince. No, in his mind he cared deeply for his identity as a Civilian because it made him feel human.

’I am... mortal.’ He looked at the bones then at the figure whose face was harder to make up. It would be a lie to say that he didn’t regret it at the moment of his death.

If he had focused the time he wasted on his research to practice the Knighthood, maybe, just, maybe. He might be strong enough to save himself from this predicament and even save his men.

But it’s as if fate played a dirty game on him, the moment his death was upon him. The only real regret he truly felt was never bringing any joy to the lives of the civilians. ’I am sorry mummy... papa.’ There was no energy in his lips anymore, he had no energy to even think.

His mind just conjured up images of the past when he was still joyful with each successful project he worked on.

A joy that felt more real than the one when he gained strength. ’I want to go back.’ As his mind entered a delirious state, the only desire left in him was to live a Human Life.

’I want to be human again.’

With those words, life left Amir’s body.

And then.

He woke up.

"Huh?"

Followed by a voice filled with pain on the side. "Sir... you are awake?"

"Rashid?"

*****

Let’s go back an hour or two ago when my friend had just woken up from his small dream. "Everyone is sleeping?" He walked around the base for a while, dragging people that were in odd positions which might cause some accidents. But the moment he noticed that things were odd, he had already made his way into the logistics department to find all the equipment destroyed.

"We have been raided." From the looks of things, although the radio was broken, it was still creating some electrical sounds, a sign that it hadn’t been long since these things were broken.

This is why Rashid understood that he had to act fast, as it was not much of a conundrum to wonder who the target actually was.

So this old friend of mine, Rashid, rushed out of the Logistics room and made his way toward the lockup where the prisoners were kept.

In his eyes, if there was any oddity that arrived in the camp before this incident, then it would be Farhad, the man that was kept in the lockup and his Target was obviously the Prince, which made Rashid even more paranoid and cursed himself for making such a small mistake. ’I should have warned him.’ But it was too late, Rashid had to move fast and make sure that no harm had come to the Prince, otherwise, the mission he had been given by "It" would be ruined for good.

As for who "it" was, Rashid didn’t know, nor could he remember how he got this mission. Just like most of his life.

All he knows is that as long as he follows these messages, the hope for the revival of his family might come true.

But, from the way things were looking, he had failed.

He failed his mission spectacularly.

"Prince Amir?" It’s why he was in such a panic, shouting in the prison long before he even entered it. Considering there were not many cells in here, to begin with. But it didn’t mean he would stop. Walking into the underground bunker which was used to keep prisoners, he came across one of the strongest cells in place and found Knight Hemant along with a couple of more soldiers sleeping soundly in front of it.

"No... not here too." Knowing he couldn’t do anything to wake them, he opened fearing the worst which was virtually no one in the cell.

But the things inside the cells left him speechless.

"Hey, isn’t that Rashid?" I asked while turning my head to the old friend who entered this cell.

"You... how are you here?" He looked completely left flabbergasted at the scene in front of him.

Mine was the face he had never forgotten. A man he felt some guilt towards as well as hate.

"Is this a way to greet an old friend of yours?" I say while silently pocketing the talisman from the sleeping Farhad’s hand, though the baggy clothes after my transformation did cause a bit of an issue.

Human clothes really didn’t suit me much. It makes me clumsy when I am in my true form which was that of a dwarf.

And it was this clumsiness that caused Rashid to look at me deeply once again, before focusing on my badge. "You... you worked in logistics."

"I acted as I worked there, not like I knew what I was doing." As I spoke such words, the face of Rashid turned ugly. "There was no message sent out of the camp, did it?" He asked and I nodded.

"And you are the cause of this sleep sickness?" He asked again and I nodded. "I don’t intend to harm anyone. Including you."

"Then what was it that you just put in your pocket."

"Nothing you should concern yourself with if you care for your life." If this was the Crow of the old Rashid would have never taken him seriously.

He had seen Crow fighting before, he had witnessed his struggle and how even with his exceptional bloodline, he barely survived a fight against another Knight.

Crow was a fool before in his eyes, just a pawn used by his enemies to infiltrate his Social circle to sabotage it from within. And Crow did succeed somewhat, considering all the goals with which Rashid went to Phuket had failed.

As fate has it, Crow seemed to be doing the same thing again. And unlike last time, Crow seemed much more threatening to Rashid for some odd reason.

"You think such a threat would work on me?"

"Of course they will, you are the last of your shitty family... don’t you want to revive them?... Killing you might just end their bloodline, isn’t it?"

"..." At those words, Rashid turned silent.

His bluff had been called out, and he really couldn’t deny it. But it didn’t mean he would back down easily.

Among all the people sleeping, including someone of Amir’s stature and prowess, only he remained awake.

Did he wake up on his own due to some skill he had been unaware of, or was it his bloodline?

He can even imagine the existence that sends him notes, but then he shakes his head.

There is only one reason he is awake.

"You won’t kill me... you spared me from this sleep for a reason, didn’t you?" Rashid was not the old him anymore. With what transpired in Phuket, along with the countless deaths he brought upon others, including the misery he imparted onto his good friend Henry, Rashid had felt immense guilt for all those actions.

He understood that the burden of his family’s revival was his own alone, he couldn’t sacrifice others for his needs and goals, otherwise, he would be no better than the people who were responsible for his family’s decline.

He can’t be an animal that’s for sure.

And it was with such thoughts, that Rashid gained some humanity in him. Even when faced with potential death, he didn’t shy away from it and faced it head-on.

He had only one goal in his mind. Which was to save Prince Amir no matter what happened. That’s his burden alone.

"Don’t think too much... I wanted to kill you. You, I wanted out of this life... but it’s because of you and that Radiant Knight who stole my only chance at freedom..." Crow seemed angry as he recalled the past he shared with Rashid, how his dream of a normal life was shattered. But such that anger twisted into a smile "but then again. I used to be stupid."

"This reminds me, Rashid, I forgot to thank you for this. Thanks for stopping me that day... it’s only now I learn how fun it is to live a life like this. The life of a spy, the life of a rat, and the life of a killer."