The God of Jesters
Chapter 489 - 8.01.2 Death.

Chapter 489: 8.01.2 Death.

Heroth danced in the streets while singing his weird songs again. And for the most part, he would get some curious glances thrown his way, some of whom would nod to him, appreciating his music, while most still ignored him.

But Heroth didn’t mind it much, he just enjoyed singing and dancing to his tune. Of course, this served another purpose. Explain which was not so important at the moment. "Oh lady of the dark seas, let me drown in your love~"

Of course, there were some who found him annoying. Their gazes towards him were not so kind, probably due to the disturbance he caused. His fault, his mistake. But among these gazes, he looked for one with something more than annoyance and he did find that perfect individual.

’Ho, look at that.’ And to his luck, this shop just happened to be a small barber shop—the perfect place for him to learn what was going on.

Initially, the barber really struggled to respond to his questions as he took care of Heroth’s overgrown hair. But under incessant questioning, followed by some money, the barber ended up opening his mouth.

"No one told you this, you have to promise before I answer you."

"Just speak young man, you might get rewarded a better sum if your information satisfies me." It was then that Heroth learned what actually happened.

There was a rumor going around in the market and in the commoner social circle that the two beast families might break into war, which was propagated by some small noble families that were based in the southern district. And at the center of this conflict was none other than the shop he just opened.

"Do you know the origin of this rumor? Who spread it?"

"The most I can say is that I heard this from the bar. Everyone did to my knowledge... there might be a fight in the future." The man said, looking at his customer with some pity. Being on the same streets, the importance of this information to him was much higher than others. This information might just help him survive.

"Good, this is good information." And Heroth was satisfied with the information, paying the barber some more before leaving his shop.

Though this time, his direction was neither the White Tiger’s building nor the Vermilion’s. Heroth directly made his way to the old bar nearby which he had visited often before, though this time, his eyes held some childish interest in them. ’Ah, the dark underbelly of this city.’

There were no hollowed-out mountains for the gangsters to hide in like the City of Pulgasiri. Nor underground aqueducts used for all sorts of illegal activities like in Durum. No, Rudrain on the surface was the cleanest city in Cynark.

The greatest among the best. The safest of the cities as there was next to no activity of creepy mages, nor were there any signs of Curse wielders due to the strong power of the churches in the city.

This was truly the cleanest place of all.

Or so the common people believed, for those in the know or specifically, those in power, knew the truth of how big this lie was.

The greater the light, the stronger the shadow it would create. And in some cases, this shadow exists right in front of you, and you will never find anything odd with it.

And that’s how the underworld of this city was. They existed right in front of you, operating in the open, acting in the light. And if someone wished to convene with them, there was only one place for it.

"I wonder why such rumors are being circulated by your organization?" The Bartender’s Association is a simple guild made up of bar owners. However, in truth, the organization acted more like a proxy to connect the light and darkness together.

"Mister Heroth, I expected you to come here way earlier, but you took your time." The Bartender smiled, taking in the money that was on the table before pointing Heroth to follow him to a room.

And Heroth also smiled. Sitting on the table and taking a big chug from the bottle, before asking. "Stop with your jokes, I have seen your men snooping around my shop, I know you already know about the girl, so get back on the topic."

"Oh, of course, sir." The Man takes out a bottle from the cabinet. "Schelmodi 43, it’s much better than the cheap rum in your hand. And I believe the following conversation would be better with something good on the side." The Bottle of alcohol that the bartender offered really opened Heroth’s eyes, he smiled, putting down the cheap rum turned over the two glasses that were already on the table, and gestured to the bartender to pour it in.

"Now, speak... ho, this is sweet." Praising the liquor in the glass, Heroth went back to the topic at hand.

"The Rumors, we don’t have a hand in it, or it’s that we don’t want to do it, but were forced to take this job."

"??" These contradictory words, Heroth didn’t like them, though he was not like some nobles who might already start using their strength in anger to suppress this small bartender, he just looked at him curiously, gesturing him to keep speaking.

"The most I have been told to you to inform you is that, none of the parties that wished to harm you are aware of your true identity. And from what I understand, this small offense was caused in order to keep it a secret from the start."

"As you can understand, if we had refused this job, those people might have become curious and tried to look for reasons for our refusal. So we had no choice but to accept the job. And the results, you can already see." The bartender didn’t know who this Heroth actually was, nor did he understand his strength, nor why his superiors had asked him to treat Heroth as a VIP.

He knew better than anyone that the less he knew, the longer he would live. And this was the right choice on his part.

He just conveyed the message his superiors held for this old man and that’s it.

"I am to assume, you won’t tell me who paid you for this job?"

"Yes, I can’t, it would be too unfair to our customers, you should understand this better than anyone else." At those words, Heroth really can’t help but sigh with some frustration. ’That girl, my simple game is ruined.’

That girl had been too free recently, it had become harder for him to test her. It’s why he was annoyed by such a low activity in his shop.

"Though I would like to assure you, no harm will come your way, your shop is just being used as a distraction and nothing more."

"You, do you know how much I have to suffer...." Before Heroth could speak, the Bartender opened the rack took out three more bottles of the liquor, and said. "Please take three bottles of Schlemodi as a gift over our incompetence. This is the most we can offer."

"Hah, well. I will accept your sincerity. But I want assurance that this won’t be happening for too long."

"Don’t worry, these troubles are just temporary. We assure you that in a month, everything will return to normal. And as a way to repay for your troubles, we will do our best to send some traffic to your shop." With such assurance, there was nothing more to say for Heroth.

He left the bar happily with the alcohol he was gifted.

"Life is good, but oh this twisted world,~~" His songs continued, attracting the attention of the passersby as always before he disappeared from sight.

*****

"Hmm?" Rosso looked at the old man before turning his back to the road again. ’This.’ Death.

He felt certain death when looking at that old man.

’Too monstrous.’ Controlling his shivers, Rosso calmed down and kept walking ahead, trying to forget the being that he had just seen before, but his body defied Rosso’s expectations. For the first time in his life, he noticed that his hair was standing up.

’This... this happens when a person is scared... am I scared?’ Fear was odd to them, fear of death even odder. But for some reason, when looking at that old man, he instinctively turned his head away.

’Monsters in this city, the creator warned about this place for a reason.’ It was this experience that caused Rosso to have a habit of always looking at the ground while walking.

He won’t make the same mistake again for fear of noticing things he shouldn’t. Though for the first time in his life, he did curse his creator for giving such odd eyes, that could see more than an average person.

But enough about his eyes, the current priority never changed, he was still looking for that person and to find that person he needed to find this city’s underbelly. And from what little rumors he had been able to hear, there were certain bar shops that provided a specific kind of service. ’A trace.’ And it was this trace that led Rosso to Yellow Dragon Bar.

A brand name for a bar, though none would dare to make fun of it. As the shops that can carry the name of Dragon always had the backing of the Azure dragon family.

Which in turn also made this bar amongst the most civil of the bunch, and only people of certain personage were allowed in it.