The God of Jesters
Chapter 712 - 11.03.5 I can’t help you.

Chapter 712: 11.03.5 I can’t help you.

He was tired and broken, and he had some random unfounded thoughts running in his mind—thoughts concerning the kind of people he might be forced to work with.

He truly never expected, that he would be forced to end up working with the ones Darde was meant to catch. Although he had unfounded and concrete proof of their identity or if they were truly the ones who did all those murders and disappearances. Darde’s intuition when it came to such things was rarely wrong.

’Act normal, for now.’ As he walked, although his bones hadn’t set pace with the lacerations and internal injuries caused by the bullets and cuts still existing, Darde removed his bandages, for they didn’t bleed anymore.

The other part was, that he didn’t wish to scare his family.

Entering the colony, the first thing Darde did was visit the house of his boss. An old man with years catching up to him, the head officer who provided the house for his family gave a deep glare to his subordinate before saying. "Go and bathe first, the smell of blood and medicine is too strong, even your family will find that you did something dangerous." The old man was the current Police chief of Mersood, and the only one above him was the commissioner who didn’t even live in Mersood, making him the most influential force in the city.

But this kind of position can only be retained by him if he knows how to juggle between the different parties that operate in the city, it’s the only way he knows to suppress what needs to be suppressed and pursue what is not. More so than all of that, he was the kind of man who took care of his people, which in turn made his men do their best to not implicate him.

This is why the Old police chief didn’t question much when he smelled the blood on Darde. From the description and details given by his wife before, which was partially lies. The old police chief had already come to an understanding of what was going on.

"Now, explain. What happened clearly." He asked once Darde came back wearing some fresh clothes provided by the house servant. "Are these your sons? He won’t like it much."

"He is away for most part of his life, he won’t be here to mind it much." Some tea was served along with some medicine set on the side. "Now explain, what actually happened, and not the lie you told your wife to say."

Darde turned silent, obviously, he couldn’t say anything considering the secret his family held, along with the little contract he signed before, nor would lying benefit him at all considering he needed the chief’s help to secure his family’s safety until her wife’s father come and take her away with his daughter.

"... the plan did work on my end, I was able to escape through the vent after some chaos caused by the third party." The movement of experts can’t be hidden, her existence must have been noticed by not only his chief but most of the city. So there is no reason to lie.

"I believe that person came here for the mess I made... they probably didn’t get what they wanted," Darde explained his own version of events, which those lacking the details will come to believe easily.

"Which means, you have someone that wants to kill you and another that i angered by your intrusion."

"The second one lacks information on my identity, both do. It will be hard to connect me to the assassinations as long as I keep the illusion." Darde didn’t wish to make it seem his Chief had to deal with too much, so he just explained that there was really nothing to worry about.

"That is, unless another mystic gets involved, your blood should be on the site... I burned the bandages... unless they had insight of my betrayal at the end, them retaining a trace of my blood is low." A lie again, but he knew they still couldn’t track him, considering that the woman in his dream had said so.

Not to mention, she wants to use him, it would be stupid for someone of her caliber to overlook something like this.

Which is when the real discussion started between the two. The priority in the chief’s mind was if Darde could be traced, which would create more problems not only for him, but the whole city considering these actions were taken by an investigator directly under the employment of the city.

Something’s are better left hidden.

"They were after me for one, my family was expected collateral." The memories he stole, and the scenes he saw were enough to let him know, his family was safe as long as he stayed away from them.

Or they stay away from him.

"So whoever gave the hit still exists." The chief said, his eyes turning deep. I would suggest you leave this city. Live with your father-in-law for a while. I believe whoever is after will eventually stop."

"That is passivity, Chief knows this better than anyone, that matters like this need to be dealt with hard and precisely, or at least we need to know the reason behind it to see if there is a chance to come to an understanding."

"That is a fool’s errand, if they intended to be reasonable, they wouldn’t have put a hit on you in such an odd way. Going to a merchant’s instead of a killers’ den. You know this is not the way things go. Unless they are a fool, none of this makes sense."

"Unless, of course, they have a reason why they made such odd choices." Spoke to the chief. He had seen more in life than Darde, he understood the oddities and calculations of those who control the money.

They are no fools, every action of theirs usually is followed by a concrete reason.

"Then live while hiding like a rat?"

"What choice do you have left anyway? The power that be is not something that should be taken lightly, I can give you support only to a certain level." The intentions were clear of his chief, he had already made up his mind that there was not much he could do in this situation. So he is letting Darde know early on.

Which did make Darde’s mood sour.

It’s probably why the Chief of Police sighed and continued: "Truth be told, the issue is not our power, but your own power. You are, at the end of the day, a mortal. Unless the matter concerns the spiritual world or investigations, there is little you can achieve when it comes to situations like these."

"Even your foray from before would have gone to complete waste if not for the unintended help of the third party... that is a sign, a sign you are not meant for a life like this. The world gave you a chance to escape, so take that chance and live elsewhere while hiding your identity."

"... I do understand the situation, Chief. But escaping like this will put them on edge, let’s do it this way. My family will leave early while I still operate in the city as usual, you can put some men on me for security for a while to put up a show. It will keep them away from harming me so soon. And if they see I still remain here, they won’t attempt to use my family in any way they can."

"Once I learn that my family is safe. I will leave for them... so give me two to three weeks at most. I will leave the city."

Darde did feel a bit disappointed, but he understood why the chief said what he did. This was a country ruled by merchants, the more money you have the more freedom you have. Government officials with their meager pay are generally used to keep only the poor in line, as for the rich, they rarely have any influence or power.

So even the police union that forms mostly tries to ensure its own survival. Nothing more and nothing less.

Which is why the chief of police made such a selfish choice. It was not only for him but for the entire police force. For he had felt that there was something odd about this all, something that Darde had kept hidden and trouble that would put not only his life at risk but everyone who works under him.

Which he can’t afford.