The God of Jesters
Chapter 716 - 11.04.2 They are after me.

Chapter 716: 11.04.2 They are after me.

It was peaceful, knowing that your family will remain safe is all that Darde could ask for.

In the next two days, he let his brother-in-law understand the situation and all he had on his enemies or the things he could give away before sending him off with his wife and daughter. This, in a way, freed him of a burden, a burden that he loved to carry once, but it was too much for now.

He doesn’t lack conviction, but what he lacks is strength, with no strength, all he can do is ask others for help.

Leaving him alone in his home for the first time in a while, well at least there was his older sister, appearing quieter than usual. What goes on in her head is always harder to know, more so when any future she shares can increase her burden.

So all Darde could do was look at her and not force her to give any concrete answers, he didn’t wish harm on her in any way. Which is why Darde after a bit of thinking suggested something simple. "Act as you want... hope we can all come out of it unharmed." He spoke to his sister, who nodded in response.

There is a way to know how much his sister knew and how much she could do in this situation, but it’s better if she does it by herself as being the prophet, she must have a deeper understanding of her own situation. "But don’t be a fool like before, if you wish to prevent something, better make sure you stay alive to do it."

The day went on as usual, he had requested a month of nominal support from his police chief, who did as he promised, providing him with some men of his own, an added security mainly built for some undesirables in the office.

Mostly the corrupt cops that cause issues not only outside, but among the force as well. But Darde dealt with them clearly. These two were mere mortals with guns, they wouldn’t dare to mess with a mystic like him who could read their thoughts and the likes.

In a way, being forced to work with a Mystic made the two officers far more honest, as they didn’t dare to pull anything that Darde could catch on them.

"Sir, this is the report file." Darde got his hands on some updates, mostly the information on the things that happened in the city’s underbelly while he was out of service for the week, and there were some interesting things, to say the least. ’They are on the move.’ Although there was no mention of bodies or fights due to information being suppressed, from the odd movements of certain trolleys and cleaners, it was easy to say that something happened.

Something with him at the center.

There were far more reports to read than he expected, ignoring the case he was handling, there were a few more things that cropped up recently. None that interested him besides giving a single look. "Ghosts prowling the streets? Rats biting a man to death? Corpses hanging from trees?" One odd case after another, and the more he read the more his face turned relieved. ’Good.’ It’s good that he sent his family away.

"The situation in the city is not good... Are the Knights or Mystics active?"

"Not from any churches, though a Magistar of the Radiant Order did arrive recently, they had been pursuing the ghost case."

"What about the rest? The hanging corpse happened close to Plague church... in the same old tree where they once used to hang people, didn’t it?" Plague church, they were the 2nd strongest religion in Mersood behind the Church of Warlike Virtuosity, or the God of Craftsmen as he was known in Cynark.

And in the past not too long ago, the plague church used to hang those infected with incurable and infectious diseases on a tree atop a hill that was under their protection.

So when a body eventually appeared after decades, it was easy to see on whom the blame would fall. "The one who died was a bishop."

"Doesn’t mean they are not involved, that tree is not still not open to the public, only the church can enter the grounds... "

"Sir, these cases are not under our jurisdiction, why even bother." One of the officers said, not much interested in the case, and Darde does accept this point. He works with police, and although he is their designated Mystics, the police rarely if not never deal with issues that enter the realm of the supernatural.

Which is why the duo was not so interested in this. But Darde, his eyes kept recalling some details from before and then the incident in the church of Plague.

"So many things happened at once, does it not make you both wonder? What is going in Mersood?"

"Not much to be done even if we knew. I prefer to just look away." The response from a lazy and confrontational officer sounded way more genuine than Darde anticipated, but then again, it was harder for both of them to lie in front of him. "Go for now, I will visit the morgue in a bit." He acted normal, dealing with some aftermath of the case he left cold for the last week, and then slowly absorbing the details and happening around the city to fill in his knowledge banks.

Patterns are too disjointed for now, but they do appear to show a sign of chaos. ’As for the third.’

"Let’s see if I can find something." There was not much he had at hand, the case had gone cold due to the delay and any chance to trace the killer will probably be useless. More so now that he works for those killers himself.

’Give me signs, ’ he said, walking along the streets, taking in the view of the lively albeit broken society where the people didn’t even know of the countless wrongs that happened here every day. ’Anything, ’ he said, walking further and coming across a drainage rom in which a couple of rats were sputtering about.

’The rat one.’ They were normal, these ones at least. Darde can’t say the same for the ones that killed the man. "A drunk bastard with no background, generally this description is left for those that work in the information business." He visited some of the informers who collected information from the beggars and shops. "Any info on the man eaten by rats?"

"The most we can give you is that he had patronage here. The rest can’t be spoken for free." Darde didn’t mind, he was ready to give as much money as he could due to government grants that would reimburse him for it all. "I prefer if you write the number a bit higher..." Darde knew the man and the man knew who Darde was, so the man was surprised when Darde spoke such mischievous words.

"My daughter is getting older, better send her to a good school."

The information he got was simple, the man had spoken not much about anything worthwhile for the last few times, and most of the information he sold here was useless with one exception. ’New arrivals, new smells, and some chaos in the commercial district... none of which was noted down in the papers.’

The chaos was about low-level spat that led to brawls and even death from the looks of it, but it was all suppressed as usual.

However, what was special about this fight was the aftermath. "The people sealed off the area?"

"Such a big thing happened... instead of removing the bodies, they chose to seal it?"

"It’s what this man said, by the time we tried to confirm it, the street was back to normal, it was probably just an issue caused by the cleaning delay."

’Guess, I have to go here.’ Darde went back to his car and met with the two officers. "Change of plans, let’s have some dinner and get to know each other."

*****

"Congratulations, boss, becoming an uncle at such an advanced age." They joyfully mocked Farhad and then joked a bit more while drinking booze that barely did anything to their bodies.

But the illusion of the taste alone was enough to put them in the mood. And Farhad who was not too used to this stuff went along with them. But his mind remained on his family and what the Royal were planning with them.

He had seen too much and understood even more. Coincidences like these rarely exist and not like his family is some kind of military royalty.

Before his death, his grandfather was just a commander in the army and not a well-known one. He even got this position due to his identity as a Tower Mage. It was only his father who was able to obtain the Rank of Marshall.

So why give his family so much importance and treat this marriage as a unifying event? Something didn’t make sense.