The God of Jesters

Chapter 22: 2.03.1 A new beginning.

Let's get back to the time when I came to this wonderful world. There I was stuck in the corpse, ignorant of any spells or knowledge.

All I was limited to was this weird man who was spreading oil on the corpses and speaking some prayers.

I can feel that my end was nigh, and if I don't do something, this will be it for me.

Though, it would seem the world hasn't abandoned me yet. Was it a coincidence or luck, but I heard a familiar voice.

The cacophony of rats felt like an aria to my ears.

Sadly, I have no ears, to begin with.

'Food, Food." Through my soul, I can even hear the words those rats were speaking, they rushed toward the corpses who had been rotting under the sun and started to eat the flesh.

While the man who was praying remained ignorant about them.

These were just rats, one can find them everywhere and there is no end to them. And the battlefield for these rats is heaven.

It's a buffet of flesh and blood, a food that will never end.

And this turned into an opportunity for me.

I don't know when I learned this technique, but I was easily able to possess the body of one of the rats before the man could throw the weird ball of fire floating in his hand. I leaped away from the corpses and ran.

Though the sun still caused me pain, causing the small rat which was still alive to smoke under it.

Though, it was not the rat that was smoking. It was my own soul instead.

Which taught me that the sun was my enemy and that using the cover of living flesh won't help me much. But this was a battlefield with trenches and the shades were everywhere. Which became my saviors.

As for the man that wished to follow me, the trenches instead made his pursuit futile. As for this man, he was still a human.

But I am getting distracted, the reason why I was talking about all of this was what I came to learn at a later date.

That man from before belonged to the same organization as Maxim. He was a low-level hunter from the Radiance society that was attracted by my cursed soul to the corpses.

And he was not the only one.

In my years of living in this world, these people have pursued me non-stop and one can even say that we have a certain history together.

It was why when I sensed these people intruding in my home unexpectedly, I set up a trap. A little boy that will become the perfect bait for these people.

Though it would be a lie that I didn't come to love this bait, I was as sad about his death as you are.

But the situation I placed him in was not the one where he would have died, the boy was foolish enough to look deeper into the situation.

Which activated the backlash I have set up in his mind.

Though, it would be a lie to say that I wasn't looking forward to that death.

"You are asking us to go even after all the proof we gave you? That place is dangerous. If not dealt with in time, things might get serious." Old Maxim said, pointing at the papers and photos.

These were the notes he brought to prove his point. It even contained a picture of the building with question marks.

Maxim was not sure about the building, he just knew it was suspicious.

Though, even after seeing all of this, the mayor of Durum shook his head. "There hasn't been a death caused by the curse in that place since its inception, but the moment you folks enter it a young man dies and not a normal young man. Do you know how it makes us look?"

The mayor of Durum was not alone, there were other officials and even the Rune academy principal was present on the scene.

The same academy that Farhad used to study at.

"I would suggest leaving this place as fast as possible, the boy's father is coming tomorrow, and I won't be able to hold off his wrath with you here."

A simple timed death was all it took to ruin the goal of Radiance.

"We have an actual case here, if you let us act we might even deal with whoever or whatever is the cause of his death. And if you choose to stop us, I can also accept that."

"But what I won't accept is leaving this place, you can't make us."

Complete insubordination. But there was a reason for all of this, Maxim knew better than anyone what happens when moons are involved in cases like these.

"Of course, we can't do that, the same way as we can't do with that little library of yours." The Mayor nodded in response.

It was true, that unless the members of Radiance go out of their way to break any rules, they can't act on them.

They are also humans and they can't be barred from the city. While being active in it was another matter altogether.

"But if we find your people doing anything suspicious, we can use that as an excuse to throw you out. Is this good for you?" The mayor asked, it was more like a condition and a suggestion.

With the boy's father coming here, it would be foolish for city officials to allow Radiance from being active in the city. So it was better to give them a suggestion.

Which was to act in moderation.

"It is."

Maxim understood what accepting this meant, but there was no other choice. The people around him might be on his side, but they were not helping him at all.

Not to mention, the principal of the academy kept eyeing him. Even without his eyes, Maxim can feel the threatening air surrounding him. Which placed him in a tough position.

With him accepting these conditions in front of so many witnesses, there was no going back anymore.

*****

It's such a wonderful feeling when everything falls into place. Though, I am a bit sad that there won't be any more competition anymore.

Twenty years stuck in this city and it was harder to find entertaining things as time went by. The small arrival of the Radiance truly brought some color to my boring life. But sadly I couldn't let them act out in the open for long.

Now, this has evened out the playing field, as I work in the background. These people will be forced to do the same if they wish to succeed.

"When is Marshall Maisel coming here?" Remira, the hunter sent by the Radiance, asked. Her eyes lacking any drive to do work, she still asked this question.

A stupid question that seemed like she was wasting time.

"Around two days at maximum. But I would suggest against going out, there are many eyes on us." Pierta suggested as she picked up the beer bottle next to Remira. "And this is a library, we don't allow alcoholic beverages in here."

"Stop acting like a snob Pierta. You used to follow me like a canary in the academy, now see how you have turned out." Remira said, trying to grab the bottle, but failing at it as her drunk body stumbled and fell back on the couch.

"Well you see Remira, this isn't the academy and we are here due to serious reasons. There is a dead child in our hands as well. It would be better if you get your act straight before you offend the oncoming party."

From the talks between the two, one can see that they studied in the same school of sorts.

Though, this place can't be Radiance, as there were no schools backed by Radiance. This goes to show how back these two's relationship goes.

So hearing those grand words, Remira just scoffed and said with a drunk tone. "Why even bother... hic. The old fart will just come and impede our work anyways. It's better to give up and let the people..."

"Don't say it Remira, don't say things that you might regret later." This was not a threat, but a genuine suggestion.

The companionship between the two was a lot closer than it looked on the surface.

This would be interesting. Sadly, I can't act too early. I might know a bit about Pierta, but I can't say for sure about Remira.

She was a wild card that had been hiding since coming here. And I am closer to omniscient and omnipresent in this city.

Which makes me like her even more.

"Oouho, Sorry. I am just sad our mission got ruined by a small mistake." In her drunken stupor, Remira said. Apologizing soon after.

"It was no mistake. Elder Maxim was also marked with a similar moon mark, and these marks attract each other." Pierta explained.

In the supernatural world, the fate of a real thing, and there were no coincidences. Things that were meant to happen will happen.

Or so these people thought. Not knowing how easy it is to manipulate fate if one is focused enough.

"Oh, I didn't mean this, I just mean we fell into a trap." Suddenly, Remira's drunken act vanished. Parting her small hair from gray eyes, she brought a small piece of broken wood to Pierta.

"This was something I found from the bed of the dead boy. His bedroom truly was special." It was a broken piece of wood with some inscription drawn in the language of old.

While the runes were familiar, the language used here was only known to a few in this world.

So I wonder if this smart girl who wasted time with her drunk act would be able to find something from it.

Or whether it can lead her to me or not.

Oh, and that smell of hers.

It's been a while since I smelled something so strong.