《The God of Jesters》


 Chapter 1: 1.01 Rat King

    <h4>Chapter 1: 1.01 Rat King</h4>


    While growing up, I understood one thing about myself. I never did anything that was not entertaining to me.


    And more than that, I loved to entertain the masses even more.


    The event that taught me this fact about myself was a sad day of my life as well, it was the day of my father''s passing, which I didn''t like one bit.


    And in an attempt to find something entertaining away from the dead body of my father, I came across some rats that were fighting close to a sewer.


    To the young me, I found it fascinating, as in my whole life and all the rats I have seen. This was the first time I saw them fight.


    And the more I saw them fight, the more entertained I got and then it gave me an Idea.


    After cremating my father, I started to capture rats from sewers around my house.


    And while my mother went to the toil in a factory that earned her meager ie. I started a rat-fightingpany.


    Which, if I have to say the truth, was a failure. At the start at least.


    Like I said before, rats don''t fight and the scene I witnessed before was truly a rare one. I needed to find a way to make these rats aggressive and brutal.


    I needed to find them more fun, and easily distinguishable.


    After my job at the food stall, I would always explore the world and steal newspapers. Unlike many my age in my circumstances, I was pretty learned and knew how to read. And this newspaper became my only source of knowledge about the world.


    And during one of those reading sessions, I came across the reason why these rats were not fighting.


    "Cannibalism in the countryside, people are killing each other out of hunger." Reading the headline and the details of the event made me aware of where I was failing.


    As it turns out, I was a fool to feed them. Originally I had thought that keeping these rats fed and healthy would make the fight more energetic. Which was a wrong assumption on my part.


    And to test if my idea was right, I made two of my most prized rats go hungry for 3-4 days and only gave them water to drink. After which, I ced them in a single cage and saw the carnage that followed.


    Which was beautiful.


    This fight was nothingpared to the one before and I wanted to make other people watch a fight like this as well.


    And that''s how I started my first sessful business of rat fighting.


    Painting the winners to help them stand out, I even gave the stronger one''s names.


    There was a time, there were people called me the rat king. Which I liked very much. It might be offensive to others. But to me, this name was more meaningful than the name my parents gave me.


    For that name had nothing to do with my personality and neither the way I lived, the name felt almost alien to the very thing I was.


    So when my mother died after smoking too many poisonous gasses in the factory, I abandoned that name altogether and left the city.


    The rats are just the beginning, I wish to be bigger.


    I wished to visit those legendary diator arenas where humans fight for their life.


    I wish to be the maestro of that bountiful orchestra made of screaming men who fought for their life.


    But as it turns out, things never go as one intends them to be.


    "Kill him? Nah, that will be too much of a waste." Said the bastard while eyeing my body. I can feel the thirst hidden in it, the same kind of thirst that many men held towards my mother after my father''s death.


    And I know what this man wished to do with me.


    As to begin with, I was just a 17-year-old traveling all alone due to the life I lived. My body''s development also didn''t catch up with my age. Making me look a lot younger than I actually was, turning into a prime target for the degenerates like these.


    "Look at the kid''s eyes, it''s as if he would eat me." The manughed before breathing down my neck and threatening me. "But sadly kid, it will be us eating you."


    A powerful threat and it even made me worry for my life. This can''t be the end, I wished to be entertained more, I wished to entertain others even more.


    I can''t just end as a Rat king.


    So I said something that might save my life.


    "How long will my flesh even feed you for? Might I tell you about something even more worthwhile?" I asked these men. These two fools, who have never worked once in their life. These troglodytes that have never bothered to even know what civilization even means for being literate. I can forget about it.


    "What do you mean boy?" At the mention of something more worthwhile, the two disgusting-looking cannibals asked me the same question together at once.


    They might have been strong and savage, but they were a lot simpler if I looked at them from a different perspective.


    Savages, both of them.


    "Have you heard about the circus?... I am a Jester there, the Jester who has an act with rats." I said, pointing toward therge luggage with some holes in them.


    "Do you see that big luggage? There are some rats in them, enough to feed you for a whole week." I didn''t speak any more than this.


    If these savages were smart enough, they might have used these rats and opened a small rat farm if they wished to.


    But their minds were too soiled. And from their looks, their gics might be the same.


    One can easily see that these two men were a product of incest and there might be others in their family close by.


    So I wished to survive this ce and I don''t mind giving up some rats for it.


    "Some rats? Are you taking us for a fool? How can rats even fill our stomachs?" The bigger one with a limping leg said as he grabbed my butt in his hand. "And those rats can''t give us this."


    I hated these two, I can see that their sexual frustration was more than the hunger in their stomach.


    I presumed that their family was not doing it for them.


    "I... I am ready. I will not struggle. But please, take the rats and spare my life." I said, with some fear.


    Because I was scared. But this fear didn''t cloud my mind. Instead, it gave me more confidence and motivation.


    And it was not fear of death that scared me, it was fear of being bored.


    ''It was too boring.'' And yes, it was. These two just trapped him while he was on road and are now threatening him with r*pe and then death.


    And they have been doing it for thest five minutes with no progress.


    "If you insist so much, then let''s see those rats of yours." The smaller one with nimble feet said. He might be the weaker of the two, but seeing therger one was limp in one leg, I can see the one that might pose the most danger if I were to run away.


    So it was good that it was him that was opening the suitcase.


    "Just be careful, those rats have been hungry for a while," I said as my body shook with excitement.


    I looked forward to what was going to happen next.


    I have dreamed of it before, but due to the tight security in the city, it was a dangerous experiment to do.


    But not here, in thiswlessnd with no one to incriminate you for the simple crime of entertainment. There will be no one to judge my crimes.


    "Don''t shake so much boy, I know you can''t wait for it." The big one said, grabbing his dick and rubbing it in my face. The smell from it was disgusting, I can feel that this was a stick of disease that was being rubbed on my face.


    But I was not foolish enough to have my anger and disgust take control and bite it off. I didn''t wish for this thing toe any close to my body''s blood.


    And besides this man won''t be able to do the same for long.


    "Ayio, there is really something moving in this bag." The fool said as he opened the locks on the bag and lifted the cover-up, exposing himself to over fifty f my murderous rats.


    Rat''s that have gone hungry for over 6 days now.


    And seeing the fresh meat in front of them, these rats, who had only been hungry for six days and thirsty for thest day. They jumped directly onto the stranger that released them from their cage.


    Biting into his flesh before he could even scream. But I might have said it too earlier because he did scream.


    But his scream was sabotaged by the rat I named Grifter. Little Grifter was one of my prized little rats. He had killed seven of his siblings before they grew up and then murdered his own murdered out of hunger after she got weak giving birth to the 3rd generation of his siblings.


    As for the fav thing that little Grifter liked. It was truly something that fascinated me.


    He was smart unlike other of his warrior friends, somehow the little grifter always knew where to bite to kill the opponent easily.


    And once again, this same grifter had found the perfect ce to attack the human that opened the cage.


    "Was that for me? So cute." I thought, knowing full well for whom that attack was nned for.


    Which made me emotional.


    "What... What are those rats." The loud bastard screamed with his dick out. Fear and anger were visible on his face. As he stepped toward his struggling brother with his limping leg.


    Hmm, it would seem that there truly was a lot among these siblings, a beautiful love that ignored any dangering their way.


    I would have truly prayed for them to win, if not for the scene taking ce in him being so entertaining.


    The way the body of the little one kept struggling, using his hands to grab and throw the rats from his body.


    But failing every time as the rats who had survived my hard training regime understood where to attack the man and started to nibble at his hands so that they would turn useless.


    Which truly made me proud.


    But those rats were a bitte, just like the older brother. Who came to find his brother dead, his eyes gouged and eaten by rats while blood bubbled from his mouth.


    Though the rats still did not stop as they kept eating at his body. Unaware that theirpanion called Grifter had already killed their target.


    And the same was true for the bigger of the two, as he screamed loudly. "Older brother..." is also unaware of his brother''s death, as he mistook the movements caused by the rats as a sign of his brother''s survival.


    So he did what every sibling would do. As he was incapable of kicking due to his limp leg, he dropped down in an attempt to throw the rats away from his dead brother''s body.


    But this in turn gave the rats that were down below an easier target, as a small one among them jumped just a bit and stabbed its teeth in the dick of the bigger man. Causing him to scream louder than anything I have ever heard.


    Even the disappointment of all those gamblers who lost in a match won''t be as sweet as this scream.


    I even wanted to bring some audience to this ce and let them experience the same joy I was experiencing.


    "Hmm, Guess his luck was not as good," I said while getting back up from the bounds that these two gic abominations have bound me up with.


    Guess, keeping the razor de in my sleeves turned out useful. Though, just not the way I intended it to be.


    But I guess, it was not all toote, without Grifter taking down the giant one as fast as he could. I have already lost three of my rats under the tight grip of the big one.


    As for injuries, I can''t even count. Because I forgot about them. All I can see are the three dead ones.


    And as I didn''t wish for any more losses to happen, I hurried toward the struggling man.


    "Even if I find you pretty amusing, sorry. But you can''t just ruin my merchandise." I warned the guy, using the razor to slit his defenseless throat.


    "Don''t look at me like that, Your death is swifter than what you nned for me," I said, as I felt no remorse for killing this man for some reason.


    Which was odd.


    I have read in the newspaper that after the war and seeing too much death, there are people that are suffering from something called PTSD.


    But to me, this doesn''t seem to be the case.


    My first kill and I did not react to it?


    I felt this was wrong. But I guess, I was always wrong in the head when I thought about it deeply.


    "Now, now, sleep well. And keep my rats busy." Looked at the eyes that seemed to be cursing me.


    I got up and thought about it deeper.


    Getting all these rats into the luggage will be hard if not impossible.


    These rats have tasted freedom and with their training, they would even pose a threat to little me. Who is used to handling them?


    So I guess, I can only leave these rats with their bodies and pray that they won''t follow me.


    That they surely will out of anger.


    "Hmm, what have we here?" I said as I noticed a small whisper rising from the blood pool inside the shorter one''s mouth.


    "Oh, if it isn''t Grifter," I said as I used my fingers to urately grab the mouth of Grifter so that he doesn''t bite me and lifted him.


    "I thought you would have died by suffocation by now, but guess you want to live longer... huh? Can''t forget about the old master and whatnot." I can see the frustration in the eyes of Grifter, which was pretty odd for a rat.


    This much emotion, I didn''t even see it in the eyes of the man I just killed.


    "I look forward to your children. Your gics will surely be a lot more worthwhile than the rest of the lower rats." I said while binding the mouth and feet of Grifter and then putting him in my pocket.


    Now before these rats finish their meal, I n to leave this ce.


    Not to mention, the parents of these siblings might be close by. Gotta leave this ce before they caught on to me.

 Chapter 2: 1.02.1 Dried Corpse

    <h4>Chapter 2: 1.02.1 Dried Corpse</h4>


    I was curious about how much these rats would eat. I truly was.


    Hence, I didn''t wish to leave this ce. But safety was my current priority. And the next target of these rats might be me. Not to mention the family of these two that lurk in these woods.


    Oh, yes. I forgot to tell you folks about these dreaded woods.


    While leaving the city after cremating my mother. I sold the property or whatever was left after her death and nned to walk to Christen city. A holy ce in name only.


    But I never forgot how much crime there was in that ce.


    In the newspaper I read, a total of four pages were just taken over by the crimes that weremitted in that city alone. Which made it perfect for the kind of business I wished to do.


    Though going there turned out to be a hassle. No carriages like the smell of rats on my body and as for train coaches. They didn''t even let me enter the station. To them, I was not a human. But a gutter rat.


    Well, they are not wrong.


    But I digress.


    Let''s focus on how I got here.


    The forest I was in at the moment was called Khaelid forest, named after the great conqueror Khaelid that died here thousands of years ago.


    Which was odd. Usually, the ces are named after conquerors or winners. Not losers like Khaelid who lost to explore this giant forest even with an army of hundreds.


    People like that truly don''t deserve to be remembered like that.


    And if possible, I also didn''t wish to walk through this forest as well.


    But in the end, I was forced as no other caravan epted me among their group due to my smell.


    Forced me to rent a mule, that now lies dead not far from the two bodies devoured by the rat.


    Sigh, these ignorant lowlifes, why kill such important luggage-carrying animals, like a mule. But guess what? I have no choice.


    Going over to the dead mule, I dragged out the satchel containing some of the dry rations and my water bottle.


    With the mule dead, reaching the city would take a long time and I won''t be able to carry much of my luggage anyways.


    Making it so that the ration I have at hand won''t be enough for me to survive the whole journey. Leaving me with only one choice.


    "Guess, a mule''s flesh will have to do."


    Even though I haven''t tasted it before. The moment I cut open the stomach of the mule, I can taste the smell on my tongue. It was disgusting, to say the least.


    But beggars can''t be choosers.


    Cutting as much as I could carry on my back. I left the ce instantly.


    I have already taken a lot of time and there was a chance that someone might stumble on me, and a high chance that someone was not at a friendly party.


    "But, I am liking it." There was a smile on my lips, because to me. This was truly a joyous moment.


    I haven''t had this much fun in ages.


    The thrill of your life being in danger, the danger that was lurking in the woods eyeing my body.


    Everything felt just too enthralling to me. And I think it would be the same for you all.


    But I digress.


    I have seen the way these savages walked out of the woods. And after looking hard enough, I can see some marks left on the trees as well.


    So if I wish to leave this ce, I need to go opposite from these marks, away from their family. Only then would I survive this meeting with them.


    But as I walked away from those trees, the sun started to drop down and the beats that hunt at night are leaving their cave for the hunt.


    Without a fire, I would probably be marked for a hunt by these predators.


    But with light, I might attract the attention of those savages. Which put me in a hard ce.


    So I did what anyone sane in my ce would have done.


    Climbing one of the trees that seemed pretty easy to mount. I dragged my tired body away from the danger of predators.


    Though the higher I climbed, bizarre dizziness took over my body.


    Which was odd. I recall cleaning my face after that savage rubbed his disgusting thing on me. Making it hard for any chance of contamination, hence preventing any illness.


    "Something''s not right," I said in a sleepy tone, Everything was getting so blurry in my vision, that in front of me. I saw someone sitting on the branch just like me.


    "Huh?... Was I too tired?"


    It seems I am seeing things that shouldn''t exist.


    "Hah, what a wonderful and unique experience," I said while moving forward. Trying to confirm if what I was seeing was real or not.


    And the moment I ced my hand on what I thought was a bizarre branch. I knew.


    This was no illusion.


    "Ha...?" I was left speechless as the rotten corpse of whoever this person was rattled and one of his hands fell to the ground, a hand which still had some dried flesh sticking to it.


    "Oh, there are no ants in this ce?" This was the first thought that came to my mind.


    For some reason, this body had dried up without any sign of rot. Even its flesh was left alone.


    "What is this?" I said after noticing that the naked body had a hole in its stomach.


    And in that naked stomach, there was a small ss jar with something leaking out of it.


    "..."


    I understand now that what I have stumbled upon was not a case caused by an ident.


    Someone has put this body here and ced that bottle in the hole of the stomach.


    Not to mention, this bottle looked bizarre, with some ultic markings on it.


    Markings that attracted me.


    "It''s leaking, it''s probably what''s making me dizzy," I said while taking out the jar from the dried-up corpse''s stomach and tightening its cap so that no more of this dizzying liquid leaks out anymore.


    And as the effect of this drug left my body. I was able to see the detailed carvings on this bottle clearly under the moonlight.


    "So beautiful." I thought to myself. The carvings on the ss were beautiful, if this kind of talent was used in ss work in his home city, the creator of this bottle might have earned lots of money.


    And who knows, he might be earning it before being killed by these savages and his creations used like this.


    *Shushuk


    Though, it seemed my moment of peace was broken by something as I heard some movement around me.


    The howls of animals and the creaking of rickets were already spread through the whole forest. But this specific noise produced by the bushes felt out of ce.


    "A predator?" I wondered. And when I saw the being that silently walked out of the bushes, I knew I was right.


    Though a bit wrong as well. As this predator was not an animal, but something much more familiar.


    "Another savage, it seemed to be angered." The anger in the eyes of the savage was all too apparent. I can even notice some bite marks from my precious rats on their feet as they bled and followed a smell.


    I guess the beast has followed my smell. The same smell that had forced me to walk on this path alone and now the same smell might just turn into the reason for my death.


    In case I survive this ordeal. I would invest in some expensive soaps.


    Which might just be the case. As the savage that looked more of a beast than a human started to back off from the tree as if fearing something.


    And what it feared was already in my hand.


    The smell.


    Does this thing scare these beasts?


    Meaning it was not these savages that kept it here. But someone else?


    And as if to confirm my suspicions, I saw the savage turn around and leave this ce.


    "Curious." I thought, stripping some flesh off the dead and dried person and then taking out Grifter from my pocket.


    "Now, now, I will be opening your mouth, don''t try to bite me. I am going to need you now."


    It was my time to rest, as it would seem that this was the perfect ce to rest. Next to a dead body no less.


    "Taste it, your little friends already enjoyed a human. Why don''t you enjoy them as well" As I slowly opened the bind on Grifter''s mouth, it seemed to have understood me. As he didn''t try to bite me.


    And as I ced some of the poisoned flesh in Grifter''s mouth. I looked forward to what it was going to feel like now.


    Though, much to my surprise. The little beast ate the whole piece of flesh without any struggle. And then it looked to be asking for more.


    "Hmm," I thought, finding this a bit interesting.


    I thought the poison was what was keeping the insects away from the body including the rot.


    But it might seem to be a wrong assumption.


    The rat was still as usual energetic, lifting its feet. As if requesting to be released.


    But I knew better than to do this.


    The more intelligence this small rat shows me, the more I look forward to the future of rat fights. And the army of intelligent rats it would breed for me.


    "Sorry for giving you poisoned flesh. So have some water and sleep." I said. nning to sleep in this ce.

 Chapter 3: 1.02.2 Village in a clearing.

    <h4>Chapter 3: 1.02.2 Vige in a clearing.</h4>


    I might be sleeping next to a corpse on the branch of a tree. But let me tell you, it was one of the best sleep I ever had.


    As for the little rat, when I opened my eyes, it was staring at me creepily.


    "I don''t know if you can understand me, but I won''t keep you in bounds for long. It''s just for my own safety."


    Though that was just one reason, the other was that I liked seeing the struggling face of the Grifter that always waited to kill me.


    Which sounded a bit bizarre if someone were to listen to my thoughts. But it was true, this rat was highly capable of killing a human being if it wished to do so.


    I even wondered if I should open a killer agency with killer rats.


    Then my name of Rat king might actually turn real.


    "Let''s go little one, we have a long journey ahead."


    Taking the ss bottle I found in the corpse''s stomach, I restarted my journey in these haunted woods.


    As for why haunted?


    If a corpse on a tree that scares savages was not a sign of something wrong afoot, then I didn''t know what was.


    But going back was also impossible. The only path left for me was forward.


    So I walked, with the small rat in my pocket.


    Though, there was one thing I noticed. The deeper I got into these woods, the darker the environment got and the sounds of the insects also dropped down.


    Making me reassess my choices.


    On my back, there were a bunch of savages looking to hunt me and on my front, there was something or someone that scared the savages.


    "I was stupid." I truly was.


    In my hands was a poison that scared those savages. Why do I not use it to scare them off and leave?


    There was no need toe inside this ce.


    "I will just go back." even if a few hours of the journey have to be wasted, then so be it. I just didn''t feel right.


    And I was someone who never believed in ghost stories because I have seen humanity do worse things in the newspaper I used to read.


    Making these ghost storiespletely childish inparison.


    Though, after leaving this ce, I noticed a problem.


    A problem that was hard to find.


    *****


    Making these ghost storiespletely childish inparison.


    Though, after leaving this ce, I noticed a problem.


    A problem that was hard to imagine that it could even exist.


    "When did this fog appear?"


    This was an odd time for a fog, being midday with the sun at its peak. The fog that appeared on my back felt unnatural. There was neither any wind nor any cold.


    I couldn''t even hear the sound of any insects or birds chirping above me.


    And this caused me to stop.


    The only way to go back is to go through that weird fog, a fog that seemed to be following me, staying just fifty meters away from me.


    If I go deeper toward the forest, the fog will follow me. But if I go towards it, the fog would just stay there, waiting for me to enter it.


    And this creeped the heck out of me.


    Though I will still say, I was never a believer in the ult or ghost stories. The advancements and discoveries I have read in the newspaper all lead to one thing.


    That there was no god or any magical beings, it was just fear of the ignorance and paranoia of a simple event that was amplified by the hearsay from people to people.


    That''s how legends were born.


    But now, I am not as sure anymore.


    And fearing the danger that might be lurking in that fog. I knew what to do.


    Climbing on the tallest tree I could find. I tried to map out the location and learn where I was.


    And much to my surprise. I am lost.


    "LOST... FUCK!!"


    A hill that I was not familiar with nor had I seen before, a divide between the forest that signified a river. None of it was familiar to me. And I understood that I was far from those savages.


    A bit too far if I might say.


    "FUCK."


    Though knowing how things were, I understood what I have to do now.


    Follow the potential river I saw before and then find some human settlements. Even if it leads me to those savages, I would dly ept that instead of walking into that ursed fog that seemed to have a mind of its own.


    So I started to walk, though the river looked closer from above, it was a lot farther than expected.


    But soon I arrived at the clearing formed by the river.


    Or so I thought.


    "A road?" Seeing the road, I was disappointed and somewhat happy.


    Though there was no water for me to drink. At least the road signified that there was a poption that frequented this road.


    "Hah, little Grifter. It seems like we won''t be lost for too long."


    Rationing the water was a must. So I did just that, using the shade of the trees to walk along the road while admiring the architecture of this road.


    "Seems a bit too gaudy for a road though." This thought came to my mind as the road I walked along was built using stone blocks.


    Which was odding across in countrysides that usually just use dry mud roads on which they spread some oil to prevent the nt growth.


    Unlike this road, that seemed to be something one would find in rich districts of a city.


    ''...''


    Which made my suspicions heavier with time.


    Turning back, I can see that the fog still followed me the same way it was following before. Its intentions are clear, "Walk or I devour you."


    Pretty scary if I have to say it.


    Though the existence of fear had long left my body. And only curiosity remained.


    As I found the current circumstances an eye-opening experience for me.


    I don''t know if what I was experiencing was real or just a mirage after all the horrible experiences I went through.


    Though I am certain the road below my feet was at least real.


    And to further confirm if the things I was experiencing were real.


    I saw a woman with a wooden basket over her head walking ahead of me.


    "YES."


    I shouted, causing the woman to turn her head and look at me.


    She was a young girl, with freckles on her cheek and brown hair. To someone like me, she was a beauty. A charming and refreshing face that I haven''t seen a lot in the city.


    Guess this was the vige charm everyone was talking about.


    "Excuse me, is there a vige ahead? I have been lost for a while."


    "Vige? Of course, there is. If there was not, why would I be walking in that direction?" Just like her face, I can feel that she is a fierce youngdy.


    I didn''t know whether it was because I was tired or just frustrated. But her energetic voice felt heavenly to me.


    Even though, when she said this, her mouth was soured up.


    "Thank you for that. I was really losing hope." I said while walking closer to her. But in turn, she backed off from me.


    Pretty expected, and smart of this young girl, if I have to say it.


    The blood from the savage on me was still there and the damage to the clothes after I originally fell from the mule still existed.


    It is making me look like a ruffian.


    "Stay right there." She warned while taking out a sickle from her basket and aiming at me.


    "No need for that, I just wanted to know the location of the vige, that''s it," I said while backing off from the woman.


    "I was ambushed by some savages before and barely escaped with my life. So I was looking for some amodations before leaving for the Christen City."


    "I was wondering if your vige can provide me with that," I said all the words that needed to be spoken to this woman.


    Giving her a clear picture of the situation was better than keeping her in the dark.


    "You can talk to the chief when youe there... just follow this road." She answered me with her sickle still aimed at me.


    "Don''t follow me." She said before trying to hurry away.


    But my questions were not over yet.


    They had just started.


    "Before you go, can you tell me what the fog behind me is?" I shouted to the hurrying figure of the girl.


    But all she shouted back to me was.


    "What fog?" Before her figure disappeared on the bend of the road.


    "Fast girl." It would be a lie to say that I was not disappointed with her leaving me in this ce all alone.


    But from her words, I won''t have to be alone for long.


    Which in turn meant I won''t be bored for long as well.


    ''Hmm, the fog. She doesn''t see it.''


    I thought before turning my head back and looking at the fog once again.


    ''Hmm. And it was then I noticed it.


    The fog seemed closer than before.


    Even though I have not moved back towards it.


    It was probably a hallucination like everything was about that fog.


    But I won''t be too foolish to enter it, no matter what.


    *****


    Though tired and thirsty from the long walk. I was finally able to arrive at a bigger clearing with some cattle grazing on the side and even the sound of rushing water not so far from me.


    And the vige the girl mentioned was also present in front of me. Which mostlyprised of moldy brick homes among which a singr house stood out. Probably their vige chief''s.


    "Oh, a weing party is ready," I said while looking at the men standing at the front of the vige one of them holding arge bamboo stick. Probably in an attempt to threaten me.


    And among this group of weing parties. I found the girl I saw before.


    "Stop right there stranger. Tell us your name and why you are here."


    Those men asked me a basic question, which the second was easy to answer. But not the first one.


    "I was attacked by savages on the road to Christen city and escaped to the forest," I exined the details of what happened and how it happened while removing any details that might make me seem dangerous to these people.


    "So what Meena said was true. Those savages somehow still survived the purge."


    "They have probably multiplied as well."


    It seemed this vige and those savages had some history and not just that. But I also found the name of the woman.


    Meena.


    Such a simple name.


    "We believe you. But first, at least tell us your name." These men asked and I knew they wouldn''t take no for an answer.


    So I did what any sane person will do.


    "My name is Mirage, I was a student learning more about rats. Sadly, most of my test subjects have been lost to those savages" I exined while bowing to the group, while taking out Grifter from my pocket.


    "This is the only one I could recover from. Sadly, it was the most insane and dangerous of the bunch. Probably why it could survive those savages."


    Of course, this name was fake.


    I have long forgotten what my actual name was, as the only woman who knew it rarely called me by it and now she was dead.


    So to me, names were nothing more than temtes that I can change depending on the circumstances.

 Chapter 4: 1.03.1 Love is in the air.

    <h4>Chapter 4: 1.03.1 Love is in the air.</h4>


    It didn''t take long for these people to ept me as their own and be free to walk inside their vige.


    They were so weing after the information I provided, that they even gave me a small abandoned hut with basic amenities avable in it.


    "For food, you need to work. Come to my home next warning, I want help with some pelts." The old man with a ruddy beard suggested while he pointed toward his home.


    A home which was hard to ignore as it was the biggest house in the whole vige.


    Which meant this old man should either be the richest in this vige or the vige chief.


    Though if I have to say, it was probably thetter. As the respect, others give to this man would be evident even to a blind man.


    And I very much had sharp eyes and perceptive ears.


    Though, I wondered why this man nor others around him did not mention this.


    "I will surelye to you, as it would take some time for me to heal." These men asked for rification about my identity, but none of them ever introduced themselves, which was a sign that none of them wished to form any rtionship with me.


    So to give a stranger like me a small home was much appreciated.


    "Thanks for this great gift everyone. I promise to pay you back for everything that you gave me today." I thanked the masses for their epting hearts, even though I Intend to leave this ce before I have to eventually pay it.


    Though before they left like Meena before them, I wished to confirm one thing once again.


    "Is this ce fog or mist prone? As I recall seeing lots of them this morning" I asked.


    But as I expected, the answer remained the same. They truly don''t know what I was even talking about.


    Usually, a misty forest is a normal urrence. Though it''s something that can only exist for a certain period of time in a day andpletely dies after the sunes out at its peak.


    But the fog that followed me didn''t seem to be the same, because even during the hottest time of the day. The fog remained in ce, waiting for me.


    This means that I would have to be careful about that fog.


    "I might just be tired. Right, little Grifter?" I asked while looking at the silent rat that was eyeing me silently.


    A look that I was getting used to.


    Before, due to its siblings and otherpetitor rats, I never gave much attention to Grifter. But the more I leaned in on the little guy, I found just how special he was.


    If possible, I truly wished for Grifter to survive this journey.


    "Now I will feed you, so get ready."


    Opening the bounds of Grifter, I fed him some of the dried flesh from the man that I found on the tree.


    Oddly enough, to the little Grifter, even if he was making ugly faces while consuming it. The flesh didn''t seem to be poisoned. And could be consumed without worry.


    "Don''t rush so hard, this isn''t yourst meal," I said while breaking off pieces of flesh while giving them to the rat.


    "Oh, my shirt, you pooped in my pocket as well."


    "Hmm"


    The moment I said these words, I noticed something. Something I have forgotten about.


    "They are probably being sincere, nothing more." But I thought, I was thinking too much.


    So after removing my clothes and then checking the dried-up injured under my shirt. I could only sigh.


    "I need to wash." Even though it''s a boring activity but a mandatory one.


    And not like I can live in amunity with this smell for long.


    So after some rest, before the sun sets. I left my small hut and headed toward the ce where the sound of running water wasing from.


    Along the way, I saw how this vige usually lived. As it was mid-day, most of the people were already inside their homes hiding from the sun. But for a few, the work never stopped.


    Some were Tanning leather, others were skinning animals while some were dying leather.


    "Lots of leather." Considering there were no pastures in the area nor any open fields, the vige seems to focus on things they can actually acquire in their hands. Which was the leather from hunted animals.


    ''No wonder it was so calm in the forest, all of the beasts must have been hunted by them.''


    This news was sad to me, it would seem that the vigers in this cecked understanding of doing things in moderation.


    If they killed everything, then the biodiversity of the jungle would be harmed and there would be no more animals in this forest unless they are artificially reintroduced to the ce by other people.


    A sad urrence if I have to say so. But why should he care?


    He might like to stay here and watch these vigers when they eventually be aware of the mess they have created, but it would take too much time and I n to leave this ce as early as possible


    "Hmm."


    Though, since arriving in the vige, I just learned some great news. The fog that had been following me all this while has stopped at the precipice.


    Which meant that the fog feared this ce and gave me the chance I was looking for.


    This simple fact also made me happy.


    A lot happier than I might have expected myself to be.


    "Hmm, but exploring the origins of that fog also seems pretty interesting."


    Though, I know this foolish thought would leave me dead.


    *****


    What I considered the river before turned out to be a waterfall. A torrent fell into a small pond down below.


    "Hmm, where does all the water go?" I wondered as I tried to look deeper. But found only hollow darkness in the pond, with no sign of an end to it.


    It was pretty scary and made me wonder if this was even a safe thing to do. Who knows what might be hiding in the pond and this something might just drag me down and drown me.


    The stories of sirens and drowners have been famous for a long while.


    "It''s not dangerous. Don''t be scared you can jump in." A voice sounded from a rock, a voice I was very familiar with.


    "Everyonees to wash here and rarely any ident happens."


    The young woman that I met on the road before slowly came out of the rock and looked at me curiously. The fear that she showed me before was nowhere to be seen in her eyes and instead it was curiosity.


    I don''t think she hates me anymore. Which is good.


    "Are you sure it''s safe? I can''t see the bottom." I was curious what this woman had to say about this.


    "What?... Do you wish to swim down and find what the limit of this pond is?"


    "Let me tell you. No one knows, so just forget about it."


    "Oh yes, I forgot to mention my name, I am Meena. And sorry for before. It''s not every day you meet new people this deep into the forest."


    "I am Mirage and this little guy is Grifter." I reintroduced myself for the third time to this young woman. But this was a lot more formal than before.


    "I would also like to thank you for leading me here." Of course, I would have reached this vige eventually even if this woman didn''t help me as much.


    But there was no need to exin that to her. She needs to think she helped me and holds some sway over me, making her think she is in a higher position than me and hence would talk to me with more confidence.


    And this is exactly what I wished for.


    Because for some reason, I wanted to talk more to her. I probably liked her as well.


    "What is it like in cities?" She asked as I proceeded to take off my clothes, unashamed of her existence.


    I was going to bathe here and get rid of the dirty smell on my body. I even collected some herbs on my way here which have a heavy herbal smell to them. Which ought to get rid of my own smell.


    So I proceeded.


    "They are disgusting ces, filled with disease and horrible people. Life in the countryside feels much more peaceful and calming." I said while keeping Grifter under the shade of a rock and then slowly taking off my underwear.


    Which caused the girl to wince.


    "Please, at least have some shame in the presence of a girl." She said while hiding her face behind her hands. But I can see her peeking in on me. Which felt childish. It was not like I couldn''t notice what she was doing.


    But even if she did that, I was not ashamed to show my body to others.


    "It''s your fault for being here while I was taking a bath. And I have no other clothes or towels with me, so I have to go in naked."


    "So meet youte, after my clothes dry off." I gave her red cheeks onest look before jumping into the water and witnessing the void of the pond for the first time so closely.


    I have to say, this was truly a horrible and scary experience, it felt as if this hole would suck me down.


    Though, for people living in this vige, this might be normal.


    So when I surface again, I wish to talk some more to Meena. I noticed that she has long left this ce.


    Leaving me with my onlypanion, which was a grifter who was silently munching on the flesh I gave him.


    "Who knows, I might just settle down here."

 Chapter 5: 1.03.2 A peaceful life.

    <h4>Chapter 5: 1.03.2 A peaceful life.</h4>


    "~Such a wonderful world~" I sang and sang, ignoring the mist that had stopped at the precipice of the vige. With only my underwear on, the rest of my clothes were still drying on the stick that I was holding on to.


    "Little guy, how is the view from there?" I asked Grifter who was also bound to the same stick and moved up and down with the beats of the song.


    Not like he had any choice, to begin with. As I was not wearing any clothes, making it was impossible for Grifter to hide in my pockets anymore.


    "Don''t worry, you won''t be enjoying that view for long. It''s time for our rest."


    I still had some dried rations left that could help me survive for three more days. But I nned to go to the vige chief''s house tomorrow and work for him.


    Earning some on the side won''t be harmful. And this would make it seem I am a dependable individual who is not scared to present himself.


    Well, to begin with, this was a test by the vige chief. Depending on my choice, he would rate me as either dangerous or a safe individual in the vige. So not going there would be a foolish thing to do.


    Or so, this is what I think.


    And whether this is true or not, I can''t be sure about it. Because as an Individual, I can never know what goes in the minds of others no matter what.


    A fact that I have learned at a young age.


    "Hmm, it seems like the kids were inside their homes before during the afternoon as well." When I eventually arrived back in the vige, I saw the kids ying around in front of their homes.


    No, it seemed like they treated this whole vige as their home as they jumped from one home to another, treating every ce like their own.


    This truly made it seem like one big family.


    "Is it that stranger that sister Meena brought here?"


    And it would seem I was pretty famous among the kids already. Looked at me and followed me as if I was a zoo animal of some sort.


    Guess I understand somewhat what my rats used to experience.


    But they surely had not as much sentience as me.


    Of course, I am not talking about Grifter who was ring at the kids as if he would eat them.


    And if left alone, he probably would.


    That''s just how he was, pure evil incarnate.


    The kids should be considered lucky that I was holding Grifter back.


    "Don''t stare at kids. This rat bites." I tried to scare them but in an innocent way. I didn''t wish to scare the kids in reality and neither did I wish to cause their parents to hate me for it.


    Taking any drastic actions in this ce would be antithetical to my goal in this ce.


    So, saying good night to the kids, I entered the temporary home I was given and foundid on the bed after cleaning off the dust from it.


    Cleaning this whole home would take some time and I chose to do it tomorrow.


    Because tonight I wished for a peaceful night, away from the thoughts of the mysterious mist and the scary pond where I just washed my body in.


    So I wished to sleep early, which was before the sun went down. And as it was a vige, the people usually slept by the time the sun was down anyways.


    Giving onest look toward the mist that was waiting for me at the periphery of the vige. I took out the dried rations for a meal.


    I didn''t wish to go hungry during sleep.


    But before I could eat the biscuits made of rye. Someone knocked on my door.


    "Hmm." I wondered who it would be at this time of day.


    The kids were going home for food and the men wereing from herding and...


    Oh! It seems there were still some animals left, as I saw through the window that some men must have hunted a wolf. Though it would seem the trap they dug for it left the body pretty butchered.


    But I am being distracted.


    Approaching the door. I opened it up.


    And oh delight, if it was none other than Meera. Holding a pot of porridge and some bread.


    "This is not free, think of it as early payment for your work tomorrow." She said shyly before handing the tray to me and leaving in a hurry.


    Her cheeks are as red as before.


    "Thank you." Before she left, I hurriedly put in thanks, as for whether she heard it or not, I don''t know.


    But she was probably embarrassed to face me after I exposed my body to her before.


    Guess, this is what you see in rural areas. In the city where I belonged, some children were sold naked on the streets. But here, even this is a heavy subject for the vige folks.


    This is why I warned her before, she shouldn''t treat the cities as some wondrous ces. They are the perfect amalgamation of the worst aspects of human society in one ce.


    The kind of ce that only I may be able to enjoy.


    "But this ce is also not that boring." I wondered, looking at the porridge with some meat chunks in them.


    Meat that wasn''t dried and mossy. But fresh meat smelled nice.


    "If this is how life could be, I might just stay here."


    Taking the tray to the bed, I ced the ration biscuits into the bag once again and noticed the poisoned vial that was still present in my bag.


    "Guess, there will be no need for you in this ce," I said before locking the satchel bag and then gleefully enjoying the porridge along with fresh meat.


    For some reason, this food reminded me of the time before my father''s death. When everything was enjoyable to me. The food that my mother made was simr to the one I am currently eating, even though the ingredients were bad.


    But after my dad''s death, even after making the food the same way, it never felt as good as it was before.


    Which was surprising to me.


    "I would request her recipe..."


    And I was not joking, I would surely do this. I promise.


    Then turning to Grifter, I poured some of the porridge with some meat chunks into a small bottle cap that I found on the table. And then handed it to the little guy.


    "Enjoy for now. Tomorrow, I will see if I can find a new home for you."


    I said before leaning on the bowls and the tray. And then jumping on the bed, going back to my sleep.


    A sleep that I very much desired. As things happened way too fast recently.


    And I wished for some much-needed rest.


    *****


    "Mirage, if you are free,e to my home. I need some help with bleaching the hides."


    "Sorry, the vige chief has asked me to teach the kids letters today. I won''t be able to help you. How about tomorrow?"


    "No worries, those little runts learning things are more important than these hides."


    I can''t believe it''s been three weeks since I came here. And I don''t like to flex, but I have adapted to this peaceful ce pretty well.


    Though, reaching this state was not simple. The kind of things the vige chief made me do as a test was just too much, breaking my body to some extent.


    But after those first few days, he wasn''t as harsh on my work as before. And one time he even came to me asking for one thing.


    "Teach the kids how to read and write." The vige chief was not as stupid as I had previously assumed, knowing the state of the forest and the problem caused by overhunting, he was looking at the future of the vige and nning to send the kids to the city to work.


    But for that, these kids need to know how to spell their names first.


    So he asked me, who imed to be a student. To teach these kids.


    And so I did. Recalling the things my father taught me and how he taught me. I mimicked him and produced some fine results.


    Though, what was more interesting was that there were not only kids that joined my ss. But there were even some adults, mostly women, that came to the ss and learned some things.


    Something the vige chief liked very much to my surprise.


    Usually, inmunities like these, the women are more conservative and the men look down on them for trying to be learned people.


    I would need around then hands to recount the news I read in which a woman died after being mistaken for a witch due to her standing out from the masses.


    Which made the vige chief pretty progressive to some of the modern folks I have seen in the city.


    "Oh, going to teach the kids once again?"


    "And you skipping the ss once again? Do you know how much your father wishes for you to leave this vige and make something of yourself?" I asked Meena, who just bit her tongue as a child in embarrassment.


    Oh, I forgot to mention that Meena is the daughter of the vige chief and the oldest of this generation of kids.


    Though, she is still a few months older than me.


    "I find it too boring. Better to go out and enjoy life when I still have time."


    "..."


    These words.


    I don''t know, but these words when heard from the mouth of others, they felt unreal to me.


    She was someone like me, trying to find enjoyment in things that she likes. Just the way I did.


    But, I still didn''t know why I felt so hollow hearing these words.


    "I promise that I will have fun this time. So how about you join i..."


    As I was going to request this jolly girl to join me. I noticed that there was a crowd concentrated in the Yaedel''s home. And people talking among themselves.


    As for the topic they were talking about.


    "Someone murdered Betsy?"

 Chapter 6: 1.04.1 The Weird Rat.

    <h4>Chapter 6: 1.04.1 The Weird Rat.</h4>


    Betsy was the cow of old Yandel. One among a total of ten, and known for its unusually mild nature.


    I have even seen kids beating that cow with a stick and Betsy just ignoring it.


    And a cow like that was murdered.


    ''Huh? Murdered?'' Getting closer to the group. I came to the ranch and saw what these men meant by murder.


    "Who would do this?" Meena said, looking at the horrifically butchered cow that didn''t even look like a cow anymore.


    If not for the bones that were beside the giant mound of flesh. No one would consider it a cow.


    Though this might seem macabre to others. But to me, it was oddly beautiful. The organs were spread apart on the mound with some certain understanding of human anatomy, it would seem as if the person tried to mimic a human while he was putting the organs one by one on each other, before throwing the head of old Betsy on top.


    As for the bones, they seemed to be spread apart sporadically. But I can feel a pattern on them as well, it looked illusory at one nce and real at another.


    Maybe by changing my position, I might learn what the killer or killers wished to convey.


    "This is the work of the devil." One of the men shouted as they supported the traumatized Yadel to his feet.


    "Who can do this, in such a short time."


    From the amount of flesh and bones, I can feel that none of it was missing.


    Or that it was done in an attempt to hide what was stolen, it might be something small.


    As for how I would know this?


    Because I would do something simr if I had the means for it.


    "This happened overnight, it doesn''t seem to be the work of one person. I think there might be strangers among us."


    The suspicion always falls on the stranger or newbie in the group no matter what happens. Even if that stranger was innocent.


    And as I expected, I waspletely silent, admiring the work of art that was in front of me, the eyes of others turned to me.


    Can''t even enjoy something beautiful before being forced to defend yourself... huh?


    "I didn''t do it, I was over at the Laker''s home helping them and then went to sleep there as well."


    "You can ask him if you want."


    And in times like these, I know to not act suspicious and told them everything to clear my name first.


    But as it was, most of these people still didn''t believe one cent of what I said and even if they did, they consider me in cahoots with the people who did this.


    "He has actual proof, so back off. He has been doing nothing but helping us sinceing here. And is this how you would treat him?"


    At least, there was someone with a calm mind who can see things through.


    Sadly, this person was Meena.


    "You shut up Meena, don''t jump in between the talks of adults." One of the men said, who I had helped with tanning as well.


    Seriously, there is no loyalty among these people.


    "Please, I am not someone who can kill. I was not even able to harm the savages, what can I even do with these giant cows." I said, making them recall why or how I came here.


    And even though my words were pure lies, the face of all these men turned sour.


    "Running from savages? Didn''t you say you were a schr that got lost?"


    "Huh?..."


    "Just calm down everyone. We can''te to conclusions too early." At this point, the vige chief arrived at the scene and started to calm down the scared and riled-up vige folks.


    "Mirage, go to your house, we will cancel today''s sses."


    The old guy ordered me as he, along with his sons and other vigers started to deal with the situation on their own.


    As for Meena, she followed me home with a worried face.


    This was obvious, anyone would be traumatized by seeing such a brutal scene.


    So I asked, somewhat worried about her myself.


    "Are you ok?" I asked, my voice calm as still water as I thought to put my hands on her shoulder.


    But suddenly, out of instinct, I stopped.


    ''Hmm.''


    I understood, I might have fallen for this girl.


    "I am ok, I was just thinking something." She tried to downy it. But I can see that she was a bit scared after the other vigers put her down with a shout.


    "You don''t seem ok, but anyway, I wanted to say my thanks. Thanks for standing up for me." I said the words that I rarely said in my life.


    Words that caused Meena to stop in her steps.


    "I... I will be going home. Meet youter." She said in a weak voice in order to not make me worried.


    But that act of hers caused me even more worry.


    "Do you know in the city, there is a carriage that can run without the power of horses?" Out of nowhere, I mentioned this.


    Which caused her to stop, once again.


    "There is this intricate disk that can tell us the time of the day without the use of the sun."


    With these words, she turned to face me once again and I looked at her.


    "And then there are giant centipedes made of metal that run on metal tracks." With these words, it seemed that curiosity had taken over her worry and fear from before.


    So I said, "How about, instead of going to your bed and sleeping in fear. I will tell you all about the city that you were curious about."


    The face she made, the smile she showed me.


    I don''t know how to describe it.


    But one thing was certain. The dream of going to Christen city inside me died with that smile. And I n to live in this ce as long as I can.


    *****


    After leaving Meena who had a smile on her face, I walked towards my home.


    Staying away from the home any longer would just increase the suspicions of the vigers on me.


    And I didn''t wish to see that.


    I wished to live among them, away from the disgusting thing that is the city. And I also don''t wish for Meena to learn the truth about the city as well.


    So I will stay here, making sure that she doesn''t leave this ce and learns the reality of the lies I fed her.


    Though, when I eventually came to my home. There was something odd about it.


    I could feel something wrong with the door.


    "Blood?" The stain was small, very small.


    I can see that there was a small bloody fingerprint on the handle of the door.


    And from the dark color of the blood. I was sure that it was not recent, but instead an old stain.


    But if it was so old, why haven''t I noticed it till now.


    "Probably my imagination," I said, with an intent to ignore the weirdness that I just noticed.


    Who knows, if I was right about it as well. And I might have just ignored this stain for thest few weeks I have been here.


    "Are you happy to see me today? I came early." I said to the little grifter that had turned a lot calmer since obtaining his new cage where he can move and exercise some.


    "Don''t worry, I will find you a bride," I said, giving one look at little Grifter and intending to leave his cage.


    But during this certain look, I notice something.


    "Hmm."


    Little Grifter was tapping its right pawn on the cage while using its left one to point it at itself.


    "Ooooh, Wondrous. I can''t believe a rat was truly capable of such emotion and intelligence." This was truly wonderful. I can''t believe that a rat might exist in this world capable of something like this.


    "Can you understand me, little Grifter?" I asked, curious about what other gift this little guy had for me.


    Even the artistic piece in that ranch seemed ndpared to this.


    "Oh, you do?" Looking at the nodding head of the murderous rat.


    I was even more enthralled.


    "This is truly impossible. How can it be possible? I have heard about rats being used in multiple experiments. But I never expected you guys to be as intelligent as this."


    "You wait here, I will go and get Meena and show her this." I wished to hurry away. But Grifter then screeched loudly, attracting my attention.


    "Oh yes, I forgot to treat you." Taking out a beef jerky with some fat on it, I threw it to Grifter.


    "Enjoy it, And when Ie back, you better show her the same things you showed me."


    This truly was a magical world. First that weird corpse on the tree, then that mist, and then the beautiful piece of sculpture made of flesh.


    Now even a rat can understand me.


    Guess all the time I worked hard paid off. This was the most fun I had in my life.


    Leaving that ursed city was the best choice of my life.


    "..."


    But, when good things ever happened to me.


    And with this thought, I stopped moving and turned toward Grifter once again, who was still screeching loudly, asking for attention.


    It hasn''t even touched the jerky I gave it. It just looked at me, with pleading eyes.


    "Oddly enough, even this feels familiar to me," I said as if it was a joke. But when I looked at the desperate face of Grifter once again.


    I knew that I had seen this face before.


    "What is happening in this world?"

 Chapter 7: 1.04.2 Life goes on.

    <h4>Chapter 7: 1.04.2 Life goes on.</h4>


    "Can you speak little guy?" I ced my finger in the cage and then slowly rubbed the back of Grifter. But I didn''t experience a simr sort of aggression that I was so used to. Instead, the rat looked at me with pity.


    Pity?


    A rat showing pity toward me?


    Just what is going on?


    "Little guy, are you really a rat or something else?" I asked.


    Lots of weird things have happenedtely and I won''t be surprised to learn that little Grifter was actually a prince that was turned into a rat by an evil witch.


    And only by kissing him would he be able to revert to his original form.


    But Grifter just shook its small head. And then pointed its little hands at me.


    "Me... yes?" I understood what the rat was saying at once. And even Grifter seemed happy at my understanding.


    Then, the rat fell on his back with all his four feet up, almost as if it was dead.


    "Hmm, me dead?"


    "You wish to kill me?"


    "Oh, I already knew this."


    I was amused by the intelligence of Grifter like never before. The little guy seemed almost human, if not for hisck of vocal cords that were capable of forming eligible sentences.


    "This is some weird way to threaten someone." Though this threat might be weird. But what was weirder was the individual threatening me.


    I still can''t ignore the fact that little Grifter was smart enough to threaten me with so much emotion.


    Though the rat got up once again and shook its head. Then I did the same motion again and again as if I had misinterpreted his previous message.


    But at this point, I was in no mood for this.


    "Enough with this act, tell me who you are and what is going on."


    But the rat is a rat, how can I expect it to exin what it wished when there was such a huge difference in our life level.


    This was just a rat, an intelligent one.


    While I was a human, a bored one.


    "Find some other way to tell me. I will be going and fixing that broken cupboard." As I have nned to live in this ce for a long while, I need to fix the home that I will be living in from now on.


    As for what happened earlier, I am sure that it will go away with time unless something simr doesn''t happen again.


    *****


    It''s been a year since I got here and unlike my previous ims, I have truly be part of thismunity.


    Not to mention, I was even at a legal age to get married.


    "Hear ye! Hear ye! The demon of the woods struck again. Another cow died."


    Kids acting as the newspaper boy in the cities, roamed around while spreading the news of another death. That has put the vigers in a shock once again.


    But for a long while, these same people have long abandoned the thought that I would be someone who would kill


    As there were multiple instances that I was somewhere else when this happened.


    Sadly, can''t be said about a particr family which was forced to leave the vige after everyone found that one of their sons used to do some indecent activity with the cows during the night.


    And the way they left was pretty ugly.


    Though the vigers soon learned that it was not them who were doing this.


    It was not anyone.


    As a cow was left that way even in front of a farmer''s eye who nned to stay awake at night to keep watch.


    ording to him, he slept only for a few minutes. But that was enough for the perpetrator to do his deed.


    Which shook the vige to the core.


    But what about it? Not like this being or whatever it was hurting me or those close to me.


    Leaving tomorrow''s ss after checking the homework for the kids, I left for the jungle all alone once again.


    I can see the vigers still busy with their work, I can even see Meena on the side washing clothes and drying them on a rope, and the kids who were happy to be relieved of their studies as they started to run like rats to y once again.


    Such freedom was not even afforded to the kids in the city, as there was a precedent of children being kidnapped right from people''s doorstep.


    If not for me being a tad bit ugly, with the way I lived, the same might have been my fate.


    "Now where was it?" I wandered in the trees before stumbling upon the mouse trap I had built before.


    "Hmm, a female atst." I was happy to find that I had finally caught another female rat for Grifter.


    "You might be able to entertain him for a while, the little guy is getting desperate these days."


    As I was admiring the feral nature of a wild rat, a voice from behind me asked.


    "Caught another one?"


    "Yes, Staying here doesn''t mean I can abandon my work. One day I still have to go out and I would like to go back to society with some results." I lied, as I can''t tell Meena that I was nning to stay here for her.


    Nor can I tell why I caught this rat.


    "But why rats? I still can''t understand what could rats give us besides diseases." She asked me with a curious look.


    A question she has asked before, but her simple brain could never understand it even if I tell her.


    But once again, I calmly told her.


    "SImple, rats grow fast and their anatomy is pretty simr to us humans as well."


    "You can treat them as humans and as they grow old fast, they are perfect for experimentation in multiple fields."


    "From medicines, biology, and most of all sociology. The one I am studying. And you can already see the result in little Grifter, he has gotten smarter with time."


    The exnation didn''t take too long, but this time, Meena asked.


    "So to you, humans are like rats?" She asked me a question with such an obvious answer that it wasughable.


    "Not to me, it''s not the truth that only I believe. Humans are not different from rats, the only difference we have at the moment is our intelligence. But our behavioral patterns and nature are pretty close to them."


    "I still don''t understand, so I will leave it at this."


    "By the way, father is calling you for something. I don''t know why." She informed me with her bright lips before leaving in a childlike manner as her hair moved with each of her motions. Like grass under the light wind.


    After this, I left.


    I know better than to make the chief of the vige wait out on me. Not when the situation in the whole vige is so serious.


    So hurrying to my home, I approached Grifter''s small nest in which he had done some workaround.


    "Please don''t kill this one" I prayed to the little guy before putting the female rat into its cage, while Grifter just kept looking at me while nibbling some flesh from the bones of another dead rat.


    I don''t wish to say this, but Grifter is a pretty messed up rat.


    "It''s been a year, and you haven''t aged at all. Truly an enigma."


    The grifter I remember was already over a year old when we first came to this vige. So by this point, he should have gotten old with time. But I can still see him as energetic as before.


    Making me understand just how special my little Grifter was.


    Now if it only is capable of siring some children instead of killing all the female rats I send to him, then it will be better.


    After saying goodbye to the little grifter, I left my house.


    Believe it or not, life in this vige is pretty hard. Everyone needs to work non-stop.


    And I was the same.


    Getting to Meena''s house, I found from her mother that Meena''s father was at the back, so I followed her words and reached the tanning room that I have worked in multiple times before.


    "You are here? Took your time?" He asked, at which I just informed him my reason for the dy.


    "Of course, it''s your job. Then I wonder if this is rted to your job as well?" The old vige chief said as he took out a small bottle. A bottle that I was very familiar with.


    And I understood that things were a bit serious.


    "You don''t have to panic, there is no one else here besides me." The old man tried to calm me down, but how could I.


    I understood what these vigers would do to me if they deemed me to be the devil.


    I haven''t forgotten what happened to the zoophiliac man and his family not so long ago.


    "It''s... it''s mine." I said, before continuing. "It''s for my own use. Not anyone else." I added.


    "Why would a schr need poison?" He asked, his eyes muddied with suspicion.


    Now, no matter what exnation I gave to this man. He would believe none of it.


    Which was understandable from his perspective. He was the leader of this vige and protecting it was his job. There must already be countless people that are questioning his leadership. So it''s understandable why he was taking such a serious approach toward me.


    "This is in case I am captured by someone. I would use this to escape." I put forward an excuse. An excuse that might sound horrific, but they were the justest reason to keep this vile vial on my body.


    "Chief, you know me. I am not capable of doing something like that. And there is nothing to be gained for me as well."


    "Enough... We have already made a mistake before, I don''t mind making another one."


    "You will leave this vige the next time merchantse here to collect the leather. And don''t worry, I will pay you for your sses as well. Just don''te back."


    "Chief, this is wrong. I won''t do anything to harm this vige." I pleaded.


    I truly did.


    I might be a bit ill in the head. But I won''t put myself in danger by doing something so foolish and meaningless.


    The art itself might be beautiful, but the process of creating it is never beautiful.


    "No buts, go back to your city. It''s where you should be anyways." The old man said with a sorry voice.


    Followed by a warning.


    "And stay away from Meena."


    ''Hmm.''


    A father''s threat was a lot heavier than the threat of a vige chief.


    I also understood at this point that I was not safe here.


    "If that''s what you wish," I said, leaving the ce with my head a bit down.


    I was sad.


    *****


    After Jester left the premises, hidden behind the leather, some other men slowly walked out of it.


    "We should have killed him here." One of them said, his voice filled with anger after the loss of multiple of his livestock.


    "Don''t be foolish, exiling him is the best choice for us. We can''t repeat the same mistake as we did with Jessie''s family. He might be a weird man, but losing his life over it was too much."


    "I don''t mind throwing him out. As even though he had helped us, we have also paid him back full. There is no reason for that man to stay here."


    The talks among these men continued and most of the general consensus was that they wished for him to leave the vige.


    But a certain group among them didn''t think the same.


    That certain group already had a different n in mind.


    A n in which Mirage aka Jester, dies.


    And no one was aware of it, for they had already made up their mind.


    The death of their livestock will be avenged, and who knows, they might prevent even a bigger tragedy.

 Chapter 8: 1.05.1 The path hidden in the basement.

    <h4>Chapter 8: 1.05.1 The path hidden in the basement.</h4>


    I was angry.


    Sinceing here, I have tried my hardest to act normal. I have done things that I deem boring just to be epted by these people. I have even worked in their homes so that they would ept me.


    But to these people, none of that matters. To these people, a stranger would remain a stranger no matter how hard he tried.


    If this is how they would treat me, why bother?


    Why put on an act of a kind man that I wasn''t. Why work for these people who would show me a face of eptance at one moment and then throw me away from the other.


    And they even lie straight to my face.


    "There is no one in the room, my ass." I was not some foolish bastard. I can know when someone is hiding in the storage and next to the chief even.


    I know I was surrounded and if I made a wrong move, I would have died in that room then and there.


    With my body disappearing without a sound.


    Before one knows it, these viges might have forgotten that a man like me ever existed.


    And when another of the cows is killed, only then would they have regretted their choice.


    So I didn''t let them kill me.


    I maintained my act even if I was feeling angry.


    The same anger I felt at my mother''s death.


    "Why did I think I could be epted? I should have left this ce long ago, it''s weird anyway."


    I truly should have left this ce. Staying here was a foolish decision that I havee to understand now.


    People like me can never look forward to a normal future, a normal life with a kindpanion.


    I was foolish to expect more from life than just entertainment.


    There is only one meaning in life and its entertainment. Nothing more and nothing less.


    "Fuck these people, I will be rich with Grifter. There are no rats like him."


    Ignoring the figure of Meena that tried to stop me, wondering why my mood was the way it was. I entered my home and closed the door on the back.


    Though, the moment I turned around and looked at my room. It surprised me.


    "What the fuck is going on," I said, as I noticed that the arrangement of the room and decorations were a lot different from when I came here before.


    Even the smell in the air was different. A lot more medicinal.


    "I didn''t even leave for an hour, who can do this."


    I knew for a fact this was my home, with the same windows, the same door, and the architecture.


    Even the broken ster on the wall remained the same.


    But something was different.


    This room was mine and not mine all at once.


    "A dirty y by these vigers?"


    "I won''t fall for this... I am already mad with that fog behind me." Ignoring the room that was familiar and alien at once, I reached the cage of Grifter that was still hidden under the nket.


    Though the design of the nket was a tad bit different.


    "So they saw you as well? Wonderful." I said while lifting the cloth from the cage and finding little Grifter once again.


    And same as before, the rat I just ced a few minutes ago was dead, its body turned inside out.


    But there was something else in the cage as well.


    Something at which the little rat was pointing at.


    Something which was made up of bones of the rats that Grifter had killed before. Bones that he then used to write some words with.


    "Die, live, repeat?"


    The small hands of the rat first pointed at the ''live'' part, then the ''die'' part, and then ''repeat''.


    Then it kept tapping at the repeat part.


    Though the words were crude and spelled wrong. I understood what the rat wanted to say, but did not understand them too.


    "Me dead... I would die?" I asked, recalling the previous messages the rat tried to convey before.


    At which, the rat nodded its head, then it moved next to the other side of the cage and then lifted a rat skin. Under which, with rat entrails, there were some crude words written once again.


    "Run and basement?"


    Things were getting too weird. My little rat cannot only express and understand the human tongue but even spell out words that were impossible for a normal rat.


    As no matter how much you train a rat, its small brain would never evolve to such a degree.


    But till this point, I have seen too many weird things.


    "I understand the run, but what about the basement?" I already intended to run away, things were getting too bizarre and I don''t like to say it, but Grifter''s action has scared me somewhat.


    Leaving this ce might hurt me, but at least I can get rid of the madness I was experiencing in this ce.


    And who knows, Grifter might also turn into the normal killer rat from before.


    Well, he is still the same, skinning another rat-like itself in such a small amount of time just shows how much of an expert killer he is.


    "No, I don''t need to ask, I need to see it for myself. Too many bizarre things have happened recently and I can''t ignore them anymore."


    Opening the cage, I slowly pushed my hand toward Grifter. I feared that he might bite me and try to kill me.


    But, Grifter was a lot calmer than I had imagined him to be.


    Well, he was capable of speech. So this was not much of a surprise after I thought it through somewhat.


    "Basement, lead me to it," I said to Grifter that had climbed to my shoulder, close to my carotid artery, which gave it an ample chance to attack and kill me. But even then, the little vengeful rat didn''t kill me. And instead, it pointed in the direction of the room.


    And when I came to, Grifter was pointing at the rat.


    "Under this?" Looking at this unfamiliar room, I felt a bit of strangeness in me. As If I didn''t belong in this ce.


    "Yes! I am moving the bed." Under the small ps of Grifter, I dragged the bed to the side and found what was under it.


    "Truly a basement."


    Opening the basement door, I found just darkness down below. And from this darkness, I can feel some cool airing from it.


    "Is this really safe?" I asked the little guy on my shoulder, which just nodded at me.


    "I might be truly going mad." There was no other way to exin why I would be led by a rat and treating it so normal.


    But, I don''t wish to say this.


    But everything became pretty entertaining to me.


    And I think the same is true for all of you folks.


    "This is my escape route?"


    I said before turning to the bed. I need to hide this gate under the bed somehow.


    Which would seem a bit problematic as the door to the basement opened from above. And I can''t drag the bed over to hide the gate unless I keep it open.


    And I don''t wish for others to find out my location so easily.


    "If only I had apanion." I wondered, recalling Menna.


    Yes, if it''s her, she might help me.


    But knowing her, she would probably choose to follow me in this whole situation instead.


    "Let''s leave it all to luck." Dragging the bed closer to me, I descended slowly into the dark cave with antern in my hand.


    While I covered the entrance to the basement like a cave with my bed.


    "Goodbye." I shave onest look at the room that now looked alien to me and then dropped downpletely along with Grifter.


    "It truly was a cave." I wondered as I illuminated the path with thentern while slowly crawling forward.


    And yes, you heard it right. I was crawling on all my fours as the path forward was a lot smaller than I had anticipated.


    Someone dug it, a singr person dug this cave and I can feel the struggle and hard work that person put into this hidden pathway.


    "But from whom was this person hiding from? Making someone like this in secrecy?"


    I wondered as I gave little Grifter a curious look.


    There was a high chance that little Grifter might be possessed by the dead spirit of the man who dug this path.


    It would exin Grifter''s intelligence and his knowledge perfectly.


    This also meant that I need to be cautious toward Grifter, who knows if the stories of ghosts are actually true, and Grifter is just leading me away from people in order to take over my body.


    Though, chances of that seemed slim as they came to the end of the path and heard a familiar sound that I have been hearing for a long while now.


    "The waterfall." Crawling out of the path, the area expanded till it was spacious enough to act as a room. With lots of things attached to the wall.


    A room that was hidden behind the waterfall at an elevation that people might not even notice.


    "So this is the ce for me to rest until things in the vige are over?" I asked the little grifter on my shoulder that just shook its head and pointed at the room.


    As if asking me to illuminate it.


    And so I did.


    "Wha..."


    What I found was a scene of carnage. Odd pieces of organs from multiple cows were sewn together to form a simple anatomical structure of a human body and around it, there were different herbs and books kept carefully on the shelf.


    "Did you take me to the hideout of the demon?"


    I asked with horror as I looked at the little rat on my shoulder.


    "Are you the demon?"

 Chapter 9: 1.05.2 I am not me.

    <h4>Chapter 9: 1.05.2 I am not me.</h4>


    "Is every one asleep? You saw to it that no one noticed you leaving, right?" In the dark of night, when most of the vige was sleeping, a group of four men were whispering to each other while being attentive to their surroundings.


    Their behavior is simr to rats that go out to search for food.


    But these people were not looking for food. They were looking forward to killing someone.


    "Yes, I saw all the houses, everyone is asleep. This is the perfect time to strike." The other guy said who had the duty to check up on other vigers, in case anyone was awake.


    And if that was so, their n might have been canceled.


    "Then good, we can''t let the chief find out what we did." The leader of the men said.


    "Remember, two will hold his hand while one his legs. I will take care of his neck." These men nned to dispatch Jester in a simple way. By suffocation.


    Which advantages were many, like not leaving any traces and also preventing an individual from screaming for their life?


    Some even say that suffocation is the most peaceful way of death imaginable. One will just fall into a deep sleep after it. This was the least these men could do for Jester in case he was not the demon hurting their cattle.


    "Then let''s go."


    The leader said while walking silently toward Alfin''s home, his steps causing the crickets in the area to go silent in fear. Making the area around Jester''s house a bit eerie.


    Using his hands, in fear of startling Jester. The leader of the men used his hand gestures to point at the door and asked one of them to help deal with the lock.


    Which in this vige case was a simple thing to do as the lock was just a simple hinged one that was easily dealt with using a thread and a hook.


    And as the gate opened, the men were ready to sneak into Jester''s room to kill him. But sadly, they won''t get the chance.


    As Jester has long left his home under the leadership of his little rat Grifter.


    Although, there was a chance for them to notice his escape route if they notice the flow of air from below the bed.


    *****


    "Are you the demon? Grifter?" I turned to the little guy on my shoulder, who jumped down and then slowly walked in front of me.


    The desire to step on him came into my heart for an instant, along with the desire to just run away.


    A death as foolish as this would be a first in the world.


    And I don''t wish to be the first for something as stupid as this.


    But to my relief, while looking at me. Grifter just shook its head.


    Though, it would have been great if I could believe these words of his. The room currently in my view was anything but normal.


    I would even say it was horrific.


    "Then who is the demon if not you," I asked the little guy. Who just shook its head and pointed at the bookshelf and the table beside it.


    Its intentions were clear.


    It wishes for me to read those books.


    Something I was going to do anyway, considering the situation I found myself in was very bizarre.


    ''Hmm''


    Didn''t the old folks once say that for a ritual to bepleted, there is always a catalyst? That can either be a motion or activity or an object?


    This meant that there was a chance of actual possession if I read those books and this made me pause on my path.


    "Grifter, let me ask you this. You don''t wish to take over my body. Do you?" I asked, in a serious tone that was unbing of me.


    A tone that I rarely used.


    At which, the rat looked at me as if I was an idiot then pointed at the bookshelf and then gestured to read it.


    "Ok, I get it." I walked slowly, fearing that any small movement of mine could curse me in this ce.


    Which turned out to be an actual possibility. I noticed multiple runes drawn on the rock floor, haphazardly. While each of those runes leads to the totem of flesh and bones to the side of the room.


    "Just who is capable of this." I know asking this question was foolish at this point. As all the answers were already in front of me, on that bookshelf.


    And before I could reach the bookshelf, Grifter was ahead of me and crawled up the bookshelf and pointed at a particr book.


    "This one?" I asked before it changed its position and then pointed at another book.


    "This one as well I presume?" Looking at the nodding head of Grifter, I took the other book out as well.


    And this kept happening till there were around 8 books in my hand.


    The cover of each book was made of cow leather, probably made from the cows that the demon killed.


    But was it truly a demon who did this?


    Reading the titles of both, I understood that there were a total of two kinds of books in the pile.


    One had the title of "Log of memories" while the other was titled "Log of knowledge".


    As for the books that existed in the majority on the bookshelf, they were titled "experiments".


    Reading the titles of these books, made me understand one thing.


    This room was not built by an ultic zealot with a screw loose.


    This was built by an actual schr with a screw loose.


    "I know, I know. I will read it."


    In the end, under the behest of Grifter, I started to read the first book in the "Log of Memories."


    "The one who is reading this at the moment, you are not you. You are Lakyus the Prime Daemon, a god among men."


    The name felt familiar as if I had heard it before. My head hurt as I tried to think more, there were scenes that I was not familiar with.


    Some seemed like scenes of the future and some seemed like scenes of the past.


    "Don''t tell me, Grifter, am I the owner of this book? I asked the little rat. Who chose to remain silent at this time.


    "Do you not know or do you not intend to tell me?" At this question, Grifter made a struggling face and then lifted its front paws and gestured to me.


    That it doesn''t know.


    "Remember this. Our powers were sealed, we were backstabbed by our greatest friend and killed by our lover."


    The use of our in these sentences disgusted me a bit. But the more I read, the more interesting this story became.


    "They might have forced us to get incarnated in the mundane world. But they can''t get rid of our knowledge. And knowledge will always remain the power."


    The more I read, the more I understood how crazy this individual was.


    I was even more assured of this fact, knowing that this person might be me.


    Reading further down the life of this individual I learned about the sort of world hees from.


    ording to his exnation, there are two sides to the world. The one where I currently exist, which was also the so-called mundane world where magic has died.


    The other was their "true world" which was higher than the mundane world and had all kinds of supernatural things existing in tandem with humanity.


    A world so wonderfully bizarre, that it made my body itch with excitement.


    A world where there were two moons and three suns. Which made me wonder, how can such giant celestial bodies co-exist without predating each other due to gravitational force.


    There was even a surprising fact, that death is never the end and there is always a way for people. Just like Lakyus did.


    It was a world in which Lakyus has experienced love, war, and betrayal at the hands of those he considered his closest.


    And as I read deeper and deeper into his memories. The more I learned about the beauty of this world and the potential it held for me.


    "Is this why I felt so disjointed from reality? This world was never my true home, to begin with."


    Is this the ce where you guys belong? Are you people who read my thoughts and watch all of my actions?


    Are you waiting for me to go to that world?


    "Hah, so Lakyus. A beautiful name." I wished to go to this world, I wished to experience how it was.


    "One turns eternal after turning to Prime Daemon, is this why you could not be killed?"


    "Is this why I could also not be killed?" Wondrous ideas and thoughts kepting to my head. The potential in that world, I wished to have it, I wished to let that world reach its full potential.


    And to do that, I had full potential as well, I wished to be what my previous self imed to be, a Prime Daemon.


    I wished to craft stories that would entertain me forever and ever.


    "So this is it right? I was doing all of this to go back?"


    Reading the whole story of the individual known as Lakyus, I understood what I was doing in this vige and why I built this room.


    And why all the cow killings.


    "The pool of water is the gate, the totem is collecting energy to break that gate down. And in this mundane world, the only source of energy is either sacrifices or a tortured soul."


    Which meant this totem held onto the souls of the cows that died in my hands.


    "So this is my key to entering a much better world?"


    I was happy as I turned to look at Grifter.


    "Thanks, thanks for showing all of this to me."


    I even understood what kind of beast Grifter was.


    It was not a normal rat, it was my familiar. I might have made him familiar when I was sleepwalking as Lakyus before.


    "This truly is... a wonderful world~~" I sang the song which I loved so much.


    I can''t wait, I can''t wait for my other self toplete the ritual.


    Though, why don''t I help him?


    Moving ahead, I picked up the "Log of knowledge" and started to read it.


    And the more I read, the uglier my face became.


    "No..."

 Chapter 10: 1.06.1 A bad liar.

    <h4>Chapter 10: 1.06.1 A bad liar.</h4>


    In this world, some things would happen, that people are helpless against.


    Like the eruption of a volcano, earthquakes, tsunamis, and even tornados.


    All of these natural disasters are something a human can never face on his own nor stop them.


    They are like divine judgment, which humanity is helpless against.


    And this is how I felt at the moment. Completely helpless about what to do after I took a whole night to learn what my other self had nned.


    "Should I let it happen? The only ticket into that world is if I don''t stop whatever is going to happen now."


    I know even thinking about it is bad. But there was nothing left for me in this world, going to the other side is the only possible way for me to find a reason to live.


    To find more ways to entertain me.


    "But, what about Meena and others?" The things my other self has nned for the vige.


    Should I let it happen?"


    Of course not.


    "The world is also bigger than just my hometown, so what if it''s the mundane world. I could find new ways to get entertainedter on. But first I have to stop this." I found it bizarre how few words in a book made me sway my mind.


    The world on those pages might seem interesting and appealing. But there was still a high chance that the world mentioned in those notes might just be fiction of a crazy other me.


    So I got up and picked up a closedntern that was on the side and removed its ss top, before pouring all the animalrd all over the runes on the floor and then therge totem.


    I know, that burning it here with me might just result in my death from suffocation if I can''t run away on time.


    But this was the only method that I can think of at the moment.


    And who knows, after this things can get normal. I would leave this vige and after everyone has forgotten about it, I woulde back in a year or two to meet them again.


    So lighting a book with my litntern, I threw the book to the totem, before hurrying toward the hiding hole from whence I came from.


    But knowing that it was already morning and people might have noticed something wrong with my home. I stopped, before looking around the room that was catching fire at a startling pace.


    "The wind," I recalled the sensation from before trying to find an entrance in a hurry.


    But Grifter was one step ahead of me as it pointed me in the right direction and I found that a particr wall was not actually a wall, but it was instead a boulder covering the entrance.


    So picking Grifter, I pushed the boulder aside and jumped out in the open.


    And through it, I escaped with the books that I wasn''t able to read and all of the Knowledge books.


    "No!"I cried while rolling on the ground first and it didn''t work. I got up and then jumped into theke that was next to me.


    While little Grifter jumped off my burning body.


    And yes, you thought it correct, by ident, some of the animal fat flew down my arms and then my body. Which resulted in the scene you all are seeing now.


    I was burned, I was burned very badly.


    The pain unlike any I have experienced before singed my left hand some one-fourth of my torso.


    Though the cold water did help. But my mind was already numb to pain at that point.


    "Fool." I crawled out of the water and cursed myself.


    I should have looked for a new exit before starting the mes. A small mistake like that might have been the end of me.


    But at the end of the day, I still seeded. I destroyed the totem that might have been my ticket to the other world and burned myself as well, but at least it will keep her safe.


    When I eventually walked out of theke that was the gate to the other world. I came across those books once again.


    The ones I haven''t read.


    "Need to find a ce to hide," I said after closing the burning room with a boulder again, making it look almost conspicuous.


    I was also cold and my body was shaking under the pain and wet clothes.


    But this was the least I could do for her.


    So picking up the books with my only working hand and Grifter who let me hold him without any struggle.


    I Limped away from the scene.


    Praying that I found another method to that wondrous world and praying that nothing bad befalls the only girl that actually cared for me.


    *****


    It''s been a week since I disappeared from the world. Finding a hiding ce was taught at the start. But in this hilly ce, I eventually found a ce that was perfect for me to hide away from the beast and humans that roamed this ce.


    The first few days in the jungle were hard. My burned skin was infected and I caught a cold. If not for Grifter finding me some herbs that were a perfect recement for antibiotics. I might already be dead.


    Though, when I felt the fever dropping down, I became aware of another problem. I hadn''t eaten anything in days and I was weak due to this.


    And in this case, little Grifter won''t be able to help me.


    So, at night. I started to walk back to the vige. Hiding from the guards that were on active patrol in fear of the demon and their patterns simple as before. Even a child adept in hiding and seeking would walk past them with ease.


    For a man like me, it was even easier.


    And so, rummaging the houses, I always found something to eat.


    I nned to live this way until the merchants came to the vige again, before leaving this ce with them.


    Not to mention, this new experience of living like criminal hiding away from prying eyes was entertaining in a different way.


    I started to understand why thieves did what they did.


    The power one feels while taking the cover of night as leverage is astounding.


    This way, even a rat might kill a human. And I was the owner of a rat that had actually killed a human.


    And I was right, it''s been so long and none of the cattle died again. Which meant that by destroying the totem, I have saved this vige from a fate worse than death.


    Though if there was something I regretted it was Meena.


    I left her world before I had the time to confess my feelings to her.


    Just one time, I wished to tell her how I felt, even if I was not deserving of all the things I have done. It was something that was not even entertaining, instead of confessing your true feelings to someone might be the most horrific experience for an individual.


    But I still wanted to do it, in case I seed.


    Though with the current state of my body, I looked at her from afar.


    I saw the vige reverting to calm and the energy getting back to the vigers.


    This also meant that with me gone and the attack of the so-called demon ending. These vigers were sure that I was the perpetrator of all of this. And they were right, the viin was a certain aspect of me.


    Though, this life of istion didn''t stay this way for long. One day, while bathing early in the morning before the vigers woke up. A certain someone stumbled upon me.


    "You didn''t leave?" She asked, her voice a bit weaker than before.


    And I who was startled by her presence was also left speechless.


    "I was waiting for the merchants," I answered after some thought.


    "Then why not wait at your own home?" At this point, even she knows the question she asked was a bit stupid. Maybe that''s why she changed her question in an instant. "Did you do it?"


    I wondered if I should tell her the truth.


    Tell her that it was the other me who probably did it. The other me who was killing all those cows and the other me who came from a different world.


    But I also understood that no one in their sane mind would believe this.


    "No, I didn''t."


    There was no need to give out a reason. No need to exin things to her.


    She will live her life as a viger in this ce and I would mine after leaving this ce.


    "Don''t lie." She said, Maybe, my voice was not as confident as I thought it would be.


    I lifted my hands from the water and said.


    "I truly didn''t."


    But the moment I did that was the moment I hid my hand back into the water.


    "What was that? What were those marks on your hand?"


    I understood that this was something hard to hide considering that I was barely wearing anything.


    So I said to her, "I got burned while leaving your vige with thentern, nothing serious." There truly was nothing serious about it. The actual dangerous moment has existed in the past only.


    Now, most of my injuries have started to heal. It won''t be long before I revert back to my normal self, albeit with a big scar.


    Though in the business I nned to run, a scar like this was not a liability, but an asset.


    "You know, I always considered you a bad liar. And I was right." She said before hunching over to my eye level.


    "Do you want to eat something good?"

 Chapter 11: 1.06.2 Burned to death.

    <h4>Chapter 11: 1.06.2 Burned to death.</h4>


    "Do you want to eat something good?"


    She asked me this with an almost innocent face. But I can feel that she was serious.


    And living on the refuse the vigers have thrown, I wished for a hot meal, at least once. So I took her offer and was dly rewarded for it.


    With her help, it won''t be hard for me to survive in this ce.


    No more power fantasies of stalking people at night hunting for food. I even obtained somenterns from her, just so that I could study the books at night.


    The books will be the foundation for my future.


    During this time, she even came to my makeshift hidden home. A small space between two giant rocks hidden by shrubs, which I insted using the dead leaves and sticks to give it an almost natural feel.


    And it''s also where I hid those books, away from her eyes.


    Because no matter what happened, I didn''t wish for her to know the truth. I didn''t wish to see her look at me with incriminating eyes.


    The life that I currently live was a lot better than I had expected.


    There was no need for me to work in the vige anymore and Meena would always bring me food from her home.


    When have I ever experienced life as easy as this?


    Yes, I suffered for it. But I was able to win this peace on my own through this.


    Though, it would seem for some reason that Grifter was not as happy with this as I had assumed him to be. He just stood silently on the side, looking at me and living my peaceful life with some anger on its face.


    I guess, the little guy wished for me to leave, as he had spelled the run part with sticks it had collected.


    I can even understand its worry. And I even wished to collect enough resources and leave this ce.


    But the fog outside of the Vige area still persisted and stopped me from moving out of it. It was a shackle for me.


    And the only way I can escape from that shackle is if the merchantse here.


    Maybe, if I go with them, the fog won''t follow me.


    But it was still a maybe.


    Maybe.


    "How is everything in the vige?" I asked Meena who was slowly writing a poem I had taught her.


    It was a simple poem that the children in the nursery used to sing. Which made it perfect to act as a test for someone that hasn''t studied for long and just got aware of the letters.


    "They are good, some still think you did it though." She said,pletely engrossed in her writings.


    "Well I can''t me them, I would have thought the same in their situation," I said, somewhat understanding the anger the vigers might be feeling.


    They gave me refuge and all I gave them was pain. Even if a part of me did it, it doesn''t absolve me of my crimes.


    This was the reason why I felt some guilt for her and those good men.


    "I still think you are hiding something from me," Meena said while pointing her coal pencil to my burnt hand. "You did something to stop that... right?" She pointed out. And she was on point.


    But I just shook my head.


    If I told her the details, then eventually, the truth of the matter woulde out. So I just said.


    "I did nothing, but I can say for sure that none of the craziness will happen anymore," I assured her with my name on it.


    A big mistake on my part if I think about it now.


    *****


    "Jiri, where are you?"


    "Kilbert, stop hiding ande out!!"


    "You runt, where are you hiding? If you don''te out of your hiding hole at once. Your mother will spank you till your ass is like a baboon''s."


    In the vige. While Jester and Meena were making promises that none can''t stand up to, something terrible happened.


    "Where are all the kids, search. They won''t go far from the vige."


    The worry-filled elders were screaming with worry as they started to turn the whole vige upside down for their children.


    This happened in the morning when the children suddenly disappeared from the vige. But this wasmon in the vige.


    The children often had a yful nature and they usually went to the forest to climb trees and y around away from their parents'' eyes.


    Even the adults of the vigers have done the same.


    Though the problem started when midday arrived and the sun was shining at its peak, making stepping out of their homes a bit hard.


    And for children that hated the summer sun, this was more of a hell. It wasmon for the kids toe home for food and resting by that time.


    But this didn''t happen. The kids have disappeared or gotten lost somewhere.


    They might even be ying a game with them, or so thought the most optimistic of the group.


    As for the most cynical in the group, they were already beating their heads to throw away those thoughts from their minds.


    In recent years, they have seen things and the idea of those things happening to their family has appeared in their mind a lot.


    But this was the first time when that thought might turn into reality. Increasing their worry, causing them to go on a mad rampage as they searched everywhere in anger.


    "It''s that demon, he still lives."


    "Where is he hiding?"


    The people knew that the demon was back. And in most vigers'' minds, the demon was none other than Jester.


    "Let''s burn his house, he might be hiding in there." All of them screamed, before burning their torches and going toward Jester''s old adobe.


    *****


    "How is it? I did good right?" Meena asked, ignorant of the disaster that had just struck hermunity.


    "Good, taking away 2 marks for your intelligible writing and 3 for marks, I would rate it 5/10."


    "Why writing? I memorized that poem perfectly, I should at least get a 7."


    Looking at her fight me for more marks, I didn''t know what to say.


    This was not an academic test and it was just something to test her current skills. And there are also no parents who would chastise her for low marks.


    So why would she act like a spoiled child wanting more?


    But guess that''s how it is. No one wishes to be rated low in anything.


    "I won''t, increase your skills and I might just give you more points." I was not someone who would back down on my decisions.


    And seeing that I won''t budge, she left my small adobe with a small pout on her face.


    It was already evening and night was soon arriving. If she didn''t leave now, people might get suspicious.


    "Good night," I said, sending her away, noticing a bright lighting from the direction of the vige.


    A light that gets bigger and bigger.


    "What is happe... aahh." The pain at the start was simple but it red up fast.


    A pain I was very familiar with.


    "What is happening?" I suppressed my scream as I lifted my hand and saw with my own eyes as it caught fire bit by bit with my flesh sizzling.


    "Ahhh." My body was in shock from the pain. And before I even had the time to think, the fire spread further all over my body.


    If this went on I would die.


    I would surely die.


    So with a blurry consciousness, I ran for my life, I ran toward the pond.


    But the more I ram, the further the fire spreads. And the moment the fire reached my shoulder, my left leg also caught fire. Causing me to fall to the ground under duress and torture I felt.


    ''Why was this happening.'' I wondered as I tried to get up as the fire sizzled my face spreading further and further.


    I somewhat understood how it was for those witches that were burnt under the cross for sphemy.


    More than pain, the suffocation, and breathing in the fire in your lungs were more torturous.


    But I understood that if I thought more instead of acting, I might just die today.


    So with all the willpower I had, I walked toward the pond as my flesh melted bit by bit, leaving a trail of burning flesh in my wake.


    I can even feel that one of my eyes had melted out of my eye socket.


    And the pain that had tortured me for so long also started to subside bit by bit.


    Which was a sign that even my nerves were starting to burn. It won''t be long before I turn into coal.


    But it seems that I would not die too early.


    As I don''t recall when. But my body plopped into the pond.


    Guess a blind run worked.


    And I guess, I survived somewhat.


    As for how much of me survives, I didn''t know, nor do I wish to know.


    Because the pain was already causing me to lose consciousness.


    *****


    Meena rushed to the vige when she saw arge fire from afar.


    Fearing that her vige was on fire, Meena rushed in to help.


    Though the only scene she saw was a single house burning with many in her vige shouting different things.


    Among which the most audible were two.


    A group rejoiced in the burning of the demon and another group prayed for their children toe back.


    "Meena you are safe. I thought that demon also got you." Meena''s mother came to her with worry on her face.


    Meena had been deemed one of the disappeared children. So thinking she was safe, others started to ask her.


    "Where is my child?"


    "Meena, did you see Jiri with you?"


    She was flooded with questions, confusing her even further.


    She wondered what had happened while she was away.


    Though, the questions from these women force her toe to a horrible realization.


    "I don''t know where the kids are," She said as tears started to stream from her face.


    Guilt had taken hold of her.


    She was not stupid, Mirage had lied and hid many things from her. But she kept ignoring the itching feeling on her back. She wished to hear his stories and learn how to read from him.


    Maybe, just maybe. He truly was the demon.


    And she started to like this demon as well.


    "But I know where the demon is." She cried while pointing toward a particr location out of the vige.


    A location where now a wall of fire stood.


    Which made her suspicion of Jester increase.


    "He is there." And she won''t hide it anymore.


    The children of the vige have disappeared and she needs to do something before something bad happens.


    Even if it means killing an innocent and kind man like Jester.

 Chapter 12: 1.07.1 A burning lump of coal.

    <h4>Chapter 12: 1.07.1 A burning lump of coal.</h4>


    When I woke up, I found myself floating in the water while not feeling anything.


    There was no pain, no feeling in my hands, and no sensation of any kind at all. The only thing that made me aware that I was alive was my right eye which survived the fire.


    ''A miracle.'' I wondered.


    This truly was a miracle, surviving a fall into the water with losing one''s consciousness and not drowning.


    It truly was a miracle to retain my ability to think after all these injuries, more the ability to breathe.


    ''Though... how?'' I wondered, I was confused.


    How can a person catch fire so easily? There was not even a single piece of ember close to my home, in fear of drawing attention. But in the end.,I still somehow caught fire.


    This was not possible, how can this even happen?


    ''Am I still missing something?'' I wondered, falling into deep contemtion.


    Because thinking so much was the only way I could maintain my sanity and ignore the state of my body. But suddenly, a voice came from my side.


    "Cheiww"


    Although familiar, the voice was very weak, almost incorrigible. If not for my current state of a focused mind. It would have been hard to notice.


    This might be because both of my ears have been buried off and the damage might be a lot more extensive than I think it is.


    "Chewi"


    That sound again. Give me time to rest, all I desired was rest at the moment. But once I noticed that sound, it was hard to move my attention away from it. So with barely any strength, I lifted my head and found where I was.


    Half of my body was in the pond while the other half was on the bank of theke. This might be why I didn''t drown.


    I was never in full water, to begin with.


    "Chew chew"


    Turning toward the individual responsible for this voice. I saw him, a guy I was very familiar with.


    A rat, a small rat, was screaming at me. I can even hear the worry in its voice. It was screaming at me while under the moonlight, it pointed toward the trail of fire and the group of people.


    No, it would be more appropriate to call them a mob of people with all the torches and weapons in their hands as they were led by a familiar individual toward the ce I stayed at.


    ''What happened?''


    I wondered.


    Just how much time has gone by for things to get so weird?


    It would seem even Meena has turned against me.


    ''I need to move.'' It won''t be long before they be aware of the fact that I have long left that ce. And then move toward thiske after they piece the clues of the fire trail and my burning camp together.


    I tried to get up, but the moment I tried to use my hand as leverage, I noticed I wascking one arm of mine.


    No, it would be better to say that it was burned to coal and under the force of my body, that burned hand broke on its own.


    Causing my burned body to plop back in the water.


    "eff UFF!" I shouted and became aware that my jaw was not even working as only whistles of air escaped my mouth.


    Even my tongue was not moving.


    What a pathetic state I have been forced into.


    ''Haha! So this is the misery mentioned in the log of memories.''


    I understood that this was the end for me. I was helpless in this situation, all I could do was just stay here and wait for the vigers to catch up to me.


    Because even if I got up. What can I do?


    I can''t run far in this state and even if I somehow did, the fog is waiting for me at the periphery.


    A fog that has always scared me for some reason.


    ''But there is no choice, is there?''


    My body might be broken, but I am not so weak-minded.


    I was a seeker of entertainment, and isn''t it the greatest excitement I have experienced in my life?


    Such desperate moments, such impossible odds. It was like Grifter when his mother tried to devour him.


    A grifter which was only a few days old, but it still stood straight and somehow choked its mother to death by willfully entering her mouth without much struggle.


    And if a rat can do it. Then why can''t I?


    I sensed the state of my body, tried to move certain parts of it, and learned that the left part of my body waspletely burned, including my leg.


    But this doesn''t mean my left leg was useless, it was still strong enough to support my body.


    As for the pain andceration that these kinds of actions would have on my body?


    I never cared about those.


    If I die, then so be it. I am Lakyus the Prime Daemon.


    And even if I didn''t know what this title meant, I knew for sure that it was some immortal bigshot that can''t die.


    The most that will happen is that I would reincarnate.


    In a future where the ignorance of the world and degeneracy of humans have long left humanity.


    Then why am I fearing death at the moment? Why am I thinking like normal people?


    Why am I acting like someone boring?


    ''Hah! Fear, it was fear holding me back.'' I understood this while trying to form a smile on my horribly burnt face.


    ''Get up...'' I shouted in my head again and again pumping up my will.


    ''Is this how I will die? A boring death by ake?'' I shouted louder as I ignored the body that was close to copsing and slowly got back up on my two feet while shivering heavily.


    And it was then I was able to learn of the fate of my body.


    ''How am I alive with an exposed lung and organs?'' Though I was stumbling and shivering. I was surprised to find that I have stayed alive in conditions as bad as this.


    ''So this is the power of a Prime Daemon?''


    ''Truly wonderful.'' I thought before taking a step forward with my good leg, but even then. I stumbled a bit.


    The reason for this not being my heavy burns and apletely useless leg. But my exposed organs caused me excruciating pain as I moved.


    If I could speak, I would have turned into a howling ghost of theke due to this pain.


    But there was no time to think about useless things like this.


    "Chiew" I noticed what the little guy was doing, he was pointing toward the waterfall, specifically toward the room hidden in it.


    What the little rat didn''t know was that I had already considered it. But in my current state, it was virtually impossible for me to move and open that room''s entrance. Which only left me with my present choice.


    So ignoring the suggestion of the guy that has saved me before, I started to move toward the jungle, toward the fog that has encased me in this ce for so long.


    My steps were slow and steady.


    Because I can handle pain, I didn''t wish to rush and stumble in this ce and earn more injuries over my present ones.


    Death was already on the horizon for me, because no man would survive burns as bad as this. So before I died, I still wished to see what was on the other side of the fog.


    And for that to happen I need to walk steadily. Using my waste leg as support, and my right hand for bnce. I dragged my body toward the fog in a forest where the fire was spreading.


    ''Haha, Guess this was going to happen one way or another.'' This was the summer season and there were lots of dried leaves in the area, making it easier for fire to spread. Which would distract the vigers who would attempt to douse the fire.


    Or so I prayed.


    But it seems my figure in the backdrop of a burning forest was a tad bit too noticeable.


    I might be away from the fire itself, but the illumination from the fire was not. It exposed me to the vigers that were out for blood.


    To kill a man like me, who was still ignorant of why things got so serious all of a sudden that even Meena of all people, betrayed me like this.


    Unlike me who can only walk at a slow and steady pace, the vigers who have lived in these woods for ages were a lot more agile as they rushed toward me.


    The only reason I was able to make some distance from them was due to the firewall that was getting bigger and bigger.


    "You monster, give us our children back."


    "Look, he has shown his true colors, he was a monster since the start." The pleading and incriminating noises of people were barely audible in my burnt ears. But I understood what they were saying.


    ''Ah, so it was the kids.''


    Now I somewhat understand why these people seemed so rabid at pelting stones at me from the wall of fire.


    It caused me some harm. But that''s it, most of my body was already destroyed and not much of me was left anyways.


    Though, the one that struck my head still caused me to fall down, just a few meters away from the fog.


    ''Just a few more steps...''


    The injury on my skull might be heavy, but it was nothingpared to the state of the rest of my body.


    Getting up slowly, while defending myself from the stones pelted at me. I got closer and closer to the mist.


    "DON''T." A voice I was very familiar with cried hard, a voice that made me look back.


    ''Sss yuuc see ishh''


    ''Haha! I knew it. I fucking knew it. Something was wrong with this ce.''


    ''This fog, this fog is the answer.''


    So ignoring the cries of Meera, I stepped forward and ced my hand in it.

 Chapter 13: 1.07.2 The truth.

    <h4>Chapter 13: 1.07.2 The truth.</h4>


    Let''s go back to years ago when a certain child was born in a lovely home.


    Though, they were considered minorities in where they lived and always suffered from some discrimination. The parents of this child never let their son experience any of it.


    The child''s father was a learned academic and professor from a revered university, while his mother in order to remain a contributing member of the household even after her marriage, started a tailoring business from home.


    And to this child, his parents were his everything. For he was unaware of the true world that they hid from him, the true world that he never experienced.


    That was only the case until his father''s death.


    The great man who had a whole future ahead of him was killed by an angry student of his. A student who was failing his sses.


    The report that cameter spoke of the attack being racially motivated on the student''s part. And as the background of said student was huge and his age still low. All the student got was a smack on the back of his head and one year of juvenile detention.


    Because to the judges, they can''t ruin the future of a child that made a mistake, no matter how heinous.


    The correctional facilities andmunity service ought to fix the lost child.


    But then, that''s it for the case. Soon in a few months. The case that shook the city was forgotten by the people. And the family who lost their protector also started to be forgotten by the people.


    As for the child who lost his father, a child that never experienced any hardships and the truth about reality.


    He ran away from the said reality, finding bizarre ways to distract himself.


    The child was scared, he wanted to be with his father and his mother. A mother who had stopped looking at his face due to how much her son reminded her of her dead husband.


    But even if she found it hard to look at the face of her son that was getting smellier and crazier as days went by, she still wished to provide for him.


    And as her tailoring business was not running that well due to her unskilled hands. She joined the textile factory in an attempt to better her craft.


    Giving her beloved son of hers a lot more time on his own, letting his madness get worse with time. But what can a mother do in times like these?


    So she let it be, she was already proud that her son was able to earn money on the side with his business, besides his madness.


    Which gave her peace of mind, as at least her son won''t be penniless in the future.


    So in the job where she only nned to acquire skills from, it became her life.


    And it became the end of her life as well.


    The fumes from the chemicals that were used to color the clothes were not as safe as the factory imed them to be.


    And before they learned of this fact, it was alreadyte for this lone mother who had suffered so much.


    The only reason she was able to die with happiness was her son.


    Who had a sad but kind expression on his face while she died?


    And her death became the very thing that unshackled the very little sanity her son had in him.


    So he ran away from the ce where he grew up.


    Away from the memories of his parents.


    Away from the happiness he once felt in the ce.


    And away from the one bit of sanity that was still left in him.


    But this journey, which the boy thought would be the true start of his life, was cut short after a certain ident.


    He stumbled upon a couple of savages.


    And with his weak physique and no way to fight back. He was easily caught by them, along with his pet rats that just turned into roasts for these savages.


    It was after his capture, that the boy that had already gone mad experienced the greatest horror in his life.


    Being s*domized by these savages day and night, they beat him up for some sadistic reason.


    Bled him into a bowl.


    And then fed him rotten carcasses of animals for day and night.


    And when this mad boy was close to madness, the worst thing happened in his life.


    These horrible savages, for some ritual sacrifice, skinned him alive and left him in chains soon after.


    Unaware of a certain rat that has survived their roast.


    And this particrly hungry rat came and found a familiar scent.


    The scent of its previous owner.


    And then it nibbles on its owner''s hand breaking its owner out of the binds, as it has mutted the hand of its owner till it became easy for the boy to slip out of the binds.


    So with the rat in toe who feasted on his owner''s flesh. The boy with his weak body and wrathful vengeance found a bottle of poison from the savages and then killed them by poisoning their water supply.


    But even after being poisoned, not all of them died.


    No, one might say that the majority survived and then started to hunt for the being that yed the cruel prank on them.


    Knowing that this might be his only opportunity, the boy rushed past the savages, hiding in the thick of the night, and then climbed a tree, fearing the howling sounds in the forest.


    Though, the man didn''t notice that gangrenes had started to set in, on his body.


    And while thinking it was a peaceful night, the boy closed his eyes for thest time. Dying on the tree next to his rat, which also died after feasting on the poisoned flesh of its owner.


    But that was not the end of the story for the boy, unlike what the boy thought before. This was the true beginning of his story and not what he previously assumed.


    "What does this mean?" The boy asked, looking at its dead figure on the tree.


    An oddly familiar tree where he once slept with peaceful thoughts.


    "That corpse was mine?" The boy wondered, his eyes clouded in confusion from moment to moment, his suppressed madness ring up as if he wanted tough at this situation.


    But at the moment, he was incapable ofughing, he was even incapable of feeling any joy. Because he was reliving all the moments of his life from a third-person perspective. While being incapable of interfering with any of the events.


    "But this makes no sense." The boy thought, as soon as he died. But before he can wonder more, the ground below the corpse of this man cracked, through which a familiar mist started to w out to the real world.


    And the more the boy looked, the more he became aware that the mist was not simple, it hid some things.


    Things that were reaching out toward the boy. But no matter how much the thing in the mist tried to capture the corpse of the boy, it would be suppressed by some unseen force.


    And this happened until the morning.


    When the dead boy opened his eyes once again, recovering all his injuries and even wearing the clothes he originally wore. While the rat, which too woke up after its death, ran away somewhere. Away from its owner.


    But the Jester who was watching everything from the side knew that something was wrong with the world after the boy woke up again.


    It was a lot more blurry and almost felt fake.


    "What is going on?... Can someone exin this to me?" Jester asked again and again into the void, as he saw some familiar scenes y out a bit differently.


    The meeting with vigers, the girl he fell in love with, and the bizarre murders.


    Everything was the same beside one difference, there was no rat beside him.


    And without the warnings of his rat, things turned more and more tragic.


    The boy would be used of these murders and then he would be burned in his home.


    And after being burnt, the boy would escape to the cave through the hatch and lead his lover to the hidden cave as well.


    A cave that now contained the dead bodies of multiple children which were cut apart horrifically to make smaller totems around the bigger one.


    And in anger towards this horror. The lover of the boy kills him.


    "How?... When did this happen?" Jester thought as the memory started toe back to him.


    The world itself started to rewind to the moment the boy entered this forest.


    But each time, there would be some difference. Both the rat and the boy would always make some different choices in the first few runs and before long, these two individuals started to always end up together in the vige.


    And Jester can see, that it was not him leading these changes, but the little rat he proudly named Grifter.


    Unlike the boy that forgets the events after each reset, the rat called Grifter never does that instead, it experiences everything again and again learning the patterns and learning many more things with each loop.


    It was as if whatever the thing that was causing this loop was, it never ounted for the actions of the rat.


    To this being ying such a horrible game with the boy''s life, it ignored a little rat.


    "Hah, what a great entertainment it would have been for its creator." Jester wondered as the loops started to get more familiar as his memories kepting back.


    In different loops, he would teach the rat many things knowing or unknowingly. And the goal of his and the rat was to make as many random decisions and actions so as to break the cycle through inconsistencies.


    "Haha, so that''s it? This is why the vigers were so forgetful over the facts?" Jester started tough.


    Heughed at the fact that he had been treated as a thing for entertainment by a sadistic being.


    A being that loved to see him suffer.


    "Is this what they call Karma?"


    "Ok, I understand. Now take me out of this ce. Mist, underworld, or whatever you are. Take me out." Jester was not foolish. He was well aware that he was in a trance and there was someone purposefully showing him all of this.


    The goal of this being was understandable as well.


    It wished to end this loop just as Jester wished to now.


    He liked being an entertainer, but he never wished to be part of someone else''s entertainment.


    As the memories started toe to a close and a familiar loop appeared in front of Jester, he was pushed back to the real world.


    And to the cave with dead children spread apart on totems.


    And in front of him stood a woman.


    *****


    "Yo...you were the monster?..." A shivering voice filled with contradicting emotions of wrath and fear who aimed a knife at me asked.


    A woman I was very familiar with and with whom I have fallen in love multiple times.


    But unlike before, I was different.


    "Yes, I was." I epted the crime with my head held high and a wide grin on my burned face.

 Chapter 14: 1.08.1 An end to the farce.

    <h4>Chapter 14: 1.08.1 An end to the farce.</h4>


    "Yo...you were the monster?..." A shivering voice filled with contradicting emotions of wrath and fear who aimed a knife at me asked.


    A woman I was very familiar with and with whom I have fallen in love multiple times.


    But unlike before, I was different.


    "Yes, I was." I epted the crime, with my head high and a wide grin on my burned face


    The dead flesh of the children adorned the cave walls, their faces twisted in agony and all of them looking at Meena, as if they were still alive, pleading for a release from this torment.


    "You, you did this?" She asked, her voice filled with anger as if the scene of Jester touching the fog never actually happened.


    "Yo...you were the monster?..." She was horrified at the truth. She never thought that the innocent young man who acted so kind turned out to be the monster responsible for all of this.


    And now the same monster stood in front of her face. His body burned and his organs were exposed, finally showing the true form of the monster that he was hiding under his skin all along.


    Because there was no way for a normal human to survive injuries as bad as those and still stand up straight looking at her.


    "Ye.. a.. Waah." She can''t hear or understand a word he said, but the mocking smile on his face along with his wide-open arms gave her the answer she wanted.


    "Why... Why did you do this." Her hands were shaking in front of the monster. "Why us?" She begged for an answer, an understanding.


    She wondered what it was that pushed a man like Jester to do all this.


    But Jester remained the same, waiting for her to strike her knife, waiting for his death.


    Meena understood that the monster had epted his death, there was no way to fight for him. But recalling how the vigers went mad and started killing each other, she didn''t drop her guard down.


    She might not have even survived if she didn''t find the hatch hidden in Jester''s burned home.


    "If you have no answer, then so be it." At this moment, Meena suddenly summoned all her strength and ran toward the body of Jester, aiming the knife straight at his heart.


    Now there was no going back, the least she could do was avenge her family and vige. And who knows, if she kills this monster fast enough, the mad vigers might recover their sanity back.


    So with an intent to kill, her knife flew forward with Meena''s whole body weight as leverage.


    And Jester just kept looking at her, looking at her like she was a delicacy.


    "DIEEEE!!" She cried as her knife easily entered Jester''s body without much struggle, it was almost too easy.


    But before Meena can reel in from the fact that she might have just killed someone, she felt a pain in her abdomen.


    A pain that ripped straight into her flesh and then punctured her lung.


    She tried to back off, she tried to see what and how she was stabbed. But the pain of it all caused her mind to go nk and as the body of Jester with a knife in his heart slumped over her body.


    She heard in a very weak voice.


    "Your dirty game is over." This time, the voice was clear and astute.


    Before, the thing stuck in her lung was forced deeper into her body and started to twist slowly.


    "I might be dead, but I will end this farce myself." These were the words Meena heard before she felt her heart being stabbed as well in a painful way.


    Which ended her life.


    *****


    Little girl, a puppet of this dream and its creator.


    It would have been hard to find the answer to all of this if not for the mist helping me.


    The mist was born out of my death and had wished to im me for a long time, but the loop that I have repeated all this while has bound my body to this ce, letting me not die while letting the mist umte with time.


    This mist was not dead, it was very much alive and aware of what was going on.


    So in an attempt to end this farce, the mist gave me a chance.


    It let me retain all the memories at once, letting me know the small inconsistencies and find the most suspicious of the bunch in the vigers.


    Which led me to Meena.


    Unknown to even herself, she was the master of this farce from the start. She was the master puppeteer that not only controlled me and the vigers, but she controlled herself as well.


    So when I saw her again in a familiar ce. I understood what I had to do.


    In all the loops, one thing never changed. Meena always ends up being the only survivor.


    Albeit of my limited knowledge, I and Grifter had tried many methods.


    Grifter who was progressively getting smarter with each loop and retaining its memory. While I, who might have lost his memories, still made different decisions that shook this farce a bit. But none of it was groundbreaking and none of it strong enough to shake this farce.


    This dream.


    Yes, a dream.


    In the notes, Lakyus spoke of this very thing.


    He was the Prime Daemon of Nightmares, below the god of sleep. So his understanding of dreams was iparable to any human in existence.


    And in those notes, he mentions a great dream created out of tragedy in which the victims repeat their life again and again until they either let go of everything or the origin of this dream is broken.


    The origin can be anything, from a simple vase to a building.


    In simpler terms, one can even say that it''s the heart of the dream.


    And Meena was very much that.


    Although unaware, she was the reason this giant dream existed. And I am a stranger that just took the ce of the monster that was at the very core of this tragedy.


    The Prime Daemon Lakyus, who was eternal, easily escaped the binds of this dream and left this ce to reincarnate elsewhere.


    Leaving his spot empty in this dream.


    A spot that I unfortunately took.


    Yes, you heard it right.


    I am no Lakyus.


    I am no one.


    I was just a character that yed the role of Lakyus.


    Just like those rats.


    Now that I think about it, humans are no better than rats.


    And a rat is no worse than a human.


    If not for this dream ignoring the existence of the little rat, as there was not role for it to y and then this same rat choosing to help me, I might still be stuck in this loop.


    A loop that I ended when I stabbed the bone of my left hand into the stomach of Meena.


    She was the woman I loved, but not so as well.


    This was a dream constructed by her imagination and the souls of the departed as the foundation.


    The love I felt for her was her imagination. This is how she thought Lakyus felt about her.


    Probably why when this tragedy originally happened, Lakyus let himself die without much struggle.


    He might have truly loved her.


    But there was no love for her in my heart.


    Love is a weakness, it''s poison.


    It makes you do stupid things and hurts you.


    So I have long abandoned that love.


    "Your dirty game is over."


    My lips moved on their own as if my jaw muscles have regenerated along with my tongue. It was as if a burst of vitality had entered my body out of nowhere.


    And the deeper I stabbed Meena, the more energetic my body felt.


    It was as if a long-lost sensation wasing back.


    And it was not all, even the reality started to shake.


    "I might be dead, but I will end this farce myself." A clear and cut voice, with a lot more confidence, left my lips as I pushed the body of Meena to the floor with my left hand''s bone still sticking into her sides.


    "Why?..." Meena asked, her eyes filled with tears, still unaware of what was happening.


    "You are no child Meena, stop this tantrum and go to sleep."


    Like coaxing a child, I stabbed my bone deeper into her heart, causing her to puke blood from her mouth.


    No, it would be better to say that she was choking on her own blood.


    It bubbled up and down, as it sttered on my face.


    But I didn''t stop.


    I can''t stop until she is dead. I can''t let her restart the loop once again.


    Not when I was so close to sess.


    And to make sure that she is dead and elerate the process, I put my working hand on her neck, and using my whole body weight, I tried to crush her neck.


    Which caused her whole body to start struggling.


    Yes, yes.


    This is what I have been waiting for.


    A sess.


    The dream in which I have been stuck in for who knows how long, has started to shake as well.


    I can see glimpses of reality that have been taken away from me as the desperation for life in Meena increases.


    Even the twisted faces of children on the totems were smiling with relief as if this was the peace all of them were wishing for.


    A peace that I will drag on my own.


    "Now sleep Meena, and let others sleep as well."


    And with a crack of her neck, the dream broke apart like a mirror all around.


    The totems, the bookshelf, and even the whole cave itself started to rot as if time was moving forward and years of beating from the water had caused the small hole that existed in the front to widen up.


    This is also the time when I saw what happened after Meena survived. As the time moved on, I noticed a figure slumped over the table, a figure with female clothes with rotten books all around it.


    It would seem that after everyone died, Meena never went out to ask for help. She just stayed there after cleaning things up and started to read the books that she can''t understand.


    No, it would be better to say that she memorized them without knowing what they were, all she knew was that they were important. And as she has already gone mad with grief, she didn''t even notice it when her body got weak under malnutrition, and then she died.

 Chapter 15: 1.08.2 A century later.

    <h4>Chapter 15: 1.08.2 A centuryter.</h4>


    This is also the time when I saw what happened after Meena survived. As the time moved on, I noticed a figure slumped over the table, a figure with female clothes with rotten books all around it.


    It would seem that after everyone died, Meena never went out to ask for help. She just stayed there after cleaning things up and started to read the books that she can''t understand.


    No, it would be better to say that she memorized them without knowing what they were, all she knew was that they were important. And as she has already gone mad with grief, she didn''t even notice it when her body got weak under malnutrition, and then she died.


    "A pathetic death." I thought as my body started to decay as well and then turn into dust, leaving only a transparent silhouette of what I thought was my soul.


    -" What a unique sense of existence?"


    I wondered because the world that now exists in front of me was not the same, the real world that had been hidden behind the veil showed its existence to me for a few seconds, before it too turned illusory and the world got dark.


    A darkness that seemed impossible to exist.


    But in this darkness, I can see other figures just like me.


    The color of their soul was different, some red, some yellow but most of them remained white and illusory.


    All of them trudged toward the fog over the horizon.


    Some of them even looked back at me, smiling and thanking me with their heads.


    They were relieved for this end. This dream that tormented them has finallye to an end.


    -" End, Finally."


    And much to my surprise a voice by my said this out calmly.


    -" Torment, Over."


    It was the rat called Grifter, it was still small and young as thest time I remembered it. But now it was in illusory form just like me.


    -"It truly is."


    I said, not much surprised by this finding.


    In the book of knowledge, there was a mention of how individuals can understand each other on a spiritual level even if they don''t know each other''snguage.


    And as everyone in this dark void were just souls, it was easier to converse with each other.


    -" But it doesn''t need to be."


    At the mention of these words, Grifter looked at me, eying me suspiciously.


    In this whole world, there might be no one who understood me better than Grifter.


    -" Are you looking at that ce, old friend?"


    I pointed out the only other thing that existed in this void that had some color to it.


    "On the other side, death is just the beginning."


    I spoke these words while looking at Grifter.


    -"Wasn''t this fun? The experience that you gained in this infinite loop?" I pointed at Grifter''s intelligence, his brutalness, and the fun we had while finding the clues to break this loop.


    -" We can experience more of these things on the other side of that whirlpool, things grander and exciting than this."


    My words that spoke of the beauty of the other side were just ignored by the little guy.


    It looked at me like an elder.


    He treated me like a child.


    -"Tired, Me."


    -"You, Go."


    As Grifter said these words, it left me in the dust as it ran toward the fog.


    Something I can''t ept.


    Grifter was the only one who understood me.


    He can''t just leave in such a simple way.


    -" Are you sure? Don''t you wish to kill me? In that world, you can kill me as much as you wish." I cried in desperation.


    But the reply I got.


    Haha!


    The reply I got was something absurd.


    -" Killed, You, Multiple, Already."


    These were thest words that Grifter said before it ran into the fog and disappeared along with the rest of the vigers.


    Now there was only me and the whirlpool.


    And maybe Meena who was still slumped in the corner of the cave, crying her eyes out.


    But I didn''t speak to her, I was already feeling a bit sad after mypanion left me, I had no energy to coax her.


    Nor did I have time to coax her. The fog that was kept away from the vige all this time started to close in on me, engulfing the void and iming everything for its own.


    -" Hah! I expected this." Looking at the fog that was rushing toward me. I understood that there was no time to waste.


    The otherworldly gate has remained active for years after it was first opened by Lakyus.


    Originally, the ritual seeded, but Lakyus was not alive to take advantage of it.


    And not that opportunity was handed down to me.


    So before the fog coulde close to me, I floated toward the whirlpool and then flew directly into it.


    Because on the other side, "Death is just the beginning of a story."


    *****


    It was 2020 in the real world. Way past the time of 1920 in which Jester took hisst breath and entered the loop of never-ending torment.


    It was the world that was filled to brim with technology, which had long left the state of ignorance and the superstitions that came with it.


    But close to Singapore there was an infamouske that was still deemed to be haunted.


    For thatke has been home to countless tragedies that one can find records of since the 9th century.


    Each record ends with the massacre close to theke.


    There was once a group of zealots in the 13th century that drowned in theke after identally riding into theke with their armor on, thinking it was shallow. As for why they rode into theke and to their death.


    The survivors only spoke of a beautifuldy in theke singing to them.


    Then there was the story of a gang of merchants that were camping close to theke and by the morning all of them died with no survivors left.


    They were only found a few monthster by the next gang of merchants that stumbled on their corpses and goods.


    There was even a vige in which everyone got mad and killed each other a century ago.


    And 65 years ago, theke became home to another massacre in which countless soldiers were killed by the Japanese imperials and then thrown in theke.


    For this reason, thiske has turned into an infamous haunted spot, with tourists looking for ghosts, alwaysing to find proof of paranormal activity.


    And many have seeded in this. Many of whom were able to capture glimpses of ghosts that kept doing the same things over and over.


    There were children, that ran around in the holiday vige close to theke.


    One can even meet phantom hunters that used to go into the forest and nevere back.


    And most famous of all, a beautiful woman with a bright smile on her face that seems mncholic and lost.


    Though there was another famous ghost that was named Rat king. A name it obtained due to his disgusting and cursed ability, which was why he was hated by most.


    As wherever this ghost appears, he leaves the smell of sewer and rats in the ce. Attracting other rats and making the ce inhabitable for a few days.


    The worst part is, unlike other ghosts, he appears at different ces at random, searching for something and then leaving.


    It was the same reason why the rat traps were so extensively used in the holiday vige.


    To most, these were just ims and lies fabricated to attract more tourists.


    And Sena was no different. After the request of her friends, she epted their offer and went on the trip to the allegedly haunted ce.


    "This is the third day and we still haven''t found anything," Senained while lowering her phone.


    She was tired of taking pictures of random ces again and again, with no result in sight.


    "Don''tin, just focus on that waterfall." Her friend said while pumping her up.


    "Did you know, they found skeletons of children and women in that cave?" her friend pointed at the souvenir shop just under the waterfall. "So keep aiming your ghost capture device at it, who knows you might catch something."


    Her friend said as she started to focus her own camera on the depthless hole in the giantke.


    "Yeah I know, I have read the backstory as well," Senained.


    But she still humored her friend as she lifted her camera up. "We should havee at night, what kind of ghost even appeared at da..." Sena paused as she saw something.


    A dark mist-like figure made of filthy smoke slowly floated out of the same souvenir shop and then it looked toward theke.


    "Jahsa! Look," Sena said while pointing at her camera because, in the real world, she was still incapable of seeing anything.


    The only way to see this entity was her camera.


    And hearing this, Jahsa also looked at her friend''s phone before a creepy feeling filled her head.


    "Sena, are you using some bizarre filter?" She wondered.


    "Just aim your camera and look," Sena replied.


    But it was already toote for Jahsa to do this as the filthy smoke-like ghost suddenly flew straight into theke, disappearing forever.


    And after seeing that this figure never surfaced again, the two girls started to breathe heavily while backing off from theke.


    "Fuck, I could only catch a glimpse of it," Jahsa said with some frustration. Before looking at Sena. "At least we have your recording."


    Jahsa''s voice was hopeful, she was still shocked by the sudden situation and found it hard to believe.


    It would seem that her friend who had her phone aimed at the shop from the start should have recorded everything.


    Though, her friend''sck of reply scared Jahsa.


    "You remembered to record that right?"


    "Oh! about that."


    So, the two girls who came to this ce to strengthen their bonds, turned into enemies after Jahsa, who was the craziest one about ghosts, went ballistic over her friend''s small mistake.


    And it was also the day that the ghosts in the infamouske disappeared forever.

 Chapter 16: 2.00 Prologue: The Beginning of the end.

    <h4>Chapter 16: 2.00 Prologue: The Beginning of the end.</h4>


    It was the morning in the city of Durum when Farhad Maisal stepped off his carriage and entered a one-bedroom apartment that his father paid for.


    This might not be the first time he was away from home, but he sure was living alone for the first time.


    Early on, he lived in a dormitory with students like him. It was the reason when vacations eventually came, he chose to rent a room close to the college instead of going back home.


    Though, Farhad was not happy about it at all. Instead, he hated his current circumstances.


    Being born in a proud household with a father that was a general in the Army and his mother a doctor. Farhad was born with the talent of none.


    He was neither a good soldier nor a good schr. The only thing he was good at was reading and telling lies to his father.


    Lies that caused his father to send him to Durum, away from home.


    To Mister Maisel, Farhad still thought of himself as a child and if he thought that in the college away from home, he might mature with time. Though the circumstances of the dorm didn''t allow for it to happen.


    And the same reason why he can never show his face at home.


    "Is this my room?" Farhad asked, looking at the room that hadn''t seen a living person in months.


    Dust was all over the floor with rats scuttering around in the corner.


    This truly felt like hell to him.


    "Of course, this is the best room for a student like you. Most of the students live in sharing. At least you will have some privacy." Thendlord of this building said with a bright smile on his face.


    ''Atst.'' He thought. ''Found someone stupid enough to rent this ce.'' Thendlord was truly happy with this news.


    Though he was not stupid enough to discuss the details of why this room had been empty for too long.


    "Can''t I get room service? Someone to clean this ce?" The boy asked, as he flicked his finger off the bed and traced some dust on it.


    "If you want one, you can pay for one. Though, that will be extra." Thendlord exined, happy that there were some more business prospects to be had.


    "How much will that cost me?"


    At this question, thendlord calmly exined. "It changes depending on the maid, but the price is between 300-800 Dirium." Then suddenly changing the tone of his voice, thendlord continued with a whispering voice. "The special live-in maids cost starts around 3000 Dirium if you wan..."


    "No, I would just get the normal ones." Farhad was not stupid about whom hisndlord was talking about. Nor was he surprised.


    He might be azy bum who only got into university through his father''s pulling some strings, but he was no ignorant or innocent child.


    And besides, at the moment, he only got a total of 2000 Dirium per month as his allowance. With fees of his university and room already paid by his parents.


    "Please know that I can''t go over the budget of 500 for a maid." Farhadter rified.


    To which, thendlord just nodded and then left. Leaving Farhad alone with his thoughts.


    "So this is new life... huh?"


    Durum was a city of many cultures and due to its very nature, it was very progressive and open about certain things that Farhad found a bit extreme.


    But he knew that this was not why he was here.


    Even this room will only be used by him rarely. As he would be staying most of the time at his university.


    "I can''t even open my suitcase until this room is cleaned," Farhad said in a tired tone before he just cleaned a chair and sat on it silently, waiting for his maid.


    And as he sat down, he noticed a few odd things.


    The rats, there were a bit too many rats in this ce.


    In the past, his mother had already told him about why they left the city and how dirty it is. But only now did he understand the weight of his mother''s words.


    "I would die long before learning any curses." Farhad thought as he kicked his feet on the floor scaring away the rats.


    But soon he cringed in pain as this sudden movement of the body caused some hidden injuries to surface again.


    In a moment, Farhad felt his chest with his arms and noticed the wetness on the clothes.


    "Hmm, not again." Taking off his clothes, he noticed some pussing out of the infected left side of his chest.


    Which made his frustration deepen.


    This was the reason why he can never show his face to his parents.


    For he has failed once again. His ascension ritual as a magi was a botched one. Which, instead of just giving him power, had instead cursed him as a bacsh.


    "Can''t do one right this Farhad." He was angry at his fate, at his circumstances. Though in the end, he still chose to silently tolerate it.


    This is the fate of those born without the right talents. There might be things Farhad might be good at that even he might not know, but due to his parent''s expectations and the name he had to carry forward, he can''t move out of the predetermined path of his fate.


    Though that was all going to change.


    A man that hated his life would soon learn that there was more to his life than just being the center of a joke.


    A pathetic joke that he wished to escape by renting this particr room.


    A room that many feared.


    And a room where I lived.


    Of course, you already know by this point. I


    It is none other than I, the Jester, that is going to tell you a tale as old as time.


    The tale of a man defeated by the beating of life and thenes across a fated event that changes his life forever.


    But let me take you back a bit.


    The moment when I arrived in this world.


    It was not all sunshine and rainbows I tell you.


    Because even if I arrived on this side sessfully, I was still a dead man.


    Though a bit sad at the departure of my kind little friend Grifter. But I was not sad, for this world was everything I could dream of.


    Even the words in those books were true.


    "Truly a world where death is never the end." I wondered, as I crawled out of a mound of corpses and experienced the first real sunshine in decades.


    A sunlight that burned my body. Causing my thoughts to be chaotic.


    "Lies!" I shouted before diving back into the mound of corpses hiding from the pain. I thought that I could exist as a soul without any problem, but it seemed the book of memoriescked some details about one''s existence as a soul.


    So, after my thoughts of mindless carnage had calmed down, I looked at the situation calmly and understood the situation and ce I was in.


    This ce seemed to be a giant battlefield and this mound of corpses was formed by the soldiers that fought in this ce.


    Such a particr sight that I have only heard about in the newspaper was right in front of me. And I can already imagine the countless stories that might have prospered or cut off in between from the faces of horror and relief from some of the dead bodies.


    To some, even death is a release.


    "Wonderful, this world has developed guns as well." I wondered, seeing broken muskets strewn about in the ces without care, I can even see some familiar arcane runes on the guns.


    Runes that have stopped working for who knows how long.


    "Adaptation, the mundane and magic world might be interconnected, but due to the very nature of magic, it suppresses the scientific aspect of life. Suppresses the individual intelligence of those not blessed with gifts. So much potential for chaos."


    These guns were old-fashioned, even in my time, there were automatic guns that once dominated the battlefield.


    So I wondered, what if the weak and poor people in the world obtained a method to rival or even defeat the magic users.


    Oh how wonderful it would be, a ss struggle. The old world vs the new.


    Such potential.


    Though, all my thoughts of wonderment were cut short as a man in dark clothes and a witch hat approached the mound of corpses in which I hid.


    He started to spout some nonsense and then look at the corpses with puzzlement.


    And by feeling his soul fluctuations, I understood his words, albeit barely.


    He called me a wraith and talked about fire.


    "Hmm..."


    And I was not stupid enough to stay here. So, ignoring all that pain, I chose to dip down before I was burned.


    Though, to my surprise, the ground from which I climbed out acted as a solid wall, and prevented me from running away.


    On the outside, the sun would burn as well as corrupt me. While the path to the ground was closed off.


    Guess this exined why in certain cultures the dead would be entombed in the ground.


    But enough chit-chat. I need to learn a method before this man burns me along with my dreams.


    And as you already know, I survived this ordeal. The method I used was very interesting.


    Though, at the moment, I don''t wish to tell you that.


    I can''t spoil the story for you.


    You are my god.


    And I wish to tell you an entertaining story through this young boy named Farhad Maisel.


    Where I am just the narrator, so don''t be so much invested in me. I am and will always remain the narrator, a jester who exists solely to entertain you.

 Chapter 17: 2.01.1 Searching for a job.

    <h4>Chapter 17: 2.01.1 Searching for a job.</h4>


    It was the morning in the city of Durum when Farhad Maisal stepped off his carriage and entered a one-bedroom apartment that his father paid for.


    This might not be the first time he was away from home, but he sure was living alone for the first time.


    Early on, he lived in a dormitory with students like him. It was the reason when vacations eventually came, he chose to rent a room close to the college instead of going back home.


    It was a dark world in which Farhad woke up. The unfamiliar bed, the wet floor that still hasn''t dried off after a wash, and the sound of dripping water from the toilet, whose tap was a bit busted.


    This was a familiar room that he rented not too far into the morning, but he was already able to notice that something was wrong with the apartment when he woke up in the middle of the night.


    Somehow, this ce that seemed so real, appeared not so as Farhad moved his hand from side to side.


    Even the smell of rats in his room that would take days, disappeared at some point.


    So he stood up.


    This was a world filled with mystery and danger, so the people in this world have adapted to life and always double-check any weirdness around them. Which Farhad was doing at the moment.


    "What is going on?" Farhad wondered, as he got off his bed and started to move toward the window.


    A window that was not there when he first slept.


    "Something is wrong." Even if his memory was not that great, he would have remembered a window of this kind in his room. A window with such archaic corners that one would find in the home of some ancient noble family.


    It was the reason why it so easily attracted Farhad''s attention.


    "Should I check it?"


    Farhad found it weird that a coward like him was acting so calm in this bizarre situation and was even taking an initiative. It was as if he had lost all his fear and only an itching sense of curiosity remained.


    So, without further ado, he moved forward and ced his hands on the window.


    A window that felt cool to touch, and had the texture of smooth sandalwood.


    Even the ss of the window was unlike anything he had ever seen. It was misty and white, but as he looked closer, he noticed that there was an actual mist sealed in the ss. A mist that moved and made bizarre archaic symbols.


    So he backed off.


    He knew that something was wrong with this window pane and if he tried to be more curious about it. Something bad might happen.


    But oddly enough. Even if Farhad gave his body the order to move back, his body didn''t react.


    ''What?'' He was horrified at this revtion, his mind turned chaotic as countless warning bells rang in his head.


    These thoughts of his affected his body, making his face turn ugly and fearful. But no matter what he did, he couldn''t control his body.


    He can feel his hand moving, he even knows what his hand is going to do, but he cannot ''will'' his hand to stop.


    Like a puppet, his hand slowly moved toward the lock of the window and opened it, which caused his face of Farhad to twist in even worse fear.


    He can feel it now. He knows that on the other side of this window, something terrifying was waiting for him.


    And soon this terrifying existence would devour him. As for why these thoughts appeared in his head, he didn''t know. It was like a primal part of his brain was able to sense the danger.


    But when the window was eventually opened, no beast was waiting on the other side.


    No, it would be better to say that it was the opposite. For in front of Farhad stood a tall building.


    A tall building on which a beautiful woman stood, looking at the ground below.


    "What is happening?"


    This was not his street, nor was there any building like this in his area.


    He lived in a cheap ce to hide from his fellow students. And there was no way that such a building would exist in such a poor neighborhood.


    "Who is she?" Then his thoughts shifted to the woman who under the moonlight looked extremely beautiful. So beautiful that he felt his heart skip a beat.


    With the fear and tension he felt before, along with the horror of his body being controlled, Farhad forgot everything.


    He forgot the very fears that stopped him from opening the window.


    And only the silhouette of the beauty remained.


    A beauty that after looking at the sky onest time, dropped to her death face t on the roadside.


    Where her body exploded into gore.


    "Huh?" It was then that Farhad woke up from his nightmare, his back soaked in sweat, with sunlight beaming from the window.


    A window that did exist in the room.


    "Hah, nightmare the first night sleeping here?"


    The familiar smell of rat poop somehow calmed his mind and with a bright smile on his face. He started to n the day ahead, forgetting the dream.


    And besides, in this whole world, very few were ever capable of remembering their dream.


    "I need to seed before the semester begins, I can''t waste my time here."


    And so, while having his breakfast and throwing away all the thoughts about the dream, he picked up the most recent magazine of Kelps and started looking for any notable events that might have happened recently.


    Kelps were the prime source of information on the ult in the city of Durum


    His reason for this was simple. Besides being a great source of information in the world of magi and ult, it was a ce to look for jobs in the advertisement section.


    As, even if Farhad might be well off, at the end of the day, he was not well-liked by his family and the pocket change he got was a fractionpared to what the others in his college got.


    "Hmm, most of them remain the same, experiments."


    Experiments are a normal practice of trial and error to learn and explore a particr topic until we have either seeded or failed after countless attempts.


    In these attempts, there was a lot of loss of life in the world of the ult, only those desperate enough would apply for these jobs. And Farhad might be desperate, but not the way the advertisers on this magazine were looking for.


    ''It''s suicidal.'' He was a tad bit disappointed that there were no jobs that looked interesting enough.


    And he was going to throw the magazine away until he saw a bit of a bizarre advertisement.


    "Looking for eyes, be my eyes for a month. Pay can be negotiated."


    The details spoke of a blind man that needed someone to read some books and research papers for him. The pay also seemed good, with 20,000 a month.


    No, one might be paid a bit too good for a job as simple as this.


    Which made Farhad understand that things might not be as simple as Farhad was thinking.


    But looking at the green mark on the advertisement, it meant this job was inspected by Kelp''s magazine and they considered it safe.


    "Should I try it?"


    There was a location and a time for the interview of an eye, and much to his surprise. The date was today.


    "Hmm, there must be many like me." With the money that was at stake here for such a simple job, Farhad understood that hispetition might be immense.


    He might not even seed in this job if he wished to.


    But, if he didn''t even try, he would be too ashamed of himself.


    He might fail, but he knows that he can never stop trying.


    Because who knows, that by a fluke, he might seed.


    So washing his body and changing into new clothes. Farhad was ready to present himself to his future employer.


    He was so happy today that he used an expensive medicinal paste on his rotten left chest which would curb any re-ups for the rest of the days without a problem.


    "I am ready." So with a fake smile that caused him to look like a professional, Farhad left his home with a small book in his hand.


    It was the most recent book he had been reading these days.


    A book written by a great man a long time ago was called "Window to the Soul."


    It was a book describing the unique aspects of souls and how they might materialize in the great material ne.


    Of course, it had a mention of me, the Jester. It described the wraith as an angry vengeful ghost that had been wronged in death. It is a kind of corrupted being that is driven by instinct to devour the life energy of living beings. But in general, they are still very weak in this world of magic.


    And none of that ever seemed any simr to what I was.


    Because I was never angry at the world or at my death.


    I would even go so far as to say that I was very happy with my current state.


    Due to it, I was able to witness great stories in the making, without the need to influence them.


    Which made me very happy, I was the luckiest man who was ever dead.


    And I was happy for a young man as desperate as Farhad to stumble on my abode.

 Chapter 18: 2.01.2 It was a mistake.

    <h4>Chapter 18: 2.01.2 It was a mistake.</h4>


    The sun rarely shone on the city of Durum. And today was one of those rare moments when the sun for the first time in a while showed its face to the people of durum.


    Which caused Farhad to wince, but he didn''t speak much while walking toward the interview ce.


    The sun in this world is also called the Great Purifier, for it had the power to purge all the corrupted, by just showing its head. But for the magi that dealt with the uncouth and dark forces regrly, the same purifier turned into an enemy.


    Those who can''t control their own powers, rarelye out under the sun. For they don''t wish to experience the magic being burned out of their body.


    The same was the case for Farhad, who, even after covering his cursed rotten mark on his chest, still felt the pain caused by the sun.


    He was just d that the sun didn''t outright burn his body to death.


    "Bad day." he thought, cursing at his fate once again.


    Sadly, he can''t find an umbre shop in the area, so he could only carry on with the pain and pray that he reaches the ce on time.


    Though, in the end, Farhad could not handle all this pain. "How much for Gregory street?"


    "20 Dirium."


    He might have to waste some money, but at least the cover of the cab can save him from pain and even let him reach the ce on time.


    So without bargaining much, he jumped the gun and sat in the cab. No matter how much the price of the cab pained him, it can''tpare to the pain in his chest.


    *****


    Getting off the cab, Farhad felt a bit speechless at the crowd.


    Gregory street was infamous in Durum city, not because of the dangerous elements in the ce but because of how dead it was.


    There was a time when this street was the heart of the city but after a certain incident. No one actually wishes to stay in this part of town for more than a day.


    The incident that started this, no one knew what happened, but all they knew was that if you remain in Gregory Street for longer than a day, then you might fall asleep at random.


    Which scared many people at the beginning, there was a curfew and everything around this street. But in the end. Besides that one random sleep problem, there was nothing serious going on in this part of Dirium.


    So in the end, people chose to ignore it, while leaving their houses out of annoyance.


    Making this ce feel abandoned.


    But a miracle happened, a silence like this was loved by magi a lot, who made this street their home as the mundane people feared this street.


    Causing this street to be one of the rare magi-only streets in Durum City.


    So when Farhad saw an army of mundane people blocking his way to the interview building, he understood the seriousness of thepetition.


    ''All of them are my enemies?'' The people standing out of the building seemed to be from all kinds of backgrounds, the majority of which were mundane.


    But from the radiation and palpitation in his heart, Farhad can even detect some dangerous beings mixed in this group. But they just stayed on the side waiting for the door of this concrete building to open up.


    "Lecarth Library?" The name was familiar to Farhad, this was the ce where he originally came to buy his books at the start of his college semester.


    Even the current book in his head came from this very library. So it was not an alien ce to him.


    ''He needs a reader, so of course, he would be at a library.'' This felt fitting to the situation, but it also made him wonder why such a high amount of money to just read books.


    "Don''t be rowdy, Just put in your name and we will call you one by one." Farhad knew this woman who just shouted at the group. She might look young on the surface, but she was the owner of this library.


    It was rare to see the library closed this way and it made Farhad wonder about the identity of the employer that gave out the job listing.


    Because, as far as he knew, the owner of Lecarth rarely coddled with others and even hated socializing to the extreme.


    And for a woman like that to rent her library and further help that individual to find a job. This sounded far-fetched.


    But at least, this has solidified the validity of the job listing to Farhad. So there was no fear in his head as he took shade under the tree, away from the sun.


    "Not my day today." Looking at many people that seemed way more qualified than him, Farhad had the desire to just leave this ce.


    Staying here would be wasteful if he can''t even find a job here.


    "Did you learn who the man is? This job seems a bit too simple for the money they are giving away."


    And like him, many others held the same thoughts as Farhad, and they came together to talk.


    Curious about who this entric man was.


    But most of their answers just caused Farhad to scoff.


    ''Rich man? Heh! At least I am not this pathetic.''


    Some imed the employer to be a rich man or the job itself was a lie, which gave Farhad a new understanding of some of hispetitions.


    The people making thesements were mostly mundane without an inkling of magic in them. They probably came here after learning of the reward by some magi or something, because there was no way these people would have learned the news about this so easily.


    And while he was looking at the mundane people with scrutiny, others were doing the same for Farhad.


    His smell of rot might have dealt with the medicinal balm from before, but the chaotic and corrupted energies in his body were still noticed by others around him. Those that were already initiated into the path of magi.


    "Failed." After giving Farhad onest look, most of these people turned their heads and focused on the next call out.


    Which came a lot faster than the group imagined. And the owner of the library started to call out names one by one.


    There was no sequence to it nor the care if an individual cameter or not, she just chose the names she found interesting and called out.


    And much to Farhad''s surprise he was one of them. He got chosen so fast, that it almost felt unreal to him.


    "Those whose names have been called out. Come to the waiting room." She ordered leading the group of young men and women into a room.


    Though they were not alone, some of the previous candidates slept on the reading tables with their heads down.


    Causing a scare in the new candidates.


    "Don''t be scared, they are just tired after the test." She informed the group before pointing it out. "The reward is this huge, don''t tell me you thought the reading job was easy?"


    There was mockery in her voice and a mature charm that treated these youngsters as children.


    And by age, they might as well be children to her.


    "Just sit by the side and wait till Mister Hailey calls for you." Leaving the library, she went back to her table and started reading again, not caring about these people at all.


    And neither did these people choose to question her. They understood that something might be special with this job. So most of them were not surprised.


    "Mister Hailey is the one?" The candidates wondered and looked at their predecessors who had just gone through the test.


    Most had their heads down and truly seemed to be sleeping. But among this group, Farhad noticed someone whose head was a bit tilted, exposing a young face.


    A young face with bleeding eyes.


    ''...''


    Farhad remained silent, he didn''t choose to point that out to other candidates and just waited for his turn like others.


    But in his head, he was already thinking of ways to leave this ce.


    Those injuries might not be heavy, but Farhad didn''t wish to take any chances. Due to this cautious personality of his, he had been able to survive his regr college life.


    And today, this same cautious personality was telling him to run. But things like that are never easy in this world. Would the librarian truly let him escape so easily? He needed a n for this.


    Hence he timed his escape with the first candidate call, it would distract the librarian and would give him ample time to leave.


    But when he heard a heavy voice of an old man call out. "Farhad Maisel." All ns of Farhad came to a stop.


    This was a call that was directly spoken in his ears, which told him enough that he was locked in by the individual.


    "Hmm"


    So he silently stood up and chose to just follow suit with what he was here for.


    ''The job listing on kelp said it was safe, I surely won''t be harmed too much.'' Farhad pacified his emotions as he entered the office that was originally used by the librarian.


    And in front of him sat an old man, reading a book using braille, through touching his finger.


    "Oh, you are here, I really thought you might just leave." The man said with a smile on his face.

 Chapter 19: 2.01.3 Forbidden books.

    <h4>Chapter 19: 2.01.3 Forbidden books.</h4>


    A beautiful face for an old man, if Farhad had to say so. But his hollow eyes were what stood out the most, twisting the kind smile into something horrific. Hollowed eyes that felt almost mesmerizing, attracting Farhad deeper and deeper into them.


    But being someone experienced in all of this, he just shook his head and answered.


    "Anyone would, after witnessing what happened to others." Farhad was oddly calm in this situation. Though his fear had not subsided in the least.


    "No need to fear it, they will be fine by the sundown." The old man assured Farhad. Whether it was sessful, was another matter in itself.


    "Sit, the test is not long." The old man didn''t bother to say who he was, it just showed some familiarity to Farhad that the young man didn''t notice at all.


    And how could he, the old man have no eyes.


    "What is the test?" Knowing that he cannot back down, Farhad asked. Looking at countless books strewn on the table after he sat down.


    "Just pick one that interests you and read it to me." The old man exined thoroughly while he gestured at the table.


    He might be blind, but he was very aware of his surroundings. Knowing where certain things were along.


    "That''s it?"


    At this answer, Farhad was confused. This test was too simple on the surface, but the people with their heads down in the library told enough of the dangers of this test.


    ''Books that can cause harm.''


    This felt familiar to him, he had learned about it in a book called "Magic, Curses and their Price". In which there was a mention of certain knowledge that requires a price to be paid if one wishes to learn it.


    "Forbidden knowledge?..." Farhad didn''t move his hand and instead looked at the books in fear.


    His will was weak to the face of the old man, so all he could do was stare at the books with no description on them.


    "Correct, you are the third person today that was able to identify them." The old man apuded Farhad''s intelligence, before saying. "Sadly, the two before you couldn''t even read more than one paragraph."


    "If they can''t, why should I?" Farhad said after calming down a bit.


    With all the courage he can muster, Farhad continued. "I don''t need that money if you allow it. I would like to leave this ce."


    He was a cautious man, he knows about the price of acquiring forbidden knowledge and the madness it brings to those weak.


    And he considered himself to be a weak individual.


    So, instead of taking a chance, it was better to just give up and leave this ce.


    But he knew that there was a high chance his request would be denied by this old man. As there had been none before him who left the building till now. And he was not foolish to believe that his predecessors were blind enough to not notice the danger.


    Which meant that no matter what happens the old man didn''t let them leave this ce.


    Farhad was even sure of this fact after his n was ruined by the old man when he originally nned to leave this ce.


    Though, he never expected the answer from the old man would be a bit different than he expected. "If that''s what you want, then you can leave."


    ''Hmm? Is he really letting me go?''


    Upon hearing this, Farhad started to feel a bit giddy. He thought that the old man might not be as bad.


    Though he forgot about one thing. He should have been looking at the old man''s face to know that his words haven''t ended yet.


    "But!"


    A single ''but''. There is always a ''but'' and hearing this Farhad turned to look at the old man.


    "If you leave now, you won''t find a way to properly ascend in years and that corruption on your chest will just grow bigger."


    Hearing these words, Farhad held his left chest where the rotten flesh of his moved slowly.


    He was surprised that the old man could notice his problem and even tell the same details that doctors have told him before.


    The diagnostic ability of this old man might be the best Farhad had ever seen.


    "You im to have a method to deal with this?... And fast?" Farhad asked, with some hope in his eyes.


    If he can deal with his problem, there would be no need for him to live in that dirty apartment and he can go to his dorms with his head held high.


    There would be no need to be ashamed of anything now, he might even get to go home.


    "That, I can only answer after you read one page from this." But the old man didn''t speak much, he just tapped the table. "Just one page will do."


    This was a gamble, his problem was not something that can be easily dealt with. The only twomon methods are curse transfer or bing stronger.


    Both of which were invalid for Farhad as he never officially initiated into a mage, hencecking any magic circuits.


    But if he didn''t take this opportunity now, there won''t be a simr opportunity in the future.


    "I hate this." Farhad cursed his fate as he picked up the book written by...


    ''A Prime Daemon?''


    The name of the individual was scratched off and the only thing that was mentioned on the title page was.


    "Record of Taboo: Nightwood Forest."


    From the pages, Farhad understood that these were copies of the real thing. But he didn''t look down on this book one bit for that.


    As only certain things can hold forbidden knowledge and with this book still stable without disintegrating into dust under the weight of the knowledge, it spoke enough about its material quality.


    "Good choice." Farhad didn''t know how the blind old man could know what he picked, nor did he wish to know, as each mage has their own unique methods and this was one of the most basic uses of magic as well.


    "It was about the time I was a young Hunter and entered the Nightwood forest on the east end of Cynark kingdom."


    As Farhad read, he was surprised to find that the forbidden knowledge in the book was nothing more than just a man narrating his story.


    ''This?... what''s so forbidden about this?''


    Nightwood, a generic name that ismonly used by vigers to denote eerie parts of a jungle. So even with the name of the country, it would be impossible to tell which forest the man was speaking about.


    Not to mention there was no Cynark kingdom in the world anymore, he hadn''t even read about its existence in any of the history books.


    Not yet at least.


    And while reading all this, Farhad forgot that he was only meant to read just one page. A limit set up by the old man for a reason, this was the limit one can read before their soul is extensively damaged.


    But to the wonderment of the old man, he was already on the third page.


    The story he was reading was also simple, the exploration of the man into the forest never stopped and day by day he explored more about this normal forest.


    That was until Farhad came to the 7th page.


    "Stop." At which point, the old man woke Farhad from the stupor.


    His eyes were bleeding just like others and his head was swollen till it looked like a ripe apple.


    All the blood had rushed to Farhad''s head while his concentration was entirely monopolized by the book in front of him.


    "Wha?..." The moment the book was dragged from Farhad''s hand, he tried to leap toward the old man in an attempt to take it from him.


    But the moment he touched the hands of the old man again, Farhad fell to the floor asleep.


    "Wonderful." This was not the old man, but the woman who owned the library.


    "7 pages in a row without his eyes popping. This boy seems to have potential." The woman appraised the fallen body of Farhad who was barely breathing.


    "Not just any books, it was ''Record of Taboo''. This boy read it to such an extent while being so weak." This meant only one thing.


    "Send others away, I have my candidate."


    One page was the limit for amon man to read cursed knowledge like this. And this was after it had already been deciphered and tranted by others, decreasing its impact of it on the soul by a mile.


    And if he found someone to that level, that candidate might have a chance to win. And he would have collected simr winning candidates before he chose the best among them.


    There were already 3 who had passed before. But now it seems that they will be sent home.


    This old man has just found a diamond among coal.


    "Whatever you choose, Mister Hailey. The faster you are done, the faster I can open my library again."


    And with that our young hero became a helper of Maxim Hailey, a Magister from the Radiance, an international organization that dealt with cursed ces.


    And Maxim was here to deal with the bizarre curse of Gregory street.


    He was here to deal with me.


    And of course, you should already know who I am, I am the narrator of this story, I am the jester.

 Chapter 20: 2.02.1 Radiance Society

    <h4>Chapter 20: 2.02.1 Radiance Society</h4>


    When Farhad''s eyes opened once again. He found himself in the same ce where the interview was taken by the old man.


    Sadly, his memories of what happened remained blurry and as he got up from the sofa, he looked for any signs of life.


    Though, he paused the moment he noticed something familiar. A window with an archaic design.


    "What is this?" Not recalling the dream he had not too long ago, he only found the Window a bit familiar.


    And like before, out of ignorance and curiosity, he started to move toward it. There was just something about this window that attracted Farhad, something that made the rational side of his brain not work properly.


    So like a fool like before, he went and started to push his hand forward.


    Though the moment he was going to touch the window, a sudden jerking motion pulled him back.


    Away from this illusory office and the window that was in his grasp.


    "Huh?" So when he came to be, he found himself in the office like before. But now there was the blind old man who had ced his hand on his shoulder.


    It would seem it was this hand that pulled him out of the dream.


    "You are wide awake?" The old man named Maxim was not ashamed in the slightest. He even seemed to have enjoyed waking up Farhad from his dream.


    "Huh... Yes?" Still reeling in from the dream that felt familiar, Farhad said with some confusion.


    He still didn''t know what happened to him or how it happened. Everything just felt so real and unreal at the same time.


    There was even a desire to stay in that dream forever.


    "Guess you were hit by the curse of thisnd." The old man said with some surprise after feeling the pulses of Farhad through his hand. "So much confusion and desire. Guess it was right for me to wake you up."


    "Huh... What... What happened." Even though the face of the old man was scary, Farhad still asked.


    He can''t recall what happened after he picked up the book.


    A book whose name he can''t recall anymore.


    "What happened?... Well, you got the job." The old man seemed oddly giddy from his voice as he picked up a small sour candy from the table and put it in his mouth. "And I lied before, the sry is not 20 thousand but 80 thousand Dirium."


    "80 thousand?" The moment he heard the sry he would be getting, Farhad forgot all about the dream. He was very wide awake.


    But he slowly recalled some memories.


    So much money won''t be given away for nothing. One only pays the other for what the job is worth, no more and no less.


    This made Farhad wary.


    "How dangerous is this job." Farhad was not a fool, instead, one might say he was the most cautious among his age due to his upbringing.


    "You read the book, you tell me." Maxim pointed at the book that made Farhad recall some memories that he had forgotten about.


    "The cursed text." He doesn''t know how much he read the book or even the contents in it. But he understood the danger in it was immense.


    "I can''t do it." Farhad shook his head. "I am well off, I am not desperate enough for money that much. I wish to leave."


    Farhad made up his mind.


    Though, Maxim was not letting Farhad leave so easily. He was well aware of the family of Farhad, it was why he originally showed interest in him, not to mention, it was the first time he had seen a person capable of reading seven pages of Record of Taboo without being a mage.


    So he spoke. "I guess your memories are still a bit shaken due to the book." Maxim picked up the Record of Taboo. "You said something simr before, but changed your mind when I mentioned a method to deal with the curse on your body." Maxim pointed at Farhad''s left chest.


    "And yes, I do have a method to deal with that."


    Hearing these words, Farhad went silent.


    His original n was to find a job and collect money to buy some curse suppression balm before the end of vacations.


    Though, now it seems that if he chose to remain here, he might find a way topletely get rid of it.


    So at this point, Farhad nodded.


    He needs to deal with this problem first before resuming his ascension ceremony. Otherwise, the rate of failure will be higher than before and he might even lose his life the next time.


    "If what you promise is true, I will ept your offer. But you also have to take care of my security for this." The fear that Farhat felt for the old man had long disappeared, instead, he had adopted a more calm and mature approach toward him.


    "Wonderful, you just need to sign this contract and we can begin."


    "Contract?"


    This was not a simple contract, it was written on sheep skin and exuded a holy feeling from it.


    "Maxim Hailey?..." Reading the contents and name on the contract, Farhad''s eyes were wide open.


    To which, the old man said in an embarrassed tone.


    "I think I forgot to introduce myself." The old man ced his hand on his chest and said. "I am Maxim Hailey, Magistar of Illusions of Wortham Principality, from the Radiance."


    "And yes kiddo, I have seen you a little before. The time when I still had my eyes."


    Radiance, they were an organizationposed mostly of lunatics whose sole goal was to keep the corruption of soul and humanity, at the minimum. A noble goal, but the way in which they approached this goal was a bit radical.


    There was a reason they were called lunatics by everyone everywhere.


    But for the same reason, it was impossible to deny their services. One can look at Gregory street and know why.


    If left on their own, rarely do governments or other organizations have experience or knowledge on how to deal with this. But Radiance Society was different, they have developed various methods to deal with all the bizarre urrences that appear in this world. And with time, these methods of theirs would keep increasing.


    It was for this reason why Maxim was sent here, after a lot of politics and back and forth with the governing body of Wortham Principality, did the Radiance society get the rights to act in Dirium.


    "I recall you visiting my father once, you didn''t like him very much, did you?" Farhad asked, putting down the pen and asking this question first.


    "And I recall it being summer vacations in your college, but here you are away from your home."


    "So we both know how your father is. It''s better that you don''t involve him in this, I am not employing you because you are his blood. I am employing you because you are desperate and talented."


    The contract was not a simple one, it was a binding contract that would put certain conditions on the two parties'' souls.


    Its conditions were simple as well, all it asked Farhad was to not speak of the contents he learned from this ce to an outside party. Same for other secrecy contents among which one was pretty harsh.


    A condition that will erase Farhad''s memory of his employment the moment the job ispleted. He would only know where he was employed and for how long, Farhad would never be able to remember what he was doing during his employment.


    There was even a use that if Farhad performed well, he might just get a chance to join the Radiance society.


    "I will sign it." In the end, there was no reason for Farhad to deny such a contract.


    Even the job prospects in Radiance Society held a certain charm to it. And with Farhad''s talents, he knew that he had limited options.


    And he needs to take up an offer he can.


    Signing the contract and having some more details talk about his job with Maxim, Farhad left the library. Found that it was already night and most of the candidates had also left the scene.


    The time was 2 am and there was no one active on the main streets. There might be certain ces and establishments that were still active at the moment. But most had closed down and there was no ce for Farhad to find food.


    "Should have epted Mister Hailey''s offer for dinner." Sighing at his stupidity, Farhad walked toward his home.


    As it turned out, most of the cab drivers were just asleep in their cabs on the roadside and Farhad didn''t wish to pay an extra fare for breaking their sleep at night.


    "Hmm, an hour at least." This was not the first time he was out alone in the city for the first time, but it sure was his first time this dark night.


    The path he took was even a different one than the one he used before.


    In his head, he might reach his room faster this way.


    But as he left the alley into a new road, he found a building.


    A familiar building and footpath.


    "Huh?"


    Images shed past his eyes and soon his head started to hurt.


    A familiar pain just like the time he read the cursed literature from before.


    "What is happening?" As his memories recovered, his eyes started to bleed once again.


    And in those memories, he recalled a certain dream.


    The scenes in the dream and reality started to ovep. He saw a woman with beauty unlike any, look at the moon and then jump to her death.


    Though, it was one of the rare moonless nights. But as he kept looking at the falling women and the three moons in the sky which appeared as phantoms, the bleeding in his eyes turned worse before they could burst. A gentle tap to the head made him sleep again.


    "An anomaly, Maxim shouldn''t have let him read that book." Unaware of the reason, the librarian from before med Maxim. Before she picked up Farhad and left the scene.

 Chapter 21: 2.02.2 The bedroom

    <h4>Chapter 21: 2.02.2 The bedroom</h4>


    Cursed texts or forbidden knowledge, there were many names for it but there was one thing that never changed. The cost of soul. The more you learn the more you give up parts of yourself and to retain the knowledge, one needs to give up parts of their soul non-stop as a payment.


    It was for this reason that the knowledge about these texts is so hidden and rarely do people evere across them. But it was not just the test that was forbidden.


    Certain existences at a higher life level would have simr effects when witnessed by a mortal.


    There are times when one witnesses things they shouldn''t. So the subconscious mind of an individual forgets the knowledge in an attempt to save one''s soul consumption.


    And it was for this reason that Farhad kept forgetting the dream he saw. He never gave much importance to the dream, to begin with. But the moment when he saw the building in which that woman died, memories keep flooding in, overworking his mind and sending him into aa.


    "This shouldn''t have happened, I was sure that he didn''t retain any memories of the book. So why did this happen?"


    Back in the library, in the living quarters, Maxim checked the state of Farhad by holding his nerves and finding nothing wrong with it. Well besides the corruption on the chest.


    While the librarian that went by name Pierta Gleh was bandaging Farhad''s eyes after applying for some medicine.


    "You are blind, old man. Mistakes like this can happen, next time be sure that it doesn''t happen again. It was already hard to make them ignore my existence."


    Officially, the Radiance might havee to Durum just now, but in truth, they have been lurking in Durum for a long while and Pierta was their agent.


    In Radiance, she was part of the intelligence called Radiant Eye. A groupposed of weaker members of Radiance Society whose sole job was to find dangerous elements that wouldter be reported to Radiance, who then send a Magistar to learn about the problem along with a hunter whose job is to deal with this problem.


    Sadly for the two, the hunter that came with Maxim was not here currently.


    "I might be old. But I don''t make mistakes as big as this... Let''s just wait for him to wake up." At this moment, the only way they can learn what happened would be to ask the victim himself.


    Though with things like these, memories are often blurry, making it harder to depend on an individual''s retelling of their memories.


    This is why a majority of organizations and governments are ipetent while dealing with curses.


    Same reason why an organization like Radiance has so much reach all over the world.


    "In the meantime, call off all the blue eyes. There is no meaning to keep them active anymore."


    In the Radiance society, there were a total of three active sects on the surface.


    Among them, the Radiant Eye was the sect with the highest poption. And to manage that, the society had divided its workforce into multiple small eyes.


    And Blue eyes were the weakest, but the heart of the whole operation.


    "It will be done." Pierta nodded her head and then left, leaving the blind Maxim with Farhad.


    Maxim, who still remained ignorant of the bomb that was my little Farhad.


    *****


    When Farhad woke up, he could see nothing. There was darkness everywhere.


    In a panic, before you could even say anything, his hand flew to his eyes, to find a cloth covering his eyes.


    "Don''t panic, the cloth covering your eyes is for your own safety. It is absorbing the corrupted miasma, let it be." Maxim said, holding Farhad''s down.


    "Mis... Mister Hailey?" Farhad was surprised to hear the voice of Maxim once again. But then he recalled the scene he witnessed before. So, without holding back. He spoke out his thoughts. "I... I saw something."


    Hearing this, Maxim''s brows quivered.


    This was not something he expected, generally, people usually forget traumatizing events or memories rting to forbidden knowledge, but from Farhad''s words, this doesn''t seem to be the case.


    The boy was so shaken, that he didn''t even question the miasma and the blindfold. His mind seemed to be focused on something much more impactful on Farhad.


    ''The boy is in shock.''


    "What did you see?" Maxim, who still hasn''t briefed Farhad on what his job may entail, started to ask questions.


    "I... can''t can''t define it. Images are blurry." Farhad said it till this point, before holding his head and suppressing the pain. "And it hur...hurts if I try to recall them."


    This is unlike what maxim expected. He considered it a miracle that Farhad can even remember anything rted to the things he might have seen.


    "Just define it as inly as you can. Don''t try to go deeper."


    Hearing these words, the pressure on Farhad''s head decreased a bit. He was not pushing deeper into memories, so he just recalled the surface details of the image.


    "A woman... jumped! And there were moons." The moment Farhad said these words, he lost consciousness once again. As the blindfold wrapped around his head started to turn darker at a higher rate.


    But Maxim didn''t move, he became still.


    "Moons?" Memories from the past assaulted his mind, he recalled the day he lost his eyes.


    He can think the same future awaits the child in front of him.


    "PIETRA!" he shouted, calling the librarian back to the room. And then pointed at Farhad. "He is marked, help him." Leaving these words, Maxim left the room lost in his thoughts.


    As he had thought before, the boy in front of him was too weird.


    He should have noticed that something was wrong with the boy the moment he showed his ability to read seven pages on his first try.


    "Informing the boy''s father should be appropriate, his identity is a bit sensitive." Thinking this, Maxim left the room, leaving Pierta along with Farhad.


    Though in the end, he stopped. This might turn into a serious matter if word got out and Radiance might get med for this. This is how usually things go.


    *****


    It''s been a day since Farhad woke up in the library, but he justy on his bed, thinking about his luck.


    It''s always him for some reason. He doesn''t understand why fate hates him so much.


    "You are marked by a higher entity, it would be better if you inform your family about it."


    Recalling Maxim exining to him what happened to him, Farhad can''t help but curse his fate.


    There was no way he could tell his father. He can''t afford any more disappointing eyes from his father. So all he could do at the moment is stay with Radiant Society and find a way to fix this mark or whatever it was.


    "But don''t worry, it''s not as serious as you might think. I was cursed once as well. And I still live." Maxim really tried to console Farhad, he really did.


    But with his old and broken body, along with his hollow eyes. It doesn''t help Farhad at all. Instead, he got more worried about it.


    He wondered what his future had in mind for him. Would he even survive?


    "Nothing goes right with me." Farhad didn''t even know what was wrong with him or what this ''Mark'' meant. All he knew from his sses was that it''s never a good thing to attract the attention of the unknown to oneself.


    ''Was it the book?'' Farhad even wondered this, thinking of ming Maxim for this predicament. But after a while, he shook his head. For he knew that he might have been marked way before.


    Though, not too long ago as well.


    So he thought harder, his mind actively ignoring the memories and wondering when he might have been marked.


    And soon, he reached a conclusion after paying a certain price.


    *****


    "What have you done?" Pierta was horrified to find the bed of Farhad stained with blood. So much blood that it seemed inhumanely impossible.


    But instead of panic and fear, there was a smile on the blindfolded face of Farhad. A smile filled with the satisfaction of achieving something.


    "I know where I was... marked."


    "My... bed... room." Saying these words, Farhad died.


    A simple death with no meaning.


    He died of the corruption that was eating him up slowly.


    A corruption lethal enough to take his life.


    He was a boy that was fearful of his father and suffered a lot from his life in his college.


    All Farhad wished for in his life was one thing and that was for people to leave him alone with his books. But his responsibilities and Identity always held him back from his true freedom.


    Farhad was a lot better than I had anticipated, he performed well and there was even a chance for evolution if he had survived for longer.


    I was even looking forward to it.


    Sadly, the boy was not talented enough and cannot utilize the opportunity I gave him. The most I could do for him was give him freedom.


    And with him being free, there is a vacancy open for a core character.


    So I wonder who woulde and take his ce.


    "He died?" Looking at the note handed to her by a blue eye, my new favorite character just sighed and left the bar where she had been wasting her time all this time.


    "Maxim, what have you done?"


    The Hunter of Radiant, Remira Wyrmwood has joined the y. And she was not alone, with the death of such a special child. Certain figures were turning their heads toward the little city of Durum.


    And as you know, the more characters in the y, the more interesting it would be.

 Chapter 22: 2.03.1 A new beginning.

    <h4>Chapter 22: 2.03.1 A new beginning.</h4>


    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 ater 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 be the perfect bait for these people.


    Though it would be a lie that I didn''te to love this bait, I was as sad about his death as you are.


    But the situation I ced 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 bacsh 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 ce 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 ce 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 ce as fast as possible, the boy''s father ising 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 ept that."


    "But what I won''t ept is leaving this ce, 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 fathering 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 epting 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 ced him in a tough position.


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


    *****


    It''s such a wonderful feeling when everything falls into ce. Though, I am a bit sad that there won''t be any morepetition 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 ying field, as I work in the background. These people will be forced to do the same if they wish to seed.


    "When is Marshall Maiseling here?" Remira, the hunter sent by the Radiance, asked. Her eyescking 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 oing party."


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


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


    So hearing those grand words, Remira just scoffed and said with a drunk tone. "Why even bother... hic. The old fart will juste 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 regretter." This was not a threat, but a genuine suggestion.


    Thepanionship 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 sinceing 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 simr moon mark, and these marks attract each other." Pierta exined.


    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 manipte 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 thenguage of old.


    While the runes were familiar, thenguage 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.

 Chapter 23: 2.03.2 Unexpected development.

    <h4>Chapter 23: 2.03.2 Unexpected development.</h4>


    "He did say the source was his apartment," Pierta recalled thest words of Farhad and how happy he seemed after pinpointing the cause.


    But to most, it just seemed like delirious talks of someone dying. They had searched the rooms before and hadn''t found any sign of foul y. No curses or supernatural beings were detected.


    Maxim even went as far as to do a source scan, losing one of his fingers in response. But the result remained the same.


    Nothing was detected at that moment, which made the situation hard for this small group from Radiance.


    But, Pierta never expected Remira to bring such a huge clue to them.


    "So whatnguage is it?" Remira asked, curious about her finding.


    "All I can say for sure is that this is from the mundane world, nothing else." The moment Pierta said those words, Remira got confused.


    The knowledge about the mundane world is known to few and its culture is even harder to learn about. All the world knows is that magically stops working in that world and one loses all blessings after transferring over it.


    It''s a punishment specifically used for irredeemable individuals that are hard to kill. And the gate to that world can open only during a specific time.


    And from what Remira knew, it''s been almost four to five decades since thest time a gate to that cursed ce was opened up.


    As for why Remira was confused. Thenguages in the mundane world are, how to say it, mundane.


    They don''t hold any magic unlike the runic of the sun kingdom or the writings of sylphs. So she wondered, why would one leave those writings around the runes on that wooden b under Farhad''s bed.


    "Whoever inscribed this, is a learned individual."


    "So you are sure it was an individual targeting us and not a supernatural force?" Remira wished to confirm this wondering whether it was something she could kill.


    And to her expectation, Pierta nodded with a sigh. "If a supernatural force was at work, it would not need to use these methods to deal with us. Someone is targeting us. Someone that doesn''t wish for us to seed." Pierta might not know the function of the runes on the b or what the writings meant. But she knew their enemy was just a human and nothing more.


    If it was not illusory, then it can be killed.


    "But why would someone wish to stop us from cleansing this street?'' Pierta wondered, ignoring Remira who had started to enjoy her beer to celebrate her great find.


    *****


    Remira didn''t stay in the library for long, they still had two days before Marshall Maisel arrives to take over his boy''s body. And when he arrives, it would be harder to move as much.


    "Wonder how that old cot will react to it?" Remira wondered, recalling the eyeless face of Maxim, before turning around the corner and looking for a cab.


    Her next course of action was simple; ignore the cursed street and focus on the death of Farhad as she finds the one responsible for marking the boy.


    She even wondered what kind of individual was capable of this. Because a mark is not simple, it''s the sign that someone is under the gaze of a higher entity, and most of the time, it doesn''t bode well for many.


    Farhad was the greatest example, and the second was Maxim himself, who was marked by a greater entity.


    How he saved his life, Remira didn''t know. All she knew was that one day he had his eyes and the next time they were gone while Maxim aged by decades at once.


    Which tells the price he paid to retain his life.


    One shouldn''t look at Maxim and think he is an old man. He was just 45 years old this year, but his body looks like that of a 70year old.


    "I am here." Getting out of the cab, she stared at a stone b in the middle of the city. A b around which there was security standing around.


    "The security is unusually high." She wondered, but her answer was soon answered.


    A car, pitch ck silently drove next to her, giving her goosebumps in the process.


    This attracted her attention, the radiance in her blood was boiling, wishing to get out and kill the entity. But she soon calmed her body down and only stared at the car.


    ''An unmarked car?'' Being someone that has focused most of her time on training, it was hard to learn about the model of this vehicle. But she can feel the slight hint of rune craft from the car, which told her that this was expensive.


    And few were able to afford something like this in the city.


    ''A bit shot.'' Remira thought, staring at the car silently.


    And when the doors of the car opened up it was the face of an old man. But calling him old would be a disservice to old people, as this man seemed closer to being mummified.


    ''That cane, the headmaster of Lucien''s abode, the academy that the boy went to.''


    The aura of the headmaster was icy cold, making her blood of radiance boil, unbeknownst to her.


    Which attracted the old man''s attention.


    ¨C "A Hunter from Radiance?" The lips of the old man didn''t move, but everyone around the headmaster heard those words clearly.


    Causing the handlers of the headmaster to go on defense, sending goosebumps to Remira.


    ''The meeting ended too soon?'' She scoffed, cursing Maxim for not being able to hold back this old man for long.


    But now that she was found out, there was no reason to lie or feign ignorance anymore. So without any more dy, she bowed and introduced herself.


    "Remira Wyrmwood from the 21st generation of Radiance hunter, it''s a pleasure to meet you Headmaster Kariut."


    Ignoring the wary gazes towards her which were ready to attack her anytime. She fearlessly moved her body and introduced herself.


    A power y and a disy of respect toward the headmaster.


    But this small act didn''t calm the anger of the old man. So in his usual deadpan tone, he asked her. "Then Remira Wyrmwood of the 21st generation, what are you doing at the gates of my academy?"


    His voice sounded in everyone''s ears, a voice that held a mocking tone. The old man was inly aware of why she was here, he just wished to know what her excuse would be.


    But to his surprise, Remira''s answer turned out to be a bit unexpected.


    "I just wish to visit Farhad Maisals dormitory. His death was random and leaving the dormitory to live in some dirty apartment didn''t seem to gel for someone of his background." Remira was not the kind to shy away from her fault, if she was found out, so be it. She will use this to her advantage. "So I wish to check if there was something wrong in his dorm that directed him to leave it for the outside."


    Hearing these words, the surroundings got silent, before one of the handlers reprimanded Remira. "I would suggest, you should choose your next words carefully. Otherwise, we won''t be able to ignore any more of your offenses toward our headmaster anymore."


    From Remira''s words, one would think she was ming the academy for Farhad''s death, and in a way she was.


    iming that something or someone in the academy drove Farhad to live in that cursed apartment building would push the me of his death on the academy as well and at the moment no one wishes to hold this hot potato. Farhad''s identity was a bit too sensitive.


    "Offenses? I never intended for any of that. I am just doing my job and only wish to do a small investigation in your college, nothing more." Remira exined her intentions clearly. But from the way things were going, the chances of sess seemed infinitely low.


    ¨C "Miss Radiance Hunter, the academy is not open to strangers, not in times when one of those strangers might beplicit in the death of one of our students."


    ¨C "So the answer is no and it would remain as such unless you are absolved of all your crimes."


    ¨C "And till that happens, I would pray that you stay away from my school for your own good."


    The moment the old man stopped speaking, Remira felt a strange pain in her head, causing her to stumble back a bit.


    She can feel something wriggling in her head, like a worm.


    Something that was soon burned by her blood.


    But it still left her in shock, and when she looked up, the old man had already left with the teleportation b turning inactive.


    "I failed."


    She might have known this, but she didn''t know how big of an opportunity she had just lost. But if she knew, there would be no reason for her toe here and deal with an old man who held simr hate for the Radiance society as I do.


    Which made him an unlikely ally in this whole game.


    But I have spoken too much about it.


    Let''s go back to our Heroine, who left the scene with a disappointed face. There was no method to infiltrate that college unless the stone b was used.


    No method for now at least.


    "Hmm?"


    But while going back, she paused.


    Hmm, I wonder why she would stop at this time. But guess I don''t need to worry as she started on her way back to the library.


    Who am I kidding, each action of an individual has a meaning and if she stopped then there must be a reason for that as well.


    Which by the method of elimination would leave with one thing.


    "She is suspicious about me. What a wonderful little girl, it''s been a while since someone was capable of noticing my presence. These Radiance bastards never disappoint me."

 Chapter 24: 2.04.1 Chaos beginning to set in.

    <h4>Chapter 24: 2.04.1 Chaos beginning to set in.</h4>


    There she was, wondering what or who it was that was keeping a watch over her. Her mind wondered.


    Was it the killer? The man behind it all?


    She even wondered whether ignoring the individual in that alley was the right thing to do. Who knows, if she had chosen to pursue that individual, many of her answers might have been delivered to her.


    Even if she failed, she might still have learned something about the enemy at the very least. And she was going to pursue him, but something in her blood told her to wait.


    It warned her about something.


    If she had followed her rationality at that moment, something bad might have happened, so she stayed put and left the area.


    Which was a tad bit disappointing for me and her.


    If only her senses were stronger. If only she was like the ones that I previously met, those that came close to killing me.


    But I am expecting too much from a new recruit.


    She was young and had a whole future ahead of her, just like Farhad.


    Whether she can achieve that greatness will depend on her alone. And no one in this would help her, not even me.


    So with a downtrodden mood after losing two consecutive clues in her hand, Remira got back to the library. Much to the surprise of Pierta.


    "Back so soon?" She wondered, knowing that Remira was someone that likes to be thorough with her work. But being part of the Radiant eye, she was not clueless of why this might have happened?


    "Failed with what you were doing?"


    "Yes, and badly. But at least I found that someone had truly been following us."


    "Probably the individuals that were responsible for this totem... right?" At this point, the voice of Maxim came from the side. His fingers move along the wooden board that Remira bought previously from Farhad''s apartment.


    Feeling the carvings inch by inch, a dazed expression appeared on his face, and then it turned a bit mncholic.


    But with hisck of eyes, none of the women in the library noticed this, instead, Remira just nodded. "Probably yes, I don''t see why anyone besides our enemies would be so keen on tailing me."


    "Are you sure it was an enemy? Might be a third party?" Pierta tried to confirm. Coming from her background, she was well aware of how many third parties were interested in Gregory street, besides the Radiance.


    Many wish to study the dream domain here, while only a few wish to end it. There are even some who treated this ce as a tourist spot due to the random dreaming one suffers from.


    "That I can''t say, but there are only a few who can keep up with me in this city if I tried and at that moment, I was trying." By trying, Remira meant her method of hiding from the eyes that must be following him.


    And knowing the personality of the Old man from the Lucien academy, there was a high chance that he might send his hounds at her.


    It was a well-known fact that the Headmaster of Lucien didn''t like Radiance Society at all and was one of the biggest hurdles when Radiance tried to enter this city.


    Or so she was taught, but from what she could sense, the only man never bothered with her and let her go without any problem while someone else instead followed her.


    Which in and of itself was a scary thing. Who knows what was the intention of this third party, he might even aim for her life.


    Or so she thought, but poor Remira was not aware that I waspletely harmless, I can''t kill anyone or even influence much, I was just lucky with Farhad due to the boy''s weak mentality.


    It''s not every day you find someone with such a weak personality that influencing them bes so easy.


    So at the moment, I had no means to stop her. If she wanted, she could have purified me. And if she wanted, she could have ended these dream shenanigans.


    But she seemed smarter than this, she didn''t ruin the game and was ying her part perfectly. It''s not every day that you find such great characters in a story.


    "Then our enemy is good. No, with this small b, I am sure that he is a lot better than we might expect." Maxim said, beating the b in his hand.


    To which, Remira, who was disappointed after her recent failures, stood up and asked Maxim. "So you have a clue on what this is?" There was a hint of radiance in her eyes, a sign that her blood was active to extremes.


    Much to the surprise of Maxim. Who once had the blood of radiance coursing through his veins.


    But he didn''t say anything, he was not someone to put their nose in other''s business anyway.


    "You can say that. This is one of thenguages from the mundane world, but I don''t know which one and what it means."


    "I would have to send an imprint of this to the Heart to get any answers."


    The heart of Radiance was the hub of Radiance society that existed only in a few selected locations in world. With the closest one where the three orignated from was 800km away. And it would take around three days for it to reach there by train and by adding the additional time, it would take around eight days at the minimum.


    Till that time, the group would barely be able to do anything on the clue.


    "Even I knew that this would be the case. Tell me something that I don''t know." Remira said, well aware that someone like Maxim couldn''t be learned in uselessnguage.


    Which put the poor old man a bit off, before he responded with a sigh. "I just know one of the runes in this, it''s either a dream or a nightmare. The domain of sleep."


    Thenguage of runes is ever-changing and there are multiple different signs for a singr word due to the nature of power that is used.


    But it doesn''t mean that they were hard to deconstruct, and for someone as learned as Maxim, whose sole job was research, this was as easy as butter.


    As one shouldn''t forget that Maxim hadn''t been with that wooden b for more than an hour and he had already deciphered one of the runes.


    "Sleep once again. It might be the medium through which he was marked."


    The entity that is currently looming over this street was sleep rted as well. Which made the two events connected.


    "This truly was a great find, Remira. It made our work easy and we also have more proof for our thesis."


    Maxim sounded enthusiastic, but there was also some dread hidden in his voice, old memories kept surfacing in his head, and even the piece of wood felt heavy in his hand. But he reigned in his emotions from going haywire.


    He was hiding something that he didn''t want others in his group to know about.


    As for why he was doing this? Even I was unaware of it.


    The reason for it was simple. Maxim had been marked before, but not by me but by a simr entity that left his soul dirty.


    And I can''t feel the thoughts of individuals from all that murkiness. A cleaner soul like Remira is more to my liking.


    It''s radiant and bright like moonlight, even the pain it gives to me is peaceful. She is strong-willed and I like her due to this.


    Rarely do I find someone that can detect me and she was the first one in a while, and it was for the same reason.


    When the headmaster of Lucien infected her with a parasitic worm that ate away at her brain, it activated her radiant blood which burned the worm before it could do any harm.


    And it was due to her blood that made her soul stronger, making it easier for her to notice me.


    But I have already found the reason, I won''t make the same mistake again. Nor do I wish for the game to end so early.


    ****


    Now let''s walk a bit further from the library, but still on Gregory street.


    There was a group of men in ck clothes standing in the basement of a potion shop. Each one had an eerie aura around them and all of them sleeping.


    They slept while standing still.


    "Wake up, we have some guests." The man who was the owner of this potion shop ordered, waking up this group of people.


    "Your eyes are red, it would seem the dreams haven''t been kind to most of you," he said, looking that most of these cloaked individuals had red eyes and ck blood leaking from their noses.


    With the exception of one small silhouette. Someone the shop owner knew.


    "As expected of our little enigma, you truly are special," he said, apuding the strength of the little child. "Come forward." He ordered this individual who looked like a child under the cloak.


    "Yes sir?" In an adolescent voice, the child asked. Curious and a bit fearful of the potion master.


    "You will lead the mission this time, and your job is a simple one." Then the man pointed at the papers. Which he took out of the bag.


    And then, he pointed at the face on the paper, a face that looked slightly simr to Farhad. "You have to assassinate Marshal Maisel."


    Although unaware of who his target actually is, the boy just nodded out of fear and then backed off, taking the rest of the cloaked individuals with him.


    "Opportunities like thise rarely, don''t miss it," he said in the air, not caring whether his words reached the ears of someone or not.


    But I can say, it sure reached my ears.


    And I sure am looking forward to the mayhem that might happen in the future.

 Chapter 25: 2.04.2 Unexpected meeting

    <h4>Chapter 25: 2.04.2 Unexpected meeting</h4>


    When it was known to the city that a marshall would be visiting it. There were a lot of murmurs. But none knew the reason why he would being here. They didn''t know about the death of Farhad nor did they know that he was the son of a Marshall.


    To most that were in the know, he was just some unlucky boy that died and nothing more.


    But to others, his death was a disaster in itself.


    "Arrogant," Remira said, looking at the face that resembled Farhad to a fault, with the only exception being the eyes.


    She might have not seen Farhad when he was alive, but she can know that he was nothingpared to his father.


    A father, ignoring the weing party organized by the mayor and the news reporters looking for a scoop, approached Remira and ordered.


    "Take me to your Den." His voice was heavy, holding the authoritative ir to it. Which made Remira back off a bit.


    But that was just her body reacting to the imposing figure of Marshall. Her words on the other hand showed none of this weakness.


    "It would hurt you to be a bit polite?"


    Those around her, including the mayor''s associates that came to wee him from the stations, were sweating hard when they heard these words. They feared that the Marshall might do something bad in anger.


    They didn''t do anything besides go silent. No one wished to intrude on this conversation, if this woman wants to die, then so be it. But they won''t go in to calm the situation down. And instead, they were doing their best to not attract any attention.


    Though, what these men didn''t expect was apletely nominal response from the Marshall. "Sorry for before," Maisel said, shrinking his aura a bit. Before requesting Remira. "Can you take me to Maxim?"


    Now it was Remira''s turn to be dumbfounded. She didn''t expect that Marshall would be this normal?


    From what she had heard from Maxim, this man was brutal and a pain in his ass most of the time. So what might have caused such a change?


    But she doesn''t care about all of this. Her job was more on the field and after taking this military man to Maxim, she is going to go on a walk and enjoy it.


    *****


    The designation of a Marshall was a special one in the army. Higher than all the officers and directors under the general with one exception.


    A marshall listens to no one besides the General of the army. Not even the Prince of this country can force him to do anything. But in return for this, the freedom that one obtains after bing a Marshall is immense, they even had the right to use their abilities in public if they wished to.


    An honor afforded to a select few.


    Farhad''s father was one of those Marshalls. A man of focus andmitment that sent his son as a punishment far away from his home.


    And now the same son is dead.


    Did he me himself for this? Who knows?


    He was a marshall and someone I can''t sense the feelings of, he was strong, probably the strongest in the city of Durum at the moment.


    And he was here with vengeance.


    Or so, many thought about it this way. And the group from Radiance was not alone.


    But to their surprise, the words that Marshall spoke were a lot more amicable.


    "I will go straight to the point. Don''t let my son''s life go to waste."


    A surprising request from the man with almond skin and gloomy countenance. He was a lot calmer than he initially appeared to be. Which was odd considering that his son died in the presence of Radiance, an organization with which he had more than a few disagreements in the past.


    I might have made a small mistake. The father of the boy was a lot more cordial to the ones responsible for his death, which was a bit unexpected.


    "It would be a lie to say that those words are not odd. Considering they came from your mouth." Maxim said, surprised as ever, but there was no inking of joy on his face. He was just curious as to why the sudden change in treatment?


    He had expected blowback from Marshall Maisel, a suppression that would make it harder to do their job. But one of them happened much to his surprise.


    And it would be a lie to say that I was not the least bit thrilled with this unexpected change in the flow.


    It turned a bit harder for me. But this has its own appeal I guess.


    "Magistar, we both might not agree on certain things, but that is due to my duty as this country''s protector."


    "And today, I am here as a father, not a marshall." He was well aware that Maxim was not the kind to kill a child, instead, Maxim was one of the very few people who he respected.


    But due to his hash personality, he struggles to show it to people properly. "Even if I might be from the military, I still have some knowledge about the ult and understand what might have happened."


    "So, even though I feel some anger towards my son''s death, I know that you had nothing to do with it. He was weak and hence he turned into a perfect puppet."


    It would seem that while the Marshall might not be in the city, he was well aware of the proceedings in the mayor''s office and his eyes have done their work as well.


    He was well aware that his son was manipted and used in a trap to disturb the rtionship between the two parties.


    And more than that.


    "Which I don''t wish to. I only follow the General and I don''t intend to be the sword for someone else."


    There it is, the heartlessness that Maxim was used to.


    He even wondered if Maisel even cared about his son''s death or not. He seemed more hurt by being manipted than the death of his son.


    There was even a chance he might be cursing his son for the problem he had caused.


    A problem that the poor boy was not even aware of.


    "This... then I truly appreciate this," Maxim said, before giving the General the inscribed text from the wood that Remira found.


    "This appeared below your son''s bed in the apartment he rented with one of the runes targeting the dreams."


    "This is how he might have been marked," Maxim exined, not the least bit offended when the piece of paper flew to Maisel''s hand.


    The real piece of wood had long been sent to the Heart of Radiance in Wortham Principality. This was just a copy.


    "So someone led him there? I presume this is what you mean to say?" Farhad''s father asked, his eyes curious about why Maxim would give such an important piece of information to him.


    Usually, this kind of information would be hidden by other parties for fear of sabotage. But Maxim was not worried about it at the very least.


    Because the man he showed this to was not just a marshall, but the father of the victim as well. And no father would wish to sabotage the people investigating their children''s death.


    "Of course that is. Instead of going home for vacations, the child went ahead and rented a dirty apartment and the next day, he came to me for the job. The timing seemed a bit off and too coincidental."


    Maxim was on point, this was truly a bizarre series of coincidences and not to mention, all of it was a bit too perfect.


    Almost as if he was being watched all the time.


    Sadly, what the old man didn''t know was the true extent of the fear and shame the boy felt for his failures in front of his father.


    To the boy, living in a dirty apartment was a lot better than facing the disappointing gazes of his father and the cruelty he suffered from in his college.


    Which made him one of the easiest individuals to influence.


    "That is suspicious."


    Farhad''s father was not the least bit affected by these words, he never even considered why his son could be so easily led to that ce. To him, he also treated it as a case of pure maniption.


    But I don''t possess that level of ability. The most I could do was influence weaker-minded individuals, I can''t push them to do what they would never ever consider. That''s the limit of my ability.


    Though a father that considers himself perfect and just an individual, this would be a hard fact to fathom.


    This father might not even know how much hate his son had for him.


    "His actions were known to me, he had requested the funds for that apartment from myself. But at that moment, I didn''t think deeply enough and gave in to his request." Maisel recalled the phone call and how busy he was that day.


    From what I recall, he epted the request of his son without even hearing properly what his reasoning was.


    "Which was odd for him, he is not the kind to ever live alone. He had never even experienced the harsh reality of the world. So living away from dorms was a clue. I should have picked up on it." Maisel said, his voice a bit low. Being aware that if he hadn''t given out the funds his son might still be alive.


    But that single moment of emotion stayed for only a bit before he turned to Maxim and asked. "So that was suspicious."


    Then, Maxim exined. "The call came out from the Lucien Academy, am I right?"


    An obvious question and Maisel nodded at this point. But then he paused. "He was targeted in the university?"


    "Yes, the same university that has closed down its doors to our investigation."


    Seeing that Marshall Maisel had agreed to coborate with them in the investigations, Maxim didn''t hold back and put down his request.


    "We need an entrance to the university."


    There was a high chance that the headmaster might have cleaned up the ce where Farhad frequented regrly. Anyone would in this situation.


    If something was truly found out in the academy. The name of Lucien would be sullied, and the reputation of the headmaster would be ruined along with it in the wizardingmunity.


    There is no ce for an academy that can''t protect its students in the whole world. So if they were incriminated, the Lucien Academy would be ruined.


    This was one of the reasons why the headmaster hated the Radiance Society so much.


    But in truth, more than hate, it was fear.

 Chapter 26: 2.04.3 A mistake.

    <h4>Chapter 26: 2.04.3 A mistake.</h4>


    At the moment when the talks were going on between Maxim and Maisel.


    Remira was busy exploring the city, following the tune of her blood from one street to another.


    Experiencing different forms of life living their life ignorantly.


    This is what she liked to do often.


    The blood of Radiance is not something simple. It has various functions from burning off curses to enhancing the physique of an individual.


    But among all the abilities it possessed, its most powerful one was to sense things.


    Through it, Remira was able to find the inscribed piece of wood under Farhad''s bed and even decided to leave the gates of Lucien for the same reason. Her blood gave her the warning that something bad might happen if she stayed there for longer.


    And if she walks the streets of this city, who knows what else she can find.


    Curses are being born every day and everywhere.


    Even a dying cry of an individual can turn into a curse, following its victim, tormenting them.


    And these are the kind of curses that Remira likes the most.


    As it gives her a window to the kind of individual a person is.


    Just like thedy that sells roasted corn on the side. She looked like the epitome of kindness as she sold some corn to a couple of kids.


    But on her back, there was a tumor growing.


    Illusory and jumping between real and unreal, the tumor pulsated slowly with a red hue. As if it was draining all the vitality of the old woman.


    Remira wondered what this old woman would have done in life to be a carrier of such a parasitic curse.


    But she was not the one to get nosy. Each curse has a story and this one might have one as well. It''s better to let it be.


    And so, she went on. Ignoring the small-time curses that she usually saw in the public through the help of her blood.


    There was nothing important. Just curses and the stories that Remira made in her mind depending on the curse.


    Like the curse of a phantom that took the shape of a child and followed a man. A child that kept crying but no sounds came out of its mouth.


    Then there was a curse that took the form of a floating head of a woman, that attached itself to a man who seemed to be sleep deprived and barely able to function at his job.


    But there was nothing that Remira could do, not at the moment at least.


    Nor did I wish for Remira to do anything.


    Things were going great for these people. For I have followed them before and after they got the curse for a while now.


    She might have made the stories in her own head. But I don''t wish for her to ruin those stories.


    To me, it was alleuppance for their crimes and mistakes.


    A woman that killed her drunk husband as he leeched off her for money like a parasite. His dying curse is what caused the tumor.


    The man with the baby on the other hand was even more disgusting. He was one of the very few that kidnapped children.


    And for a while now, he had been selling babies that he stole to a particr noble. As for what that noble does, this man doesn''t care.


    It''s why his curse is the worst one, even worse than the tumor from before.


    As for the third curse, it''s the funniest.


    It''s just a woman that out of anger over rejection tried a hexing ritual where she was sessful in putting a hex on her target of affection.


    And the only way this hex can be broken is if this man starts to love her.


    Which was impossible considering that this man swung the other way. And hence his curse turned out to be the most tragic one and in some sense funny.


    The girl that likes him ced a hex on him but he doesn''t like girls. Nothing can be more poetic than this.


    It''s why I don''t n on letting Remira ruin any of those.


    I am just d that her mind is still focused on the death of Farhad,pletely forgetting about Gregory street.


    But I shouldn''t be happy, for my n has also backfired.


    The man that was meant to spice things up has now started to work along with the core participants. Making things easier on their end. Something which would be detrimental to a hero''s journey.


    The heroes need to go through struggle and hardships, only then would their win mean anything.


    If things be easy to aplish, there would be no spice left in life and everything would be boring and nd. And I hate nd things more than bad ones.


    So I can''t let that happen, no matter what happens.


    But all was not lost for now. There were many more participants in this n than just Radiance.


    And one of the participants just walked past Remira, attracting her attention.


    "What is that?"


    It was rare for Remira to be so dumbfounded by something. And it was the first time she ever saw a curse as bad as this on an individual.


    "Just a child?"


    The child was just in looking, there were no shy mutations or phantoms following him. But his whole body glimmered with a dark hue, giving goosebumps to Remira.


    This kind of curse has the power to manifest in reality. And one would only see so many curses in individuals that deal with dark magic and the ult.


    But how can a child be rted to any of those things?


    ''I need to find more.'' There wasn''t a dy from her front, but sadly, she was a bit slow. As she turned around, there was one. No child to mention.


    But Remira knew it was not an illusion. Her blood was still reeling from the stimulus received from the utter corruption covering that child.


    "Different than before. There are others."


    The City of Durum didn''t look as simple to Remira anymore.


    The child that disappeared, he was here for her. She was sure of it.


    Otherwise, if it was an idental meeting, there would be no need for that child to disappear out of nowhere.


    She was being followed by multiple parties at that. At least that''s what she understood from this situation.


    The reason for it is simple as well. The ability to hide between the two parties was like heaven and earth. Her previous stalker was harder to detect and follow up on whenpared to this boy that just ran away after she detected him.


    ''So which one is more involved with the death of Farhad.''


    She wondered,pletely being thrown off by the third party whose goal was something she cannot even expect.


    Such a wonderful coincidence that she would meet that boy here. He was not even on his job or pursuing his goal. He was just here to do some groceries shopping and look what happened due to it.


    The boy probably didn''t expect to meet one of the dangerous enemies in the market.


    Of course, who would in his situation? To his knowledge, there was a meeting going on between the Radiance and his target. So why would one of the Radiance members be so carefree?


    There must be something wrong going on here.


    Or so the boy thought as he left to inform his handler of this matter.


    I wonder what this third party in the y will be able to achieve, but I am looking forward to the time they turn center-stage.


    For now, I can''t expect this group to achieve much. Not the kind where it would pose any problem to Farhad''s father and Radiance dogs.


    Which means I would need to do something personally.


    It was time to visit that old man again.


    *****


    Kariut, the descendant of Lucien and an Archmage of insect denomination. He was the current Headmaster of Lucien Adobe and the longest living headmaster of this academy in all of history.


    Being someone on such a pedestal for so long, he had turned a little arrogant with time due to his experience. And rarely would one find anyone in the magemunity that had anything good to say about this old man.


    But even if that was the case, no one would think the old man was pretty active in the ultmunity as well.


    His incest lineage of magic was already considered dark arts, so being in ults was not so far-fetched if one were to think about it.


    It was one of the reasons why the old man was so against Radiance from arriving in the City.


    That and one another thing.


    "This fog?"


    With his weak body, he was barely able to hold himself up with the staff. The old man stood straight, straying away from the fog that surrounded him as much as he could.


    "No.. Stay away." He cried waving his staff at the fog that was slowly approaching him from all sides.


    On his face, there was the expression of pure horror,cking any spine like he had when facing Remira before.


    Just a weak old man with an inhuman amount of fear.


    Kariut can see it, the hands of the dead wishing to drag him into the fog. Just like the legends mentioned.


    "Stay away... not now..." He cried out loudly, fearing the eventuality of all life.


    Death is a part of life and everyone has to face it one day.


    But to the old man that has lived for more than a century, even that was not enough.


    He wished to live more.


    He wished to experience more in life.


    He wished to experience things that he had never before.


    It was why I came to him.


    And for the same reason, I was here today.


    With a simple swipe, I held the iling staff of the old man with my slender arms, while the fog divided into two parts making way for the great me.


    The Maestro of ys, who wore a bright red and yellow suit of a Joker My face was painted white with a cheap cap with horns made out of cloth barely holding on to the cap.


    It was I, the Jester.

 Chapter 27: 2.05.1 Unimportant.

    <h4>Chapter 27: 2.05.1 Unimportant.</h4>


    When Remira eventually came back to the library, she was dumbfounded by the good news.


    The man that Maxim imed to be a pain in the ass for him, has chosen to support them and even wishes to catch the killers of his son himself.


    This was surprising, to say the least, but when she thought about how approachable Maisel was when she first met him, this was to be expected.


    No one reaches such a high post in the military with strength alone, a good mind over the head is also needed and Maisel was just that kind of person. He was not the kind to be the tool of his son''s killers and incriminate Radiance for it.


    Well for now at least. As long as Radiance is fulfilling their job properly, Maisel will support them. And the moment they are done, he will take revenge on them whether they deserve it or not.


    This was how he was and Maxim was a bit aware of this. But he didn''t speak out about this, he was just happy that he can continue his work in the city without any restrictions.


    And as things were, there would be a warrant to enter the vicinity of Farhad''s college soon enough. He just wishes that the clue they have at hand doesn''t go to waste. Not now when things havee too far.


    "Well, I also have something to inform you as well." After the happy news that Remira was exposed to now, it was time to ruin it by telling the details of her earlier meet-up with the child.


    "A third party?" Maxim asked with wonderment but then nodded. "That is to be expected, there is always someone in cases as high profile as this." Maxim nodded, before continuing. "Don''t focus on that though. Ignore it and focus on the academy, we will be getting a warrant soon enough."


    Maxim was an experienced individual and he understood the importance of priority more than anyone else in the library.


    "Old man, don''t ignore it. These guys are following us and not for good reason, I imagine." But even if he was an experienced individual, Remira still chose to profess the importance of the danger these people might possess.


    She still hasn''t forgotten about the child with an insane amount of curses on him.


    ''That can''t be a child, she thought, for how can a child remain alive in that situation?


    "Remira, this is not a request but an order." Although a bit mild, the tone of maxim held weight when he said this. "You should just focus on investigating the academy and nothing else. Don''t be distracted by anything."


    A pragmatic decision that few would make in this situation.


    General, most humans would run around finding a way to save their life and focus on defense.


    Even while doing their job, they would struggle to function properly under the worry of an enemy attack. Making their work slow anding out flimsy at the end.


    But Maxim was an experienced one, he has experienced simr scenarios multiple times in his life. And in most of those situations, when they were distracted from the case, worse things happened.


    Something that he doesn''t wish to repeat in this case. He already has a lot of things to regret and he doesn''t wish to add one more on top of all that.


    "But don''t worry about the safety, I will request the blue eyes to tighten the security around the library."


    This was the most he could do at the moment.


    As for requesting support from the mayor or Maisel?


    Maxim didn''t do that for personal reasons, nor did he bother to exin this to Remira or Pierta, who were busy sending out new orders to the blue eyes.


    To him, this was the perfect scenario. He doesn''t wish for any more parties to get involved with their work.


    It was already a miracle enough that Maisel was able to keep his calm and even support lightly from his side.


    And what Maxim thought was pretty right on point. At the moment the father that lost his child was sitting at the dinner table with the mayor talking lightly about his military feats and such.


    But the true reason he was there was something else.


    Maisel wished to find the killer on his own. Only this way he can regain the honor that was besmirched by the death of his son.


    No one maniptes him and leaves unharmed.


    And the individual with whom he started his investigation was the Mayor himself.


    "I heard the Mayor also fought on the Yethel frontlines in your youth?" Maisel was doing small talk to have the guard of the mayor down.


    And the best weapon for that is some alcohol andpliments. And as Maisel expected, the mayor started to lower his guard down.


    "Yes I did, it was one of the worst wars of that year. Our principality was facing drought and we were told that Yethel had barred the river."


    "Turns out, it was just a ploy to decrease poption, decreasing the mouths to feed. If not for my father, I would have joined those extra mouths."


    Yethel was an oddity within itself, rarely do magi and sorcerers show interest in mortal affairs. So them creating their own country was weird when it originally happened.


    "They truly were hard times, and who would expect that Yethel would be so strong with time."


    Their talks went on and on for so long that I felt bored.


    So I left the scene.


    It was not like these two would be able to achieve anything with their limited knowledge. Among the many parties that were somewhat aware of my existence and tried to pursue it, these two were at the veryst.


    Even worse than amoner who had started to worship me as a god of sorts.


    Truly pathetic.


    *****


    How about instead of those two, I tell you something interesting.


    There was I, a small rat running in the forest using the shade of trees to hide from the sun. But at one point, I understood that this was not efficient.


    To my knowledge, ghosts are the creatures of the night. So going out at night might have been a better option.


    Hiding from any predators that might kill me, I hid between the roots of an elder tree. But even then I didn''t feel any great.


    There was something that was pushing me out of the body the longer I remained in it.


    But that was not all, I can feel this body dying.


    Such a bizarre feeling, but it was somewhat interesting.


    I never even thought possessing a creature was possible, I just did it out of instinct.


    Though at that time I was unaware of how odd it was for a wraith to possess living creatures, even if I was only ever limited to a small rat.


    For Wraiths were spiritual entities born out of strong emotions and corrupted souls. They are a mad bunch that only wish to devour.


    A desire that was absent in me, as I was capable of maintaining my sense of self even in the body of a rat.


    But when I felt it at a deeper level, it was my murky spirit that was killing the rat.


    I was unconsciously feasting on every aspect of this little critter. From its soul to its vitality.


    I was leaving nothing.


    And if I didn''t stop, I would lose this body and be defenseless against the sun.


    So the moment the night arrived, I ran and tried to find a new body. A new rat that would be my vessel. And to my surprise, I seeded.


    I lived that way for years. I don''t remember how long or how many bodies I changed, But I eventually arrived in a small township ravaged by war. It looked decrepit and defeated.


    It even made my own mood a bit bad.


    But that is something forter. For now, I wish to learn more about this new world. And what better ce to learn all of this than a library.


    And in a town this small, I eventually found the only library and met its owner.


    A young man with a great future ahead of him. Though at that time, he was a fallen noble that was handed the library with important documents hidden in it by the Djistrum Empire, the owner of Wortham Principality.


    The documents turned out to be a pretty handful and useful for me and that young man.


    The same young man that taught me about this world


    And the first person I ever contracted with.


    My first owner.


    But I am getting nostalgic. So don''t mind me.


    He was a great man and helped me learn about what I was in return for some knowledge from my world.


    He was pretty interested in the mundane world and science. And I was all the happier to tell him everything that I knew while hiding the fact that I also held some knowledge about his own world.


    The knowledge that I stole from Lakyus. But calling it stealing would be too much.


    What I did was just pick up things that he left on the spot.


    "Is this all of it?"


    My bad, it seems I was a bit distracted. Now, where were we?


    Oh yes, we were in Lucian Adobe or Lucian Academy, whatever name fits it.


    And there was my little piggie Kairut, overseeing a small operation.


    "Yes, this is everything we could find about Farhad Maisel before his departure." The security chief of the Academy informed the headmaster before leaving the room.


    Why did the headmaster ask for all these things?


    He didn''t know, nor did he dare to question any of this.


    He still wished to live for longer.

 Chapter 28: 2.05.2 A big mistake.

    <h4>Chapter 28: 2.05.2 A big mistake.</h4>


    The life of an individual might be boring and uneventful, but the same was not true for the world as a whole.


    Stories were ying out in many ces all at once. And some of these stories were interesting, while others boring with no appeal to them at all.


    In this backward world where magic has impeded the growth of most technology, the dissemination of knowledge was harder. The ignorant masses were everywhere, making stupid mistakes that startsplete wars among parties.


    But what am I even saying, the world I came from was pretty much simr. There was even a great war that started with such a small mistake.


    And then there was Remira, who was going to make a simr mistake, birthing a new story.


    Dissatisfied with Maxim''s order and his work motif, Remira left the library in an annoying mood.


    She was arrogant, as one can see from her drunken act before she informed Pierta of the wooden b she found.


    An act, but it tells us too much about her personality.


    And that single act after being berated over her obsession with the child with a heavy curse. Remira was in no mood to do her job properly.


    Currently, she was waiting for the warrant to enter the academy premises and conduct her investigation.


    But it didn''t mean she was free, Maxim, in order to divert her mind, had given her a job.


    "Go find me another person capable of reading the forbidden text."


    Same request that had previously attracted Farhad towards them. Though the same method won''t been useful anymore since the death of Farhad.


    The Kelps magazine that originally advertised their recruitment won''t ept any request from them anymore, because there was someone dead already and they can''t afford to have their name muddied any further.


    And those that were in the know about this recruitment won''t dare to, for they feared death more than anything.


    Which was adorable, considering that with proper means, there was no death in this world.


    But I presume, the fear of death is universal. Even gods might fear death.


    Oh, I am not talking about you guys, you are way greater than the fake gods of this world. You have been with me for so long that I can''t imagine living without you.


    But I am getting sentimental.


    Let''s get back to the mistake that Remira would make.


    There she was, walking the streets and using her nose to smell things. Which was odd considering that there was no smell of a soul.


    Beside mine of course. But I am no ordinary soul, I am a wraith. Unlike the living souls, the wraith manifests in the purest form of a soul and that is what I am.


    As for what form is that? I don''t even know. That memory has long been forgotten by me with time. So I take the form that suits me the most. Just like the Jester in Kairut''s dream from before.


    "Where is it?" Remira''s actions were odd. She kept using her nose, trying to find something.


    But I wondered what she wished to find by smelling it out?


    Then I noticed something.


    She was getting closer and closer to a particr shop that I have been giving a lot of attention to.


    And if she was going to visit that ce, then this situation would be intriguing, to say the least.


    It was the mistake I was talking about before.


    "Is this the shop?" She asked, looking around at the board.


    "Vaisal''s Enchanted Potions."


    A simple board with a simple name.


    This shop was not even big and even the bench outside of the shop had dust on it. As if no one has bothered to clean this ce in a long while.


    But this is how it generally is for potion masters. They are too busy with their work to care about these little details.


    "Such audacity to open a shop in a busy street." Sheined but still moved forward and entered the ce.


    Making me curious.


    I recall that her mind was truly searching for someone that can read forbidden text. So why would she be here?


    Truly an enigmatic choice.


    As for the reason why this shop was on a busy street?


    There wasn''t any. The shop was already enchanted in a way that would push the mundane people away from it and only those in the world of sorcery would be able to enter it.


    Still weird considering that a potion master requires absolute peace while working.


    "Is anyone here?'' Remira asked, finding the derelict Potion shop pretty generic.


    A dirty shop with a lost shopkeeper.


    If she was someone new in the world of sorcery, she might have tried to steal the thing on racks. But she was all too familiar with this setting and the trap hidden behind this facade.


    "Yes, Please wait a bit. I am eating."


    A young voice filled with vitality. Probably an assistant that supports the potion master.


    Or so what Remira thought.


    "I don''t have much time, please hurry." She announced, that her mood hasn''t changed since leaving the library. And how would it, the condescending tone of Maxim still irk her ears?


    "I apologize for the dy." From the back of the shop, a young man in green garments and goggles walked out while still chewing his food.


    There was not a hint of annoyance on his face even after he was disturbed during his lunchtime. More than that, he was d that a customer finally came to him.


    And as the owner of this shop has set, the more he sells, the more he can earn.


    "Are you a potions apprentice?"


    "Of course I am, but if you wish to talk to my master, he is at hisb away from here." With his years of experience, it was easier to identify if someone is an actual shopper or came here for a reason.


    And from her surprised look, she was happy with this situation?


    ''Heh, wait?''


    Before the young man can think anything. Remira used. "I wonder if you are an enchanter? As well?"


    "Etto, well... This is an enchanted potions shop and my master is an enchanter as well." Although confused, the young man answered, confused about what was happening at the moment.


    Just why would this woman ask such a question from him? Such an obvious one at that.


    He even wondered if something was wrong going on here.


    The opponent was not a customer, this was something he was sure of. But the odd thing was, that even after learning that his master was not here, she still chose to remain here.


    "Then that''s great." A smile surfaced on Remira''s face before she asked. "Now listen boy, I am from the Radiance society and in need of some help."


    "If you do help us, we can give you around 100k Dirium as a starting price along with fulfilling any feasible request you might have for us. Nothing illegal though."


    "So how about it? Will you ept?"


    "Waah?"


    And so she made the mistake.


    The young man she just gave this offer to was called Soros Bloodheart, an up-anding great potion, and enchanting master.


    Though due to his ignorant upbringing in the slums and literacy of society, he was inexperienced in dealing with such offers even though he knew of the dangers.


    Not to mention, for someone of his background, the sum of money on offer was too much and hard to ignore for him. And then there was an additional request as well.


    So like a chick, the boy nodded his head and epted the offer.


    With no support from his master, once the contract has been signed, the boy will be stuck with Radiance society for the next month. And after hearing about the money, the boy was already nning on hiding this fact from his master that dragged him out of the filth of slums.


    Because he knew that with the personality of that old man. He would probably prevent him from joining the good folks.


    And this is the reason why I love these good folks, they do some of the most shameless and heinous things to support what is just for them.


    It''s why Remira didn''t feel much remorse to give hope to this ignorant young man and let him join her group.


    It''s so evil. Such pure evil would be epted by many.


    As for why Remira chose this young man, it was simple.


    As the young man imed, he was a potion and enchanting student. And while Potions can be learned by anyone, only a few special people can learn enchanting.


    Because to enchant, one needs to have a strong soul. Making enchanters perfect for the job that Maxim currently possesses.


    "Now that''s done." Informing the young man of where to go and what he needs to do, Remira happily left the potions shop, a bit happy with the result.


    But while she was leaving, her eyes failed to notice a small figure silently watching her from the roof, his body blurry like a reflection.


    Though a bit hectic and unpredictable, things were moving as I had expected them to. But it still worried me to have multiple people whose soul was harder to understand sometimes.


    But no worries. Not like they can act out of the predesignated part they are meant to y anyways.


    And thest piece of the puzzle was also obtained by the party of heroes.


    I can''t wait for them to enter my domain any longer.

 Chapter 29: 2.06.1 A little family.

    <h4>Chapter 29: 2.06.1 A little family.</h4>


    It wasn''t hard for Farhad''s father to obtain a warrant after he pushed the mayor somewhat in his meeting. As even if Kairut Lucian might hold heavy prestige in the City of Durum. At the end of the day, he still remained a headmaster of an academy. And nothing more than that.


    The prestige of an archemage was long forgotten by many in the sorcerer circle, now all they waited for was his death. And why should they give respect to the wishes of a dying old man when there was a hero requesting something.


    So even if it was a bit problematic for the old man, he still epted the request of Marshall Maisel and reinstated the freedom of Radiant society by handing them a warrant.


    Freedom that Maxim was waiting for.


    "Remira, I am d you are back. I have some good news." Forgotten about the sour words he had told her before. Maxim handed her the warrant and then said. "We got what we wished for, now we can proceed without any dy."


    With this warrant, it would not be hard for Remira to enter the campus of the academy and even if the old archemage tried something like before, she would have full right to retaliate, unlike before.


    One must not think of Remira as weak just because of her age. She was teamed up with someone as experienced as Maxim which told one enough about her capabilities.


    The only reason she was befuddled before was due to the sudden awakening of her bloodline, something that might have caused some idents in the public. It was why she backed off. But now, there was no need for her to act like a kitten anymore.


    "Atst." She said, snatching the note from the hands of an old man and then with a giant smile on her face. She handed the old man something special.


    "Well, I also have something for you," Remira said before handing Maxim the details about the potions boy she met before.


    "He is an apprentice enchanter, whoever the enemy is, they might have not predicted this at least."


    She was right, I never predicted this. But still doesn''t change the fact that it won''t have much impact on me.


    Or so I think, but I am looking forward to any other unpredictable moments like the one with Farhad''s father.


    "Good idea, but there is a chance his master might turn into a problem for us," Maxim said, before calling for Pierta.


    "Pierta, would you check the background of this boy? He might turn out to be our new temporarypanion, so be thorough."


    After Pierta left for her job. Remira answered. "Don''t be such a worry wart. Unlike before, we are attentive and know that someone is targeting us. Those things won''t happen again."


    "Beforeing here, I even went to the boy''s room and checked each piece of his furniture to see if he is also not tagged."


    Hearing these words, his confidence in Remira increased a bit from before, and then he nodded his head in appreciation. "We just need to see to it that no more people die due to us. One death is just too many for us."


    It was a rookie mistake from before. But who would have expected a trap like this?


    At least, I wouldn''t have thought the same if I was in their ce.


    But such a perfect trap was ruined in such a pathetic way, leaving sourness in my mouth.


    I underestimated the intelligence of the boy''s father. Though it was not my fault, this is how the boy saw his father and made me make a misjudgment of that man''s personality.


    There is no way to salvage spilled milk and there was no way to salvage this situation as well.


    *****


    "Ah, my milk!" A child cried as he used his hands to drag the milk back into the ss. But it was already toote. The milk was ruined.


    And when all else failed, the boy tried to lick it from the table.


    "Stop it, it''s dirty." Said the boy''s mother who pinched her son''s ears and dragged him from the table. "Do you wish to get ill?" She asked, then cursed her son a bit, before forcefully washing his mouth.


    "Don''t be so harsh, Little Ilwis is on the cusp of crying."


    "Just stop, it''s due to your pampering that he has turned this way."


    A kind bickering family of three, a wonderful sight that was yed out in many parts of the world all the time.


    To these creatures, it doesn''t matter if the worldes to an end for them. They live their lives ignorant of all the horror the world has to offer them. Hiding within the city walls, while only caring about eating, drinking, and procreating.


    Such a simple and sad life.


    So boring.


    It''s why I find them so disgusting.


    These are the kind of people that are impeding the growth of this world. They never wish to grow, achieve something greater and reach higher heights in their life.


    They are satisfied with this sad existence of theirs.


    It is why I was here.


    *****


    "Hmm, it''s that night huh?" After Remira left on her usual freedom walk. Maxim walked out of the balcony of the library and enjoyed the silvery moonlight on his face.


    Even without his eyes, he can feel the shower of silver light hitting his body.


    "Magistar, doesn''t it hurt? You should get back in." From his back, the voice of Pierta came, causing Maxim to turn toward her, Exposing the hollow eyes that had started to bleed a while ago.


    "Don''t worry, this much bleeding won''t be that problematic, I have gone through worse." The old man said, intent on basking in the glory of this moonlight. Much to Pierta''s dismay.


    But after he had denied her suggestion one time, she didn''t speak again. Though she didn''t leave the ce as well. For she feared for Maxim''s health.


    And there were some other things in her mind as well.


    "The silence is killing me, Just talk if you wish." Maxim was already aware that she was facing some trouble speaking her mind for a while now.


    "Why are you ignoring the warnings of Remira? If it''s the price of help that concerns you, the HQ will pay that for us."


    "It''s not because of that, if we get distracted due to them, something worse might happen."


    "You are young, you might not have faced any failures. And if we focus on that, then I believe our failure would be a solid fact."


    I was surprised that Maxim knew this. Even though somewhat unexpectedly, they fail 10/10 times if they had gone on that tangent and divided their focus.


    At least with Maxim''s way, his chances to seed are 1/10, not much. But a chance was still a chance.


    And I would say that was already too much.


    This group of people was able to rival my 20 years of preparation in just a few months.


    "Then don''t focus on that, give that job to the Marshall. Let him deal with it. For we can''t afford any more deaths."


    Hearing these words, Maxim turned toward her and said. "You believe that bastard is our friend?"


    Maxim asked, much to the confusion of Pierta.


    "Don''t be fooled by him. Nor should you depend on him. Lifting off our restrictions and the Warrant was already enough. Asking for more would just mess us up." Maxim warned, much to Pierta''s surprise.


    Wasn''t he just a soldier?


    A soldier that only moved under the General''s order?


    So why would he act like this?


    There was no answer to these questions, not the kind that Maxi can divulge easily.


    But his understanding of Farhad''s father seemed somewhat simr to the one Farhad had for him.


    So I guess Iin for nothing.


    It''s just that his father was a bit smarter than expected and he caught on to the bait.


    But if it''s like this. Then it might turn a bit problematic.


    *****


    "I am here again." The boy said, feeling a lightness in his body that he had never before. His memories of the past that he had long forgotten also start to flood his mind, making him recall his family and his past.


    Then in front of him, there was a small vige with familiar faces lining up, beckoning him to join them. And the boy who seemed to have gotten younger wished to do so. He truly wished to just run toward his family and sister and live the peaceful life that he had so desired.


    But that life was too far from him. For this was not the real world, but just a dream.


    And when he made up his mind to cut the love in his heart for his family. The illusion in front of his eyes disappeared, along with his heart. Leaving a fist size hole in his chest.


    But the boy didn''t die, he just remained standing, the memories from his past slowly leaving his body from that hole, and then the boy reverted to his stoic mood.


    With only a single drop of tear flowing down his eyes.


    "Wonderful." A voice echoed in his ear, dragging him out of his dream and back into the underground dwelling.


    He found that currently, he was the only one standing, the rest of his group had copsed on the floor, falling into a deep sleep.


    "I knew that it would be you." A woman in a crow maskplimented the boy, before throwing a dagger at him.


    "Put the rest out of misery, it''s the least you can do for your batch mates." The woman left the hall after saying these words.

 Chapter 30: 2.06.2 Unexpected Kairut.

    <h4>Chapter 30: 2.06.2 Unexpected Kairut.</h4>


    Put the rest out of misery.


    Such simple words, but the moment the boy heard this, his hands shook a bit.


    It was not like he hadn''t been killed before, it was why he was trained to begin with. But these were the people he had gone through those nightmares with. It was the long-lost sense of connection that he felt at the moment.


    A feeling of belonging that he had forgotten about.


    But to the boy''s anguished heart, he knows that what his handler said was correct.


    Thesepanions of his were lost.


    Lost in a beautiful dream that would nevere to reality. So his handler said.


    It would be like showing his batch mates some mercy. At least they get to die a peaceful death. Unlike him, whose life will probably be worse than death.


    "Sorry." The boy muttered in his low voice, while slowly slitting the throat of each individual, one by one. Letting the blood flow out of their body and giving them a peaceful death.


    But it was not the end yet.


    For there were multiple drainage pipes secretly collecting all this blood.


    "A wonderful find, its sess on both fronts." A young man in a hood said while eying a ss cylinder that was rapidly filling with blood.


    "But what about that boy? He lived through it, his blood would be even more precious than this batch." The woman that previously gave the order to the boy asked.


    Her voice was deep and respectful unlike before.


    "He already has a job to do. It''s not every day an enemy leaves his protection andes to civilian areas." The man said with a small smile on his face.


    Smile that almost felt childish in nature.


    *****


    It was day two since getting the warrant and it was only now that Remira was getting ready to leave for investigating the academy.


    As for the reason for her dy?


    It was out of selfish reasons. Unlike what she told Maxim about how she was going to make some preparations. In truth, Remira was standing close to the library all this time, looking for any suspicious individuals.


    Even the blue eyes that kept watch over the Library''s perimeter were unaware of this small mission that Remira had partaken in. It was not something to boast about anyways. And no one was getting hurt, instead, she was just making sure that nothing dangerous was going on.


    If I were to say, then Remira can be said to be a paranoid person. A big one at that, but it''s people like this that make things pretty interesting.


    "I can''t dy it any longer." As for the reason why Remiracked the desire to visit the academy any longer. It was simple as well.


    The day she felt hostility from the old Headmaster of the academy, she was aware that the old man would probably mess with all the clues and even use memory wipes on the children.


    Kairut was infamous for doing those kinds of things in his youth anyways. Now with all that authority and power of an archmage, it would be weird if he didn''t try to hide any clues that would involve the academy''s name in this case.


    Living that long in the world of sorcerers just speaks about the wisdom and experience of an individual. Those that survive in this world for so long won''t be ipetent enough to make such major mistakes.


    So Remira was nning to go there just as a formality, her main focus still remained on the cursed child that met her that day.


    Lucien''s adobe or Lucien academy was ced in an unknown location. All people know that it was situated underground andprised many caves, big and small. Making the atmosphere in the academy a bit dark and damp.


    But it also meant that it was easier to defend against enemies. With the only entrance being multiple stone steles that have been spread around Durum City. Among which, most were hidden and only some remained in the public knowledge.


    And today, Remira was in front of one of these stone steles.


    "I would like to request a meeting with the headmaster," Remira said while forwarding the stamped warrant to the guards of the teleporting hub.


    To her surprise, the guards were not that surprised. Neither did they try to give out excuses for her to leave. They just drifted apart, giving way to her toward the teleporting stele.


    ''Weird.'' She wondered while going closer to it and then without any struggle, entering the stele as if melding into the stone and disappearing, leaving only ripples on the stone stele.


    The moment she entered the teleportation gateway, she felt her body turn into a stream of light and jump from different jump pads or what one might call nodes. At the end of which, she gained her physical form and was gently pushed out of the other side of the stone stele.


    The room was not lit uppletely. But she can see various protective runes on the walls and guards that remained attentive to any attack standing close to the gate proudly.


    And among one of those guards, there stood a man with a simr uniform, though he was obviously in a higher position than the rest.


    "We have been waiting for you, Miss Remira." The man said, almost expecting her arrival.


    "If you don''t mind, I wonder why you are here?" Though he still acted ignorantly. Confusing Remira even further.


    Such bizarre actions or eptance and ignorance.


    It''s like they were aware that she woulde, but they still acted like they didn''t know.


    And considering that Marshall Maisel has chosen to support the Radiance society, it would be weird for Kairut to not be aware that she would be here.


    ''What are you ying, old man.'' She wondered in her head, before giving the warrant to the Chief Security of Lucien academy.


    "I wish to talk to the headmaster concerning thete student of this academy, Farhad Maisel." The warrant was official and there was no way for the academy to deny her request.


    Not when she was already on the premises.


    Nor did the security chief intend to do it, he just epted the order and under the might of the contract, he led Remira toward the chambers of the Headmaster and not the office.


    Which was odd, concerning this was an official matter. But Remira didn''t act worried or suspicious, she just riled up her blood and got ready for any attack that might be thrown her way.


    For this was all too weird and unnatural. With the way things were going, it was as if someone was ying with her expectations at each corner.


    Or so I thought of what she might be thinking from her expression and heartbeats.


    The reason why I can''t sense her thoughts anymore is simr to the past. The moment she riled up the blood of radiance, her thoughts were once again masked from my peering.


    Which was a bit annoying.


    But I guess this would make things a tad bit interesting. I wonder what she might be thinking now.


    Though, it would seem I don''t have to wait for long as I got my answer after Remira was led through the hallways towards the room with a particrlyrge door.


    Which was a bit fancy. It would seem as if this was meant to be an entrance for a huge amount of people.


    But as far as Remira knew, this was the break room of the Headmaster.


    "Please, Headmaster is waiting for you." The chief of security said while showing the way to Remira in a polite manner. His message was clear.


    He won''t be joining her for this discussion.


    No, it would be better to say that no one besides the mayor or Remira might be present in this room.


    It was going to be a private meeting and nothing more.


    So, without further dy, Remira opened the door. Ready for any attack that might be sent her way.


    Sinceing here, she has readied herself for any problem she might face. Learning the skill set of her enemies and the kind of defenses he can use against her.


    So when Remira found an old man just sitting on a sofa with tea in his hand. She was left a bit speechless once again.


    "Please join me," Kairut said these words in a calm voice. There were no signs of fear, anger, or frustration on the face of the old man, unlike what she saw before. Instead, it was a state of serenity and satisfaction.


    "Good morning headmaster Kairut, I wonder if you were aware I would being here." Remira was not bbergasted by the sudden change in mood between the two. Instead, she followed the suggestion of Kairut and sat in front of him.


    An understanding look appeared on her face. With her thought process till now and her expectations. She was probably thinking that Kairut had already dealt with the evidence and there would be no meaning to hering here.


    It''s what she had been expecting since the beginning. A belief that has been strengthened by the serene face of Kairut.


    "Young girl, it''smon courtesy to have some small talk before going on to the main topic."


    "But as for your question, you are right. I was aware of your arrival, though you took your time. Probably in a bid to surprise me."


    "I didn''t mean for this to happen, just something came up." She eximed.


    "Something more important than finding the bastard that killed my student?'' Kairut asked as the illumination in the room started to weaken with his heightened emotion.


    Emotions that were filled with wrath.


    Which further confused Remira.

 Chapter 31: 2.06.3 Stuck in the mind.

    <h4>Chapter 31: 2.06.3 Stuck in the mind.</h4>


    "Little Hunter, a child is dead. And not just a child, but a child of a hero. This is not something you can take lightly or be distracted from. What if the clues that you chose to ignore had been cleaned by the criminals already?"


    These words might sound like a warning, but to Remira, these were nothing more than words that mocked her foolishness.


    It was as if the thief was teaching on why he had stolen her belongings, condescendingly. Which made Remira''s frustration show up on her forehead.


    It''s so easy to rile up humans sometimes.


    "If the headmaster was so worried about it, he should have given me entry to your college early on and not dyed so much," Remirained. "Though it''s not toote, the signs might be erased, but witness testimony remains. I would just ask the faculty and the students about him."


    There is never a perfect crime and even if the clue is destroyed, the criminal would still make some mistakes or overlook things that they might not be aware of.


    Which was what Remira was basing her investigation on.


    Let her enemies be confident andugh because, in the end, she never intended to look for physical clues like the engraved piece of Farhad''s bed.


    Instead, she was just here for some witness testimony. And nothing more.


    And besides, if she was not wrong. This would be a dead end.


    On the other hand, Kairut who heard those scathing words did not act embarrassed or flustered. In a calm tone, he just said. "Of course, I regret it too, my mood that day was not good. It''s not every day you hear an earful from the Mayor."


    "It''s why the next day I asked my chief of security to conduct a thorough investigation around myte student. And during this investigation, I found something interesting."


    Headmaster Kairut exined in a calm tone the events after their meeting in the past.


    And during those events, his chief of security truly found something pretty interesting.


    Something that was nted by me using Kairut as a proxy.


    For a man that feared death so much, he was pretty courageous and prideful while lying straight in the face of Remira and our little pig that sent her to this room.


    But we shouldn''t me that man, for he was just doing his job, unaware of the consequences.


    The true culprit of everything was this old walking corpse called Kairut.


    "What is this?" Remira, under the push of the headmaster, got up and approached the table.


    To her surprise, there was an entire report on the life of Farhad on a single file.


    From the day he came to the academy to the times he went to the bathroom and the people he fought with as well as teachers that detested him for his weakness.


    Even though she read this file only on a surface level, she can somewhat understand the life of misery the boy might have lived.


    But sadly, there were stories like this all around the world happening all the time, so while she held some pity toward the boy, it didn''tst long as she went straight to the end of the file and saw some lines marked with red.


    "Daydreaming?" She wondered, confused a bit.


    She wondered why it would be marked down on the file.


    "Curious?"


    Kairut asked, getting up from his chair. "It''s nothing special, I just asked my people to mark down any suspicious activity and daydreaming was one of them."


    "Because you see, by the time he started doing this, he was already suffering from a failed ritual and was wracked with rot. It''s harder for one to maintain focus under that pain and even sleep properly."


    "But while Farhad showed all the other signs. He had no trouble sleeping and at times, he would be lost in his thoughts during sses, which stood out among the ss of 10."


    The old man exined as he too got up and moved closer to Remira, much to her shame.


    She had failed one of the most basic jobs as an investigator and now someone else has beaten her to it.


    But this was not a race and nor would someone of Kairut''s nature would just give this file so simply.


    There ought to be a reason for him to do this. A certain price she has to pay for it.


    Otherwise, it doesn''t make any sense to her.


    "I need to thank you for all of this."


    This report was not alone, there were some belongings of thete child among other things.


    But nothing on the level of the writings that she found in Farhad''s apartment. Everything was simple and crystal clear.


    "There is no need to thank me for this," Kairut said with a somewhat ashamed face. "All I wish for you is to keep the name of the academy away from your reports, and I can give you full reign to roam the unrestricted premises of this academy as we have full reign to question any teaching faculty along with students."


    "Of course, you will meet them under a false pretense and identity, they would not know you or the true reason why you are here."


    "I don''t wish to spread further panic among my students than they already are feeling these days."


    The old man exined, each of his words carefully curated and structured in a way that seemed reasonable.


    He was doing a wonderful job, speaking as I have instructed him like a good dog.


    Unlike some others that had started to move on their own, this little dog remained tightly in my grasp.


    "But you should understand how hard it is to deal with the way things are and the identity of the dead."


    To most of the world, it was known that the academy was not to me, but probably the apartment. It was why the old man didn''t wish for the group of Radiance to dig deeper.


    Which would have seeded if Farhad''s father had yed along with my expectation. Sadly it was not the case, which forced me to make some slight changes to my ns. Which included aplete overhaul of the misdirection scenario that I had built.


    "With Marshall present here, it will be harder for me to hide it. He already has expectations from us and we can''t afford to make him angry by giving any false reports."


    Remira exined, finally understanding what the old man feared and why he did this.


    With the little clues she found, it would seem that the headmaster had a change of heart after Maxim''s meeting with Maisel was over. Which would exin the drastic change in treatment.


    "But I would sure to put in the word on how you helped us, I would make sure that your academy is not implicated."


    In truth, she didn''t care about it. But was just saying small talk to give the old man some hope.


    As for what Marshall does with the academy after the killer has been apprehended, it would be up to him. The most she can do as of now was to lie and let the old man think that he would probably help her.


    Due to this, she started to feel confident and held some leverage over the old man.


    She was probably feeling drunk on power and overconfidence when she suppressed her blood once again.


    For someone as smart as she was, the childlike actions didn''t suit her much. Though I shouldn''t look down on her much, she still remained the strongest in the group that was sent by Radiance.


    Almost as strong as a young man I met in the past. He was also as overconfident as Remira was and had the strength to back that confidence.


    Which in some sense would put him a level above Remira.


    But with the new friends I made at that time, I made this young man pay a heavy price. A simr price I have intended for Remira.


    I hate people like her, their overconfidence makes things predictable.


    It''s no wonder she is no leader of this team.


    "Then that''s all I can hope for." After some small talk, the old man let Remira leave the premises with all the things he had collected.


    And Remira also didn''t say much after it. She already had an ID card in her hand which would give her entry to the academy premises and she had also seen the room where Farhad used to sleep. And found nothing.


    But this was to be expected.


    *****


    Let''s go back to the same house as before.


    It was night again and the mother was keeping watch on her child so that he doesn''t drop the milk again.


    "But.. but... but.. B... it. Hot" the boy tried to word out his sentence while blowing at the ss of milk.


    "If it''s hot, you will drink slowly. " His mother replied. The anger from before was totally absent in her mood, instead, she justughed at her struggling son.


    To her, it was somewhat cute.


    While to her son, it was total torture.


    One might even say that the mother was somewhat like me, enjoying life forms lower than her struggle with some of the most basic things imaginable. Because to her, it looked like the struggle of the ignorant and innocent, just the way I thought of her.


    There might be people that think the same about me, people like you, who currently read my thoughts.


    But that is the way of life.


    And I was going to teach this woman what it feels like to be a helpless insect.


    So with a twist of my finger, the surroundings changed.


    With another twist of my finger, the child of hers grows by another year.


    With the third twirl of my finger, her loving husband had turned into a corpse in front of her eyes.


    As for his killer, it was none other than her 6-year-old child.


    "Noo.... noo.. Not again." She cried, her mind going nk and memories of the past came flooding in.


    The past she had done her best to forget.


    But this dream was too strong. The burst of self-awareness that came to her, disappeared instantly, as she had fallen deeper and deeper into that dream.


    "Why did you do this?" She held her child, crying as she asked this question.


    But her child waspletely listless and unmoving, it neither spoke nor moved, just looked at his mother''s face before lunging toward her like a beast.


    This was when Remira came to ruin the fun.


    "Wake up." She cried out, causing the dream world to be weaker.


    And with another jolt, she woke up Pierta.


    "What happened?" Remira asked. But got no answer in return, for her friend was in a shack.


    In response, feeling something smelly afoot, she roused her blood and felt my presence that had dug deeper into Pierta''s mind.


    She found a trace of me.

 Chapter 32: 2.07.1 Crushed.

    <h4>Chapter 32: 2.07.1 Crushed.</h4>


    To most, I remain unheard and unseeable. Living between the lines of reality and dreams. living in the walls and moving in the sewers.


    Listening to people, watching their actions, and feeling their desires.


    There is love, in those feelings and unprecedented greed as well. Though most of the time I find the denizens of my city a bit bored.


    Well, who wouldn''t be in their situation? The amount of people that actually get to live the way they want is very little, while most of the poption just focuses on their own life and pursuing a better livelihood. Pretty mundane if I might say.


    Though this didn''t mean that my version of ''Mundane'' was simr to the ones used by the people of this world. I only tagged an individual mundane if they didn''t have much to offer and were just doing their job like they were expected to.


    Though it doesn''t mean that their life holds no meaning.


    Even in the mundane, there are many things hidden away. Things that I like to dig out and learn about.


    And I intended to do the same with Pierta. A woman that hasn''t acted much besides giving some slight suggestions and acting as ackey on the back.


    But I am not foolish, I know there is a deep rtionship between Pierta and Remira.


    And as I can''t enter Remira''s dream due to her blood of Radiance. It doesn''t mean I can''t do the same for Pierta.


    I wished to learn more about her, I wished to squeeze out her memories till she started showing me details about Remira. Who this Remira was and why she was here.


    Because for a while, she had been giving me an ominous feeling and I can''t put my finger on it. So to be safe, I did what anyone sane in my situation would have done. Try to find more details on the enemy.


    Though as it seems, I failed.


    She came back at the turning point of the dream and ruined my attack.


    "Just what is this?"


    Remira''s hair flew in the air with a bright hue, while she held the head of lethargic Pierta who was still stuck in a shock.


    "Who are you?"


    Then she asked a question that I had expected her to ask. But I didn''t get an answer.


    It would seem that part of my n has failed. Because for some reason, Remira chose to return early from her meeting with Kairut and didn''t choose to do her own investigations.


    Which made me wonder, was she aware of my existence and ns.


    It was highly unlikely. Someone of her strength couldn''t be able to do that.


    Unless I am missing something, a single crucial part of my n.


    "I asked, who ARE YOU?" This time her voice was louder as white mes started to enter the dream world where I hid like a rat, causing my fur to burn and sending a jolt of pain in my head.


    A familiar pain. The kind that I hated. Though I couldn''t do much in this situation, for I was stuck in a dream of a catatonic woman, while surrounded by a cage made of mes.


    "Didn''t expect you to return so early," I said while my rat body slowly dissipated and in its ce, a hand grew out of the dream.


    A hand with a mouth on it.


    "Did you kill the kid?" She asked in a furious voice. Probably thinking that I intended to kill her friend as well.


    But for an ignorant being like her, this might as well be the truth. And no reasonable answer would satisfy her anyways.


    So the lips of the hand moved and I said. "It''s a pleasure to meet you, Hunter Remira. I have been your fan since you came here." I said in a jovial voice,pletely ignoring the painful me that was slowly burning away at my soul.


    "Don''t y games, I can burn your soul to a crisp if I wish to. So kindly answer my question." A threat and a request all at once.


    A child-like Remira grew up and changed her method of talking that suits my own. Truly a wonderful child. This would also mean that she knew that I had no method to escape and hence her threat was actually a certain threat against me.


    In her mind, she was probably in control. Though it would be a big mistake if I thought of her as someone drunk over the control she had over me, as she might look like a foolish brat. But she was attentive toward me.


    Her energy even seeped into Pierta''s mind and slowly formed an angel-like silhouette that descended from heaven and then slowly approached the little hand that stuck out of the blurry world.


    To her, I probably looked like a leech, a parasite with no spine of my own.


    Instead of answering her question, I chose to fire an arrow in the dark. "Now looking at you from up close, you truly resemble her." A baseless im even though I did not find anything about Remira from this dream.


    But from her background and her being a hunter for Radiance, I can make some assumptions.


    Among which was the thing about her mother.


    I didn''t know how their rtionship was or whether she was alive or in her life.


    I didn''t know how she lived or grew up to be the woman she was today.


    I didn''t even know why she chose to be a member of the Radiance society.


    But what I knew from her tomboy nature and rowdiness. She was an overconfident brat with some parental issues.


    I can see this from the way she fought with Maxim earlier and how she acted in front of Kairut. She had a thing for talking in a condescending tone to people in authority. And even if she might not show it, I can sense it.


    It was why I yed this card.


    "Wh... aht do you mean?" She asked, her defenses somewhat weakened.


    Which meant that my assumption was right on point. She was someone with parental issues. And was barely able to cope with it.


    Which would mean weakness.


    I got what I wanted, even though the method to obtain it was a lot more simpler and boring than digging away at an individual''s memories in their dream.


    And if I was this close, I wonder if my other hand would work as well. As I see it, in this world everyone wants something that they can never obtain and it''s what makes it easier for me to control these individuals.


    Though, saying those things without concrete proof of Remira''s past would be a bit dangerous. Her mind was currently in a hyperactive state and slight misconduct might erase me.


    So I just said the words that I had in my mind for a while. WOrs that I wished to say to her a lot since a while ago.


    "Let''s ignore that part for now, and focus on what''s important, little child." My words were enough to anger her, I can feel that the intensity of the fire around us has increased. But I just kept looking at her illusory figure that stared at me with wrathful eyes. Such beautiful eyes.


    "Look into the sewer." With these words, my body which solely consisted of a hand then flew over and entered the fire before Remira could react.


    And then I felt that familiar pain again.


    *****


    Feeling the pain of my loss, I know that my hand was no more.


    It has turned to dust like I had expected it to. And with it, a certain part of my soul was also destroyed.


    But that was to be expected when I divided that part of me for such a job. No one would have expected for Remira to make another foolish mistake so early, throwing my n off.


    So in the end, I can look from the side as Remira saved her friend from the mind demon that was invading her.


    Truly a wonderful scene, with Remira smashing her hand on the table in frustration as her friend had started to wake up from her dark dream.


    "What happened?" Her friend couldn''t recall what happened, why she suddenly feel sleepy during work, or what happened in that dream of hers.


    It was something that had happened before and so she was not that surprised. And the reason for that was her being tired from overwork.


    Which became the chance for me to infiltrate her mind.


    And now the same hands with which she once held her son after he killed his father, she was doing the same with Remira. Who was still a bit shocked at what she witnessed.


    ''I wonder if I seeded.''


    I didn''t know what my hand did. With it dying, there will be no memory for me to retain and no knowledge of the conversation that would have happened between the two.


    But I can feel it.


    My hand did something outstanding when it died.


    "A loach was in your mind. And it probably escaped." The disgust and anger in Remira''s voice were very apparent. If looks can kill, my hand would have died another thousand times.


    But death is only a one-time deal, it won''t happen again and again.


    Only a few lucky ones like me can survive that ordeal.


    *****

 Chapter 33: 2.07.2 A necklace.

    <h4>Chapter 33: 2.07.2 A ne.</h4>


    My hand did something outstanding when it died.


    "A loach was in your mind. And it probably escaped." The disgust and anger in Remira''s voice were very apparent. If looks can kill, my hand would have died another thousand times.


    But death is only a one-time deal, it won''t happen again and again.


    Only a few lucky ones like me can survive that ordeal.


    Because of it, there are many that wish to learn my method and how I became what I am today. And I am attracted to those people as well, they are the best tool to have.


    "How is her health?" Remira asked, somewhat worried.


    The moment she sensed that the hand had exorcized itself, she went on to inform Maxim of the attack. And after hearing the details, he ran to Pierta, who was tired and barely able to keep awake.


    Anyone in her situation would be, she was just a slightly stronger human, to begin with. And after her mind had been invaded by two entities, one of them being her own friend. The strain on her soul increased. If not properly handled, it would have copsed and killed her.


    But Remira, albeit a bit childish. She knew the limits of her friend and had supported her mind with her own. It was why she was able to even stay awake at the moment.


    "There hadn''t been any Marks present on her body, or at least that''s what it looks like. But marks are not something that can be detected easily." With the previous precedent set with Farhad''s death, there was a chance that Pierta had been marked as well.


    But did Maxim think it was such an easy thing to do?


    It took more than a year of preparation before I was able to mark the child. Doing so again so fast would require resources that I didn''t possess at the moment. So this fear of his was pretty much useless.


    "Though, as I have eyes now. I might be able to do a thorough checkup on her before it''s toote."


    Maxim had already met the young man called Adam and had given him the same test he gave to Farhad early on.


    And although the results were not as outstanding as Farhad''s. Adam was still able to read around four pages of the forbidden text. Which was the best result that Maxim had been expecting when he originally sent out the job offer.


    "Then why the dy, just ask the boy toe here and do it." Remira requested, her desperation apparent. One can see how much care she held for this woman. Their history might be a lot closer than I had originally expected.


    "I have already called for him, so don''t worry. Instead, tell me more about this hand you see in her consciousness and what it told you." At Maxim''s behest, Remira, although wishing to keep it to herself, started to confess the whole event in detail.


    "Did you know him? Or anything rted to him?" Maxim asked, his curiosity was at its peak when Remira mentioned how the hand seemed to know someone from her family. It spoke as if he was familiar with her.


    And unlike Maxim that was assessing each point of information in his mind and making up assumptions, I was just ecstatic.


    The things my hands did were pretty audacious. Feeding our enemies wrong information in an attempt to send them off on the wrong path.


    Such perfect strategy. Sadly, I would have liked it if it had not done so and just died, keeping the mystery around our existence.


    I know that expecting something that was born out of 10% of my true spirit would not be that intelligent and hence would make mistakes.


    But even if that was the case, I won''t repeat the same mistake of the past in which a part of my body went independent and left me for good.


    It still hurts, I haven''t recovered from that damage even now.


    "Nothinges to mind, but he acted familiar with me. Maybe that''s why he attacked her." Remira said, clenching her fist in anger.


    She med herself for this small event. For some reason, in her brain, she was able to pinpoint the reason why I approached that woman. Though the reason for that might have been a bit different than what she had expected.


    "Don''t be led by your anger, this just means that our opponent is getting desperate. That''s why he attacked one of us directly." Maxim exined in a calm tone. "Which means that whatever we are doing is correct and will remain correct as long as we don''t get distracted."


    "Including the mention of your mother. Ignore it and focus on what''s at hand. Go and investigate the students in Lucien. That is your current priority." Maxim''s voice was stern and a bit caring.


    Even though his head has no eyes, he can feel from the palpitations in Remira''s voice that she was down in the dumps at the moment.


    "Still with your priority when one of our own is harmed? I have said this before and I will say it again. Focus on that child, he probably knows who our enemy is and if we catch him, we will catch the enemy." Remira questioned authority just like I had expected her to.


    Her instincts and strength might be amazing, but in the real world, none of that mattered if the individualcked wisdom.


    The wisdom that Remira was sorelycking.


    Though Maxim was as experienced as he was, he knew that all of this might just be a distraction. So in a calm tone, he exined to her. "This is not the time to be swayed by your emotions, this is not how you are trained or expected to act in the field. Here, my words are absolute and if you can''t do something as basic as this, I will rece you at the moment''s notice."


    Even if there might be a dy. He would still choose to call for another backup if Remira kept acting like this.


    And besides, it''s not like it would actually take time.


    There ought to be someone bringing the results on the inscribed wooden board that Remira found. And if Maxim puts in a word, then the deliverer might just be another hunter,ing to rece Remira.


    And the little girl knew this, hence she went silent.


    But like the carrot and stick strategy, Maxim gave her some assurance.


    "Don''t worry, I have something that would protect the mind of Pierta." He said while extending his hand forward.


    "And don''t worry, it''s not that dangerous." With those words, he stabbed his hand and made a small incision. Much to Remira''s horror.


    "What are you doing?" Remira said as she jumped forward to stop Maxim from injuring himself.


    "Slow down." Before Remira can actually approach him, Maxim said simple words, causing the blood in Remira to halt, freezing her on the spot.


    "What are you doing..." But Remira, even while she was frozen on the spot, still asked this question.


    And Maxim just said. "It would be better for you to see it." Pinching his fingers together, he stretched out the incision and slowly went deeper into his wound, causing the blood to gush out bit by bit.


    Though Maxim''s expression remained stoic as always. With his eyes gone, it was harder to know what he was thinking most of the time anyway.


    But this time, I didn''t need to read his mind or expression to know what he was doing. Instead, I already knew.


    "Found it," Maxim said while taking out a small ne with a brass ring at the end.


    It was also when he released the spell on Remira.


    "What is this?" At this point in time, even Remira has caught on to what Maxim intended to do. But she didn''t stop. Her hands still moved faster than her words, as she held the wound of Maxim tightly while sending warm currents of her power into his injuries.


    Slowly healing it.


    And Maxim didn''t stop her. He just looked at the ne for a while, lost in nostalgia, and then handed it to Remira.


    "There is a powerful hex on this ne which protects its wearer''s mind."


    Unlike enchantments that require inscription to work and materials. Hexes were simple spells thattched onto things.


    Though the price to cast a Hex was heavier than it required a lot more resources inparison to enchantment as well.


    Which made the Hex items be a rarity in the market.


    "Why give this to me?"


    "Not you, it''s for Pierta. Your mind is protected by the Radiant blood while mine... it''s a bit simr to yours. Leaving only Pierta who remains the weak link in our group."


    The old man Maxim said while handing the blood-ridden ne to Remira. "Just wash it before giving it to her."


    He said, before leaving the scene. Going to sew up the wound on his own.


    As blood might have stopped, but the power of Radiance that was made for destruction and stalking, won''t be able to heal him.


    "This ne?" Looking at the departing back of Remira. She silently clenched the ne in her hand, before thanking the old man in his mind.


    She can understand that Maxim held this ne dearly to him, it might have belonged to someone important to him, hence why he kept it so close to himself.


    Which made her a bit ashamed.


    What Maxim said was right, the enemy only attacked because they were on the right track. And if they get distracted at this point. The enemy would win.

 Chapter 34: 2.07.3 The need for eyes.

    <h4>Chapter 34: 2.07.3 The need for eyes.</h4>


    It''s been a few days since Marshall Maisel came to the city that took his son away from him.


    But with his nature, it was harder to show any care for it.


    His son was a disappointment anyways and he can make another one, a better one with his wife if he went home. He was truly a heartless and focused individual.


    Or so what many thought. But the truth was slightly different, much to my surprise.


    Sinceing to this city, Maisel has never slept. During the day, he carries on his act, and at night. He carries on his investigation.


    With the emotions that he had been suppressing present on his face.


    "Why have you been following me?" Maisel asked while lifting the body of an old woman with his hand.


    "Mis... ter... bega...r" She was barely able to speak and say any words. And she even looked like a beggar.


    But Maisel was sure that it was all an act, for few were able to keep up with him. Which this woman had been able to do, changing her appearance with each meeting.


    "Lies won''t work on me." He said before breaking the neck of the woman and smashing her body on the ground, causing a loud thud and blood to stter all around.


    But Maisel was not over yet, because, after this, he took out a gun and aimed it at the head of the dead woman.


    "Speak now." He threatened.


    At which point, the body of the old woman squirmed a bit. "It''s painful... painful.." Like a child crying in pain, she wriggled on the ground. Before shedding her skin, exposing a small ck cat that crawled out of it.


    But as soon as it came out, it gave onest look at Maisel, before it rotted at an elerated rate in front of Maisel.


    And he knew that he could do nothing about it.


    The only thing left of this cat''s existence was the skin of the old woman, which has also started to show signs of rot.


    "3rd one," Maisel said, feeling frustrated over these little spies.


    He can''t count how many he has noticed and if one were to think that all those people might once be livingmon people, then the innocent died by his enemy''s hand to track him would be countless.


    But his face remained stoic. Sending an inkling of me toward the poor woman''s skin, he turned it into ash. After which, he left. Inching toward Gregory street and the building where his son''s mark red up.


    Each night hees out and does an investigation on his own. With the information that was provided by Maxim along with the circumstances of his son''s death. Everything was a bit odd.


    And if he has to say it, this even looked a bit familiar to him.


    ''Last time they were able to escape. But this time, I won''t let them.'' They have alreadye for his son, he didn''t wish for the same thing to happen to the remainder of his family.


    And he had also learned that acting uncaring towards them also won''t stop his enemies from not harming them.


    So with all that in his mind and regretting the way he treated his son. A son that would always curse his father, he went towards the building.


    "Blue flower Garments." This was a workshop operated by the mundane, sewing clothes in bulk during its heyday.


    Sadly, since the problem with Gregory street started, the shop was shut down in fear of ghosts and the curse that had spread throughout the whole street.


    No one liked to suddenly fall asleep. Not when they were next to heavy machinery used for sewing clothes.


    "Maxim was right, there is something wrong with this ce."


    In the negotiation and transaction from before, Maxim has shared a lot more things than just information.


    He had even given him a job.


    No, it would be better to say that he had taken this job by himself and wished to explore the specialty in this ce.


    Before his arrival, Maxim had already done a preliminary checkup of this abandoned workshop and nothing much was found on his end.


    The most he knew was that this building had something to do with Farhad''s death. And even while knowing this, Maxim left it at that.


    Which if I have to say, ruined some of my initial nning as well.


    Maxim escaped the trap I dug for him and found a better counter to that trap for himself.


    But it was to be expected, with the mark in his body that still lies patiently, it would warn Maxim of others like itself. And Maxim was smart enough to stray away from this.


    Even if he didn''t know why his body felt that way.


    "It''s the third floor today."


    Opening his mouth wide, Maisel exhaled a flurry of fire bugs from his mouth that slowly flew and started to scan the surroundings.


    Illuminating the dark corridors and machinery.


    *****


    Everyone was busy with their work and Maxim was the same.


    Coming to his room, he was silent and wondering about the events of today.


    Or so it looked like.


    "Should close this wound." Taking out the med kit and needle, Maxi started to stitch the giant gash on his hand after disinfecting it with some alcohol.


    Though, it was only then that he noticed something.


    "You are already here?" He asked the boy that had just been sitting on the side, looking at the blind old man''s actions.


    He never said anything nor did he try to disturb the old man. He stared at the injury like a statue, fearful that he might face the same fate if he did say something.


    "Ye.. Yes, Magistar..." The boy said in fear before his mind lit up and he took out a bottle. "Mister, please take this. It will heal your injury instantly." The boy said while presenting a potion from his shop.


    Which Maxim denied.


    "Let it heal naturally, no need to waste something as precious as that on something so insignificant," Maxim exined while rolling a bandage on his arm with some balm.


    "And besides, I don''t have much use of my physical body anyways." He exined, before asking the young man, "But before we begin, I wish to know are you sure about it? There is already someone that died before, and you might face the same threat as the boy from before."


    Maxim didn''t wish for the death of another young man on him so he wished to confirm if the boy was aware of the danger he would be putting himself in.


    Though the answer that the boy gave was somewhat unexpected. "Magistar, I am a potions apprentice, I have experienced my fair share of danger." The boy said with some confidence on his face.


    And if Maxim thought about it, the boy was right.


    The potions might seem like a safe subject. But it''s not the talented ones that survive long enough to be a potions master. Instead, it''s the lucky ones who can live longer.


    The reason for it was also simple. There is not much difference between a potion and a poison. One can even say that each failed potion is poison And this poison needs to be tested before learning what the problem with the technique or material was before they can edit the recipe and update the methods.


    This trial and error method of checking potions has cost the lives of many apprentices. So if one were to think from this angle, the young man in front of him was very courageous and lucky toe this far on his own.


    And who knows, he might even be someone big in theing future.


    Generally, young men like this do so as they grow up. Though this only applies when they actually grow up.


    And considering the danger this case held, it would be hard.


    But Maxim didn''t try to force this young man out. If he has to die, then so be it, he has done his best by warning him. Now it all depends on him.


    For he had to find the secret about this dream curse no matter what. And few sacrifices need to be made for this.


    "Then follow me," Maxim ordered while picking up a book and leading the young man called Adam through the corridors of the library and then into the basement.


    Unlike the bright and sanitized state of the library, this ce was dark and damp, with water and gas pipes crawling along the walls.


    Though, those were not the worst part.


    The worst was the humidity.


    "Come and sit there." Maxim pointed at the giant magical circle in the middle of the room, where Adam can see two different ces of sitting.


    "As I have said before, your job is to act as my eyes," Maxim said while sitting in the middle of the bigger circle while pointing toward the smaller one and gesturing to him to sit down. As he said. "But not in reading, it''s while dreaming."

 Chapter 35: 2 day break.

    <h4>Chapter 35: 2 day break.</h4>


    Due to exams, I can''t maintain proper release schedule without messing up the story itself(won''t speak about my quality. I know pretty bad, grammar wise.) So I will be on a break for 2 more days... it might extend depending on what happens after exams(celebration/party stuff) And i would only be able to write chapters for my contracted novel.


    Though I would say, I love to write this novel a lot more. Its pretty fun from my perspective. I like my characters in it a lot.


    You can ask questions rting to this novel in here if you wish to, I don''t mind that one bit. Instead, I just want an opportunity to talk about this novel all the time.


    Also, if possible, do write a review for my novel. It truly helps and I need genuine feedback, because I am not gonna lie, around eight of those reviews are from friends and other writers, in a bid to promote my work.


    So I would appreciate if you would review it.... Also share my story. Please... it would truly help me a lot.


    Let others who like viin MC,s know about this novel. Tell them why you like it or why you think its different from other novels.


    Well, that''s it.


    And forgot to even mention this, but sorry for this dy. I would try to cover these two days with bonus chapters.

 Chapter 36: 2.08.1 The Battlefield.

    <h4>Chapter 36: 2.08.1 The Battlefield.</h4>


    The worst was the humidity.


    "Come and sit there." Maxim pointed at the giant magical circle in the middle of the room, where Adam can see two different ces of sitting.


    "As I have said before, your job is to act as my eyes," Maxim said while sitting in the middle of the bigger circle while pointing toward the smaller one and gesturing to him to sit down. As he said. "But not in reading, it''s while dreaming."


    In this world, there are many things that remain unknown even after all of thends have already been explored.


    The secret realms are hidden between the dimensions away from the influence of the main material ne, the world hidden in the oceans ruled by merfolks, thends hidden in thend below, home to monsters of unknown origin.


    And then there was thend of dreams, a world created by the collective consciousness of humanity.


    It was the world to which I belong. And the world which was considered the most bizarre and unknown among others.


    It was thend where dreamse true and the might of a person is not affected by their physical strength, but by the might and strength of their soul.


    The dreams of the individuals are also the reason why thend of dreams keeps changing all the time and things never remain constant. It was why before the enlightenment era, thend of dreams was also called The Land of Chaos.


    Some even say that the main material ne is the dream of a greater being and when that being wakes up, this dream will end.


    Many have felt a greater consciousness permeating the dream world.


    Which ording to Lakyus, wasplete horseshit.


    To him, this huge consciousness was nothing more than the collective consciousness of all the living beings that exist in this world. And the dream world is the focal point of it all. Making many mages mistake it for one, instead of many.


    But it''s not their fault, for they think that one only dreams while sleeping and the small dream worlds that are born out of it are just like bubbles that pop when the individual wakes up.


    Though one shouldn''t me them for their ignorance. They can''t match the understanding of dreams as much as Lakyus did while being the Prime Daemon of Nightmares.


    In Lakyu''s notes, he had divided the dream into two parts.


    The active one, which many considered to be all and end all for all dreaming. And then, there is the passive dreaming that one does while being awake.


    It was the passive dreaming that is responsible for that greater consciousness. It''s what dictates the fate of this world and drives the countless coincidences that one experiences in their life.


    So if Lakyus words have to be believed, then one''s strong will can truly change reality. But it only works on theory, because to me, all of this is bullshit.


    There might be a greater consciousness that exists in the dream world, I know it because I have lived in that ce for a long time.


    But I am also aware that the greater will has no actual will of its own, it''s just an existence without any rhyme or purpose.


    "But how... how can I do that?" The young enchantment apprentice asked, his eyes clouded with worry for his own life.


    The engrams and runes drawn extensively on the floor tiles were somewhat familiar. But the most he could understand were the most basic ones among them. The rest were too advanced and the longer he looked at them the more he felt sleepy. It was as if even looking at these runes was forbidden.


    "Focus, close your eyes, and sit in your designated ce. After which, you don''t have much to do."


    Hearing those words, Adam hurried to his ce and then sat on the ground while keeping his eyes closed.


    He feared the danger this magic circle posed to him, but he dreaded a magistar like Maxim even more.


    So with that fear in his mind, Adam didn''t even notice when he fell to sleep. Much to Maxim''s chargin.


    This showed that the child might have a stronger soul, but his will was not strong. Which would make this small experiment of Maxim pretty dangerous for him.


    If possible, Maxim didn''t wish to include a child as young as this in this experiment. But time was limited, he could feel that with each passing night, something was closing in on him.


    Otherwise, nothing else would exin why Maxim was always in a hurry, even ignoring the safety of his ownpanion for this.


    "Now to see what this dream has to offer." Looking at the sleeping figure of Adam, Maxim tapped his cane on the rune two times, activating it while he too sat down on the floor.


    And then, before long, he too sumbed to my dream.


    *****


    Opening his eyes again, Maxim found himself surrounded by the mist. A mist with some yellow hue to it.


    But he was not surprised by the situation, he knew that he had finally entered the ce.


    "Sess on the first try?" He wondered while looking at his young and soft hands. The body he currently possessed was that of Adam, it was this reason that he was able to see after a long time.


    But there was no joy on his face. Instead, it remained constrained as he wondered just where he was.


    ''Those that can recall the dream said something about forest... but I see none of it here.''


    As Maxim used Adam''s soul as a proxy to see into this dream, so did I do the same for Maxim''s own thoughts.


    It was for this reason, that after so long. I can hear the thoughts of this man atst.


    And from this smallment of his, I was also made aware that the homework Maxim did beforeing here might be a lot more extensive than I have previously expected it to be.


    Then, if that was the case. Let''s give him what he wishes.


    Though changing and manipting the natural progression would drain some of my energy, I still chose to do it as I didn''t wish for my protagonist to be stuck in this quagmire for longer than it needed to be.


    The other reason was my desire for this man to witness what I have witnessed.


    So with the twist of my finger, which sadly burned off under this maniption. The mist around Maxim who was in Adam''s body started to drift apart, exposing a small forest.


    And in that forest, there were lots of corpses strewn all over the ce. Corpses of all ages and sizes.


    There were young, there were old and there were some even inhuman. But the only thing that made them all equal was the state of their body and the color of their uniform.


    All of them died a horrible death, none of their body was intact. Maxim can even see the tears that still haven''t died up on a boy that barely looked 14.


    This looked to be a war site. But what happened here might not have been the result of an equal war.


    It was a one-sided massacre.


    ''There was no mention of this in any report.'' he wondered while finding this scene a bit familiar.


    ''The Da Tree, it only blossoms during the 2nd month of summer and is only found in Jeagral forest which lies between Wortham and Yethel.'' Ignoring the smell of rotten flesh that assaulted his nostrils, Maxim went forward and started to assess the area and started to think about where he was.


    Which was made easier with the broken bits of uniform he found during all this massacre.


    "Yethel."


    The army of Yethel was properly established just two decades ago and as it was for most young countries, their army is not as strong or properly trained.


    This would exin why this ragtag group of soldiers was so diverse in their age.


    "This is Jaegral war... the war in which Yethel was defeated one-sidedly by the Wortham forces."


    "So this is how it looked?"


    Dreams can be false and most of the time, they are. But considering how special this dream was. Maxim was sure that what he was witnessing had actually happened.


    ''No wonder there is no peace between Yethel and Wortham.''


    Any leader would be angry when its soldiers have been treated brutally by an enemy nation. The hate of this kind can''t be forgotten or forgiven. Unless the offender chooses topensate the other side appropriately, there is no way for this war to end.


    But this was not time to fall into the past.


    He needs to understand why he was witnessing this scene in this dream.


    ''Wait... didn''t the dream also appear a few years after the Jaegral war?''


    Maxim had fallen into his thoughts when suddenly, he felt something move past his feet.

 Chapter 37: 2.08 He saw it.

    <h4>Chapter 37: 2.08 He saw it.</h4>


    Looking down, he found nothing. But nothing ever is fine actually and ignoring those small sensations would be foolish of Maxim.


    It was for this reason, that Maxim walked among the tortured bodies of the dead. He can see the pain on their face and the agony they must have suffered before death.


    He can even feel the dread of these men, as they were forced to meet an early end to their life. And sad to say, he can even rte to them.


    These images, these scenes from the past awakened memories of the past he had forgotten. Memories in which he still had his eyes and was a bright young man still unaware of the horrors he would face in the future.


    "No, these are not my memories."


    But Maxim was smart enough, he was not stupid to fall into such petty tricks, the memory infusion in his mind failed and he woke up in the same spot he was five minutes before. But now a hand was holding onto his feet.


    A hand of a dead young man, who looked at him with tears in his eyes.


    "Please... let me live on in you..." Cried the dead soul, its pain gushing into Maxim''s body bit by bit.


    This dead soul just wished to be remembered. He wished for someone to carry on his will. The thought of possessing never urred to him.


    To this dead soul, all he cared about was the people that waited for him toe back.


    "It''s already been too long. Just sleep, it will soon be over." And Maxim, unlike others, didn''t treat the will of the young man as rubbish. Instead, he gave him some hope and coaxed the dead soul, as he slowly hunched down and pulled the hand of the man off his feet.


    A gratifying scene, which just showed how different he was whenpared to other visitors of this great creation of mine.


    Though, this young man was not alone.


    "Please... send money to my child..." Another older voice pleaded to him as it slowly dragged its broken body with organs spilling out toward Maxim.


    Followed by other broken men. Most of them weren''t even able to irk out a word besides groaning.


    With all of their requests being the same.


    Every single one of them wished for a better life, not just for themselves but for their own people as well. It was why they fought this nonsensical war.


    A war that was caused by the disagreements between a young nation and an older principality. Due to this, these men were punished and forgotten.


    Now they live in this dream of my creation, looking for someone that would carry on their will. Ignorant of the fact that those dreams would never be fulfilled. Nor can they ever be fulfilled.


    But Maxim was different, in his eyes, the horrific undead seemed pitiful to him. He neither harmed them nor caused them further misery.


    "I will help you, I will end this dream," Maxim said, remorse filling his heart. "But for now, sleep O'' heroes of the old." With a small incision on his wrist, Maxim extracted the blood from his body and then using it as ink, drew a hex in the air.


    Which caused the moving and crying bodies to slowly fall silent, acting as if they were never alive, to begin with. "I will end your suffering soon." He said moving away from the so-called tragic heroes.


    The same heroes died out of cowardice and ipetence, causing further damage to the people they were meant to protect and ruining a great war, making it boring.


    These were no heroes.


    These were bastards that didn''t deserve a peaceful end so soon.


    Let Maxim promise what he wishes for, but whether he will seed is another matter. So until then...


    "You will suffer for as long as I exist on this ne," I warned, causing these sleeping souls to shake in fear. But this is what they get for their erroneous act toward their own.


    *****


    With that test pass, Maxim soon found himself in a different ce and different time.


    Though this time, the ce was oddly familiar.


    "Durum?" Looking at the familiar streets and the crowd of men that walk past the area, Maxim felt like a phantom out of time.


    None of the people here noticed him, nor was Maxim interested in them.


    As they were not real people, to begin with. They were nothing more than echoes of memories, images that someone''s mind barely remembers.


    It was for this reason that none of the people here had any face.


    "Where am I?" Maxim asked, confused at the current scenario. At least on thest one, he was sure what he had to do. But not this time.


    He couldn''t even move from this ce.


    Though, as the injury on his hand still existed, he used some of the blood once again, intending to cast a hex once again.


    But that would be too foolish of him, Maxim was a bit too much in hurry.


    "Don''t abandon this opportunity." A faceless young child that was walking on the streets said to Maxim, causing him to pause his actions.


    But before he can look up, the child has long walked past him. And with his inability to move, he can''t even turn around and follow him up.


    ''What sort of opportunity?'' He was curious about the identity of the child, or the being that used the phantom of the child as its mouthpiece. But his work was more important at the moment.


    With a body that was losing blood at a fast rate, he maintained his calm and followed up on the suggestion the child gave him before.


    At least now he had a direction and understood what to do.


    Which made me happy, losing my palm to send this message was not a bad decision.


    Because this dream might be made by me, but its existence was far greater than mine, I was just a parasite leeching it off to survive while fertilizing it with the dreams of Durums citizens.


    And besides, there was someone far stronger than me residing in this dream.


    ''Don''t abandon this opportunity?... But what sort of opportunity?'' Wondered Maxim. In his mind, he wished for this opportunity toe soon. Because the injury in his hand was one thing. The injury to the mind of Adam was way worse. He understood that he can''t push the body of this young man too much.


    Otherwise, his vessel might just be part of this dream forever.


    And when he was considering resuming his act of leaving this dream, something odd happened.


    A face that was clear as the day slowly walked out from a corner, a woman with beauty, unlike anything he had ever seen.


    And the moment Maxim looked at that face, his body burned.


    "Wake up." He shouted, knowing that he had seen something he shouldn''t have. Maxim closed his eyes and used his spirit to cover the soul of the young man.


    It was also when he was thrown out of the dream and back to the real world, that the burning smell of flesh entered his nose.


    His flesh was on fire.


    ''I shouldn''t have waited.'' He might not be able to look at his current state, but from the burning pain in his left hand, he knew that he had lost it forever.


    But at least sacrificing that hand saved the mind of not only him but the child named Adam as well.


    "What... What happened?" Adam woke up a secondter, still ignorant of the danger his body just faced before. He rubbed his face and felt something wet on it.


    "Blood?" Looking at his hand, he was horrified for a second, closing one eye first and then the other, to confirm if his sight was still working. Which was odd and pretty swift for someone his age. But it went to show that he was not a wallflower that grew up without any experience.


    "Adam, help me.'' The voice of Maxim woke Adam from his worried stupor. He turned his head and looked at Maxim.


    "Fire?"


    It was already toote to save the hand, but Adam still dragged his body across the magic circle and asked in worry.


    "Are you ok Mister Maxim?" he asked, his orifices were still bleeding heavily, which goes to show that Maxim''s protection might not have been as extensive as he had expected.


    Or, the entity that he saw was just that strong.


    "I am ok, just click that button," he said, requesting the injured boy''s help. Then pointing toward the wall where he thought the button might be.


    Maxim can be considered lucky, because the boy''s adrenaline was at an all-time high, hence bing incapable of feeling his own weakness or fatigue. Which fooled the boy into thinking he was capable of getting up.


    And this started a game of struggling to get up from the magic circle and then falling down like a puppet without strings.


    It was fun.


    But with this, these two might die today.


    And I don''t care much about this Adam kid. But I can''t have Maxim fall so early. He still needs to live.


    "This is thest time." A voice echoed into Maxim''s voice, as the button was pressed on its own and the rm was sent out.

 Chapter 38: 2.09.1 Interrogation.

    <h4>Chapter 38: 2.09.1 Interrogation.</h4>


    "I am not ming you for his death. I just wish to know if you noticed anything bizarre around him before he left the academy." Remira asked, her voice holding a bit of force as she questioned the young girl that sat frightened in front of her.


    Unaware of the things that Maxim went through, Remira was in the Lucian academy doing the job that she was ordered to. Asking questions and finding the source of how and when Farhad got influenced.


    And from what Remira understood, with the security of the academy, it was almost impossible for this to happen. Unless the one who did this was an insider.


    Of course, this girl won''t know that the insider was the academy''s headmaster, to begin with. But my y was wless and it would be harder for her to find anything in this academy.


    It was why I was happy seeing her question the students with zero enthusiasm.


    "I.. I didn''t even know his father was a hero... If I knew, I would have ever bothered him." Said a female student who was still reeling in from the show of learning who the father of Farhad actually was.


    She knew her life was over. The moment the word of it gets out, even her family might note out unharmed. It was why she was regretting her past actions. Harming a small weak child and not leaving him alone for being weak.


    "Focus Thalia, this is not the time. Answer my question or I would just inform Marshall of this myself." Knowing that her words were not going through, Remira warned, her voice holding some authority as she made Thalia look at her once again.


    "No... no. I didn''t notice anything weird. He never said much and always kept to himself." The more Thalia spoke, the more she started to wonder what drove her to harm Farhad.


    He was just living his life peacefully and never bothered her. But for some reason, she always found him a nuisance, and as she said in the past.


    She didn''t like his guts.


    And if I have to say anything, I didn''t like this girl''s guts as well. But to err is to human and this girl is still young, so I will ignore her for now. Who knows, she might be a better person after this ordeal is over.


    But Remira didn''t seem to share the same thoughts. "Nothing weird? I have asked some others before you and many of them said he was taking early leaveing to the end of the semester. I wonder if you have anything to say about that?" Thalia was not the first student she asked questions from and neither will she best.


    Hearing this question, Thalia said. "I... I don''t know anything about that." She tried to lie, but her little twitching and inability to meet Remira''s eyes were in giveaways. And besides, it was hard to lie from the start anyways.


    Because every single student thates here is forced to drink a truth potion. But as these were still kids, only a highly diluted version of the potion was given to them. This might not stop them from lying, but it would also make their lies a bit more noticeable.


    "You do know about it, Thalia. Now if you tell me the truth, we can go our own ways." Remira exins, coaxing Thalia to speak more. "And if you don''t, you already know to whom I intend to give this report."


    "And whether your name remains on the report will depend on you." Remira lied, there was no way she could hide Thalia''s name in her report. Everything needs to be mentioned and no detail can be taken lightly.


    But lying to Thalia at the moment seemed to be the perfect method to extract information out of her. One can see firsthand how much fear she holds for the Marshall, so there was nothing wrong with exploiting that fear.


    "Please, please don''t do that." Thalia pleaded before looking around the empty room, checking if there were anyone else listening in on her. Which made Remira a bit curious.


    What did she see that made her act like this?


    "... It.., it was me and my friends that called him over... for errands."


    It was the story Remira had expected. The reason for Farhad''s lowered frequency of attending the ss was due to Thalia. She used to often give him different tasks that he needed toplete in the allotted time or suffer her wrath.


    "But... but this one time, something happened." Thalia seemed almost fearful of something as she started to look around once again.


    "Don''t worry, I am here. Nothing will happen to you." Worrying that something might actually be wrong with Thalia, Remira roused her blood and heightened her intuition. Looking forward to Thalia''s words.


    "He said he liked books, so I gave him the task of bringing a book from the banned library."


    *****


    ncing over the shivering body of Thalia, Remira knew that the side effects of the meds were starting to act up. Meaning it was time to end this small interrogation of hers.


    Besides, she got what she wanted.


    "A book about the moon?" She wondered, recalling thest words that Farhad said before his death.


    It was why she stood in front of the banned bookshelf. Looking at the books that smelled of age and decay.


    One can see from their state that not many have visited this ce in ages nor has it seen any cleaning. Just like its name, it would seem abandoned and if not for the enchantment on the bookshelves, these books might have turned into dust long ago.


    It was why the words mentioned by Thalia were a bit odd. Walking closer, REmira approached the keeper of this library, a gargoyle that stands at the entrance.


    "Halt." It said as he opened his stone eyes and looked toward Remira "Turn around, this is a forbidden ce." It warned.


    Which made Remira even more curious. So without dy, she showed him the ID that was given to her by the headmaster, causing the Gargoyle to bow its head toward the badge.


    "I apologize for my misconduct... Please, you may proceed." There was aplete 180 in its treatment of Remira. But she didn''t move and kept staring at the Gargoyle.


    "No need for apologies." There was something that started to irk Remira after seeing this gatekeeper. "But I wonder if there was ever a child that came to this library before me?" She asked, wondering how could a student like Farhad could enter the library that was being protected by a gargoyle.


    One shouldn''t look down on these small stone monsters. In truth, they were demons under the contract that lived inside these stone statues for protection. And it was highly unlikely for a first-semester student to hide away from the eyes of a demon of this caliber and enter the library.


    Which is what was odd with this situation.


    "A child?" The gargoyle started to think, before saying. "Of course there was, it was around 16 years ago, he tasted great." The Gargoyle eximed, rejoicing at the memories, at the flesh of the unlucky student that was devoured by him.


    Though this revtion was not horrifying for Remira, this is what was in the nature of demons.


    "I am talking about something recent, in thest two months." She asked once again, just as confirmation.


    From Gargoyle''s earlier words, she understood that there hadn''t been anyone stupid enough to approach this library, but she still wished to confirm.


    "No, if there was. I wouldn''t have been so hungry these years." The demons sighed.


    "Then I pray that you won''t be hungry for long." She smiled, before entering the library.


    She didn''t need to wonder whether the words of a demon were true. If it was a free demon, that might have been the case, but not for one bound by a contract. This demon was a ve and incapable of lying. So she knew that this demon knew nothing about Farhad.


    Which made her question whether Thalia was lying to her. Though there was also the fact that Thalia mentioned the book with moons and these same moons wereing up in the visions of Farhad.


    ''Should he have read a forbidden text rting to a moon deity?'' She wondered as this was amon urrence that happened a lot in this world.


    "Moon." She started to look at the books in this small library. Most of the content was just outdated information that would be considered wrong these days and hence they held no value. There were even some books that even attracted Remira''s attention. Books that held the true history that people don''t want to reach the hands of youngsters, or books that detail the life and works of schrs that went on to be not-so-savory individuals.


    And among those schrs, there was a book that made Remira''s eyes roll.


    "Curse of the silver night - Book by Yethel Ikuras."

 Chapter 39: 2.09.1 Game is set.

    <h4>Chapter 39: 2.09.1 Game is set.</h4>


    Looking at that familiar book written by a good old friend of mine, I felt relieved.


    The third piece of the puzzle was in ce. The fool has bit the bait and foolishly held the book that was the start of everything. A book that I helped that friend of mine...


    "*cough."


    Seems like this is no time to narrate the story. The damage to my spirit manipting the dream has been extensive.


    That woman who stole the control of the dream from me didn''t like the fact that I had done something inconsiderate towards her, helping Maxim and making him see a glimpse of her.


    And her punishment was heavy as well.


    Barely 40% of my body remains intact and I can still feel that if I remained in the world of the living any longer, my spiritual body would deteriorate faster. And before long I would be weak enough to not even possess any thoughts of my own.


    Guess, this is the price to meddle in the affairs of a false god. She found out I was doing things out of the boundations of the contract.


    "Who?"


    Heh, even Remira, without the rousing of her blood, can notice me in this state. How pitiful, this is the limit of I who proudly calls himself the Rat King.


    Though knowing one''s limit is half the battle and knowing when to back down is the other half. So before Remira turns suspicious of me. I left her alone.


    The confused and worried face of her that intended to go toward the gargoyle for more questions told me enough about what was going on in her mind.


    As for what she was going to ask? I was unaware of it and even weaker. I can''t stay in this ce. I need to find an escape route from here.


    So without dy, I started to look around. Looking for people sleeping at this hour of the day.


    But considering this was a ce filled with schrs, there was barely anyone sleeping. Most were busy with their thesis or school work. Others practice spells.


    Though after looking for a while, I found my escape route, a girl that I saw not so long ago. A vile girl that tormented a boy to death and now she slept peacefully. She was probably tired after the heavy-handed interrogation and the worry of being found out by the Marshall should have made her even more tired.


    This may also be the only peaceful sleep she would ever get after this interrogation, as the fear of the Marshall will keep her awake all night. Waiting for the time when a father takes revenge for his fallen son.


    So sleep little Thalia, and be my gate to the world of dreaming, and in turn, feed me for a bit as well.


    *****


    With the absence of Jester, for the first time sinceing to this city, Remira felt light for some reason, as if a weight on her shoulder was taken off and she can breathe better now.


    Why did this happen? She didn''t know. But what she knew was the cause might be the book in her hand. Because the moment she held this book in her hand, whatever entity that was watching her gave away its position and soon ran away.


    ''Something is really keeping a watch on us... something that can bypass the defensive circle of Lucien Academy.''


    Either that or the defensive circle was willfully acting ignorant of this existence and choosing to ignore it.


    What was the truth? Remira didn''t know. But she was well aware of an individual that was incapable of lying.


    "Keeper of the library, I wonder if you felt someone else besides me?" She asked, curious if the gargoyle was able to pick up on it as well as she did or not. But to her dejection, the Gargoyle just shook its head. "I only see the youngdy and no one besides the youngdy." It said as if to coax Remira. But She was not someone that gets won over with such simple words.


    "Don''t lie demon." She warned, as her finger started to burn with a white me, that she used to warn the Gargoyle. "Answer correctly, your master has given me full reign to do what I wish for the demonic constructs, exorcizing one of them won''t be a big deal."


    The threat in Remira''s voice was real, she knew that the demon was trying to fool her. Because in no way did what she felt false. There was something and she had felt it.


    "Beautifuldy, I cannot lie. I only see you." the demon said, fearing the white me. It was only now that I learned who this woman was.


    ''A descendant of that monster.'' The demon recalled the past in which there was a man who enved all the curses and created a unique bloodline by sacrificing them together. Blood that was borne out of neither a god nor a demon. Blood capable of purging all that was deemed filthy by its wielder. A blood with no limit of its own.


    A blood that became the sworn enemy of demons.


    The blood of Radiance.


    "Yes, you only see me. But I asked if you felt someone else here besides me, not whether you saw someone else." She asked, bringing that fire closer to the stone gargoyle and touching its shoulder with it.


    Causing the Gargoyle to cry in pain, and cried out loud, which caused the candles to start to flicker in and out, due to the spiritual disturbance in the area.


    "Please... mercy... Mercyy!!" It cried. The farce of an honorable gatekeeper started to shed before it said.


    "I... I can''t. it would curse me with a bad dream..." The Gargoyle exined and this was the most it could say of this entity.


    "Curse with bad dreams?" With Gargoyle''s words, Remira was sure that what she felt was not an illusion and that something truly was following her all this time.


    And this being capable of giving out bad dreams to people.


    "Why would a demon care about dreams?" She asked, taking her finger off the Gargoyle''s shoulder. Which broke into pieces soon after, showing the damage the small me has done to its body.


    But the demon was not worried about its loss. It just felt relieved that the pain was gone and in reply to Remira''s question, it just said. "Even demons dream of heaven."


    *****


    "You say lotion? I heard they are trying something simr in Pulgasiri, who knows they might bring it here as well."


    A man that was once just a small-time librarian had now be a big man among the magi circle. His own name was spread far and wide and his open attitude when he shared his knowledge with others, caused many young and inexperienced magi to flock to him.


    And after those that followed him long ago grew up, they were strong enough to rule a country, with this librarian at the center of it all.


    Many people considered him a hero, a man that will change the world of Magi with his liberal views of teaching and the spread of knowledge.


    But only a few knew that this Archmage reached such a level, not on his own alone, there was a being always on his side.


    Its form was ever-changing, but most of the time, this being lived inside a puppet that wore the clothes of a Jester.


    A very special being that chose to enve itself to the young Librarian long ago.


    "They might, or they might not. Depending on the goodwill of others would be a stupid thing to do." The puppet, although unable to move, still opened its mouth."I thought you should have learned this aftering this far."


    This was the Jester, he was a lot calmer and more reasonable than how he is in the current day.


    He met this librarian long ago in a small town and befriended him in an attempt to steal the knowledge from the books. But thenguage barrier stopped him from achieving anything. And with the constant hunt by the people with shining blood, Jester was forced to sign a contract with this man.


    He would provide this man with knowledge and suggestion, while this man would fill in Jester''sck of understanding of this new world.


    And this contract has gone on for a long, they both have even fought off the men from Radiance multiple times, achieving their current level where a country was soon to be born out of their hard work.


    "Stop nagging me like I am a child, I am old enough to have grandkids at this point." Even though this librarian still looked like a young man in his twenties, he was long past sixty years of age. Amon thing that happens to most transcenders.


    "Then act like an adult, start building railway tracks, I have seen how advantageous they can be during wartime." The Jester exined, recalling the Great war from his own world.


    "If we did that, then our neighbors would take off their masks and then you know what will happen."


    "Cynark is not happy with a small nation being born on their border, all they need is an excuse." Ikuras Yethel sighed, worried about the future of the nation he founded.


    There were too many things to consider before he could take any drastic steps of that nature and his life as a mage has taught him to always be careful.


    Which was a bit boring to Jester, it was why he desired Yethel to take drastic actions which might add vor to this boring life of his. So it started to push Yethel, in an attempt to change his mind. "An excuse they would find any... hmm!"


    The world came to a halt, Yethel stopped moving and the puppet that was incapable of standing up, stood up from its ce while looking around the scene with nostalgia.


    "So foolish of me, it''s been long since I lost into a dream of my own."


    It would seem that the state of my spiritual body was a bit worse than I had presumed. It was weak enough to fall into a dream of my own, showing you gods a boring side of my life.


    But don''t worry, it won''t happen again. It was an ident borne out of my earlier mistake.


    And besides.


    "The pieces are in ce already." With those words said, the dream surrounding Jester burst apart and copsed on its own.

 Chapter 40: 2.10 The entertainment district.

    <h4>Chapter 40: 2.10 The entertainment district.</h4>


    While Jester had fallen into a deep sleep of his own. Maxim was waking up on his own. His body was tightly bandaged with what he can determine to be a talisman of suppression while there was a tube going through his nose that provided him with fresh oxygen.


    ''Hah, how far have I fallen.''


    What happened in that dream, he recalls clearly. The moon-like visage that tried to hide, the being inside that did its best to help him see it, and then his eventual downfall.


    The gods in this world of the ult were unlike the ones from Mundane. They were not based on ignorance or the mortal''s desire to understand the dark world.


    The gods in this world were all real, though benevolent, they were not. What they thought of humans, Maxim didn''t know. Whether they even cared for humans, Maxim waspletely ignorant of it.


    But what he did know was to never try to learn more about gods than what is publicly known. It''s how one can maintain their sanity and it''s the reason no one knows the true names of any gods in this world.


    To most, all they know are descriptions.


    And among those descriptions, there was one that oddly came close to the thing he witnessed.


    "Daemon of Incarnation. Her signage, the moon. And her desire, the night." The more Maxim spoke, the more the talisman sticking to his body started to burn. He knows what he was doing was stupid. But calling this out was important as well.


    For forbidden knowledge is never eternal and it would burn away from his soul after it is weakened enough.


    So Maxim chose to remember it by heart.


    "Imprint." Though his hands shook while making the hex in the air under hisbored breathing, he knew that this small dream might be forgotten soon enough if he didn''t do something fast.


    It was why he used the hex to imprint all of the words he spoke into his skin.


    "Ah....!" The moment the spell activated, Maxim''s right hand started to contort before his skin started to bubble, causing Maxim immense pain.


    But it didn''t stop there, the spell had just started and soon, his skin burst apart with fire escaping out of it.


    And soon this fiery text took over his right handpletely. Leaving him drained and weak.


    He understood that his right hand can''t be used for a few days. No, with the words he had written, he won''t be able to use them forever.


    But it was all worth it.


    He was a broken man already with nothing more to lose. If he can help the people in this city before he dies, it would be for the best.


    "Magistar, you are awake?" Pierta came running down after hearing Maxim''s cries. Her first reaction was to look at Maxim''s right hand. But Maxim was a step ahead of her and dropped his hand down and said. "Don''t look,... it''s forbidden." His voice wasbored and there didn''t seem much energy in his body.


    One can even say that his life would soone to end with the state he was in currently.


    "Why did you do it on your hand?'' She can smell the burning smell of flesh and the hex spell that was recently used in this ce. She can even understand why he did it.


    But using one''s own skin as parchment, she can''t fathom this stupidity. This would be putting strain on one''s body more than the mind and the part on which those words were written would soon turn useless.


    Though Maxim didn''t care about it. Head no time to look for a parchment when the memory of the dream was disappearing from his mind.


    This was the least he could do.


    And besides, thest time he saw Pierta, she was in bed recovering from the attack of an entity that parasitized her soul.


    "Just... Just bring me something to hide it." Maxim said, as he dragged his body to the front of the bed and sat up straight. "I made some progress." Happy with the result, Maxim informed Pierta.


    "I am happy that you seeded on the first try, but you should have informed me before entering the giant dream. If not for the young man pressing the rm, I wouldn''t have noticed you two guys here."


    "Ah... so he seeded." Maximughed, as he covered his right hand with a nket. "How is that young man? I presume nothing serious happened to him?"


    "Nothing wrong with his spirit, but his eyes are a bit damaged. I have used some panacea on it along with a healing talisman from Nature''s Fall. He would be as good as new in a day."


    Talismans were pieces of paper on which can hold off a spiritual spell and were very hard toe by. And those from Natures Fall, the church of hunt, and the hunted were very expensive to get their hands on.


    But considering the nature of the entity they were facing, the talisman from Nature''s fall was perfect for the job.


    Because a hunter never sleeps during the hunt. Same as Maxim, who can''t afford to sleep at the moment.


    He needs to keep moving forward.


    "Then good, we would need his help soon enough once again... Whether he likes it or not." Before Alfin can care about the will of his "eyes", but after learning the truth, he can''t do the same anymore.


    Because he had found who the enemy was and what needed to be done.


    "I will see to it that he doesn''t try to escape." Pierta also knew that this was no time to be weak of heart. Sometimes sacrifices were necessary. "Also, Remira is back, she has been waiting in the library, reading."


    There was a surprise in Pierta''s voice as she exined.


    As someone that has known Remira since she was a child. Seeing her read the book was the first.


    "She found something in the library, I don''t know if it''s anything special."


    ****


    The book that she currently read was written by a well-known Magi by the name of Ikuras Yethel. The founder of Yethel Conglomerate and so too the Republic.


    A man that has been dead for thest twenty years. Assassinated by unknown assants that were mostly believed to be from the Parent kingdom of Wortham Principality, the Cynark Kingdom.


    Though, it''s just a conspiracy and not something even the current leaders of the Yethel Republic agree with. But for themon men, this conspiracy was taken as reality.


    One can even see it from how the books written by Yethel have been banned in the Cynark Kingdom since the assassination.


    No, it was banned before the assassination happened.


    "Rarer than Werewolves, the Wraith were more fascinating creatures. Born out of vengeance toward the living. They are mad with hunger and uncontroble."


    The words and knowledge in this book were basic. It mostly told about the curses and cursed monsters that usually held a connection with the silver moon.


    There were phantoms that tormented the living, curses that aged the living, and even gods that stole the life of the living.


    "Remira, Sir Maxim has called for you."


    Remira''s reading was interrupted by Pierta''s callout. This was to be expected since she heard the cries of Maxim not so long ago. So without further dy, she got up along with the book and started to walk to her Leader''s room.


    But not once did she forget about the words in the book and the fact that there was someone watching her and that being might have been doing for longer than she might expect.


    Though, while going downstairs, Remira paused. Turning to look at Pierta. "You should take some rest, that act is not fooling me," Remira said, a bit worried for the health of the only family she had left.


    "I would, but not now... for the first time ever there has been good progress. I can''t hold you guys back due to my own health."


    "And besides, Sir Maxim''s state is way worse than my own," Pierta exined, feeling ted at the small sess they finally had.


    "But he is not my family, so I will still care for you more. Please, just be safe and if you feel woozy, just go and rest."


    "Ok little girl, I will see to it."


    *****


    It was night time and there were barely any people walking along the roads.


    But in the entertainment district, no one ever slept as the patrons of the night would always say.


    The night is still young.


    And the night was truly young when a woman entered an alleyway, got closer to a gutter, and then hunched down.


    Her voice was as low as a mouse as she called out.


    "FiFi." A simple name, a code word of sorts. But sadly, the expected response never came.


    "FiFi!" So she tried again, expecting a different oue. But as it was, nothing changed and nothing came out of her attempt.


    "Is he away?" She wondered, readying herself to leave this ce when she felt a vortex of fire form next to her body, and before she can react, a hand extended out of it and grabbed her by the neck.


    "Finally found the true body." Maiselughed, tightening his grip on the neck of the woman, causing.


    His palm is as hot as a furnace.


    But it only left a red spot on the woman''s skin. Which proved to Maisel that he had finally got his hands on the real thing.


    "Now, time for some questions."


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