The God of Jesters
Chapter 247 - 4.08.2 A visitor.

Chapter 247: 4.08.2 A visitor.

The struggle in the town was of no concern to Crow, like an ignorant bird he flew toward the hiding spot of his current master and his sort of butler under the cover of the night.

This was it, this was the last time he would visit his master as his wait was over.

’It’s my time.’ he sang in his head, afraid of making any sound in the dark of night. But his happiness was hard to hide along with his jolly tremblings.

It was a good night with barely any clouds bolting any of the moons. "Two days," He thought.

Stupid he was not, the moon like always held some importance to the ritual, and considering the timing his Master had planned to conduct the ritual, under the full moon night. An odd occurrence that happens once every month due to how rare it is to get two full moons.

A time that is auspicious to some and cursed to others, and depending on the culture, there are entire festivals around the full moons that go on for weeks on end until the time comes.

But sadly, the dwarfs were not such creatures, they were beings of the dark, those that considered the lava their sun and the minerals in the cave their stars. They were beings of the land, the mountains, and the stone. They were never meant to walk out in the open and hence lack any culture surrounding the moon when compared to others.

Even though most of the dwarves now have homes on the surface, most of their living quarters are actually established below the ground, the place where they feel safer compared to the civilized norm of humans.

And in such cases, Crow was not much different, to him just like many other dwarves, the moons were not as important or held much meaning. The most he even knew about the moons were things he read in his school, along with the religious teachings of various churches that one way or another reached his ears.

A common occurrence since Pulgasiri opened its door to outside influences.

Though this time, for Crow, the next Diadic Full moon was going to be special, just like it had been all around the world, including the moment when a god was born in the city of mages two years ago.

Of course, such details were alien to him, the Duke of Wortham Principality has done his best to hide the details and even in case they were to be exposed, a small figure like Crow would never learn of it.

******

"Master? You are out?" Reaching the spot, he was surprised to find his master sitting on a boulder not too far from the entrance, who looked at him and then at the entrance of the cave, before ordering. "Something is different today, for now, go and put the rations inside. And I hope you have brought the things I had asked for."

"The ritual ingredient?..." Under Crow’s request, Max nodded. "The very thing."

There was not much to begin with. A skinned face of any animal, some herbs, and a rope. As for the main ingredient, it was the blood and an old tree, which was not something he had to provide. All he needs to do is find an old tree before the ritual begins.

"Yes, although the butcher gave a curious look, he agreed to it." Then he took out a thin piece of leather, which turned out to be the face of a cow. Along with other ingredients, which were not as important.

"Do as I told you before, and then come to me, we are going somewhere." He spoke and then waited until Crow entered the safe spot.

Inside, it was, as usual, the dampness that was being dealt with by a small tinder in the middle. If not for good air circulation inside this small space, people would have long died from the lack of oxygen. Poison occurs when a tinder is left in the room for too long. Of course, what it was called, Crow didn’t know, all he knew was that this was dangerous.

"Boy, today is the day. Be on the lookout." While putting the rations on the side, a voice called him out. "You?" Usually, in order to prevent the secrets of his path from leaking and being divulged outside of the circle, Max always requests Sheva to be away from them, at least not to hear them.

And she agrees without showing any emotion or distrust on her part. She isn’t hurt by his action and instead shows some understanding.

A Knight’s path is very important, their ritual and the process through which they add kin could in turn be used against them. As they hide the very essence of a Knight and the potential on which they are built.

Of course, it’s not much of an issue for those with powerful bloodlines, so even if their ritual and secrets were to be exposed, they have many ways to supplement said weakness and they have defenses in place to prevent any accident from happening.

But for a single-generation Knight like Max, he can’t be so free. Max needs to hide the core of the ritual, the core of his very being if he wishes to survive, and even if Sheva would never betray him in his eyes, the same can’t be said about people that might obtain that information from her.

As for how they obtain it from her, he doesn’t know, nor does he want her to carry the burden of knowing this secret, as it might attract some unwanted eyes towards her.

"Yes it’s me... and from the look on your face, it seems you are still oblivious to what is going to happen today," Sheva asked, looking at the fool that had saved her before.

Usually, the boy is very smart when it comes to messing with people, but for some reason, he is awfully oblivious.

And it was only after Sheva’s words, did he understood something. "You mean to say, the ritual will happen today? But it’s not full moons yet?"

"I don’t know anything about that, what I know is that Max is ready to give you the blood you have been waiting for so long. And this is why I am telling you to be attentive, the night feels a bit odd today."

"You mean, I am going to get the blood today?" Suddenly, the eyes of Crow lit up. "YAAS!!! No need to wait for two days." He laughed like a child, his dream was coming true a bit earlier than expected, much earlier than he had known would happen.

Did Max lie before, just to give him this gift of surprise?"

"Oh master, I love you." He shouted, a line that reached the ears of Max who creased his brows a bit.

On the other hand, Sheva just stared at the boy and sighed. She didn’t know what the Master of Jara was planning, nor did she know when the daughter of Max would finally come here.

But what she did know is that the choice of Max was not something anyone could calculate. For she had seen death in his eyes this morning, she knew he was ready to face death and this ritual was where he would die as well.

It’s why she was assured that Max would conduct the ritual today and hence why she didn’t leave.

"Kid, did you listen to what I said? Be attentive, I will keep a watch over you with my sniper while you keep watch over Max, he can’t fight anymore and he shouldn’t."

"You are speaking as if there are people keeping an eye on us."

"Because they are, the woman, your senior disciple in some sense, had come and wished to take your Master with her. And out of this cave would be the best opportunity for her to strike."

"Isn’t she my senior? Why would she wish to stop the master from conducting the ritual?"

"It’s a long story, but just know that woman is dangerous and would kill you at the moment’s notice. She is the biggest threat to the ritual."

"Whether you succeed or not, all of it depends on you at this point." Hearing such words, Crow finally turned serious. "Did you speak about this to the Master? Maybe if he asks her."

"There is no need for me to tell him, I believe he should know about it probably." Sheva understood that although Max’s body was turned to dregs and the corruption was slowly eating away at him, his senses were still powerful. He was a Master Rank Shapeshifter and an assassin. It would be bizarre for him to fall asleep so easily and not even hear their conversation.

"So just focus on my words and attack any third party you see... better yet, escape with Max, I will provide you with a cover fire."

Finally, knowing that things were not as simple as they appear to be, Crow nodded.

******

On the other side, at the entrance of the village, a figure walked into it in the dark of night.

"You are here?" The Figure said, looking at the sky and then at the corner of a small dwarven home, where a small rat stood silently, keeping a watch over the figure. "You really are here."

The figure didn’t crush the little critter, for her knew that these creatures were just slaves to the monster, he just kept walking deep into the village as little by little, a litter of rats started to follow the figure

First, there was just one or two, before long, there were more than a couple of dozen, then came the bats, the owls, and even some insects.

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