The God of Jesters
Chapter 311 - 5.11.4 Tracing the steps.

Chapter 311: 5.11.4 Tracing the steps.

The maid was easier to find, as he had expected, she was not too far from his home and was eyeing him all along, including the time when Henry arrived. But she didn’t ask much, his prior lies had kept her in the dark, and considering how he held a higher position than her, it was not hard to fool her with false orders.

Though, not everything was easy though. The bodyguard that had kept a watch over him all this time was nowhere to be seen. Even when used the sacred call sign, nothing happened, as if she had disappeared from the world.

’No eyes on me?’ Making him curious for a bit. No matter what his boss’s intentions were, it would be absurd for his bodyguard to leave at such an inopportune time when his boss’s lover was close to him.

But, time was of the essence. Enough of it had already been wasted and he still had to find the trail of Baldar if he wished to follow him into the test area.

So, after confirming that the bodyguard was really not there. He left with his group.

While Crow was gone, Sheva and Henry became acquainted with each other. Sheva kept most of her history secret, while Henry having nothing to hide spoke out in the open about his experiences these past few months.

Which was good, considering the trouble they were going to face together. Though in Sheva’s mind, it was all done to understand more of Crow’s other side that he had been hiding from her. Or was it a lie as well? She can’t say. But considering his actions till now, it doesn’t seem that way.

Crow might just be an awkward young man who doesn’t know how to display his affection properly. Or so she thought.

"The tower is where the boss usually stays," Crow said, pointing toward the clocktower which was in the middle of the city and close to city hall. "All we need to do is camp and follow any suspicious vehicle or group of people that move out from this area.

Crow said, before Sheva front he side shook her head. "Is this your plan?" She asked, finding this simple plan absurd.

There is no one in this world who understands Jara better than her, she knows his habits and his nature which were cultivated under Jester.

A rat-like bastard who acted as a spotter and scout for her, who was a great sniper. So he won’t make the simple mistake of walking out in the open. Knowing him and his old habit, she had some inkling of what he might do.

As, even if this was a plan under his control, he would still choose the safest way to move in case something does happen.

"For one, he will use a vehicle if he wants to save time, so all we need to do is follow it." She said, surprising Crow. "So all we need to do is look for a weird vehicle?"

"No, he won’t get on that vehicle from here, however big his group is, they will move individually before honing in on the spot, that is if there aren’t already underground paths that they can use to circumvent all of these issues."

"This? Then doesn’t this mean we failed?" Henry wondered after hearing Sheva’s words. Who just shook her head, before asking Crow. "Tell me, where is his office specifically?"

Although there were no windows or specifics of where he was in that maze-like office, Crow had counted his steps each time he entered the Baldar’s office, so he had some inkling of where it might have been, which he showed to Sheva.

And when Sheva used it as a reference to eye the Fish market not too far from the distance, she already had an idea where they might move out from. "Come with me."

Jara was never a coward and did things with care and specificity that was absurd for a normal guerilla fighter, which made him stand out and in turn made the missions she did with him always a success.

The secret?

He always kept multiple escape routes close to each sniping spot and through her experiences with him, she has also adopted similar habits.

"Escape route one." She said, looking at the crowded street filled with the smell of fish. And considering he would be moving multiple people all at once, this pace is perfect for it.

As she had expected, her assumption worked wonders as she noticed a few figures, a total of three moving toward a specific direction.

A parked jeep was on the corner of the fish market.

"That is our target." She saw, looking at the man sitting in the driver’s seat. Before shaking her head, confirming that it was not him. But he must be in the Jeep.

"Are you sure?" Crow asked, and she nodded. "See how three men climb into it." And as she had said, three men climbed into the jeep before it started.

"Mister, it’s time, we should go." While Sheva was busy keeping a lookout, Henry and Crow had already booked a horse carriage not too long ago and they were waiting on the side. "Just follow her instructions." Crow said to the driver, who nodded while sweating a bit after looking at Sheva’s huge figure.

’No matter what, these don’t seem like normal people.’ He wanted to get them off, but he didn’t dare to and did as he was told.

On the other hand, Henry asked from the side. "Aren’t we too far, won’t we lose them?" He asked, but she just shook her head. "Transcendents are sensitive to being followed, so it’s better to maintain our distance."

"But we can’t even see them." Henry wondered, unable to even see them in sight, as the Jeep had long left them in dust.

But Sheva didn’t fear it. "Its a small city, with barely any infrastructure." She said pointing toward the tire tracks that were barely visible. "And fewer automobiles as well."

The harder part was only finding the target, as for following them? Sheva was a master class at it. Not to mention, trailing that Jeep was much easier than trailing the people in the jungle.

On the other hand, the carriage driver, hearing all of these words, fell into more depression. These words of Sheva confirmed that they were following some dangerous individuals. And if these people were capable of following such dangerous individuals, then wouldn’t this make this woman dangerous as well.

Even the two kids, who were bright eyed learning from Sheva don’t seem to be normal.

’I will take a break, if I survive.’

*****

And he did survive, earning a good amount of cash on the way.

"We move on foot." Sheva said looking at the Jeep kept hiding along the forest trail.

"Should we check the jeep? Who knows if they might have left something there?" Crow asked, showing some greed, but Sheva just shook her head. "It’s better to not do anything your brain thinks from this point on. Knowing him, he will have probably put some bombs in that jeep, or poison sprays in case someone tried to enter it.

"Would the Boss really go so far?"

"Generally no, but depending on the enemy, he used to go crazy during the war years. It’s better to be safe than sorry."

Sheva was showing more use than one might expect, now if she only had her gun, then things would have been better. But Sadly, Remira never bothered to give her a gun. There were various reasons for her choice, with the primary being that there was no need for Sheva to snipe anyone anymore.

Oh, how wrong was she?

"It might just have a gun?" Crow wondered, looking at Sheva, who just shook her head. "I have more means to protect myself than using a gun."

"Well, you do you."

They followed the trail left by Baldar with Henry and Crow wondering where they were to begin with. But no answer left Sheva’s mouth as she kept moving forward, confirming her own suspicions as she went in deeper.

’They have already entered.’ She thought to herself.

"Danger signs?" Henry was the first to see it, before getting closer to the sign and reading the details. "A forbidden ruin?"

There was only one of it in Phuket and Henry’s blood ran cold, while Crow acted oblivious to his fear. "Why is it that dangerous?" He asked.

Being a native, Henry obviously knew about these ruins, but as the Ruins were already closed long before his birth, the most he had heard were legends and how many lives this Ruin has devoured in the past.

"That place has devoured two brothers of my Grandfather."

"..."

Hearing Henry’s words, Crow couldn’t help but say. "This makes it troublesome."

"What do you know about these ruins?"

"Nothing beside some old legends." Crow listened kindly from the side, and the more he heard of these legends, the more troublesome he found these ruins to be.

"Forbidden zones are bizarre and unpredictable, unless we have enough knowledge about such places, going inside is tantamount to suicide." Sheva said, looking at Crow that had gone silent. "You know now, so you should understand how dangerous all of this is."

Sheva’s words really did affect Crow for a bit. "You said the outer area can be considered safe?"

"Yes, but considering this is a test, we probably need to go deeper."

"Then why don’t we give it a try, if it’s too dangerous, we can always move out." Crow made a suggestion, before talking about his own reasoning behind it.

But he didn’t forget to ask if Henry would still follow him to his doom. "It’s just outer area anyways." he agreed to go in. As for Sheva?

There was no need to ask such a question to a suicidal woman like her.