Chapter 842: Nevermore: A Twist to the Twist

Chapter 842: Nevermore: A Twist to the Twist

The lines were drawn as the palace in the Human Kingdom capital rapidly filled up. The three Dukes would be in attendance, and not just with projections either, but their real selves. Borderline every noble of any influence had shown up, and when the king also entered along with his wife a mid-tier A-grade things got even more intense. Especially when the old man following behind the two of them was seen. He was slightly hunched over, and had a frizzled beard and no hair, with an overall weak-looking demeanor, but his aura told a whole other story.

Jake, who was also taking part in this party, if one can really call it that, stood on a balcony and overlooked as these people entered. His gaze temporarily landed on the Lord Protector, as he was called. While he was no Snappy, in the context of this world, he was definitely one of the strongest. A peak A-grade existence that Jake saw even the otherwise arrogant Duke of Flames approach respectfully as he bowed to the old man.

Now, while attending this party was wholly expected based on the trajectory of all the special missions he had done thus far, the way he had gotten his invite was a bit off. Not because he had gotten one but because Jake had ended up getting four separate invites. One from the Duke of Flames daughter and the dukedom she worked, with another one from PETE, a third from the Duke of Flames, and the final one from the Guild itself, which gave Jake a Special Courier Job to attend the party. It didnt specify what Jake had to do once there, just to attend it.

He wondered if the Special Courier Job was a failsafe if someone failed to get invited or if it was something everyone who had gone down this same quest path received. Then again, everything else revolving around the party was Side Jobs from all the different factions. So maybe he was meant to always get this Special Courier Job? In either case, Jake found It pretty funny getting all those invites, especially as he had to go through a complex vetting process before he got each, where every faction wanted to ensure Jake was truly on their side.

How the hell he had passed every single of of them, Jake had no idea. All of them used lie detectors, and Jake even ended up meeting the person who had killed those adventurers who had been with the scalekin mage. It was the Duchess of the dukedom that the Duke of Flames daughter had allied with, and an A-grade in her own right. She was a powerful karmic mage, and she also used her magic to scan Jake throughout their entire vetting process, and ended up walking away with the conclusion Jake didnt have any positive karmic relations with the other factions. She did point out how Jake didnt have a particularly good connection with her and her husbands dukedom either, but Jake easily excused that by saying he was being a professional and just working with them. They were still a bit suspicious, but after he passed a lie detector confirming he wasnt working for the benefit of any of the other factions, they approved him and gave him an invite.

This process was pretty much the same with all of the factions, though their means to confirm Jake was, at the very least, not working with the enemy varied a bit. Jake was honestly kind of lucky in this entire process because he could truthfully say he held no positive feelings toward any of the other factions and that he didnt work to support them. They couldnt ask if he was working with them, period, because as an infinite loop agent, he naturally was, so as long as he didnt support them, that had to be good enough, right?

Jake also came to learn that apparently, Couriers were even respected in royal courts. Alright, the low-ranked Couriers probably werent, but Jake was considered a highly respected professional by now with lots of experience. Never mind the fact Jake hadnt even had the job for a year.

As he was standing and overlooking all the guests arriving, Jake considered what his next move would be. The king organized this party, but at the request of two of the three dukedoms because they all wanted to use it to expose their enemies. As for how they would expose them? Well, they all had the exact same plan that could be summed up in one word:

Jake.

Not only was he their star witness, but he was also the guy with all the evidence. All of them had asked him to get an ancient rarity Medallion before this meeting, as with it, his trustworthiness would be even higher. Who wouldnt give a high-ranking Courier with an impeccable track record at least some trust and hear him out?

The problem was that Jake still didnt like any of them. Exposing PETEs leader, as well as the fact they worked with another dukedom that hatred the Duke of Flames, seemed like the easiest solution to causing a big conflict. Of course, he could also expose the fact that the Duke of Flames was running an illegal drug and weapon trade in collusion with an enemy country to fund his endless hunger for elementals or maybe that the daughter of the Duke of Flames liked to punish those who helped her father for fun behind his back.

PETE was the easiest to deal with. They were the weakest stand-alone faction by far, and Jake had a hard time not seeing them burn to the ground no matter what he did to expose them. He had learned that nobody, not even their allied dukedom, knew the true identity of their leader, so that was something Jake could expose to get rid of them.Discover new chapters at novelbin(.)com

However, Jake had begun to form another plan.

What if he just exposed all of them at once to the king and just sat back as he watched the world burn? What if he made some false statements to involve the third dukedom that otherwise wasnt part of anything? Or maybe even a foreign country?

As Jake was still deep in thought and saw that the final guest had just about arrived, he noticed someone walk up beside him. Jake was leaning on the railing of the balcony, and this person joined him in looking at all the esteemed guests below.

Quite the gathering, the man said with a smile.

It is indeed, Jake said as he glanced at the newcomer. He gave off the aura of an early B-grade and looked on the younger side. He had long, combed-back hair and gave off a confident demeanor, and while Jake didnt recognize him, he already knew who it was as he picked up the presence the man was disguising.

Ah there it is Jake thought to himself. He had been waiting for the final twist to reveal itself, and here it was. During all this time when Jake had worked with all of these different factions, there was one place that did know everything Jake was up to. Not his thoughts or plots, but they did know he did work for all of them at the same time.

He was naturally speaking of the Guild itself.

I heard you are quite the distinguished guest today, the man stated as Jake subtly felt the area around them shift as a sound-isolation barrier appeared without anyone around noticing. Many friends in high places.

Not sure I would call them friends, but my work indeed takes me around, and I am here for work today as well, Jake said with a shrug. I am a Courier, after all. Completing jobs is what Im meant to be doing.

And quite a Courier you are. Within a year, you went from a total newcomer to someone so highly respected, the man said with a big smile. I even heard that you have a borderline perfect track record, never really messing up any jobs, despite what hiccups you may have encountered.

Jake remained silent, but he was beginning to get a good idea as to where this entire thing was going, and he wasnt sure he liked it.

And you you are a prime example of this change, the Founder said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. The intent was for Couriers to remain neutral, not getting too involved in politics, but now, nearly every force with any influence actively exploits the Courier system for their own gain. They make Couriers work with them despite that being contrary to what they should be doing. I was truthfully disappointed when I looked into you. Your track record was so brilliant, your word ethic impeccable, and I believed you were one of the most promising Couriers I had ever seen yet you have chosen to work with these factions and gotten yourself so deeply embroiled in their factions, supporting them and-

Wrong on that one, Jake quickly cut him off.

Hm? the Founder exclaimed with a frown. Are you claiming you havent completed Special Courier Jobs for these factions in droves, each Courier Job submitted to further their goals?

That isnt what you said. You said I supported them. Have I worked with them? Yes, but supporting would mean I helped them more than I hurt them, and right now, I think Im pretty even on that one with all of them.

The frown on the Founders brow deepened. What are you saying?

Jake turned to look at him directly again. That I dont support any of them. Also, dont get it twisted; I wasnt the one who chose to work with them. The Guild did. The Guild accepted all these Special Courier Jobs. Shit, I got involved in this entire mess because of one such job, and now here we are. Or are you going to fault me for accepting jobs offered to me?

Not gonna lie; Jake was a bit offended at what the Founder said, and he got the feeling he had to dispute it. He also just didnt like the insinuation he was allied with any of the assholes in the hall but from the looks of it, this Founder didnt believe him at all.

Have you truly deluded yourself that much, or are you simply trying to fool me for whomever you support? I know why you are here today, and I know of this internal conflict in the Human Kingdom. I also know you have come to assist one of the factions present in this hall, the Founder said, shaking his head.

Before Jake had a chance to react, the man placed a hand on Jakes shoulder. Some form of magic activated as the man infused a smidgen of power into Jakes body, as Jake felt it search for something. Even if you attempt to deceive me, I am far from new to this game. Your clear karmic connection with with

The Founder just stared at Jake for a second before he cleared his throat. He lifted his hand slightly and placed it down again as another bit of energy was infused. As I was trying to say, karma cannot be hidden even if if

His words tailed off as he stared at Jake with wide eyes. How is this possible? There is nothing whats going on?

Jake was also confused for a moment until he understood what had happened, and a lot of things suddenly fell into place. Without even thinking about it, he checked out a certain skill and there it was in the description of Shroud of the Primordial.

The karmic threads in your wake, an endless web impossible to unravel

So well it turned out that no one being able to detect his karmic connection was pretty damn good when trying to hide who he had any connections to.

The Malefic Viper smiled as he saw the horrified look on the Wyrmgods face as he realized what was going on at the same time as Jake. Minaga only flashed a giant grin filled with schadenfreude as he pointed at the Wyrmgod.

I told you using karmic magic to detect faction allegiances was going to be a problem!

It is the most reliable way a person could detect something like that and with them being A-grades and above, no C-grade should be able to block or avoid it the Wyrmgod answered in a defeated voice.

Thats right in truth, what Jake had been doing this entire Challenge Dungeon was a horrible fucking idea for anyone normal. Fence-sitting and trying to get one up on everyone would have been discovered a long time ago by any of the many A-grade karma mages working for all of the larger factions. Simply lying wouldnt be enough, and the second they detected Jake sewing good karma with any of the factions through efforts that helped them in any way he hadnt been expressly told to, he would have been discovered.

But with Shroud of the Primordial, they simply couldnt see anything. Mind you, Jake formed karma just like everyone else; Shroud did nothing to block any of that. But it sure as hell did make it impossible for a bunch of mortals to see jack-shit and coupled with their simplistic and over-tuned level of trust yeah, it was a recipe for disaster, and the Malefic Viper was all for it.

Wait Minaga suddenly said. Wont this also mess up the-

No spoilers, the Viper interrupted him, enjoying this more than he probably should. Let us all just enjoy the show as you take notes for fixes in the next iteration."