Arc 3, Chapter 155 — The Fool
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They say nothing hurts more than the sting of regret.
....
"Ghouls." Henry’s voice whispered in the air with a magnetic resonance.
Beside Henry was Claudina, one of his Lieutenants. She has been beside Henry since the beginning, like a dog on a leash.
She was stunning beauty with a pair of glasses, bangs, and the rest of her sandy Blonde hair tied in a single French braid that went down to her waist.
Her uniform equally looked like a sleeveless suit. Rather than a skirt, she wore pants, well fitted displaying her curves. And on her hands were long gloves that went past her elbows.
As Henry spoke, Claudina stepped forward to light the cigar he took out of his chest pocket.
Who was he, Henry Lamperouge?—Head of Departnt 5 in charge of Diplomatic Relations.
A cold light flickered through his pupils. His deanor was casual, as if unbothered with so many eerie cries from all around them.
"Creatures of darkness," he began. "Ghouls—The first stage of Vampiric transformation after a Human gets beaten."
He paused, letting out a whiff from his cigar." Such profound knowledge is what your predecessors understood."
The cigar in his mouth was burning at an unscientific rate. "The world today evolves on practicality.... I love that little saying of yours."
Although Henry wore a faint smile, the aura around him was so terrifying, choking that the many political rats lowered their gazes without arrogance.
President Glandol and many others lowered their gazes with trembling bodies. Their appearance now looked like rats in sewers.
The sounds of ghoulish roars and the cries of others kept bellowing. But Henry smoked his cigar in a relaxed manner.
"Well now? Isn’t this all too amusing? The fact that you live in a new Age and are New to the Seat, doesn’t an your brains are more flexible than those before you."
"Now thanks to you, all of Rovitphis will FALL... how’s that for practically?"
Suddenly, ghouls of all sorts stord into the room, banging their bodies along the terrace’s glass doors like mindless hungry zombies.
~Bam! Bam! Bam!
They scraped and scratched, looking at their prey through the glass with unfathomable eyes.
Food .. Food...
It was almost as though they read the minds of these Ghouls.
Mommy!... Mr. President, the ministers all crawled back towards the railings, their eyes still focused on the terrace’s doors.
Surrounded—that was all they could think of.
~Bam. Bam. Bam.
The guards are their hands on the glass doors, doing their best to push back and ensure these Ghouls don’t break the door’s locks.
Turning their backs against the doors and planning their feet firmly, they slouched their butts on the ground, twisting the frequencies on the walkie talkies to connect with others.
All around the grand estate, other survivors spoke out, but their situations weren’t so great. What was even crazy was that phone reception that used to be good, suddenly went static.
This ant they were isolated from the outside world, their only hope being the walkie talkies they kept in hand.
"What do we do? What do we do?" Many ministers were sweating buckets, before frantically looking at their leader with hopeful gazes. "Mr. President, what do we do now?"
Glandol’s eyes darted around unfocused as their words echoed in his ears.
Yes, yes... what should they do now?
Ti seed to freeze dead in its tracks, as the severity of the matter weighed heavily in him. Then, his eyes lit up like stars, knowing they had their savior with them all along.
"Mr. Henry," Glandol’s quivering lips drooped. "Please... please save us!"
He had to admit that he had a million balls of regret in his heart now.
"Save?" Henry chuckled darkly. "No Money... no Security."
It was as simple as that.
Henry’s words bellowed through the scene like a heavenly command.
"You!!!-" several others were annoyed and anxious.
Is this the ti to talk about money now? They’ve already expressed it a million tis over that they regret it. So can’t you just save them now?
As the monsters kept pushing and banging at the terrace’s doors, its lock chanism began to break.
~Brack!
Everyone froze. They heard it... the cry from the door that was fighting to keep them alive.
Terrible! At this rate, those ghouls will break at any mont now.
"You!... Money, money, money! Is this the ti to talk about the Benjamins?"
"Yeah! Aren’t you on the side of God? Isn’t it just right for you—a servant of God—to save us either way without money?"
"Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah..."
They seed to have a million reasons why he should act like a Good Samaritan.
’How silly.’ The corners of Henry’s lips raised high. "In other words, you’d love to be saved for free, no?"
(Silence)
"This..." Several people felt montarily ashad, but soon felt it should be so since these people (the Church)were here doing the work of God!
Hah.... Hah-hah... Bhahhahahahahah~
Henry drowned himself in sardonic laughter. Then he paused, letting out another thick layer of smoke from his massive cigar.
"The Fool... Do you know it?" Such a simple card is often misunderstood and dismissed as powerless... However, emotions betray a lack of vision. And human greed, they say, is endless."
The air turned frosty the longer Henry spoke. "That simple card, the FOOL, represents beginnings—pure potential unshackled by the constraints of knowledge and experience. Now my dear, let’s take this to be the CHURCH."
"So now boys and girls... Here’s a little history lesson for you."
"In the beginning when the church first established itself, we did offer our services for free. Yes, yes, yes... we were the good Samaritans many now want. But you see..."
Henry paused with a disturbing smile. "When sothing is granted for free, humans have the irkso trade of taking it for granted and selling way over the boundaries given to them."
"To the masses around the world, we are a Foolish and dying congregation, that doesn’t fit well enough in your little Practical world. But little did they know that arrogance of any roach is always the beginning of its death.
"So boys and girls, here’s why the Fool can be your worst nightmare. It represents a state of being unburdened by fear and untainted by doubt...a state you roaches bound by societal practicality can never comprehend."
"And so boys and girls, what is power, if not the ability to transcend limits?"
An even fainter smile rigged at the corner of Henry’s lips. "Unlike other cards (governnts and societies) bound by Roles and expectations, the Fool is Free—free to move forward or digress without hesitation, unafraid of failure or consequence."
"All in all ladies and gentlen... I’m sure your brains aren’t so daft as to not understand my aning."
In the end, what is it he was trying to say?—No money, no Security!
Screw you and your Good Samaritan expectations. The Church does not accept that.
"_" [Everyone else]
All that just to say no?
...
Well, the ssage was clear.
Without money, Henry and Claudina will watch them all perish without so much as an emotion on their faces. No one daunted this matter because their faces were just too cold.
Besides... who would want to risk it?
"Alright, I’ll do it!" Glandol exclaid. "I’ll withdraw our earlier statents and reinstate the agreent from before if you can save us!"
"Yes, yes!" Many other monsters chid. "We swear, we will ensure he sees it through. Just save us already!"
"Please, save us! I have a wife, daughter and grandkids waiting for at ho. I... I don’t want to die now!!!"
Just then, another hinge on the door ca undone.
Shit!!!
They were in tears, practically groveling before Henry. This was too scary. Those ghouls... They were looking at them like corn on a cob.
Woooo~
"Don’t look at ! My at is not that juicy! Trust , you won’t like my flesh!"
"Quickly, quickly, we agree! Save us now!!"
"Oh?" Henry mused. "Is that what you truly want? I an, I would hate to force anyone at gunpoint, you know?"
"_"
BAH! What a great Pretender!
Everyone had a million insults bottled in their bellies but dared not say a word.
"Yes! Yes! Save us! We want to be saved!"
"Well then... save you I shall." Henry pretended as though he wanted to rise, but soon paused with a coy smirk. "Then again, I have to say that if everyone can step on the Church’s toes and get away with it, how do you expect us to save face?"
Like the whispers of a devil, Henry’s voice slithered through their ears, causing the hairs on the back of their necks to rise.
What now? So he wasn’t going to save them again? They were sorry! They were sorry for stepping on the Church’s toes, okay?
All ministers felt the situation dreadfully jarring, finding it harder to think by the second. But President Glandol understood his aning.
This guy... He wants to collect interest, right?
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)𝒆bnov(𝒆)l
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