Chương 125: Chapter 126: Discovery

Evel cleared his throat.

"After the first performances in Upper Ichoris, I was approached by a businessman by the name of Moe. He showered me with compliments and mostly talked of his enjoyment of the performance. He also suggested I explore the ideas of plays." As the words left his mouth, a few other details grew suspicious. It wasn't just Moe. Many others asked for the circus to expand into plays. A coordinated plan?

Evel continued,"He gave me a notebook filled with three stories: The Shepherd Who Fed the Wolf, No Curtains for the Crown, and The Gardener's Debt. I didn't think much of it, so I left the notebook unattended. Without training taking up all my extra time, I finally decided to give the three a read." His eyes fell back on the notebook. His heartbeat hadn't calmed, but he kept his breathing and speech steady.

"The first is a story of farm animals. They suffer disappearances and rely on the shepherd to keep them safe from a wolf. In the end, it's revealed that the person they sought to keep them safe was the very reason they were disappearing. The second one, No Curtains for the Crown, is the story of King Roe who is thrown into adventure to defeat a giant cow beast. To be honest, I haven't figured out how this story fits at all, or if it is even relevant."

It was possible there was subliminal messaging even within the second story he didn't notice. If these really were the stories of Dissent, he couldn't afford to risk missing key details just because he initially thought the story was garbage.

"I'm not sure how much you know about Ichoris City, but a lot of the people who live in the slums live with their debt forgiven by Redigo as long as they continue working in the mines." He paused." The final story, The Gardener's Debt, describes exactly that. It's about a poor, overworked man who is about to regain his freedom until his debt is forgiven. He's ecstatic he doesn't have to pay, but his circumstances remain unchanged by the end. I think..." Everything he said from now on was mere guesswork.

He took a sharp breath and focused.

"I think Moe was given the first and third texts to distribute. I'm almost certain the second story couldn't have been written by the same person who wrote the others, but I'll have to reread it first. The two stories have very strong anti-Banner messaging: it may be a ploy to anger the masses. I'll also send the direct texts over." BEEP. He scanned the pages through the machine and transmitted them to Avid. Without wasting a second, he immediately went back to the first story. It was a story of reliance.

The sheep, the pigs, and the cows relied on the shepherd to protect them from the wolf. A false protector. In the end, there never was a wolf, and the shepherd was the real culprit all along. A false enemy, used to herd the animals. Are the Banners the shepherd? Sheep, pigs, cows. Three groups of animals. Each of the sheep also had a different color. A farm... Are the banners using the people like a farm? Is the red sheep a representation, or is there someone or something that found the truth? A false enemy...

In the context of the city, there wasn't an enemy, but if he increased his scope to the entire world, the Imperium Tempor had exactly one major enemy: The Ultor Dominion. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Embroiled in a war spanning over a century and killing who knows how many, the two kingdoms were constantly at odds. Evel's body shook. Was the text claiming there was no Ultor? Dissent could also be considered another enemy of the Imperium.

He read through the text again, absorbing every little detail. The third story is clearly about the troubles in Ichoris; maybe I'm thinking too large? He flipped to the third story, The Gardener's Debt. The gardener is obviously the miner, and the garden the slums... Was the chicken a representation of their hard work, or did it represent another entity? Maybe the eggs are Stratite? Exotic plants in the forest... Hmmm...

Of the three stories, The Gardener's Debt was the most coherent and with the most consistent messaging. The one that made the least sense was No Curtains for the Crown. He scratched his chin again as he read the story carefully. It just didn't fit. Unlike the other two, which were framed more like fables aimed at teaching young life lessons, this story was an adventure. The quality of the writing was worse, over-explaining the jokes, and riddled with plot holes.

Instead of finding something substantial, he found even more errors he hadn't noticed the first time. He made the ground beef joke twice... and how did he swing the sword if the maiden was in his hands? He shook his head. The king of Joy, Wisdom, and Laughter... could that mean something? A peasant seeks the help of the king, and the king accepts. Advisors... The bandit section isn't too relevant to the story and reads more like an excuse to fit in that joke... Could the bandits represent something?

The beast falls. The king saves the village and takes the maiden... The words made less sense the more he stared at them. He felt a small headache beginning to form, but not like those from the sunken vials. Instead, it was mere annoyance. There was nothing of substance in the story! He took a deep breath. Maybe... maybe the king represents the Banners, and the peasants the people... The people beg to be saved, and although the Banners do save them, they take a toll, which the maiden represents.

The maiden is described as 'pure', so maybe the Banners are taking something pure from those in the slums? The advisors are... there. They don't really do much other than nod. The king's weapon could also mean something... He let out a long, hollow haah as he sank back into his seat. If there was something there, he wasn't smart enough to figure it out. The story's name was also strange.

No Curtains for the Crown made him expect a story of the king's hard work and how the crown never had time to rest or sleep behind curtains. Or maybe it would be a story of the king's wealth, and how he doesn't use curtains as a sign of his great power. Perhaps he was never allowed to stop working... Another explanation could be if the King were captured by some opposing force, and they kept him alive and never allowed him to die... He read through the end portion again. The crowd cheered.

The village got together to quilt a massive curtain for the king.

"No," He shook his head.

"I shall use this as a gift to the beauty instead! No curtains for me." Other than those two lines, the title of the story had nothing to do with the actual story. If the other two fables were written by a third party, then maybe they gave Moe a title for the story and expected him to write it himself? And instead of actually writing the type of story they wanted, maybe he wrote what he wanted to write, then squeezed in two lines to make the title fit...

Alternatively, there could have been a story that Moe got rid of to replace it with his own. Based on his initial impression of the merchant, such an insane action was within the realm of possibility. An aspiring playwright, and an aspiring comedian willing to work for free. I shouldn't underestimate him. Dissent was a powerful terrorist organization that'd caused the deaths of tens of thousands. He found it a bit difficult to believe such an unserious person would have any sort of power within it.

Am I overreacting? BEEP. Avid's response. A few button presses later, the brown-haired soldier's face flickered on the screen. He wore dark eye bags, and his face drooped, starkly different from his normal self.

"You're right to be suspicious." His voice, however, was just as calm as usual.

"We've found similar messaging in other cities. Your guess on them using the plays to get the masses angry is probably the right one, and it's something we've seen them do before. I couldn't find any connections from the second story either, but don't discount it entirely. As for this Moe character, you'll have to use your judgment, since you know more than anybody else. Keep the packet on you at all times." Evel took a deep breath. After searching and failing to find Dissent for so long, he'd practically given up.

Now even Avid seemed convinced he'd found a meaningful lead.

"The most difficult part still awaits. Befriending him subtly and enough to get into contact with other members won't be easy, but since Agent's operations haven't gotten too aggressive, they won't be as cautious as they should be. Find reasons to get close to him, and show disdain towards Tempor and the Banners." He felt his heart racing again as he remembered Avid's words on Dissent's leader from months back. Dread Horizon.

'Outside of Ultor's forces, this individual is considered the biggest danger to the fabric of society.' That's who he was dealing with.

"Reach out to me with every new piece of information. Good luck, Evel." BEEP.