Mystery: When the Fool Meets the Masked Fool

Chapter 222 Laughter (Two in One)

There are many colonial islands in the sea, especially in areas close to land.

The most typical example is the Rorsted Archipelago.

The indigenous people living in the Rorsted Archipelago have darker skin than the people of the southern continent, close to the bronze color of those who often bask in the sun. Their hair is mainly dark black, all naturally slightly curly, which is quite different from the colonists of the Kingdom of Loen.

Although this place has been completely colonized for less than 50 years, the management has quickly become corrupt and vying for power, and it has become chaotic and dirty enough.

It was already very late at this time, and you could see passing patrolmen patrolling at night with batons and canes to prevent homeless people from occupying public facilities for rest.

A man in fancy clothes hummed a cheerful tune and walked briskly on the street. The patrolman walked past him without paying any attention.

The fancy man's steps were strange, like a peculiar dance. In the deep night, they looked cheerful and strange.

He paused, as if he heard some sound.

He turned sideways, placed his right hand beside his right ear, and tilted his body exaggeratedly, as if trying hard to hear the sound coming from the other side.

"A transcendental miracle..."

This was the sound of a prayer to the Lord of Fools. Had this newly emerged god been spread out to sea?
Yeah, that’s really impressive.

The sound was so soft, as thin as a mosquito's whisper, that it was inaudible from a distance.

But the fancy man heard it.

What a lucky guy.

Um, no. Maybe not so lucky, at least some people think so. But such things are hard to say, and no one cares.

Hehehe, so embarrassing.

The sound of prayer came from a bridge arch in the distance.

The island experiences frequent rainfall, which easily forms lakes, rivers, and puddles. As a result, there are a large number of arch bridges of various types on the island.

The arches of these bridges can be used as a resting place for homeless people, and the patrolmen, whose time is precious, will not pay attention to these places.

The flashy man took a step forward, instantly crossing the space to the place where the sound came from. He saw a child with tattered clothes and a festering body leaning against the corner.

He muttered to himself, appearing weak, repeating the names of gods one by one.

The fancy man heard clearly that the child was not praying to the Lord of Fools, or rather, he was praying to more than just the Lord of Fools.

The God of the Sea, the Goddess of Night, the Lord of Storms, the God of Steam and Machinery, the Lord of Fools...

He prayed to the sea god and the four righteous gods of Loen faith. When there was no response, he started over and prayed again.

He is not a devout believer at all. No God would like such a believer.

Hmm... maybe there are exceptions?
Fancy men like children because they are pure enough. Although children nowadays are not as pure as they used to be, they are still much better than adults.

At least children are more likely to smile from the heart, genuinely, while adults' smiles are always mixed with other things to some extent.

Very easily, the fancy man witnessed the child's short life with his own eyes.

Originally, his parents primarily believed in the Sea God, so he followed suit, though none of them were particularly devout. His family prayed to a different deity each day, and since they lived on an island, they prayed most often to the Sea God, Kavituwa.

In the first few years, his father worked as a miner, repaired roads, and laid railroad tracks, while his mother worked various temporary jobs, including sewing, washing, helping at the docks, and intermittently working as a street girl. The family had a hard time but was able to make ends meet.

But a change occurred six months ago when his parents died. The boy couldn't find a job and had no money to pay rent. Without a source of income, he became a homeless child.

He tried to join the factory and worked as a temporary worker, but he was too young and no one was willing to take him in.

As a boy, he was not good-looking and was not even qualified to be a streetwalker.

So he became a homeless person, living under a bridge, and contracted many diseases in the harsh environment. He could only survive for a while by relying on food and some free medicines from charity organizations.

But this was short-lived. His condition became more and more serious, his body became weaker and weaker, and he would soon be at the end of his life.

Perhaps it was because he was a mediocre person, neither good nor bad, with no outstanding qualities, so no one cared whether he lived or died.

The boy lay curled up on the ground, covered with a blanket made of newspapers, his eyes closed, and his mouth chanting prayers that would not be answered.

The fancy man didn't mind the dirt on the ground at all. He patted his butt and sat next to the boy, then reached out and pushed the boy who had his eyes closed.

The boy was immediately woken up, thinking someone was coming to drive him away.

"Sorry, I'll leave now." The boy apologized and tried to get up.

The fancy man patted the boy's shoulder and signaled him not to be nervous and just lie down.

The unique aura emanating from this flamboyant man easily relaxed the boy. Perhaps because the January weather was too cold, the boy curled up under the newspaper again and looked directly at the flamboyant man.

"Hello, sir, may I ask what you may do for me?" Noticing that the fancy man's attire and appearance did not resemble those of a native of the colony, the boy subconsciously spoke word by word in awkward and distorted Loenese.

"You don't need to use a language you're not familiar with," the fancy man replied with a smile, "I understand."

"Don't be too nervous, I'll come and chat with you." As he said this, a bonfire appeared out of thin air in the open space beside him.

The flames didn't burn violently, but strangely, a warm feeling filled the entire bottom of the bridge.

Feeling the heat that dispelled the cold, the boy was surprised at first, then he carefully lifted the newspaper covering his body and sat up.

Sitting up, the boy was surprised to feel that the hard floor beneath him had become soft without him noticing. Even the bed he had before his family went bankrupt was not as comfortable as it was now.

The pain and constipation in his body disappeared, and the boy felt more comfortable than ever before.

"Are you a magician?" The boy looked at the fancy man and used the language he was most familiar with.

"Magician?" The fancy man touched his chin, as if wondering whether he was a magician or not.

"Yes, I am a magician." He nodded, acknowledging his identity as a magician.

The boy excitedly slapped the soft ground beneath him twice, and then he felt the smoothness of his body. After several minutes, he remembered that the man next to him seemed to have said that he wanted to chat with him.

His movements immediately slowed down and he became reserved. He looked shyly at the flashy man beside him.

"I'm sorry, sir, I'm so... uh..."

He was stuck for a moment. Having never been to school, he had a very limited vocabulary and didn't know how to describe his feelings.

He remembered that he had heard similar words before. What was it called?

"Excited." The fancy man reminded.

"Yes, sir, I'm so excited." The boy immediately took up the word suggested by the fancy man.

After saying this, the boy sat upright, waiting for the magician to ask questions.

"Relax, relax," the fancy man said cheerfully. "I just wanted to chat...um...for example, have you ever received any response to your daily prayers?"

The boy shook his head in frustration. "No, we've never received a response. Perhaps it's because our faith isn't strong enough." "Yeah, I see." The fancy man nodded. "Yes, yes. Of course, there's no need to respond to those who aren't devout."

"Then why do you still pray so often?" the fancy man continued to ask.

The boy didn't know either. He scratched his hair in distress. "Because I don't know what to do, I just have to find something to do. Maybe it will be useful someday."

"Yeah." The fancy man continued to nod. "Then if prayer really works and God answers your prayers, what would you want?"

He waved his hand, and the environment under the bridge was dyed with colorful colors like foam, and began to mix and distort, changing into another appearance.

"Would you like wealth?" On the other side, a series of things including gold coins, gold nuggets, silk, gems, etc. fell from the sky like raindrops.

Piled together, they became mountains of gold and silver.

The boy's attention was attracted by the riches. They seemed to have some magical power that directly aroused the greedy desire in his heart.

"Would you like food?" A long table appeared, covered with all kinds of food.

These foods are exquisite and gorgeous, with great color, aroma and taste, and the quantity is huge.

They covered the entire long table, piled up high like a small hill.

The boy was immediately attracted by the food. His eyes widened and his mouth watered subconsciously.

A roast duck tap danced in front of the boy, and behind the roast duck were desserts, drinks and other food.

The boy subconsciously reached for the roast duck, and at the signal from the fancy man, began to devour it.

Ten minutes later, the boy was full and burped with a satisfied look. The fancy man continued.

"Or is it power, reputation, or status?"

One by one, male and female servants appeared and took away the leftover food. A maid came forward to wipe the stains on the boy's hands and mouth, and a male servant came to change the boy into a gorgeous dress.

"Could it be unparalleled power?" The fancy man shook the boy's hand.

For a moment, the boy felt as if something had changed about him, and he felt that he had magical powers.

The boy raised his hand tentatively and found that he seemed to be able to change the environment and scene under the bridge according to his will, just like what the magician had just demonstrated.

"Or do you want to have a real, perfect rest?"

The soft floor beneath him turned into a big bed, and the boy subconsciously leaned back and lay on it.

Under the influence of a strange force, the boy's consciousness gradually sank, and he fell into a peaceful sleep he had never experienced before.

The fancy man was very patient. He just waited there, sitting against the wall, tapping his toes to an unknown beat, waiting for the boy to rest, humming a lullaby from some unknown planet.

…………

Time passed slowly, the red moon set and the sun rose. The boy woke from a deep, dreamless sleep.

Opening his eyes, the boy sat up, rubbed his eyes and stretched.

"It's still a good time, it's you." The fancy man greeted the boy with a smile.

"Good morning, sir," the boy greeted vaguely.

After saying hello, the boy realized that he had fallen asleep while chatting with the man in front of him.

"Oh, sorry, sir. I fell asleep." The boy apologized quickly. But he was no longer as nervous as he was at the beginning, perhaps because the gentleman was so easy to talk to.

"It seems that you had a beautiful dream." The fancy man said with a smile.

"Uh, that should be it." The boy frowned and tried to recall the dream he had yesterday, but he could only vaguely remember it.

"You haven't answered my question from yesterday," the fancy man reminded the boy. "So if prayer really works and God answers your prayers, what would you want? Wealth? Power? Knowledge?"

"Well, I feel like this is too far away for me. I can't even imagine it..." The boy paused as he thought he could imagine such a scene. But why?

"Then imagine that a magician passing by can fulfill your little wish." The fancy man shook his head and seemed to be in a good mood recently.

This wish will be the most important turning point in the boy's life. No matter how wild his fantasy is or how difficult his dream is to achieve, it will come true.

There was no reason, just because He was in a good mood, although He was always in a good mood.

At that moment, the boy recalled the time when he had the most food to eat and the warmest clothes to wear, the scenes that he could imagine for some reason, and the life that he had heard and others mentioned while wandering.

"If God is really willing to save me..." The boy's vocabulary did not allow him to say anything fancy, and his imagination limited the requests he could make.

“I want to live like a human being…”

"Huh?" The fancy man tilted his head.

Want to live like a human being?

How humble...

The corners of his mouth suddenly curled up, revealing a frivolous, sarcastic smile.

"Hahahahaha."

Am I funny? The boy lowered his head in shame.

Yes, it was just a hypothesis, how come he really chose it?
The fancy man's laughter did not stop there. He began to laugh out loud. He laughed so hard that he fell backwards. He began to roll on the ground with laughter.

"Hahahahaha."

He is like a funny clown.

For some reason, the laughter seemed to be full of magic, and the boy couldn't help but laugh along.

It wasn't just them; the ground began to tremble and laugh; the surrounding plants began to twist and laugh; the newspapers curled up and laughed; the air cracked with joy and also laughed.

The fancy man's body began to twist and deform.

It turned into a dark, headless figure.

The colors on His body began to peel off, falling and dispersing like stickers, flying into the air and turning into masks that wrapped Him.

"Hahahahaha."

The laughter spread far and wide, and it seemed as if the whole earth heard it.

But most people don’t care, as if it is the background music of the world, buried in the main melody of the world.

He said: Let there be laughter.

(End of this chapter)