"As for you…"
The King looked at me and paused. I stiffened up a bit. My hands and legs turned wooden poles that cannot be bent or moved.
"Since you are fascinated with the truth, I have a great job for you. I will consult the Mage Association myself to do this job. You will also stay at the frontlines of the Anta Duchy and become the war reporter.
You are responsible for following up with each and every notable event, the regular casualties, the achievements of our soldiers, you shall take care of everything and publish it in the Gazette. And you will report as it should be reported."
With those words he dismissed us.
Parvir stayed there.
The three of us were escorted by one of the palace guards. We walked slowly out of the courtroom and towards the exit.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, Tej? Why did you say all that stuff? Are you out of your mind?"
Dhana asked me as soon as we got out of the courtroom.
"Not exactly. I admit the first time I just became a bit impulsive, but when he demanded it…. I couldn't stop myself. It physically hurt me when I tried to resist the urge."
"What?" Dhana was a bit confused.
"It was the King's Command. It is his bloodline ability." Dharma was the one to answer her doubts. Both of us looked at him in askance. Prompting him to explain more.
"The legend has it that the first king Daksh who cleansed this continent of the demons and the demon kin was born with the aura of a king. His bloodline ability made everyone naturally revere and follow him.
I believe it was that ability that he used on you."
I nodded in understanding. I did read about something similar from some old texts.
Soon we reached the gates of the estate. We stood facing each other.
"So, see you guys in Anta. All the best for your missions." I greeted both of them before leaving. I needed to report at the Magic tower and ask them some questions. I was still frustrated about the lack of truth in the Gazettes.
I understood by then that the King made sure the Mage Association obeyed, but that doesn't mean, I couldn't take out my anger on some of the Gazette employees.
--
Day 5 Third month of the Winter, 599th year of New Age Calendar.
I was back in Anta City.
Its dawn. I woke up for the barely warm sun rays that hit my face through the tear on the roof of my tent.
*SQUISH*
I sat up from that foldable cot and placed my feet on the floor to experience the squishy and smelly mud that had bothered me for a few days already.
Because that made gave out a stink that was caused by its contents. Soil and Blood.
"Sir Tej, here are the morning mission details."
At this moment I heard the voice of the attendant assigned to me. Even though I was extremely reluctant to have that attendant, the authorities insisted that I do based on the orders of the King.
The attendant was a short man. Only around four and a half feet. He was not exactly muscular. He wore standard blue colored soldier uniform. His face was shaped like a balloon. With a chin that was very small that it almost didn't exist and almost devoured by his fat neck.
His eyes were surrounded with that fatty flesh. His body was fat and round in every angle you could think of.
With every step he took, he looked more and more clownish and it was almost impossible for people to not make fun of him.
"Good morning to you too, Soldier Bubble."
That wasn't exactly his name, but that was how he was called by the rest of the army and it turned out that he gave himself that nickname during his training stages.
He scractched the back of his head with a silly smile as he gave the scroll to me.
I opened the scroll and took a peek. There were a list of missions written in blue and some missions in between written in red and some very rare ones written in black.
"Why are blue missions more again? What the hell is happening in the camp?"
I asked with a frown.
Bubble just smiled and didn't answer. Even he understood that the question was rhetorical. Because I have asked that question quite a few times already and I haven't gotten any answer.
As for why I was angry?
Its simple.
All the missions written in blue were not taking place. They were all lies. Only the red missions are the real ones and the black ones are the high level missions. The black ones cannot be revealed to the rest of the public.
The red and blue ones are to be written about in the form of articles and be given out to the Gazette, where they will publish it.
By now you must have understood what my job was.
It was to publish fabricated news. A joke played by the king. As he said, I had to report the news as it should be reported in his opinion. By which he meant the news that he wanted me to write. It was a slap in my face or a spank on my ass for voicing my dissatisfaction to his way of handling things.
That's what I did.
I sighed and looked at Bubble who was waiting for me.
"Picture time?"
"Yes, sir." He replied.
I walked around with Bubble to the center of the camp where Deputy General Arun was staying at.
He was the commanding officer at that time. His tent was large. Almost as large as a circus tent and it held all the ameneties one could wish for.
By the time I went there, the Deputy General was standing outside of his tent talking to some of his subordinates.
He was a tall man. Around six foot. Muscular body. He was a knight and he looked the part. Except he never wore any full body armor. He had a leather armor, but it only covered his chest and torso. His shirt didn't have any sleeves, it was actually tank top.
He had a large bow on his back, leather gloves that go well with his own black vest. His hair was brown. A bit on the lighter side, brow like a cappuccino. Similar colored eyes. He had a scar on his left cheek and from what I heard it was given to him by General Garud.
He looked handsome to make a man jealous and to make a girl squeal.
He saw me and smiled.
"Tej, you are here. I guess you got the list of the missions."
"Yes, Sir." I replied.
"Alright, what do you want?"
"I would like to finish with your interview, first. After all, you rescued a small group of villagers from the village that was occupied with the Demons. You even fought with a Demon General and pushed him back."
I read the mission description in the scroll, flatly. Even I was a bit surprised by the hint of sarcasm and disrespect in my tone.
As you guessed, it was a blue mission.
Arun's smile froze and his gaze turned a tad bit colder. He dismissed the soldiers around him with a look as he moved forward.
"Tej, sometimes it is better to keep your bitterness hidden. It always doesn't do you good. Haven't you understood that by now?"
He spoke with such a calm and soothing tone, that one might miss the fact that there was a threat hidden in there somewhere.
"True, Deputy general Arun. I had learned my lesson. But not all things that we learn are good and when I was a kid I already learned to unlearn the bad things."
"That's quite a bad habit you have there. You should change it."
"Don't tempt me with the word 'change' Deputy general Arun. I might just change the news and fuck everyone here over."
Finally there was a crack in the expression on that fucking handsome face.
He frowned and that ghastly scar played it part in making him look hideous. His aura locked on to me and he held a dagger as if ready to kill me.
But I know he would.
Because the moment he does, he would have to face some serious consequences. Because right then, at that moment I was the King's entertainment. I was being played around by the King. I was the toy he chose and no one can break that toy.
Forget breaking.
If someone so much as looked at that toy the wrong way…
"Hide behind it, Tej. Hide behind the lowly status of being the toy. However, at least I am doing the job that I was meant to do.
Even if I had to hide behind a little lies.
However, you…
You are betraying your own profession and nothing can change that."
He left those words and struck a pose. I aimed my camera at him and took a picture. I followed him around to take more all the while grinding my teeth like a fucking dog.