As soon as the rain subside and everywhere became quiet. The priest was sure the ladies of attendance were deep in sleep, so he walked into Onishi's room and woke the sleeping man. "Get up, time to go." Onishi blinked his eyes, grunted as he tried to stand up, and was helped to his feet by Priest's strong arms. "Easy mate." "Where are you taking me to?" "Into one of our ships at the port. You will be saved there until you are strong enough to sneak out of town." "Thank you, I will always remember your kind deed." "Not to remember alone, but to be ready to pay back when the time arises." "Aye. I swear this before all gods." The two men arrived outside the building and turned towards the uncompleted buildings at the back. "Is that not the way out?" Onishi asked with a cautious face, pointing at the big gate far off, and peering around for a weapon to defend himself if Priest tried to attack him. "I have a secret passage through the underground, and you will emerge at a bush fa
We are all governed by fate. As we have no power over when to be born, so also we have no power over when to leave this earth.We can only cure sickness but not prevent death. Living a less risky life does not guarantee a long life, save guarding our lives is useless, it's all a fruitless effort to avoid death.Little wonder one of the greatest books mortality was ever blessed with opined that, ' a man that tries to protect his life will be deprived of it, while those who lose it because of their beliefs will be rewarded with eternal life. Luckily enough, nothing can kill a man who is not destined to die at that moment.Because is not Priest's time to go, he was lucky to narrowly escaped the assassin's death. And as soon as everywhere is safe, he was seen holding an emergency meeting with some of his colleagues. "What's the cause of this disturbance?" One young merchant that was woke from the gunshots asked. "We were attacked by some deadly gang. And I was lucky to escape from them
The preparation for lady Agatha's rite had started In the mafias king's palace. As tomorrow is D-day, all necessary materials had been bought, and the 'Muah' sound of the cow tied closer to a tree nearby boomed louder In the palace arena.As for lady Agatha, she was seen supervising the preparation and to make sure everything work according to plan. Because the celebration will start in the early morning of the day, most of the cooking will be done overnight. "Where is the man that will slaughter this cow?" Lady Agatha's voice sounds louder over the chit-chat of the maids and mafias around. "Here I am, madam." "What are you waiting for? Kill it and removed all the skin, before cutting it into smaller pieces." "Yes, madam." Lady Agatha stepped closer to the maids at the section of cooking, peered at their preparation for a while, and promptly offered instructions on the way it should be done. "Slice the onions into smaller bits, and the tomatoes should be blended separately. Just
Jade's room was met closed, and no one seemed to know where she went to. After waiting for a longer time than what they schedule, the three foreigners stepped out of Johji Inn, into their car, and drove out of sight. A moment after they left, convoys of trucks from the royal house arrived, and mafias in red and black uniforms hopped down the trucks, formed a line, and a man with overgrown beards stepped in the front to address the lady of attendance, other staff and the few remaining nights crawling customers. "By the order of the imperial majesty, prince El Ramon, this Johji Inn will now fall under the command of the royal house, and I will be the controller of it, and only accountable to the royal house. All protocols are to remain as before until further notice." His announcement caused murmuring among the ladies. "Are there any questions?" "Yes. What about the lady that was handed control of the Inn some days back? We are already getting used to her, and now they send us anoth
Because only Onishi appeared to be their last choice, giving him up seemed practically impossible. To the foreigners, he is their only hope after the mysterious disappearance of the only black ninja agent they know. The men gathered as soon as the daybreak, and their deliberation is on the way out of this. "I still maintain we give Onishi up. I wasn't in support of this from the beginning," the oldest among the men on the seat let out and smirked after. "Giving him up will also mean saying bye to all our desire for the crown. We need to think about this as well." "I understand. But we can't bear to be on the red list of those notorious gangs." "Whatever decision we take will hurt us. That is why I want us to take the one that will favour us most." "Please explain." "They already knew he was here and that was why they came here to assassinate him. Even if we give him up now, that will not change the already circulated rumours, but rather confirmed them. Who knows the decision of
A wise man once opined that 'wisdom is the best thing every human can ever seek for, as having it will make life to be endurable.'To him, a fool will be ensnarled in his trap, while the wisdom of a man can save a nation.In as much as the criteria of knowing a wise man is through his patience, wisdom is broader than that. To be wise is to know when to be cautious, and when to throw caution into the wind. Know when to talk and when to keep your mouth shut and listened. And most importantly, when to act, and when to be inactive. A wise man is a thermostat and not a thermometer. The formal takes control of its environment, and the latter reacts to it. A wise man doesn't react but is always in control, and that is why they are difficult to be manipulated. In comparison, a wise man can be likened to a wild tiger. Always calculates as they suddenly pounced on their unaware victims, tore them into shreds, and showed the world the foolery they were made of. But because most societies app
While Augur was leading two men into the palace of the mafia king, Priest and Aries were on their way to see prince Onishi.The two men sat at the back of a jeep and were driven towards the wharf some miles off. Minutes later, their car passed through a barricade made of iron, and the men were welcomed with salutes as they drove into the secluded area of water. The car was parked at the car park, and the two men at the back stepped down, walked towards the ships on buckles, and entered inside a blue-painted large ship with a bold ALL FOR CROWN written on its body. "Is that the ship Onishi is hidden?" "Yes. We will be meeting him in a few minutes." "I heard he is getting better." "We will see with our eyes." The inside of the ship looks more like the interior of an executive suite and the two men walked through the long and well-decorated corridor, arrived at the front of a door, twist the doorknob, and stepped into a room that served as a nursing home for any injured seaman. Th
Greenwich dock is located on the extreme side of the city and had been the centre of commerce for the island since the foreigners came. Because most of the investment on that parcel of land, and even over the sea beyond was constructed by the foreigners to facilitate easy movement of opium to the outside world, they had been handed the right to be in charge of the security and running of the place and the royal house only supplied mafias whenever the foreigners demand them. Since the mafias are autonomous and will be paid for by the foreigners, they were quickly corrupted and soon became sympathetic towards their new masters. At last, the foreigner's dominance over the island became absolute, and the royal house had no choice, but to wait until the expiration of the contract form. Lots of trucks were parked inside the wall of the dock and two mechanics were seen working on one of them. "Go inside and ignite the engine," one among them informed his comrade. "Alright, boss." A mom
The coronation proceeds the following day, and the wedding ceremony takes place three days later. Unfortunately, only one of the two suitors got married, while the other man was chained inside one of the cells in the dungeon. "Tell me how you start the fire that prompt your escape." "I send them out of the house with my continuous nagging and after hearing them lock the door at the other side, I raced into the kitchen, connect their oven to the socket and poured lots of dried papers inside. Then I dragged the cylinder of gas closer, lose it, and then hide inside the large freezer by the wall far off." "You take a great risk. What if you were burnt to death?" "He planned to kill me after all, so I decided to take my fate into my hands." "What happened afterwards." "I had drenched clothing with me, tied it over my nose, and then sneaked out of my hidden places. Since I had been in darkness for a long time, I can see two men searching blindly for me, so I jerked up a heavy rod and w
The dark witches were associated with evil, even before the reign of El Guje. And this was part of the reason why El Ramon was filled with anxiety as he alighted from the vehicle and was followed by his armed-to-the-teeth mafias."This place is filled with lots of bandits. Protect our prince with your lives." This order from the general is quite unnecessary because most of the bandits were probably shivering in their hideaways at the sight of the heavily armed mobs. And except for the sound of the rodents who scurried out of sight, the cock-a-doddle-do of the birds calling to their mates and the chirping of the insects searching for their breakfast, only the sound from the footsteps of the mafias seemed to be the disturbance to the serenity of that expanse forest. Moments later, the group arrived at the entrance of the dark witches' village, and all who set eyes on them scampered to the safety of their rooms. "Why are they running helter-skelter?" "Their previous experience in the
The journey to their destination was fast by driving, and the team arrived in a few hours, disembarked and spread across the deserted mass of land."This is the place where he stand and gawked at the ruin of that building.""Check and look for any item that can reveal the identity of the owner of this place."Apart from the Prince, none of the mafias knew what they were searching for, and this made them unearth several burnt gadgets, showed them to the prince, and then looked more puzzled when he shakes his head sideways in response."Where did this path leads to?""To the end of the island. It is an uninhabitable area of rocky land and a dangerous creek. And if we turn left then we will be heading towards the dark witches' village.""Let's drive there."The men breathed with relief when they were ordered to leave their blind search, and they immediately hopped into the trucks and sped out of sight. The route was barely passable, filled with erosion water and a slippery slope, and th
Only a fool will be sleeping when his or her house is on fire. El Ramon is no fool, and this is the reason why his eyes are unblinking as he welcomed Banjo into his parlour.After the usual salutation, the sleepy-looking mafia was permitted to seat down."You have my ears.""He left the palace, went to his house and spend an hour inside, emerged later and went into Johji Inn. And it was very late in the night when he left the Inn.""He didn't come to the palace, so I assumed he went back to his house.""No. He waddled inside the heavy rains for hours and was followed by my men who lagged some feet away.""Be quick. Where did he go after leaving the inn?""Towards the end of the city.""And then what?""Nothing.""What did you mean by nothing?""He arrived beside a burnt down house, gaped at it for a while, then walked back into Johji Inn and he is sleeping inside the liquor section as we are speaking.""When was the house burnt down?""Just of recent. The ashes were still fresh and s
Zuma ordered more liquors and was drunk than a skunk when the stars appeared for their night duties. After finishing the content in the last bottle in his front, he belched louder, placed his two palms on his thighs and stood up with a grunt. The inn was populated by the few night crawlers, and no one seemed to notice the man wobbling among the columns of chairs and tables, nor seemed to mind when he crashed into a table filled with empty bottles, staggered and fell, and then stood up and resumed his waddling. A moment later, he arrived at the outside of the Inn, breathed out loud with relief and walked closer to the gate side."It's already late, Honey. Come to my room and let me make love to you through the night.""I need a man that can penetrate me through the backside. It's been days since I experienced doggy style.""Spend the night with me for just a few dollars.""Is that not Zuma?""He looked like him.""Hey! Come here...What's wrong with you?"He ignored the invitations o
The two guards attending to the pregnant woman in captivity were having the worst time of their lives."I want the water to be hot and not lukewarm. Please prepare another one for me-. And you, did you call this disgusting morsel a meal? Get it off my sight before I puked and prepare my a flavorful feast with lots of vegetables, fish and meats."The two men scrambled out of sight, and one promptly returned to inform her of the readiness of hotter water for her bathe."Holy Madona! Did you want to burn my skin?.. I need cool water to mix it, please."After fetching two more buckets, the man was appreciated with more scowl and nag as he hurried out of the presence of the bitter woman. "The food is done.""Thank you, I hope it was worth all the time I had spent waiting for it.""Huh!""Oh my gosh. This is worse than the previous meal... Please take it out of my sight and get me a jug of juice as you prepare me a sandwich."After hundreds of errands in a few hours, the two men slammed t
El Ramon fixed his eyes on the outgoing mafia, turned towards the lady on the queen's throne beside him and asked, "why did he lie?""I have no idea.""Are you sure you don't?""Yes, my lord. I don't know why he speaks with false tongue."El Ramon shrugged, stood up and let out, "go back to your room and remained indoors. As I warned earlier, don't accept anyone inside until I allow you to.""As your lordship wish,"Mafias and maids bowed as he strode through the palace corridor, and the grim on his face became less horrific suddenly."I am on my way to see you, my prince.""Here I am. Tell me about the progress.""Nothing yet. All this island was ransacked but we didn't see the subject."" Did you meet Zuma on your way in?""Yes. And he was as sad as doom and hardly noticed my presence.""He lied that he spend his night in his house when I have mafias watching his places and he hadn't stepped there since he left here yesterday.""Why will he tell an untruth over trivial things like t
All Banjo's efforts to locate Andrea proved abortive, and after searching through the nook and cranny of the Inn, he shrugged, hissed and instructed some of the men at his back to go into the town and search for her. All the ladies of services claimed they haven't seen any stranger except for a lady who believed she saw someone in a black tuxedo and head scarf."Where is she?""I have no idea. She informed me she is a new worker here, and I advised her to stand on her feet and look for customers.""Did you see her after?""No.""Did she talk with anyone else?""Not sure. I was picked by a rich merchant and we were together afterwards.""Don't hesitate to inform any mafia around whenever you see her again.""I will. Did she steal something from the palace?""Worse than that.""Any bounty on her head."Banjo nodded his head, stepped closer to the lady and whispered, "she is supposed to get married to my best friend in two days. My friend is dying from her absence, and I had vowed to ca
"Why did you agree to trick me?""Am sorry, your highness. Her majesty made me do it.""Where is she?""I have no idea.""This may cost you your life. Speak now.""Before all gods, I have no idea where she went to. I was ordered to remain indoors and not to attend to anyone until she comes back.""What kind of clothing did she wear?""An oversize black gown, scarf and black net... She was talking to herself and I believe she is on her way to search for Jade.""Gush!" El Ramon exclaimed, cast a killing look on the kneeling lady, shakes his head and announced, "I will be back for you. Remain indoors and don't attend to anyone."The lady was too shocked at his shrieking voice, and the prince did not care to wait for an answer, but breathed out loud and stormed out of his wife's room."Where is Banjo?""At the rear gate.""Call him for me now!"He was still fuming and walking from one end of his palace to the other end when Banjo strolled inside, bowed and let out, "here I am, my lord.""