Magnifico

To defeat an enemy within is to defeat an enemy unseen

Walking up to Viruz and Jonas, Sun could be seen ambling towards them. He came and sat down.

“Where is your plate or you are done eating?” Jonas inquired.

“I left it over there,” Sun said pointing at the table the old man kept his goblet.

“Your conversation with him took a little bit longer. Is there anything we should know?” Viruz asked.

“No. Nothing for now. He said he is going to give us a free room in this tavern. So we will be sleeping over for the night here. I don’t think that there is any need to go outside to find somewhere to crash” Sun said as he puts his two hands on his laps to relax.

“Alright, but,” Jonas said, leaning forward and keeping his hands on the table. “Is that all you discussed with him?” he asked.

“Well, no. Like I told you, the community is terrorized and he confirmed it. There are groups of mountain bandits that raid the community and from time to time and they steal from them” Sun paused, bringing down his hands from his laps and placing them on the table. He drew his chair a little closer to Jonas and Viruz who was sitting right opposite him. He continued “they come here frequently and take whatever they like. Things like foods and other basic things are stolen from these innocent people without caring to know how they feel or what they will eat after that. Most of them hide their foods away from the bandits so they could have some left when the bandits are gone. And the worst part of all these is; they also kidnap their women and children. I have never seen such wickedness before and this must be stopped.”

“Oh, so what was his response? I mean the old man's response?” Viruz asked.

“Eh-m. He said he wasn’t interested. He said that we can’t solver their problem”

“Good. Good. Did you hear that? We can’t help their situation. I think the old man is wise. I think he is telling us to leave and never come back, that would be the best thing for us to do” Jonas said excitedly.

“That wouldn’t be appropriate. We can’t just leave them like that.” Sun said.

“It seems like you have forgotten the reason why we came here. We have a mission ahead of us and you know that. We don’t know how long this whole thing will take, so the best thing to do is to avoid wasting our time” Jonas said with seriousness apparent in his voice.

“okay. No problem. We are going to leave tomorrow morning. Hope you are happy now?” Sun asked.

Jonas nodded his head as he smiled. He knew Sun would want to do anything for these people if he is given the chance but this would delay them from achieving the most important task ahead of them. Even though he was going to respect whatever agreement or decision Sun reached without debates, he also wanted Sun to see reasons with him on why they need to face their journey and leave other trivial issues behind them. The old man came into the tavern after he had hidden the horses at a*****e behind his backyard. Sun saw him, he stood up and went closer to him.

“You are back sir? Have you hidden the horses?”

“Yes. The horses are all tied to a peg in my ranch. When you leave, you can take them. Secondly, I will show you and your friends where you will pass the night. There is an empty room at the back, if you can call your friends, I will show you where. There are also two pails filled with water at the back of the room. You can use the water to take your bath” The man said.

Sun looking super excited, he said “Thank you so much. What’s your name? Mine is Sun.”

The old man didn’t reply to him. So Sun had to give Jonas and Viruz a sign to follow him. They got up and followed him and the old man to the room he had promised to show them. After they were shown the room, the man left to his tavern while the General, Viruz, and Jonas dropped their bags in the room and relaxed for the next day to take their leave.

A few moments later, they heard noises coming from the tavern and they kept wondering what might have caused this disturbance. It didn’t make much sense and it is very unusual because the tavern is known to be a very quiet place. There was no remarkable disparity between the tavern and a typical burial site because of the total silence that oozes there and the infrequent manner people visit there. Sun being the first to notice this wondered who might be making this noise.

“Have we been discovered?” Sun asked while sitting uncomfortably on an old bed in the room the old man had shown them.

“Discovered? Who discovered us?” Jonas asked.

“How would I know? What else might be causing this noise coming from the tavern?”

“You worry too much. Remember we are not the only people in this village. People do come around here and certainly, there must be cause for alarm” Jonas said relaxing on the bed.

Sun didn’t want to sound like he was bossing them around, so he kept quiet for a while. He suspected Jonas was not too comfortable with his decisions lately and he wasn’t too sure of Viruz. But after a while, the voice of the old man was heard and he sounded like someone who was being hurt.

“Did you just hear that?” Sun asked.

“This one, I heard for sure. That’s the old man’s voice" Sun said.

“I think we should go check him out. He seems to be in trouble” Virus said.

They quickly got up and quietly went to the tavern to see for themselves what was happening inside. When they got close, they hid around the hidden corner that leads to the lobby leading to the room where they were staying. They could hear clearly what was happening and they could see some men, around ten of them inside the small tavern. They could see the old man kneeling on the floor, being questioned by these dreadful-looking men.

“Who could they be?” Viruz asked in a very low tone. The men kept asking the man question and when Sun, Viruz, and Jonas came a bit closer, they could then clearly hear what they were saying.

“Where are the men who came to your tavern?” one of the men asked.

“I keep telling you, they have already left.”

“Our sources told us that they are still in this village. They look like businessmen and they came with three horses. They weren’t seen living but they were seen when they were coming.”

“They already left. I don’t know where they are. I am not their guardian” The old man said. The reply of the old man wasn’t too comfortable to the man questioning him so he had to punch him in the face thrice.

“I don’t think he knows where they are. I think we should go look around elsewhere, we might find them hiding. They won’t go that far” Another man said.

“No… we are not going anywhere. My sources don’t lie to me. I know they are here and I suspect this old man knows where they are. Remember this is not the first time he disobeyed us but I guarantee him that this will probably be his last if he doesn’t tell me where they are.”

“I already told you, I don’t know where they are” the old man reiterated.

The old man knew that it was better for him not to tell them anything because it might get him punished severely… If he bows down to pressure after much teasing from them and confirms that the General and his men are hiding in his place, they might give him a maximum sentence because he had had a rebellious record on their side.

Hiding along the wall in the hidden corner of the tavern, the lamp that shuns light in the room was not close enough to make Sun's hideout to be visible so, Sun could see them very well but they can’t see Sun, Jonas, or Viruz.

“I guess we should do something now, they are going to kill him,” Sun said as if he was whispering to someone.

“Can’t you see? They are ten men! Ten men!” Jonas said, his voice slightly raised. He paused and lowered his voice “Please, General we have to let this slide. We can’t afford to make enemies yet. We can’t afford to be on their menu.”

“But we are already on their menu. These guys won’t go anywhere until they get what they want and we will be paying back the good things he did for us with bad things if we don’t intervene”

“It will be sorted out. Trust me, this is not their first time and I guess something like this has been going on here so they know how they survive. Just leave them be” Jonas added. The old was continuously being slapped, kicked, and laughed at. General Sun couldn’t standby and watch any longer.

“Viruz, listen. I need you to get a bow and some arrows. If you get them, then I will tell you what next to do”

“Ok, sir.”

Viruz went inside the place they kept their things and brought a crossbow and seven arrows along. He quietly and slowly walked back to where Sun was.

“General, I am here.”

“Good. Now, you need to shoot down as many men as possible. But you need to wait until I start fighting with them. Promise to shoot with accuracy.”

“Ok, sir!” Virus replied. He pointed the bow down and placed an arrow in between the string of the bow and was ready to draw the string when Sun starts fighting with them. Sun alone immediately jumped out with his sword from his hiding place and came out to the open.

“You are looking for me I reckon. Kindly let the old man be and grow some gut and face me,” Sun said raising his voice... Sun saw that those men weren’t well trained. The way they clenched their swords shows that they were just amateurs and Sun could tell this because of experience. He knew if he can get Jonas' support too, they could decimate the angry-looking men in a matter of minutes.