Senji had to help with the washing up, and when the first day had ended, they were very tired but happy. The food had run out, and they had an enormous amount of cleaning to do. A couple of hours of tiding up, and Jay came home and helped them. Gon was extremely proud of what they did during the day but knew he would have to hire some people to come and work. He hoped there would be some people that he could employ later tonight when the interviews started for the positions. They finally finished with the clean-up, and Gon could start the hiring. He was not afraid to be picky and got the workers he wanted. In total there were eight workers with Gon and Senji in charge.
The evening was spent on training the new workers, and when the morning came, they were ready for another day. The following day became much easier with the extra pairs of hands and Senji could focus on welcoming the guests and giving them their tables. Gon could then leave the kitchen to get more meat and didn’t have to stress about the time. The restaurant was really busy and very popular, and after two weeks, the whole kingdom knew about Gon’s restaurant. It was very fortunate that there was so much room outside for the tables, and that they spent some of the money they had to make use of the whole site. The money they made was a fair profit after the workers had been paid and other expenses had been added in.
With each week, they made 2,000 coins, and with this speed, Gon could get his investment back before the year had gone. There were others noticing how well Gon was doing and jealousy was present in some of the eyes watching the new restaurant. In one of the eyes particularly, there was a lot of anger about the new restaurant. Gon was talking to one of the advisers to the king and was told that the king’s daughter was coming back from her school located in the mountain not far away. Gon said he once met her before in his farm when she and her guardian had come to pass by the farm. The adviser said he would mention it to Kemi, and perhaps she might want to come to visit.
After the day ended and nightfall had come, Jay arrived back and said he heard about Kemi. Jay would be home for the next three days and planned to explore the city and Senji said she wanted to come as well. Gon said he would be fine by himself and wanted Senji to have some fun. The following day, the two friends walked out and visited many places. The kingdom was big and several days would be needed to see it all. They came across a district of restaurants and walked down the street. Some were very busy, others were not, and they offered many different sorts of food. They sat down at one and got served from a nice old lady and her husband.
As they sat and talked, they overheard a woman speaking to her friend about some bad people working in the city that were collecting money from some of the businesses for protection. If they didn’t pay the bad people, they would smash the shop or hurt the people working there. Jay found the conversation interesting since he would probably deal with people like that in the future. He and Senji said they should tell Gon but knew if the bad people ever would try to demand money, he would say no. They walked back through a smaller street, and Jay, without noticing, grabbed Senji and moved her and himself in between a pair of boxes. Senji whispered to Jay and wondered what he saw. He said there were about six people coming, and they looked like trouble.
They were hiding behind some crates that were big and tall and saw the men pass, talking about a person that needed to be put back in place. When they had passed, Jay looked outside and then wanted them to go home through the big roads and arrive later back to the restaurant. Gon heard about what they had witnessed and overheard and promised he would be on his guard. But he didn’t think they would come since the restaurant was in a nicer area. What they didn’t know was that there was already someone keeping a close eye on them.
Another week came and went, and this time, it was Gon who decided to walk in the city. Jay was not free and someone needed to stay to run the restaurant, so Senji ran it this day. There was a wind blowing up in the other direction, so it was nice weather, and some of the clouds were gathering over the land. Gon learned from some people he stopped and talked to that every year there was a massive amount of rain coming over the kingdom, and it was possible to have flooding in the house. Gon walked around and wanted to see for himself the street where Jay and Senji had some food. He found it not far away from where he was talking to the group of people talking about the weather.
He sat down and ordered some food. A man came up next to him and wondered if he was the owner of the new restaurant on the other side of the city. Gon said he was and the man sat down, uninvited. He asked Gon if he had paid the fee for setting his restaurant up and Gon said he had and mentioned the judge’s house. The man shook his head and said that’s not the fee he was talking about. Gon saw the shop keeper was standing away from the table with his food but looked scared to come close. Gon asked what fee and to whom was it for. The man said that the city inside the kingdom could be dangerous, and every business needed protection. The fee would be 10% of the week’s pay.
Gon looked at the man and said he would ask the security guards at the palace if they might know where to find the men who were collecting, so they might ask who the protection was against. The man’s eyes changed, and he became a little red in the face and it was obvious he was angry. He leaned forward and hit his fist in the table and said Gon would pay and would continue to pay unless he wanted to get hurt.
Gon saw, through the corner of his eyes, how two people were closing in. Gon grabbed the man’s hand as he was just about to slap him and twisted his arm hard. It was a lot of pain, and he was forced to follow Gon’s movements to not get his arm broken. The men from behind were rushing in and Gon kicked the first man in the head so he fell over another table. He was still holding the man’s hand and didn’t let go even when the second man tried to punch Gon. It only took a second until the other attacker was down by a single punch from Gon’s other hand. He then brought up the money collector he was twisting the arm of and pulled him closer. Gon told him not to ever come close to him ever again, but the man answered that he would be punished for refusing. He added that the fee was to be paid unless he wanted more trouble.
Gon smiled and said he would be waiting for them. He punched the man so hard in the stomach that he passed out within a second of it, and Gon threw him where the others were that ran away leaving the unconscious man. The shop man came up with the food and said Gon might have gotten in trouble now, but Gon said he would never pay any money to criminals and started to eat. When he had finished eating, the collector woke up and tried to move, but Gon kicked him again, this time in the chest so he broke two ribs. Gon grabbed the man who threatened him and dragged him out from the street where everyone had been watching. There were no guards in this side of the city, and most guards usually worked outside since there were so many bandits at the moment in the land.
After he dragged the man for a few minutes, he saw a barrel and threw the man inside. He rolled the barrel to one of the guard posts not too far away and told them what happened. The guards seemed not too interested in the man but said they would make sure he got to the right authority. Gon walked away but was interested in what was going to happen to the man so he walked back a different way to the guard house to observe it. His suspicion became true when the men tried to wake the collector, and after they did, they let him go, and Gon overheard the men say they were waiting to get paid from his employer. So, they were corrupted guards, he thought and started to walk home. Well at home, the restaurant was about to close and Jay was already there.
Gon told Jay who didn’t seem too surprised, and told Gon he had heard there was a lot of corruption. ‘We are getting ready to deal with them in the near future when we have identified the bad men,’ he said. The guards that Gon gave the collector to were most likely on the list already, but he would still take the information to the captain to let him know. Gon was told that a major clean-up of the kingdom’s crime system was under way so hopefully they would never see those men again. Senji found it scary that there were so many bad things in the kingdom
where it was supposed to be safe. The rain started to come down as she finished talking. Jay said the Grasoll kingdom’s land was more unsecure than they first thought, he had learned. The kingdom was under constant pressure to help others outside, but the group that Jay was in would concentrate on cleaning up inside the border. They would start very soon because the captain was saying the training was almost done, so they would get their orders soon. They helped to clean up after the last guests had left and the rain had started to pour down hard.
When Gon came back in after bringing out the rubbish, he turned to Senji and said he had spoken to many of the guests that day, and everyone was very happy. He told her he even spoke to a man that might help him with something in the future from the Redonian kingdom. She nodded and told him he might pick up many good contacts to keep in the memory. A few more days passed with the restaurant being busy, but Gon had not forgotten what happened at the meeting with the collector. He kept his eyes open for anything suspicious and would not leave Senji alone in the restaurant.
Second Encounter with the Bounty Hunter
Jay was on his way back from the smithery with samples of metal that were going to be used in new armour for the king on his birthday. He was happy to have been assigned to the task and was advancing in responsibilities fast. After being in the city for many months and training every day, he had made quite an impression with the other high officers. When Kemi came back, she was also glad to see he was doing so well. He thought about how they met at the farm, and how they didn’t know who she was. He hadn’t spent too much time with her but he knew she had helped with him ascending up the ranks. Not everything was great with working with more serious crimes, he had found out. He had trouble sleeping and had been so for a week than ever since his last mission.
It was a missing persons’ investigation in a village outside the kingdom. He kept thinking about the fear he saw in the eyes of a little girl that had been kidnapped by her uncle. She had been raped several times, and when they entered the house of the uncle that was the suspect, they saw her tied up. The uncle charged at them with a sword, and Jay had to control himself since they needed the man alive. He disarmed him and pushed him hard against the wall while the others chained him. The little girl was crying a lot and he would never forget the look in the eyes of the father when he held her again.
The town was supposed to be peaceful but somehow, the uncle had become evil. He had been brought to the castle where he was tortured for days by some of the soldiers. He was supposed to stand trial for his crime but bled to death before he got there. Jay felt no shame for not stopping the other soldiers but wished he would never have been sent to the small town. He had gone to the outskirts of the city that day and was now walking down the road between some older houses located there. He looked at the people selling merchandise or serving drinks outside the taverns. He thought back to when he used to work in the great city of Shetana serving drinks. Some of the people said hello and others were new to the city.
A sunny day today, he thought and felt it would be nice with a drink. He saw a tavern he always wanted to go to but never had a chance to visit. He was done for today and earlier than expected, so he did have some time. He told himself he needed to relax his mind, so he decided to walk towards the tavern. When he was about to open the door, it opened and a group of men came out and walked into Jay. He looked at them but figured there was no point saying anything, and a nice day like this should not be filled with fights and walked in. There were a lot of people in the tavern on the middle of the day. There are some very happy people in here, he thought and figured the weather probably had something to do with it. He asked the barman for a drink who nodded and asked Jay to take a seat. Jay found a table outside and was served the drink from a pretty girl with a nice smile.
All was not well though since Jay was thinking about the men coming out from the tavern. They had such a determined look in their eyes and it was like they didn’t even see him. They also looked like trouble makers, he thought. As he sat and enjoyed the weather, he heard something from the next table where a couple of men had taken place. One of the men said there was a bounty hunter in the city, and the five men that just left were after the hunter. Jay listened to the men. He overheard the men saying they had found where the bounty hunter stayed while in the city, and apparently the bounty hunter was after one of the men. They were going to finish the hunter off before they were found.
Even though Jay had no involvement in this affair, he now worked for the king and had to keep the city safe for everyone regardless of who they were. He finished his drink and asked the men where the men were going and then left towards it. He jogged to the destination since it was not so far, and in the next turn he would be able to see the building. As he came around the corner, he saw the men run towards an alley. He took place behind the wall and looked in the alley. He heard a voice that said that they had the hunter cornered. Jay walked out and with a loud voice, told them he was with the guards for the king. Some of the men looked at him and the others were looking at a dark corner in the alley where the hunter was hidden under a shadow.
The biggest of the men told Jay to leave and this did not concern him. His voice was serious when he roared out that he’d better leave unless he wished to die. Jay was very good with the sword and raised it then said anyone was welcome in the city as long as they abided by the rules. Four of the men turned towards Jay with only two of the men holding swords while the other carried knives. The big man turned to the bounty hunter and told the hunter to say a prayer before death because there was no way out from the alley.
A female voice came out with the words “perfect”. The hunter walked out in the light and revealed herself. Jay almost lost the grip on his sword as he looked upon a familiar face. From the shadows came the same young woman he saw in the forest long ago. She looked even more powerful and dangerous than before but also very beautiful. Before the man had a chance to attack her, she told to Jay to stop them from escaping but not to engage. The big man called her an insolent bitch, and another man advanced towards her. He swung his sword against her to try and kill her instantly. She moved out of the way, and while on the side, she kicked him on the knee causing him to fall and lose grip of his sword. She grabbed the sword out of his hand, and in a single move, she impaled it in the back of him. The sword went right through and stuck out in front. He fell forward with his body and had stopped moving when the sword touched the ground in front.
The men watched in horror. She said come on and they really shouldn’t let a woman wait. The men all turned and ran towards her all at once. Jay wanted to engage but she repeated that he was only to keep them from running away. He knew he had a duty to intervene but also thought people should take care of themselves, so for then, he stood back. He was interested in how she could handle herself. He saw the young woman evade a knife stab from one of the men and punched him so hard on the nose that Jay could see it break as the man turned around in pain. She brought two knives up and intercepted another stab from another man. She pushed him away and then she kicked the man with the broken nose in the back so he fell and landed on the ground. She got another swing from a sword but could easily block it. Jay saw her roll on the ground to come up on the side of the men and ran towards the wall. She took a step on the wall and kicked herself up to a beam hanging out from the building. She jumped down to a wagon standing on the other side.
The men chased her, and now the man with broken nose had come on his feet. From the side, Jay wondered who she was and where she learned to fight like that. The young woman threw a small barrel on one of the men and grabbed a board as she got close to them. She swung it, and one of the men hit back with the sword but got the sword stuck in it. She made him lose the grip and brought up one of her knives. She blocked another cut from the bigger man while she, at the same time, stabbed the man who had his sword stuck straight in the chest. She rolled on the side, and the man, who was just struck, screamed in pain but re
mained standing.
There was a pause in the struggle, and the men stood ready to engage again. The attacker with the knife in his chest pulled it out but too much blood came out. It seemed she missed his heart by just a little. She took aim and then rushed towards them and blocked one stab from the man with the broken nose. She cut him on the arm with the knife, and he dropped his knife. She swung her boots at his leg, and when he dropped down on the ground, she left him for another that came for her. She blocked his attempt and as she pushed him, the man fell towards the others. With a second or two before they could come back, she took the opportunity and hurled herself towards the man on the ground and kicked him so hard in the head, Jay thought it almost would come clean off.
The bigger of the men pushed the others aside and attacked her with his sword. She blocked him while moving to the side and was controlling the situation very easily. The hunter moved back towards the wall and the brute laughed as he thought he would corner her soon so he could kill her. The young woman backed towards the wall but when she came up, she purposely let him close. Jay was almost ready to intervene but he did not need to. When the large man gave a strike, she blocked it and guided it towards a hole in the wall. She then kicked him in the balls and as he moved back, she quickly jumped the wall and kicked herself towards him. With another kick having more power and speed, she then dislocated his arm as she hit his shoulder. He backed away with enormous pain and the other two were looking at each other.
The man that then had blood all over his shirt from the stab on his chest, was struggling but ready to fight again. She asked which of the men had the bounty on them and pointed one of her knives at them. The two men moved slowly towards her, and both attacked at once. They tried to hold her at a distance as to not let her use her kicks towards them. The big man was furious and walked to join them even with his pain so great. They did well when she couldn’t reach them and forced her to the wall again. The big man was slashed down with the sword but with an arm lost, it hurt and he had to take down the speed and strength.
World of Taroo Page 16