A horn was blown to signal the incoming ship and men at the port began preparing to unload the cargo. The ship was filled with various life essentials and food. The unloaded items were moved to the cart where a Duran was waiting to pull it out.
“Ugh, we’re done.”
A man straightened his back and mumbled as he finished loading the last carton on the cart. He was full of smiles. The work was hard and stressful, but the income was plenty and he had a more enjoyable life.
“We’re done for the day! Let’s go to the saloon and have a drink!”
“Hey, Sanson, are you going to Breezing Hill again?”
“Of course! Unless Mel quits working at that place, my drinking place is set.”
“Isn’t her bosom too big?”
“No way! You don’t know how to look at a good woman. Anyway, follow me if you’re coming.”
Sanson wiped the sweat from his forehead and began walking into the alley and the men who worked with him followed.
As the workers went away, a hooded figure approached the cart and the driver and asked, “… and the item?”
“Yes, sir. There’s no sign of recognizing what it is.”
“Then let’s go.”
The cart began moving out of the port. It trudged on the road continuously until they were out of town.
“Let’s get rid of the evidence.”
“Yes, sir.”
The driver and the man, Priest Gordon, began taking out the goods from the cart and tossed them into the bushes. After they threw away most of the goods, they collected large branches with twigs from the surroundings and tied them to the back of the cart. Then they began riding out on the cart. The twigs that were dragged along erased the traces left by the cart.
After traveling for half a day, they stopped by a hill where a huge tree was growing at the top. After a while, men with gray masks appeared through the bushes and approached Priest Gordon.
“Gordon.”
“Henderson.”
“How did it go?”
“God has answered us.”
“Oh…”
The masked man named Henderson let out a small grunt.
“You men, go check around.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Look carefully. You cannot miss anything. It’s the Ainos we are talking about.”
“Yes, sir!”
The masked man spoke to about thirty men that were behind him. They quickly moved out in all directions without making any sounds. Henderson then turned to the cart. The driver was now uncovering the cloth that hid what was underneath. It was a long wooden box.
“So, is this…?”
“Yes. Do you want to take a look?”
“Why- yes. Yes, I should.”
Gordon laughed. Henderson shivered as he answered and walked to the box. He signaled the driver to open it and they fell silent. Henderson was trembling.
“Finally… finally, it is in our hands…!” he blurted out silently as he clenched his fist.
“So, Priest. When will I be getting the payment? My job here seems to be finished…”
The driver asked for his payment, glancing between Henderson and Gordon. The priest then smiled and nodded.
“Oh, yes of course. You will be rewarded.”
“Hehe, thank you!”
“No, no. I will not forget your effort. I will always pray for you.”
“Oh! Thank you, sir!”
The driver smiled brightly. A priest’s prayer was hard to come by for commoners.
“Here is your payment.”
He turned to the priest’s waist where he was taking out a heavy satchel.
“…?”
Then he felt sudden pain coming from below. He looked down and found a sword protruding out from his chest. It was covered with red blood.
“H-huh? Wh-what… argh…”
He couldn’t grasp what had happened, but he couldn’t speak anymore as blood filled his mouth and spilled out. The priest was still smiling at him.
“You will be with God from now on. I will pray for you, and he will welcome you.”
The driver began to shiver as he felt like he was losing his sight. He fell down to the ground, looking at the priest with disbelief.
“W…why…?”
“Didn’t we erase all the evidence? I can’t believe you look so surprised.”
That was the last thing he heard. He was dead. Henderson pulled out the sword, cleaned it with the driver’s clothes, and spoke.
“Take it away.”
Some masked men that had returned quickly moved the body out from sight.
“So, is this the last one?”
“Yes. I took care of the others before coming here. The poison you gave me was powerful. Just a few drops in the beer and…” Gordon explained in astonishment as he thought about the effect of poison he used.
“It is expensive. That one small bottle costs over one hundred gold coins.”
“Hmm.”
“Anyway, it is our turn now. We have our weapon.”
“Yes, yes… we will gather our finest craftsman and replicate this ‘Gun.’ We will be unstoppable…”
Gordon glanced at the box. The box contained M-16 rifles.
*
“Guests! A lot!”
A young kid shouted as he narrowed his eyes to look. He seemed to be delighted to have spotted a dust cloud from far away.
“How many? How many? Ten? Twenty?”
“No, more.”
“Wow!”
“Yeah, they’re all on horses. This will be good.”
The guests were on horses. Commoners were too poor to ride on horses so it meant that the incoming guests were probably rich.
“NICE!”
Younger brother Joey also looked delighted at the news. The older, Pi, patted his brother’s head and spoke.
“Joey, you should help me now. Go call Jack, Victor, and Hessen. And the other boys too. Can you do it?”
“Yeah! Of course. I can do it!”
Joey, who barely looked over five years old, ran inside the building, shouting.
“GUESTS! We have guests! Victor! Hessen!”
Joey shouted as he ran through the building quickly. Other boys who were working on preparing firewood turned to Joey and grouped up.
“Pi! I heard there are guests?”
“Yeah, they’re all on horses.”
The guests were still a bit further away, but they were coming.
“Do we have enough space in the barn?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, let’s prepare. Get the horses and I’ll guide the guests to their rooms. Victor and Hessen, go prepare water for a bath. Rest of you, prepare to take the horses.”
Kids began preparing to greet the guests. Soon after, men who arrived at the entrance got off their horses and walked in.
“Welcome to Breezing Hill!”
Pi bowed as he glanced at the visitors.
‘Mercenaries? No… a noble and a knight! A priest too!’