Bamboo Flute Swordsman

Chaptre 35. The Buah Batu Hill

A white horse ridden by Jaka walked slowly among the crowd of residents. The street was crowded, on the right and left side there were many traders peddling each other trading. Some sell food, drinks, and some other items. The happy face adorns the faces of every resident.

Jaka watched the merchant one by one, before long a smile appeared on his face. "Life in Kotaraja seems to be very good." muttered Jaka.

Jaka then directed his horse towards the inn, he was about to visit his friend, Purwita Sari. The destination is the most magnificent inn in Kotaraja.

In front of the entrance of the inn was a large sign that read "Bintang Mas Inn". After asking a servant, Jaka was directed towards the room rented by Purwita Sari.

"Tok tock.. " Jaka knocked on the door of the room with the back of his hand.

Not long before the door opened and a very beautiful girl appeared, her hair was long black and dimples on both cheeks. The girl was wearing quite revealing clothes on the top of her chest.

"Oh? Jaka... What are you doing here? Did you miss me?" purwita Sari asked with a red face teasingly.

Jaka choked on his own breath hearing the question of the girl in front of him, "No. I just stopped by. "he replied with a wave.

Purwita Sari looked at Jaka's face fixedly, like he was looking for something but did not manage to find anything. Purwita Sari then invited Jaka to enter her room.

The room rented by Purwita Sari is quite spacious, in addition to the bed as a bed there are also two rattan chairs and a small rectangular table. On the table was a jar of wine and two bamboo cups.

Purwita Sari invites Jaka to sit on a rattan chair, then pours wine into a bamboo glass and hands it to Jaka. Jaka also drank the wine until it ran out.

"What's it like to be a senopath?" purwita Sari asked with a full glance.

Jaka was a bit surprised when Purwita Sari could find out information about him, but after a second thought it was not impossible because the Merchant Union had eyes and ears everywhere.

"Why are you asking like that? Do you want it?"

"No. for what I want it. After all I have become a high leader in the Merchant Union." replied Purwita Sari.

"Then?" ask Jaka again.

"I'm just guessing that you don't like the job."

Jaka was silent for a moment digesting the girl's answer before him. It is true that Jaka did not like the position, but Jaka still accepted it because he did not want to disappoint his older brother.

Jaka then switched the conversation by asking for information about the Black Cloak Group. Jaka believes that his friend must have a lot of information that he needs.

Purwita Sari then explains that in fact the Black Cloak Group is a group of mercenary warriors. The group was led by a warrior named Mahesa Jenar.

Their lunge group is quite famous among the jungle. Not a few warriors who died when dealing with their group, either as a mission target or just come to interfere with their work in the middle of the road.

Actually as a group of paid warriors, they move when there are those who can pay for their services. The rates for using their services are high enough that only people who have abundant property can hire their services. For example, such as royal officials or wealthy merchants. So far there have been no missions that they have failed to carry out, all swept away with success.

No one knew for sure what the entire sum of the Black Cloak Group was, even if it was a Merchant Union. But there is news that Mahesa Jenar has five subordinates who are directly responsible to him. These five subordinates always used masks of different colors.

Purwita Sari took a deep breath and ended the story, "That's all I know. "he answered while looking at Jaka meaningfully.

"Thank you.. This information is very helpful."

After quite a chat about the light things, Jaka once again said many thanks before leaving the inn. The next goal is to return to the village that Jaka first stopped near the border, namely Tanjung Lemur Village.

***

In the morning on the road of Tanjung Lemur Village looks deserted, only seen some residents who will go to the rice fields. No more noise or children playing running around, desolate.

Several heads poked out from behind the windows of the house as Jaka passed by their house. Jaka who knows is being noticed does not want to take a headache, he continues the journey to the village head's house.

Not long after Jaka had arrived at the village chief's residence, his house was quite large. Beside the house there is a terrace where the village chief usually receives guests. On the terrace were several rattan chairs and a small table.

Jaka got off his horse and tethered to a tree next to the house, then headed for the entrance to meet the village chief. Jaka knocked on the door several times until it was opened by its owner.

"Can I help you, sir?" asked the owner of the house who was none other than the village head, people called him by the name of Ki Tama.

"I want to meet Ki Tama" replied Jaka.

"I am named Ki Tama, please sit down.. "

Ki Tama invited Jaka to sit on the porch of the house, while he entered back into the house to serve a sweet pot of wine to his guests.

Jaka then introduced himself and conveyed the intention of his goal to come to this village. Starting from the condition of a very quiet village and rumors circulating about the Black Cloak Group.

Ki Tama took a deep breath then poured the wine into the bamboo glass and drank it slowly. After the wine in the bamboo glass ran out, Ki Tama began to tell the condition of his village.

At first Tanjung Lemur Village is very crowded by visitors, from day to night there are always visitors who come. This makes the village economy run very well. In addition to opening a restaurant, they also rent their house as an accommodation.

Gradually the village became deserted due to the tension between the two great kingdoms. This was compounded with the appearance of the Black Cloak Group. The group kidnapped their children both men and women. As a result, the village no longer found the sound of laughter from their children.

Eventually some residents decided to move to a neighboring village in search of a safer place.

Jaka listened to Ki Tama's story carefully, several times he was seen nodding his head.

"Did any of the villagers know of their location, Ki?" ask Jaka.

"No, we've tried to trace their tracks but to no avail. But there is one place that we have not managed to track, that place is difficult to visit because it is so steep.”

"Where is that, Ki?"

"Stone Fruit Hill.. "