PURPLE WITCH

63. ARRIVE AT THE DESTINATION

"first of all, let no one know of your abilities...! "

second, never show your necklace carelessly...!

and lastly, never mention your grandmother's name, or her nickname to anyone...!

the three prohibitions you must always remember, and only to the person you truly trust can you tell him...!"

"then, how did Via find grandma if it was not allowed to mention her name or nickname...?"

"later until the village, you go to the foot of the mountain, find a shop owned by Mr. Gabeng, and say you are waiting for an old friend.if people ask what his name is, you simply replied Princess Cening Ayu. wait there until someone says He is dead, and invites you to visit his grave. Follow that person, for He will lead you to where your grandmother is...!"

...

that afternoon, after saying goodbye to Arum's cousin, Via decided to meet Cupet's grandfather for a farewell before continuing his journey south, but how surprised Via when he found the old bookstore owned by Grandpa was burned.

"sir.., do you know when the bookstore burned down...?" ask Via to the waiter across the store.

"yesterday afternoon, Brother...!" answer the waiter.

"if not mistaken, around half-hour five suddenly a huge fire burned the store very quickly...! so fast, until before the extinguisher came the store was already charred unscathed...!" the waiter explained.

"half five...?! didn't I leave the store about four o'clock a little...? then after I left the store was immediately on fire...! ah, what a coincidence...!" inner Via.

"then, what about the store owner's grandfather, ma'am...? is he safe...?" ask Via again.

"grandfather...? whose grandfather, Sister...?" the waiter looked confused.

"for five months I worked here, I never saw anyone living there...! never leave, people are never seen there...!"

the waiter's reply suddenly made Via surprised,

"ta.. but ma'am.., yesterday around three o'clock my friend and I came there and met the old man...! didn't you see me go in there...?"

for a moment the middle-aged female servant seemed to think, then replied, "no, non...! yesterday I was standing here all day, but I didn't see anyone coming to that store...! what's not wrong place...?"

this time Via who looks to think while paying attention to the circumstances around him, until then Via shook his head, "no ma'am, I am sure I am not wrong place...! I did come to that store, I remember very well the shops around it, including this mother's shop...!"

while staring at Via in surprise, the waiter replied, "ta.. but that's impossible, Dik...!"

"why is that impossible, ma'am...?"

"because the store has almost collapsed...! let alone people, dogs if they enter the store it will certainly immediately collapse...! so I don't think it must be the wrong place...!" the waiter replied insisting.

back to thinking,

"i don't understand...? I'm sure I'm not misplaced, but I also feel like this mother isn't lying...! ah, maybe I should ask Wira later...! maybe he knows what happened...!"

"mother..., it seems like mother was right, I was the wrong place...! therefore excuse me first, sorry to interrupt the time...!"

"yes, Sister.., it's okay...!"

although still curious, Via finally left the store and continued his journey south.

...

after taking twenty hours of exhausting journey, finally Via arrived at his destination, namely the village of Aturaja Tiga.

it was six o'clock in the morning, and Via, who was feeling very sleepy from not sleeping all night, decided to rest at one of the inns there, of course after making sure the inn there is no sign of a pink twin heart.

"morning, miss...., can I help you...?" greet a thick mustachioed gnarly man.

"morning, om...! I want to rent a room here, is there anything empty...?"

"there, non...! sorry before, who am I talking to...?" replied the man who was the innkeeper.

"i'm Sephia, um.., just call Via...!"

"well, non Via want on the bottom floor what is above...?"

"i think it's above, om...! I used to sleep on the second floor...!"

"well, then please non Via follow me to see a suitable room...!"

the inn owner then took Via to look at some empty rooms on the second floor.

"so how...? is there a room that suits your lady's wishes...?"

"i guess that's it, om...!" answer Via pointing at the room facing the street.

"well, then please non, here's the key...!" reply the innkeeper while handing over a key to Via.

for a moment, Via seemed hesitant to accept the key.

seeing Via hesitating, the back innkeeper said, "what's up, non...? is something wrong...?"

"ma... sorry om, is the room not tidied up first...? it looks like her room is a little messy...!"

"oh, it's like that, non...!" the owner smiled.

"the room was deliberately left like that so that non can manage it themselves...!"

"ma... you mean, um...?" ask Via astonished.

"yes, it's a tradition here, just like the name of this village, Aturaja...!!! so non please just arrange your own non room like a non like...!" obviously the innkeeper.

"a strange tradition...!"

...

after getting enough rest, Via then Train as usual.

after sprinkling, Via returned to meet the innkeeper.

"afternoon, um..."

"afternoon, non...! can I help you...?"

"i want nanya, do you know where the shop Mr. Gabung...?"

"oh, you mean non-shop Mr. Gabeng...?"

"yes, the shop of Mr. Gubeng...!"

"Dragon, non...! not Gubeng...!"

"yes, om.. Gebeng sir's shop...!"

"whatever, huh...! it's in the south of the village, non...! later non-exit, then turn left, after meeting the intersection, turn right, and continue to follow the path until the end of the road, there is an empty land, and in the middle of the empty land, and, there's a building of bamboo, that's where Mr. Gabeng's shop...!"

"well, um.., thanks for the info...!"

"by the way, what business is it not going there...?"

"it doesn't seem...? but do non-serious people want to meet non-friends there...?"

"yes, um..., why...?"

"oh, that's okay, just that non has to be a little careful...! sometimes there are young people who like to make trouble while drunk...! if there's anything, it's best not to come back here right away...!"

"well, om.., I will remember om's advice...!"

...

following the instructions of the owner of the inn, arriving Via in the store pak Gabeng.

for a moment Via looked around, despite the name of the store, but the place was more like a drinking house*, where most of the visitors ordered wine and wine.

(drinking house \= a place where people are drunk and have fun, but with a simple atmosphere in the countryside )

after ordering a bottle of pink wine and a serving of grilled shrimp satay, Via then sat at one of the tables located in the back corner.

long enough Via enjoyed his solitude while observing the people there, until suddenly a middle-aged skinny man approached him.

"good night, miss...! I think I just saw my lady here for the first time...! introduce, I'm Heri, the village chief here...!" greet the man is friendly.

"oh, good night also Mr. Heri, I'm Via, I just got here today...!" reply Via is also friendly.

"if you can know, what is the need for the lady to come to this village...?"

"i have an appointment to see my old friend here, sir...!"

"what is this lady's friend of the villagers...?"

"i don't know either, he just told me to wait here...!"

"if you may know, what is the name of the lady's friend...?"

"Princess Cening Ayu, sir...! do you know him...?"

for a moment Mr. Henri seemed to think, then said,

"if I had no inhabitants in this village named it...! is it possible that he is from the village next door...?"

"i don't know either, sir...! He just told me to wait here...!" Via repeated the answer.

"oh, thats...! yes already, then excuse me first, please miss continue to enjoy the wine, but if I may give advice, do not drink too much, not good for health...!"

"alright, sir...!"

after the village chief left, Via returned to enjoy the wine and satay.

not long after, another burly man came to him.

"good night, miss...! I think I just saw my lady here for the first time...! I'm Kopar, the village security chief...!"

after a brief stale, the man who claimed to be the head of security then left Via.

after that, alternately people approached him, from the village secretary, the village treasurer, the village health chief, the head of village mothers, the head of teenagers, the head of football, the head of the village trade, even, the head of the village, until the head of the village did not clear up to him and asked the same question, but unfortunately, of all who approached him, no one knew Princess Cening Ayu.

until Via who was feeling drunk decided to return to the inn.

...

until his room, Via who remembered the strange incident earlier this afternoon immediately contacted Wira.

"hey, honey...., where are you...? why did you just leave last night...?"

"don't pretend to be stupid, you know why...!"

"really, I don't know...! will you explain it to me...?"

"no, I'm lazy...! you just ask Arum...!"

"Arum...?! why ask Arum...? why don't you just explain it...?"

"i told you I'm lazy...! my purpose in calling you wasn't to discuss that, but rather I wanted to ask you something...?"

"what...?"

"do you know Cupet's grandfather's shop is on fire...?"

"grandfather Cupet...?! who is Grandpa Cupet...?"

"when did you forget...? that's Cupet's grandfather, the old bookstore owner who was insinuating with you...!"

"old bookstore...?! insinuations quipped with me...?! I can't remember...!"

"Wir..., I don't want to joke...!"

"Vi.., I'm not kidding, I really don't remember...! try to explain in more detail, who knows I can remember...!"

for a moment Via fell silent, then retold all the events they experienced when meeting Cupet's grandfather.

"so, do you remember it now...?" ask Via at the end of the story.

this time the Hero who was silent for a while, then said, "Vi..., are you now drinking wine...?"

"no...! why...?"

"are you drinking wine now...?"

"no...! why...?"

"have you just had wine or wine...?"

"there is...! I just had a drink of wine, but not much...! why are you asking that...?"

"because your talk from earlier is very strange and unclear...!!! are you drunk...?"

"i'm not drunk...! my story from earlier was true...! maybe you were drunk to forget the incident...!"

"how could I be drunk...! right now I'm not drinking...!"

"yeah...? tumben nights like this you don't have fun...?"

"now I'm busy...!"

"busy what...?"

"making love to Timi...! hehe..."

"ka..kamu...! you pervert...!!!"

"tutttt...."