“Boss, I think that it’s about time for us to reach our goal. Within only a few moments, we will be getting our fortunes and we will finally be able to live like a king! Wahahaha!” One of the men said loudly after slamming his wooden cup hard on the table. He had a good build with a rough looking appearance. His clothing looked ragged compared to the big shots in the city, but in this room he had better attire than some of the people here.
The man who was called as the boss responded with a smile on his face. He too had a feeling that it was about time for him to finally realize his ambition that he had for a while now. He couldn’t help but become happy after remembering the things that he had been yearning for.
“Then gather up our men for tomorrow’s expedition. We should not wait for another opportunity to arrive and we let it go just like that. I want about 85% of our men located here to follow me at dawn to march our way toward our destination.” The man exclaimed firmly. But a grin just still couldn’t be erased from his face.
“As you wish, Boss. I will be going for a while to remind the boys outside and tell them to prepare themselves. This expedition would take us a few days, even weeks after all, so we couldn’t fret over some small things, hehe.” The man went out of the room with a grin on his face. The boss couldn’t help but shake his head, even though he was still smiling.
“For months, we had been staying in this place. We are here for a reason and now that reason was no longer here. We will proceed with our plan and go away from this place. We no longer have any business here after all. Still, some needed to clean up some traces and whatnot of our occupation here. They will catch up later on after they had done their part.” The man concluded his speech and made plans to the people around him.
All of the people agreed and nodded their heads. They basically had understood how things were going to unfold. This was just a formality, or rather a meeting to remind the people here for things that were going to come on their way.
Even if it’s just a reminder meeting, all of the people invited had come to this place. No one ditched the meeting. It was either they were disciplined enough, feeling apprehension toward the leader, or they were just that serious and loyal to each other.
For a gang that seemingly made an income from a village or two, they had good discipline and order, probably better than most of the gang out there. The structure of the gang had clear levels and positions, which they needed to follow and respect. It could easily be inferred with the way one interacted with each other.
The leader had a height about 180 cm, with a burly body and straight posture. There were some scars plastered on his body, as if they were reminders that this man was a warrior that had faced many battles and war. His name was Alvred, the leader of the gang that had occupied this village for a while now.
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Together with his men, Alvred was able to control this village easily without any trouble at all. Some of his men were located in another village for a different mission, while he had stayed in this place with the main members. And in this village, they were the government that controlled the ins and out that had been ongoing for months now.
The villagers complied with the rules that the gang had employed to them. The gang seemed intimidating and had more experienced people in political ways, that was why the gang was able to subdue the village and abide by the rules that the gang had made.
Suddenly, one of his men that had been stationed outside came to the meeting room. Beside him, there was an old man who had white hair and a beard attached to his head. He had a complex face drawn on his face, with a hint of nervousness that was hard to be seen from other people. The guard then reported to the people in the room for what was going on.
“Excuse me sirs, the village elder wanted to see you to discuss some things with you. I brought him here because he seems anxious about something, so maybe you could enlighten him about something, Boss.” The guard said with a grin, but it looked like the grin was a ridiculed smile as if he saw something amusing. There was a light tone on the voice of the guard, but it was hard to differentiate whether it was a warm one or a mocking one.
The boss raised one of his eyebrows and took a look at the old man. Looking at the atmosphere, he somehow had guessed what the business of the old man in front of him was going to bring up. He gestured to the people around him to conclude the meeting and finalized their plan.
“Okay, that’s it for today. Don’t forget to prepare our things and tell the others to prepare themselves too. I want them to be in their best condition so that they can finish our mission perfectly. All of you can go now.” The leader said while standing up.
The others listened to his orders and obeyed without even questioning any further. But some decided to stay behind, around 4 people. The order was that they could go now, that meant there was nothing wrong for some to stay behind. Or it was just already a norm for them to have those 4 people stay behind with the leader after every meeting that they had.
The leader approached the elder of the village and greeted him warmly. “What is the occasion for the elder to be here now? Is there anything that I could be of help to you?” Alvred said with a smile drawn on his face. His face seemed warm and lighthearted, that helped the old man to feel relaxed and calm.
He appeared somehow different than before, where he looked courteous and kind. The smile on his face shined a calming light that affected the old man to be calm either. The behavior of a good guy next door could easily be perceived from the leader just by looking at this demeanor and attitudes.
The old man took a long breath, and exhaled it seemingly to reduce the nervousness that he had. He had sorted out his thoughts while replaying the things that he had been preparing to deliver for a while now inside of his mind for a few seconds. After he had done that, he said to Alfred with a hint of seriousness.
“Umm… I’m very sorry to disturb your meeting right now, Mr. Alfred. But looking at how things had been concluded, it seemed that I just came at the right time where you had already finished your matters.” The old man said in a pretty nervous manner. Even though he had calmed down his thoughts, it seemed that he couldn’t help but became even more nervous after he had started to talk to the man in front of him.
Alfred listened to the old man and nodded his head with a smile, gesturing for the old man to continue his talking. The old man understood what the leader meant and decided to convey his thoughts.
He did not need to delay anymore after hearing the confirmation from the old man. If he did not dare do say it right now, there might be no chance for him to say it anymore. And worse, there might not even be a future. He gritted his teeth to cope with the ongoing feelings that he had inside of his heart.
“It is like this, Mr. Alfred. Our village has been having trouble trying to make ends meet. We had been giving you the harvests and let you be the seller. I wanted to ask if it was possible to…. cut off some taxes that had been placed upon us?” The old man said with a bead of sweat running down his temple.