It was remaining just about five hundred meters for the young Miss Suzie and Uncle Bibi to reach Okunde's south gate. The two relatives put hence into action their plan. They began to walk separately and pretended to be perfect strangers to each other.

The niece Suzie arrived first at the checkpoint. The imperial sentinels were kind to her. She passed the control formalities hitch-free and was authorized to enter the village of Okunde, which she did with a bright smile.

Just a few minutes later Uncle Bibi showed up at the Okunde's south gate as well. He had pushed upward his fedora hat and unlike when he previously reached the north gate of the imperial city Ekule, he wasn't giving any dubious impression at all. He answered without any difficulty the imperial guard's inquiries and like his niece Suzie before him, he was also granted access to Governor Kola II's province of command: Okunde.

However, as the middle-aged man was about to cross to the other side of the gate, an imperial sentinel who was standing a few meters away behind him screamed: "Wait!".

Uncle Bibi halted abruptly his movement and looked in the direction of the imperial guard who was now approaching his position while parading. He was lifting his feet straight and touching the soil with great confidence. His hands were swinging from the left to the right.

After a few moments that seemed to be an eternity, he finally reached Uncle Bibi's level, and against the odds, he kneeled on his right foot while joining the palms of his two hands before greeting the traveler.

"My commander, I wish you well," the imperial guard said with a resounding voice.

"The gods have preserved you from harm and I thank them for their favor upon a retired servant of the imperial forces."

The other imperial guards remained passive spectators to what was going on. They were mesmerized by the reverence of their comrade to someone they regarded as a regular passer-by at the gate.

"Rise, Bobo!" Uncle Bibi ordered but Bobo didn't obey him and humbly stayed kneeled.

"I can see you have become a grown-up man and also a tremendous athlete and soldier," he added.

Uncle Bibi extended his right hand and placed it on the right shoulder of the deferent young warrior, and begged him: "Please, rise brave man!"

The imperial sentinel stood up, looked at his comrades, and uttered: "Gentlemen, I introduced to you, His Eminence, Bibi, former Commander of the Regiment of the Ekule's men of honor."

The other imperial guards heard their colleague and in unison, they took a bow as well from their positions. Then, one of them yelled: "My Commander, we wish you good."

Uncle Bibi got emotional. He hoisted his right arm, placed his fingers on his right temple, and gave them a salute. Then he implored the imperial guards to get back on their feet.

"Valiant warriors, please rise!" He begged the men in uniform.

The latter rose back to their feet. Uncle Bibi turned and faced the gate which was still open. He then crossed and entered Okunde village.

The young maiden Suzie was around three hundred meters ahead and was looking in the direction of the checkpoint. She was impatiently waiting for her uncle to join her. She was extremely agitated and nervous.

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"By all the Saints, why is he still not coming? It's taking too long. He should have passed the controls by now," she spoke to herself with an air of anxiety.

"Oh wait! Is that him?" She then exclaimed as she saw from a distance someone walking up to her position.

"Oh, it's him. Thank Loba, God of the gods!" She expressed with great excitement. She began to jump while waving at him. To draw even more his attention she thus yelled: "Uncle Bibi, Uncle Bibi, I am over here."

The middle-aged man looked in front of him and saw his niece. He hence increased his pace. He walked up to his young sibling as fast as he could. A powerful uncle-and-niece feeling seized them. The young Miss Suzie then excitedly began to leap toward Uncle Bibi to shorten the distance between them. Finally, they bumped into each other and hugged intensively.

"The Ancestors are with us today," the young woman whimpered in her uncle's ears.

"Yes, indeed, they are undoubtedly watching over us," the latter replied to her while heaving his eyes to the sky for a few seconds.

Then he invited his young sibling to resume their journey.

"Well darling, come, let's go!" He said to her.

The two adventurers thereupon took the way forward. They were thirsty and hungry. They had departed from the imperial city Ekule early in the afternoon and now the sun was about to set in Okunde village. They spotted a local restaurant on the roadside and decided to stop by.

"Follow me!" Uncle Bibi said to the young Miss Suzie and she trailed him.

The two relatives entered the eatery. It had no door and was made from red dry mud. An opening existed between the wall and the roof which was covered with plated palm leaves. Nice flavors were fragrancing the place and some customers were already enjoying the delicacies.

They were as diverse as the population of Okunde. Soldiers, civilians, men, women, and children were occupying the long wooden benches that had been affixed to the ground. There was no table. So they were holding their meals wrapped in taro leaves with their hands and putting their drinks on the floor or a block in front of them.

Fried fish, grilled chicken, tomato stew with beans, cassava donuts, porridge, and mango juice were being sold at light speed. And before the service, a bit of patience was required.

"Mami Makala, when is it going to be my turn? I have been waiting for too long now," a man in uniform extremely vexed complained to the aged lady vendor behind the flames at the opposite side of the venue.

The young Miss Suzie and her Uncle were standing next to the exit. An eight-year-old girl thus came up to their level and uttered to them: "Auntie, Baba, sit on the free space over there!".

"Thank you, sweetheart!" Uncle Bibi mumbled to the infant before grabbing his niece by her right arm and going to the bench that was shown to them.

The two siblings sat and like the rest of the customers, they waited for their turn. And after a few moments, the eight-year-old child came back to them.

"Auntie, Baba, what would you like to order?" She interrogated the Ekule's visitors.

"I can see by your appearance that you are not from the area. My guess is that you are from the imperial city, Ekule, aren't you?" The kid went on by making a remark to the two travelers who had not answered her previous question yet.

Embarrassed that the too-curious little girl would blow their disguise up, Uncle Bibi blinked at her and discreetly sent a hush. Then he murmured to her ears: "Bring for each of us a big fried mackerel with five cassava donuts and a cup of sweetened porridge!"

"Okay, Baba! I will be right back," she excitedly replied and left.

A few instants later, she came back with two taro leaves filled with food. She handed over one to Uncle Bibi, then said: "Bwam Baba" and delivered the other one to the young maiden Suzie and uttered: "Bwami Auntie".

"Oh, so you are from the Batumba empire!" Uncle Bibi exclaimed and the infant nodded.

She retreated for a short time and returned with two cups of hot porridge. She laid them on the brick in front of the imperial city guests who wasted no time savoring their repast. The young Miss Suzie had slightly unwrapped her scarf and let just enough space to slip the tasty fried fish and the crispy cassava donuts in.

Uncle Bibi rearranged his fedora hat so it would not allow his eyes to be visible. He ate with caution.

Once done with the core part of the meal, the two siblings drank up their porridge.

"Now it's time to get out of here and find a room for the night," Uncle Bibi muttered to Suzie while standing up and removing from the right pocket of his boubou two imperial Batangi.

He called the little girl from the Batumba empire with a hand sign. She attended to him and he quizzed her: "How much is our bill?"

"One imperial Batangi," she replied.

"Here are two coins. Keep the change!" Uncle Bibi responded while smiling at her.

Then the middle-aged man turned toward his niece Suzie then whispered to her: "Let's go, darling!" And they walked out of the restaurant.

The sun had faded away. So they hastened their steps in the hope of getting a shelter where they could rest for the night.

Uncle Bibi saw from a distance a signboard with the inscription "Four Batangi for a journey to the Kingdom of Iyô".

"Over there, we can slumber!" He declared while pointing in the direction of a hotel with his right index.

"Follow me!" He instructed his niece.