Babida the lumberjack accompanied by the young maiden Suzie and Uncle Bibi arrived with the imperial sentinel to the office of the late Governor's henchman, Polo.

When they entered the circular room, the deceased Governor's aide-de-camp was sitting behind his wooden desk and he was holding a papyrus in his right hand.

The thirty-year-old henchman had his face plunged into the document and was reading its extremely important imperial message.

"Here is Babida the lumberjack, sir!" The imperial messenger exclaimed to introduce the guest.

The aide-de-camp Polo halted his reading and glanced at the door where the woodsman he called for and the imperial sentinel he had commissioned were standing but also the young miss Suzie and the former imperial army's Commander, Uncle Bibi.

"My heartfelt respects, My Commander!" Polo said as he rose to salute the middle-aged man.

"What a great surprise! Polo the cunning!" replied Uncle Bibi, calling the tall and svelte young man by his nickname.

The late Governor's aide-de-camp was attributed his alias when he debuted in the imperial army ten years ago.

He was assigned to the regiment of Ekule where Uncle Bibi was enrolled too and had back then the rank of Caporal.

During an intensive elite training camp, the youngster Polo faked a knee injury to get sick leave.

The Commander of the elite unit at the time granted the rookie Polo a few weeks to recover after the imperial doctor confirmed that the freshman's knee was indeed swollen up from a heavy shock sustained during the training camp.

On the day of the made-up incident, the young Polo went discreetly right after sunrise to a bee nest lodged on a palm tree in the little woods behind the barracks.

He pinched a bee with two thin sticks and self-inflicted the insect's venomous sting on his knee which began to swell.

He then removed the animal's stinger to slow down the knee inflammation and rushed back to the barracks where a new elite training session was about to kick off.

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He immediately joined the ranks and participated in the military tests until when it came to climbing a wall and he could no longer, for his knee had become enormously swollen.

His comrades evacuated him for the military infirmary within the barracks where the doctor declared him inapt to pursue the training.

Later he revealed his cheating to his comrades but Toma, an elite fighter who was often in conflict with him and need of recognition from the hierarchy, sold him out.

The Commander of the elite unit, to punish the rookie Polo for his act of cowardice, ordered he be thrown in the arena lodged in the middle of the barracks' main yard and the starved lion in the cage beneath be unleashed for a life and death combat.

The slender fighter alone face-to-face with his fate surprised his comrades with an unexpected trick he had anticipated.

The night before his arrestation, the young Polo knowing the preferred punishment of the Commander of the regiment was to throw the trepasser either to the dean of lion or the stream of crocodiles, invoked Iyô, the god of deep sleep who gave him a magic sleeping potion in exchange of his herd of sheep.

He thus poured the enchanted liquid on his dinner which he then wrapped with aluminum foil and hid in the pocket of his silk trousers. The meal comprised grilled lamb and boiled rice.

As instructed, a squad of five imperial sentinels conducted the youngster Polo to the arena and released the lion. The animal came out very nervous, for he was extremely hungry.

Without wasting time, the tall and slim fighter removed the package in his pocket. He tore it, and launched its content toward the wildcat.

The latter sprung on the lamb and voraciously devoured it. As soon it was done, it fell unconscious on the ground and deeply snoozed.

Amazed by his intelligence, the young Polo's comrades who feared for his life, nicknamed him Polo the cunning. And since then, he had been greatly popular among his peers and highly regarded by his superiors.

BACK TO THE PRESENT

Uncle Bibi looked at the now mature and accomplished man Polo and walked up to him as the latter stepped on the left side of his desk.

The two men warmly shook hands and couldn't help congratulating each other for their achievements.

Uncle Bibi stressed out that his time had passed and wished his younger comrade Polo a richer career than his at the service of His Majesty, Emperor Batang V.

The two men's volubility finally annoyed Babida the lumberjack who felt forgotten. The woodsman had been requested by the aide-de-camp Polo and was impatient the latter turned his attention to him and revealed to him whatever he had to say.

The imperial guard and the young maiden Suzie were more relaxed than the logger and admired the numerous eye-catching wild animal sculptures that were featured in the late Governor's henchman's office.

And at last, the lengthy conversation of Uncle Bibi and his younger comrade Polo came to an end and the late Governor's aide-de-camp fixed now his gaze on his office's entrance.

”Oh, pardon me!" He exclaimed very sorry and rushed toward the three other individuals.

"Thank you, Abo! You can now leave," he said to the imperial messenger who gave him in return a salute and left.

"I greet you, comrade Babida," He then told the logger who returned the politeness with a military salute.

The henchman Polo glared at the miss behind the woodsman and was struck by her unique beauty.

"May I know who this exquisite creature of our ancestors is?" He asked Babida the lumberjack.

"Well sir, that's our dear companion Suzie from the imperial city Ekule. That's in fact Commander Bibi's beautiful niece," replied the woodsman to the late Governor's henchman Polo.

"Oh, I see. Young Miss, be welcome to our headquarters!" The late Governor's aide-de-camp Polo addressed Suzie who slightly bowed her head to pay her respects to him.

He thereafter redirected his focus on the man he called for, that was to say Babida the lumberjack.

"First of all dear comrade, I would like to underscore that I was extremely disturbed by your imprisonment by the late Governor, His Highness Kola II," He confessed regretfully to the logger.

"It was a sad event. I suggest we simply let it go and focus on the current challenges that the Batang empire is facing," the late Governor's aide-de-camp Polo added.

"I have right here a message of extreme significance from His Majesty Batang V," he uttered while showing the papyrus in his right hand.