Beginning Beyond The Horizon

In the early morning, the sounds of nature echo in the forest. As the sun rises, the shadows on the ground in the middle of the grass has deviated from its original position.

The men looked at each other with cold eyes, testing each other's fighting will. Standing in the middle of the grassland, the men stood face to face. No one is willing to surrender to the other party, and no one is willing to give up on the woman who is still standing among the sixteen men.

Wadi said quietly, "There is no need to waste time staring at them, they will not back down. Let's end it quickly. Malik is not a patient person." Wadi patted the tiger's head gently and kissed it. "Tear 'em apart." He unhooked the leash from the tiger's collar.

As soon as Wadi let go of the leash, the tiger sprinted forward ferociously, past Wadi's nine men, and flew straight towards Hajime. Hajime grabbed the whip at his waist and swung it directly at the sprinting tiger. Hitting the tiger in the middle of its forehead, causing the tiger to land a few feet away from Hajime and Yul.

The tiger shook his head, shaking off the pain Hajime had caused him. He looked up at Hajime with golden eyes and saw a huge black panther standing between him and Hajime. The tiger did not attack, but growled lowly at Hajime, waiting for the master's order. The tiger did not dare to attack. The tiger's eyes locked on the big black panther standing in front of the six people.

When Wadi finally decided to give the order, the five Tanzanies and Bong had jumped from the backs of the three wolves. The three wolves stepped forward and stood beside the black panther. Looking at the four giant beasts and the six men standing in front of Wadi unwilling to retreat, Wadi knew that these people were not ordinary merchants. Wadi gave a short whistle, and the tiger slowly retreated, his eyes still locked on the black panther and the three wolves. Wadi hooked the leash in his hand onto the hook on the tiger's collar. He took one last look at the Tanzanies and Bong before starting to walk away.

When the woman was sure that Wadi and his men were out of sight and could not return to harm her, she turned and stared at the six men and their beasts. She fell to her knees.

"Please, if you let me go, you men can take turns sleeping with me, please let me go," she said, tears streaming down her face. She looked up at the man again. "You can do whatever you want to me, but when you're done, let me go."

Michio quickly closed his eyes and sighed. "Amitabha. Karma...karma..." he said, shaking his head.

Abrafo walked up to the woman kneeling on the ground. He knelt down and lifted the woman's chin with his right hand. "Even if you cry, you still look beautiful," Abrafo ssaid with a smile. He lowered his voice and moved closer to the two women. "I only sleep with virgins." He joked.

The woman looked at Abrafo and said with trembling lips, "I am... I am... still a virgin."

Abrafo smiled and said, "So, who among us do you want to give your virginity to?"

The woman looked at Abrafo, then at the four Tanzanies and Bong, and then she said, "You..."

Abrafo smiled coquettishly and asked, "Why?"

"You look... you look strong," the woman replied in a trembling voice.

Abrafo stood up and looked at his friends and Bong, who stood a few feet away from him. He turned to look at Bong, his happy eyes meeting Bong's death stare. He mocked, "Did everyone hear clearly this young woman's choice?" He smiled. "She chose to let me sleep with her first."

"If you still want to keep your brother, I suggest you keep your belt fasten," Bong said through gritted teeth.

Yul sighed and walked up to Abrafo and the young woman. "Stop teasing her, she's already scared," Yul said looking at the young woman. "My lady, we are not merchants. We are just travelers who happen to be passing through this area. My friend..." He looked at Abrafo and then back at the frightened young woman. "He's just teasing you; you can go."

"But first, let us help you remove those shackles," U-ri said, stepping forward with a hairpin in his hand.

After U-ri unlocked the young woman's shackles, she looked at the six men and said, "You six are some of the kindest people I have ever met. Are you Dreakori too?"

U-ri said, "No. We are Tanzanies, from Tanzang Kingdom."

The young woman looked at U-ri for a moment, with a confused look on her face. "I have never heard of such a kingdom," she said and then paused for a moment. "This land is vast, with kingdoms and cities, so it's no wonder I've never heard of it." She bit her lip hesitantly.

Yul looked at the young woman. From the expression on the woman's face, Yul knew that the woman was hesitant to speak. "Speak freely," Yul said.

The woman looked at Yul, who stood taller than the other five men. She said softly, "My name is Ya. My cousin and I were captured by Malik's men, but we escaped with other prisoners. We found a hiding place, and I was supposed to seek help, but I was captured again by Malik's men." She reached out and grabbed Yul's left hand. "Heroes, since you saved me, please go and save the others. If Malik's men break through my cousin's defense, they will probably be killed and sold."

Yul quickly withdrew his hand. He asked, "How were you captured?"

Ya said, "You may not know because you are not from here." She sighed. "I bet that before you came to Dreake Kingdom, you might have heard about how magical this kingdom is."

U-ri said, "This is what we heard, and this is why we are here." 

Ya explained, "Dreake Kingdom is not what you heard. What you heard is the story of the northern area of Dreake Kingdom and a small part of the southern Dreake Kingdom. The vase land between the north and south cities is known as the 'Middle Kingdom' and many people choose not to live here."

Hajime asked, "Why?"

Ya said, "Because the middle kingdom is known as the resting place of the Son of Fire. Everyone is worried that if the Son of Fire wakes up from his slumber, he will burn everyone to ashes."

Bong said, "I have heard about the Middle Kingdom, but not in detail. All I know about the Middle Kingdom is that there are only two cities in the entire Middle Kingdom. Is this true?"

Ya looked at Bong and said, "Yes, it is true." She looked at Bong again. "Now that you know this, do you also know that Dreake Kingdom..."

Bong said, "Although Dreake Kingdom is one of the largest kingdoms outside of Misnix, but Dreake is a disunified kingdom that is different from Misnix." He continued. "Dreake Kingdom is known as one kingdom with ten thousand lords." He turned to looked at the five Tanzanies. "The only reason why Dreake Kingdom was not invaded is that everyone is afraid of the gatekeepers of the South Sea."

U-ri said, "So you're saying we're entering a kingdom of lawlessness?"

Bong said, "What I want to say is that Dreake Kingdom is controlled by warlords, not kings or emperors."

Abrafo grabbed onto Bong's arm. "Hey, why didn't you reveal this information to us when we were at the inn?" He asked.

Bong pulled Abrafo's hand away from his upper arm and said, "You didn't ask."

"You knew from the beginning that we were entering the lawless Middle Kingdom controlled by warlords. Don't you think this information is important enough to share?" Abrafo frowned angrily.

"Hmm..." Bong replied. "I thought you knew what you were getting into."

"You..." Abrafo gasped angrily through his nostrils.

U-ri asked, "So does this mean that every big city in Dreake Kingdom has its own lord?"

Ya answered, "Sadly yes. "It's like what the gentleman just said." She looked at the six men and knew that if she spent fifteen days traveling back to Maka city and brought people to rescue the prisoners, it would be too late. "I promised that I would tell you everything you want to know about the Middle Kingdom, but in the meantime, please go rescue my cousin and the other captives first. My cousin and the other captives won't last long. By the time I came back with my rescuers, they were probably dead or recaptured by Malik's men."

Yul said, "We have released you; you can go and seek help."

Ya grabbed Yul's hand again and begged, "Please kind sir, it will take me fifteen days to reach Maka city and fifteen days to return. My cousin and others cannot hold on that long. There is no food and water, they will only last seven days, and it has been three days since I last saw them."

U-ri said, "Fetching water from a distance will not put out the fire in time." He looked at the men. "What do you say?"

Yul asked, "How many people are there?"

Ya said, "Twelve, including my cousin."

Abrafo asked, "What about Malik's men? How many are there?"

Ya said in a trembling voice, "Two...three...I mean, maybe three hundred people."

Bong looked at Ya and said, "There are only five of us? How do you think we can beat three hundred people." He looked at the woman. "Since you escaped, consider yourself lucky."

Hajime knew that seeing this injustice, Yul would definitely help, as would the other Tanzanies, but hearing Ya tell her story made Hajime wonder why Malik's men would capture them. "Since you told us your story, you didn't mention why you were captured in the first place?" Hajime asked. 

Ya said, "My uncle Baqer is also a merchant, so I came with my cousin to help her deliver some merchandise to buyers."

Hajime looked at Ya and asked, "Are those products you are talking about are human beings?"

Ya said, "Not all, but..."

Hajime looked at Ya angrily and said, "If you are like them, why do you think we will lend a helping hand to help you?"