h.e.l.lo Readers,
Apologize for the long delay. Office and RL had been craaazzzeh these last few weeks. This is 3/15 chapters owed (including the ones this week).
As always, looking forward to your review, ratings and reading list inclusion on , or just some simple comments on the novel page! Enjoy the read!
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Wiro Sableng Book 2 Chapter 15
That night, for the many times in that big camping area a meeting was held. This meeting was apparently of utmost importance as the outskirts of the camp was heavily guarded with numerous guards. The meeting was important not only due to the arrival of the two allies of the rebel side, Duke Warok Gluduk from Rajasitu and Duke Tapak Ireng from Ratujaya, but also due to the arrival of a news brought by a courier of Raden Werku Alit from the Capital. As usual, this vital meeting was chaired by Mahesa Birawa that was sitting at the head of the table. After the five Dukes were all seated and drank, Mahesa Birawa promptly opened the discussion.
"First of all allow me, on behalf of the Dukes that arrived before you, and also on behalf of Raden Werku Alit, to extend our welcome to Duke Warok Gluduk and Duke Tapak Ireng. And then we also express our grat.i.tude and utmost respect to the determination of the two Dukes to be willing to help and ally in this fight to our grand ambition of overthrowing Pajajaran, toppling Kamandaka from the Royal Throne as actually as long as Raden Werku Alit still breathes, then Kamandaka has no right whatsoever to become the King of Pajajaran…"
Mahesa Birawa twirled his mustache two-three times and then continued his speech, "Secondly, this meeting is also meant to discuss on the information conveyed by the messenger from the Capital. He elaborated that two of our spies had been caught. One of them was killed and the other one committed a suicide. Their bodies were thrown into the river. Regarding this event, there were only very little information, and they were all over the place, thus I still can"t make heads or tails of how our spies encountered such end. The worst news was that one of our main ally, Captain Kalasrenggi had also met his end. He was hung in an old temple in Lima.n.a.luk Valley. His death was very weird and all the information available was even more of a mess than the former. According to the messenger from Raden Werku Alit, when the Royal Army went to the temple, Kalasrenggi was no longer alive, hung upside down and on his forehead was branded three numbers, 212…"
Mahesa Birawa looked around and saw the expressions of the Dukes were in awe, "It is hard to investigate who was the one killing Kalasrenggi and the meaning of the 212 numbers were also hard to decipher! Besides that, after that happened, the King ordered a full scale sweeping in the Kingdom. Luckily, all of our agents were already gone, and according to Raden Werku Alit, up to the time he was sending this messenger, there was still no suspicion whatsoever over the lord. However, in these one to two days he will personally head here for our final discussion, deciding the timing of the attack on Pajajaran. Raden Werku Alit hopes that we remain ready…" After a brief silence, Duke Lanabelong from Kendil with his bald head drank his wine. After playing it a bit in his mouth, he asked, "Up to this moment, how big is Pajajaran Army"s force?"
"According to the information from Kalasrenggi before his death last time, there were more than 2000 soldiers. In terms of number of soldiers, they are indeed stronger than us. We number only in the six hundreds, but please don"t let that problem worry fellow Dukes. There is a reason why I could tell that you don"t need to worry: Firstly, in a war, the bigger number don"t always become the deciding factor in s.n.a.t.c.hing victory. It is often that smaller troops managed to defeat the bigger number. This is mainly because in reality powers or numbers are not the decisive factor, instead tactic is more determining than others. With a high level, complete tactic, by knowing where the weaknesses in the Pajajaran troops" defenses, we can definitely bring chaos to them in a blink of a an eye! Secondly, in the battle, speed and correct attack timing is of utmost importance. When the enemy was careless, even though their number was big, they can be put to ruin and wiped by our troops even though smaller. The same thing also works for our troops. We will attack in surprise, with an ambus.h.!.+ Pajajaran will only know of our troops right when we are in front of their nose! And by that time, they will have no more chance to prepare. I believe by holding on to those two tactics fastly, it won"t be hard for us to take care of Pajajaran. Moreover the Dukes a.s.sembled here are also not people with low level martial might. At the least you all are disciples of well-known Martial arts schools as well, right?"
The corners of the Five Dukes" lips rose slightly. They were all indeed the inheritor of various schools and sects, and their martial skills were indeed cannot be considered common and tras.h.!.+
"Besides", Mahesa Birawa further added, "Don"t forget the aid that will be provided by a famous figure of the martial world, Sage Sitaraga…"
"Oh! So the famous Sage dwelling at the summit of the Halimun Mountain will also help us?" asked Warok Gluduk, Duke of Rajasitu.
"Yes" said Mahesa Birawa.
"How did you make the Sage willing to help our fight?" Tapak Ireng asked.
"I knew that he had an enmity with the Old Kamandaka…" answered Mahesa Birawa
"Well then in just one day I imagine Pajajaran will be level with the ground…" said Warok Gluduk while rubbing his chin. And he could also already imagine the status and position he held when their coup reaped success.
It was drizzling that day. The night wind was blowing hard and cold. A figure was walking in a carefree manner. Regardless of the drizzle, nor the rain, regardless of the chill that bit down on the bones, he kept on walking, whistling even! At the end of the road he walked along a tall wall and once in a while, every certain distance, he pa.s.sed through some guards fully geared. In front of a gate guarded by eight soldiers the youngster stopped. He looked to his left and right, looking at the top of the gate and the looked at the line of guards with a stupid look. The gate guards at the beginning was just staring at him with curiosity, but at the end one of them barked at him, "You long haired lad! What do you plan lurking around here?!" Being barked at, the youngster was instead smiling.
"Do you not know where you are right now?!"yelled another soldier
"Ah… that is indeed what I want to ask, brothers. Is this the palace of the King of Pajajaran?" The eight pairs of eyes stared at him from top to bottom. There was no other conclusion they could get to other than this young man to be someone insane.
A rather middle-aged soldier walked forward, "Young lad, this is indeed the Palace of the King of Pajajaran. No one is allowed to stand idle around here for a long time…"
The youngster scratched his head, "If even standing is not allowed… I don"t even need to mention entering then…" he mumbled slowly to himself.
"Please step away from here," said that middle aged soldier.
"But I need to meet Rara Murni…" said the youngster. The soldier chuckled.
"No one is allowed to meet with the Princess… not to mention you…"
"This is a very important matter, brother!" insisted the youngster.
One of the other soldiers impatiently said, "Crazy lad, scram now, or the spear in my hand will make a nice b.u.mp on your head!"
But the youngster couldn"t care more of the threat. "Guards brother, please hear me out…" he said "I indeed is acquainted with Rara Murni. Perhaps I knew her more than any of you here. I must meet her. Just tell her that there is a long-haired young man named 212 that wish to meet her. She would know and let me inside…"
The eight guards all exploded with laugh. Some of them even sneered at him. One of them said, "You got the wrong address, my friend. You should be going to the Gendong Shaman in the Andawa village, asking some medicine from her so that the stupid, crazy brain of yours can be fixed a bit!"
"Who said that I"m crazy?!" the long-haired youngster yelled angrily.
"You are indeed not crazy! But you are definitely insane, or at least half-crazy!" And a loud wave of laughter was again heard in front of the palace gate!
"If you don"t want to give me entry, that"s also fine," exclaimed the youngster who was none other than the 212 Fighter Wiro Sableng. "But let me tell you one thing, I am not crazy. You are the crazy ones for laughing with no reason!" The youngster walked away, striding while whistling away.
Rara Murni could hardly believe what he saw when the door was opened and two figures walked inside. One of them was her servant, an old lady, while the other one was the long-haired youngster that rescued her the other day.
"We meet again, Rara," said Wiro Sableng. "I wasn"t granted entry at the gate, so I had to jump over the wall and forced this old lady to tell me your room…"
"What have you come here for, Brother 212?" asked Rara Murni
"Ah… It appears you still haven"t forgotten those numbers… Very good! Why I come here… of course to meet you." Said the 212 Fighter while leaning his back to the door that he closed before.
Rara Murni blushed red when she heard Wiro Sableng"s words. The figure of the young man who helped was indeed unforgettable to her, especially his fighting prowess. Thus she asked further, "Why do you want to meet me?"
"Oh, so I am not allowed to meet you?"
"That"s not what I meant, brother…"
"Listen, Rara… I must meet and talk to the King tonight…" Rara Murni was shocked to hear this
"What business do you have…?"
"Important matter. Very important…" Rara Murni pondered. The youngster was thus far known to be pure hearted, albeit noisy and often spoke nonsense. But then she hadn"t known for sure who he was exactly. It wasn"t impossible that he was also a traitor to the throne like Kalasrenggi, but one who conduct the tactics in another way, pretending to help at the first time and bite back at the next moment.
"Please just tell me your important matter, brother. I will surely convey it to the King…"
"This is not a women"s problem, Rara Murni" Wiro Sableng continued
Rara Murni who put his brother" Prabu Kamandaka"s safety above all could only answered, "I apologize, no matter what I cannot bring you to an audience with the King…"
Wiro Sableng said nothing in reply. He scratched his head, "It is indeed hard to believe to suach person as me. But no problem, meeting you has satisfied my heart". The martial artist laughed and saw that Rara Murni"s cheek had again turned blus.h.i.+ng red. Suddenly his left hand lightly moved forward with the index finger pressed forward. Without any sound, the servant that was kneeling now fell unconscious. Rara Murni was about to scream, but her mouth was shut by Wiro Sableng.
The youngster whispered, "Rara, the lady is fine. I just accublocked her so that she wouldn"t be able to break any secret. Please know that your palace is now full with traitors. I have no idea who the mastermind is yet! If I knew about it, I would have cracked his neck early and I"ll bring it to the King as a gift. I hope tomorrow morning, or better yet, tonight, you can bring the King to this room and get him to read my message." After conveying his message the 212 Fighter walked to the wall and used his index finger to write a message. He wrote a prose containing advices and warnings: "
In the near future a rebellion would break out to dethrone the King from his position, the palace is full of traitors with a straight face but crooked heart, prepare the troops outside the Kingdom"s wall. 212"
"Till we meet again Rara Murni." The 212 Fighter Wiro Sableng exclaimed after writing the prose. And then after he wrote the prose, he quickly left the room. Rara Murni chased to the door but the youngster had gone with the wind. When that night Rara Murni met the King and explained about the coming of that youngster, Prabu Kamandaka was shocked. With his large strides and without any guards accompanying him, the King went with his sister to her room. And it was indeed just like how his sister had explained… The walls of that room was made from stone and layered with an extremely hard white marble. Even with pickaxe, writing those verses will be very hard, yet the youngster had it written with the tip of his finger!
"What do you think brother?" asked Rara Murni to her brother.
That young man was definitely someone with an incredible martial might." Replied Prabu Kamandaka, "But what was written on this wall is something that I could yet believe. The Royal Army had done a sweeping, and not a single traitor was found…"
"Perhaps they"ve all run away and is preparing themselves somewhere hidden… outside the kingdom," continued Rara Murni.
Prabu Kamandaka rubbed his chin and said, "Keep this verses hidden, sister. Even though I can"t bring myself to believe him, I will still do another round of investigation." And Kamandaka left his sister"s chamber