After leaving Taufik, Jaan quickly goes to his tribe. He needs to report this whole incident to his chief.
--------
Although they live in modern times, there's still many tribes across the world still live in seclusion.
They live in seclusion for two reasons. The first is to preserve their traditional culture so that it doesn't disappear due to modernization. The second is to protect the nearly extinct spirits because of mana contamination. They chose to stay where mana remained somewhat pure so the spirits could survive.
The Dai-Yak Tribe is one that chose to live in seclusion.
Once before, they tried to open themselves up to the outside world, but the results did not end well.
--------
When the Dai-Yak Tribe tried to open up to the outside world, the first to welcome them was the Rune Family.
A long time ago, the Rune Family was not as strong as they are now, so the relationship went smoothly without any obstacles.
--------
At that time, the Dai-Yak princess still didn't know anything and was curious about the outside world. From the moment she could remember, she had always been in the village of her tribe.
The head of the Rune Family at that time had three sons. The eldest and the middle sons were already married, leaving only the youngest, Argus, who was still single.
Because the tribe princess and Argus were the same age, they quickly grew close.
Seeing their children become close, the Rune Family's head had a bold idea, which he immediately told the chief of the Dai-Yak Tribe.
"... As proof of our bond, why don't we have our two kids marry? That way, not only will we be partners in business, but we can become family as well. What do you think, Chief?"
The chief didn't think the idea was too bad, but the problem was that he only had one daughter, and he didn't want to ignore his child's happiness for something like "friendship" with someone else. So, he had to talk to his daughter first before making a decision.
The tribe princess, upon hearing the news, was happy. The thought that she would be able to marry Argus made her happy.
In her eyes, Argus was a good person, kind to everyone. The thought of marrying such a person, of course, made her happy, and she immediately agreed to the marriage.
But one thing she didn't know was that beyond the innocent face, Argus showed, he was hiding a very deep darkness; he just hadn't revealed it yet.
Seeing that his daughter was willing, the chief couldn't do anything.
Upon hearing this, the Rune Family head was very happy.
And just like that, Argus and the tribe princess got married. After that, the bond between the two grew stronger day by day.
Not long after, their first child was born. Everyone in the tribe and the Rune Family was overjoyed at the news.
But problems arose when the Rune Family's head died due to an illness he had suffered from.
Of course, the eldest son was supposed to take his place as the next Rune Family's head, but Argus didn't like that.
So secretly, Argus made a poison he had learned from his wife's book and then gave it to his brother's food.
Because the poison was so lethal, his two brothers died instantly. To avoid suspicion, Argus also took the poison, but only in a non-lethal dose.
At first, Argus's wife, the tribe princess, was the main suspect. But with Argus's strong denial, she was freed from the allegations, and the culprit was never discovered.
However, everything changed when Argus's son, Rijal, who was ten years old at the time, found a box among his mother's belongings. He then gave the box to his father. When they opened it, they found a bottle and a book.
After analysis, the bottle was found to contain the same poison that had killed Argus's brothers, and the book detailed the method for making the poison.
All according to Argus's plan. With his wife taking all the blame, he, with a "heavy heart" had to imprison her. But only Argus knew where her prison was.
And just like that, the Dai-Yak Tribe was unable to do anything because the evidence was so overwhelming, yet they remained convinced that she couldn't have done all of this.
Since her imprisonment, no news of the tribe princess had been heard until now.
But then, after a long time had passed, they heard news from Argus that if they killed someone for Argus and obtained that person's artifact, they would be given news about their tribe's princess.
--------
After sending his men to the shaman, Jaan quickly went to meet the chief to tell him everything he knew.
"Where is the chief? I have to tell him something important"
Ask Jaan to his fellow Tribeman, who's guarding in front of Village Hall, seeing that the one asking was Jaan, the Guard immediately said.
"The chief is inside... Wait, I'll see if you can go Inside, Jaan"
The Guard said and then Immediately entered the village hall, while Jaan could only nod his head. After waiting for a moment, the Guard back and then gestured toward Jaan.
"Jaan, You can go in"
Hearing that, Jaan didn't say anything more and quickly entered the village hall to meet the chief, who was discussing something with the tribe elders.
Seeing Jaan, The chief and The elders, known as 'Panglima' stopped their discussion and looked at Jaan.
"Jaan, is your mission complete?"
"No, Chief. We have failed the mission. Please forgive us"
"You failed?! Jaan!! Do you know how important this mission was?"
The Chief said, showing a look of disappointment in Jaan. But it was quickly replaced by sadness.
"Chief, I'm not done, I have some very Important Information to share"
Jaan said, taking a moment to pause before continuing to speak.
"We are fooled... The Rune Family fooled us... The information we received was wrong. The person they ordered us to kill was very strong. But luckily, he was kind enough not to kill us after we attacked him"
After he said that, Jaan bowed his head. Then said in a sad tone.
"Chief, Panglima, I Have Disappointed You... I'm Sorry"
"... The information was wrong?... That damn Rune Family. I already suspected something when they said they would give us information about our princess so easily"
One of the Panglima said.
"Chief, we can't just stay quiet like this. We have to do something"
Another of the seven Panglima said, having had enough of the Rune Family's deeds.
"Sword Panglima, you know we can't do that. They have our weaknesses, so we cannot act recklessly. Everything has its time"
The chief said, then looked at Jaan.
"Jaan, do you know the name of your target? We have to thank him for sparing your lives later"
"Yes, Chief, I know his name. If I'm not mistaken, he said his name was Taufik D'Archy Hidayat"
"!!!"
Hearing the name "Hidayat," the chief and the seven Panglima had surprised expressions.
But Jaan, who was looking down, couldn't see their reactions.
"Hi-Hidayat? Are you sure he said Hidayat?"
The chief asked. "Hidayat" was a surname they could never forget because not many could use it.
The "Hidayat" they knew and could never forget belonged to a tribe from Sulawesi Island, The Bou-Gis Tribe.
"Yes, I'm sure it's Hidayat. Is something wrong, Chief?"
Jaan said, raising his head and looking at the chief with a confused expression.
"No, nothing is wrong. You may go. As for the Rune Family, we'll handle it somehow... Go rest for now"
"Yes. Thank you, Chief. I will take my leave then"
After Jaan left, the seven Panglima and the chief looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Before long, one of the seven Panglima spoke up.
"We didn't hear it wrong, right? He said 'Hidayat,' didn't he?"
"Yeah, he said that. But from what I know, the 'Hidayat' from the Bou-Gis Tribe is nearly extinct. It's impossible for them to leave Sulawesi Island, so why is he here, on our land?"
"You know the Bou-Gis, right? They always like to roam around, so maybe-"
"No, that's not possible. The 'Hidayat' are like royalty in the Bou-Gis Tribe. There's no way they'd let one roam around freely"
"But I said maybe... Just maybe"
"Even so, it's impossible"
Looking at his seven Panglima arguing, the chief just massaged his forehead. Thought.
'We have our own problems, you know? And yet, you're discussing another tribe instead of focusing on us...'
"Enough. Let's forget about the Bou-Gis Tribe for now and talk about what we need to do about the Rune Family first, okay?"
"... Yeah"
"You right"
"Okay"
"Hmmm"
"..."
"..."
"Tch!"
Seeing all of his Panglima agreed, the chief began their discussion on how to deal with the Rune Family.
--------
Back to Taufik-
Next chapter!!!
....
...
..
.