Jean and the others headed straight south. After riding for half a day, they took a break for the horses, then started riding again. They stopped at a village to get water and then started riding again. The hard journey continued for a whole day, and it was a very tough journey for Jean. However, Zaad followed Zaid's words and treated Jean well.
After all, Jean was only four years old, Zaad remembered Zaid's words and ran his horse while holding the sleeping Jean in his arms. Someone from Zaad's Squad was pulling Jean's horse. After riding for a few hours, one of Zaad's men signaled to stop and prepare a meal. Zaad got off his horse while holding the sleeping Jean in his arms, and looked around. He then laid Jean on a thick cloth and talked with some of his subordinates.
"Young Master Zaad, dinner is ready."
"Okay."
Zaad nodded and woke up the sleeping Jean. However, Jean was still fast asleep, sucking his fingers.
"Jean, wake up."
Zaad gently pulled Jean's hand and made him sit up.
"Hmm?"
"Dinner is ready."
"Uh, huh..."
"Wake up."
Zaad spoke again, and Jean, asleep until now, woke up. The surroundings were dark, and the desert was cold.
"Dinner is ready. Eat it."
"Ah, okay."
Zaad said, and Jean, who was still sleepy, nodded and took the bowl from Zaad's subordinate. When he put the warm meal in his mouth on a cold night, Jean was fully awake and started to eat. Zaad sat next to Jean and ate quietly.
"Do you want more?"
"If there's more, I'd like to eat more."
Zaad asked, and Jean nodded. Zaad took some rice from his bowl and put it in Jean's bowl.
"Ah, but it's brother's rice..."
"No problem."
Zaad said and ate again.
"Eat."
"Yes, thank you."
Jean nodded and ate again. Unlike Sabadda and Salam, Jean thought Zaad was a quiet person. Jean understood that he should not expect Zaad's kindness when he showed it. That's because Zaad was the next head of the family and a qualified assassin.
"Are you done eating?"
"Yes."
"Then have some tea."
Zaad took the kettle and brewed tea in Jean's bowl.
"Thank you, Brother."
Jean said, slowly drinking the hot tea. It was very calming, Jean thought and drank it to the last drop. Zaad's men collected the bowls, wiped them clean, and extinguished the fire. Jean thought as he looked at them that they were going to go.
"If you want to relieve yourself, now is the time."
"Ah, yes."
When Zaad said that, Jean nodded and went to the horse's shadow. It was pitch black in the desert, so travelers always did that.
When Jean returned, they had already finished preparing. Jean washed his hands with the remains of the horse's drink, and one of Zaad's men put away the bucket. When Jean was about to return to his horse, Zaad called him.
"You're still sleepy, aren't you?"
"Yes, I do."
When Jean answered obediently, Zaad smiled, picked Jean up, and rode his horse.
"If you're sleepy, go to sleep."
"Hmm... I'll do it a little later. I just ate dinner..."
When Jean said that, Zaad laughed lightly and gave the signal. They started moving again for a while.
On the way, they stopped at a small village, changed horses, got water, and set off again. They continued on this journey for three days. Seeing they hadn't slept, Jean worried and asked Zaad during a meal break. However, Zaad laughed when he heard Jean's question and asked his subordinates sitting nearby.
"We are getting used to it."
They all answered.
"Well, I'm not used to it, though..."
"Jean is only four years old, so it's no wonder you are not used to it."
Zaad poured tea into Jean's bowl as he said this.
"Besides, everyone here is a chosen people, and they don't have half-assed strength."
Zaad poured tea into his own bowl as he said this, and drank it slowly.
"You're all amazing!"
Jean blinked, then drank the contents of his bowl again. Hearing his words, Zaad and the others smiled. Then they quickly cleared away the dishes.
"We'll arrive at Asbi tomorrow before noon. We'll go straight to Armiya."
"How far is Asbi and Armiya?"
"Not too far."
Zaad answered as he rode his horse.
"Asbi is a big village. Armiya is part of it."
"Is there a big oasis?"
"Yes."
Zaad answered.
"Brother, how did you know that the pirates' language wasn't Tux?"
"The person who reported it spoke Tux, so he reported it because he couldn't understand what they were saying."
"I see."
Jean nodded.
"It takes us around three days to get from Magraf Village to Asbi Village. But the report arrived from Asbi and went to Magraf Village in two days. Is that because it was sent by Evska?"
Jean asked, and Zaad shook his head.
"Evska is Sahim's special bird. The bird reporting this time is the messenger hawk, Elkios."
"Elkios..."
Jean nodded and curled up.
"Birds are amazing!"
"Hahaha, you're right."
When Jean said that, Zaad laughed.
"Do you like birds?"
"Yes, I do."
Jean answered honestly.
"Mother also likes birds, and one of them, wherever Mother goes, that bird is always flying around her in the sky."
"Oh. What kind of bird is it?"
"Hmm, I've never seen one in Urda, but that bird is very docile. It has a black bump on its head, a big, black beak, and big eyes. It's cute though."
"Oh."
"That bird is big, its body is yellow, but the tips of its wings are black, its tail is long, and its long feathers are black. Its favorite food is bananas."
"What's its name?"
"I called it 'Poko', but don't know its real name."
"Poko, huh? That's a cute name, hahaha."
Zaad laughed.
"Yeah, it's a bird whose cry is easy to understand, 'Poko, Poko'."
"I see."
Zaad nodded.
"Yawn~"
"Go to sleep now. We'll be busy tomorrow."
"Okay. Good night."
"Good night."
Zaad said, and Jean slept on Zaad's chest.
The next morning.
As soon as they arrived near Asbi Village, they started moving separately. Jean moves with Zaad, and they head to the inn. After getting a room, Zaad took Jean to see the pirate ship in question.
"I'll call myself Abdul. Abdul Alam."
"Yes, Brother."
"You're Usman Alam, my son. That's the easier setting."
"Okay."
Zaad said, and Jean nodded. Zaad fixed Jean's cloak and put it over his head. The two went to the port and looked at the ship. As expected, the pirate ship in question was anchored again. A little distance away, there was a destroyed ship.
It was a fishing boat, Zaad thought.
Zaad looked around slowly. Sometimes Jean spoke loudly.
"Dad, I'm hungry!"
When Jean said this loudly, Zaad went into an empty restaurant. Inside, people were already drinking, even though it was still before noon.
"Give me something tasty. Is this enough?"
Zaad handed over some money and asked the owner, who nodded.
Because this is a restaurant, unlike a restaurant that only provides an eating place, the owner cooks food according to his mood and sells it cheaply. That's why there is no menu, Zaad thought. But this situation is terrible.
"Bring me some alcohol!"
A man who seemed to be a pirate suddenly spoke loudly, and the owner trembled and brought a bottle of alcohol.
It was the Urda language, Zaad thought.
However, the drunk man near him started singing in a language Zaad didn't know. Jean listened to the man's voice with his ears tilted to the side. The man drank some alcohol and continued singing.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
The restaurant owner brought the food and set it on the table.
"There aren't many customers today, are there?"
"Ah, yes."
Zaad asked, and the owner glanced at the customer who was singing loudly, and nodded.
"Dad, I'm hungry!"
Jean said, and Zaad nodded with a smile. The owner also smiled and handed him a drink.
"Is he your child?"
"Yes."
Zaad piled food on Jean's plate and answered.
"He takes after his mother, doesn't he?"
"Hahaha, that's true. Sons look a lot like their mothers."
Zaad nodded with a smile and ate some of his food.
"It's okay."
Zaad said, looking at Jean with a gentle smile and putting the plate down.
"Here, eat it."
"Yay!"
Jean smiled happily, took what Zaad had eaten, and ate it. The owner smiled, grabbed a towel, and put it before Jean. Zaad nodded. Then he took the towel and wiped Jean's cheek with a smile. Zaad thanked him, and the owner smiled and returned to the kitchen.
The two drunks in the distance looked at Jean and Zaad eating in such a harmonious atmosphere and sulked. After the two talked about something, one of them got up from his seat. He picked up the bottle and walked towards Zaad and Jean.
"Hey! Give me the turtle!"
The man who spoke Urdan said, and Zaad tilted his head.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
When Zaad said that, the man shook the bottle in anger. However, Zaad's foot kicked his leg first. His staggering body hit the floor, not even moving. The bottle the man was holding rolled and landed at Zaad's feet.
"That's bad."
Zaad stood up and picked up the bottle. Seeing his friend lying motionless, the other man picked up an empty bottle nearby while saying something incomprehensible and attacked Zaad. However, Zaad calmly grabbed his hand, quickly took the bottle, and twisted the man's hand.
"Hey, customer."
"What?"
The restaurant owner came running in with a pale face.
"I hope you don't cause too much trouble with them..."
"They attacked us, didn't they? They said something incomprehensible like, "Give us a turtle..." and suddenly tried to hit us with the bottle."
Zaad put down the bottle and lightly tapped the man on the neck. Then, the man suddenly stopped flinching.
"Their friends are in this village. They will surely be angry if they are left without them."
When the shopkeeper said this, Zaad thought deeply.
"So what should we do with these two?"
"Let's carry them to the back of the store."
"Okay."
Zaad nodded, looked at the two men, and immediately carried one of the pirates to the back of the store as the owner said. He returned and saw the owner struggling to move someone on the way, so he helped him. In the end, Zaad carried both of them to the back of the store. The owner picked up a bottle of wine nearby, took a drink, laughed, and cursed them. Zaad looked at the shopkeeper silently, then went back inside the restaurant.
However, Jean who was supposed to have a meal, was not there. Zaad went outside the store and looked around.
He was not there.
Zaad went back inside the store and asked the owner when he returned. However, the owner said he had not seen him.
"Even the guards are useless in this village. Their comrades must have seen your son and kidnapped him. I hope he's safe..."
Having heard what the owner said, Zaad looked at the owner and went outside without saying a word.
If the culprits were pirates, Zaad thought, their movements were too quick. Zaad deduced that it was an adult holding a small child, or an adult leading him by the hand, and walked to the port looking for the guards.
They weren't there.
There might not even be a guard in this town. Even if there were, Zaad thought, they were all useless people. Not a single person at the port had noticed Jean.
As the owner said, Zaad wondered if it was normal for a child to be kidnapped. It was conceivable that Jean would have cried or screamed to call for help. However, when he asked the people at the port, no one had witnessed anything.
This meant that Jean might have been carried away unconscious. Or maybe Jean would go with them himself, Zaad thought, looking troubled as he returned to the front of the store and looked around. Then he noticed something.
For some reason, the towel the store owner had handed him was under a tree.