I
Aida wakes up in her tank in a floating position. She inhaled the air from her breathing tube and reached over to the lid of the tank. She pushed the lid open, then climbed out wet to the tank ladder. She came down the stairs and opened the curtain that covered her mutagen tank.
There she saw the doctor was preparing a meal on the table. Eggs on beef with bread. Forks and spoons are neatly arranged on the table, Zahra has a class in organizing things.
"Miss Aida," she called.
Aida came out while wearing her last button, then a stool was pulled by the doctor. The two sat down and ate the breakfast that Zahra had prepared. A teapot was lifted by the doctor and poured into both glasses, Aida could smell the hot tea filling the glass.
The doctor tore one of the buns in half, passing one to Aida. They ate in the cold morning.
"Why is it so cold this morning?"
"Maybe it's because we're four hundred meters above the sea level."
"Are we on a hill?"
"Sure! Don't you know the existence of this fort?"
"No, I just woke up from the tank yesterday."
"Then now you know, it's quite cold here in the morning. That's why a lot of people don't want to get out of their tents at this time, except the workers."
Aida took a bite from her bread in the meantime with the oxeye egg.
"What time is it?" Aida raised her head to face Zahra.
"The sun is already visible from here in its orange glow."
Hearing that immediately made Aida eat quickly. Zahra tried to make the woman slow down her eating.
"Miss, chew first," said Zahra.
"I'm chewing it," Aida pressed her cheek which had food on it. When she swallowed his food she immediately gulped down the hot tea. She panicked when the hot tea touched the tip of her tongue.
Aida stood up and took her mask from a shelf. Before wearing it, she inserted a kind of small glass vial containing the mutagen into a hole in her mask. Aida put on her mask after putting in the liquid. A button on the neck is pressed and the mask begins to become airtight. She turned a small faucet on the air filter of her mask, then smoke could be seen coming out of her breath.
Aida turned around and looked at Zahra. The doctor felt Aida's gaze locked into her eyes. Her body did not move and her spirit wanted to leave the body.
Aida came out of the tent leaving the doctor alone in the tent. She walked towards the tent where the Tabot was. When she came to the tent, she saw that there were two guards standing guard. Seeing Aida, they immediately took their eyes off the girl and let her in.
There Tabot sat with the books that filled his wide table. He was writing something that Aida didn't understand. The woman walked to the side of the table and stood there waiting for Tabot to finish writing.
"Where's Jurko?" asked Tabot without glancing at Aida beside his desk, his gaze fixed on the book and paper he was writing.
"Didn't see him."
"Look for him. You will go with the investigator."
"Where to?"
Tabot stopped writing.
"In the east of this island there is an island called Tigo Koto, Three Cities. It is led by an old woman who we call Tuo Gadang. They have reliable workers in making large projects, almost all of their buildings are made by masons on a large scale."
"And my job?"
"Accompany Jurko first, and you will understand what your duty is."
"Is it easy?"
"Don't ask questions like that, make sure the question in your head is 'is this job going to pay?' If you think like that, you are more concerned with completing your task than the benefit of the task," Tabot stood up. "You are now a soldier, we are soldiers. Best of the best, the world will not find more talented and proficient soldiers, except us," Tabot lectured. "Now start thinking and acting like a soldier, your life has changed just as Nazeir asked me to save you."
Out of nowhere, Jurko peeked in while Tabot is talking to Aida.
"Ready to go?" Jurko glanced at Aida who was looking at the Tabot behind her mask.
Aida nodded and Jurko immediately came out of the tent, behind him was Aida following the investigator. Tabot stood there, watching the two leave his tent. Tabot sat back down and did what he was doing before.
Aida walked to a wagon with Jurko at the camp. A soldier was sitting in the coachman's seat and waiting for the two to get into his wagon. Jurko helped the woman to get on the cart, then he hopped on before the coachman escorted them away.
Their journey is slightly downhill, to their left and right is a forest with animals that live peacefully. No dangerous animals, just beautiful nature. Fresh air, light breeze in the morning. The dark streets are illuminated by the morning sun that comes through the slips of tree leaves. Whistling birds give a pleasant atmosphere, breaking the silence along their journey.
The cart they were using made a soft creaking sound in its wheels every time it tripped over a small rock in the street. The line had been neatly made by the workers, but Aida didn't know where it would take her.
"We're going to meet the person from Koto Tigo?"
"Yes. We will negotiate the purchase of labor. Their prices will be high, but with this agreement we will certainly find a way out."
Aida looked around the wagon.
"We didn't bring even one sack of money," the woman looked at Jurko. "You have a plan, master Jurko?"
"You're starting to learn, young one. We'll be negotiating not with precious metals, but with merit."
"A contract?"
Jorko nodded.
"But I don't understand one thing about these contracts. I-I've never killed in my life. Except for what happened in that mine, I can't stand such savagery."
"Then starting to think that we're going after another savage." Jurko reached into the pocket that tied his waist. He took out a pamphlet. "Look at this. You can read, right?"
"Yes I can."
Aida took the paper and read out what she saw.
"Wanted; Joko, male, thirty-eight years, one hundred and sixty-eight centimeters. Violation; murder of the Ahlan family in their home," Aida lowered her paper and looked at the investigator. "We're going to look for him? Is this equivalent to buying hundreds of workers from Tigo Koto?"
"The Ahlan family has close ties to the ruler of Tigo Koto, Tuo Gadang. Ahlan and Tuo Gadang are cousins, and this is our chance to find and present him to the ruler of Tigo Koto."
"What happens if this Tuo Gadang doesn't give what we want?"
"Of course she will. Look under the paper," Jurko pointed to a symbol traced on the paper. "This is the seal of Tuo Gadang, meaning she directly gave orders for Joko's search."
"I didn't see that."
"New lesson, read an explanation in detail. Don't skip any single bit of information. We must have sharp eyes like a lion aiming for prey. With a strong hand like a sword. And it reminds me of something," the investigator pulled out a box. from under his seat.
He opened the box and showed the weapons neatly arranged in it, he presented the cold iron to the woman. A longsword, a scimitar, and a serrated dagger.
"Which one do you choose, young man?"
Aida tried to lift the long sword that was almost the same as Jurko kept on her waist. She grabbed the handle of the sword and raised it. The sword was too heavy for her, Aida tried to control her heavy sword. And she accidentally dropped the tip of the sword on the shoulder of Jurko's armor before it bounced off the wagon floor. The investigator lifted the sword and put it back in its box. Aida gasped behind her mask which was emitting smoke after she frantically dropped the sword on Jurko's shoulder.
"Right, bad choice. How about a scimitar. Nazeir use this, and it's much lighter."
Aida started swinging her sword and felt uncomfortable with the scimitar.
"Maybe this sword isn't for you. Besides, I haven't seen you wield a sword yet. That means we only have one choice," Jurko handed the girl the jagged dagger. "From a meteorite near Nazaire about a century and a half ago. I made it, demens and demons will be terrified to see this."
"They're afraid of this dagger?"
"No, they're afraid of what's in the dagger. If I'm not mistaken, I put a spell. See that engraving?"
Aida saw an inscription she did not recognize on the side of the dagger.
"It's ancient southern language, powerful magic. Although engraving doesn't give any tactical advantage, this one can be excluded. It saved my life several times."
"What kind of magic is in this dagger?"
Jurko took out a glowing stone, holding it with his index and thumb. The stone made Aida wonder, why is it glowing, what is the magic? Or is it an unsolved natural thing?
"This is molten rock, that's what we call it. You took your sword," Jurko pulled out his sword. "And you push this stone into the iron sword, before long this stone will melt and enter the sword."
"Enter how?"
"Your sword will absorb this magic stone. Depending on the magic cast, your sword will react with the stone. If the magic word is melting iron, then your sword will pierce all kinds of iron in your path. There are many melting stone magics out there, I can't name them all because there are so many, and it will taketoo long."
"And this dagger has that magic?"
"This dagger has almost the same magic. While the molten stone has a usage limit, yours doesn't."
"Is that true!? So this thing will..."
"Cut demens like butter? Try to test it when we get to Tigo Koto. This will be your method of learning, directly in the field. I'm sure Nazeir's feelings are right about you."
"What feeling?" Aida's heart was beating fast.
"He sees talent in you, young one. And if what he says is true, then you have an important role to play going forward."
"I have an important role in the Spearhead?"
"Maybe, we'll see."
"What do I have to do to convince you?" Aida kept the dagger and sheath in the belt of her dress.
"We'll catch this Joko, of course," Jurko smiled. "I feel a sensation from you, young one. Usually people new to life on the road like this have a slow venture into the dark ravine. And you feel good about hunting down someone we might kill. A few minutes ago you weren't sure in this hunt, and now you have a strong impulse. What are you thinking, young one?"
"What am I thinking?" Aida tried not to mention what she was thinking right now. He just looked at Jurko behind her mask, and the old investigator looked back for a few seconds before he looked down at the street.
"I should be able to know what you're thinking, Aida. We investigators study human emotions, from gestures to speech. But that mask, this thing blocks what I know of Aida," Jurko looked back at Aida's mask. "What I see in your mask is the reflection of my face in those glasses. And perhaps what people see in you is a deep sense of tension and fear. Exactly what the Spearhead wants, the fear that reaches into the enemy's soul," he smirked. "Tabot must have planned all of this."
Hearing Jurko's explanation made Aida realize why all the members of the Spearhead were tense when they looked at her, that men who could hurt her were reluctant to do so. She touched her mask, remembering the face she had hidden from the human eye.
II
They came out of the forest, seeing the dawn coming to greet them. On the beach there is a small harbor that the workers have built. Their cart stopped near the harbor, Jurko and Aida got off and told the coachman to return to the fort. The two men walked to the ship filled with Spearhead soldiers.
Aida and Jurko entered the ship and a soldier came to salute. When he faced Jurko, his eyes couldn't help but stare at the woman who gave the soldier a cold stare.
"Meet Aida. You'll remember her. She's the woman we found unconscious while inhaling the gas."
"Y-yes. I remember him," the soldier immediately looked back at Jurko and stopped saluting.
"Ready to set sail, Tullius?"
"Everything is ready!"
"Good, we will set sail now. And from this second you will serve Aida as you served Tabot, Nazeir and I."
Tullius nodded and the investigator walked past the captain of the guard soldiers.
The man is now not covered by the investigator's gaze, giving a full picture of Aida's physique which is alien to her. The woman glanced at Tullius without speaking for a moment, then she walked into the small room below the captain's deck.
Aida entered the room and saw Jurko sitting in a kneeling position in the room which was the captain's room. He closed his eyes and was still breathing, but he didn't move an inch. He was silent as a rock.
Aida circled the investigator who was sitting on the floor, the woman waiting for something to happen to Jurko. But Jurko didn't do anything, Aida waved at the investigator right in front of her smoldering eyes.
Not knowing what to do, Aida walked to the bed and lay facing the ceiling of the ship.
"Try to do something useful, Aida," Jurko suddenly spoke.
"But what?"
Jurko stood up from how much, Aida who saw him get up also stood up.
"Come on out, I'll teach you a few things how to use a dagger."
The two of them walked out of the captain's room and stood on the wide deck of the ship. The soldiers stepped aside from those facing each other. Jurko took out his dagger, and Aida took it out as well.
When looking at the state of the coast, the investigator clapped his hands calling for Tullius. The captain faced him from the ship.
"Take care of this ship, I feel something is strange."
Tullius gave a nod and immediately organized his soldiers. Jurko and Aida started walking towards the beach and followed the path towards the rows of trees. Aida followed Jurko whose muscles were starting to tense up, as if he was ready to fight.
The two of them walked in the middle of the trees that made a path. The street was wide enough, leaving room if there's two carts to pass each other. The boots touched the sandy bottom of the road, and before long he began to see the sand turn to dirt. Not understanding where she was, Aida made a coughing sound for Jurko to hear.
"Where is this path taking us?"
"I don't know..." he said quietly.
"Wait," Aida was stunned. "Master doesn't know? Is there something I missed?"
"No, just..." Jurko stopped talking.
"Just?"
Jurko told Aida to be quiet, his hand pointed at a tree. In the twilight of the tree he saw a human figure, sitting and eating something that sounded like chewing meat. Jurko signaled for Aida to keep close. The two people approached the figure.
Approaching the figure, Aida saw something surprising. The creature's skin and flesh were peeling off and covered in wounds. Some parts of the body are covered with skin of different colors, it seems that this figure is sticking people's skin on itself. Smell, that's what Aida smelled behind her mask. He is rotten, but alive and breathing. He sat huddled, his hands seemed to be moving to do something.
Then a loud pulling sound was heard, the figure plucked the skin that was now in its grip. What skin, Aida did not know. What he knew was that the figure had tan skin on his face.
Aida gulped when Jurko told Aida to come closer. Step by step he approached, until one foot he stood directly behind the figure. The smell made Aida nauseous, Jurko who saw it immediately told Aida to kill the creature. Aida saw Jurko's hand which gave the order to kill him. When she looked back at the creature, Aida let out a voice like a sick person. Aida held the cover of her mask holding back nausea.
The creature was surprised to hear it and immediately turned around quickly. Its flesh and skin began to fall to the ground, revealing its rotten body that had been ripped from the body. It screamed so loud that its saliva flew everywhere, Aida fell frantically away from the creature.
She crawled away from the creature's claws, calling for help. When she dodged a claw, the creature's nails caught in a tree. When he wanted to take it out, the nail fell from its hand. The creature looked at its dead fingers, then looked at Aida while shouting loudly.
Aida kept crawling backwards on the ground, and the creature watched Aida walk away from it. When the creature was a step away from attacking Aida, Jurko stabbed his sword in the creature's head. The rotten demens fell to the ground, not moving back.
Aida gasped, her shoulders heaving in panic. When he saw Jurko kill the creature, he leaned against a tree. She looked at Jurko whose face looked like he was dissatisfied with Aida's skills. He grabbed Aida's hand and woke her up.
"I... I almost killed him, if only the smell wasn't so bad..."
The woman quickly took off her mask and vomited in front of Jurko, the investigator let Aida let out her fear. She wiped her mouth and immediately leaned her hand under the coconut tree, she stood still taking a deep breath.
"Yeah, I'm not angry with that. But that doesn't mean I'm alright when you don't manage to kill that meat hunter."
"What hunter?" Aida is still in shock.
"Meat hunters, don't you know them? They're demens, obsessed with replacing the flesh and skin that are starting to fall off from their bodies due to decay."
"No. I may have lived in the woods before, but I've never seen a beast like this-" she held back his nausea again.
Jurko snorted and looked around. Above his head was a green coconut that had not yet ripened. Jurko climbed the tree and carried him down from the tree. He hit the coconut against the tree and opened it for Aida. Jurko gave the coconut and Aida took it.
"Drink," Jurko ordered.
The woman immediately gulped down the water and immediately threw away the coconut shell. He was still panting, his nose felt hot. He looked at Jurko who was waiting for him to come back to his senses.
"Let's go, we don't have much time here. Let's try to arrive today and find this Joko."
"But," Aida walked after Jurko. "Where are we going?"
"We will meet the Tuo Gadang before looking for Joko at night."
"At night we walk in places like this?"
"Yeah, I hope you can do it. If not, go back to the ship and wait for me to come back."
Hearing this, Aida immediately swallowed her fear and followed Jurko's words. She put her mask back on and braced herself.
"Very well, master investigator."
"Good, that's what I want to hear from someone like you."
III
"Master."
"Speak."
"Before becoming an investigator, what did you do?"
The man scratched his beard, deep in thought.
"A mutant human investigator born into the earth, not as an adult human transformed by a mutagen. Such things cannot be done and shouldn't be allowed, it's too dangerous for an adult human who has matured to be an investigator. Abnormalities can occur, may even die, some cases show that they can become demens."
Aida chased after Jurko, keeping the same pace as the old investigator.
"But Nazeir is a different story from what master Tabot told about him. He said he turned into an investigator, not born into."
"That's an exception."
"But why him? Why don't other people become investigators like Nazeir and you? Maybe the world is safer with soldiers like you guarding."
"Nazeir... Nazeir is different. At first we wanted to help him who was dying, it might be possible to make him one of the captains on the cutting edge. But there are some things that make us think otherwise."
"What does this 'think otherwise' mean?"
"Maybe that's a story for another day. Something we can't talk about here. As Nazeir told me and Tabot back in the north, if these trees could talk..."
Aida didn't understand one thing the old investigator explained, it was too confusing and hard to absorb. She shook her head, trying not to think about it. After walking behind the trees, they finally saw a village beyond.
Not big, but not small. Solid, not loose. The building was made of strong stone, it could be seen that the buildings in the village looked ancient. Jurko and Aida walked in the village, many people were passing by.
The people in this village have tan skin like the Hukoleener, what distinguishes them is the way they dress. Koto Tigo's woman wears a cloth that covers her chest to her calves in one long cloth, the man wears plain clothes.
The sight of a light-skinned man and his masked assistant was enough to make people move out of their way. Seeing the people they had to protect flee from the investigators and Aida's arrival, the guards ran and circled those who were walking leisurely.
The soldiers did not wear armor, only cloth tied around the waist and shorts that held a small dagger. They started shouting at both of them in their local language. Neither of them understood, and Jurko took a step closer to the soldier who was shouting at him.
The person immediately alerted and took a step back with the spear aimed at the old investigator's chest. Jurko immediately stopped, he reached into his belt pocket and took out a roll of paper. He threw it at the soldier and it bounced off the ground. The person carefully picked up the paper with his eyes still fixed on the investigator.
He took the paper and read it, a pamphlet which was directly signed by the leader of Tigo Koto, Tuo Gadang. Understanding why they had come, the guard invited the two to follow them. He lowered his head and pointed to a house at the end of the village road.
Following the guard's directions, the two of them walked to the house safely. Jurko climbed the small steps of the house and knocked on the closed door. A woman opened the door and looked at the two people.
"We're here to meet Tuo Gadang about the 'contest' that she spread. He said there was a person named Joko who was supposed to be a criminal, he was hanging around in Koto Tigo's forest," said Jurko in northern language.
The woman paused and looked at the two before closing the door again. Confused, Jurko knocked on the door again. The door opened and a male servant was now answering Jurko's knock. He was a thin man of about fifty years of age, with a slick bald head.
"Please come in," he said politely.
Jurko walked into the house. When he entered the house, he saw a hallway where there were several rooms on either side, and a large room at the end. The waiter stopped the two, he looked at Jurko and Aida's feet.
"You must take off your shoes before entering the Tuoadang throne room."
"Tuoadang?" Aida asked.
"Yes, Tuoadang. Tuo Gadang."
Not minding, Jurko took off his boots. But Aida didn't open it. The waiter waited for the woman whose glass eyes stared at the waiter. He felt uncomfortable, and his eyes shot up.
"The shoes?"
"I can't open it. This leg hurts."
"We can get you some footwear."
"No, I don't want to wear anything but these shoes."
The servant was devastated, he didn't know what to say to the masked woman.
"But Tuoadang will be angry, and of course I will be angry with her."
"Tuoadang will understand," Jurko slipped. "Now take us to her."
The servant looked at Jurko in fear, he could only nod and take the person to the Tuo.
They walked down the hall past a room divider made of shiny beads when they saw it. The room was large, and oddly simple enough for a leader of a large trading island.
Tuo sat on a small pillow. In front of him were two men who were talking to him, when Jurko came, the two men stood up from their seats and bowed to Tuo before leaving. The investigator saw the man was thin with visible muscles, there was a kris stored at his waist.
Jurko sat cross-legged with Aida beside her, they looked at Tuo who smiled at the arrival of the investigator and Aida.
She's an old granny, her skin is wrinkled. From a tilted body position, Aida could see that she had unusual bones. Tuo wore a red silk shirt with stitching lines decorated with gold. Her hair was covered by a long cloth that touched the wooden floor of the room.
"Tuo Gadang," said Jurko.
"You..." Tuo raised his hand and pointed at Jurko, herarm shaking as he pointed at the old investigator. "I know you, but from where?"
Aida looked at Jurko.
"I'm not sure we've ever met."
"Never met?" Tuo pouted and started to think again. "Maybe your face is the same, is it my father or uncle? His face is the same, just like yours. Or is it just because I'm very old."
"We're both old, Tuo," joked Jurko.
"Indak. You are much younger than me," she laughed softly. "I'm old..." Tuo forgot his age, she asked one of the maidservants sitting beside her. "Ah! Ninety. Ninety years I have stepped this foot on earth. Isn't this long life?"
"Long life, Tuo," Jurko just nodded.
"I used to remember when I was young, if you're old, don't be afraid to die," she said, waving her hands. "There's no need to be afraid, because death is right and will come. But after growing old like this, I'm afraid."
"Of death?"
"Yes, of death. And you will certainly experience it."
"I'm not sure about that," Jurko laughed with Tuo. "Looks like my life will be lost to beasts or the sword."
"You don't want to die of age?"
"People like me don't want to die of age."
"A journey you will encounters from that path. But now we should not think about the past and the future, but think about what is happening now and now."
"Good, Tuo. That's why I'm with..." Jurko looked at Aida. "My friend came here on a quest."
"What quest?"
The male servant who greeted Jurko and Aida whispered in Tuo's ear, the granny nodded at his whisper.
"About the murder of the Ahlan family?" he lowered the corner of his mouth. "And did you find this killer?"
"We can find him quickly?" Aida shocked.
"Really? Because the person who just came was going to look for this killer," said Tuo.
"We are faster than them, Tuo. Tuo can see who is faster."
"If I'm not mistaken, the ones who came earlier were demon hunters, I think people like them can find a killer quickly."
"We'll see, Tuo," challenged Jurko. "But I want something in return."
"We explained the fee in the pamphlet, fifty thousand southern gold. Isn't that enough?"
"We want something different, not money, not property."
Tuo adjusted her seat, amused by the words that came out of Jurko's mouth.
"What do you want from me?"
"Tuo has one of the strongest buildings in the entire world, with skilled workers," Jurko presented around Tuo's throne room. "Everything here is the work of your masons."
"What do you want to say?"
"What I want to say," Jurko approached. "I kill Joko for you, Tuo. And in return, I want your entire construction workforce along with the mason of Koto Tigo to help me."
"You want to build something?"
"Fix to be more precise."
"What do you want to fix?" Tuo looked at Jurko curiously.
"I'll let you know once we have a deal."
"And that I will give when I know first."
"Come on, Tuo. I could have caught this guy sooner if we didn't talk like this. You'll get the details when we have an agreement."
Tuo nodded at Jurko's words.
"Fine, what you're asking for is less than fifty thousand golds. Then we have an agreement."
"Magnificent!" shouted Jurko.
Jurko and Aida stood up, Tuo looked at them. A smile can be seen from the results of the agreement.
"In order to start the search for this person, I want to know where it happened."
"Ahlan's big house. Just a few blocks from here. Djuanda will tell you how to get there," he pointed to the man in his middle age who greeted Aida and Jurko.
The three of them got out and got ready for this big manhunt. They walked to Ahlan's house with the servant, Jurko saw that the two people he saw back at Tuo's house were spying him. Knowing what was happening made Jurko walk quickly by pulling Aida. The woman jumped at the sudden tug.
"What is it?"
"Shut up and walk fast, we're being watched by two people."
Hearing Jurko's words made Aida nervous and started to look around her, but she only saw a crowd of village traders selling.
"But who?"
"Two people we passed at Tuo's house. Now all we have to think about is to go where the murder was. Ahlan family residence."