A feeling stirred in the girl's heart, hard to understand. From the moment she met Dezo's eyes, she felt a thrill; it seemed she had fallen for the warrior.
The wrapped rice and side dishes were immediately distributed to everyone present, except for the young men who were standing guard around the house.
Soon, they were eating together. The warmth of the community gathered at Karim's house was palpable, with almost no anxiety or worry that the Duke and his men might attack. Their togetherness gave birth to extraordinary mental strength.
****
In a large and magnificent building with a spacious courtyard, each side of the house had a beautiful pond. Some parts of the roof tapered to resemble buffalo horns, a typical building typical of the Minangkabau people who ruled the Pagaruyung kingdom at that time.
This building, which was none other than the residence of Duke Gopal Kaliang, included several guards standing guard in front of the building, while in the spacious courtyard, several warriors appeared to be practicing martial arts. In front of the building was a small building resembling a guard post, and it was also bustling with the Duke's men. Some were lying down, others were sitting, drinking, laughing, and babbling incoherently.
Suddenly, a loud shout was heard from inside the house. It came from the living room, where a fat, dark-skinned man with a thick mustache partially covered his upper lip was visible.
"You idiots and useless people! You can't even face a young man!" the fat, dark-skinned man snapped at the five men in front of him.
"Forgive us, sir. That young man possesses powerful martial arts skills. The five of us were unable to resist him. Just one blow from him rendered us powerless," one of the five men commented.
"Hmm... is that so? Slap... slap!" The five men received a hard slap from a large, dark-haired man, none other than Adipati Gopal Kaliang.
"Tomorrow morning, you return there, bringing five hired warriors with you, do you hear me?!" Gopal snapped.
"Listen, sir, we will carry out your orders." The five men immediately left the house after Adipati Gopal left the living room and entered another room.
The night was getting late, and the cold air was felt throughout the body. The house was still crowded, especially on the veranda and in the tents on the right and left sides. However, there were no children in sight; the mothers and girls seemed to have gone to bed inside. Outside, only middle-aged men were visible, some lying down, some sitting on the veranda. Likewise, in the tents, some young men were also lying down, some sitting, and some standing, keeping watch around the house.
The house was none other than Karim's, where the villagers had gathered that night and decided to face any eventuality arising from the afternoon incident, when five of Adipati Gopal's men were beaten senseless by Dezo, the tiger warrior. As dawn broke, there were no signs of anything suspicious. The women and girls of the village woke up and began cooking breakfast for everyone.
The sun had already risen, dispelling the cold morning mist and dew.
"Someone's coming! Get ready!" shouted one of the young men standing on the left side of the house. Everyone stood and gathered in front of the house. From the left, several horses and riders could be seen. Initially, the horses were running fast, but suddenly slowed when the riders saw the large crowd of people in front of the house they were heading for.
They hesitated to approach because the villagers they saw were not just ordinary gatherings; each of them was armed with various sharp weapons, including machetes, long swords, spears typically used for hunting, and some even wielded sharpened bamboo poles. Without further ado, the horsemen immediately turned around and rode away, amidst loud cheers from the villagers in front of Karim's house.
These horsemen were none other than envoys from Adipati Gopal, who had been preparing the night before to capture and kill a young man who had been at Karim's house that morning. However, not expecting the entire village to gather at the house with all sorts of sharp weapons, the envoys were daunted and ultimately decided to turn back to the Adipati's residence.
Adipati Gopal Kaliang was furious when his envoys returned and reported everything they had seen.
"Bastards! It seems that young man has succeeded in influencing the villagers against us!" Adipati Gopal's jaw bulged, his blood boiling with rage. He remained silent for a moment, his cunning mind working to devise a strategy. Soon after, Gopal summoned one of his men to his presence.
"Sawung! Now, I order you to go alone to Karim's house and tell all the residents there that I, Adipati Gopal, will challenge him to a life-and-death battle in the open field this afternoon. Whoever survives will have the right to rule this area!" Adipati Gopal declared fiercely, and one of his men, Sawung, nodded and left to carry out his master's orders.
It's unclear what strategy Adipati Gopal had devised by challenging the young man, none other than Dezo. What's certain is that he felt the plan would benefit him, knowing that the young man's martial arts skills were unavoidable. With the strength of his men and several of the Adipati's hired warriors, he was certain that the young man would meet his end.
That was one of his cunning tricks, pitting his men against the young man. Whatever happened to the young man named Dezo, he felt he wouldn't be blamed if news of this fight reached the Pagaruyung kingdom. The Duke's envoy arrived in front of Karim's house, and just as before, the villagers immediately stood up to block him.
"Sorry, I didn't come here to attack. I was sent by Duke Gopal to deliver a message to that young man," the envoy said after dismounting and pointing at Dezo.
Dezo immediately approached the envoy.
"What message do you have?" he asked calmly.
"Duke Gopal challenges you to a life-and-death battle in the open field this afternoon. You also said that whoever survives will have the right to rule this area." All the villagers were shocked by the Duke's envoy's words, while Dezo simply smiled calmly, occasionally scratching his neck.