ZYTOON

4:40 PM
Location: Black Palace

Hiroshi stood at the entrance of the building with guards surrounding him. He was eating fried food bought from a street stall while looking around in search of the man he was supposed to meet.

"Hey, Okil." Hiroshi called out to the guard captain.

"Yes, Mr. Vassair, what is it?"

"Okil, could you tell me something about the Black Palace?"

"Certainly. The Black Palace is a very prestigious museum of the Kingdom Royal. Here there are many valuable objects that created the history of different kingdoms, such as the Soul Sword of King Frider, or the Staff of Wisdom of Grand Master Opker, and much more. Every day people come to visit the Black Palace."

"Good, but could you tell me why it's called the Black Palace?"

"Because it symbolizes the treasures it holds inside. All the objects it possesses come from a very dark era, full of wars and massacres, so it has this name that refers to that period."

"I see."

Silence.

A few seconds later, guard captain Okil asked, "Why did you come here?"

"Do you know about the yellow ring of the king of Ghijon, the old kingdom that is now the city of Zyndra?"

"Yes."

"I came to see it. Since I'm from Zyndra, I want to see that ring and all the legends about it."

"Very well, sir, but won't you go inside then?"

"Yes, I'll go in as soon as I finish eating this fried food."

* * *

Once he finished eating, Hiroshi and the guards entered the Black Palace.

The building had been constructed with the utmost care. The dark walls had yellow lanterns inside, every monument and object had been positioned with attention. Soldiers walked around everywhere conducting surveillance, while guides showed visitors the route and gave them tours.

After paying for his ticket, Hiroshi began walking around the museum. He looked at some objects, including the yellow ring he had been talking about earlier, and tried to appear as normal as possible while searching for that person.

A few minutes passed, and now it was exactly 5:00 PM.

* * *

Hiroshi was observing an object when suddenly an elderly man, half-bald, with thick mustaches and a pair of glasses in front of his eyes, approached him.

"Good evening, dear sir. Can I be of any help to you?" the man said, and then gently took Hiroshi's hand.

With this gesture, Hiroshi understood.

"Yes, sir. I want you to tell me the entire history of the yellow ring of the king of Ghijon."

"Oh oh, but of course, sir! It's a very interesting story from a political and geographical point of view, and a good part economically as well."

"Good, now I'm curious to hear it," Hiroshi said, going with the flow.

"Well, sir, come with me and I'll tell you everything."

"Alright."

So Hiroshi and that old man began walking forward while the guards remained behind them.

Once the two had made sure their voices wouldn't reach the guards, they began the real conversation while pretending to tour the museum.

"What do you want, and why did you call me?" was Hiroshi's direct question.

The old man smiled. "I see you're a perceptive person. You understood my signal."

"I don't want unnecessary talk. Get straight to the point, thank you."

"Very well, then listen: the Royal Palace is planning to deceive you and make you lose the case, and ultimately kill you."

"Why? What's the reason?"

"The reason is obvious. General Wilhelm has become a fairly important entity belonging to the Royal Palace after the news went viral. Yes, it's true he's a minor general who manages a small part of the army, but he's very well known for his sincere and honest personality throughout the kingdom. Everyone knows what he's like as a person. So if you win the case, people will lose trust in the Royal Palace, saying that if even such an honest general can be corrupted, then everyone can be, even the king."

Hiroshi continued, "So the king has thought of getting rid of me by any means possible and making me lose the case."

"Exactly. I see you catch on quickly. Indeed, if you win and the population loses trust, the nobles will take advantage of this situation because they want their government in power. So, to bring down the current government, they'll start having people riot first here in the Kingdom Royal, then subsequently in other kingdoms, until they topple the government."

"I see, I understand. But then who are you and what do you want from me?"

"You can think of us as helpers for you. Our organization is called ZYTOON, which in the old language means ETERNITY. Our organization is many years old and we work secretly. We want you to win this case because we want the government to weaken so we can place our people there. You must be thinking what difference is there between us and the nobles. Simple: the nobles want there to be their own government, while we want the government to remain this one, but the control will be ours."

"I see, I see, I understand. You're like an illusion that can't be seen but does its thing."

"Exactly!"

"So what should I do?"

"We will help you in every possible way: financially, with false evidence, with witnesses, everything, so that you win the case."

Here Hiroshi had to be sure about his safety, so he asked, "Once I've won, what will you do to me? You can kill me very easily."

"I knew you were a sharp man, but don't worry. We give you our word that this won't happen, and to confirm it, we'll sign a magical contract by which you'll be under our protection and no one will try to kill you. With the contract, if anyone tries to do so, our entire organization will be discovered and we'll go behind bars. All of us!"

"Good, that's better now. Now hurry up because we don't have much time."

"Alright. Take this ruby. When you need our help, all you have to do is heat this ruby. When it changes color, we'll have received the message, and we'll do the same thing to arrange a meeting with you. The location will always be in the city center, and from there we'll decide where to go. Once the ruby has changed color, we'll have the meeting within fifteen minutes."

"Alright."

So the old man quickly gave the ruby to Hiroshi and then they finished their fake tour scene.

"There you are, sir. Thank you for visiting the Black Palace, please return soon," said the old man.

"Thank you for this magnificent tour, I really enjoyed it." Saying this, Hiroshi left from there.

* * *

One week passed.

And the day of the trial arrived.