At the market square, there were a great multitude of people; it was quite congested with people
Merchants coming from far and wide were trading with the town folks and striking deals
Another reason why the market square was so crammed was because it only occured once a year and it was also the best time to sell valued items
At the corner of a stand─which was adjacent to an alley─was Jojo. His hand was jiggling as he eagerly awaited the arrival of the mysterious sender of the letter
"I wonder how he will look like?"
At the side of Jojo was a smothered cart; which was obviously the R cart
Abruptly, a merchant walked up to him
"And what are you selling, young lad?"
Jojo turned to the man
"Sorry mister, it is not for sale"
"Everything that is at the market square is for sale, young lad"
He said while unsmothering it. He was left stunned by the R cart
Jojo was busted. Or so he thought
The merchant's shock was from the fact that he had not seen it in years not because he thought it was illegal
He beckoned to his merchant friends and before long a band of about 10 merchant's wanted to purchase it
All of them were fixated on purchasing it
"I will give you 3 gold coins"
"5 gold coins"
"10 gold coins"
Jojo was hearing digits far greater than the ones he had ever seen; gold coins were the highest currency currently
Suddenly, one of them carried the cart and placed it in his carriage and slung a bag crammed with many gold coins at Jojo
His horse-driven chariot then moved away towards the north. The other merchants could not believe their eyes; and so they dispersed, all saddened by this
Jojos eyes was dilated with shock. The R cart that was a ticket to his answer lost forever
Being spunky, he decided to go after them. But before he could move a pace
"Hello"
Jojo turned his eyes towards the one who spoke to him. He saw a man in a dark incognito cloak that concealed his identity
He could easily fathom that this was the same person who had sent him the message
"Now where is the cart?"
Jojo mustered up all the courage he had, gulped in fear and said
"Some merchants snatched it"
"WHAT!!!"
He roared with anger. He then gripped Jojos front collar and raised him off the ground with a single hand
"If you do not want to get strangled, asphyxiated or smothered you will get me that cart. Is that unmistakably clear"
Jojo replied in a weak voice
"Yes... sir"
The man lowered Jojo back on the ground and ungripped him. Jojo fell to his knees─relieved─gasping for breath
The man then issued a warning coldly
"This is your second chance. If you bungle this up then you would not even want to know what I will do to you"
The man then added in an even colder tone
"Also this time I am coming with you"
****
Jojo went north following the tyre tracks of the carriage which was a telltale sign of where the merchant has gone to
While the dark cloaked man shadowed Jojo; blending in with his surroundings
Jojo eventually reached the outskirts of the village and saw in the far distance a carriage bumping on the rough ground
"There it is"
It seemed as if the dark cloaked man appeared from thin air at Jojos side
"So that is the insolent carriage that has something of mine, huh"
The dark cloaked man started twirling his arms building up fire that was glowing red from the intensity of its heat
The distorted and indefinite fire soon reshaped to a colossal ball. The man flung the giant fire ball at the carriage
As it made contact with the carriage, there was a thunderous explosion that followed, which shook the earth violently and it also illuminated the environment with an opaque red light
Aftermath,
The whole proportion of land they were on scorched. Jojo on the floor, he had been knocked out by the blast. The carrier was obliterated and the merchant dead. But for some reason the weapons in the R cart were unscathed
Jojo awoke to the grim scenery; Jojo had never been as terrified like this before
Back in the village, the wave of heat had billowed towards it, alarming everyone
Even his master felt the heat wafting into the dojo and knew it was not natural
He bolted off towards the place all the heat was coming from
Jojo slowly arose from the ground; covered in bruises and slits. He tried to hobble back home while his blood dribbled from his wounds
But he just collapsed to the floor after moving a few paces; he had never experienced this caliber of pain before
The pain was so immerse that he started whimpering. He knew he could not walk so he started crawling away
"And where do you think you are going?"
Jojo stared up weakly and saw the dark cloaked man
"Please, just leave me alone"
"I would rather burn your miserable body to a crisp"
He had already formed a small fire ball in his hand and was twiddling with it while smirking sinisterly
The man booted Jojo in the stomach causing him to feel even more pain
Amid the pain Jojos life flashed before his eyes and his vision blurred
The man upped his arm and the fire ball embiggened; his eyes glinting with utter joy as he enjoyed doing things like this
The fire ball once again illuminated the area with its red light
"Bye bye"
He blasted the fire ball at Jojo
But a figure had swiftly moved Jojo out of the way; the figure was his master
Master Zeugma had been accompanied by a great crowd of people who equipped themselves with weapons
"Huh, what an entourage"
Master Zeugma was infuriated by what this man had done and shouted at the top of his lungs
"YOU SHALL NOT HARM ANYONE ELSE!!!"
"We will see about that"
The man said as he vanished into thin air; the villagers were quite relieved that they did not tussle with the man because they already fathomed that they will lose badly
There was another thing that vanished, all the R carts