The Creature and the Spy

10: The Vined Door

[Photo Above: King Dimito]

"Amazing!" Jadaki exclaimed. "This social structure is so good. You even considered the economic performance. I've calculated the national income per Thaonne and it is safe to say that we can rebuild ourselves with this in less than a Thaonne. It's amazing, you're really a genius."

"Thanks." I only replied. Honestly, I'm not into social reserach or into economics. I did get decent grades in economics since I took BMA (Business management and accountancy) in senior high school but they're very average. I only put together what I can recall and thought of the best way to optimize national income since its the major indicator of a good economy. Blah blah, I don't care about economic jargons. I just wanted to produce a paper to show to the palace. With that, I could finally enter it. I want to talk to King Dimito and I want to do it now. I did not consider if the computations could be wrong or if the definitions are misplaced. Heck, I'm pretty sure I somehow made up some words there. Maybe this kid is just bullshitting me, but whatever. "When can we present this to King Dimito? As soon as possible is preferrable."

"Oh, I've already checked this last night and just corrected some definition mistakes." He said. I fucking knew it. "But the calculations and all the ideas are accurate. We can go with this."

"When?"

"Now."

Good. We both stood up  from our seats, leaving the property of the Asmiras. All the brainstorming and the typing (I used their photon computer. Fucking thing doesn't lag) were done inside that small cottage and I couldn't be more grateful whenever Andrin visits the living room to bring us snacks. We've completely dominated their living room. I keep apologizing to Kalin, who keeps replying that it's more than okay.

After half an hour of riding a train-like cab made of wood and glowing plants, we reached the front gates of the palace. I let Jadaki talk to the guards. Jadaki seems to be very well known. After introducing me as the diplomat from Brunei, the guards let us in.

Inside the palace garden, far from the sight of the guards, Jadaki offered that we sit down first. "King Dimito is talking to the King of Indonesia. He's on his way one hour from now." He said, relaxing his head on a tree branch behind.

"Really, then how can we enter? We're just going to stay here?"

"Well, since the only remaining guards are the guards outside, we can completely roam around." He offered.

I convinced him to show me around, which is a perfect opportunity to see any sign of war preparation. However, after 15 minutes of doing that, the kid only showed me hallways, open rooms, and corridors.

"I would want to see some of the rooms." I blurted.

"Well, you can! Since you're a diplomat, you have that Bornean Emblem. Brunei and Philippine underworlds are in great ties so that can be used as access device."

I fetched the Emblem from my pocket and took a good look at it. It's a thick medalion, as thick as a golden compass Indiana jones has. It is made up of gold and silver, but the middle part has a black emboss of whatever logo.

"So it can open any doors here?"

"Yeah. Except the vined ones, since that means the royal spouse is inside the room. It's not allowed to see the King's wife or the Queen's husband."

"Welp. I couldn't care about that." I said.

Jadaki inched closer to me. His eyes furrowed. "But you cannot enter any room here, not without the permission of the King."

"Oh really?" I asked.

"Really."

What can I say? This is my only chance to survey this palace. This is the peak of my espionage, and I'm not letting an underworld teenager stop me. I raised the heavy emblem above Jadaki, to which he reacted by shooting his eyes wide. Before he could further react, I gave him a blow at the head, resulting to his loss of consciousness.