The Government's Plan

Taking a step forward and parting Jean on the shoulder,  Natalie sighed.

"Before I tell you anything about the mysterious spot, you have to promise me one thing..."

Pausing for a moment, Natalie feigned a cough.

But Before she could continue,  Jean intervened.

"And what could be that?"

"Hmm, what do you think it is?"

Suddenly there was a moment of silence.

A moment later, Natalie continued...

"It is not like I  am telling you to guess, as all I am trying to do is gaining your maximum attention. All I want you to promise me is that you are not going to share the information I am about to give you to anyone else."

Natalie explain in a serious  tone.

Jean on the other hand nodded Before replying.

"Sure, you can trust me on that."

Turning in the direction of the mysterious spot that was currently like a dozen meters away from where they were standing,  Natalie's expression turned distance as she locked her eyes on the mysterious spot.

When Jean noticed this, he turned and gazed in the same direction after which he turned and faced Natalie who was currently standing by his side.

"That spot holds a secrete that only your grandpa was aware of. Of course that was before he shared the information with your dad and then with me."

With that, Natalie went mute to allow Jean to digest the information.

At this point,  Jean already had some questions in his mind, but since ce he didn't want to ruin rhis precious moment, he decided against intervening. Consequently,  he remained attentive and relaxed so that he couldn't miss out on anything.

"You must be wondering why I intent to share this information with you in the middle of this forest, isn't it?"

Natalie asked after a short moment of silence.

"With a nod, Jean replied."

"Yes, but I  think I already figured out your reason."

Turning to the side and lowering her gaze, Natalie looked at Jean with a curious look.

"You amaze me sometimes. What is that reason then?"

With a sigh, Jean turned in the direction of the mysterious spot and let out a mischievous smile.

"It is a secret place, therefore it is suitable for sharing sensitive information such as the one you are about to share with me."

As soon as Natalie heard Jean's reply,  a broad smile shone her face as she gently parted the boy on the shoulders.

'This kid amazes me with his quick wit. His smartness has climbed some bars up since we moved to these parts of the country.  Could it be that he has been playing low all this time before we relocated?'

Natalie thought to herself as the smile slowly melted away from her face and replaced by a serious expression.

"I am glad to hear that because that was spot on. Now that you already know the reason for this, why can't we find a better place to sit so that I could tell you what you need to know about this place?"

A few moments later, the two had found a secluded place where they sat facing each other.

"I know by now you must have heard or read about these people that wield supernatural powers."

Natalie began her Narration immediately they were seated.

Lingering for a moment,  Jean replied,

"I have also read some things about them. "

"Then that's a good start for you to understand what I  am about  to tell you."

With that Natalie paused for a moment. With a snort, she continued...

"According to your grandpa, this forest was a home for a very powerful individual, who happened to be one of those people that wielded supernatural powers.

He used to stay in this forest as his hiding place. The government had banned such individuals in this city, but since he was too powerful,  he was able to hide his powers whenever he was in this city.  By then,  this city had not developed this much. It was just on its rise."

Pausing for a moment,  Natalie continued...

"This guy was good at concealing his powers to the extent that not even the powerful government officials could detect it. This was one of the reasons to why the guy was able to live among the mundane people unnoticed."

Just at moment, Jean intervened. Although he didn't want to interrupt this rare narration, he still found it important to voice out his concerns.

"Sorry to interrupt you, mom. Why do you think the government had to ban such people from intruding the city?"

Jean asked out of curiosity.

Natalie had already anticipated Jean asking him this question. So, she didn't seem perturbed in any way. Instead, she just gave Jean a sidelong glance before answering.

"That proves that you are attentive. So, to answer your question,  I would like to ask you a simple question."

Upon hearing this, Jean increased his concentration.

Just at that moment,  Natalie asked,

"If a tiger intrudes a herd of sheep, what do you think will happen?"

Natalie asked in a galant tone.

Blinking severally,  Jean lingered.

"The tiger will devour the sheep."

"That's right. In that same scenario, take the powerful individuals as the tiger and Kili population as the herd of sheep. I think that explains my point."

"So, these powerful individuals were these dangerous?"

Jean asked out of confusion.

"Yes, and that's why the government had to come in to protect the mundane. Otherwise, these people could easily turn them into their slaves. Just imagine me and you being slaves to such individuals."

The moment Jean heard this, he almost cursed out loud but immediately contained himself before responding.

"That would be awful considering our life has been full of struggles all this while. But just to ask, why is it that the government isn't making an effort in protecting our villages?"

Jean asked after pondering for a moment.

"The villages' population isn't that much, so, these individuals tend to ignore villages. They like targeting densely populated areas. Thid way, they can have a good number of people to enslave and this will guarantee their domination.

It is not like the villages can't provide them with slaves, it is only that the numbers can't match their demand since they want quick rise and domination. "

Nodding in acknowledgement, Jean sighed.

"If what you are saying is true, how comes I have never come across such people in my entire life?"

"The reason is very simple. These individuals can't mingle with us since most of them are dangerous to us. Due to this, the government established private territories for them. In these territories, they rule themselves. They could enter the territories of the mundanes by the government's consent."

With that Natalie glanced at Jean with questioning eyes.

"If these people were this powerful,  how comes the government is able to contain them?"

Jean asked out of curiosity.

"That's a good question. There's a saying that goes; Use a thief to catch a thief."

Natalie stated in a gentle tone.

"And what does that imply?"

Massaging her temples, Natalie lingered.

"Among these self-centered individuals,  there were some of them that had good will. So, these good will individuals formed alliances to support the government in protecting the vulnerables within the country. Although these alliances were only composed of a few individuals, they were still powerful since they were majorly made of very strong individuals. So, with the reinforcement from the government,  these alliances were able to dethrone these individuals as most of them were divided.

When these individuals realized that they wouldn't win against these alliances,  they started joining forces too, with the aim of resisting the alliances and the government.  This made the government to come up with the smartest plan. And that was using some of the individuals who could join these groups and act as a buffer of information between the government and the groups. The government didn't stop there, it also involved the good will alliances in recruiting more powerful individuals who were trained and used as government masceneries."

Up to this point,  Jean had come to understand that he lived in the world where some people weren't as ordinary as he was.

This realization made wary of his safety, since he didn't know what time or day he would bump into such powerful individuals.

But just as he was still thinking about the matter,  Natalie voiced out something that made him feel releaved.

"There's no need for you to be worried about these people as the government has all that is required to protect you and me from these people."

Natalie said in an encouraging voice.

Feeling somewhat assured of his safety, Jean heaved a sigh of relief.

"Even if you tell me that this place is as safe as you say, I am still finding it difficult to believe you."

Blinking severally,  Natalie looked at Jean with  a slightly contorted face.

"And why won't you believe me?"

Quickly scanning the premises, Jean turned and faced Natalie before responding.

"The reason is because you haven't told me where the powerful guy that used to live in this forest went to."

Upon hearing this, Natalie wore a complicated look before gazing at the mysterious spot ahead of them.

"Unfortunately, the guy died."

Natalie stated in a forlorn tone. The way she voiced out her statement,  Jean could feel like there were some chances that Natalie at least knew the guy. But since he wasn't sure about it, he chose to remain mute on the matter and inquire further about the guy.

"How can his death be an unfortunate when such guys were dangerous to other humans. His death could have been one of the most fortunate thing to happen to humanity."

Jean said nonchalantly.

Suddenly, Natalie's expression darkened as she immediately turned and faced Jean.

At this point, Jean didn't need a reminder to understand that his mom was madly angry at him.

This unexpected change of the mood by Natalie both startled Jean and confused him at the same time.

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