Chapter Four

Before he reached the common room, Master No heard a bellow, followed by the crash of a fist onto a table, "WHERE CAN HE BE!"

"I'm right here." said Master No walking calmly into the room.

The innkeeper, who Master No now knew was Bull Kogi, was in the common room sitting at a table. Also in the room were his two men still at the inn. He looked up at Master No, and the look in his eyes was truly dark and foul.

"If he hasn't killed someone within the next ten minutes, I will be amazed." thought Master No.

"Not you..." He was ready to ignore Master No again.

"Your special customer?"

Bull Kogi looked at him again, and gave him his full attention this time, "Yes! My special customer. What do you know of him? He should have been here hours ago."

Master No pulled the clay pipe that was the Blade of Cuisinart from his belt, and puttered about, as if he was looking to start a smoke, "Oh, I know that he's not coming."

"And how do you happen to know this?"

"I stumbled upon his trail a day's walk east of here, and there it vanished."

"And how do you know it was the trail of my special customer?"

Master No looked directly at Bull Kogi, who was looking hard at him, "Your special customer must clearly be a special person, or you wouldn't be so concerned about him. A wealthy Prince who travels back roads with seven identical, richly-attired guards is clearly a special person. I saw this man, and later I saw his trail vanish on the slopes across the valley from here. Vanish, not a trace.

Master No stopped his puttering about and leaned directly into Bull Kogi's face, "What you seek, whatever it is, is not coming here." Master No said this with an honest face because it was true: the lamp was not coming, it was already here.

Bull Kogi grinned a deadly, wicked grin. He was ready to kill, "What do I seek?"

"Riches, I presume. But, I fear, all you will find here now, is trouble."

As Master No said this last line, a horse galloped to the inn entrance, and in came a breathless man, another of the bandits. He walked quickly to Bull Kogi, and whispered in his ear. Master No didn't think it was possible, but Bull Kogi looked even angrier.

"You three! Get all the men here, NOW!" he motioned them off, and they quickly ran out.

As they left, Bull Kogi pulled his knife from his belt, and advanced on Master No, "You!... have five minutes to tell me all you know about my special customer."

It was over in an eye blink -- Master No made one, quick motion across Bull Kogi's neck with his "clay pipe" and Bull Kogi's head and neck were lying on the floor. The Blade of Cusinart had been in his hand looking like a pipe, so he had no need to pull it from his belt, and Bull Kogi, seeing only a clay pipe in Master No's hand, had seen no need to defend himself as he advanced on him.

"Now that was extreme.... Let's try for something unusual, as well." muttered Master No.

Master No put the lamp in front of Bull Kogi's head and grabbed the head by its hair, "I think you were seeking... this." Bull Kogi's eyes registered understanding for just a moment; his mouth opened and shut like a fish's. Master No let Bull Kogi's lips kiss the lamp. Then he went to the body, and put the lamp in the body's hand, and had the fingers rub the lamp.

"What are you doing? You'll loose control!" said Al-Gebra.

"I doubt it. I think something else will happen, instead."

Bull Kogi's head tried to shriek, but instead of shrieking, a misty, ghostly form rose up from the body.

"This body without a head can't wish." said Master No, "But the lamp magic is so powerful, and the will so fresh and strong, that something must happen. I have created a ghost, and this ghost will haunt the inn for a while. It will help the inn's business when word of the ghost gets around."

"Fascinating." said Al-Gebra. "You humans are most inventive."

"Now we must attend to the primary problem: getting the bandits to leave. We can do that best by leaving ourselves. Back in your lamp, if you please." Al-Gebra went back in his lamp, and Master No went back to his room.

Master No listened as the bandits came into the common room and saw their leader, headless and ghostful. That, plus the word that Gung Ho was on the way, was enough to rout them. There was nothing here for them now, so they got on their horses and rode off. They would head south, back to familiar ground.

Master No composed himself, meditated for five minutes, then said quietly, "Al-Gebra?" The Djinn appeared.

"This has been a most delicious adventure, Al-Gebra."

"It has, indeed, Master No. You handled that situation masterfully."

"Thank you. And now I know what I want from you. I am ready to make a wish."

"Oh really? So soon?"

"My wish is two wishes, actually. The first wish is for me. I wish to grow younger instead of older for a while. Specfically, I wish that when I wake up rested after a night's sleep that I am two days younger instead of a day older. I wish this to happen until I reach my biological sixteenth birthday. Then I wish the wish to end, and that I grow older normally. I want to see what happens when centegenarian wisdom is matched up with teenage raging hormones.

"I could make you that age instantly."

"No... no... approaching teenagehood slowly will be much more interesting, I'm sure. The journey is going to be much more interesting than the destination.

"My second wish is that you learn humanity even better than you think you must. I foresee that a time will come when magical allies will be of great benefit to humanity, and if you understand humans well -- if you know their good side as well as their bad -- that will help humanity. So, specifically, I wish that you go back to your previous master... what was his name?"

"Aladdin."

"Go back to this Aladdin lad, and work with him, and get him in a happy story. I want, in some subsequent incarnation, to hear the story of Aladdin and his Magic Lamp, and I want to clap with glee at the happy ending to his exciting story."

"You want me to invent a story for humans? Invent a story by having real people do real things?" Al-Gebra scratched his head. "This is like no wish I've ever had before." He continued to look confused, then sighed, "You won't be satisfied with a simple chest full of gold?"

Master No laughed, "No, I won't. My wish is to help humanity and help you. And clearly you need a little more help with your human studies. By the time you finish this assignment, you will know humanity inside and out."

"That is so true, Master No. As I think about this, I see what wisdom has gained you. I have watched you handle your situation. And now you would change my self-imposed task from something boring and dead-end into one that will challenge me... one that is truly worthy of applying Djinn cleverness to. This is wonderful! This wisdom of yours is truly an exciting thing.

"In return I am going to help you."

"It is not necessary." said Master No.

"Not necessary, but my pleasure. When we first met I offered you a visitor's tour of Nirvana. I could offer you that because I do have connections with some beings in that plane. Now, instead of getting you a tour, I will have those beings help you on your next reincarnation. I will see to it that your next incarnation learns more about the magic arts. He, or she, will be a great magician."

"I am honored, and that will be helpful." Master No bowed.

"To make your wish happen, you must lose control of the lamp," said Al-Gebra, "and that means I will disappear, and there will be no more wishes for you...."

"I understand that. And I wish you the best of luck in your researches, Al-Gebra."

"And I wish you the best in yours, Master No. This has been an eye-opening adventure for me, as well."

Master No took the lamp off his belt, and handed it to the Djinn. "Make my wish happen."

Al-Gebra took it, grinned, and made a flourish with his hand. The scene around Master No first turned neutral gray, and then cleared. When it did, he was standing in front of Park Aye-Bee's house.

"Oh Good! I forgot to wish for that!" Master No laughed, and knocked on Park Aye-Bee's door.

-- The End --