The ambiance in the Captain's cabin was somewhat heated.
Teitei was tasting the bitterness and the sweetness of being ignored at the same time.
Perhaps it was because of his age, his status as an ordinary crew late on a measly navire, or perhaps it was because they were unaware of the fact that he could hear them clearly as they talked in English.
Anyways, They had stopped carrying about Tony and his presence a long time ago.
While he found it somewhat bitter, as it was his first experience of being so obviously ignored, Tony was using this opportunity to observe the people present. By listening to them as they were unaware of his language skills he could also understand the situation on the ship.
He only had to look around dumbly to not get noticed.
The situation was quite simple. While this navire, THE Ipupa had King Chasa City as its last destination, it was going to stop at many checkpoints. The itinerary was already planned at the start of the trip.
While it was the case, it was not rare to see a ship deviate from its trajectory as on a 'death navire as this many things could happen. The situation on the lands and the water were always changing either, thanks to natural hazards or human hazards.
Sometimes Armed groups will take control of a branch of a river and resort to looting, killing, and indulging in whatever carnal desires that one could imagine.
There was no pirate ship on this water per se but the things found there were much worse with a better name like 'Congo river liberation army' and so on.
The greed of the captain was also often among the human hazards during these trips. He was the master of this navire and he could change the itinerary as long as the price put into it satisfied him.
Later he could just use a random reason to fool the passengers as there were many of them. There will certainly be displeasure but it was not like it could evolve into a mutiny. At least from his point of view, Captain Fokou did not think so.
Captain Fokou suddenly coughed attracting the attraction of everyone in the Cabin.
There was a map unfolded on the table in front of him. The paper had things out after being used through the years but there were also many notes and symbols on it that should have been added later on by the captain during his many trips on the Congo river.
The captain used his grassy fingers to point at a place on the map. The marks and colors on the map had paled but People could still make out what had been written in the past after focusing for a while.
" Here we are close to Kisangani," captain Fokou said before grinning.
" Normally we should just travel SouthWest and we will reach our next direction"
The captain pointed at the pale blue line on the map before looking at a classy-dressed man.
From what Tony had managed to gather he was doctor Gassama, a Chirurgie most exactly who worked in one of the most prestigious hospitals in the Capital.
" You want me to take a detour toward the south, don't you?" Captain Fokou pointed at a place on the map and his expression turned somber.
" You should be aware of the fact that fights broke recently in this region and that the rebel army is now controlling it.
It is too dangerous to go there and I will not risk the life of the people on this ship for such a misly amount of money" Captain Zock Explained In English.
The captain said before showing three fingers.
" What do you mean? " Doctor Gassama said with an angry voice.
" Triple the price and will bring you there," Captain Zock said in Linguala, explaining his gesture.
Doctor Gassama was not happy at all so he cursed in one of the dialects of the country.
" Elang Wa Zout!"
Seeing that the Doctor remained silent Captain Fokou did not get flustered at all, he just looked at the second group of people in the cabin room.
From what Tony had gathered earlier in the conversation, The three foreigners had come to this country to study a rare plant that only grew in the second biggest Rain forest in the world. The plump and dark-skinned man that was in their group was named Dassi and He was their interpreter.
Tony could not help but pity this group of people as they had certainly been cheated on their ways there. African people liked to use their dialect the most to take advantage of foreigners and the level of Linguala of Dassi was quite basic as he missed many words in a conversation, only catching part of their meaning.
Just like at this moment, The foreigner was looking at him hoping to get a translation of what the captain had said but the man in question could only scratch his head awkwardly.
Tony wondered whether or not he needed to denounce the captain's scheme, after all, he was going to risk the lives of many people.
In the end, Tony remained silent, first, he could not Explain how he could understand English, and even then The captain could deny everything.
Tony could only remain on guard and look for an opportunity to denounce the captain later.
" I would have liked to help you very much. But in other to do so, not only will I need a detour but I should also await your return for a day. It will delay our travel for at least two days and some of the perishable goods on the ship will be lost.
If you want me to bring you there you should at least raise the price" Captain Fokou explained patiently.
" How much?" The older woman in the group of foreign scientists suddenly asked.
She seemed to be in her late thirties but Tony was not sure as it was often hard to deduct the age of these foreigners.
Seeing her reaction, Tony could not help but shake his head. Captain Fokou grinned revealing his pearly white teeth.
And a voice could be heard from the other side of the room. It was Doctor Gassama who was mocking the group of foreigners.
The meaning of his world was clear, " never bring a woman to a negotiation". It was quite sexist to say something like that, but most of the people who could hear his words in Linguala seemed to agree with Him. It was the case for the captain, and it was still unknown if M. Dassi had caught the meaning of these words.
" I will be willing to help you if you triple the price"
The woman seemed about to accept but she was stopped in time by her colleague who whispered something to her.
" I need to talk to my colleagues," he said.
They went to the side, discussing back and forth when they finished they started to discuss with the captain, and together they decided to pay twice the initial offer.
It was at that time that the Captain finally looked at Tony.
" This is Toto, he will be in charge of all your needs during the trip, if you want anything you can ask him and he will be happy to help you.
And... I almost forgot, he can only understand Linguala but he is a good and smart boy" The captain said in English.
He seemed pleased as he saw Tony nodding and whatever he was saying without understanding anything.
" Go and help them carry their luggage stay at their side and if they need anything you must help them," The captain said in Linguala with a stricter tone while looking at Tony.
Tony could only nod, he had a bad feeling about all of this but he had his problems. He could not help but wonder whether he will be able to hide the mystery of his transmigration or not.
" No one will believe me even if I told them the truth" he could only console himself with these thoughts.
