Chapter 329: Eid al-Fitr

"The path you walk on has no end. No matter how far you go, or how many corpses you crawl over, the killing will never end. It's a future without hope. Hear me Snake! My spirit will be watching you..."

-        Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Kojima

"My Sultan." Before the Grand Vizier left he got some words for Beyezid II. "I sincerely hope that by the next time I see you, you shall be putting in more efforts in fields of academic studies like what your father was doing at your age, instead of throwing your time on to useless things like games, rumors and most importantly fake news… Those things are being spread to your ears by those crooked enemies of the Ottomans hidden in the dark, please, now your objective is to learn to how to become a proper Sultan, leave all other things aside first." 

After this the Grand Vizier left the palace with his fleet of Janissary guards never turning back again. 

In the palace the Sultan watches as the back of the Grand Vizier fades away under the horizon with flames bursting up in his eyes clenching his fists; The Grand Vizier has reinforced the patrols and security of the palace, taking this visit as an excuse saying that the Sultan needs to be cut off from all other distractions and negative influences to only focus on academic studies. He replaced the palace guard commanders with his own men and increased the patrols, daily activities like buying necessities is now done by the people assigned by the Grand Vizier. Now the Sultan is not going to receive even a bit of new from the outside world. 

Just as the Sultan watches two men emerged from behind the curtains walking briskly to the front of the Sultan and questioned in an anxious tone. "Why my Sultan, why did you let him away? Our men are all ready to slay this fiend for the Sultanate! Why did you not make the signal?" 

The young Sultan sighed and looked at the ground refusing to exchange eye contact with these two men, displaying a posture totally unlike a child of his age. "I could have killed him, but brothers have you ever thought about the consequences after killing this clown?" 

The Sultan went on explaining. "Remember we do not have any support in the government and in the army, which means if we killed him, we are still not able to lay our hands on the army and the government causing an immediate chaos due to the current stability and order being shattered following the death of the beast." 

The two men looked at each other and replied firmly. "We are not afraid of chaos; we are confident that we can protect you well my Sultan." 

"That is not what I am worried about friends." The thirteen years old Sultan shook his head. "There is a war going on in the east, a bunch of infidel crusaders in the west, a new rebel in the north, and the pirate Rumelian in the south… We are surrounded by hostiles, and in urgent times the most important thing we need is stability, orders, law. If we killed the keeper of the stability which is that beast, we shall be plunged in to an immediate civil unrest, even worse a civil war, and by then every wolf in the surrounding will come and have a bite on us, we would be devastated by then!" 

"Sultan! Sultan!" The man pointed in the direction where the Grand Vizier left. "So do we just let him go like this? Leaving him untouched allowing this pest of the Sultanate to continue pestering the other people until the country is…." 

"There will be some one!" The thirteen years old Sultan raised his still juvenile voice. "There will be some one who is unable to tolerate this man and get him removed for our sake. Mark my words the two of you, you two are the only two people in this entire prison like palace that I can trust except my mother, I shall not let you two waste your life so meaninglessly, you two shall one day become the next Grand Vizier if we managed to remove him in the future." 

Hearing the Sultan's promising words and seeing the Sultan's determined eyes the two men bowed down filled with the passion and zest to continue serving their sovereign.  "Thank you! My Sultan!" 

… 

The Grand Vizier Candarli Halil Pasha rides down the business street in his carriage observing the market place. It has become a practice of him ever since he was appointed by the ex Sultan Murad II in to the government to control and supervise the various trades in Edirne when he was still a junior government official at that point of time. This has become a habit and tradition of him ever since as he firmly believes that it is only through trade that one is able to observe many minute things in the state that he is unable to observe through reports and paper works. 

The Grand Vizier frowned seeing some thing and ordered the carriage to stop, then he climbed down walking straight to the store that is supposed selling the 'cheapest' grains in the entire Edirne. The main source of energy intake for most Ottomans in this era is whole meal like breads, çorba, Kesme which is mainly wheat, flour and rice. Any change in the sensitive price of these necessities can cause a serious consequence that shake the foundation of Ottoman rule. 

The Grand Vizier Candarli Halil Pasha stared at the price written on the wooden board. The price is three times more than the price set last month. The Grand Vizier knows what this price means, just a peek around he can already see starving children and women begging for grains to those passing by riches and merchants, but no one bothered even laying an eye on them. They know that any showing of sympathy towards any of the beggars will only attract an even larger crowd to follow after them begging, even resorting to robbery in some occasions. The nature instinct and of pursuing for survival will drive even the kindest human towards extremism just to prevent from dropping dead along on the streets of Edirne due to starvation.

The owner of this grains shops of course saw this old man who definitely do not look like any random tom dick and harry walking on the streets. He immediately dropped that news paper that came from the South and rushed out of his resting place to the front of this elder, only to be rudely pushed back by two young men carrying blades looking like the old man's body guards. Realising that the man must not be from a simple back ground as only the viziers get special authorization from the Sultan to have men carrying blades in the capital city, the shop owner hurriedly bowed down and greeted. 

"Honourable guest, may the horse you ride be always strong and sturdy, may the blade you wield always be formidable and durable. How may I, a humble servant help you?" 

"Are you blind?" A body guard of the Grand Vizier shouted back. "The one before you is the saviour of the Sultanate, the mentor of the Sultan, protector of all faithful followers of the Great Prophet in Rumelia his highness the Grand Vizier!" 

"I am sorry! Deeply sorry your most prestigious!" The shop owner panicked, his knees softened and kneeled to the ground. "I did not recognize you! Please! Do pardon me! I just arrived in Edirne for not more than half a year! Please!" 

"You have just been here for less than half a year?" The Grand Vizier narrowed his eyes. "Where are you from then?" 

"Honourable Grand Vizier, I was from the South, came here to trade and earn a fortune…"

However even before the merchant could finish his words the crowd standing near watching this commotion all bursted in to a series of vigorous discussions accompanied with curses, cries and gasps of air. Even the Grand Vizier changed his emotions hearing that the man came from the South. His veins on his hands starting popping up as he grasps hard on to his walking stick remembering some thing back in the past. Filled with rage he stroked his walking stick on to the back of the shop owner yelling. "Tell me! Rumelian! Why are you deliberately decreasing the price of the grains in Edirne? Why are you not following the market price? Huh? Are you a spy from the South coming here to sabotage us?" 

The grains shop owner gaped his mouth wide being not able to catch what the Grand Vizier is trying to mean, since when has lowering the cost of food during such difficult times been a bad thing that can be counted as espionage activities? He simply cannot get it. Though with a merchant's quick thinking mind he bowed down again trying to explain and defend for himself.