The King Of Priests
merchants and horse-drawn carriage

The morning has come to signal that a new day is about to begin. Hansel, wilson and lucy had gathered at the main gate of the capital. The main gate is very sturdy and large made of gold-plated iron as a symbol of Athian greatness. Hansel looked at the gate carefully before nodding and stepping through the gate followed by wilson and lucy.

Their first mission as priests of the athian kingdom begins. Slowly Hansel and the others began to move away from the capital of Axitia. Little by little the huge Accitia began to turn into a small black shadow and then disappeared from sight. Now there was only a vast grassland around them. It is also seen that herders are grazing their livestock casually while occasionally waving at hansel, wilson and lucy.

The streets are crowded especially in the morning like now. It is the main link between the capital of Axitia and the city of Marlene, the second largest city in the Athian kingdom. This city is right in the middle of the kingdom so that makes Marlene as a strategic and crowded city. The distance between the capital and Marlene was quite far and took ten days. A long time and it will be very tiring to walk that long so that a lot of people rest on the side of the road while eating their supplies.

after walking up to the sun directly overhead, Hansel continued to walk with vigor while wilson and lucy looked exhausted. The three of their bellies had also started to sound signifying lunch time.it happened that they saw a large tree by the road and decided to rest under the tree.Lcy prepared their lunch, and they were ready to eat, hansel and wilson looked around, although the track was very crowded, but monsters and bandits often made a fuss in this lane. Hansel and wilson were so alert that they heard a scream from the road without thinking for long, Hansel and Wilson immediately ran towards the direction of the scream.

the voice came from a group of merchants who were surrounded by a bandit horde. The merchants were usually escorted by the priests of the adventure guild. But from what looks like they are alone and there are no guards even if only one person. Hansel and wilson stared at each other and nodded before they charged at the bandits.wilson made a barrier to protect the merchants while Hansel continued to attack the bandits. lucky for Hansel because there are no priest bandits there so it is quite easy for Hansel to attack them. one by one the bandits attacked with his fire power. Hansel continued to attack the bandits, and the bandits, who were attacked, he punched the bandits with his fire fist. Hansel continued to attack until the bandits finally gave up and ran away.

"thank you very much lord priest" said one merchant to the two of them.The merchant looked young but tall and large. Hansel and Wilson also saw two others, one who looked like a musician and another who looked simple like a shepherd. Hansel kept staring at the three of them because this combination was very strange. hansel who once worked in a clothing store knew how merchants dressed. Hansel continued to stare in confusion until wilson called him and reminded him that they left lucy alone.Hansel and wilson immediately headed to lucy's place then saw lucy was fine while continuing to eat her lunch. hansel and wilson then joined forces and finished their lunch before continuing on.

hansel, wilson and lucy returned to the east lane connecting the capital with Marlene. from a distance Hansel saw the traders they had helped to stay there. they continued to approach the merchants and it turned out that the merchants were deliberately waiting for Hansel and others. The merchants wanted to offer a ride up to the marlene as it turned out that they were moving towards the city in the west, Ilmesh.of course hansel, wilson and lucy were very happy and accepted the offer. they swiftly entered in the horse-drawn carriage along with the big bodied merchant and dressed like a musician while the man dressed as a shepherd rode on the horse-drawn carriage.

their journey to the marlene was short because they were given a ride by these kind-hearted merchants. During their journey they stopped in the villages around the road.These villages are very simple and far from the grandeur of aksitia.although simple, the villagers are very friendly and kind. the scenery presented in these villages is also very beautiful, as beautiful as the scenery around the east lane. Grasslands, forests, hills to rivers really make hansel, wilson and lucy the first time to leave the action mesmerized.

traveling by horse-drawn carriage is much faster than walking. In just seven days they had arrived at the second largest city, marlene. from a distance they saw a large lake with a large magnificent city right in the middle of the lake. the closer they get, the more clearly visible the city of Marlene is.a large city surrounded by high gray walls. the city is also surrounded by four large stone bridges as a link between the four main lines of the Athian kingdom and the four gates of the marlene city.

hansel was really fascinated by the city of marlene. aksitia is indeed big but he never saw this crowded action. Hansel also saw unique clothes that he had never met before. the great merchant explained to them that the marlene was a lodge of merchants, adventurers and priests of the four great cities and that the cloth-like long garments wrapped around the body came from the velmier. it was never imagined for Hansel that he could actually see the velmier people directly.Hansel only knew that velmier was in the aldeimor wilderness in the south of the athian kingdom.

while Hansel was looking around, suddenly the carriage stopped and the large sword said that they should part here.hansel, wilson and lucy thanked him before they got off the train and waved to the merchants, wilson and Lucy watched as the horse-drawn carriage drove around the large palace before them to the west.a palace encircled by a tall, gray fortress.in contrast to the palace at the aksitia, which was located in the south of the city, the palace in the marlene is gray and looks like a fortress. There are four large towers and faces directly to each large street.

wilson suddenly stopped looking at the palace and saw the direction of the sun.he noticed that it was getting late and they had to find lodging before nightfall. they decided to immediately move down the road north towards hasgia before finally passing through hasgia towards the village of hylas. this road in the north is not as crowded as the road in the east, west or south. hansel found it strange with this northern strip because there were not many shops around him and there were only inns. they kept asking one inn after another but the price of the inn was quite expensive and some of the cheaper ones were already full.the north gate of the marlene was already visible and they still had not found a suitable inn. the sun was sinking in the western horizon and finally Hansel invited wilson and lucy to walk along the branch road.

around the main road there is a branch road that leads to the houses of the local marlene community.the branch road is very quiet and only seen a few people there.they continue to move deeper and away from the main road. getting deeper into the branch road, they saw various unpleasant occurrences, ranging from slaves being beaten inhumanely, to the, seductresses wearing makeshift clothes with their necks tied in chains to a child crying on the side of the road.

actually what happened to the marlene.this big city that looks prosperous and alive holds a dark secret.Some people like bandits began to approach the three of them so they decided to return to the main road. hansel was really surprised by what he had just seen, he had never seen this in the axioms even though Hansel himself knew what the situation was like in the axiomatic slums. hansel now only hopes to leave the marlene soon, but it is dark and they really need lodging.

hansel, wilson and lucy have returned to the main road.they decided to find whatever lodging is still available, an reasonably priced inn still has rooms and its location is very close to the north gate of the marlene, without lingering hansel, or, wilson and lucy went straight into the room and slept very soundly after tired of walking around all day in marlene. Hansel fell asleep very fast to the point of not realizing that the morning had arrived.

hansel awoke to the sound of rustling goods beside him, he saw that wilson was packing their things while lucy went to buy supplies in the city. according to the merchant master who was with them before only a few villages were around the northern lane.Therefore the three of them needed to bring more supplies.In addition, the three of them had to carry more supplies, the northern path also passes through the forest on a path that is not too flat, although closer than to the aksitia, travel time from marlene to hasgia can reach two weeks and an additional three days to arrive at the village of hylas. Monsters and bandits are also much more numerous than the eastern route. Hansel, wilson and lucy realize that the journey to hasgia and hylas will be very challenging.

"hopefully we can get a ride" the words were spoken in the heart simultaneously by the three of them.