“Finally we have arrived.”

Before us appeared a shallow port town.

It was our destination, the city of Palos.

We continued walking towards it on foot having abandoned the raft a week before. After 15 days of floating in the river we passed through a rough part of it. The fast stream of that part of the river gave our shabby raft the final blow finally sinking it.

That forced us into continuing our journey on foot from that point on.

During our second day of journeying on foot we encountered a couple of bandits that were trying to rob us, but we performed a reverse uno on them and took all the valuables we could carry with us, some clothes and a map of the area before we beat them up.

The map was of poor quality seemingly drawn by a ten year old kid during a sugar rush. The lines were crocked and there was no order of scaling in it at all.

Munnji with a lot of difficulty found the way to the nearest town to us, the city of Palos.

As we were leaving, the bandits continued cussing at us and promising that if they saw us again they would definitely kill us and yada yada.

That of course didn't go well for the bandits.

We stripped them of all their clothes, piled them up and then burned them all in front of them. The bandits looked on in horror as all their clothes were burnt leaving them with nothing but their birthday suit. We then beat them up again before leaving for real, but before we left, I intentionally left behind only a pair of clothes behind.

All the way I couldn’t stop laughing; imagining the chaos that would ensue when the bandits learned that there was only a pair of clothes left.

We finally arrived at one of the huge gates of the city that was at least 20 meters tall. The gates looked like they were carved out from the city wall that was even taller than the gate reaching 30 meters tall. In the city wall there were watchtowers every 20 meters, each one manned by four persons each at any time.

I and Munnji got into the line that was headed to the city gate that was opened only slightly but allowed all the people to enter the city even if they stood side by side.

I looked at the huge wall before me in deep awe and surprise wondering what kind of enemy they had faced to require such a huge wall to stop them.

As I was admiring the wall a voice sounded behind me.

“You have never seen such a huge defensive wall in your life I presume?”

I turned my head to discover the one who asked the question.

He was a fairly tall about 30 year’s old, fat man. He was wearing a delicate blue robe that was definitely hand made with the most expensive fabrics you could find. He entirely outshined all the others around him with his class alone. He had a surprisingly slim face for his body type, green eyes, long black hair tied in a ponytail behind him and a soft smile that would make anyone trust him instantly.

“Is it that obvious?”

I answered him.

After answering we both stared at each other for a while until he spoke again and bowed slightly towards me with his left hand behind his back and his right hand forward with the palm above the heart.

“Sorry if I have disturbed you in any way, I apologise. I just thought to make some small talk until my turn comes.”

I smiled and also reciprocated in kind by also bowing towards him in the same way.

“There is no need to apologise, it’s nothing.”

“Ho where have my manners gone, I forgot to introduce myself.

My name is Faley Mint the branch manager of the Trinity Merchant Group in Palos city, nice to make your acquaintance.”

I answered.

“My name is Nicolas Hunter, a village boy that has come to the big city to look for a better life, nice to make your acquaintance.”

After we introduced ourselves he cast his vision to my side and asked again.

“And may I know the name of your companion?”

Before I had the chance to speak Munnji's flat and cold voice came from my side.

“It’s Munnji”

The situation became tense.

Faley was taken aback by Munnji's answer and spoke again.

“I’m sorry if my question offended you, I dint mean to insult you in any way.”

Seeing that he apologised I decided to cool of the situation.

“We accept your apology.

I understand that you didn't mean it so let bygones be bygones.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that.

At least let me compensate you for the previous rude remark.”

He pulled out from his robe a piece of flat rectangular piece of metal that had carved in its front a triangle and below it was beautifully engraved a one sailed ship that floated slowly in the water.

“This is a token of the Trinity Merchant Group.

It can be used for different things in all the branches of the Trinity Merchant Group, from discounts to access to restricted materials and even as an entry pass to the yearly auction that is held in every major city of the empire.

Please accept it.”

He pushed the token forward not leaving me any chance to refuse, so I simply took the token and put it in my backpack.

After all that we made some small talk until our turn came.