The Swordsman

CHAPTER XVIII

At the royal palace, King Nagendra was with his wife in the garden of the princess. The Queen was very worried when she heard that Princess Sekar Ayu's entourage was attacked by a rebel group Bajing Alas. There was a stroke of sadness on the Queen's face as she spoke to King Nagendra.

“The plan of visits to the villages in the royal territory did not go smoothly, the Bajing Alas delinquents dared to attack the entourage of Princess Sekar Ayu, not only that they also made chaos in the villages, they robbed, they robbed, they robbed, they did not only that, stealing and oppressing small people,” said King Nagendra.

“What's the next step about the Bajing Alas rebels. During this time kanda was too weak because he saw Paramarta as kanda's half-sister. Now is the time for kanda to be firm, spill the Bajing alas rebels and arrest Paramarta and punish him with a beheading in the square so that the people see him,” said the Queen furiously.

King Nagendra let out a long sigh.

“This time I will not let the rebel mob of Bajing Alas act any further after what has been done to Putri Sekar Ayu. Paramarta must be satisfied to have messed up the plan of visits to the villages, moreover he has deployed his men to riot on the small people," said King Nagendra.

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~ Village Square Fencesari ~

“Thank God only your arm was injured, I was very surprised to see the square full of flames,” said Aryo who had just wrapped a scar of sabre on Ajisaka's arm.

“Luckily you guys come soon, otherwise somehow we face a bunch of Bajing Alas. Since in Karangmojo village, most of the soldiers of Princess Sekar Ayu's bodyguard were wounded by wolf bites. The number of bodyguard soldiers who are ready to fight is only half. How is Patih Lembu Ireng?” ask Ajisaka.

“Coach Cow Ireng only suffered burns on his legs, at that time he was resting in the tent recovering his wounds, he saved Danu, the young man who could control animals with flutes,” Bayu replied.

“Means that young man named Danu survived the attack of Bajing Alas?” ask Ajisaka.

“Yes, he hides with Patih Lembu Ireng on a large stretcher tree on the edge of the field. The young man cleverly told a bear to hold Patih Lembu Ireng and himself on top of a rowu tree,” Bayu replied.

“He is not a soldier but his ability to control animals is very useful, especially when pressed,” said Ajisaka.

“Call the young man here, I want to ask him something,” Ajisaka said.

A few moments later Danu stood before Ajisaka.

“How is Paijo doing? Is he safe?” ask Ajisaka.

“Paijo is still alive but he was very badly injured, he lost a lot of blood hit by a sword in his stomach and a spear stab in his back,” Danu said.

“Now where is he, should I help him immediately?” ask Ajisaka.

“He is in the most end treatment tent, he has been treated by a healer but has not been aware,” Danu replied.

“Aryo, Bayu let's go there, give your inner strength to speed up his recovery,” said Ajisaka.

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“Even the princess, we must immediately return to the royal palace right now for the safety of the princess,” Patih Samana said.

“But what about the wounded soldiers, they are still being treated in the treatment tents, not yet able to continue the journey. We better go home together after the wounded soldiers recover,” said Putri Sekar Ayu.

“For the princess, an edict from King Nagendra must immediately bring the princess back to the palace. This is for the safety of the princess, for the soldiers who are still injured they are already there to guard there are healers and unharmed soldiers standing guard outside the treatment tent,” Patih Samana said.

“Alright I'll go home, but Ajisaka should come with me back to the palace,”

Finally Patih Samana obeyed the order of Princess Sekar Ayu to bring Ajisaka back to the royal palace.

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~ Patih Lembu Ireng treatment tent ~

Patih Samana enters the Patih Lembu Ireng treatment tent. Patih Lembu Ireng legs suffered burns from the knee to the ankle. While the wounds of the former persecution of the rebel Bajing Alas have not dried up. Patih Samana asked Patih Lembu Ireng about the closeness of Princess Sekar Ayu with a soldier named Ajisaka so that Princess Sekar Ayu only wanted to return to the royal palace from Ajisaka to accompany him.

“Princess Sekar Ayu is outrageous, she cannot maintain her dignity as a princess of the king,” said Patih Lembu Ireng.

“Princess Sekar Ayu is still too young, he just obeyed his heart, let alone a soldier named Ajisaka who saved his life,” Patih Samana said.

“After we reach the royal palace, we must report the behavior of Princess Sekar Ayu to King Nagendra so that he immediately advises his daughter,” said Patih Lembu Ireng.

“How can you escape the captivity made by the Bajing Alas horde. I heard they blew the sirep to bring down the soldiers of Princess Sekar Ayu's bodyguard. Only Ajisaka was not affected until he managed to save Princess Sekar Ayu. Aren't you mastering high-level sirep science you shouldn't be as influenced as Ajisaka?” ask Patih Samana.

Actually Patih Samana began to suspect, something was not right. However, he tried to shake off his curiosity. Why Patih Lembu Ireng became so weak. First he was influenced by the science of sirep even though he was very master of the science, he was very, secondly he was caught by the Bajing Alas rebel horde but why he was held in a different place was unlike the other escort soldiers who were held in the dungeon.

“That time I was influenced by sirep because I was not feeling well. During the trip I rarely sleep soundly because of misgivings with the safety of Princess Sekar Ayu since the Bajing Alas gang rolled a large rock from the top of the cliff. I was dragged by Paramarta herself because she recognized me as Patih. He tortured me to say where Ajisaka took Princess Sekar Ayu to run. When the guards who were careless because of drunkenness I managed to escape and ride following the group of soldiers escort Princess Sekar Ayu who had arrived at the village of Pagarsari,” replied Patih Lembu Ireng.

After hearing the narration from Patih Lembu Ireng, Patih Samana immediately left the treatment tent to look for Ajisaka. He asked the soldier to escort Princess Sekar Ayu back to the royal palace.

“Actually I still want to accompany the soldiers who are still injured. Can I stay here Patih?” ask Ajisaka.

“This is an order from Princess Sekar Ayu, she does not want to return to the royal palace if you do not participate. I don't know what is on the mind of Princess Sekar Ayu but because of King Nagendra's decree that Putri Sekar Ayu must immediately go home to the palace then you must be willing to escort him,” Patih Samana said.

“Alright I will escort Princess Sekar Ayu back to the royal palace,” said Ajisaka. He had no other choice, had to escort Princess Sekar Ayu back to the palace.

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That afternoon Princess Sekar Ayu traveled back to the palace with Patih Samana, Patih Lembu Ireng and several soldiers including Ajisaka, Bayu and Aryo. Some of the other soldiers would follow after the wounded soldier was healed and able to travel back to the royal palace.