Located about one hundred and fifty miles north of Ashtidon, it is home to the largest temple of Ra in the entire kingdom of Yakhi, and also houses the priests who serve the highest positions of Ra.

Unlike the court of Yaqui, there are very few examples of low-ranking nobles being able to become high-ranking officials in Yaqui's court, and even less if they are of commoner origin; In the temple of the gods, all kinds of people are treated equally, and if they want to dedicate themselves to serving the gods, they can be even slaves, although the selection is extremely strict. Although a slave could not become a priest, at least there would be no whips and insults in the temple, and there would be no food and clothing, so if a slave was allowed to become a priest, it would be a blessing for his ancestors.

Here, a large number of commoners climbed the priestly class through unremitting efforts, and there was even a precedent for becoming high priests. These people often had little affection for the royal family, which wielded secular power, and whose talents were almost never seen in the court, was earned by becoming clergy. These men often went to great lengths to develop the power of the priesthood, and the small amount gradually became a power in Arkee that could override the king's power. Of course, their efforts also aroused the resentment of the king, so much so that two generations of kings limited and suppressed the power of the priests. The high priests, of course, were not willing to be subject to secular royal power, and instead quietly increased the power of the priestly army, and the soldiers brainwashed by religious fanaticism emerged with high fighting spirits that ordinary Yaqui soldiers could not achieve. Through their participation in the war against Arubania on the few occasions in which they were able to achieve remarkable results, the Priest Army became even more famous.

Now. In order to salvage the unfavorable situation against the thief army, Kadir III had to condescend to the nobles. The journey of 150 miles to meet the high priests in power to seek help from the priestly army was a great joy for the high priests. After so many years of anger, I finally have a chance to raise my eyebrows.

Kadir sat in the guest seat and looked at the three high priests sitting on the main seat - Barnadus, Ankadirmo and Figor. Barnadus, now seventy-four years old, was a man of great virtue as the chief priest, but he was now old, and most of the affairs of the church had been handed over to Ankadilmo and Figor, two relatively young high priests who were constantly fighting with each other in the hope of building up greater prestige in order to become chief priest after Barnadus left office or died of illness.

Among the two. The older Ankadirmo was a typical religious fanatic, for whom everything but religion could be abandoned, and everything he did was for the better service of the god Ra, as can be seen in his meticulous and expressionless face and the persistent look in his indifferent eyes; The younger Figol, on the other hand, had an overly pale and emaciated face, and a nervous expression, which showed that he was a difficult man to deal with, and in fact, as a commoner, he could sit in the position of high priest before the age of fifty. It's all because of his talent for power.

It will not be easy to convince these three men to help him deal with the thief army, and Kadir knows it very well. This is evident from their attitude towards themselves today -- as His Majesty the King, he was placed in a guest seat, which was clearly a demonstration to himself that the divine power of the god Ra was higher than his own royal power. If it was just a battle with Arubania, as in the last battle with Arubania, it was just a battle for the priestly army. He could have sent the prime minister Usubu to convey his intentions, but this time he asked the priest army to be the main force and fight the thief army for a long time to win the opportunity to replenish and recuperate. It should be up to him to say anything.

After the captain of Qadir's guard explained his intentions, Banadus opened his eyes. From his parched throat came a maddening whisper: "It is really an honor for His Majesty King Lao to visit in person." I will prepare a little thin wine, and I will ask Your Majesty to appreciate it later. ”

This old thing is trying to play sloppy, Kadir scolded in his heart. But Kadir knows that Barnadus can push anything on his old deafness, and even if you go around with him, nothing will come of it. For the sake of today's plan, he can only start with Ankadirmo, and immediately said to Ankadirmo: "Lord Banadus may not have heard the widow's intentions clearly, please convey the widow's worries to Lord Barnadus, and at present, the regions of Napatis and Epsmilton have fallen into the hands of the thief army. You must know that the bandit army in the mountains of Dils has joined forces with Parci, and the inhabitants of these two regions originally believed in the god Amun, and now the people of the Napatis and Epsmilton regions they have conquered are all worshipping the god Ra. Under the rule of the believers of the god Amun, it is self-evident what will happen to the followers of the god Ra, and our temple may be burned down by the followers of the god Amun, and the priests will be slaughtered. As a king, I am very sad about this, but unfortunately after two successive defeats, Yaqui's national strength has been greatly damaged, and now there is Arubania in the east, and there is such a strong enemy in the south, the widow is really powerless, unless it is absolutely necessary, the widow does not want to labor the strength of the priest army to fight for the widow. Now is the time to call on the people of Yaki to rise up and wage a holy war to defend the temple and save the faith of the people of the fallen area, and you must be able to do all this, and I believe that you will not sit idly by, right? ”

Kadir's words worked, at least in Ankadir's otherwise cold eyes. Ankadir Murdang said: "If the aliens who believe in the god Amun dare to persecute our believers, the wrath of the god Ra will come upon them??????

Before Ankadilmo could finish speaking, Figol picked up: "That's right! The divine punishment of these aliens has come upon them, and we will surely pray to the god Ra day and night, asking the god Ra to shine the sun on every inch of Yaki's land, so that the glory of the god Ra will come to the earth again! ”

Seeing that Ankadirmo was about to take the bait, but was tossed by Figor's nonsense, Kadir was naturally indignant in his heart. But he read from Figor's greedy eyes that what he wanted in his heart was not a fictitious thing like religious fanaticism, but that what he wanted was practical gain, real profit. The pale-faced, withered man who seemed to have crawled out of a grave made Kadir feel sick at first sight, but a mercenary and mercenary man like him was the easiest to impress. For for him, the decision to send troops was only a matter of what the priests could gain from it, and as long as the price was right, he would not object.

Kadir groaned for a moment and said, "Of course, the god of Ra will not abandon his people. However, if we can demonstrate the greatness of Ra by destroying these aliens on our own, we may be able to win God's favor more than simply praying and revering Ra. If the people's worship of the god Ra is used to eliminate those heterogeneous believers, it will inevitably make the light of the god Ra shine more brightly, and the people of the entire country of Aki will be more determined to worship the god Ra, and at the same time, the god Ra will be worshiped by all the people of Aki, and the magnificent temples will rise one after another, and the most abundant crops, cattle and sheep on both sides of the Nara River will be enshrined in front of the god Ra, and if we can spread the belief in the god Ra to the mountains of Dils, the country of Palchi, and the wider region, Isn't that the best offering to the god Ra? ”

Figorni looked at Kadir and smiled imperceptibly - Kadir had promised to build more temples and grant greater fiefdoms, and had promised to force the faith of the god Ra on Mount Dils and the kingdom of Palci, which was the greatest concession the king could make, although all this was only a promise, but the promise in this great temple was like a declaration before the gods, and Figor believed that such conditions and promises were enough to win the support of the priests.

"Since His Majesty has such a godly act, we should do our best to contribute to the glory of God." This heart-rending voice could only be uttered by Barnadus, the chief priest: "It's getting late today, so please ask Your Majesty to stay here for one night, and please don't dislike it." ”

Kadir secretly hated in his heart: I have known for a long time that this old thing can hear everything clearly, and if he does not make such a big concession, this old thing will definitely continue to sit there and play dead. Fortunately, I was able to borrow the priest army to go out, and finally I had a heart. As for how they will demand the fulfillment of their promises in the future, at least after defeating the thief army. (To be continued......)