"What's wrong with golden sickles? I don't understand."

  "Shhh, stop talking," Itani raised her index finger and gave him a sharp look.

  She led him to the side out of the crowd, where they could exit the moving mass of people, and then immediately rushed into a smaller street that didn't appear as busy. Anzu wasn't sure what all the fuss was about, but he followed right after her.

  "Did you read the latest Mardukist Decree?"

  He didn't know what that was. There were Divine Decrees occasionally issued by the gods and interpreted by the priests, which, back in the game, were basically sorts of patch notes announced by the developers. But that was it.

  "Em, yeah, I really haven't. But what is up with these Mardukists again? They don't rule the city."

  "Mhm, feel free to tell them that when you see one."

  "So, the regime change you mentioned earlier, I take it they've staged a coup, and now they rule the city?"

  "Not quite..., but effectively, yeah."

  Alright, so that trip to the archives has become an absolute must. The sooner he gets there, the better.

  "What matters right now is that the Mardukists have forbidden the sale of any gold sickles or obsidian daggers. I have no idea why, but you should've seen how that passing guard's ears pricked up, as soon as the merchant repeated the phrase golden sickles."

  Golden sickles and obsidian daggers? Both of those were used for ritualistic magic by tiers eleven and twelve Archsages. The sickles for Blood Magic and the daggers for Necromancy. Were they prohibiting these, or, worse, hunting down ritual practitioners? Anzu didn't even know if there were any others. Back in the day, he was the first and only one to unlock these magic schools. He should forget about the golden sickle for the time being. Mana potions, it would need to be, at least until he could get a firm grasp on things.

  He turned his head as several people gasped in the crowd on the larger main street. Some of them moved sideways, but most of them just dispersed as if to make way for someone. It was quite a commotion, and Anzu was tempted to check what was happening.

  But a firm elven hand tugged at his sleeve and pulled him back again. It was Itani, retreating back into the shadows, urging him to come along.

  "Come on, into this ditch here. Please, trust me," she whispered.

  They jumped into the nearby ditch and crouched. Luckily, they were positioned in a way that allowed them to observe the bazaar and the main street that connected to it.

  A couple of city guards, equipped in bronze from head to toe, were approaching the bazaar and were followed by a man wearing a dark brown robe. His head was clean-shaven, reflecting the light of the nearby torches that had been recently lit. It was tucked between the edges of a high brown collar. A round pendant decorated his chest, bearing the symbol of a dragon-like animal, while a red sash was tied around his waist. From the latter hung a dagger, several clay cylinders with cuneiform symbols all over them, and finally a few clay vials.

  "I'm willing to bet that's a priest of Marduk right there," Anzu pointed at the brown-robed man.

  "You can tell by the way he walks, right? All puffed up, high and mighty."

  "Um, I suppose, yes. But the pendant of Mushhushu around his neck was the giveaway. Marduk's servant dragon."

  Itani's gaze remained fixed on the priest as she uttered just a half-silent "mhm".

  "I'm wondering what class this priest is, though. It would be good to know if he's a Sage. See those clay things tied to his sash? Those could be incantation cylinders. But he could also be a healer. Impossible to say from over here."

  The priest and his entourage approached the stall of the woman Anzu spoke to just minutes ago. While the guards stood back, the Mardukist eyed the merchant's stall and visibly focused on the sickles, tapping on them with his fingernails and listening to the sounds they produced.

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  "So, selling sickles are we?" he asked with a sneer.

  "Yes, priest, sir. Got some lovely bronze ones right here."

  "What about golden sickles. I suppose you have some of those under the table, eh?"

  With the snap of a finger, the priest pointed first at the woman and then at the desk. One of the guards immediately grabbed hold of her, while the other upturned the stall's table, sliding all of her wares to the mixture of mud and sand that was the floor.

  "Please, sir priest. I'm just a general goods merchant. I don't sell any golden sickles. It was only him who..."

  As the Mardukist inspected the bottom of the table, crouching and found nothing, he lifted himself up and focused on the woman, cutting off her sentence.

  "It was who? What do you know, old woman? Tell me now."

  "Well, I ... a man in a grey robe approached me and asked if I was selling any golden sickles."

  "And you told him what?"

  "That, no, I don't. And that perhaps the blacksmith may have some."

  A smile stretched across the priest's otherwise serious face. It was only his mouth that moved, while his eyebrows remained perfectly still. He began to crack his knuckles, one by one.

  "Someone hasn't been paying attention to the latest Decree that the Temple released."

  "Please, priest sir, I've been out of town. My sister, you see, has been taken poorly."

  "Save your nonsense for later. The Decree states that all golden sickle sales are forbidden. And any and all enquiries about them have to be reported. Immediately."

  The woman just kept pleading her case to the priest as one of the guards began tying her hands behind her back. As he finished, her pleading gave way to tears.

  "Silence! Save your tears for the tribunal. We shall assemble it at once."

  Looking around the main street, he gave a serious stare to the bystanders, warning them of the consequences they would have to endure if they crossed him, all without saying a word.

  "Let's go, fellas," he shouted at the guards, who began moving down the main street, pushing the tied merchant in front of them.

  Two types of emotion were boiling away in Anzu as he watched this unfold, each forming a side of the same coin. One related to Anni, whose heart sank deeper and deeper as he watched the unfair and violent treatment of the innocent merchant woman. He knew what was happening here. A bad character emerges and treats people like garbage, which further subdivides the people into those who join him and those who oppose.

  And just like that, tyranny emerges on a large scale. History books were full of this stuff, and some of it was contemporary, too.

  The other side of the coin related to Anzu. What was bubbling away in him was pure anger. He had fought evil before, and he had won. While Anni was never in a position of power, Anzu was an Archsage. Yes, a little disadvantaged, at the moment, due to his build being messed up and his inventory missing. But he hadn't passed the trials of blood and death to allow something like this to go unpunished.

  "They're taking her in. Are you seeing this?"

  "Listen, Anzu..." Itani touched his arm again, but this time it wasn't a tug, rather just a gentle acknowledgement.

  "I know you're about to say that we shouldn't get involved. But this, all of this, happened because of me."

  "I understand the injustice of it, I do, but..."

  "Where do you think they're taking her? To the Temple of Marduk?"

  "Yes. That's what they usually do."

  "But isn't that in a different direction?"

  "Not as far as I know. They just need to go down the main street and then take a left, and then another turn right..., but Anzu..."

  "Alright. Let's follow them. We need to... I need to see this through."

  Before Itani could say anything else, Anzu had jumped out of the ditch and began to mingle in the newly forming crowd of people on the street. Looking back, he could see doubt crawling all over her face. Finally, she facepalmed, waited for a moment, and jumped out.

  Once she was out, she joined him, pushing through the crowd, and made eye contact with him.

  Anzu was happy that she followed. Of course, it was all his fault that the woman got taken in, but he felt that somehow they were in this together. It was also a test of sorts. He definitely owed her a grinding session for the animal skins she gave him. Nevertheless, he wouldn't associate with just anyone. Someone without a sense of right and wrong just would not do. Itani seemed to be leaning towards the correct camp here.

  In all honesty, it was clear to him that she'd primarily done it for the fast advances in levels she could make with him. And that was fine for the time being. But he was hoping there was more to it.

  They moved together with the crowd, every now and then checking whether they had lost eye contact with each other. While approaching a much smaller and quieter street, Anzu felt a sudden tap on his shoulder and then spotted Itani moving swiftly past him and into the ditch of the quiet street. He joined in by landing beside her in the ditch, not as skillfully as she, but he was certain he hadn't been seen.

  "Nice stealth skills, I have to say."

  "Thanks. But that was nothing really. You do know I'm a Ranger, right?"

  "Yes, I gathered as much back in the desert," Anzu smiled this time, not having considered that Itani doesn't really know how experienced he is in this world.

  The Mardukist priest and his entourage had just passed them, luckily not spotting their hiding place in the shadows.

  "Listen, Anzu. What do you intend to do? You need a plan for something like this. I need to know what's happening."

  "I think it's best if you just stay hidden. I suspect these lot are far beyond your skill level."

  "So, I know you're a Sage and all, but aren't they above yours, too?"

  "Let's find out," Anzu whispered to Itani and jumped from the shadows into the open street, causing that distinctive sound of leather boots hitting ground, which immediately made the priest turn around, and Itani facepalmed again.

  "Good evening, follower of Marduk. A fine night, is it not?"