Sitting in a tavern alone with a cup of wine and bread as his company, Marius inspected the lithograph he took from the temple. The painting of the spear resembled his own spear, albeit without the leather wrappings and the filolial feathers.
He shifted his attention to the other two weapons, which he never saw himself. If the spear he has represents Zeus, the king of the gods. Then the trident must represents Poseidon, god of the sea. And the bident represents Hades, god of the Underworld.
Now he looked at the painting of the warrior on the lithographs. While his armor was similar to the knights of this region, it has features that can only be found on hoplite armor, especially the helmet. Now he remembered the previous Praetorian before him. Marius knew he was greek by the weapon he left and the writing on the shield. But that was all he knows, and even Queen Fitoria have forgotten her Praetorian's name.
"Masked hero?" said a knight who just entered the tavern.
"Yes, what is it?" said Marius.
"You were summoned to the castle. The Shield Hero needed you there immediately."
"Tell them I'll be going there soon. I must finish my meal first."
"Of course. I will inform the Shield Hero."
And with that, the knight walked out of the tavern and rode a horse back to the castle. Marius rolled the lithograph and put it back in his satchel before eating his meal.
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After entering throught the castle main entry, Marius was greeted by a hug.
"Marius!" Filo wrapped her arms around Marius.
"The Mighty Masked Hero." said Princess Melty, "We've been expecting you."
"First time you call me that." said Marius.
"I'm just being formal, Marius. Now come. I'll bring you to the conference room. The others are waiting for you there."
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After they reached the conference room, Marius saw Hanzo waiting next to the door.
"You're late." said Hanzo.
"Good to see you again." said Marius.
"They're waiting for you." Hanzo opened the door for Marius.
Marius entered the room and saw Naofumi, Raphtalia, the army commander, The Order and the queen around an oval table.
"Finally. Where have you been?" said Naofumi.
"My apologies. I was not aware I was needed urgently." said Marius as he stood next to Naofumi before taking off his helmet.
"Now that you are here, I would like to ask you a question." said the queen.
"Very well... What is it that you want to ask me?"
"Given your experience in the army, what do you think of our forces?"
Marius was a little surprised by the queen's question. He looked at the commander, who looked to be the same age as Marius. "If I'm being honest... If it weren't for the vikings they wouldn't have last longer."
"Are you saying that our soldiers are weak!" said the commander.
"You really have to say that?" Raphtalia whispered.
"I did not called your soldiers weak, commander." said Marius, "The armies I knew and led into battle were more accustomed to the very nature of war."
YOU ARE READING
The Rising of The Masked Hero - The Flames of Ares
FanfictionVolume II of The Rising of The Masked Hero. Peace time was only temporary. Follow Marius, former Centurion and now the Masked Hero, with his comrades as they face new threats, and true darkness.
