The rotten and rancid smell of fish and its discarded waste spreads over the muddy streets and manages to summon thousands of flies, wild dogs, and birds to come and attack the remaining fish that are present and not thrown into the sea, such as the contents of excrement, heads, and scales. Become food for these animals.
The fishing village was bustling with people. Most of them work as fishermen. The fishermen are seen unloading their catch, and the fishermen's wives process the fish; their husbands catch; some bring it to the market and sell it. They process the remains of unsold fish into salted fish and smoked fish.
To make salted fish, the women from the fishing village will sprinkle the fish that have been cleaned with sea salt according to the weight of the fish. After one night, the salted fish will be washed and dried on a bamboo mat.
The fish will be processed by smoking in addition to being salted. Almost identical to the process of making salted fish, the salt-treated fish will be dried in the sun and heated before the smoking process, which takes two to three hours at high temperatures.
The atmosphere of the fishing village was bustling, smelling of a slightly rotting and pungent fishy smell. But that did not make the young man who covered his face with a mask stop following a small, middle-aged man who had been walking hastily in front of him and turning backward.
They ran into one of the huts in the fishing village. The hut was on the beach, next to another fisherman's wooden hut. That jutted out into the sea slightly. They had to pass several wooden rafts.
They appear to have been waiting for several other people in the hut. When they saw them approaching, everyone stood up and saluted the young man, who'd been wearing a mask over his face.
"Prince Kripala, welcome to my dreadful abode."
The masked young man was graced by a middle-aged man with a thick mustache, a slightly distended belly, and a short stature as soon as he entered the hut.
"Prince, please take off your mask; everyone here is on our side. Therefore, the prince need not be concerned."
Prince Kripala still didn't want to take off his mask. He first looked around at everyone in the wooden hut. He saw there were a few familiar faces. Apart from his uncle Wirasesa, there was also the young royal commander Wilayuda there. Ranawira, Adipati Mungkur, Hanggareksa, and Sora Bajil are the two kings of the two protector kingdoms of Maespati, which means they are still relatives of Queen Gayatri. The existence of Mahesa, a confidant of Mahapatih Kebo Anabrang, also surprised Prince Kripala. Prince Kripala did not expect that Patih's confidant, who had become Maespati's ally, would come to such a place to plan a rebellion.
"Please sit down, prince," said the man again. "We're happy a prince wants to come to this place and be our leader in taking over the power of the new king. Swarpakala, a child who knows nothing, does not deserve to be king."
Prince Kripala, still covering his face with his mask, frowned disapprovingly at the man. "Who are you?" asked Prince Kripala in a disapproving voice.
"Ah, forgive this lowly servant prince," said the old man with an annoying smile. "Introducing me is Prayogo."
"I didn't ask your name, Prayogo." "All I want to know is who you are and what position you hold in the palace."
"Ah, that," Prayogo said with a big smile. "I don't have any positions." I'm just a wasted prince, aka one of your uncles, who has the same fate as you, if not worse.
"Do you mean you're the son of my grandfather, the late King Wijaya Birendra Bupendra?"
"You're correct, prince."
"He is the son of the prince's grandfather's concubine, Dewi Hanum," Wirasesa said this time.
"Why are you here instead of at the palace? Among them, the sons of the other concubines live in abundance. Have fun with women, drink alcohol, and have a much better life than even a king."
"Some of them die because they are bored and unable to do anything, prince." "Does the prince not know that if there were seventeen princes who were sons of concubines and died horrifying deaths, some killed themselves, and some were killed?"
Prince Kripala didn't respond; he didn't know because he wasn't interested in all the unpleasant palace politics, so he decided to become one of the guards in that unpleasant Gahana fortress, which turned out to be not so bad because he could create a small empire and power that no one could touch.
But the prince was conquered with curiosity. How could a man who claims to be descended, from royalty be in a place like this? Because no matter how bad a palace is, many people prefer to live there than in any other place in this entire Mayapada (world).
"Then why are you here, Prayogo?" asked Prince Kripala.
"Escape, prince. "So I can have a more enjoyable life at the palace."
Prince Kripala took off the mask covering his handsome face. The twenty-year-old youth looked at Prayogo in disbelief at everything he said because Prayogo did not resemble his father in the slightest. Both in terms of facial structure, height, and everything else. Prayogo did not even inherit the slightest bit of good looks from his late grandfather, the late King Wijaya Birendra Bupendra.
"If you are the son of my grandfather Wijaya Birendra Bupendra's, why don't you look like him? You have nothing in common with his other sons."
Prince does have a keen eye. "Forgive me for my ugliness, prince."
Prayogo's words succeeded in making everyone in the hut laugh out loud.
"The late king had many princely concubines." He had children from each of his concubines. Prince Prayogo is one of them.
Prince Kripala stared at Prayogo in disbelief.
"I am the outcast prince, prince!" My name won't even appear on the royal tree. To them, I am a rebel who defends princesses born of concubines and has been treated with disdain by the king to perpetuate his power."