Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1747 1719. The Ancient Order

"This is the tomb of Leonidas."

As if she sensed Lan's footsteps, Cassandra, who was admiring the statue with a complicated look in her eyes, introduced it to the two people who were visiting Sparta for the first time without turning her head.

“I grew up listening to my grandfather’s stories.”

The falconer sighed.

In Sparta, which despised material enjoyment and advocated the use of restraint, discipline and harshness to train people's spirit and body, the statue of Leonidas was perhaps the most iconic decoration in this city-state.

This huge statue, just the stone base under its feet, is four or five meters high.

Holding a shield and a spear, the iconic Spartan combination of weapons, Leonidas looked into the distance with a heavy and majestic expression.

The Corinthian helmet on his head and the vertical horsehair decoration made the overall height of the statue about 20 meters. Including the stone base, the total height was about 25 meters.

Ordinary people in front of this statue are no different from a little hamster in someone's hand.

It seems that in this world, even Sparta, which advocates hardship, has to build some "wonders" in its own city-state, otherwise it will not be able to hold its head up in front of other city-states.

There is something to be said about construction and civilization. Just being martial and capable of fighting is not enough to win people's hearts, especially in the Aegean civilization, which has a fragmented terrain.

“This is my second time at Leonidas’ Tomb,” Kassandra continued on horseback, her tone heavy. “The first time I came with Myrrine.”

"At that time, my broken spear gave us a glimpse into the last days of his life, around the Battle of Thermopylae."

Having said this, Cassandra turned around on her horse and looked at the witcher and the sorceress seriously.

"At that time, the Persians invaded Greece on a large scale, and Leonidas wanted to gather the people to resist. But the Council of Elders found Pythia, the oracle of Apollo at the time, in the name of sacrifice and divination."

"The Oracle said that rebelling against the Persian Empire would not end well. But, haha... the great Leonidas would not be fooled by them! He pointed out on the spot in the temple where the prophecy was made that the Pythia was just a tongue put forward by the Cult of Kosmos to announce their decision."

"The gods will never let the Greeks accept the invasion of the Persian Empire!"

Cassandra said proudly and angrily.

There is no doubt that she is proud of her grandfather and angry about what happened to him.

"But Leonidas knew that he was no match for the Cult of Kosmos, not to mention that the Persians were still eyeing him covetously at that time."

"So he said nothing and revealed nothing after he left the temple. He just led his 300 personal guards to Thermopylae. And he died there."

"His death inspired the entire Greek world!"

Cassandra was full of fighting spirit, as if she drew strength from her grandfather's deeds and spirit.

In fact, this may be true. Ordinary people can only hear stories about their heroic ancestors from legends and books.

However, the Spear of Leonidas is a product of Isu technology, which allows Kassandra to see and experience the experience of Leonidas himself as if she were there.

This sense of immersion and the emotional impact that comes with it will of course be very strong.

"The Cult of Order wanted to kill my brother and used this incident to destroy my family. But it was then that I realized that the fight between my family and them had already started decades ago!"

The falconer's tone was firm and resolute, as if he was making a statement, or even making some kind of oath.

"I must and will destroy the Cult of Kosmos!"

Lan En was equally confident, but looked at her more calmly: "And I will help you accomplish this."

"But the information you revealed now is very interesting." Lan En took a few steps forward and walked between Cassandra and Triss who were riding horses. "During the Greco-Persian War decades ago, the Cult of Kosmos actually hoped that the Greek world would not resist?"

"According to our understanding of this underground organization, their roots are completely in Greece."

"So what?" Cassandra asked very straightforwardly, "Right now the Delian League and the Peloponnesian League are fighting fiercely in the Aegean Sea. Don't both sides have people in the Cult of Kosmos?"

"That's the interesting part, Cassandra, don't you see?"

Lan En crossed his arms across his chest, tapping his arm armor with interest.

"Right now, the Delian League and the Peloponnesian League are fighting each other, but the people of the two factions in the Church of Kosmos are not feeling anything. This is because they put their pursuit in the Church above their current position."

"That is what is called 'a higher interest that transcends one's position'."

"The Cult of Kosmos believes that what the two alliances are fighting for, namely, hegemony over the Aegean Sea, has little impact on them. Because what they are pursuing is the truly valuable goal."

"And we also know what their goal is." Cassandra sneered. "They want to use all knowledge to create an order for the entire Greek world. They believe that as long as there is a recognized order, the world will run smoothly."

Cassandra has hunted down many members of the Cult of Kosmos. Most of these members identify very much with the Cult's ideals and are even proud of them.

So she naturally knew all this during the pursuit. "They wanted to establish order for the Greek world, but they had no resistance to the external invasion of the Persian Empire." Lan En shook his head, "Then there is only one possibility."

"what?"

"They reached a cooperation with the Persian Empire. Just like now, they put their goal on hegemony in the Aegean Sea. They also put their goal on the Greco-Persian Wars."

But is this possible? That's the Persian Empire!
The first empire in human history with territory spanning the three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa!

A mere underground organization confined to the Greek world placed itself above the Persian Empire?
How dare they not resist and directly allow the Persian Empire to come in and annex the Greek world?

"The Order of the Ancients."

Suddenly, Lan En muttered this name.

Cassandra was stunned. This was the organization she mentioned when she told Lan about her experiences during the Athens plague.

It is also a deep-rooted underground organization with the background of the Persian Empire.

The hidden blade was a thing called a blueprint and a real thing given to Cassandra as a reward for helping a grandfather and grandson who were being hunted by the Order of the Ancients.

"Allowing the Persian Empire to annex the Greek world must be done after the conditions and terms of cooperation have been negotiated. But the Cult of Kosmos is an underground organization. How can they have the position to engage with the Persian Empire openly?"

"If what you said before is correct, the Order of the Ancients is also an underground organization with deep roots in the Persian Empire. Then only they are suitable and qualified to negotiate such conditions with the Cult of Kosmos."

As they are both underground organizations, it is easy for them to contact each other.

The deep-rooted nature of the Order of the Ancients made them qualified to make decisions on behalf of the Persian Empire and ensure their implementation.

"So," Cassandra put her hand on her forehead, looking troubled, "I went against the Order of the Ancients, and it was the right thing to do?"

Her trust in Lan En was unquestionable. She had complete trust in him both in terms of his stance and ability.

The witcher smiled at this: "Maybe this is what they call: fools have good fortune?"

Cassandra's amazing education level has always been a topic of complaint by Lan and Herodotus on the ship. However, since they are on the same side as Barnabas, they just take these complaints as a breeze.

This time too, the falconer shrugged his shoulders and didn't seem hurt at all.

A gust of wind blew, and the green leaves of the bushes in the small square in front of Leonidas' tomb rustled, and pink petals fell from the trees.

Lan En pinched off a petal that was hanging from the hair on his forehead.

Unconsciously, Triss and Cassandra chuckled as they took in the beautiful scene and people before them.

Triss leaned over on horseback, opened her mouth provocatively, and while keeping her eyes on the witcher, she ate the pink petals that were pinched between Lan's fingers.

Of course, this process inevitably involved licking his fingers.

"It's delicious, thank you."

The sorceress thanked him politely, and the falconer stood by, eager to watch the fun.

But Lan En has become accustomed to these beautiful and straightforward women.

His face was calm, but in the breeze and the drifting of petals, his lips were saying something.

He relayed the brief conversation he had just had with Brasidas to Cassandra. There were people from the Cult of Order within Sparta, so this matter had to be handled by the Spartans themselves.

Given the system of classical militarism, even if outsiders offer help, they probably won't be very welcome.

“Brasidas?” Cassandra, who had been eager to try, now frowned. “He is indeed a friend of Myrrine and me. His warning is not groundless.”

The falconer pulled the reins and turned the horse around.

"Let's go, to my home... Of course, it's not my home in the legal sense now. We need to talk to Myrrine and find out what has happened during this period."

"Brasidas was a brave yet cautious Spartan warrior. But today..."

Cassandra glanced at Lan.

"He actually found such a small opportunity to talk to you and told me not to contact him. This is not just cautious, it's even a bit..."

The falconer didn't say the rest, but Triss and Lan understood.

Sometimes there's a fine line between caution and fear.

To say that a Spartan was 'afraid' of something was undoubtedly the worst possible insult. It was not something you could do lightly.

(End of this chapter)