Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1762 1734. Olympia
As we got closer to human settlements, ruts from repeated tire pressure began to appear on the road, and the noise of the gathered humans could be heard from far away.

Only the traces of these settlements can make humans, as social animals, feel at ease.

Phidias returned to Olympia with the results of his work under the escort of Lan.

The fluff ball hid its tracks like a ninja again, ready to help when the boss needed it.

"Phidias."

The city gate was in sight, but Lan En suddenly called out to the sculptor.

"what happened?"

Phidias was already a little impatient to archive his newly collected ancient patterns into his own collection and then begin research.

"When you come back this time, you must find someone to report the death of the Athenian soldiers and bandits." Lan En pulled down the sackcloth hood on his head. "I hope you won't say that I helped you."

Elis is now the de facto controlled area of ​​the Delian League led by Athens. Someone must be responsible for the killing of Athenian soldiers here.

And in this way, Kallias, who had been paying attention to the Tomb of the First Champion, would definitely know that Lan En was following him.

Now, Lan En already knew why the other party was paying attention to the Tomb of the First Champion.

It is basically certain that it is for the ancient stone tablet of Isu civilization.

Although in this world, artifact fragments can be said to be the war potential of each city-state. But paying so much attention to artifacts that have been taken to the grave by others is somewhat disrespectful of honor.

This style of behavior is almost crazy in this era, and there are quite a few such crazy people... in the Cult of Order.

"Are you hiding your whereabouts?" Phidias was not stupid. He knew what Lan En was like after looking at his attire. "Well, I'll have to find an excuse. But don't worry, I can handle it."

He scratched his messy beard and said, "The hyenas must have made a mess of the scene. I said I was hiding in the crack under the patio, and when it was quiet up there I ran away immediately, and I didn't know anything else."

In this case, even if the Athenian military camp sent people to investigate, they would most likely only know that bandits raided the temporary camp, and after both sides were defeated, the hyenas came to clean up the mess.

Nearing the gate of Olympia, the two separated and went in separately.

Thanks to the high popularity during the Olympics, they both blended into the crowd easily and without leaving any trace.

Lan En didn't know how long the Olympic Games in this era would last, but it would take at least several days.

Tomorrow is the first day of the competition, and the events include javelin, sprint and so on.

However, thanks to the relatively backward and primitive management measures of that era, it is not too late for Cassandra and others to start lobbying today to allow female athletes to play in the games.

Seeing that there would be no time to track down Kallias's origins after sending Phidias back today, Lan En simply thought of having fun and experiencing the ancient Greek Olympics first.

It was similar to his mentality when he first arrived in Athens.

For history lovers, it is so refreshing to be able to go to ancient Greece and watch an Olympic Games live!
Olympia is located in a valley, so there are many huge rocks protruding from the ground in the entire complex.

These rocks blend in with the local Greek architecture, making the architectural style appear more expansive.

Everyone living in Elis knows that the Olympic Games are the most important money-making opportunity! Traffic is everything!
So the city is not only full of tourists from other places, but also athletes and coaches coming and going, local vendors and all those who want to take advantage of this opportunity to make money are on the streets.

A layer of linen blanket is laid on the stone-paved road, and then the goods can be sold.

Pottery jars, fruits and snacks are common.

There was also a vendor selling Sparta's famous black meat soup, a crude and deliberately unpalatable food that was a sign of the Spartans' refusal to use pleasure to lead to weakness. Even in today's primitive Greek cooking methods, it was considered very crude.

But the stall owner was smart. He said that it was the black meat soup that made the Spartans strong, and it would not hurt for anyone passing by to have a bowl.

There are also many small accessories that are forcibly linked to various Olympic champions and claim to bring blessings.

Lan En also saw a very traditional combination of fraud and theft: a thin man in front stopped a passerby, claimed that he had the power of foresight, and then talked nonsense.

Behind the passers-by, a thin and inconspicuous child secretly took the purse from other people's belts and ran away.

This method has really been enduring in human society.

Lan En also saw many stalls selling sports equipment, including javelin and discus. Only in a place like the Olympics, which thrived on sports before the Christian era, would such a good business be possible.

Purple, white, brown, blue...all kinds of Greek robes and short robes were walking back and forth on the streets.

The statues of wise men, soldiers, and thinkers in the city were also repainted, hung with garlands, and surrounded with flower petals.

The Olympics is like a grand festival, or it is a festival. The glory of the Olympics comes largely from its declared purpose: it is the most glorious competition for the Olympian gods.

It originally carries the meaning of a large-scale sacrifice.

Lan En passed by the Altar of Zeus in Olympia. Unlike the Temple of Zeus where people worship, this place is a place specifically for sacrifices.

The place was filled with ashes and the smell of burning and smoke.

In the square marble square, there was a large fire basin in the middle, surrounded by ashes, and eight stone sculptures of bulls stood on the four sides of the square. Lan En looked into the square and saw that more than a dozen bulls had been killed for sacrifice so far today.

Listening to the pious words of the people around me, it seems that hundreds of bulls will be slaughtered on the day the Olympics end.

Of course, according to the sacrificial tradition that 'gods like smoke and fragrance, and people need food', it is very normal if someone wants to buy these 'sacred offerings' with drachmas.

In fact, today, after the dozen or so cows were burned indiscriminately during the sacrificial process, they were sold with only their skeletons left.

Sacrifice is not cooking, there is no such thing as controlling the temperature.

But even so, Lan En saw that those who bought the offerings were moved and pious when they ate them, as if they had really established a connection with the gods.

Lan bought one for himself, paying two hundred drachmas! Unfortunately, he didn't think the half-burnt and half-bleeding thing tasted good at all.

Later, Lan also visited the Olympic Tree.

It was a very old tree, surrounded by several marble pillars and a large marble flower bed.

The Olympic champions' laurel wreaths were picked from this tree.

According to the requirements of the ritual, pure and innocent children were responsible for picking the branches, which were then sent to the Temple of Hera for blessing and finally woven by fair judges.

As Lan En strolled around, he had a small bowl of fish puree mixed with pickled olives in his hand. His calm and appreciative look did not stand out among the crowds of tourists.

But he was appreciating the scenery, and the people in the scenery were also appreciating him.

"Hey! Lan!"

Suddenly, the witcher who was walking and eating on the street heard a call.

Turning around, I saw that both sides of the street had turned into wide upward stairs, and at the highest point stood a magnificent and solemn Greek temple.

Lan En doesn't know yet which god this temple is dedicated to.

But he saw Cassandra waving and calling him in the small square in front of the temple.

Lan walked up the steps and arrived in front of the temple.

He originally wanted to discuss the Tomb of the First Champion and the ancient stone tablet inside with Cassandra.

But when he actually came up, he found that this scene was not suitable for conversation.

Because in this small square, Triss, Cassandra, Herodotus, and Thestycles with a bandage on his thigh were all there.

On the other side, several women were surrounding a woman who was slumped on the ground.

These women's clothes are all nice, the kind that you can tell from the fabrics.

The leading woman looked to be about forty years old. She wore a golden armlet in the shape of a coiled snake on her arm, and a headband woven with flowers and wheat ears on her head.

Surrounded by this group of women, the woman sitting on the ground looked miserable and terrified.

Lan En came up with the small ceramic bowl that he bought with the snacks, looked around, walked over to Cassandra who had seen him and called him up, and asked in a low voice.

"What's going on?"

Before Cassandra, who looked unhappy, could speak, Triss's voice came from the side.

"What's going on?" The sorceress asked back in an even more aggressive tone, "We are witnessing a ridiculous but cruel trial!"

"Watch your language, redhead!" the leading woman with the headband said sternly. "You are standing before a priest of Demeter!"

Demeter is the goddess of agriculture among the Olympian gods, and is also revered by the people as the goddess of justice and legislation.

So it seems that this is a trial led by Priestess Demeter?
Cassandra's own people now looked as if they had already argued and didn't want to say anything more, so Lan En decided to step on the petals and stone slabs to ask himself.

"Hello, respected priest." Lan En went up to greet him politely before asking, "What crime did this lady commit?"

"You've already said it. Her sin is being a woman!"

This time, the other party had no chance to deal with Lan En.

Even with the reaction of a witcher, he blinked twice before he managed to continue the conversation.

"But if that's the case... I think many people present here are guilty."

He said 'many people', but his fingers moved in a circle and finally stopped at the priestess.

"I am the priestess of Demeter!" She emphasized her identity again. "I am responsible for supervising this event. As a married woman, she disguised herself as a man and wanted to enter the venue to watch the game! This is a real crime!"

(End of this chapter)