Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1765 1737. Information Stick and Artist
Lan En didn't know why the sculptor he had just escorted back to Olympia from outside the city had gotten into trouble again just a few hours later.

But now that Phidias has asked the homeless orphans in the city to deliver letters to him, he must be very anxious.

Proving Kalipatila's family relationship is something that Cassandra can do easily on her own. It's not difficult.

So Lan just said hello and hurried towards Phidias' workshop.

At this time, dusk was gradually rising in the sky, and the sunlight was much softer than at noon, casting unique colors on the already colorful flowers and plants in Olympia.

Phidias was not short of money, and his workshop had already been equipped with a brazier for lighting.

In order to accommodate this sculptor who was famous in the Greek world, the people of Elis arranged a workshop for him that was no worse than the one in Athens.

A large courtyard with a dozen large marble blocks scattered around, and semi-finished works of human or animal figures placed by the wall. In the innermost part is a large warehouse equipped with pulley cranes and other equipment to facilitate the work of the sculptor.

Lan En came in through the crack of the warehouse door and saw Phidias wandering back and forth in his workshop with his head down, distracted.

The flames in the brazier flickered, casting a huge, shifting shadow on him, just like his now distracted mind.

"What's going on, Phidias?" Lan En asked in advance, looking around at the same time, "You don't look... dangerous here."

Because Lan spoke in advance at a just right distance, the already anxious Phidias was not frightened.

The sculptor looked up suddenly, and finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the figure entering the workshop.

Lan raised his hood and looked at him.

"Ah! No matter how many times I see you, it's always pleasing to the eyes!" Phidias sighed, "Your beauty always allows me to see a ray of light in the darkness of life."

"Thank you... for the compliment?" Lan looked at him uncertainly, "We've only been apart for a few hours, Phidias. But why do you look so haggard?"

This is indeed the case. Phidias, who had just obtained the ancient figure from the tomb of the first champion that morning, was not in high spirits, but he was quite energetic.

After all, people are always excited when they do what they love and achieve results and progress.

But now, Phidias' eyes were bloodshot, his face was dull and greasy, and some tiny changes in his body combined together made people feel that he had not slept for several days.

"You wrote in the note that it sounded like it was urgent."

Lan folded his arms and looked down at him.

"Believe me, I really can't do anything about it." The sculptor's face was full of sorrow and fear. "But now there is an important question: no one should have seen you coming, right?"

"If you don't count the little messenger girl you found," the witcher shrugged. "No, there isn't. What's the matter?"

"Are you sure you're not being followed? Good! Very good!" Phidias muttered mysteriously, "They're outside, watching and waiting!"

Lan En saw that his eyes were dazed and absent-minded, so he called out softly, "Phidias?"

At the same time, the demon hunter's left hand silently changed the hand seals.

The spirit-soothing [Axis Seal] flashed by with a flash of magical light.

The effect of the magic was immediate, and the sculptor's mood immediately calmed down.

"Who's chasing you?"

"Wow~ Your method is really effective." He was a little dazed at first, because his emotions changed so much that he was a little confused.

But then, his calm mind allowed him to continue.

"The Cult of Kosmos, Lan. Remember Athens? They never tried to let me get away."

"But how could it be?" Lan retracted his left hand from casting the seal and frowned, "Why did they continue to chase you? Even to Olympia?"

Mentos made it difficult for Lan to forget or miss anything.

He still remembered Phidias's situation in Athens and the reason why he was in danger.

At the beginning, he was a member of Pericles' staff, a very famous artist and sculptor in Athens, and was specifically targeted for elimination by the Cult of Order.

The Cult of Kosmos actually mainly wanted to deal with Pericles, but because the father of democracy was so powerful in Athens at the time, they first eliminated his staff and helpers.

Phidias was not the wisest or most intelligent of the group, but he enjoyed great fame throughout the Greek world for building the Parthenon and other wonders and buildings like the great Athena.

His wisdom cannot see through the conspiracy, and his force cannot protect himself. On the contrary, his reputation can be used in turn.

That's why the Cult of Order wanted to use mental pressure to torture him and drive him crazy.

But judging from the current situation in the Aegean Sea... he is no longer important. During the Great Plague of Athens, Pericles himself fled his homeland under the combined coercion of Cleon, the surging public opinion instigated by Cleon, and the military force of the Cult of Order.

He is a marginal aide who has now left Athens and fled to remote Elis. Why is the Cult of Order still going to such great lengths to hunt him down?
Without politicians like Pericles, how could an artist like him stir up any trouble to hinder such a huge underground organization as the Cult of Kosmos?
Phidias's living conditions were very good, far from being "poor"! He would never give a speech in a beer hall or something like that.

So from Lan's rational point of view, he did not think that the Church of Order would pursue such a target that had lost its value.

If you see him and it's not a big deal, then just kill him. But Phidias is doing pretty well in Olympia now, so why do you insist on doing it?

If an organization operates in this way, it will definitely suffer losses and collapse.

But Phidias thought otherwise.

"They just want me dead!" the sculptor said firmly, "Moving to Elis will only slow down the process a little! So I need your help, Lan!"

Lan looked at him and nodded after a moment.

"This is interesting." The demon hunter pinched his chin, "You have been affected by the [Axis Seal], and you should be in a calm mood now, but in this state you still think that the Cult of Order wants to kill you..."

"Can you tell me? What happened that made you feel like you were being targeted?"

"Not long after I was escorted back to the city by you." Phidias searched the inner pocket of his half-shouldered short robe, "Someone bumped into me on the road, and took advantage of the bump to give me a code stick and a note."

He produced a stick and a small piece of papyrus.

Phidias had a serious face, holding a small wooden stick and a piece of paper, which looked absurd and funny.

If Cassandra was here, the falconer would probably tease him that he was frightened by these two things, which was acceptable.

But Lan was the one who had saved Phidias from the arrangement of the Cult of Kosmos in Athens.

He was well aware of the mental trauma Phidias had suffered at that time, which must still have not healed.

So his expression was very normal as he took the two things from the sculptor's hand and looked at them carefully.

The cipher stick is a military invention of the Spartans and is essentially a small wooden stick.

It's just that there are artificial raised dots on it. If you roll up the corresponding strips of paper, these dots can spell out letter information and convey secret messages.

Technically, it was not difficult to imitate, it was just an idea. So soon, this code stick was used to transmit secret messages in various city-states in the Greek world.

Now that there was no corresponding note, Lan En put the password stick aside and opened the note instead.

"Look at your work," Lan looked up at Phidias and read the words on it, "The King of the Gods has something to say to you."

"Oh, good, that's obvious enough." Lan En shook the paper in his hand. "You're too lazy to even make up a riddle."

Phidias nodded in agreement: "The king of gods - Zeus! And my work is nearby - the statue in the Temple of Zeus in Olympia!"

"But you are worried about the pursuit of the Cult of Order, and this..." Lan En did the same thing as Phidias just now, with a small wooden stick in one hand and a small piece of paper in the other. "This is considered a clue to some kind of treasure hunt. What does it have to do with the pursuit?"

"Honestly, I don't know." The sculptor said frankly, "But someone gave me this news, so it shouldn't be aimless."

"Well, if it will put your mind at ease, I'll help."

Anyway, the Temple of Zeus is right next to Phidias's workshop, just a few steps away. And to be honest, Lan En was a little curious about it.

Immediately, Lan put on his hood and walked with Phidias through his workshop to the Temple of Zeus not far away.

This temple is undoubtedly worthy of the standards of the king of gods, and it is the most luxurious temple even in Olympia.

Flowers entwine the marble columns, gold and silver coins, gorgeous armor and weapons are piled around. The temple is divided into two floors, each of which is decorated with bronze statues as large and exquisite as the statue of Hermes on the road.

And at the deepest part of the temple is Zeus sitting on a bronze throne.

The carvings on the bronze throne alone were so gorgeous and intricate that they were dazzling, reflecting a golden glow under the firelight.

The body of Zeus above is made of marble as usual, but the half-shoulder Greek robe he wears is bronze.

The white of marble and the gold of bronze interweave.

Zeus held a spear in one hand and a winged fairy holding a wreath in the other.

This statue was originally made by Phidias, and he also had the task of repairing the statue during this Olympic Games.

In the name of inspection, Lan and Phidias easily got closer to check it out.

(End of this chapter)