Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1792 1764. Current Situation of Tourist Area

"Woo~" Arsenios stretched out his voice, "The statue of the Minotaur is the most deadly! Legend has it that Theseus died on the horns of the statue!"

"Theseus? Died on the horns of the statue?" Lan pinched his chin with two fingers. "I have heard many stories about the Minotaur. Wasn't the Minotaur killed by Theseus?"

The little boy looked at the hooded man in front of him strangely and said, "Warrior, can I ask where you are from?"

"Just think of me as a Spartan. Why do you ask?"

"Then I think Sparta's education is also problematic." Arsenios sighed and shook his head. "Theseus killing the Minotaur... Isn't this a myth that only children believe in? You're not going to tell me that Medusa is real, right?"

Lan En was speechless and choked: "In other words: while you are convinced that the Minotaur existed, you think that Theseus's feat of killing the monster and Medusa are all fictional stories?"

"Of course!" Arsenios asked doubtfully, "What else?"

This is what Lan En knew before: many people of this era rely entirely on their own subjective impressions to understand many legendary stories. What they think is true is true, and what they think is false is a fictional story.

"Or else?" Lan En's tone was helpless. "You deny Theseus' heroic story. Doesn't that mean that the existence of the Minotaur is no longer credible? The Aegean Sea was named after this story, kid."

But then, Lan En's real intention was hidden behind this seemingly helpless emotion.

"Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have come to Crete!" The witcher covered his forehead under his hood. "The Minotaur is a liar. I wasted my boat fare."

"No, no!" Seeing that his client had such a 'dangerous' idea, Arsenios hurriedly dissuaded him, "No, no, no! How can it be in vain? The Minotaur is real!"

In his eagerness to retain customers, the little boy had to reveal a lot of information.

For example, he revealed that in the town of Pephka, some people were organizing an event to challenge the Minotaur. The prize money was generous and could be claimed as long as the challenger survived, but no one had succeeded so far.

It is also said that in order to save the lives of some reckless warriors, before officially challenging the mythical Minotaur, one must first pass three trials organized by the event organizer to prove one’s ability and determination, and only then will one be told where the Minotaur is and go to challenge it.

There is no doubt that Arsenios wanted to use this prestigious competition to promote his business and gain credibility.

This was not a bad thing for Lan, as he learned more about the island.

"Okay." The witcher pretended to be temporarily relieved of his doubts, "Let's continue forward."

"Of course, of course!" Arsenios let out a long sigh and quickly agreed, "In Pefka, whatever the hero who pays has the final say is always right! This way, please!"

Very good. Now Lan En is a little impressed by the advanced business philosophy that this little boy had more than four hundred years BC.

Arsenios introduced the way while leading the way. He said the stones on the roadside were the shit of the Minotaur when he passed by, and the marks of the mountain cat's claws on the tree were the scratches of the hard hair of the Minotaur...

Anyway, just like many tourist attractions in the future, they have to be connected to a celebrity or a well-known event.

The little boy led Lan to a town near the harbor on the side of Pefka, which was also a commercial street with stalls on both sides.

It seems that tour guides specifically take people to consumption areas, which has been the ancestral precept of this profession for thousands of years.

Arsenios stopped in front of a stall and looked like he was going to give Lan a detailed explanation.

Lan En suspected that the stall was most likely his.

"As I told you before, warriors from all over the Aegean Sea came here hoping to challenge the Minotaur at Pephka, and to succeed and gain the greatest reward."

The little boy's tone at the beginning sounded like he was telling a great legend, but it took a sharp turn towards the end.

"Of course, the Minotaur has killed all the challengers so far!"

Lan En crossed his arms across his chest and looked down at the little brat in front of him.

He noticed that Arsenios's eyes were flashing with a cunning light on his shaved head.

So, Lan En gave him the topic as if he was watching a good show: "But?"

"Yes! But!" The little boy immediately climbed up the ladder, "As long as you drink the freshly squeezed Minotaur Hoof Potion, you will definitely get enough energy to win!"

"It sounds like this potion is really powerful. Let me guess..." Lan En's voice almost trembled with amusement, "You happen to have a bottle right now?"

The little boy held his head high and said, "Just like my father taught me: When you go out, you must always bring the hooves of mythical creatures ground into powder and dried in the sun!"

"I don't buy it."

Lan's calm and ruthless voice fell immediately after the boy's introduction.

Arsenias' eyes suddenly widened, as if he couldn't believe that there were such heartless people in the world.

"Of course," but he still tilted his head upwards, trying to use his innocent eyes to awaken the possible emotions of the person in front of him, "You have no obligation to help a poor child on the streets of Pevka and earn a meager reward to make your sick grandmother feel better. Ahem."

"If it's your grandmother who's sick, then what are you coughing about here?"

Lan was looking up at the diamond pattern on the linen on the booth shed, as if it were something very beautiful.

"Uh..." The boy was stunned by the question, "Because I, I am more empathetic! Well, if you don't want to buy it, then don't buy it. Let's continue to tour!" Arsenios lowered his head and continued to lead the way. They passed a series of small stalls and entered a sunken cave that is very common in the Greek Islands.

The cave is about a hundred meters deep and slopes downward. As expected, at the deepest part, there is a bronze sculpture of a human body with a bull's head.

Lan En folded his arms across his chest in the candlelight on the altar dedicated to the sculpture, looking at the little boy leisurely, waiting for him to introduce the relationship between this place and the Minotaur.

But it was unexpected.

"Okay, that's the end of our tour."

Arsenios turned around, and despite his small stature in front of Lan, he also crossed his arms across his chest, appearing to be very imposing.

Lan En was shocked by this, not because of the boy's aura, but because...

"You don't even want to act anymore?" The witcher sighed. "I haven't learned any useful knowledge about the Minotaur along the way!"

"Hey, be careful with what you say!" The little boy was furious. "No one has ever given a bad review for my tour guide!"

As he spoke, two sturdy men who were only half a head shorter than Lan En walked out from a dark corner in the cave where the candlelight could not reach, and stood behind him in a threatening manner.

The two strong men seemed to be Arsenios's confidence.

"You can pay the fee to my colleague when you return to the cave entrance." He looked very proud at this time. "I wish you a pleasant journey to Pefka in advance."

But this was also beyond his expectations. The customer didn't seem to be panicked at all.

"So, just these two people?" Whether it was the low-light vision, the Ear of Leman, or even the witcher's sense of smell, Lan En had already known of their existence.

To be honest, the appearance of these two people was not as surprising to Lan as the fact that Arsenios didn't even explain the last stop and went straight to the reveal, which caused Lan En much surprise.

"I won't let you take a single drachma from me."

"No, there won't be just one!" The boy waved his hands, "We'll take them all! Thales! Mason! Teach him a lesson!"

The two sturdy men immediately broke into grim grins.

But the next moment, two muffled "bang" sounds were heard from the cave, followed by a "roaring" sound as two people opened their mouths wide to breathe, but were unable to move their dysfunctional lungs.

The two strong men covered their stomachs and slowly lay down on the ground in the cave, curled up like two big insects.

Lan turned around expressionlessly, and Arsenios didn't even have time to leave his original position.

The little boy was like a frog being stared at by a poisonous snake. He froze and dared not move, with sweat dripping down his shaved head.

"Ha, ha ha!" He laughed dryly twice, then quickly said, "Congratulations, warrior! You successfully passed the 'thug test'! This is not a test that everyone can pass! You have earned yourself a free spot in the guided tour, and I won't charge you any money!"

Lan En looked at him without moving, so the boy's sweat on his shaved head increased significantly, and his dry smile became even stiffer.

"Or," Arsenios suggested tentatively, "Ha, ha! Guess what? You've given me a very wonderful journey, warrior! This is a journey of friendship! All expenses for this journey should be borne by me!"

As he spoke, the little boy walked to a dark corner of the cave next to a stone pestle and pulled out a leather bag.

"You said you paid for the boat fare to come to Crete, so I'll pay for that too! All inclusive! For our friendship trip!"

Lan En reached out and took it to weigh it, and raised his brows under his hood. It felt like there were about seven or eight hundred drachmas, and he was a little surprised.

Not because there is too much, but because there is too little.

Poor at home but rich on the road, this is basically the case in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad. How could the warriors who came from all over Greece to Crete, wanting to become famous with the Minotaur, have only so little money?
And judging by the boy's cooperation and familiarity with the two sturdy men, this was obviously not their first job together.

Where did the money go?
But at this moment, one of the two strong men on the ground suddenly insisted on shouting loudly in pain.

"Don't, don't give it to him! Arsenios! That's the money we saved from scratch! Let's fight him again! That's the money we can use to escape together..."

"Shut up, Mason!" the little boy shouted, interrupting the strong man's forced shouting.

But when he turned around, he gave Lan En another dry laugh, which was stiff but he didn't dare to stop.

He hoped that this money would make Lan En let them go, but at this moment, Lan En had become interested in something other than the money.

"You said this was the money you 'saved quietly'." Lan En keenly grasped the seemingly insignificant point in the other party's words.

He slowly squatted down and smiled with interest in front of the wary little boy.

The purse rustled twice in his hand.

“Why do you use the words ‘quietly’ and ‘saving’?”

(End of this chapter)