Type-Moon, a human love simulator.

Chapter 130: Suerlun, this is the best gift I have ever received

Greece had a strong slave-owning culture. The major city-states were constantly at war and all the defeated captives were taken as slaves and distributed to nobles and citizens as slaves, in order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the citizens' elite soldiers and the power of the nobles.

This also led to the Greek city-states developing the habit of not treating outsiders as human beings. In the eyes of regional identity politics, although everyone agreed that they were Greeks, it was impossible for the Spartans to live in harmony with the Athenians.

For example, Sparta, a barbaric city-state without even art or legal codes, had the "Helot system", which clearly stipulated which days should be celebrated as festivals for clearing out slaves.

Yes, they had to raise a large number of slaves, but they were also worried that there would be rebellion if there were too many slaves, so they held hunting festivals at specific times. Sparta was such an abstract city-state.

The Spartan rite of passage was never about hunting giant wolves in the wild, but about following the elders to kill people in Operation Kryptia... No, perhaps slaves were not considered human beings.

The city-state of Athens was not as abstract as Sparta, but Athens had a large population and the largest number of citizens among all Greek city-states. When other city-states could only mobilize a few thousand or tens of thousands of citizen soldiers, Athens was already able to equip 50,000 citizen heavy infantry.

Excessive population will inevitably lead to a surge in demand for slaves. Perhaps Athens will abolish slavery in the future under the impetus of philosophers and scholars, but in the classical Greece of the Age of Gods, slavery is a natural and reasonable system. No one thinks it is inappropriate, not even slaves.

Sparta had a mature slave exploitation system that could put all production needs on the slaves.

This is the reason why all Spartans served in the army. Because there were people working for them, the Spartan citizens were able to get rid of the heavy labor and devote all their energy to military training.

A completely full-time professional army is naturally stronger than small citizen landlords who still need to work themselves.

But only some.

Because this is the Age of Gods, the resources are so abundant that one can gather enough food just by bending down, and there is no need to worry about starving to death.

The reason why Suren wants to promote the Golden Age is that he clearly knows that productivity is the foundation of everything.

The productivity of the Age of Gods was so high that even the 21st century, which has entered an industrialized and modernized era, cannot be compared to it. The Age of Gods had a sparse population, vast land and sparse population, which allowed everyone to enjoy a beautiful era.

"But there are still people who trample on this beautiful world and allow ugly slavery and exploitation to prevail on the earth."

Suerlun's eyes turned cold: "If being powerful means you can wantonly deprive others of their freedom, then as the strongest person in Greece, can I oppress all oppressors?"

It's impossible that there are clear classes below me and everyone is equal above me, right?

"Oh, what's the big deal?" Athena, who was sitting opposite Surren, chuckled. "Surren, you can even accomplish the great feat of admonishing the gods. How difficult is it to abolish the system of the human world?"

"That's true, but the decentralized city-state system is still too backward." Suerlun said: "Persia in the east and Egypt in the south have already formed a national system, so Greece naturally cannot lag behind."

Any traveler with Chinese ancestry will never forget the instinct engraved in his blood.

Great unification!
Unification is necessary. Seeing the divided country and city-states makes me feel uneasy. How can I allow others to sleep soundly on my bed?

They must be unified, and all city-states must be under the rule of one regime!

"So, Suerlun, do you know what you want to do and what you should do?"

Athena, with her slender white arms resting on the small table in her secret room, looked sideways at Suren.

"Of course, Goddess Athena." Suren nodded, looked up at Athena and said firmly: "I have always been on the road. From the moment I walked out of the forest, I started walking on the road."

"I object……"

"All oppression of human beings and intellectual life, all creatures with intelligence are entitled to enjoy the beauty of this era."

Suren was always consistent. No matter how many times he answered, his opinion never changed.

"This is exactly what I long for, a golden age where all people and gods can enjoy it."

Athena smiled gently, her golden eyes sparkling. She admired ambitious men the most and liked strong and motivated heroes the most. Although Suren's ideas were too advanced and incompatible with most Greek heroes of this era, this did not prevent him from making the goddess fall in love with him.

Because of the aura that Surlun exudes all the time, his strong and tenacious spirit, and his influence on the world, even the gods are frightened.

Such a hero with great desires is his charm.

Well, how should I put it...

Even though his thoughts are out of tune with those around him, and even the gods sometimes cannot understand him, this does not prevent him from being a man with infinite leadership charisma that is enough to make the gods bow down!

At first, Athena actually didn't understand why Suren had to establish a utopian fantasy country in this extraordinary age of gods, a so-called golden paradise where all Greeks were equal and gods and humans respected each other. But she was inevitably captured during her contact with Suren.

From initial doubts, to gradual understanding, and then to today's support, Athena didn't know how her mental journey had led her to where she is now.

But she has no regrets.

"My Suerlun, your first stop is the city-state of Athens. You must need my help, right?"

Athena's voice was slightly proud, and she said with a smile: "Hero favored by the goddess of wisdom, please tell us your wish. The goddess is in a good mood and can fulfill all your wishes~"

Athena's voice is very distinctive, the kind of voice that people will never forget once they hear it. It is clear and cold, with the nobility and maturity of a queen, but vaguely mixed with a little crisp tenderness, just like a passionate girl singing softly.

Athena's expression was extremely casual, as if she was treating a friend, and she handled the distance very comfortably, neither making Suren feel too stressed and nervous due to being too close, nor making Suren feel too cold and distant.

But unlike this casual sense of distance, Suerlun always felt that what Athena said was meaningful...

What does it mean that a goddess can fulfill all your wishes?

Suerlun pursed his lips. He didn't dare and didn't want to think too much, because he had important things to do now. He didn't want to understand the goddess's thoughts for the time being.

True love, oh, true love!
Even Surlun couldn't help feeling confused when he thought of this word and the wish he made to the three goddesses at the beginning of his adventure.

He wants to find true love.

But what is true love?

All the unmarried women he had come into contact with so far, including Artemis, Atalanta, Athena, Hestia and even Europa, were extremely beautiful. It seemed that all the descriptions of beauty that mortals could think of could be applied to them.

It is almost impossible for ordinary people to establish a relationship with any of them, but Suerlun can maintain a very good relationship with everyone.

But, it's just good.

Can't go any further...

Athena called softly, interrupting Suren's thoughts: "Don't think too much, Suren, just do what you should do." Anyway, there is still a lot of time!
Athena always knew that the current Suren would not accept her love, nor the love of any other goddess.

Because of Suerlun’s dream, the golden age of peace that he wanted to witness has not yet been completed. According to the progress, it is now only about 80 to 90 percent completed!
Perhaps, in that golden age of peace and prosperity, Suren, who was able to enjoy the customs of the Age of Gods as an ordinary person, would truly accept the love of a goddess and form a family full of loyalty and true love.

Before that, Athena will do everything she can to help Surren achieve this goal.

Because this is Athena, who will never achieve her goals by being weak or waiting. Everything she wants depends on initiative and hard work.

This is what makes Athena different from all the gods.

It is like if Suren wants to climb a very dangerous mountain where he may lose his life at any time, other gods may persuade Suren to give up, persuade Suren to pray for help from gods, or use other tricks.

Only Athena would prepare climbing props for Surlen, and put all these props that could help Surlen climb successfully in his backpack. She would send Surlen on an adventurous journey with the most determined tone and 100% trust.

Surren nodded and was about to leave, but Athena suddenly said, "By the way, where are you going to put the golden apple that Eris gave you? If you take it with you when you go out, will it be unsafe?"

"Do you want me to keep it for you?"

"!"

Suerlun was caught off guard. At this moment, most people would not be able to react in time and would subconsciously fall into the trap carefully prepared by the goddess.

There is no doubt that this was a postponed attack at the tea party.

Suerlun looked calm. He took out the golden apple from his arms, placed it on the table, and said, "Business matters are more important. Forget about this."

"I met Lady Eris on my way to climb Mount Olympus. At that time, she only had a golden apple in her hand."

Surren said, "I had a pleasant conversation with her, and Lady Eris gave me this unique golden apple as a symbol of our friendship."

This shows how badly Eris was doing. Aphrodite casually threw three golden apples to her believers for fun, but Eris was a goddess, but she only had one golden apple.

You know, although mortals value the golden apple, in the eyes of the gods, it is just the most insignificant fruit in Hera's back garden!
Suerlun was a man of bright and clear character, who could hold anything in confidence, so he explained the whole story to Athena, and finally said in confusion, "Although I don't know why Lady Eris tricked me at the tea party, I still accepted the golden apple."

There is someone who is an expert at pretending to be confused, I won’t say who it is.

But some things are inherently confusing. Pretending to be confused can save you a lot of trouble.

What's more, as long as you pretend to be smart while being foolish, others can't see it, so it's not just pretending.

Athena's eyes flickered, and it was unclear whether she believed it or not. She nodded and responded in the same way: "Oh~ So that's how it is, Suerlun, you are such a good person."

"Then, Surren, you take this golden apple with you!" Athena sighed and held her forehead, "It turns out that this is such an important testimony of friendship. You must keep it close to you!"

"...Athena, you are right. It is inconvenient to carry the golden apple with me when I am away from home."

Suren pushed the golden apple to Athena, looked into the goddess' eyes with clear eyes, and said, "Athena, you are the goddess I trust most, so I will give this golden apple to you for safekeeping."

"You trust me so much... ah?" Athena looked down at the golden apple, especially the words, and murmured, "But sometimes, I'm not that reliable..."

"Trust your employees!" Suerlun said firmly, "I trust you, Athena. If this golden apple is lost or damaged by accident, it must be force majeure, not your fault."

Who can snatch things from Athena's hands unless Athena is willing?

It depends on whether the goddess is willing to help you.

"Well, in that case, I'll accept it." Athena paused and said meaningfully, "I'll accept it as the best testimony of friendship between you and Eris."

"..."

Now Surlun couldn't pretend to be confused anymore, but he just felt a little guilty and didn't care too much about it. After all, he and Eris really had a very good relationship.

He said goodbye: "Well, Athena, now that this matter is over, I will leave."

Athena smiled and nodded, but just before Suren was about to step out of the temple without looking back, a hint of disappointment flashed in her eyes.

Suren could give Eris a return gift to testify to their friendship, so why didn't he prepare a gift for her?
Athena knew that if she spoke, Suren would respond to her.

However, Athena didn't want to speak, at least not at this time.

She didn't want this initial gift to be mixed with something impure like asking for something.

Suerlun stepped out of the temple. Athena lowered her eyes and looked at the golden apple engraved with a line of golden words. She was silent for a long time before she muttered to herself: "It's okay. Suerlun is still young. It's normal for him not to understand some things..."

Athena put away the golden apple and prepared to take it to her temple and store it away.

She would not let anything happen to the golden apple, otherwise wouldn't it mean that there was something wrong with her ability?

But she didn't want Suerlun to see the golden apple.

Just as she was about to leave, the temple door was pushed open again.

Suerlun held a wreath of olive branches in his hand and walked up to Athena. "Athena, I remember you like olive branches very much, right?"

"Please forgive me for not having much money in my pocket. I could only break off some olive branches and make a wreath."

Surren said, "I'll give this to you as a token of our friendship and to thank you Athena for your continued support."

"..."

Athena said nothing. She lowered her head slightly and let Suren put the olive wreath on the goddess' noble head. Only when she felt the weight on her head did Athena open her face and reveal a beautiful smile.

"Suerlun, this is the best gift I have ever received."

Suren's craftsmanship is no match for Athena, the goddess of handicrafts, but at this moment, Athena thinks that the wreath is extremely beautiful.

No, not just the garlands, everything became beautiful.

Even this golden apple didn't seem so ugly anymore.

(End of this chapter)