Bear School Astartes

After hearing Phoebe’s rather proud account, Phidias couldn’t help but nod repeatedly.

In a time filled with myths and legendary stories, occasionally listening to street talks is also quite intriguing.

Meanwhile, Lann poured cold water on Phoebe.

”After becoming the leader of these street urchins, you’ll have to find some long-term work for them. It’s better to avoid stealing from sailors, or else the people in charge of port management won’t tolerate you. Those sailors pay taxes when they come ashore to find prostitutes and gambling, but you don’t.”

It seemed Phoebe had never considered this issue, after all, she was just a little girl from Cephalonia, who appeared to be able to fight bravely and had outstanding social skills.

”So, what should we do?”

Phoebe put down her bread and fish soup, anxiously stretching her head towards Lann and asking.

”Why are you so nervous?” Lann said matter-of-factly. ”This is quite simple for you guys.”

”Hmm?”

Phoebe showed a confused expression.

Phidias beside her was also the same.

Even as a native Athenian, he didn’t know how a group of street urchins could easily find work that would feed them.

”Perhaps you haven’t realized yet, Phoebe. You and the dozen or so children you’ve gathered have already become an organized group. Just this alone makes you stronger than many people.”

”You can gather a dozen children, though most of them are not strong, they can still handle many tasks requiring manpower that are difficult for an individual or are quite troublesome.”

”Do you think those small merchants setting up stalls in the market, how many people can they call to help if they shout at the top of their lungs? If they can get five or six, it’s not bad. The first gang I knocked down in Athens had barely even thirty people, it’s hard to say.”

”The number of people you can unite is your advantage, Phoebe.”

Lann spread his hands, speaking lightly.

”Also, do you remember what I told you before?”

That... Street Urchin Intelligence Squad?

Phoebe vaguely thought.

”Once you gain fame, people who understand the value of ’intelligence’ will come to find you. Just wait and see.”

”If you put it that way...” Phoebe tilted her head, thinking it over, suddenly she seemed to recall something.

”Today there was someone who greeted me after seeing our activity. Said if we have time, we could look for her.”

”Approached you just after seeing your first action?”

Lann was a bit surprised, surprised by this person’s keen eye.

”She’s a woman? Out there alone? Finding a woman not accompanied on the streets of Athens is no easy task.”

”She’s also very beautiful!”

”Beautiful? How beautiful?”

Lann did not expect the first reaction from Phoebe when describing the person to be about her beauty.

”Let me find a reference... Right, how does she compare to Cassandra?”

After asking, Lann found that Phoebe, who always admired Cassandra, hesitated.

”Pretty much the same?” she hesitated to say, ”Aspasia has a different style from Cassandra.”

”Aspasia?”

At the dining table, the voices of two men questioned simultaneously.

Phidias and Lann exchanged glances, seeing astonishment in each other’s eyes.

Aspasia, the lover of Athenian Governor Pericles, but also an important aide in his political journey.

It’s said many of Pericles’ speeches, worthy of textbooks, were edited and refined by her.

If such a person could immediately recognize the potential of this group of street urchins in intelligence, it would be understandable.

”Then work well, Phoebe.”

Finally, Lann concluded at the dining table for the little girl.

”Being appreciated by her means at least you’ll not worry about food and drink in the future. Don’t stop training, I’ll have to frequently go outside the city of Athens for a while, so pay attention to your training progress.”

”Hmm? What are you doing outside the city of Athens?”

”Playing hide and seek in a cave with a bunch of psychotic murderers... just thinking about it gives me a headache.”

After hearing this, Phoebe’s eager eyes quickly dimmed, becoming obedient.

”Oh, then go deal with your headache yourself.”

Lann then ripped off a piece of barley bread and threw it at Phoebe’s head.

-----------------

After parting with Lann Fergus, Cassandra took nearly two months to reach the Piraeus Harbor of Athens.

She leapt lightly off the Adrestia, and another person, looking about forty or fifty but still quite sprightly, wearing a hooded cloak, walked down the board from the ship.

That was Herodotus, an old acquaintance of Barnabas.

He met up with Cassandra’s party on the road while queuing to consult the Oracle, engaging in pleasant conversation.

With his rich experience and vast knowledge, he was invited by Cassandra to return to Athens with her.

Yes, ’return.’

Because Herodotus at this time was also serving as an aide to Pericles.

The route to Athens had changed a lot from the time Lann first arrived.

Like the Demon Hunter, when Cassandra first arrived, she gazed towards the Acropolis of Athens.

On this two-mile road, there was only a coastal path, like an arm extended from the city, tightly holding the nearest shoreline and wharf.

Stonemasons and slaves swarmed here, placing the last batch of stones on the two peculiar walls erected along the pathway, their chisels rhythmically tapping with their work at hand.

”Come on, Mercenary.” Herodotus, walking along the pathway, beckoned Cassandra to follow his pace.

The two proceeded along the path, the long walls beside them casting a pleasant shade.

There, an old beggar mumbled to anyone willing to listen, ”Shouldn’t Troy, the Hittites, and the Assyrians serve as cautionary tales for us? Such grand walls will inevitably attract powerful destroyers.”

This opinion wasn’t exactly new.

Cassandra thought privately.

At the same time, she only then noticed how coarse the walls beside this path truly were.

These walls were hastily constructed, of very poor quality, the materials shoddy, consisting of paving stones, rubble, and remnants of beams and columns.

Placed within the same view as the distant Divine Hall and Acropolis, they were somewhat unsightly.

”This is the ’Long Walls’, I discussed this plan with Pericles before leaving Athens, and now it seems quite developed.”

Herodotus introduced to Cassandra.

”They do look ugly, but as a stopgap measure, they’re quite formidable. The Spartans are not good at siege warfare, and these walls can shield the port of Athens from threats.”

”Are you saying this was a strategy thought up by you and Pericles?” Cassandra pondered, ”What glory is there in such an approach?”

”’Glory’? Ha, truly worthy of a Spartan.” Herodotus laughed.