"Your Majesty Theseus, just as you ordered, I've already contacted all my colleagues. The navy is converging on Icarus Harbor and will be fully assembled by dawn, ready to move at your command at any time!"
"The same on my end. Two legions of heavy infantry have already assembled in the Acropolis of Athens to deal with any unexpected developments..."
Below the steps, two white-haired, white-bearded old men with bodies still packed with hard muscle reported the state of the land and sea forces to Samael. One was animated and radiant, his eyes full of gloating whenever they drifted toward the assembly hall. The other was grave and steady, like an old pine standing silent among mountain streams.
Of the two men before him, one was Themistocles, the naval commander who had won the Battle of Salamis and was later exiled, the very man Scáthach had happened to shelter. The other was Miltiades, the famed land commander who had organized tens of thousands of Athenian hoplites and defeated the Persian army at Marathon. Compared to Themistocles, he was far better at keeping his edge hidden and handling people.
So although he too had been sidelined by the Areopagus after his great victory, he had not ended up nearly as miserable as Themistocles, whose temper was foul and whose popularity was worse.
At present, those two were the best Athens could offer on land and sea. The Areopagus had, in turn, ruined both of them and cast them down into the abyss. Only with the return of Samael, the sacred king, had they been restored to use. So after confirming the identity of Lord Theseus, both had become loyal supporters of the new king.
Compared with a certain rather prickly naval commander, the steady and mild-tempered land commander Miltiades pleased Samael more, and so more important matters had been entrusted to him to coordinate.
"How are supplies and potions coming along?"
"The situation still isn't stable, and it's hard to mobilize things at night. We still need some time. At the earliest, it'll take one full day to gather enough."
"Mm. That's within the plan. What about the Academy of Athens?"
"Archimedes, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Plato, Socrates' student, have all agreed to serve with the army. We're currently working to contact the Magi and scholars dispersed by the Areopagus."
"Excellent."
"..."
After asking a few more questions, Samael glanced at the land commander, who answered with flawless precision, and nodded in satisfaction.
"I've already sent out the remaining Pegasus Knights of the Areopagus to the city-states along the route to deliver the order for the army to assemble. When the time comes, you'll be responsible for organizing the land forces before they board."
"As you command, Lord Theseus!"
The land commander struck his right fist to his chest and nodded solemnly, calm and composed in bearing.
Seeing the sacred king chatting away with the land commander at his side, Admiral Themistocles frowned and poured cold water on the moment.
"Your Majesty, the Athenian fleet has just gone through a major battle and taken losses. If we load too many land troops aboard, I fear the transport burden may be too much for the ships."
"Warrior King Sigurd and his Viking warships will assist with the requisitioning."
"But carrying too many land troops won't only make our objective harder to conceal, it'll also affect the fleet's maneuverability. If we run into the Persian main force, that could put us at a disadvantage in naval combat. And in terms of sheer size and scale, we're still far inferior to the Persians. Unless the Egyptian fleet can get into position and help us hem them in..."
"The Egyptians' attitude is still unclear. They can be used, but they can't be relied on. Expecting them to truly fight to the death for us is unrealistic..."
As Samael thought, his fingers tapped the tabletop in a steady rhythm. Then, when the sound abruptly stopped, the Ancient Serpent narrowed his eyes, his gaze flickering.
"If the Egyptians can't be counted on, then we can consider another source of reinforcement... Themistocles, take my decree and make for Ithaca tonight."
"Ithaca? You can't possibly mean to find... Wait, but according to legend, didn't he already die on Oceanus after the Trojan War?"
At those words, Admiral Themistocles first started in shock, then could not help showing open confusion.
"The pursuit of the Cyclops, Poseidon's curse, Calypso's temptation, the Sirens' song, Scylla's strait, the wrath of Helios, any ordinary man would have been ground into nothing by even one of those. But none of it managed to kill that old bastard. He's tough as nails."
Samael curled his lips in a disdainful laugh and snorted.
Then the Ancient Serpent looked out toward the surging sea and asked lightly,
"You reminded me. For some reason, the intensity of this war seems to have escalated. What we'll be facing probably won't be an ordinary naval battle. To be safe, we need a true strategist for this sort of thing. So, if he's still alive, any objections to serving as his second?"
"You must be joking. If he's willing to step forward, breaking through the Persian blockade won't be a problem at all. After all, that's Odysseus, the strategist who won the Trojan War for the Three Goddesses in the midst of divine games."
Proud as he was, even Themistocles could only lower his head with a bitter smile and accept it, though he still could not stop himself from voicing the doubt in his heart.
"But if that lord is still alive, why hasn't he returned to the Areopagus?"
"Why? To cover Athens's ass, obviously, and keep the idiots in the assembly hall from playing all Greece to death."
Samael gave a derisive laugh, then glanced at the two old faces below him, both still blank with bewilderment, and spoke in a low voice.
"You should be thanking your goddesses. Besides the two internal governing systems of the Areopagus and the Academy of Athens, they also left two safeguards outside."
The goddesses' command? Then Odysseus leaving the Areopagus, faking his death, and withdrawing into hiding made perfect sense.
The land commander thought for a moment and suddenly understood. But almost at once, a new question rose in his heart.
Two safeguards?
One was Odysseus, the strategist. So what was the other?
"All right, enough. Go do your jobs. We only have one day to prepare!"
But the sacred king on the steps clearly had no intention of explaining further, and casually dismissed the two still-puzzled generals.
After seeing them off, the Ancient Serpent stretched a little, extending both arms behind him. By chance, his gaze fell on a nearby stone slab marked with faint scuffing. Curious, he wiped away the divine sigils and opened it.
Athena, you little brat...
Looking at the bag of perfectly preserved salted olives in his hand, the Ancient Serpent found himself both amused and exasperated.
Hiding snacks in the workplace. Really, you outdid yourself this time...
Confiscated.
Grumbling inwardly, Samael plucked out a bright green olive and flicked it into his mouth. Leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, he chewed, and his sour mood improved considerably.
But right after finishing off his adopted daughter's hidden stash in revenge, he opened his eyes, looked at the mountain of documents piled on the desk, and immediately felt his molars start to itch again.
You little brat, always leaving me the worst kind of mess. Is this any way to treat your old man?
And why did he say that?
Because when the flaws of democratic rule and the assembly system had first begun to show, with Athena's intelligence, there was no way she could have failed to foresee how rotten the whole thing would become once checks and restraints were gone.
And the Holy Serpent of the Areopagus, plus the two safeguards left outside, no matter how he looked at it, all of it had been left in place specifically for the sake of dealing with the useless scrap in the assembly hall. It was obvious they had been waiting for someone to come back and clean up the mess.
All signs pointed to the fact that the one these arrangements were waiting for was either him or the returning Three Goddesses.
By then, the more wildly the assembly hall had made a mess of things, the more public resentment they would accumulate, and the easier it would be to sweep everything clean. The more prestige he won from doing so, the easier it would be to consolidate the Greek city-states and gather all authority into his own hands.
To put it another way, the Three Goddesses were like a retired emperor who had stepped back into the shadows. The greedy idiots in the assembly hall were pigs being fattened up for slaughter. And he was the one stepping in afterward to take over the whole rotten account...
Wait, no. Hold on.
If he followed that analogy through, wouldn't that make him Athena's bastard son all over again?
Samael's mouth twitched. He quickly cut off that train of thought before he degraded his own generation any further, then, chewing through the bag of salted olives, made his way toward the main hall.
The problem on this side was settled. Time to go check the other side.
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