Stasippus and Nicostratus looked at each other in shock. When Nicostratus looked back at the group still arguing in the pavilion, the feeling in his heart was naturally very different from before.

He turned back, looked at Stesichordas walking ahead, pulled Stasippus over, and whispered, “Who exactly is this person? You respect him so much.”

“He is a physician at the Medical School of the Theonian Academy… um… the Deputy Dean. Not only are his medical skills superb, but his knowledge is also extremely profound!” Stasippus whispered his praise.

“High medical skills? Compared to you?” Nicostratus didn’t care about the other’s position, only his actual medical skill.

“I can’t compare with him at all. The gap is like a child and an adult. You’ll know after you see the patients he treats and hear his lecture,” Stasippus said sincerely.

Nicostratus was completely stunned. He felt his medical skills were about the same as Stasippus’s. was this inconspicuous middle-aged man really that formidable?!

***

Deep in the night, in a village outside Thurii, inside a house.

After dinner, Tratus had his wife pour a cup of wine and sat alone in the courtyard. While sipping slowly, he gazed at the starry sky in contemplation, occasionally watching the slaves cleaning farm tools in the yard, while the sound of his son reciting came from the oil-lamp-lit room…

How pleasant such a life was! Tratus recalled himself a few years ago and couldn’t help but rejoice that he had made the right choice. Betraying Croton… speaking of it, he still felt a bit guilty in his heart. But he had done many things for Croton and for Milon, including risking his life lurking near Clampetia to obtain important intelligence, making significant contributions to Croton’s assistance to Terina in repelling the Bruttians… Yet his life had remained impoverished.

It wasn’t until he was turned by Aristelas, and after Davos defeated Croton and fulfilled his promise to safely bring back his wife and child, that he began his life in Thurii. Under Davos’s arrangement, he formally joined the Mountain Reconnaissance Battalion, accumulating military merits. Simultaneously, he secretly worked for Aristelas, serving the Archon.

Until last year, he finally became a formal Theonian citizen, obtaining the “allotted land” every Greek dreamed of. At the same time, his child entered the Theonian School, and the family bought two slaves responsible for the farm work… All this happy life stemmed from making one correct choice.

Thinking of this, he felt he should pray to Hades. In the beginning, he was often troubled by guilt, even unable to sleep at night. Finally, heeding Aristelas’s suggestion, he went to the confession room in the Temple of Hades and gradually found relief.

Just as he was devoutly reciting the hymn to Hades in his heart, a knock sounded on the door. The knock was very rhythmic.

“Who is it?” Tratus quickly went to the door and asked in a low voice.

“Tratus, it’s me!” A low voice came from outside, exceptionally clear in the silent night.

It was Aristelas’s voice! Tratus was shocked. Usually, as his superior, Aristelas always summoned him to his residence to report or assign tasks; he had never personally come to Tratus’s home, let alone at night.

He hurriedly opened the door. By the moonlight, Aristelas’s lanky figure appeared before him.

Aristelas glanced seriously at the courtyard behind Tratus, then walked in softly.

Tratus hurriedly closed the door gently and found an excuse to send the slaves to rest.

Aristelas stood quietly in the corner of the courtyard. The wall and a tall willow tree blocked the moonlight, completely shrouding his figure in darkness.

Having arranged things properly, Tratus immediately went over to receive orders.

Aristelas wasted no words, whispering directly, “The Lord has ordered that you can start acting on the matter you are responsible for.”

Tratus’s heart tightened again. The “Lord” Aristelas referred to could only be the number one man in Theonia, whom he both feared and felt grateful to.

Then, he became excited. “Chief, where should we start?!”

The two whispered for a while.

Watching Aristelas leave, Tratus couldn’t suppress the excitement in his heart and suddenly clapped his hands together. Smack! The clear applause in the night brought a shout from his wife inside: “Tratus?!”

“Nothing, go to sleep first!” Tratus hurriedly comforted her, while admonishing himself: Calm down! Calm down! Although this is a chance to earn great merit, this matter is of great importance and involves many people who are either high-ranking and powerful or very wealthy. I must be cautious… Think carefully… think… are there any flaws in the implementation process?

Thus, Tratus paced back and forth in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, pondering for most of the night…

***

Early the next morning, the sky was azure and the temperature pleasant—perfect weather for an outing.

Residents of Thurii got up early, washed and dined, placed fresh flowers in front of their doors, and sprinkled the streets with clean water. Then men dressed neatly, and women dressed up beautifully, heading out the east gate in pairs.

The Temple of Hera in Thurii had begun construction two years ago, mainly because the Theonian Marriage Festival was becoming grander and more influential. However, Thurii city surprisingly lacked a Temple of Hera. Before every Marriage Festival, they had to go to Heraclea to invite Hera’s priestesses, and the venue could only be Victory Square, which was somewhat inappropriate and didn’t fit the status of the center of the Theonian League. Therefore, responding to the people’s needs and the city’s development, the Senate approved the construction of the Temple of Hera.

However, the cost of building the temple did not come from the treasury. At that time, treasury funds were applied to various infrastructure projects and were already stretched thin. It came from a generous donation by Archon Davos. Following his example, many senators and some merchants also donated, allowing the Temple of Hera to be completed after more than a year of construction.

The location for the Temple of Hera also required much thought. After the Bruttian War, Theonia’s political situation was stable. After several years of rapid development, the number of citizens in Thurii exploded, and there was not enough open space to accommodate a new temple complex. Therefore, it could only be built outside the city. This was also why the Senate put the issue of expanding Thurii city outward on the agenda.

Going against the Greek tradition of building temples on high ground, Theonians built the Temple of Hera by the Crati River outside the city, on the flat land between Thurii city and the port.

In the early morning, Theonian people converged on the Temple of Hera from all directions to participate in this annual festival celebration.

Before the sun in the sky began to radiate its brilliance, a sea of people already surrounded the Temple of Hera, putting great pressure on the patrols responsible for maintaining order.

At the same time, because nearly 500 engaged couples came to receive blessings this year, the shrines of the two subordinate goddesses flanking the front of the main Hera Temple—Horae (Goddess of Seasons) and Iris (Goddess of the Rainbow)—were packed with couples.

Just as the people outside the temple square were tormented by the crowding and noise, they faintly heard bells ringing from the southwest, inside Thurii city. One ring stronger than the last. They knew this bell sound came from the giant bell cast from four tons of bronze at the Temple of Hades, ringing nine times in succession.

“One! Two! Three!…” Then the people counted in unison along with the bell, up to nine. (In folklore, Hades’s birthday was September 9th. Therefore, Theonia not only changed the annual Hades Festival to September 9th but also rang the Hades Temple bell nine times for every major celebration.)

The celebration was about to begin! The people of Theonia perked up. As for why the Temple of Hades, the King of the Underworld, could announce the start of the celebration for Queen Hera, Theonians had long ceased to question it and were accustomed to it. Over five years, the tireless efforts of Praexinas and his subordinates had made Theonians regard Hades as the League’s Guardian God and the grantor of Theonia’s stability and prosperity!

The crowd began to stir as they saw teams of musicians holding lyres, flutes, bronze trumpets, and skin drums… arriving at the steps in front of the temple and lining up neatly. A dozen priestesses in pure white robes walked out of the temple and stood in front of the platform.

When the melodious music sounded, the noise died down. The priestesses began to chant in unison, but not in praise of Goddess Hera, but her daughter, Hebe, the Goddess of Youth. Therefore, this newly composed hymn was cheerful and lively.

As the singing began, from another shrine in front of the temple—the Shrine of Hebe—dozens of young girls stepped with light dance steps into the square, dancing gracefully to the beautiful singing, occasionally changing formations and poses.

Since the spectacular and magnificent dramatic dance at the inauguration ceremony of the Temple of Hades shocked the Theonian people, it opened up a new art form. Priests of various temples made it one of the essential rituals for divine celebrations.

Watching the girls’ cheerful dance in the square and listening to the somewhat strong rhythm of the music, many women outside the square couldn’t help but start swaying their hips…

After the Hymn to Hebe, the girls retreated, and the priestesses on the temple platform emitted a soft resonance, like the sound of nature.

The people stood on tiptoes, looking towards the temple. They knew: The main character is about to appear!

A woman walked out of the temple, dressed in a plain white robe, wearing a pomegranate branch wreath on her head, and holding a torch lit by the eternal oil lamp inside the temple. Her demeanor was solemn, her behavior calm, and her exquisite face flawless. It was as if the person herself was the incarnation of the masterful statue of Hera, so holy that one couldn’t feel a trace of blasphemy.