Herpus stood by the bedside, shaking his head slightly at Davos with a grave expression.

Davos walked heavily to the bedside and gazed at the thin, withered old man.

Heraclides showed no reaction to Davos’s arrival.

Davos held his right hand. The hand, merely skin covering bone, was still stained with dirt. Davos held it tightly without minding, saying in a sincere and deep voice, “Heraclides, thank you for your contribution to Theonia! Your name will be forever remembered by the people of Theonia!!…”

Davos’s words seemed to have an effect. Heraclides slowly closed his eyes, and his breathing gradually disappeared…

Herpus hurried over, put his head to the old man’s chest, listened carefully, and then reached out to feel for breath at his nose. Finally, he shook his head and said softly, “He is gone…”

Soon, the entire courtyard, packed with people, erupted in weeping. All the architects, artisans, sculptors, slaves… fell into sorrow.

Davos chanted a sorrowful whisper, “The Elysian Fields welcome your entry. Hades will give you shelter. You will be a favored guest of the Lord of the Underworld, building a magnificent palace for his abode. Whether on earth or in the heavens, the great name of Heraclides will be praised…”

Little Heraclides, weeping beside him, wiped his tears and thanked the Archon after hearing Davos’s eulogy.

Davos patted his shoulder affectionately to console him and said, “The inauguration ceremony for the Temple of Hades will be held the day after tomorrow. I need you to immediately find the best sculptor and produce a bust of your father within these two days. He will be the first person to reside in the Hall of Sages, for the people to revere and admire.”

This was a great honor! Little Heraclides immediately stopped crying excitedly. After thinking for a moment, he turned and spoke a few words to another grieving man.

That man came over, bowed respectfully to Davos, and said excitedly, “Lord Davos, my teacher receiving such honor from you is his glory! It is also the glory of all of us builders and artisans! I will immediately find the best sculptor and ensure the bust of the teacher is completed within two days!”

“Piasicos, I have heard Heraclides mention you many times.” Davos nodded and encouraged him, “Heraclides is gone. As his most outstanding disciple, you must not only continue to carry forward the skills he passed down but also delve into new architectural techniques and mentor more excellent students! Amendolara, Niutum, Grumentum, Crimisa, Asprostum… and so on. More cities will await you in the future to be re-planned and built into clean, practical, and beautiful cities like Thurii. I hope that when you are old, you too can enter the Hall of Sages like your teacher!…”

Davos’s words filled Piasicos with surging emotions.

***

On the way back to the city, Davos called Praexinas to listen to his report on the sacrificial procedures and arrangements for the Temple of Hades inauguration ceremony.

Finally, Praexinas said, “All the celebratory activities, including your lighting of the sacred fire, have been rehearsed many times to ensure no major errors occur. Only one issue urgently needs to be resolved: we lack a priest to manage the temple.”

According to the tradition of the aristocratic era, the Archon then held the sacrificial right and thus served as the chief priest. Now, given Davos’s power and prestige, let alone his status as the “God’s Favored One” of Hades, it was always right and proper for him to serve concurrently as the chief priest. However, the selection of the priest who would preside over the temple daily posed a difficulty for the Senate.

Hades, as one of the twelve main Greek gods, was worshipped, but because of his association with death and darkness, hardly any city-state built a dedicated temple for him. Thus, he had no public priests. A Thurii senator once proposed inviting a devotee of the Eleusinian Mysteries, which was popular in Athens, but this was opposed by everyone. This was because the Eleusinian Mysteries venerated the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, and the Goddess of Fertility, Demeter, not Hades himself. Appointing a priest of another deity to the role was inappropriate, leading to continuous controversy in the Senate. This was also partly related to Davos’s consistent refusal to express his stance.

At this moment, Davos seemed unaware that he was the culprit causing this problem. Without directly responding to Praexinas, he looked at the senator before him with interest. From being an enemy at their first meeting to becoming a politically savvy assistant who worked well with him, Praexinas’s demonstrated loyalty and unique talent greatly impressed him. “Praexinas, you performed excellently in presiding over the construction of the Temple of Hades. What do you plan to do next?”

Praexinas felt a surge of excitement, thinking Davos was about to reward him for his merit. He immediately said, “I want to run for next year’s Supreme Inspector!”

Davos nodded. Since he was walking, only a squad of guards followed behind him. When the people of Thurii saw him, they respectfully saluted him. He, of course, nodded back to the people from time to time, taking the opportunity to say, “The woman who just saluted is Lucanian. She probably worships Asinu. And this one is Thracian; their most revered deities should be Dionysus and Ares. And that one… Look, the citizens of Theonia come from all over the Mediterranean. They worship hundreds of deities. In the future, as Theonia’s territory continues to expand, the number of races becoming Theonian citizens will also increase, and the number of deities within the Theonia City-State Alliance will also grow. Although Theonia’s powerful military strength protects the citizens’ lives, and advanced, elegant culture increases the citizens’ sense of belonging, here—” Davos pointed to his head and said solemnly, “—it is chaotic! If Theonia encounters any major disaster, it might be difficult for the people to unite and overcome the difficulty together. If that happens, all our efforts will be in vain!”

Since ancient times, Greeks have been polytheistic, so they rarely paid attention to the beliefs of other races. Praexinas hadn’t expected Davos to speak of this religious issue so seriously. He wondered what Davos intended to convey by saying this.

“Have you heard of the Jews?” Davos suddenly asked.

“It seems… someone mentioned them. They are… a race good at business within the Persian Empire…” Praexinas tried hard to recall. At this time, the Jews were unlike those under the peaceful rule of the Roman Empire centuries later, who could freely travel and trade everywhere and settle down, leading to frequent conflicts with the Greeks. Since the Western Mediterranean was currently controlled by two races skilled in commerce—Greeks and Carthaginians—Jews had no footing in the Western Mediterranean and were thus less known.

“Jews don’t just know how to do business; they are also monotheistic, worshipping only one God.”

“Only one God?!” Praexinas couldn’t believe his ears. Among the many kingdoms, city-states, and races in the Mediterranean, there was actually a race that worshipped only one God.

“Yes, the Jews worship only one God!” Davos gave him an affirmative answer and said seriously, “The Jews are a weak race. They first lived in Egypt, were enslaved by the Egyptian Pharaohs, and lived difficult lives until a Jewish hero, Moses, appeared. After great hardships, he led the Jews out of Egypt. After decades of wandering and bloody conquest, they finally seized the land of Canaan and established their own country. But the good times didn’t last long. The Assyrians of Mesopotamia destroyed the Jewish kingdom and deported all Jews to Babylon as slaves until the Persian King Cyrus destroyed Assyria and released the Jews.

They returned home and rebuilt their country and religion. During these centuries of upheaval in Asia, many other races that once lived alongside the Jews have perished. Yet the Jews survived tenaciously through hardships. Why?” Davos paused, giving Praexinas time to think, then said in a deep voice, “Because their faith is firm. Worshipping only one God made them remain united and not lose themselves or forget their racial roots when facing other more brilliant racial civilizations!”

Praexinas pondered Davos’s words. He understood what Davos wanted to express and said somewhat hesitantly, “My Lord, the Greeks believe in many deities, and the people of Theonia believe in even more. These are traditions passed down and rooted in our bloodline! If… if we forcibly make them believe in one God, I fear… I fear there will be great trouble!”

Seeing Praexinas’s worried expression, Davos smiled. “Of course, I wouldn’t make such a foolish suggestion, but we can actively guide the people to worship Hades more, so that Theonia citizens from various places and races can be as close as possible spiritually. Don’t you agree?!”

“My Lord, even if we build the Temple of Hades, Greek habits won’t change easily. Going to sea means praying to Poseidon first, trading means seeking Hermes, farming means chanting hymns to Demeter… Greeks are very practical; they pray to whichever deity they need. It’s impossible to only pray to Hades!” Praexinas shook his head.

“The people can pray to the gods, but I hope the Temple of Hades can become a place where their souls find peace! That’s why I want to build the Hall of Heroes, the Hall of Sages, and the Prison of the Wicked in the Temple of Hades, making the Temple of Hades a sacred place for Theonia City-State Alliance to promote good and punish evil, a sacred place for the people to mourn and remember the heroes of the League! But this is not enough—” Davos raised his head, looking toward the direction of the temple.