Hilde sneered.
"When he exiled me from Athens, there was no need for me to do anything for Athens, especially since I am now the queen of the Byzantine Empire. I do not want to get involved in the war between Athens and Sparta."
Hilde's attitude was completely within Aspasia's expectations. After all, that was the father who exiled her thousands of kilometers away and wanted to kill her daughter with the help of the Thracians. How could Hilde forgive him?
Not to mention……
From Hilde's childhood till now.
The father never looked her in the eye.
And he wanted to get rid of Hilde a long time ago.
Aspasia didn't understand before, but now she understands everything. After spending some time with Hilde, she found that she had completely underestimated Hilde's thoughts. Hilde understood everything. When she went there, she must have seen her father's intentions, so she treated Pericles so badly. That was not just mischief, it was just revenge.
"I understand what you mean."
Aspasia smiled and patted Hilde's head.
"It's okay kid."
"But...if something goes wrong in Athens, I'd be worried about Socrates and the others."
"Socrates? Oh... you mean that weirdo. You can rest assured about this. Even if Athens is conquered by the Spartans, the lives of Socrates and his men will be protected."
"That's true."
This is what war in Greece was like.
Even if anyone loses, there will be no large-scale bloodshed.
"Then please trouble mother to write a letter back to Pericles. This is my attitude. He abandoned me in the beginning, so I will not save Greece if it is in trouble now. This is not only my opinion, but also the opinion of Lady Athena. The gods have abandoned Greece... Let him fend for himself."
"..."
Hear this.
Aspasia couldn't help showing a look of horror.
Have the gods abandoned Athens?
Considering the series of events that had happened recently, Hilde's words did make sense. Pericles was also worried that the gods would abandon Athens... So Aspasia said to Hilde, "Child, although Pericles did something unforgivable, the people of Athens are innocent. If you can meet Lady Athena, can you ask her to forgive Athens? Forgive those innocent people of Athens."
"joke."
Hilde couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Pericles was elected by the Athenians."
"But……"
"Don't you know the real reason why this war broke out? Did the Spartans dare to challenge Athens because they had a hero? That's not the case... The interests of the Athenians spread throughout Greece. They wantonly manipulated the politics of other countries, grabbed huge profits from others, and forced civilians to sell themselves into slavery through usury. The Athenians have done many of these evil things. Although they didn't kill as many people as the Persians, they did far more bad things than the Persians."
"..."
Hilde's criticism of Athens.
It is true.
After all, she had lived in Athens for 15 years, and her parents were the most important politicians in Athens. In addition, Hilde had read a lot of research on ancient Greece in her previous life, and what the Athenians did during this period was indeed not very kind. According to modern morality, the narrow-mindedness of the Spartans was as hateful as the greed of the Athenians.
But from the perspective of this era.
The narrow-mindedness of the Spartans was actually a kind of adherence to tradition, a kind of piety, and an ascetic lifestyle. However, the Athenians' extravagant lifestyle and their attitude of doing things at all costs for the sake of profit were disgusting to the entire Greek world. Therefore, it is completely tenable to use this reason to say that Athens has been abandoned by the gods.
So, facing such statements.
Aspasia could only respond helplessly.
"Okay, mother, I'm going to rest."
"Well...get some rest, kid."
"Mother..." Hilde hesitated, but still looked at Aspasia's back and said, "I know you can't give up Athens, but at least... I also need some time. If you really need me, I will still go back, not for Pericles, but for Athens and the Byzantine Empire."
"……OK."
Aspasia nodded.
"Then, you should rest early too."
Hilde turned and went back into the house.
The meaning of her previous words was also very clear.
She would never help Athens unless it was beneficial to the Byzantine Empire.
Chapter 3, Section 4: Oracle of Poseidon
Hield is so realistic.
If you can give me enough benefits, Hilde can help Athens.
However, Pericles would never surrender to Hilde and her Byzantine Empire.
Therefore, Hilde didn't take this to heart at all.
After getting Hilde's reply, Aspasia knew that Hilde had absolutely no intention of helping the Byzantine Kingdom. So Aspasia wrote a letter and sent it to Athens via a merchant ship. The next day, Hilde led the team from Byzantium to Apollonia. There, Hilde would board the ship to Dacia, which was further north, to start formal contact with the Dacians and even establish diplomatic relations.
And at this time.
Athens, Attica.
Here, the once prosperous city of Athens has now begun to decline.
The towering walls kept the Spartans out of the city, but they couldn't drive them away. Most of the land in Attica was firmly controlled by the Spartans. Except for the Silver Mountain and Cape Sounion, almost all areas outside Athens were under the control of the Spartans. This result was something that all Athenians didn't want to see. But even if they didn't want to see it, there was no way to solve Xi'an Azi's terrible situation.
Athens was almost defeated.
"..."
Pericles stood in his palace and looked at the city of Athens.
Now, the city is in great chaos because it has been blocked for almost a year.
The Athenian navy still controlled the sea power, so a large amount of food could be sent to Athens by sea. However, after the city gates were closed, the panic and depression in Athens suddenly increased the crime rate in Athens by several points. The optimistic Athenians believed that the Spartans would never be able to break through the towering walls, while the pessimistic Athenians directly believed that the Spartans had a hero and they could soon break through the walls of Athens and take Athens.
In fact, Pericles...
Also the pessimistic person.
The reason why the enemy has not attacked the city yet is because they are making preparations.
Although the other side has heroes, Athens has tens of thousands of land forces and the world's best navy. If they attack the city forcefully, it will only cause huge losses to the Spartan army. This is very fatal for Sparta, which has a small population. Therefore, what the Spartans are doing now is to continuously disintegrate the Delian League and win over those large city-states. For example, in the first two months, Corinth gave up Athens as an ally.
And now the Spartans were active in Boeotia.
Their goal was to win over Thebes of Boeotia to their side.
When the Spartans gathered enough troops, it would be the end of Athens.
"Ugh……"
Pericles sighed.
Now, who can come to save Athens?
He even wrote a letter to Aspasia in Byzantium. He could never have imagined that Hilde would suddenly become the queen of the Byzantine Kingdom, and some time ago, she directly swallowed up the population of Miletus, turning it into a powerful city-state in the North Aegean. The current Byzantine Kingdom not only ruled Byzantium, but also Apollonia and Chalcedon, and was about to become a powerful country in the north.
Of course, Pericles did not expect Hilde to send troops to Athens to help him. That was simply a pipe dream. How many ships would be needed to transport such a long distance? What Pericles hoped was that Hilde, now the oracle of Athena, could return to Athens... at least, to help Athens.
The more critical issue is.
More and more people have come to know about Hilde's affairs.
As Athena's oracle, Hilde's departure seemed to represent Athens being abandoned by Athena.
This is the most terrible thing.
The devout civilians took to the streets to denounce Pericles' decision to exile Hilde. Now, Pericles' rule was about to come to an end. Even the Citizens' Assembly standing behind Pericles began to question whether the archon they had always admired was still capable of leading Athens out of its predicament.
Now is Pericles' most difficult time.
While Pericles was sighing.
Behind Pericles, an old man walked out slowly.
"Pericles, sighing is not your style."
"...Ah, my friend."
Pericles turned around and immediately smiled with relief when he saw the visitor.
"Protagoras, what brings you here?"
"I heard that my friend is in trouble, so I need to come and see him."
Protagoras is now over 50 years old. He is about the same age as Pericles. Moreover, the two have the same political views and a very good relationship. They have long been good friends. This time, Pericles is about to fail, and Protagoras is naturally very worried. He came to Pericles' mansion. The two old friends met again at this special time.
"Thank you."
Pericles forced a smile.
"However, as the most outstanding wise man in Athens, I'm afraid you can't help me this time."
"Not always."
Protagoras walked up to Pericles.
"Lady Athena, have you abandoned Athens?"
"...Well, it was my fault."
"You finally admit that exiling Hilde was a mistake. What now?"
"This mistake can never be made up. I'm sorry. I should have listened to your advice. I'm really sorry. Because... the prophecy said that Hilde would destroy Athens. Now it seems that the prophecy is indeed unavoidable." Pericles looked at the gloomy sky and smiled bitterly. "Protagoras, if Athens really fell, what would you do?"
"Let's not discuss such pessimistic issues for now."
Protagoras said with a wry smile.
"Lady Athena abandoned Athens, but what about the other gods?"
"Others? Who else could it be..."
"Poseidon."
When Protagoras said this, Pericles couldn't help laughing.
"Really? You know very well that Lord Poseidon and Lady Athena fought for the position of the patron saint of Athens, and it has nothing to do with Athens anymore, right? You still say this. Do you think I'm too sad and want to tell a joke to cheer me up?" Pericles did not notice the implication of Protagoras' words at all. He just regarded Protagoras' idea as a joke.
And this time.
Protagoras suddenly grew serious.
"I'm not kidding."
"Huh? I'm not kidding, that's..."
"In fact, do you know what happened at the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion?"
"what?"
Hearing this, Pericles also became serious.
At the southeast cape of Athens, called Cape Sounion, there is a magnificent Temple of Poseidon, which is used to protect Athens' ships from any accidents. However, Athens is also the city of Athena, which is why the Temple of Poseidon was not built in Athens. When Pericles heard Protagoras mention this, he also perked up and asked, "What do you mean, did something happen in the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion?"
"Oracle."
Protagoras smiled and said:
"Or rather, a hero."
"hero!?"
"Don't worry... An Athenian girl who lived near Cape Sounion was favored by Lord Poseidon. She became Lord Poseidon's oracle and was given a trident with divine power. I went to Cape Sounion myself and confirmed this, and it is indeed true. It is not clear what happened to the girl, but she can summon the waves and make horses obey her unconditionally... This is obviously the power of Lord Poseidon."
“Really… is this true?”
At this time, Pericles could no longer suppress his excitement.
"of course it's true……"
"Now, take me there immediately!"
Pericles didn't care about anything else and hurried downstairs. Protagoras smiled at Pericles and followed Pericles downstairs. The distance between Athens and Cape Sounion was still very far. It took a day to go to Cape Sounion by carriage from Athens. But Pericles couldn't wait that long. He asked someone to arrange a carriage, and then he and Protagoras went to Cape Sounion.
