CHAPTER 527: 529. DIVINE GUARD

At night, Phoebe lay on the bed ready to rest.

But she saw that Lann beside her wasn’t the same as usual, relaxing and lying down after removing his armor.

The Demon Hunter now remained armed as he was during the day, kneeling on the bed.

"Aren’t you going to rest, Lann?"

Phoebe said, somewhat sleepy.

"No, you sleep." Lann replied calmly, with his eyes closed and his kneeling posture unchanged. "I’m already resting. This is Meditation, a technique to adjust one’s state and rest efficiently."

"Oh, I remember Cassandra knows this trick too. It does seem very useful."

The Demon Hunter perceived the implied request from the young girl, and thus responded without any fluctuation.

"Get some sleep, I can teach you once this part of the training is complete."

"Yay!"

Phoebe cheered excitedly at first, then her voice faded down.

Earlier today, she was practicing Stealth Steps on the rooftop and got into several fights, all involving intensive physical activities, leading to quick exhaustion.

The night grew deeper.

Lann, in his meditative state, heard the little girl’s snores beside him, caused by sheer fatigue.

In the room just a wall away, the murmurs of a tossing and turning sculptor.

The mice darting between sculptures and beams in the workshop...

In the dark room, a pair of slightly glowing, amber-colored cat eyes suddenly opened.

"They’re truly relentless day after day."

Murmuring quietly, Lann stood up from the bed silently.

Instead of using the creaky wooden door, he climbed out through the window.

Due to the Aegean climate, Athenians would generally create openings for ventilation in houses without considering the need for windows.

As Lann arrived at the corridor outside Phidias’ room, he coincidentally spotted two sneaky figures.

They weren’t the Divine Guards who’d appeared at Erpinuo’s house before, but merely two ordinary Athenians.

They used some olive oil to lubricate the hinges of Phidias’ room’s wooden door, preventing it from making shrill sounds.

However, judging from the amount of olive oil they used and their seemingly careless method, they didn’t care if the olive oil would be noticed by Phidias upon waking.

In fact, it seemed they deliberately wanted Phidias to see the tampering of his door.

Lann stood quietly in the shadow of the corridor, watching the two Athenians sneak into Phidias’ room.

They took a silver cup from the room and walked out with gleeful smiles.

During the playful handling of the silver cup, one of them accidentally bumped into the wooden door frame, causing a muted ’thud’.

Phidias inside had fragile nerves and was a light sleeper.

This small sound immediately startled him awake.

"Who! Who’s there!?"

The two Athenians seemed unafraid of the homeowner waking; they simply slammed the room door heavily against the frame.

Then they quickly dashed out of Phidias’ workshop.

Phidias seemed utterly enraged, or perhaps his spirit had been pushed to the brink.

He rushed out clutching a chisel used for crafting statues with a stagger.

Bloodshot eyes and disheveled hair... Perhaps now, no matter who stood before him, he was ready to stab without hesitation.

Lann stepped out from the shadows of the corridor.

His figure, tall beyond ordinary measure, cast an even deeper shadow.

"Calm down, Phidias. I’m here."

Lann’s physique made Phidias’ hand, gripping the chisel, tremble slightly, but at least he didn’t recklessly charge forward.

Yet, once he regained his senses and recognized Lann’s face, he spoke with resentment.

"Ah! It’s you! My dear bodyguard! Sharing food and shelter with me, yet failing in your duties as a bodyguard!"

Facing the nearly driven-mad Phidias, Lann did not mind his accusations.

"They were just ordinary Athenians, Phidias."

The Demon Hunter calmly explained the logic to his employer.

"Even if I caught them on the spot, what good would it do? Would those with silver helmets and elder masks feel remorse for two temporarily hired thieves?"

Lann walked up to Phidias, gently took the dagger-like chisel from his hand, and patted his shoulder.

"Go back to rest, Phidias."

"Now that those two thieves think they’ve done their job, they will report to their master for reward. And my work begins from this moment."

An instant of bright light flickered before Phidias’ eyes, and he dumbly released his grip and turned back to his room, closing the door.

Outside the door, Lann released the hand mark he had been holding.

The Yakxi Rune was indeed the antidote to Phidias’ near-breaking mental state.

The tall figure re-entered the darkness.

In the Demon Hunter’s vision, the fresh scent of olive oil from the two thieves transformed into a dense trace, leaving ribbon-like residues in the air.

On the streets of Athens, soldiers would patrol even at night, especially given their ongoing intense war with the Spartans.

Lann swiftly climbed up the roofs bordering the street.

His footsteps on the rooftop were as light as a cat running past.

He quickly caught up to the two Athenian thieves.

Just as he expected, after entering a discreet house, the two quickly came out with bulging wallets. They still held the silver cup stolen from Phidias’ house.

This indicated that stealing was merely a side gig. Harassing Phidias was the job someone paid them to do.

And shortly after the two thieves exited the house, a familiar figure to Lann emerged from inside.

With a silver helmet adorned with black-purple mixed horse mane plumage, the faceplate carved into a wise elder’s visage.

A Divine Guard!

It must take significant time and manpower to execute harassment that drives an artist to mental breakdown.

After all, those harassing Phidias would need to rest more adequately than Phidias and rotate shifts.

Being an obscure yet expansive organization, if the Divine Teachings had to rely solely on their distinctively identifiable guards for such tasks, they wouldn’t need to conceal themselves.

Then, standing on the dark rooftop, Lann acted just as he taught Phoebe during meals.

He leapt from the rooftop, pouncing on the Divine Guard just stepping out the door!

Despite his broad and robust body, it bizarrely didn’t stir much wind.

By the time the Divine Guard reacted, his head was already being smashed to the ground by Lann’s pressing hand!

"Bang!"

The head inside the helmet, still dizzy, then saw a flash of white light before him.

Holding the Yakxi Rune ready, Lann flipped the person over on the ground.

"Hey, I refuse to believe every random member of the Divine Teachings possesses a Divine Artifact. I can’t pry open your mouth?"