CHAPTER 535: 537. ARRIVAL

Then, they arrived at a certain point on the path, where the road was completely blocked by villages made up of shacks and tents, inhabited by people with ashen faces and vacant stares.

Before long, they were stepping over the bodies of those still sleeping, squeezing a path through the massed tents.

"I’ve never seen so many people packed behind the city walls before," Cassandra murmured.

"These are the so-called ’country folk’," Herodotus said softly.

"They suffer the most because of Pericles’ policy. Exiled from their homes, they have been displaced from their native valleys and wild regions, and now they huddle together here like beggars — it’s clearly a form of torment."

Then, Cassandra noticed that the guards standing behind the exquisite city walls, atop those towering parapets, were Athenian hoplites.

Their appearances closely resembled those of the enemies she had faced and defeated in Megaliss.

They looked busy, giving orders while discussing various matters happening in the countryside. What made them so anxious?

Out of a newcomer’s curiosity, Cassandra extended her senses in that direction and overheard snippets of conversation.

"It’s becoming more and more chaotic outside the city. Who could have imagined there’d be so many Ares followers hiding in those deep caves?"

They didn’t dare speak too loudly, as if forbidden by discipline to discuss such matters.

"We’ve heard they’ve massacred many villages, it’s unbearable to witness... Dammit! Does Pericles not care at all about the tragedies outside the walls? Must an Athenian problem be solved by a mercenary?"

"That’s the Son of the Giant God, not an ordinary mercenary, show some respect! Besides, Pericles has long allowed entry inside the city, it’s they who cling to their possessions and refuse to come in!"

"Easy for you to say, abandoning their fields, hunting grounds, and farms to come and live as beggars?"

"If they don’t abandon those, should we march out of the city and face Spartan hoplites head-on? That’s a Spartan phalanx! Xerxes’ army shed rivers of blood before them! Do you want your child to be fatherless, your wife to sleep with another?"

"Ha, as if her husband surviving would stop her sleeping with someone else."

The complaints rapidly escalated into disputes, then into malicious personal attacks, and finally were suppressed only when a senior officer passed by.

The Son of the Giant God? Is Lann clearing out Ares followers here?

Cassandra, coming from a quintessentially militaristic city-state like Sparta, couldn’t imagine anyone engaging in private discussions in such a highly disciplined army.

The Athenians’ defeat in Megaliss was deserved.

Thinking this, she didn’t voice it because Herodotus was an Athenian and she didn’t want to affect their friendship.

Herodotus skillfully guided Cassandra toward a large podium.

Such a scene was entirely unfamiliar to someone like Cassandra, who hailed from Sparta.

Here, thousands of lavish robes enveloped thousands of bodies, and thousands of bald heads glimmered under the sunlight. These figures, with raised arms, hurled criticisms vociferously at each other.

At the center of the crowd on the podium, Pericles stood like a lone boat in the sea.

"That’s the person we are looking for," Herodotus said. "That’s Pericles, the commander for Athens."

Cassandra didn’t have the same luck as Lann to directly hear Pericles’ famous rhetorical prowess.

For when she and Herodotus arrived, a younger man with a bushy beard was relentlessly questioning him.

"How long are we going to let this fraud ride over us? Once again, Pericles shows his ’qualities’: timid, hesitant, compromising repeatedly without achieving satisfactory results. It seems he knows nothing else but how to raise the adversary’s spirit and diminish our own."

Though he was questioning Pericles, even a newcomer like Cassandra could tell that this person aimed more at persuading the audience, seeking to condemn Pericles through the crowd’s clamor.

No, rather it was precisely because Cassandra was a newly arrived foreigner that she saw through this person’s strategy.

The local Athenians were mostly swept along by emotion.

Herodotus pointed at the troublemaker and said, "Kleon, he’s a firebrand. He says things all day that people want to hear, irrespective of their truthfulness."

"I’m not defending my employer. Since Pericles entered politics, debates and conflicts have been plenty. But this is the first time he’s faced an adversary like Kleon."

"If you reason with him, he won’t accept it, but will instead incite the audience’s emotions. And when you try to play to emotions, he then turns and uses reason against you, saying how can you be unreasonable."

Cassandra felt a wave of disgust, a direct reflection of her straightforward nature.

Finally, the speech dispersed amid the clamor, during which an agitated Athenian threw a rotten apple at Pericles, leaving him in embarrassed disarray.

The aim was to denounce Pericles for neglecting the farms and fields outside the city and showing weakness in avoiding battle with the Spartans.

Kleon took great advantage of this.

Herodotus, acting as a mediator, guided Cassandra toward Pericles.

As they approached, Cassandra noticed that the stern, statue-like expression Pericles wore on stage had disappeared, leaving only fatigue and dismay on his face.

"Old friend?" Herodotus greeted first, causing Pericles to raise his head.

Seeing Herodotus’s face, Pericles’ expression softened significantly, as if someone had finally seen the sun after days of continuous rain.

"Ah, my old friend, you’ve returned."

Pericles waved away the guards, and the two embraced.

Cassandra noticed that during their embrace, Herodotus whispered something in Pericles’ ear.

Afterward, Pericles’ gaze toward her was much gentler.

Clearly, Herodotus had spoken well of her, which would make her forthcoming actions much smoother.

"Are you looking to attend my banquet?"

Pericles asked politely, and Cassandra nodded, speaking according to Herodotus’s earlier instructions.

"I’m looking for a woman, my mother. This is not only my concern but also involves a group very dangerous to Athens. In short, I seek the wisdom of those close to you."

"The banquet should be a private enough place to reveal the secret to you."

Pericles said nothing in response; as the Athenian Governor, everyone in this city of hundreds of thousands wanted to speak to him, to express how urgent their matters were, to see if they could cut in line or get some priority.

Meanwhile, Herodotus observed the situation and leisurely offered his advice.

"You’re worried that inviting a foreigner to the banquet could upset the Athenians, which is very possible. But we can make some preparations first."

"Cassandra can assist you with a few tasks first, so others will think she’s helping you with work, rather than being a guest."