Mythology: Spiritual Ruler

Chapter 312 Heroes History Peace...War

Three days later.

Thuringia East City, diagonally opposite the Temple of the Church of Knowledge.

Panathenaic Museum of Knowledge.

A lady with long brown hair and plain robes was moving gracefully between wooden shelves filled with books and parchment scrolls, followed by a handsome young man.

A half-broken olive branch logo was painted on her chest - it symbolized her identity, the reserve priest of the Church of Knowledge.

Reserve priests are not formal clergy. Although they are no different from formal priests in terms of knowledge and training, in fact, the biggest difference is whether they have been inspired by the goddess.

A more realistic statement is that they are still pure mortals in terms of strength, and you cannot do work that requires divine power; a more idealistic statement is that since your faith has not yet been recognized by the goddess, you should first take on the work of running the church's subordinate institutions.

"Sir, this is the content of history, coat of arms, and family in the Museum of Knowledge... There may not be much content here, but I'm sorry, Thuringia is not Athens after all."

With a smile on her face, although the candidate priest lady was apologizing, Ryan could still see the pride in her eyes. After all, in this era, people who can read account for a very small proportion, let alone collect books.

The content recorded in this Pan-Athena Museum of Knowledge is probably more than all other texts in Thuringia combined.

"The first and second floors are the library, the basement is for collecting and preserving antiquities, and there are special reading rooms on the third to fifth floors, providing snacks and drinks... Of course, no alcohol is provided here, which is not in line with the teachings of the goddess. In addition, a maximum of five different books or parchments can be borrowed at a time, and I hope you can protect them as much as possible-if it is unintentional damage, you only need to pay the price. But if it is intentional damage..."

The priest lady did not finish her words, but Ryan nodded to show that he understood.

Although he knew very well that Athena did not hold the authority of [knowledge], [wisdom] and [knowledge] were indeed very similar and well matched. Moreover, with the [hydrology] inherited from her mother, it was not surprising that she would have thoughts on this.

Perhaps she wanted to reach relevant fields and powers through faith, or perhaps she simply wanted to enhance her prestige in the world. In short, Athena's church was even named "knowledge", and as a result, the carrier of knowledge was regarded by her believers as an extension of the goddess' will, and any deliberate destruction would be regarded as blasphemy by them.

"Thanks for the reminder, ma'am. But I don't think any well-educated person would treat them with rough means."

"Knowledge is the ladder of progress. The rise and fall of civilization depends on it." Ryan reached out and took out a book marked "New Calendar - 849 New Edition" from the bookshelf: "From 10,000 years ago, when the first human beings looked up at the stars, knowledge and humans have been inseparable."

"Just like the stars and the night sky - if the gods are the moonlight that illuminates the night sky, then knowledge is the navigation in the dark."

"...Perfect metaphor, you are really a learned noble."

A flash of amazement flashed in her eyes. If it weren't for the regulations, the candidate priest lady really wanted to chat with this young foreign noble. Compared with those rude guys in Thuringia who only knew how to wield swords and guns, she felt that the one in front of her was in line with her usual imagination.

However, long-term communication is prohibited in the Museum of Knowledge. If you want to exchange opinions, you should enter the corresponding reading room to avoid disturbing others... So after regretfully discovering that Ryan did not invite her to sit up, the priestess returned to her own position.

"Hehe, noble? I don't have the blood of gods... No, as a mortal created by "me", I should also be considered "noble blood", right?"

Ryan smiled and watched the prospective priest leave, and couldn't help but complain in his heart.

Although he had been solving the housing and identity problems for the past three days, and came here to study for the first time today, he still learned a lot about the social structure of this era.

Without considering those distant countries, within the influence of Athens, which seems to be the most advanced and developed in the world today, there is a political system with a dual-track system of classical republic and feudal aristocracy.

The "citizen" class composed of male citizens, craftsmen, merchants and professionals living in the city, and the "divine blood aristocracy" with the blood of gods, extraordinary birth and orderly inheritance, they are the middle and upper structure of this era.

The two are mutually opposed, but also mutually integrated... As for why this pattern is formed, it can be traced back to objective factors that have been going on since the Great Migration.

You know, Chaos is a supernatural world, and there are always a large number of wild beasts and monsters in the wilderness of the human world. After the disaster of Typhon and the shining of the bloody sun, this situation has become many times more serious.

So the idea that "the ruler must be a strong man" and "only the strong can protect the people" spread among humans very easily. Therefore, the first monarchs of the human world were mostly strong men in the legendary field, and only they could open up a suitable area for living in the dangerous wilderness.

However, with the end of the Great Migration, the first batch of cities were built, the population gradually increased, and expansion was an inevitable option... But there was only one king, and each place also needed other strong men to protect the people. The transportation in the wilderness was also inconvenient, and the later system of nomadic officials was destined to be unable to be implemented here... So gradually, the feudal system became a very reasonable trend.

The original nobles were not a rent-seeking class that oppressed the people. On the contrary, they actually paid equal obligations while enjoying their rights. Whenever there were monsters in the territory, they were the first to stand up and fight with them.

"But it's different now."

"Today's nobles have long changed and become 'God-blood nobles'. Those who are powerful but do not have the blood of gods can only be classified as citizens. This is why the classical republic can compete with the feudal system, because both sides have extraordinary power behind them - well, let me see... the recognized first God-blood noble, the son of the God King and Princess Danae, born demigod, great hero, Perseus, His Highness Perseus."

"He has made countless achievements in his life, killed the sea monster Gorgon, saved the foreign princess who was about to be sacrificed, and killed the hero Phineus and his brother. He had six sons and two daughters, and they later either established their own city-states, inherited the old throne, or married famous heroes. Corinth, Nemea, Mycenae, they all obtained the blood of gods, and it was from then on that the God-blood nobles began to grow in the world."

In the reading room on the third floor, Ryan browsed this past history.

There are only a few hundred words recorded in the book, but compared with the memory of later myths, Ryan saw more than that.

Why is Perseus the son of the king of gods? Because his grandfather received a prophecy from nowhere, saying that his daughter's son would hurt him, so in order to prevent her from being harmed, the king forbade his daughter Danae from contacting outsiders and locked her up in a tall bronze tower for strict guard.

However, mortal guards could not stop the gods, at least King Acrisius could not. So the king of gods Zeus turned into golden rain, through the window bars, mated with Danae and gave birth to Perseus.

The king was horrified to find that his actions were useless, and his daughter eventually became pregnant and gave birth to a son. But the king didn't dare to do anything to the son of God in the end. He had to exile Perseus and his mother. He was in a state of panic and even fled abroad. Then one day in the future, as the prophecy said, he was "accidentally killed" by the discus thrown by his grandson Perseus in Bilasi, successfully completing the ending of this prophecy.

However, it is important to highlight the key point here. Where is Bilasi? It is the country where Io, another princess who was raped by the king of God, turned into a white bull and finally fled to Egypt, lived. Then because the foreign king was mistakenly killed in his own country, this small country, which was gradually declining at that time, suffered another heavy blow... In short, it is not known whether Perseus is a "hero" in the sense of later generations, and it is hard to say whether he can fight or not, because his record along the way can almost be summarized as "come, cheat, come, sneak attack" or "Kryptonian warriors are invincible".

Anyway, with the help of the dozens of artifacts bestowed by the gods, he did kill more than one king on the road of adventure, gave birth to more than one king, and overthrew a group of countries and their representative figures who were dissatisfied with Olympus, and finally spread the blood of the king of gods among the human royal family.

From then on, the saying that only those with divine blood can be kings became more and more widespread, and more and more gods followed suit and left their descendants in the world. Since then, the blood of gods began to spread, and those with noble blood occupied the mainstream of the human race...

Turning over another page of the book, Ryan seemed to see the life of Perseus like a puppet through history.

"It's hard to say, maybe he actually enjoyed it."

With a smile on his lips, Ryan continued to flip through the review.

In addition to the origin of the nobles of divine blood, this new historical review from the Church of Knowledge naturally talks about Athens the most.

According to records, this city blessed by the goddess was established about a thousand years ago. At that time, there was no new calendar, and the city-state was not called Athens.

According to legend, Cecrops, who was born from the earth and had a snake tail, was the founder of this city-state. When this king, who had a different bloodline and a long life, was in his prime, the goddess of wisdom came to the world to spread the secrets of knowledge and chose this city as the beginning of her church on earth.

Of course, generally speaking, there will be accidents at this time, and Poseidon, the king of the sea, is the cause of this accident.

For some purpose, he also fought for the ownership of the city-state at that time. The two gods argued over this and finally decided that the locals themselves would decide the object of faith.

Poseidon gave humans a look of salt water, which represented the protection of the sea, but people at that time did not understand its meaning and thought it was useless; Athena gave olive trees, which people believed could bring wood, oil and food. Food is the most important thing for people, no matter in the East or the West, so the goddess finally gained the trust of the local people, and the city-state was renamed Athens, which has continued to this day.

"Among the great powers of the time, Athens was almost the last to be established. Even for a long time, even with the help of Athena, Athens was not strong enough."

"The reasons for all this are not recorded or analyzed in the book. This is a bit beyond the upper limit of people's knowledge in this era... But from the perspective of future generations, it is almost clear from the topography."

While flipping through the books, this new world map, which was very different from the original Greek terrain, gradually became clear in Ryan's mind.

Athens... is actually a city near the East China Sea, and it is also the last city established in the great migration of mankind. It can be said that the earlier the kingdom was established, the closer it was to Olympus, and the distance between them was often farther. Because of the vast wilderness, there was no need for two groups of migrating humans to choose a place too close to build a city.

On the contrary, the farther back they are built, the closer they are to the sea. Therefore, the remaining migration teams not only do not develop as long as their counterparts who settled down early, but the competition between them is also more intense, and the distance between two cities is often longer. close. This is naturally not a problem at the beginning, but when everyone settles down, the population grows, and the land is expanded, they will be embarrassed to find that there is almost no direction to explore without resorting to force.

This is also the origin of Thuringia.

Athens is located on the eastern coast, and there are long-established cities to the west. If it wants to expand, it will only lead to war. The same is true for the south. Even compared to their neighbors to the west, they are likely to face the White Tower and the legendary pagans to the south...

So the remote northern land was the only development direction. Thuringia and the port city of Heligoland further north became the northern border of Athens, which was also the result of the development strategy designated by the current king.

"There have long been frictions between many countries, whether it is because of beliefs or geopolitics. But this is a world with gods. The gods have not yet broken their skins over this, so how can a large-scale war break out in the human world? "

"So peace is the main theme of all the countries in the world, and trade exchanges have become more and more frequent. The prosperous trade has also brought about the luxurious life of the upper class... Until one day, the gods' desire for more faith will eventually overwhelm the fragile love between each other. The conflicts between the nations of the world have reached a limit, and some capable people are longing for power and eternity. At this time, all it takes is a spark, and a war will break out."

"And this time, maybe the gods will be shocked to find that they can no longer influence the outcome of the war."

snap——

Closing the book, Ryan closed his eyes slightly. The memories of later generations collided with the current situation of the world, and the last straw that broke the camel's back seemed so obvious in his mind.

"Everything has been decided for a long time."

"Golden Apple, the most beautiful goddess; Ten Years' War, a 'hero' who will go down in history..."

"Everything merges into one. This is war and peace in the world."

······

As the sun set, he walked out of the Exquisite Hall. Under the sweet smile of the trainee priestess, Ryan nodded to her and planned to find a place to eat.

Although I only got a rough overview of it in one day, I am not in a hurry to read it. After being reincarnated as a human being, the days are still very long.

Today is the twelfth king of Athens since the founding of the country, and his name will be famous in later generations - not just because of his achievements and legends, but more because his name is a famous philosophical concept in It is widely spread in the East and the West.

Considering that the world has never heard of the Golden Fleece or the Argonauts, Ryan doesn’t have to worry about a burly man named Hercules suddenly popping out of a corner to indicate where the gods are. I'll give it ten - he's thinking about what to eat now.

After all, as a mortal now, Ryan will be hungry if he doesn't eat, and he will be thirsty if he doesn't drink water. He can't produce energy through photosynthesis.

Here’s the problem. Food prices in Dongcheng are not cheap. After these two days of unbridled spending, he seemed to have spent almost all the money he had received from the hospitable locals...

"Well, it seems we need some more sponsorship from kind-hearted people."

Nodding secretly, Ryan turned and walked towards the west of the city.

After spending a lot of money in the past two days, Ryan moved directly into Nancheng District. No good-hearted person with a short sight would dare to approach such a place with good security.

Ryan simply gave them a chance... So in a remote corner, he put on the set of clothes he bought in a small store before.

Walking through several streets towards the place where they met last time - as expected, Ryan realized that he was being followed again.

And this time, there seems to be more than one, at least five or six.

"Tsk, why is it just like killing monsters and upgrading...forget it, just give me gold coins."

Secretly complaining in his heart, but keeping a calm expression on his face, just like last time, Ryan turned into a deserted alley.

After walking for a while, he turned a corner and prepared to repeat his old trick.

"Huh?"

A little surprised, Ryan suddenly discovered that three people were already waiting behind the corner.

"Hey, kid, do you really think we're going to get tricked twice by the same trick?"

With a sneer, the young man in the lead held up a wooden stick, and two big men stood on the left and right.

Just as he was talking, several people who had been following Ryan also walked around the corner, blocking him in this small area one after another.

"Boy, you are really good at hiding. I haven't found where you went in the past two days..."

Last time, one of his accomplices was hit by a club for no apparent reason, and he didn't even see the person, which really made Weiss a little depressed. For several days, they have been looking for Ryan's whereabouts, but to no avail.

This is not surprising, because Weiss never thought that Ryan would go to read books, let alone live in South City - even if we don't care about the literacy problem, the fact that Ryan spent all the savings of that unlucky guy in three days shows that the consumption level there is completely beyond the acceptance of these low-level people.

Although they are in the same city, Dongcheng District and Nancheng District are two different worlds from them - the same is true for ordinary people in the future. It's not a question of whether there is money or not, but even if they have hundreds of thousands of savings, they will never go to eat a lunch of 10,000 or 20,000 yuan.

"You misunderstood, I didn't hide anywhere - in fact, I was a little worried that you didn't recognize me at first."

Shaking his head, Ryan expressed innocence to the questioning of the "kind-hearted person".

"But then again, you just took a stick?" Ryan asked curiously, somewhat disappointed: "You guys are considered a 'vibrant Thuringian grassroots social group', right? Don't you have any weapons prepared?"

"At least a knife or something?"

"... I think you've been living a good life for too long, and you still haven't figured out the situation. Go, treat him well!"

With a twitch in his mouth, Weiss felt that the man in front of him had some psychological problems. Who would have time to pay attention to this when they were surrounded?

He also considered whether the other party was a formal professional, but they knew what level the non-casters of the Black Iron (first order) level were.

He could fight, but that was just so-so. Without sophisticated equipment, he couldn't bring out his extraordinary physique and force.

As soon as the voice fell, the two people beside Weiss immediately raised their sticks and stepped forward, and the few people chasing from behind Ryan also came to double-team him.

Whether it was a noble who ran away from home or the offspring of a wealthy businessman, it was most likely not from the Turin native place. Looking at the delicate skin and tender flesh, as long as...

"Ψ!"

A short syllable, followed by an inexplicable repulsive force. The first layer of the magic net was gently moved, and the complex structure took shape instantly.

The invisible repulsive force acted on the lower body, and the unprepared people immediately lost their balance while rushing forward, and rolled over like a rolling gourd. And Weiss, who was standing behind and had not taken action just now, suddenly changed his face and looked at Ryan in front of him with an incredible face, because in his hand, a glowing ball flickered.

"Spellcaster?!"

"Correct, but there is no reward."

Nodding with a smile, looking at the other party's reaction, Ryan once again understood the status of those who have the ability to cast spells in this era.

Before, he only heard others occasionally talk about it... Reincarnation for three days, he is actually not a spellcaster now. After all, the first layer of the magic net is too basic, and an ordinary person with good talent can also get in touch with it in theory, but it is not as easy as Ryan.

The energy level of the first layer of the magic network does not support very high witchcraft, which is probably like what he did just now, releasing an impact field that cannot kill people, or using a light spell or something.

In a real fight, it may not be as useful as a sword - but such a light spell without lethality scared several "active social elements" including Weiss to death on the spot.

"Now, rob, hand over all the valuables on you, and explain to me why you only have sticks and who you work for."

"Don't tell me you don't have it," Ryan pointed with a smile, and the lighting ball immediately floated forward, scaring Weiss to retreat again and again: "As long as the ruler of this city is not a fool, he will not allow the existence of gray forces without his permission."