Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1251: The Cretan Competitor at the Games

"By the way, what has Ptolemy—the Macedonian regent who married Amyntas's widow, stepmother to Alexander, Perdiccas, and Phyle—been up to lately?"

"Your Majesty, I was just about to report on that. Our spies in Aegae have discovered that over the past six months, merchants from Asia Minor have frequently visited Ptolemy's residence."

"Merchants from Asia Minor..." Davos mused. "Are you suggesting Ptolemy might be colluding with Persia?"

Aristiras spoke cautiously. "To avoid alerting Ptolemy, the Intelligence Department didn't investigate the merchant from Asia Minor any further. However, the relationship between Perdiccas and Ptolemy has been highly tense lately. Perdiccas publicly accused Ptolemy of monopolizing power to seize the throne. Ptolemy retorted just as publicly: 'Perdiccas is childish and unjust with his rewards and punishments. Without my supervision, who knows what kind of chaos Macedonia would fall into...'

"Reportedly, when Phyle secretly fled to Thurii, Perdiccas initially suspected Ptolemy of abducting his younger brother, even sending guards to his door to demand answers. I believe that if not for Daionia's protection, the powerful Ptolemy might have already rebelled."

"You're right. A few years ago, after our army helped Macedonia suppress the rebels, didn't the Intelligence Department find evidence that Ptolemy had colluded with them? That proved he has long harbored ambitions for the Macedonian throne, only holding back out of fear of Daionia. Now he dares to clash with Perdiccas, no longer afraid of our intervention. Who gave him this courage? It can only be Persia!" Davos stated with absolute certainty, then added, "However, the Intelligence Department only needs to keep him under surveillance. Don't interfere with anything else."

As Davos said this, a thought crossed his mind:

"Yes..." Aristiras replied, yet he made no move to leave. Davos couldn't help but ask, "Is there something else?"

Aristiras hesitated for a moment before speaking softly. "Your Majesty... I have a request."

"Your Majesty, ever since I began serving you, I have never left Thurii. This time, I wish to accompany you on the expedition to Persia!" Aristiras said earnestly.

Davos looked at him and fell silent. He didn't know if Aristiras was using this request to resign from his post as head of the Intelligence Department in all but name, especially since he had just rejected the man's formal resignation.

"Your Majesty, this is born of a little selfishness on my part. If I could follow you and share in a sliver of the glory of conquering the mighty eastern empire of Persia, I would at least have something to proudly tell my descendants. Moreover, going to Persia would allow me to mobilize Intelligence Department personnel more directly, gather Persian intelligence, and disrupt their internal order..."

Aristiras continued earnestly, "You also needn't worry about domestic security. In truth, over the past six months or so, I've largely taken a hands-off approach. The daily operations of the Intelligence Department have been managed by Deputy Director Teratus, with the full assistance of the clerk Maximus. The department's efficiency will only improve!"

Davos stared at him, then suddenly burst out laughing. "You really are something, Aristiras! It's rare to hear you speak so candidly! To get away and relax, you didn't even hesitate to belittle yourself! Since you've gone to such lengths, how could I disagree? However, while the Theonian Rugby Games are being held, you must get all the Intelligence Department's affairs in order. Oh, and also... once the plan for the Persian expedition is made public, you have to admit to Asuna that going was your idea, not my demand, hahaha..."

Watching Aristiras's retreating back, Davos fell into thought.

...

Perhaps because most of Crete's inhabitants were immigrants from Laconia, the political systems of the island's various city-states were somewhat similar to Sparta's. For example, they all had a Council of Elders, an ecclesia, and an ephor system. Furthermore, boys in Cretan city-states had to undergo mandatory learning—primarily military training—from a young age...

Of course, due to Crete's narrow terrain and lack of resources, and the fact that they had never achieved a unification like Sparta had in Laconia, the various city-states maintained their independence despite establishing an alliance. Consequently, they lacked the financial and material resources to develop heavy infantry. Instead, they focused on training archers to suit the island's actual conditions.

Five years ago, when the Greek War ended and Sparta was conquered by Daionia, the various city-states of Crete were shocked by the news. A few months later, when Daionia's massive fleet sailed through Cretan coastal waters, the Councils of Elders of the city-states quickly made a decision: to join the New Greek League and submit to Daionia.

After the New Greek League was established, the Greek Mainland finally saw peace and tranquility restored in recent years. Cretan citizens were no longer conscripted by their city-states and dragged into mainland wars. Because of this, many still felt grateful to Daionia.

The year before last, the King of Daonia publicly announced his intent to "host the grand Theonian Rugby Games," sending invitations to the city-states and nations across the Mediterranean Sea. When the various city-states of Crete received their letters, the Cretans were pleasantly surprised to find archery listed among the events.

In the past, Cretans had also participated in the games held on the Greek Mainland, but those competitors were mostly the children of nobles. Their wealthy families could afford the professional training offered in public gymnasiums, leaving the commoners lagging far behind in competitive skill. But this time was different; archery was a discipline where the Cretan commoners excelled.

Because Daionia only allotted the Cretan city-states a total of five spots for archery, the Cretan alliance held a grand archery competition specifically for this purpose. They ultimately selected the five competitors with the best scores. Together with the athletes participating in other events, they formed the Cretan team and sailed to Thurii in early June. Because the Theonian Rugby Games would implement some new rules this time, they needed to arrive early to adapt.

Megakides, a twenty-year-old plebeian from the Cretan city of Heraklion, won the championship in this island-wide archery competition. The Cretan people held high expectations for him, and he was brimming with confidence.

But after he arrived in Thurii and began adapting to the venue, he realized something: the targets used in the archery competition at the Theonian Rugby Games were not human-head targets. Instead, they were novel circular targets painted with five concentric rings. The closer an arrow struck to the center of the target, the higher the score. This meant anyone hoping to win the championship had to further improve their precision.

When he first began practicing, Megakides's scores were low, and he felt a bit panicked. But after twenty days of continuous practice, he had finally begun to adapt.

Now, he drew an arrow from his quiver and nocked it on the bowstring. Hooking the string with two fingers of his right hand, he slowly drew it back while straightening his left arm to steadily raise the bow. His eyes remained fixed on the target fifty meters ahead. Once the bowstring was half-drawn, his arm remained perfectly still and his breathing steady. Only then did he subconsciously release his fingers, letting the arrow shoot forth.

"Nine rings!" the target marker shouted from down the range.

Megakides shook his head slightly in dissatisfaction and rubbed his sore right arm with his left hand.

"Your three arrows scored a total of twenty-six rings this time. To maintain a score like that after shooting four rounds is exceptionally good!"

Megakides found no joy in the target marker's praise. He unconsciously turned his head to look at the other competitors training earnestly in the adjacent lanes.

He had originally come to the Theonian Rugby Games believing his victory was guaranteed. During his days of practice, however, he learned that many of the archery competitors possessed highly advanced skills—and most of them hailed from the various regions of Daionia. As far as he knew, these Daionian athletes had also undergone military training since they were young. Youths who excelled in archery received specialized instructors to intensify their training. Once they came of age, the military camps across Daionia would test their skills. The most outstanding marksmen were given priority to join the light infantry battalions, while the slightly less capable became reserve members. From there, they continued their daily military training year after year, sometimes following the legions to the battlefield to engage in combat...

He had once spoken to an athlete from Daionia's East Sicily Region. This competitor told him that East Sicily had held its archery selection trials two months ago. Because the competition had no age limits, the number of registered participants exceeded five thousand. The entire selection process lasted ten days, and it was only through tie-breaker matches that three athletes were finally chosen, as each Daionian region was allotted only three archery spots...

The number of people participating in the archery selection trials in a single Daionian region exceeded that of the entire island of Crete—and Daionia had dozens of regions! The athletes chosen from such a massive pool were naturally the cream of the crop. Their performance on the training grounds truly made Megakides feel the pressure.

"One more round!" he said in a deep voice.

However, the target marker did not hand him an arrow. Instead, he looked up at the sky and gently advised, "You've already shot five rounds. If you keep practicing, you'll end up pulling a muscle in your arm, and then you won't be able to compete at all. Besides, the Theonian Rugby Games begin tomorrow. Go back early and get a good rest so you'll have the energy to attend the kingdom's opening ceremony..."