After getting the complimentary Sardinia travel guide map from the airport, Seiya put on his sun hat and returned to that ancient street. Th
After getting the complimentary Sardinia travel guide map from the airport, Seiya put on his sun hat and returned to that ancient street.
The tourist flow in Sardinia now was clearly much less than before. The mythological battle of the hidden world was, in the end, a matter for the hidden world itself. For the secular world, it was simply that Sardinia had encountered the most severe typhoon and earthquake in several hundred years. Many buildings were still under reconstruction, among them no shortage of famous historical sites left over from the Roman Empire.
Seeing the baker again, he was very happy to see this young Asian man once more. "I saw you chasing after the storm, and later I checked the municipal announcements. I was only relieved after confirming you weren't among the casualties." The brilliantly bald baker looked at Seiya and suddenly remembered something.
"Did that Middle Eastern youth who was with you before not come?" he asked, carefully watching Seiya's expression. The youth avatar of Verethragna had left a deep impression on him, and he was deeply afraid of hearing bad news from Seiya's mouth.
Seiya was holding Parthenope's hand. The doll-sized goddess of the spring breeze was sitting on Seiya's shoulder, her Authority of Love making everyone overlook her existence. Stella curiously watched the Pegasus and the Dragon, who seemed to be wandering aimlessly. "This doesn't look like you're searching for someone at all. You don't seem to be in a hurry."
"If being anxious was useful, I would have started panicking long ago. But victory is like the wind; I will always find what I am looking for." The Saint bent down, lifted Parthenope into his arms, and strode forward along the route on the map.
Stella was not wrong. Seiya was not worried. He had a big heart by nature, or rather, the Saints who could challenge the gods more or less all had big hearts. And Godslayers were all chuunibyou patients who were self-centered. For example: "This world must be saved by me," "White stockings are better than black stockings," and "Even a god should take a punch from me first"...
And coincidentally, Seiya had both of these characteristics. In the eyes of those around him, he was more like a chuunibyou patient playing the part of a normal person. He even strongly believed that as long as he searched with all his heart, then Athena would inevitably appear before him.
But the question was, with his God of Combat Authority, would the wind of victory that brought strong luck really make his wish come true?
He opened the Sardinia tourist map that the female flight attendant at the airport had given him. He found that he was currently passing through the towers and heading towards southern Cagliari.
Thanks to the talent of a Thousand Words, Seiya had quickly learned the local language and script. This map of Sardinia, which still smelled of ink, had various place names written in very small letters that exuded a sense of antiquity, trying their best to let tourists understand their history. Thinking back to several hundred years ago, with the rule of the Roman Empire, new myths had also spread to this island isolated in the Mediterranean.
With Rome's occupation of the surrounding areas, the nearby gods were also absorbed. The Romans respected the gods of the occupied territories as much as they did the gods of their own country. In many cases, these newly introduced gods were formally invited to new holy places established for them in Rome in a special ceremony. In 200 BC, a sacred object representing Cybele was formally introduced to Rome from its original place. In addition, the expansion of Rome attracted foreigners, who were allowed to continue worshipping their own gods.
Mithras, whom Verethragna had followed, had come to Rome in this way. He was very popular in the army, and so his worship was brought all the way to Sardinia. Besides Verethragna and Mithras, the hunting goddess Diana adapted from the Greek goddess Artemis, Minerva adapted from Athena, and also Heracles, Venus, and some other minor gods whose names were not even changed, had also come to Sardinia with the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean. Some of these gods were Italy's own invention, while some originally came from Greek culture. Later, every major Roman god found a corresponding, more human-like Greek god and added their attributes and myths.
The original gods of ancient Greece and ancient Egypt were thus forced to change their appearance and become the gods worshipped by the Romans.
Seiya took a bite of a local specialty snack—a dessert shaped like a fried dumpling (Seadas). The outer skin was crispy, and the inside was a rich sheep's milk cheese filling, drizzled with a slightly bitter arbutus honey. He strolled through the streets and alleys, flanked by ancient buildings or exquisite antique-style architecture. Temples supported by white pillars were interspersed among them, dedicated to Jupiter, Juno... Girls in ancient-style costumes arranged their skirts and solicited tourists. In this moment, time and space seemed to be somewhat disordered—it was as if you had traveled through history, taking the Greek god of love with you, walking on the fault line of time.
Perhaps several thousand years ago, the goddess you loved and respected was also in this city. She might have been different from now. It's possible you were even standing in the same position, just at the wrong time, only able to yearn for each other across the distance of history.
Seiya finished eating and casually stuffed the paper box into the trash bag held by an Asian tour guide who was holding a small flag nearby. Before the other party could notice, he turned and squeezed into the most crowded place, the Pantheon. All the gods were worshipped here. Of course, its correct name now should be the Sardinia Memorial Hall.
"Look, Pegasus! This is the symbol that I am the most perfect goddess!" Stella, sitting on Seiya's shoulder, excitedly grabbed his earlobe, because among the few most worshipped gods, there was her aspect, Venus.
Those who can travel are naturally families with good living conditions. In an era of material abundance, Venus, who symbolized love and beauty, and was even faintly related to wealth, was naturally more revered by tourists. The Saint couldn't refuse Stella's pleading and also bowed to the radiant statue of Venus along with the crowd. Then he followed the flow of people and came to a relatively deserted side hall.
Worshipped here was the goddess of wisdom corresponding to Athena, Minerva. Looking at the gray stone statue, the Saint also bowed. But whether it was the statue or the yawning priestess beside it, Seiya sensed nothing wrong in them.
The distracted priestess seemed to notice Seiya's focused gaze. For some reason, she felt her face grow slightly hot. But when the light purple five-hundred-euro banknote was handed to her, she instantly switched to a professional charlatan's expression. She skillfully took out a souvenir from her bosom—a small white stone carved with an olive branch pattern—and handed it to Seiya.
"Thank you for your offering," she said, her voice carrying an undisguised excitement. "May the guidance of wisdom always be with you."
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