In a second, or perhaps even less.
From silence to noise, from coolness to bustle.
Ino leaned on his cane, standing by the roadside, and the sound of busy traffic reached his ears.
Yet, because of this lively scene, his presence didn't seem out of place.
After all, in the endless flow of people in the market, one more or one less would go unnoticed.
As he gazed at the classical-era marketplace and lifted his leg to find someone to inquire about the situation, he noticed a small hand grabbing his palm-leaf-woven sandals.
"Are you a priest of the temple?"
...
Helena felt she was very lucky. She thought it would just be an ordinary market gathering, and as usual, she had picked enough olive branches from the mountain to sell.
But a suddenly appearing figure made her heart flutter slightly, as if the scenes from stories were playing out in reality.
Now it seemed the person was about to leave.
Looking at the spotless robe, Helena didn't dare to reach out and touch it. Instead, she half-knelt and grabbed the person's sandal.
The palm-leaf sandals, right in front of her, were spotless, not even a speck of dirt on them, which further convinced her of her thoughts.
At the same time.
Ino had already turned around and discovered a seven- or eight-year-old child half-kneeling behind him.
Upon this discovery, he didn't hesitate to bend down and gently lift the small figure before him.
He then clearly saw the child's face and was surprised to find it was a girl. Although her face was dirty, her bright eyes were unforgettable.
A pair of violet gem-like eyes, and the gaze within them was like that of a newly hatched bird, timidly peeking at the outside world.
Facing such eyes, Ino tried to soften his voice as much as possible.
"I am not a priest of the temple. I am just a traveler from a distant land, a wandering bard."
"But I think you are!" said Helena, with all the courage she could muster, before timidly lowering her head again.
Perhaps because he had grown up in an orphanage, Ino felt he had almost zero resistance to these poor children.
So he immediately decided not to seek further information and instead sat down on the ground, putting his pack down, to maintain eye level with the little girl in front of him.
"Then tell me, what kind of priest do you think I am?" Ino asked gently.
Perhaps it was the eye-level gaze or the gentle voice, but this time Helena was not afraid and expressed her thoughts.
"I think you are a priest of Apollo, the sun god. In stories, he was also a bard and even had a lyre made from the nymph Daphne who turned into a laurel tree…"
Ino couldn't hear the rest of the girl's words.
Two widely known names had already captured all his attention.
Classical era, temple priest, sun god Apollo, nymph Daphne…
All these elements connected together undoubtedly pointed to a vast story world—Greek mythology.
Unlike other stories, gods were hidden and fair.
In Greek mythology, the gods of Mount Olympus were outright arrogant. The era of gods originated with Zeus, who overthrew his father Kronos's rule and ascended to the throne of the king of gods, starting a new era.
Although Zeus was more restrained compared to the previous king of gods, he still had a wider domain than Poseidon, the sea god.
Sisters, aunts, great-granddaughters, great-grandnieces… Zeus had seven wives and countless lovers. Just the recorded ones with names numbered over twenty, and there were many more nameless ones.
Zeus even had a transsexual lover, the renowned Ganymede of the Aquarius constellation.
Ganymede was originally a handsome prince, but his beauty caught Zeus's eye. The king of gods turned into a giant eagle and abducted Ganymede to Mount Olympus, making him a cupbearer.
This transsexual relationship made Hera, the queen of gods, feel humiliated and furious. In her rage, she turned Ganymede into a transparent water jar, punishing him to serve water to Zeus for eternity, with the water being Ganymede's tears.
Seeing his lover turned into a water jar, Zeus, in his sorrow, sealed Ganymede in the sky, creating the Aquarius constellation.
Compared to other mythologies, Greek mythology could be summarized in one words—chaotic.
In the stories of the era of gods, more than half of them were about Zeus's romances. However, thanks to Hera's jealousy, the situation didn't escalate further. Otherwise, the twelve main gods of Mount Olympus would have at least doubled in number.
...
On the shores of the Aegean Sea, in the bustling market of Athens.
In a secluded corner, there sat a large and a small figure, and in front of them was a two-square-foot piece of linen spread out, displaying some fresh olive branches.
Athens, a city protected by Athena, the goddess of wisdom and warfare, prized olive branch head wreaths as the most popular items.
But because they were so popular, many people sold head wreaths, making a small stall selling only olive branches in a remote corner largely ignored.
Behind the small stall, Ino took out two pieces of creamy toffee from his pack. After handing one to Helena, he picked up an olive branch and carefully examined it.
In other stories, an olive branch might be a common item, but in Greek mythology, it was always associated with gods, legends, and heroes.
An olive branch not only represented peace but was also endowed with nobility and rebirth by the gods.
"Do you like it? I'll give it to you!" Helena's eyes turned into crescent shapes, her face full of happiness as she spoke.
Seeing this expression, Ino took out another piece of candy from his pack and handed it over, then shook his head and said:
"This is your merchandise. I can't take it."
He knew clearly that it was useless to take it. After understanding the characteristics of the olive branch, he knew he couldn't take it away. Even if he brought it back, it would only be an ordinary branch.
On the other side, seeing another piece of sweet candy to eat, Helena's violet eyes twinkled as she stared at the white creamy toffee.
In stark contrast to the white toffee were a pair of dirty little hands, which, when cupped together, were no bigger than an adult's palm.
Seeing this, Ino felt a twinge of sorrow.
Suffering should never befall children; they are always the most innocent.
Sensing the candy was not dropping into her hands, Helena seemed to sensitively notice something and decisively rubbed her hands on her clothes, trying to clean them.
But with equally dirty clothes, how could she clean her hands?
Seeing her hands get dirtier as she rubbed them, Helena, feeling aggrieved, turned her head to the side.
But soon, she felt her hands filled with many small pebble-like objects.
Turning her head again, she saw a handful of colorful, smooth little pebbles in her sight.
"These taste even better! Try them; each one has a different flavor."
Ino reached out and took a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean from Helena's dirty hand, naturally putting it into his mouth.