The driver decided he could not let the hero's name go unsung!
He was absolutely going to tell everyone he knew the story of Lista Kratos when he got back.
His memory was not that sharp, though.
By the time he got home, many of the story fragments told earlier were already gone from his mind.
He could only hold onto the parts that left a strong impression and made up the rest from there.
But that was just a minor episode.
At this point, Night found a spot to rest near the city gate and waited quietly for the crowd to arrive.
Finally,
After a long wait, time passed bit by bit under a blazing and scorching sun.
It was not only him waiting at the city gate.
Up in the sky, the sun god Apollo and the moon goddess Artemis were each using a divine thought to watch how things developed here.
Neither Apollo nor Artemis could quite figure out what he was trying to do from his earlier puzzling actions.
But that did not stop both divine lords from finding his behavior interesting.
And in Greece, sport and athletic culture were deeply ingrained.
The earliest marathon had its origins right here.
Greece had a Marathon plain, about thirty kilometers from Athens.
The name Marathon in Phoenician even carried the meaning of many fennels, and amusingly, its sound echoed something like a repeated call to return home.
The marathon also carried a celebrated tradition, established to honor the soldier from the Greco-Persian wars who ran all the way home to deliver news of victory.
It was not only humans who enjoyed organizing this kind of competition from time to time.
The gods loved watching humans race against each other as well.
Atalanta, the famous princess and devoted follower of the moon goddess Artemis, chose her future husband through a footrace.
On Olympus itself, athletic competitions were held from time to time, with the finest among humans invited to participate.
And were the people running right now not very much like participants in a small marathon?
They ran from the slums outside the city, and some, watching themselves fall further and further behind over the long stretch, chose to give up.
Others grew more and more exhausted with every step, but their spirit only grew more resolute and focused.
They still had something to hope for.
The closer they got to the destination, the more excited they became, and somehow the exhaustion felt less overwhelming.
Whether intentional or not, this did let the gods see a glimpse of human resilience and tenacity, watching them drag their weary bodies forward and keep going anyway.
Artemis's gaze gradually softened without her noticing.
She had a deep fondness for human resilience.
Good performance deserved recognition.
Artemis remembered that Night swore an oath before the gods.
If he ended up deceiving these people and they did not receive the reward they were owed, she would not hesitate to hand down a small punishment.
And finally,
On the horizon, a powerfully built middle-aged man was the first to appear at the city gate.
He was gasping hard, his body incredibly heavy, feeling like he might collapse at any moment.
But when he saw the destination right before him, he somehow wrung out one last drop of strength from somewhere inside and pushed forward to the gate in one final burst.
Just as his consciousness was on the verge of going dark, the moment he finally reached the finish line,
"Congratulations. You are the first to arrive here."
When the man looked up and saw her graceful figure first?
He was first?!
The shock of it jolted the man's mind wide awake.
He remembered that the first to arrive could prove himself the strongest and earn the right to become a hero's attendant.
He didn't dare to hope for that much.
Getting one gold coin as a guaranteed minimum would have been enough.
This unexpected joy nearly knocked him senseless.
Afterward, more and more people continued to arrive at the city gate, and seeing that Night was indeed waiting there, everyone let out a breath of relief.
It seemed this hero had not deceived them after all, had not played them for fools.
For a moment everyone stared at him with longing eyes, waiting to be paid.
Night, however, simply said to wait until everyone had arrived before distributing the coins and asked the first man to arrive to take charge of settling the others in the meantime.
The man's name was Kleis.
In ancient Greek, the name carried the meaning of one who runs fast.
Truly living up to his name.
He really did run fast.
Faced with the request, Kleis felt not the slightest dissatisfaction, only gladness, and quickly stepped into the role of hero's attendant.
If nothing had been asked of him at all, he would have been worried the other party was unsatisfied and did not intend to take him on.
Time passed until sunset, and the marathon finally came to an end.
In the middle of it all, Night hired people to help manage and calm the large crowd.
The soldiers guarding the city gate heard about what was happening, and especially after learning he was a descendant of the Argonauts, did not dare show any negligence.
They voluntarily joined in to help maintain order.
Kleis, however, had quietly been sent away early to handle another matter, and several hours had passed since his departure.
The sun was just right at that point, going down in the west.
After the last glow of the setting sun faded, night would fall.
While a little sunlight remained,
Night spoke loudly before the crowd: "Alright, my friends. You have proven your physical ability through your own actions. Every one of you is among the strongest and finest warriors.
It is a shame I only need one attendant; otherwise, I would take all of you under my banner.
Now it is time to receive the reward you have earned. Please follow me, everyone.
I will distribute the gold coins in the square in front of the palace.
This is what you deserve!"
....
Instantly, a roar of wild cheering broke out from the crowd.
People who had been waiting with eager eyes for so long were now unbelievably obedient, without the slightest complaint.
Terrified of not getting their money, no one had room in their heads for anything else.
The only thing that mattered was following his instructions, completing every step of the process, and getting the coins into their hands.
This made everyone extraordinarily cooperative, even fiercely supportive of him.
When Night led the vast crowd into the royal city, even the soldiers at the gate did not dare to stop them.
Not only did they not stop them, they sent them off with respect.
When the crowd reached the central square in front of the palace, everyone was surprised to find the square already packed with a large group of people.
What were they all doing there?
Only when they got closer did people realize the group had formed a circle and were watching something.
A sharp-eyed few recognized who it was.
It was Kleis.
The champion who completed the marathon first, Kleis, was now holding a large stone and walking around the central fountain of the square.
Equally sized stones had been placed at each of the four corners of the square, and every time Kleis reached a new position, he set down the stone in his hands and picked up the one on the ground, then repeated the same action again and again.
This peculiar behavior attracted a large crowd of onlookers.
Kleis had been doing the same for a very long time, at least several hours by now.
Only at this moment did people understand where Kleis had gone when he disappeared.
When he arrived with the crowd, the man finally stopped repeating the same meaningless motion.
.
.
.