"Goddess!"
Upon recognizing the visitor's appearance, Princess Ariadne, the High Priestess, broke into a delighted smile and quickly ran over to greet her respectfully.
Following her, the elderly lion, King Minos, lowered his proud head humbly, his eyes filled with shame and bitterness.
"To think you've come personally. This is truly my neglect."
"Enough, I didn't come here to listen to these futile apologies."
Athena waved her hand, interrupting the pleasantries between King Minos and the High Priestess, and immediately cast a protective barrier before getting straight to the point.
"Besides Knossos, what about the other cities? Tell me what's going on."
Ariadne, the High Priestess in charge of communications, nodded respectfully and reported the situations from each of the cities to Athena as truthfully as possible.
This naturally included her brothers' more unruly actions.
After listening carefully, Athena nodded slightly, her face showing no surprise.
The situation across Crete was largely what she had expected from the stories she had heard from little Medusa.
Although there had been some unexpected damage due to dereliction of duty, it was still within a controllable range.
As for how King Minos would handle his disobedient children, that wasn't her concern.
If even this kind of matter had to be handled by her, then the King of Crete might as well abdicate sooner rather than later.
After briefly filtering through the current information in her mind, Athena opened her eyes and looked toward the elderly lion.
"Hmm, I roughly know what's happening on the island. What about the sea? Any updates on the sudden tidal wave?"
"There is!"
King Minos nodded heavily, his golden eyes filled with deep frustration and anger.
"During your absence in Olympus, the Temple of Poseidon reported that a unit of the Atlantean royal guard went missing near the coast of Oceanos, and a large number of blooded sea monsters were slaughtered, including even one of Poseidon's demigod offspring…"
"So, they think the Minos people did it?"
Athena slightly raised her dark brows and then nodded thoughtfully.
"That's true. Hunting down a large number of blooded sea monsters and a demigod offspring of Poseidon, and then making the Atlantean royal guard sent to investigate disappear without a trace is no easy task.
Looking at the entire coastal area, it seems only Crete could pull something like this off."
She then glanced at King Minos beside her and added another sentence, "Moreover, the motive seems quite reasonable..."
"Goddess, I have always remembered your teachings! I would never do something so reckless as to deliberately instigate a conflict!"
King Minos immediately refuted, swearing an oath with conviction, however..
"This is useless to me," Athena raised her hand slightly, cutting off King Minos's desperate self-justification, and spoke in a calm tone, "Whether I believe you or not doesn't matter. What matters is how they view it. What does Poseidon think?"
"Based on this baseless speculation, will the Temple of Poseidon punish us? Even the gods shouldn't act so recklessly!" King Minos's face, aged with time, was filled with bitterness and fury, his fists clenched tightly.
As a wise king who strictly enforces the law, what he couldn't tolerate most was this kind of behavior of trampling on the rules with power.
"Evidence? You want to ask the gods for evidence? Haven't you realized by now? It's useless..." Athena glanced at the enraged King Minos, shaking her head slightly as she pondered, and spoke meaningfully. "Because for them, once suspicion arises, the crime is already established."
"..."
Upon hearing this cruel, subversive response from the deity he had devoted himself to, King Minos, who had spent his life adhering to justice and strict rule enforcement, looked utterly dejected.
He found it hard to accept this harsh reality.
Seeing the reaction of the old lion, Athena gave a barely perceptible shake of her head.
While King Minos had the ability to rule, he was too rigid and lacked flexibility.
And he was truly getting old and now, he could hardly even control his own sons...
Athena, gazing at the old lion's graying beard and the deep wrinkles time had etched into his forehead, sighed softly and muttered, "Whether you did it or not doesn't matter. The Temple of Poseidon has coveted Crete for a long time. They're just looking for a reason to intervene, do you understand?"
"I understand..." King Minos nodded, his voice frail and weak.
"I truly am unworthy of your guidance and teachings..."
"Enough, this isn't your fault. There's no need to feel guilty over something so trivial."
Athena waved her hand dismissively, her expression light and unconcerned.
Trivial?
Hearing the goddess speak so casually, Ariadne, the High Priestess, couldn't help but inwardly gasp in surprise, before she spoke up cautiously.
"But Your Highness, what if the Temple of Poseidon comes to hold us accountable?"
"Accountable?"
Athena's cherry lips curled into a cold, mocking smile.
"Ask for responsibility? Shouldn't I be the one questioning Poseidon?
He indiscriminately raised the great waves, destroying 17 harbors and 25 towns on Crete, submerging thousands of acres of fertile land, causing the deaths of thousands, displacing tens of thousands, and sinking over 300 ships of all sizes. Shouldn't it be him who takes responsibility first?"
"Ah?"
Ariadne, the high priestess, was stunned upon hearing the vastly exaggerated losses, her face full of disbelief.
Even King Minos himself had a hard time processing this.
Seeing the genuine reactions of the two, the goddess of wisdom sighed and gently rubbed her temple, her tone turning more serious as she spoke.
"Remember, when the other side is unwilling to reason, don't fall into the trap of self-defense and trying to prove your innocence. Those who slander you are more aware of your innocence than you are. Such arguments are endless."
Both King Minos and Princess Ariadne nodded, somewhat understanding but still clearly confused, indicating that they hadn't quite grasped the full depth of her words yet.
Athena, noticing their bewilderment, couldn't help but pinch the bridge of her nose, silently muttering to herself.
"Explaining these things to honest, straightforward people is truly exhausting.'
'If that guy were here, he wouldn't need any explanation. He could follow my reasoning easily...'
As the goddess of wisdom murmured about a rare bastard who could keep up with her thoughts, she refocused on the matter at hand and spoke more directly.
"The reasoning is simple. Since Poseidon can suspect that Crete massacred his blooded kin and destroyed his Atlantean royal guard, then I can also suspect that the Atlantean royal guard never disappeared.
Perhaps it's all a self-directed frame-up by him, with the goal of initiating another large-scale cleansing of humanity and expanding the dominion of the ocean gods to land."
"Some things may be overlooked by the Father God, but not this. He will certainly intervene."
Upon hearing this, the father and daughter duo suddenly understood.
Of course, since it's all baseless speculation, who is truly innocent?
Instead of proving yourself, it is better to discredit the enemy!
As long as the matter is big enough, Poseidon will not be able to intervene blatantly.
"Don't be happy too early!"
However, before the father and daughter could relax, Athena poured a basin of cold water on their heads.
"Even if I can hold back the army of Poseidon and Atlantis, I may not be able to stop all the troubles at sea."
As she spoke, the goddess of wisdom turned her head and looked at the vast sea immersed in the night, her eyes were far away, and her face was filled with deep worry.
"I have a feeling that Poseidon will not give up so easily this time..."
(End of this chapter)
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