Goodbye Olympus

When Alex got back to the consul's mansion, the nighttime activities of the residents lessened and the brightly lit city turned dark, illuminated only by the radiance of the moon and the stars above.

Staring at the starry night sky one could only see in the wilderness back on his world, he tried to name a few of the stars. Alex wasn't much of an astrophile in his past life but he could distinguish a few of the brighter ones like Sirius, Betelgeuse and Vega. The rest of the stars formed a elliptical structure in the night sky, similar to the Milky Way photographs professionals take, and in the horizon one could see an oval mass in the night sky, dimly coloured but still visible, that seemed to be the Milky Way's neighbour, Andromeda.

Noticing the familiar moon and night sky, Alex grew curious. This world was strangely similar to his own. The mythology, the architecture, the language, the people....everything was as if he returned back in time to the greek mainland, except with fantasy tropes.

He then wondered of the world beyond this place, and thought of the 2 people he'd met earlier, the monk Padmapani and the strong Aadityapal. Those 2 didn't look like they were from this place, are they from the indian subcontinent? Is there even an indian subcontinent?

'If this is really the Earth I'm familiar with....Then have they found the Americas yet?' Alex kept asking himself such questions he'd likely have no answer to in the near future. He shrugged and made his way to the mansion's gates where unlike earlier, the soldiers now opened the gates and allowed his passage.

An attendant of the consul came to him and bowed and led him to the consul's study, a picturesque study with a fountain in the middle and hundreds of books neatly organized on shelves. The consul seemed to be signing some documents, with a scholarly-looking assistant by his side. It seems he was anxious about something though, as he had a deep frown on his aging face, listening to the words of the assistant and focusing so hard he didn't notice Alex's arrival.

"So you're telling me a non-citizen joined the Ecclesia, and proposed an excellent solution to our current conflict with Aklypso?" The consul asked the assistant. The latter nodded and responded.

"Yes, sir. We are currently awaiting the portrait of the man in question"

Hearing their words, he felt a sense of familiarity but he didn't pay too much attention to it, as it didn't seem related to him.

The consul nodded and stood up, although when he turned around and saw Alex he was shocked out of his wits and bowed deeply.

"L-Lord, I s-see you have arrived safely. This servant is thankf-" The consul spoke to him but was interrupted by a soldier who barged in with a parchment in his hand and whispered to the consul's ears. The consul frowned but he opened the parchment and looked a bit pale when he saw the contents, as though he saw a ghost. He then kept strangely looking at the parchment then turning his eyes to Alex, and when it looked like he had come to a conclusion, the consul gave back the parchment to the soldier, turned to Alex, bowed deeply, and said "Lord. Have you, by chance, visited our city's Ecclesia?"

Alex was a bit confused and blushed a bit remembering how he was chased out of there, but he nodded. The consul looked at his scholarly assistant and whispered something in his hear, which seemed to have really shocked the assistant as zoned out. The consul then turned back to him and asked him.

"To accept our gratitude for your great wisdom, would you accept to become a Sofos(sage) of our city?"

Now, Alex was really confused and looked at the consul with raised eyebrows. The latter, however, took that as him saying that the position wasn't high enough so he further elaborated.

"The Sofos is, along with the consul and the pontifex, the highest ranking citizen of the city. Not only will you be offered citizenship, but you will be given priority access to every single facility in the city. Lord will be able to join the Senate, judge criminals and become a honorary overseeing minister of the city. I wouldn't dare see myself as your equal, Lord, but this title would make your future journeys through Olep much easier"

The terms he offered were great, but Alex still didn't understand, so to avoid another misunderstanding, he asked the consul why he was offered this title.

The consul looked at him with admiring(?) eyes, and said "While for someone as magnanimous as you, Lord, it may not have been much. But your wisdom for the resolution of our conflict with Aklypso received favourable impressions from them and this trade network will stand to benefit both cities immensely."

'Oh, he was speaking about that....I mean, was that really such a big deal?' Alex didn't feel like he had done much except babbling on some issue he did not understand but it looked like his random suggestion had spread to even the consul...

Alex ended up accepting the conferment of the title as it wouldn't hurt to have some extra privileges. Through the consul's suggestion, instead of heading to the guest room, he made his way to the mansion's bathhouse as he still wasn't too tired.

The bathhouse in question, was located underground. After following the directions the consul gave him, he stumbled on a room that looked like a changing room. Alex removed the draped fabric from his body and observed himself in a large mirror. He now had a thin six-pack and defined muscles coating his small body. Nonetheless, he looked more akin to a model than to a martial artist or a bodybuilder but Alex was satisfied with his current body.

He opened the door to the bathhouse and was immediately assaulted with a burst of steam and warmth. He entered, it was spacious and there was a heated pool with lion sculptures spitting out a gusts of very warm water. The bathhouse smelled like vanilla and other fragrant scents and although it was underground and warm in here, it didn't feel suffocating at all. He was pleased with the place.

Alex took a dip into the pool and plunged his whole body into the rather shallow body of water. The temperature was just perfect, not too hot yet still warm. He laid down on the sides of the pool and felt the tension in his body disappear and his muscles relax and his blood circulation improving.

'I could definitely get used to this' thought Alex as he floated on his back and closed his eyes, appreciating the immense comfort he was feeling. Earlier the consul told him that he would have the bathhouse to himself tonight and although he didn't ask for it, he was more than pleased so he just nodded.

A few hours of not doing anything later, Alex got up from the pool and opened a door in the bathhouse that led to a sauna. The steamy sauna opened up his senses and he laid down inside for a few minutes before leaving, of course taking a dip in the pool again, then changing into the bathrobe provided to him and making his way to his assigned room.

It was a spacious bedroom that had a maximalist style, as there were decorations everywhere, unlike Hermes' room, and a large bed was in the center of it. Alex collapsed on the bed.

'Hmmmm....It's not as comfortable as the one back in Hermes' place, but it will do the job' Alex nodded. The system also told him that due to the material it was made of, resting in the bed improved concentration and cognitive ability. It really wasn't too bad.

Alex therefore closed his eyes and visited the world of Hypnos, god of sleep and cousin of death.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

At dawn, the next day.

Alex woke up at the first light of day, and felt refreshed and rested despite only sleeping for a few hours. He found his clothes washed and dried on a counter near the door, he checked his storage pouch and breathed a sigh of relief, seeing it untouched.

He changed his clothes and went to the bathroom, washing his face and gurgling water to clean his teeth. He'd have to ask if they have any alternative to toothpaste, as his hygiene habits from his life back home don't translate well here.

He then made his way to the dining room, a dome shaped room with a big round table in the center, filled with rough pastries, hot wine, cured meats and bread. The consul bowed him and sat back down and he greeted him and sat on a chair. Even though the table was big, only the consul and Alex were seated, making it look somewhat empty.

"Do you have any children?" Alex asked the consul as he seemed to be at the age most people form families, and this dynamic didn't seem that different in Olep.

The consul nodded and said "Yes Lord, I have a wife and two children, a son and a daughter. My son is an army commander in Italia while my daughter is studying in Alexandria. My wife is in Bactria, to mourn the death of my father-in-law and stabilize the political situation there."

'So he's a bigshot?' The consul's son is a military commander, his daughter a student in the ancient capital of knowledge and his wife, a princess?

"May I ask the same of you, Lord?" The consul returned his question.

Alex rubbed his head and smiled bashfully. In all honesty, back in his home world, the prospects of marrying and having children didn't attract him too much and as of now, he still isn't too interested in settling down as much as enjoying his time here.

"Not yet. I don't currently entertain the thought of making a family, huh." Alex said awkwardly.

"That's understandable, Lord. If you ever wish to meet someone, I can guarantee my daughter, and son, if you lean that way, have excellent qualities"

Alex chuckled awkwardly. The consul was really shameless, selling off his children like that.

The two proceeded to eat in silence, which Alex appreciated, and after finishing his meal the consul stated that his carriage was ready. Alex packed his stuff, thanked the consul for the carriage, food and accommodation and left the mansion and walked north towards the dry and fluvial port.

When he reached there he noticed that there was a large crowd surrounding one of the carriages. The carriage in question was the biggest and had a luxurious exterior, and the horses in the front looked strong and unordinary.

'Isn't this just straight-up asking bandits to attack you?' Alex thought the carriage's design was quite stupid. While thinking about it, a soldier from the consul's mansion ran up to him and bowed.

"Sir, your carriage is ready"

Alex nodded and followed the soldier, who, strangely, was walking towards the stupid-looking carriage he saw earlier, which caused some doubts in his mind, but he cast them away.

Except, now they stood in front of the 'carriage' and the soldier was pointing at the door while bowing deeply and the two were surrounded by the citizens of Olep.

Alex tried to keep calm but his mind was on fire.

'I asked for a carriage, not a damn moving hotel!' He screamed internally. He just wanted a peaceful trip through the greek mountains but maybe that was too much to ask for. Alex shrugged and got in the 'carriage'. The interior was as opulent as the exterior. With comfortable looking chairs and stairs that led to a bedroom.

Putting that aside, he was a bit excited as this was his first trip in this way, the first step to exploring this new world he was unwillingly cast into.

As the driver just told him, the first part of the trip would go through mountains and stop in the small village of Atreksos. The latter part of the journey would be on a seaside road where he would be able to see the renowned 'Aegean' coast and they would reach the city of Abdera in 8 days.

While daydreaming about seeing the sea for the first time in this world, he heard the driver screaming that they were going to start and felt the carriage moving at a high speed, although it didn't feel bumpy up here.

Here goes nothing...