Medusa was startled by the voice that suddenly rang in her head:
"Who are you?"
"Hmm, it seems to be connected." The man's voice continued, "This is a mental link. You just need to speak in your mind... As a Goddess, you must have spoken to your followers before."
Medusa closed her mouth. She glanced guiltily at the Parthenon next to her, then asked in her mind:
"Excuse me, who are you?"
"My name?" The man said with a slight smile, "You can call me Ares."
"God of War?"
Medusa's heart grew wary:
"What do you want with me?"
"Don't be so nervous." Ares soothed Medusa's emotions, then continued to ask, "If I'm not mistaken, you should be Medusa of the Gorgon Sisters, right? As a Goddess, why would you abandon your divinity and become Athena's priestess? Also, where are your two older sisters? Euryale and Stheno, where did they go?"
Medusa remained silent.
"Alright, if you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do." Ares paused, then continued, "Then I'll guess myself. It looks like you must have some leverage held by that woman Athena. Since you're here as a priestess, then your two sisters are either imprisoned somewhere by Athena, or she has driven them away. Furthermore, today you specifically went to tend to, give water and food to those slaves who are clearly not Athenians. Those people must be your original people, either followers of you Gorgon Sisters, or a tribe that lived with you. Hmm, they must have been used as cannon fodder by Athena to deal with the Atlanteans. Athenians are truly weak. They even need slaves to fight in a War..."
In the Greek World, War was also an important part of a city-state citizen's rights, because killing enemies on the battlefield could earn military merits, which could be said to be the fastest way to advance in the Greek World.
Normally, Greek city-states would not allow slaves to compete with citizens for military merits on the battlefield. However, Athenians had no choice now. Athena could not send out a large number of her followers in the early days of Athens' establishment, so she captured this group of slaves to use as cannon fodder for War.
"Am I wrong?"
Ares rambled on, then asked.
Medusa was silent for a moment, then replied somewhat coldly:
"So, is the great God of War here to mock and ridicule me?"
"How could that be? That's not what a warrior does."
Ares said:
"I'm just here to offer you a small trade, one that... can give those slaves their freedom back, and even make them citizens. If things continue like this, once the Atlanteans' fleet arrives, that woman Athena will definitely sell your people without hesitation. By then, whether they survive will probably depend solely on fate."
Hearing Ares's words, Medusa was somewhat moved. She quietly asked:
"What trade?"
"It's very simple. You continue to stay in Athens, be Athena's priestess, act as my inside contact when necessary, and you can also ask me for help when you encounter difficulties and dangers." Ares said, "And I will mobilize my people to find a way to buy your people, take them back to Sparta, and let them become people of the Sparta. How about this trade?"
These terms from Ares were incredibly generous to Medusa, almost like a free gift. She had already fallen to this point, and her situation could hardly get any worse than it was now.
She naturally knew what Athena intended to do by capturing her followers, but she was powerless to resist and could only watch. Otherwise, even her two exiled sisters might fall victim to the Goddess of Wisdom.
And now, Spartans were stationed outside Athens. If the God of War gave the command, and if Athena did not intervene, they could even twist off the heads of the Athenians' leaders before dawn and present them before the God of War's throne.
Similarly, it would naturally be an easy matter for Ares to rescue a group of slaves.
However, because of Athena, Medusa was extremely distrustful of the Gods of Olympus at this time. After thinking carefully for a moment, she asked:
"Such terms are too generous for me. Why would you do this? We've never met before, have we?"
"The answer is simple." Ares's voice was somewhat triumphant: "I, Ares, just like to do things that annoy Athena."
Medusa seemed somewhat speechless.
"Please don't fool me." After she reacted, she said somewhat angrily, "If you want to make a trade, at least tell me what you want openly and honestly. Given my current situation, even if the God of War wants to take me by force, can I even resist?"
"I'm serious." Ares's voice became serious, and a little helpless: "Alas, the image of male Gods on Olympus has been completely ruined by Zeus and Poseidon. Why would I take you by force? To cause trouble for myself?"
After a slight pause, Ares continued:
"I just can't stand Athena and the Gods' attitude of taking everything for granted as being inferior to themselves. My terms are here; you consider them yourself. Those slaves outside are your followers anyway, they have nothing to do with me. If you've thought it through, you can infuse this hair ornament with magic, and it will connect to me. Oh, and you only have three days to consider. In three days, the Atlanteans' fleet will arrive in the waters off Athens."
After he finished speaking, Ares seemed ready to end the communication. Medusa quickly called out to him:
"No need, great Ares, I accept this trade."
"Oh? I suggest you think carefully, you know. After all, you're also a Goddess. What if I pull a shady contract on you?" Ares said, "If you go back on your word later, I won't take any responsibility."
"No need." Medusa bit her lower lip, then said, "Three days, please use these three days to save my followers. At least don't let all of them die in this place."
"Alright, it's a deal." Ares's voice rose slightly, sounding somewhat pleased: "Now it's time to establish the contract, beautiful lady. Please receive the magic I'm sending you, then repeat after me."
...
Hearing Ares's words, Medusa was initially still a little worried, but to her surprise, the terms Ares offered remained unchanged, still so generous. The God of War would have the Spartans rescue her followers, the Pelasgians, and all she had to do was stay in Athena's Temple and report to the God of War what Athena had done each day.
Furthermore, the God of War would even provide for her personal safety, adding a clause to the contract himself that if Medusa was in trouble, she could directly summon him for help.
It seemed as if this God of War was truly just doing all these things to find ways to disgust Athena.
On the morning of the second day after the contract was signed, Medusa put on her priestess's attire and, shortly after arriving at Athena's Temple, immediately saw the Athenian leader come to seek an audience with the Goddess.
"Respected Athena." The Athenian leader bowed to Athena and said, "The Spartans' commander came to me again. They said they wanted to discuss a business deal."
"Oh?" Athena asked, "What kind of business?"
"They want to buy slaves." The Athenian leader replied, "These Spartans seem to have taken a liking to the Pelasgians we captured."