CHAPTER 521: 523. SECRET FOOTWORK

This time Phoebe automatically found an inn without needing to argue with Lann.

She quickly tidied up her small backpack, and then helped Lann slightly tidy the straw bed covered with a sheet.

She seemed just as energetic and capable as the lively little girl from before.

But Lann leaned against the doorway, watching Phoebe bustling around, and suddenly spoke up.

"Are you still thinking about that boy we saw on the road?"

As soon as this question was asked, Phoebe, who was working intently, suddenly paused her once smooth and skillful movements.

After stiffening for a moment, she turned her face towards Lann who was leaning against the door.

"...if I say ’no’ to you, would you see through it immediately?"

The little girl’s face showed a bit of disappointment.

Lann straightened his body from the doorframe and walked into the room, looking at Phoebe with an expression of ’Even if I don’t say anything, you should understand.’

"Okay, okay." Phoebe sighed and covered her face, speaking in a muffled voice.

"That boy really caught my attention because he reminded me of how I looked when I first wandered into Cephalonia."

"Tired and hungry, my parents taken to Poseidon’s Coral Palace, not knowing whether the next meal or death would find me first... until Cassandra took me home from begging on the street, feeding me like a little kitten."

The little girl’s voice revealed reminiscence and pain; she had already gone through many hardships in her short life.

"So..." After a brief silence, Lann spoke first, "What are you planning to do? Regarding that boy and all the other children in Athens city who are in similar situations?"

"What?" Phoebe lifted her face from her palms, looking at Lann in surprise.

"What to do? No, I can’t do anything. I’m just... just a little country girl from Cephalonia."

"Besides, you came to Athens to handle business, right? I can’t add extra troub..."

Phoebe originally wanted to say ’trouble.’

But before she could finish, Lann interrupted her with a deadpan remark.

"Come on, what are you talking about here? Saying ’can’t do’, ’don’t want to do’, yet in reality, as soon as you see it, you’ll rush towards it... I’ve long seen how strong your initiative is."

"Wait!" Phoebe seemed to catch something from Lann’s tone; first puzzled, then surprised and delighted. "You mean... you can help me?!"

"Don’t even think about it." Lann ruthlessly refused Phoebe’s tear-filled puppy eyes. "I’ll start teaching you ’Stealth Steps’ and basic hand-to-hand combat tomorrow. You’ll learn the skills to solve the trouble you find yourself."

"Woohoo!" The little girl immediately cheered.

Cassandra was taken in by Marcos, so when she saw the wandering Phoebe, she took in the little girl.

Phoebe was taken in by Cassandra, so when she saw other children struggling to survive in Athens, she wanted to help others too.

This is a natural and kind-hearted intention.

On the other hand, Lann also thought of a renowned detective from his hometown world and his orphan investigation crew on Baker Street.

If these wandering orphans in the city could be gathered, they would be high-quality intelligence gatherers.

Maybe regarding the ’Divine Teachings’ and ’Bloodline Cultivator’, they could provide assistance to his investigation.

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"This place is quite suitable for training, but... why do I feel like I’m doing Cat School stuff?"

Lann muttered to himself in Athens’ Fisherman District, lowering his voice in the latter half of the sentence, causing Phoebe to look at him with a puzzled gaze.

The Fisherman District is near Piraeus Harbor in Athens city. Here, there’s a large shallow area formed by the overflowing seawater. The people living here can catch fish as a supplement for living, thus the name.

But because Athens is a large conglomerate city, and due to wartime, Governor Pericles gathered the farmers and hunters from outside Athens into the city to protect them from Spartan devastation.

Thus, the population in the city had soared to over two hundred thousand, close to three hundred thousand!

The enormous population and generated waste made this already unclean water area even filthier and foul-smelling.

Therefore, the residents here could only equip wooden boards and stone slabs over the water to isolate themselves from the stinky shallow water. However, this also made the already cramped buildings even more crowded.

Some households even shared a wall, and the narrowest streets could only let two people pass sideways at the same time.

In the world of magic, the Demon Hunter School of Cat was very fond of such urban environments for training apprentices.

They were also the only school of demon hunters that trained apprentices in urban environments.

Meanwhile, Phoebe was eagerly tying her sandal laces again and adjusting her small leather wristbands.

"The rooftops here are tiled, clay-made, stone-built, and some don’t even have roofs, just a few wooden poles lying across them–various materials, terrains, and situations."

Lann folded his arms, calmly detailing his training plan.

"I want you to run recklessly on these, yet without leaving any trace for the people below to notice. Once you’ve done this, you’ll have mastered ’Stealth Steps’.

"Of course, if someone notices you’re bouncing on their rooftop and tries to beat you, just see it as an opportunity to practice your hand-to-hand combat, killing two birds with one stone."

As Lann calmly laid out the plan, Phoebe’s eager expression visibly froze and stiffened.

The Demon Hunter then waved his hand: "Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to sprint right away; you can start with walking slowly. Silent sprinting is just the ultimate goal."

With that, Phoebe’s tense face relaxed, and she exhaled deeply.

"Alright." Lann clapped his hands, signaling the official start of training, "Now, climb up."

The little girl then leaped lightly. With the mastery of ’Light Body Skill’, she could jump high enough for her feet to be about one and a half meters above the ground.

She reached out to grip the edge of a clay and crushed stone-made wall, then flipped herself up.

Lann watched for a while while Phoebe carefully trod on the rooftops of other’s homes, all the while avoiding the eyes of the passersby.

Her first attempt made the tile roof creak incessantly.

Luckily, the house’s owner seemed to be out working, so she wasn’t immediately discovered.

Phoebe wisely hastily jumped onto the neighboring clay roof, allowing her footsteps to be quiet enough to be manageable.

Seeing the little girl’s training on track, Lann turned and left the Fisherman District.

Phoebe was training, but he also had his own business to attend to.