Out of the market, Theos saw rows of stables set up on the side of the road, long gone from the simplicity and dirty scene of horse manure on the ground when they first met.

Theos had a good impression of the old coachman, so he still wanted to ride in his car, and began to shout: "Sorikos! Sorikos! ……”

"The old man is rich now, he no longer drives himself, take my car!" Someone shouted.

"Don't talk nonsense, be careful that I beat you!" Soricos laughed and cursed.

Theos got into his carriage and said where he was going.

"Oh, you're also going to see the land for rent, right?! I've been seeing a lot of people lately! Sorichos said immediately.

Theos nodded and said with a smile, "I heard that you made a fortune?!" ”

"I heard their nonsense, that is, after paying off the loan and interest on the carriage, I took out another loan to buy a carriage and rented it to a freeman to drive, and I believe that I will soon be able to pay off the loan again! Then buy a horse-drawn carriage...... Sorix said confidently.

"Congratulations!" Theos praised, "I think in another year you will be a carriage merchant." ”

Soricos laughed.

"I remember that you are a citizen of Dionia, the alliance should give you a 'share' of land, you come out to drive a carriage to earn money, what will happen to the land? I have heard that your alliance has agricultural officers who specialize in overseeing the use of land by citizens. Theos asked curiously.

"I've rented it to the freedmen to farm, and there won't be any problems." Solicos replied.

He drove his carriage up the Turii-Amendora Boulevard, which ran along the plains of Sybari, where houses had been built in the middle of the fields.

It's time to build villages soon! Theos thought to himself: New Turij is growing very rapidly, and is gradually regaining its former prosperity, and it is very different from the original, even surpassing the great Greek power of the past!

After crossing a wooden bridge over the river Cybari, the carriage passes through the vineyards and wineries of the famous wine region of Greater Greece.

After crossing the Saraceno River, we entered the territory of Amendolara, and the land to be rented was on the side of the avenue, which had been divided into pieces of land to be rented with sticks. It is close to the avenue for easy transportation; The proximity to the river makes it easy to provide water to the workshop; Close to the forest, there are trees to harvest (of course the Dionian Union has strict rules for cutting down trees). In addition, after building a workshop on the leased land, you can also build a house for yourself and your hired workers to live in, so that you can have a place to rest during your business in Dionia. There is the sea in front, the forest in the back, the river on the side, and the avenue for easy travel, and it is also an ideal place to live! It is believed that every foreign merchant who wants to rent land here has the idea of building a workshop and a dwelling at the same time, and twenty years is enough for them to double the money they invested, provided that the Dionian League always exists.

After looking at a few ideal plots, Tios wanted to find a hotel to stay in because the so-called "auction" would not be held until tomorrow.

At this time, Solikos suggested: "You are here today just in time, the arena in Turiyi was just built yesterday. To celebrate, Lord Davers proclaimed, 'Today and tomorrow, there will be a four-city match of rugby at the Arena!' ’。 If you have time in the afternoon, you can just go and have a look, I heard that it is very beautiful, and it is even more lively than the competition of the Olympia Games! ”

"A football game?" Theos was both curious and confused.

"That's a game invented by Lord Davers, I heard it was inspired by Hades!" Soricos said mysteriously.

"That's it...... It is...... Two teams compete for a ball made of cowhide shaped like an olive...... Well...... Then score...... Heck, I can't tell, anyway, people who have watched this game say that it is very interesting and very good-looking! You'll know if you've seen it. ”

"Okay, I'll take a look." Sorichos' strong recommendation intrigued Theos.

"Go early in the afternoon, because there are a lot of people, I heard that it is late, so I can't get in!" Sorichos kindly reminded.

…………………

The arena is located in the east of the northern city of Turiyi, close to the city's docks and far from the main city, and was built here to not affect the daily life of the people of Turiyi.

The city guards, who usually have strict checks, are relatively lax today, as long as they do not carry weapons, after counting the number of people, they are basically allowed to enter, but if the number exceeds the specified number, they are forbidden to enter the city.

Theos was lucky enough to enter the city because he had arrived early. On the way into the city, I also met a Cretan merchant who was engaged in the olive oil business, Dickpolis, who had also come to see a rugby game, and had already seen one in the morning, and was fascinated by this novel game, in his words: it was the best gift that Hades had given to the Greeks, and there was no match like it!

This piqued Tios's interest even more.

When I came to the gate of the arena, there was already a long queue, although there were many people, but under the supervision of a group of soldiers, they still obeyed the order.

At this time, Dickpolis asked Theos to take his place, and he went to a nearby shop with a "beer" sign, brought out two cans of beer and two bags of dried fruit, and gave Theos half of it.

Theos thanked him embarrassedly and asked, "How much?" ”

Dick Polis said: "It was the Goddess of Fate to meet you here and watch the rugby game together!" If you pay, you just don't like to make friends with us Cretans! ”

Theos had no choice but to accept it, and Dickpolis's boldness and liveliness made him quite fond of him. At the same time, he noticed that many people were running to buy beer, syrup and snacks.

Dick Polis told him: "Because of the long hours of the game, we watch the game in the sun, and we get thirsty and hungry easily. In addition, there are many spectators entering the venue, in case they want to pee and can't find a place, and this one-" He raised the wine jar in his hand and said with a teasing smile: "If you drink it dry, you can use it as a urinal......"

The guards at the entrance to the arena let a group of people in, and then a group of people after a while. When it was Dickpolis' turn, it was evident that the arena was not yet full, and the guard motioned for them to enter, and went along the passage on his right-hand side, and there was another passage on the left-hand side, which they could not go, and that led to the VIP seats, as was the case in almost all arenas.

The Turriy Arena was not very large, and all the stone benches in the ring around it could seat about 4,000 people at most, but in fact more than 4,500 people had attended, half of them freemen and Gentiles. Like other arenas, its playground is surrounded by a running track, but inside the track is a flat rectangular piece of sandy land, divided into areas by dozens of white lines.

Dickpolis patiently explained the rules of the game to Theos and told him why it was called the Four Cities Rugby Match: "The Four Cities are Amendolara, Turii, Niutum and Laos, and according to my friends in Dionia, this game was first played by the Archon Davers as a military training project, starting with mercenaries who became citizens of Amendolala...... Later, Turii formed an alliance with Amendolara to train the citizens of Turii and the reserve citizens, which naturally taught them this game...... Later, they captured Niutum, and the first Lucanian soldiers gave the game to the Lucanians of Niutum...... As for Laos, they sent a large number of laborers to build the roads, with the Dionians as overseers, and taught the Laos to play this game in their spare time, in order to prevent them from being too tired and slacking off......

Maybe the Laos people just started playing, they are not yet proficient, and they don't seem to be working well together, so in the morning it was against Turii, and the result was a comfortable victory by Turii. This afternoon is Amendolara vs. Niutum, I heard that the strength of the two sides is not much different, and it is more interesting! ”

"You know so much!" Theos said with emotion.

"I'm interested in it, so I'll want to find out." "I've been here for a long time, and I've befriended several citizens of the Ionian League, one of whom is the commander of their so-called legion," said Diopolite, who told me ......."

"Why isn't there a Castron?" A voice came from the side.

Dickpolis turned his head to see that there were already some people around the two of them.

"Maybe it's because they have less contact with the citizens of the league and don't have the opportunity to learn ......," Dickpolis shrugged: "However, I saw some Castrons watching the game at the venue this morning, and I believe that after this four-city match, the next time it is held, I am afraid it will become a five-city match." ”

"Cretans, you're right, we will definitely participate in Castron next year!" Someone in the crowd shouted.

"Yes, we'll make a suggestion to the council when we get back!" The other chimed in.

Dickpollit winked at Theos and whispered, "Look, I'm right. ”

At this time, the brass horn sounded and the athletes began to enter.

The players were not as rudimentary as they had been when they first played rugby in the barracks, and they wore floppy fur hats that covered their heads and necks, and thick wool and linen coats, which were dyed red and blue to make them easier to distinguish, and the back of the shirts were embroidered with strange symbols (actually Arabic numerals, which were too complicated to use because Greek numerals were too complicated to use) for the referees to identify.

As the players from both sides entered the field, a strong, rhythmic drum beat sounded.

The RED team immediately formed a neat phalanx, and in accordance with the rhythm, danced the dance of praise to Ares when he was victorious on the battlefield with strong and uniform movements...... The audience burst into enthusiastic cheers.