[Greek mythology] Apollo's counterattack plan

Daedalus is the most outstanding craftsman in Atlantis, not one of them.Whether in architecture, sculpture, or jewelry making, his achievements are unmatched.Therefore, he is also the guest of honor of the major royal families.Those princesses, ladies and wives are all proud to own the gold jewelry made by him.

With such an identity, it is natural for Daedalus to be full of arrogance.

The entire three-story building in the south of the city belongs to him alone, and the house is full of various handicrafts.On the table was a miniature labyrinth made of silver.In the corner stood a wooden statue.And on the ceiling, there are actually two artificial wings hanging, each covered with pure white feathers.

Apollo was bored and sat drowsily among the pile of things, waiting for Plato and Daedalus upstairs to negotiate the price.

Outside the window, several children were playing games with sheep's foot bones, and there were constant quarrels, which made him even want to sit and take a nap.

Everything in the house is getting more and more beautiful.But for him, there is nothing unusual.Both Hephaestus and Athena were the most powerful craftsmen, and the things they made were much more beautiful than these.

After a while, Plato and Daedalus came down one after the other.

"Delivery in the evening, you go out first." Daedalus raised his chin, looking extremely arrogant, "Everything here is unique in the world. If it is broken, you can't find it." Equally fine things to pay for."

Plato sneered, pulled Apollo and walked out, "Let's go for a walk around."

He didn't like this arrogant guy in his heart.But it's best not to offend him now.

Apollo stood still, looked around, and said matter-of-factly: "Really? But it doesn't seem to be very good. It's much worse than what Hephaestus did."

Plato almost laughed out loud.Only he knew that Apollo didn't mean to ridicule the craftsman, it was purely unintentional.As for the one called Hephaestus, it is probably some god.

Daedalus' expression changed, and he looked at him fiercely.

This ignorant young man dared to insult his craft.

If it weren't for the fact that they paid a large sum of money, he wouldn't make conch shells for them. After all, they were just two civilians without status.

After the two left, Daedalus kicked the remaining carved wood on the ground hard, just kicked it out of the gate, and rolled several times before stopping.

The sound of thumping caught the attention of the children playing outside the door.

Among them was a seven or eight-year-old child with chestnut curly hair, red cheeks, and a few freckles on his nose. He was very cute. He ran in bouncing around and asked, "Father, what are you doing for fun?" thing?"

Daedalus immediately smiled, hugged the child up, and said, "Icarus, I just got a conch shell, and if I modify it, it will be able to whine."

Icarus clapped his little hands happily: "Great, can I play for a while?"

"No," Daedalus replied without hesitation, "it's something custom-made by the customer."

"But they won't come to get it right away," Icarus said coquettishly, putting his arms around his father's neck, "I'll play with it after you're done, please, father. They won't know."

"Then... well," Daedalus had to say, anyway, this is not the first time this kind of thing happened.

"My dear son, play outside for a while, and I'll call you when I'm done."

"Okay," the little boy cheered and ran away.

His dad always had an endless supply of gadgets.Although those were entrusted to him by others, he could play as much as he could before they came to pick them up.

In order to let his son play for a while, Daedalus was very fast. It didn't take long for him to complete the transformation of the conch.

He blew, and the conch made a whining sound, very loud.

He nodded with satisfaction, stuck his head out of the window, called Icarus back, and handed the conch to his hand: "Here, let's play with it. But be careful, don't break it, wait Just a moment, the guests are still coming to pick it up."

Icarus did not rush to blow, but looked at the conch over and over again, and said curiously: "Father, I heard that there are pearls growing in the conch, why didn't I see it? Should I crack the conch open? You can see it? That’s what Yura said.”

Daedalus smiled: "No, pearls only grow in shells, and there is nothing beautiful in conch shells."

Icarus nodded half-understanding.

Whether it is a shell or a conch, they are extremely rare things, and he still can't accurately distinguish the difference between the two.

"Okay, son, I'm going to make a gold necklace for the princess. Go play with the conch and come back early." Daedalus said.

Icarus obediently walked out of the studio and went downstairs to ponder by himself.

He is a very curious child with a strong spirit of exploration and research, and he likes to try everything by himself.

The game of blowing conch quickly bored him.The monotonous sound of woo-woo is not much better than a reed pipe.

So Icarus began to think about what his father had said to Yura.

Are there any pearls in the conch?

Although his father said no, Yura said yes.Who am I listening to?Both of them seem to have a point.

How about I break it open and have a look?

But this is the customer's property, if it is smashed, my father will be angry.

But even if he gets angry, he won't do anything to me, he loves me the most.

Icarus looked at the conch on the table, thought it over, but still couldn't resist the temptation, so he climbed to the second floor, stood on the balcony, held the conch high, and threw it outside...

Daedalus was concentrating on making the gold necklace customized for the princess on the third floor when he suddenly heard a loud bang from downstairs.

He was afraid that something might happen to his precious son, so he quickly put down the work in his hands and ran down in a hurry.

As soon as I got downstairs, I saw Icarus sitting on the ground, holding a conch that was broken in half.

As soon as he saw his father, he rushed up and cried loudly, "Father, I... I accidentally broke the conch, what should I do?"

Daedalus wanted to blame his son, but when he saw him crying so sadly, the tears couldn't stop falling, instead he hugged him, patted his back, and comforted him: "It's okay, if it's broken, it will be broken." , you didn't mean it. Okay, okay, don't cry, you are a boy, be strong."

Icarus buried his face in his father's clothes and cried, feeling very disappointed: it turns out that there are really no pearls in the conch.

Daedalus comforted him for a long time before his child stopped twitching.

Looking at the broken conch, he couldn't stop the pain.

Not only was the reward that the customer promised to pay gone, but he also had to pay a large sum of money. This conch is not cheap.

It's just, alas, it's good that my son is fine.

Daedalus shook his head, packed the conch, and waited for Plato and the young man he brought to come.

When the appointed time came, the two came on time.

As soon as he entered the door, Plato asked if the conch was ready.

Daedalus did not answer, but politely asked the two to sit down: "Why are you so anxious, please sit down for a while and drink some water. You must be tired after walking around for a long time."

Plato immediately became aware that this arrogant craftsman was not so kind just now.

Apollo is too lazy to think so much.He offered to sit, so he sat down.It just so happened that he needed to take a rest. He was already tired from shopping in the market for half a day.

"No need," Plato said, "we are in a hurry to get the conch, so just give it to us."

Daedalus rubbed his hands and felt that it was difficult to talk about it, so he changed the subject and asked: "I just thought it was a little strange, why don't you use so many musical instruments in Atlantis, you have to transform a conch into that Look. Isn't that a bit of a waste?"

"Well, we have our purpose, so it's not very convenient to tell you." Plato frowned and replied.

"Oh, oh, I don't have the purpose of prying into your personal lives." Daedalus said, "I just think that if you need an ornament, then I have pearls, gold, shells, and so on. And if you I want a musical instrument for playing. I also have a flute made of silver or stone. They are all the best things. Only members of the royal family are eligible to enjoy them. Under normal circumstances, you will not even see them. But now, you You can choose one you like.”

He considered himself a generous person, and the compensation he gave them definitely exceeded the value of a single conch.These two young men should accept with joy.

Unexpectedly, Plato's face darkened, and he stood up, his voice became cold all of a sudden: "Daedalus, you probably broke our conch because of your poor skills?"

"What? My skills are not good enough," the craftsman raised his voice in displeasure, "Hey, young man, do you know who you are talking to? You can't find the first craftsman with my skills in this world. Come two. If it weren't for the generous reward you give, I, Daedalus, would serve you as a commoner?"

"Oh, really, then you bring our conch." Plato said.

Daedalus felt embarrassed at first and wanted to make amends to them, but when his proud skills were criticized, he immediately became angry. Without making a sound, he took out the broken conch and threw it on the table. Proudly said: "Your things are broken, but don't worry, I will compensate you naturally. I don't have a conch, but I can exchange it with other things. Tell me, how much is a conch worth?"

Apollo was distracted for a long time, and then he said "ah", the expression on his face was very sad.

Holding the conch, Plato was so angry and anxious that he couldn't speak for a long time.

Daedalus said again: "A gold ring, I will pay you, anyway, is it enough? I want to explain in advance that although your conch is valuable, it is not a great thing. Don't try to blackmail me. "

Plato didn't answer, but stared at the conch, and said coldly, "How did it break?"

Judging from the crack, it was obvious that it was dropped from a high place and smashed, rather than accidentally smashed during the process of modifying its internal structure.

Daedalus said: "Don't worry about it, anyway, I promise to pay for it. Does it matter how it broke?"

"Yes," Plato looked up, and said, "If you smashed it on purpose, then you have violated the laws of Atlantis. Compensation for the original price alone is not enough, and you have to go to jail."

Daedalus froze.He completely forgot about this rule.But when Plato said it, he also remembered it.

He looked at the conch and thought that it was all cracked like this. He said that he accidentally broke it when he was working, and no one would believe it, so he said, "Well, it's okay to tell you, it's my son. He accidentally smashed it while playing. He is only eight years old, even if it is according to the law, he doesn’t have to go to jail, and you don’t need to think about going to a judge. Let’s talk about compensation.”

"Is that the kid with freckles on the nose at the door?" Plato asked after thinking about it.Judging from the appearance, the child looks quite similar to this shameless guy.

"This is none of your business," said Daedalus angrily, not wanting to involve his son.