Phainon remembered his guests and quickly turned to the three members of the Express crew, a look of genuine apology on his face. "Sorry, I promised to show you around the holy city properly, but now... there's an emergency. I need to head out with Mydei to face the enemy."
"But don't worry, I'll try to make it quick so you can taste Castrum Kremnos cuisine tonight!" He thumped his chest in assurance.
"That's quite alright." Welt, who had been observing Phainon for some time, finally felt reassured by Phainon's interactions with Mydei and the unique naivete in his words.
He felt that compared to the "Kevin" burdened by a heavy past and prone to extreme actions, this Phainon before him was a bit more like the Kiana in his memories—exceptionally gifted but always a headache in cultural classes, fundamentally simple and passionate...
Hmm... both call a red-haired person 'teacher,' are somewhat passionate and chuunibyou, and want to be heroes. That tracks.
After all, having already seen alternate versions, a gender swap doesn't seem impossible... right?
To put his mind completely at ease, Welt decided to make one final confirmation.
He adjusted his glasses, asking in a seemingly casual manner: "Phainon, pardon me for abruptly asking this, but you don't happen to... have any long-lost brothers, or... sisters, do you?"
Hearing this, Cyrene, who had been standing quietly by Phainon's side and hadn't spoken since her introduction, suddenly looked up, giving Welt a surprised, sneaky glance. Outsiders are truly terrifying.
"Uh..." Phainon was taken aback by the sudden question, then scratched his head and answered definitively, "No, I'm an only child. Just me in the family."
"Whew... that's good then." Welt visibly let out a sigh of relief, even his tone when responding to Phainon lightened considerably. A faint, almost imperceptible, relieved smile even appeared on his face.
After answering, Phainon exchanged a look with Mydei, then strode shoulder-to-shoulder with him towards the city gate. The wind occasionally carried back fragments of their receding conversation:
"Mydei, to accept your challenge, I'm leaving my new friends behind for now. If I win, you have to include them when we eat, let them taste your Castrum Kremnos specialties too..."
"Hmph, Deliverer, don't boast. This time, I might not lose..."
...
"Hmm... so... we've been left hanging here now?" Stelle blinked, looking around, noticing that Phainon and Mydei's figures had already vanished in the direction of the city gate.
"What about Cyrene? ...Oh, good, Cyrene's still here." She saw the pink-haired girl still standing quietly nearby.
As for Tribbie, Stelle's gaze shifted into the distance—the Demigod of Passage was busy directing the newly arrived refugees to temporary shelters. Stelle felt it best not to disturb her work.
Just then, she suddenly felt a gentle tug on her skirt, light and tentative.
"Hmm?" Stelle looked down. The sight that met her eyes made her pause slightly—it was a little girl dressed like an exquisite strawberry cake, who only came up to her waist, with a round, adorable face that made one want to pinch her cheeks.
"Trianne here! In charge of giving you a tour of the holy city!" The little girl looked up, announcing in a clear, resonant voice tinged with a childish lilt, her small face etched with a serious "I'm very important" expression.
"Two... two Tribbies?" Stelle's eyes widened in surprise. She looked at the mature, steady Tribbie in the distance, then down at this "Trianne" before her, her mind struggling to process it.
"We are Trianne! Not Tribbie!" Little Trianne shook her head vigorously, but then tilted it, showing a somewhat troubled, cute expression. "Eh, but maybe that's not entirely accurate either... We can also be Tribbie! It's complicated!"
"This..." Welt beside them adjusted his glasses, an indescribable look on his face. He turned to Cyrene, his tone carrying a hint of seeking verification.
"Does your Okhema... have a somewhat... severe issue with child labor?" He tried to phrase it as tactfully as possible.
Cyrene covered her mouth with a light laugh, then explained gently: "Rest assured, Mr. Yang. Teacher Tribbie—or Teacher Trianne—though their appearance and temperament are childlike, they are among the earliest Golden Descendants who followed the prophecy."
"Their seniority and wisdom are also highly respected in Okhema. They are pillars of this city, truly worthy of trust." She paused, her gaze slightly inquiring towards little Trianne, as if weighing whether the next part should come from her.
Trianne didn't mind at all. She placed her hands on her hips, adopting the stance like a little-adult "this is common knowledge" posture. "It seems you truly are guests from beyond the stars, not even knowing a story every household in Amphoreus knows!"
She cleared her throat and began her tale. Though her voice was youthful, it carried the gravity of narrating an ancient legend:
"Hmm... where to start? Got it! You already know the power of the Black Tide drove the Titans mad, plunging the world into darkness."
"After the Black Tide spread across the land of Amphoreus, the 'Worldbearing Titan'—Kephale—delivered a prophecy concerning fate—"
She spoke each word clearly: "'There shall be heroes bearing golden blood, embarking on a god-slaying journey strewn with thorns. They must gather twelve Titan Coreflames and submit them to the Dawn Device. Then, the world shall be reborn and see the dawn in the great 'Recreation of the World.'"
"And we, as the first Golden Descendants," Trianne pointed at herself, a trace of nostalgia on her face, "when choosing to submit our Coreflame and become demigods, casually attached a personal wish of our own."
"At that time, it was the brutal period of the 'Golden War.' City-states warred against each other, with countless casualties."
Trianne's voice grew softer. "So, back when we were still very, very tall, the wish we made was—to hope we could become lots and lots of us!"
"That way, we could travel fastest between every battlefield and conflict zone, to connect, to unite all the people suffering and lost in the war, to make everyone stop hurting each other!"
She waved her small hands, her eyes shining brightly. "The amazing thing is, the wish really came true! Though the cost was, after splitting, each individual us had somewhat dispersed power, only able to open a small gateway one person high. But... correspondingly, our numbers became so many, many!"
"And right away, we helped so, so many people stop fighting, reconnected broken trust, and finally ended that long Golden War!"