Chapter 177: I'm Not a Thousand-Year-Old Antique
A short while later, everyone gathered once more in the warm, comfortable hall of the bathhouse.
The rich aroma of freshly prepared food wafted through the air, but March 7th and Ling's attention was clearly elsewhere. They clung to Stelle, one on each of her arms, their eyes wide with anticipation.
"Stelle! Tell us, tell us! What did you find?"
"Exactly! Don't keep us in suspense!"
Stelle, however, appeared unusually composed. She insisted on waiting until everyone was seated and Lumine had finished arranging all the dishes on the table before she would even begin.
Once everything was ready, the group began to eat and chat, sharing the various results of their afternoon search for information on the nymphs. After everyone had given their report, all eyes inevitably turned back to Stelle.
She cleared her throat, a solemn expression settling on her face as if she were about to announce a discovery that would fundamentally alter the world line. She then began to recount her "adventure" from the afternoon.
"...So, in short, I was trapped in that small plaza, held captive by that team leader, Damianos. I was forced to listen to a 'Grand Lecture on the Deeds of the Pink Haze Celestial Maiden' for over three hours! It was auditory torture, my friends! Pure torture!"
Stelle first exaggerated her complaints about the "hardship" she had endured before her tone shifted, becoming low and mysterious.
"But! It was all worth it! Because I obtained some extremely valuable information—I believe that the legendary 'Pink Haze Celestial Maiden' is very, very likely connected to our March!"
"Connected to me?" March 7th, who was in the middle of chewing on a piece of flatbread, froze. She blinked her large, expressive eyes, a look of utter bewilderment on her face.
Upon hearing this, Dan Heng and Zhongli exchanged a subtle glance.
Dan Heng spoke first. "Pink Haze Celestial Maiden... We did indeed come across that name a few times this afternoon while perusing some obscure local gazetteers and collections of folk tales in the library."
"However, the official records were mostly vague," he continued. "They only mentioned in passing that she was an ancient being who once aided the people of Amphoreus, performing some good deeds. There was no mention of her being an 'outsider.' More detailed records... seemed to have been intentionally or unintentionally omitted."
Zhongli nodded slightly, adding his own insight. "Official histories often only record what is widely accepted. Unofficial histories and legends circulated among the populace, though passed down by word of mouth through countless people, are inevitably embellished and artistically processed, sometimes deviating far from the facts."
"But their origin," he concluded, his voice thoughtful, "can sometimes hide fragmented truths that were rejected or forgotten by orthodoxy. Stelle's discovery might indeed have some value as a reference."
Having received preliminary affirmation from the two "academic authorities" in their group, Stelle became even more smug.
She briefly recounted the core information she had gleaned from the research society: the Pink Haze Celestial Maiden was an "outsider," had "appeared suddenly thousands of years ago," "possessed power comparable to a Titan," and had "pink hair." Then, she unveiled her bombshell deduction.
"Think about it!" Stelle's eyes sparkled, her logic seeming more and more perfect to her with every word. "Pink hair! An outsider! Thousands of years ago! Appeared out of nowhere! Incredibly powerful! And helped the local people!"
"These characteristics, this background... doesn't it all sound more and more familiar? Isn't this describing March?! Even if it's not the March we know now, it's very likely part of March's past!"
She slammed her hand on the table for emphasis, startling Paimon so badly that she dropped her pastry. "And this way," Stelle declared, even more excitedly, "the attack on the Astral Express makes sense too!"
"Maybe a local Titan from Amphoreus recognized March and came for revenge! When it saw us walking right into its trap, it targeted March directly!"
Stelle planted her hands on her hips, striking a pose that screamed, 'There is only one truth, and I have already uncovered it,' as she scanned the dumbfounded faces of her companions.
"You might not believe it just by hearing me say it!" Stelle seemed to have anticipated their reaction. Like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat, she whipped out the crumpled booklets from behind her back. "To convince you, I specifically got these 'documents' recording the legends from them! It's all recorded right here!"
Initially, upon hearing Stelle's deduction, most of their faces were filled with expressions that read, 'Really?'and'Isn't that a bit too far-fetched?' But seeing that she had actually produced "physical evidence," they couldn't help but feel a flicker of belief. They leaned in curiously to see for themselves.
Lumine, Wise, Ling, and the others began flipping through the booklets. The titles were sensational, and the content was filled with exaggerated descriptions and obvious fantasy plots. Their expressions gradually shifted from curiosity to speechlessness, and finally, to pure amusement.
"Stelle..." Lumine held back a laugh, shaking the copy of Pink Haze Celestial Maiden Defeats Aegle with a Wave of Her Hand in her grasp. "You call this... a document? This is clearly a pulp novel, isn't it?"
"And not a very high-quality one..." Paimon added with rigorous critique.
"Pfft—" March 7th burst out laughing, all her previous tension and confusion vanishing in an instant. "Stelle, don't tell me you were fooled all afternoon by those people with these kinds of stories? Hahaha!"
Stelle watched her companions' reactions, but far from being discouraged, the corner of her mouth quirked up, revealing the wicked smile of a mastermind whose plan was unfolding perfectly.
"Hehe, I knew that these 'novels' alone wouldn't be enough to convince you stubborn people."
She spoke slowly, then, as if presenting an ultimate weapon, she solemnly took out the scroll that Damianos had treasured so dearly. "Then... how about this?"
She slowly unrolled the painting.
Nikador's Fierce Battle with the Pink Haze Celestial Maiden.
Compared to the crudely made booklets, this painting was clearly drawn with much more care and skill.
In the center of the image, a woman whose body was enveloped in a soft, rosy glow stood in an elegant posture. The power she unleashed collided with the ferocious, shadowy giant opposite her.
"Look," Stelle's finger pointed emphatically at the profile and hairstyle of the pink-haired woman, her tone full of leading insinuation.
"Don't you think... the Pink Haze Celestial Maiden in this painting looks a bit like... a certain pink-haired beautiful girl from our group?"
It was one thing when Stelle just said it, but with her pointing it out so directly, everyone's gaze shifted from the blurry but distinctly featured pink-haired woman in the painting to March 7th, who was sitting right there...
The air suddenly fell silent. It seemed... there was a slight resemblance?
That vague feeling, that strong sense of déjà vu brought on by the hair color... Could Stelle's wild deduction have accidentally hit the mark, brushing against the edge of some forgotten truth?
"No... impossible!" The first to jump up and refute the idea was March 7th herself.
Her small face flushed a deep red, her tone a mixture of shyness, embarrassment, and a hint of imperceptible panic. "I... how could I be that kind of old... old antique who's lived for who knows how many years! Absolutely impossible!"
She shook her head vigorously, as if trying to physically dislodge the absurd association from her mind.
But deep within her, some suppressed, unsettling thoughts from that strange dream began to stir again—if this was true, then the voice in the dream calling "Mom"... She dared not think any further.
"Dan Heng! Dan Heng, say something!" March 7th looked at the calmest member of their group as if grasping at a lifeline. "This can't be true, can it? It's just a coincidence! It has to be a coincidence!"
All eyes turned to Dan Heng.
He pondered for a moment, his gaze carefully sweeping over the painting one more time. Then, he spoke calmly, "Based solely on a single painting and some folk legends that have undergone extensive artistic processing—and may even be entirely fictional—it is indeed impossible to prove that the person in the painting is March 7th, or that she is directly related to March 7th's past."
March 7th let out a long, shaky sigh of relief.
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