Amphoreus, Abyss of Fate.
"Teacher Tribbie, Teacher Trianne, Teacher Trinnon!"
Lumina, Herta, and Castorice followed the lingering aura of the Century Gate, walking in a certain direction.
Upon reaching their destination, the three quickly spotted the three red-haired young girls lying on the floor.
Although they were all lying face-down on the ground, from the trio's angle, none of their faces could be seen.
But relying on their memories of spending time together day and night, Castorice instantly confirmed the identities of the three red-haired young girls based on their red hair alone.
They were precisely the three people they had been searching for: Tribbie, Trianne, and Trinnon.
Seeing this, Castorice rushed over, crouched down, and used her eyes to assess their condition.
[ Death ]The flaw of the Chrysos Heirs had caused Castorice a great deal of trouble.
For example, right now, Castorice was unable to use her hands to help them up and confirm their state through close-range contact.
"Little Sister Castorice, let me."
"Tribbie and the others are fine. They have just exhausted their strength and are temporarily asleep."
Seeing Castorice crouched beside Tribbie and the others, her lips pressed tight as she looked at them with a lonely and worried expression, Lumina let go of Herta's hand, which she always wanted to hold, and walked over to Castorice's side.
She gently patted her shoulder, gesturing that Tribbie and the others were fine.
"Mm... mm."
Castorice still trusted Sister Lumina very much.
Hearing this, Castorice instantly relaxed.
Standing up, she looked around for a moment and asked cautiously and worriedly, "The Flame Reaver... shouldn't be around here, right?"
"Remove the words 'shouldn't be'." Herta also came to Castorice's side at this moment.
With her arms crossed, she spoke in a flat tone, showing no emotion.
"That's good..."
Hearing Herta's flat tone, Castorice thought she was saying that the Flame Reaver was not around.
After all, since her tone was so flat and devoid of any emotion, there must be no danger.
"...Huh?"
"Ah?"
But soon, Castorice reacted and looked at Herta blankly, wondering if she had misheard.
"Um... Big Sister Herta, the Flame Reaver...?"
"Oh, did you not hear clearly?" Herta waved her hand, her tone still as flat as ever, devoid of any clear emotion as she spoke: "The Flame Reaver, that's how he's called, right?"
"He is currently in the Abyss of Fate, and he is getting closer and closer to our position."
"In two minutes and thirty-four seconds, he will appear before our eyes."
Herta even specified the Flame Reaver's arrival time down to the second.
"Uh..." Hearing this, Castorice was momentarily at a loss for words, not knowing what to say in response.
Regarding the Flame Reaver's imminent arrival, Castorice had still been a bit worried.
But seeing that both Big Sister Herta and Sister Lumina were completely indifferent to the Flame Reaver, Castorice also calmed down a little.
Recalling what happened back at the Grove, with Sister Lumina here, that Flame Reaver probably wouldn't be foolish enough to charge up, right?
After all, he had been knocked unconscious by Sister Lumina's single strike last time. If Castorice were the Flame Reaver, she would take a detour the moment she saw Sister Lumina.
Either take a detour or "defect to the enemy."
After all, Sister Lumina is just so gentle...
Castorice thought to herself over and over again.
"Just as I thought, they are simply exhausted."
"A little rest and a good sleep will be enough."
Meanwhile, on Lumina's side, she had finished her mock inspection of Tribbie and the other two.
With her own power protecting them, Lumina would never forgive herself if they suffered even the slightest harm.
She would immediately petition [Yaoshi] and resign from her position as Emanator of Abundance!
Without another thought, she gently raised her small hand.
The bodies of Tribbie and the other two slowly rose into the air, enveloped in a sphere of green light.
Within this green light, a blissful and peaceful smile unconsciously spread across the corners of their lips.
"Let them rest for a while, and when they wake up, they will be back to their lively selves."
Although Tribbie and the other two were already quite old, Lumina still spoke with a tone reserved for children.
"Mm, thank you, Sister Lumina." Castorice had no objection to Sister Lumina's childish tone.
Her hands were folded at her waist, her expression earnest, as she gave a very solemn thank you.
"Little Castorice, when you say thank you, you're supposed to show your tummy, okay?" Hearing Castorice say thank you, Lumina winked at her and gave a certain gesture.
She was gesturing for Castorice to lift her skirt and show her white little tummy when she said thank you.
"Ah... huh?" Hearing those words and seeing the gesture, Castorice froze for a moment.
Then, after understanding what Sister Lumina meant, her fair and smooth little face instantly turned crimson, as if it would bleed just by being pinched gently with two fingers.
She was wearing a skirt right now. To show her tummy, wouldn't she have to lift the skirt all the way up to above her waist...
Wouldn't that reveal everything then...
The action of Castorice's hands folded at her waist had now changed into gripping her skirt.
The constant clutching and twisting of the skirt vividly displayed the bashfulness Castorice felt from those words.
"If... if Sister Lumina needs me to, I can..."
"Ahem."
Just as Castorice's fingers shifted from gripping her skirt to lifting it, Herta seemed unable to watch any longer and quickly coughed a few times, stopping Castorice's actions.
Herta simply couldn't stand it, couldn't stand Lumina bullying Castorice.
She was a grown woman, yet as Castorice's older sister, she was still bullying her younger sister like this.
As a bystander and another of Castorice's older sisters, Herta truly couldn't take it anymore.
Driven by a surge of sympathy in her heart, Herta finally spoke up.
This was the superficial reason.
As for the true reason in her heart for stopping Castorice's actions, only she knew.
"That Flame Reaver is about to arrive. Let's take Tri... um, Tribbie? Yes, Tribbie." Herta couldn't quite remember Tribbie's name for a moment.
"Let's quickly take Tribbie and the others and leave this place."
"If that Flame Reaver arrives, the situation will be quite bad."
Herta had just thrown out a random excuse, wanting to leave this place quickly.
Of course, the main reason wasn't because of some Flame Reaver.
Herta didn't care about that Cloaked Guy at all.
The main reason was to prevent Castorice from being "bullied" by Lumina.
Yes, that was the reason.
"Ah... um-hmm, Big Sister Herta, you're... you're right." Hearing this, Castorice nodded obediently like a chick pecking at rice.
Exposing her belly was an act that required a bit of preparation.
That was one point.
The other point, and the most important one, was that Big Sister Herta was right: this was not a place worth staying in.
Even if that Flame Reaver was no match for Sister Lumina, it was still best not to linger.
If Sister Lumina needed it, Castorice would definitely expose her belly to show her gratitude.
After all, her help for herself, for everyone, and for Okhema was completely worth this action.
In fact, it could be said that just exposing her belly to express "gratitude" was far too easy.
Really... didn't she need some more, more profound actions?
Um... Perhaps it could be misinterpreted, but the "more profound actions" that Castorice was thinking of referred to rewards like money or power.
Although given Sister Lumina's personality, she might not even care.
Sister Lumina had helped her and everyone else so much, so a thank-you completed with just a simple "belly exposure" made Castorice feel a bit uneasy.
"Fair point."
Before Castorice could get lost in her own thoughts, Lumina's voice, expressing agreement, pulled her back to reality.
"Let's go. We can talk about everything else when we get back to Okhema."
Lumina first gestured to Castorice, then gave Herta a meaningful smile.
Only Lumina and Herta knew what that look actually meant.
Ignoring Herta's well-timed interruption, Lumina waved her hand, preparing to use the same method she'd used to bring Tribbie and her other two companions, Castorice, and Herta to the Abyss of Fate to take them back to Okhema.
"Hmm?"
"Is this..."
But just as Lumina was about to release her power, she seemed to sense something.
"Stelle and the others are here too. Let's go meet up with them first."
After she spoke, before Castorice could say anything, everything before her eyes blurred, only to become clear again the next second.
At the same time as the scene changed, four familiar figures also appeared before them.
Two men and two women, all of whom were familiar to Castorice.
Dan Heng, Stelle, Phainon, and Hyacine.
Upon receiving the news of Tribbie's disappearance, they had rushed to the Abyss of Fate without pause.
But before they could venture deeper into the Abyss of Fate to search, the sudden appearance of several people before them left them all in a daze.
For a moment, they couldn't react.
"You came for Tribbie and the others, didn't you?"
"I've already found them."
Looking at the group's bewildered expressions, Lumina smiled and gestured to the green sphere of light enclosing Tribbie and her companions.
"Teacher Tribbie, they..."
Snapping out of his stupor, Phainon looked at the three of them resting quietly in the green sphere, unable to hide the worry on his face.
"They're fine, just a little tired."
"They'll be okay after a good sleep."
Knowing what Phainon was worried about, Lumina explained with a smile.
"Haaah..."
Hearing this, everyone let out a sigh of relief.
"Lumie, thank you so, so much." Hyacine offered her thanks with a face full of sincerity.
"..." As for this thank you, Lumina simply responded with a smile, saying nothing more.
But this was only on the surface.
In her mind, Lumina was already beginning to picture a scene.
No, not a scene born of fantasy.
Fantasies were images that could never be realized, but what Lumina imagined was something that could actually happen in the future, so it couldn't be called a fantasy.
So what was the image in Lumina's mind?
Judging by Hyacine's thank you and the words she had spoken to Castorice earlier, it should have been quite obvious by now.
In a confined and narrow room, bathed in the light spilling from a chandelier, the space appeared exceptionally clear.
And in this room, there were three people.
Lumina, Hyacine, and Castorice.
Hyacine and Castorice stood side by side, their faces flushing with shyness as they clutched the hems of their skirts with both hands.
And what about Lumina? Of course, she was standing right in front of them, arms crossed, looking at them with a gentle, encouraging smile.
Then she watched as the two slowly lifted the hems of their skirts, revealing their snow-white midriffs as they kept thanking her, their faces flushed crimson...
"Ahem."
Just as Lumina was lost in the scene her mind had conjured, a clear cough rang out again, pulling her from the world in her thoughts back to reality.
There was no need to think to know who the owner of the voice that could pull Lumina from her mental world back to reality was.
Lumina turned to Herta, who was beside her pretending nothing had happened, and said with a hint of mockery in her tone, "Madam Herta, are you coughing because you've caught a cold?"
"Being sick isn't good. Do you need me to examine and treat you?"
To outsiders, like Stelle, Hyacine, and the others, Lumina was undoubtedly showing concern for Herta.
But from Herta's perspective, it was not like that at all.
This wasn't concern. It was blatant mockery, the kind that wasn't disguised in the slightest.
"No need," Herta replied, silently accepting the mockery since she knew she was in the wrong.
Lumina could mock her all she wanted; after all, Herta had already achieved her goal.
Just from Hyacine's words of thanks, Herta immediately understood what kind of scene Lumina was imagining in her mind.
It was probably another scenario of lifting their skirts and revealing their midriffs in thanks, right?
Even though she knew Lumina might genuinely only want to see their midriffs and wouldn't actually do anything to them, Herta couldn't help but feel a wave of irritation.
After all, the fact that Lumina wouldn't actually do anything to them was only true for now.
What if she mysteriously changed her mind and decided to do something more invasive to beautiful girls?
Right now, she's just asking beautiful girls to lift their skirts for a peek at their bellies, but later on, won't she be asking them to take off all their clothes to see...
As she kept thinking, Herta's thoughts wandered further and further astray.
Fortunately, Lumina had no idea what Herta was thinking right now, otherwise she would have definitely used her magnificent staff to give Herta's head a good thwack.
Without further arguing with Herta, Lumina turned to Stelle and the others, saying, "Let's change the place to chat; this isn't a suitable spot to linger."
After saying this, before anyone else could even utter a word, Lumina waved her hand grandly.
A faint green light enveloped everyone, and then the scene before their eyes instantly became a blur.
The black sky was gradually covered by the dawn, and the broken ground became brand new.
In just a moment, everyone appeared on the streets of Okhema.
Phainon, Hyacine: ???