Speaking of which, Amphoreus’ history is not fixed.
Every cycle has different changes.
The only thing that never changes is that the Chrysos Heirs are certain to be born, and they are always born at the proper time.
In simple terms, as the twelve most important factors in the experiment, the system adjusts their birth times according to the current progress of the calculations, so they won’t miss the chance to seize the Coreflames.
Logically speaking, Phainon had formed an alliance with Caelus and collected Coreflames very quickly, so the remaining Chrysos Heirs should have been born earlier as well.
But the Chrysos Heirs of this cycle were not much different from the previous one, and they were still born around Light Calendar year 4890, a thousand years after Phainon awakened in Light Calendar year 3870.
There was even talk of a first Flame-Chase Journey and a second Flame-Chase Journey in this cycle.
This meant that Phainon had stopped pursuing the flames at some point during those thousand years.
Perhaps he wanted to see his former companions again, or perhaps he was searching for the mastermind.
In any case, the result was that Phainon became Khaslana, returned to Okhema, and restarted the second Flame-Chase Journey.
Researching the relationship between golden blood and the Lost Realm was an enormous topic.
It might even require research across multiple cycles.
So Amos did not start immediately.
Instead, just like when he had studied in the past, he planned to proceed step by step.
First, he had to organize all of Okhema’s books.
Whether it was preparing teaching materials for the other Chrysos Heirs or studying himself, the knowledge left behind by previous generations was indispensable.
This was an extremely complicated task.
As the greatest city in the world, although Okhema did not value knowledge as much as the Grove of Epiphany, almost every scholar would stop here during their travels after graduation.
Different ideas collided here, countless kinds of knowledge gathered here, and there was even a saying, “If someone is willing to spend their whole life on it, they could directly organize the entire history of Amphoreus from Okhema alone!” It might be an exaggeration, but there was no doubt that even during Amphoreus’ golden age, Okhema was still one of the cities with the largest collections of books, second only to Eduria, the City of Books that worshiped Cerces, and the Grove of Epiphany.
The work was led by Hyacine, Castorice, and Cyrene together with a group of Chimeras.
Normally, work like this should be entrusted to scholars, who would then direct ordinary people to do the sorting.
Unfortunately, although Okhema was peaceful, it was not stable.
There were many people from Kremnos living in the city.
They answered directly to Mydei and were trustworthy.
Unfortunately, the Kremnoan people’s dictionary only contained HKS.
Forget classifying books after reading them.
Among the Kremnoan people, being able to understand book titles already counted as a high level of education.
As for ordinary citizens, Amos had never considered using them.
Besides not wanting to disturb his younger self’s daily life, Khaslana’s reason for bringing them to Okhema at this time was also partly to bring in reinforcements.
Although Okhema was currently peaceful, it was not stable.
Mydei, whom Khaslana and the Kremnoan people had pushed into power, was locked in fierce conflict with the Senate.
It was easy to imagine that the Purifiers, whom the Senate had always treated as a trump card, were now trying everything they could to find Mydei’s weaknesses.
These “reinforcements” were naturally within the scope of their investigation.
Amos looked at the three girls swimming through the sea of books in the literal sense, then looked at the slightly dimmer “sunlight” outside.
He wrote a note, summoned Little Ica with a wave of his hand, and had it deliver the message to the attendant waiting outside.
As soon as Little Ica saw the words “dinner” written on the note, it rushed out without hesitation.
It let out two toot sounds, realized the attendant couldn’t understand, and then came back to carry the note in its mouth.
After that, Amos called out to the girls, “Do you have any plans tonight?” Castorice, who was closest to him, answered without thinking, “If Lord Amos needs anything, I can help.” ‘Hmm?!’ Amos’s eyes lit up, but when he saw Cyrene smiling and turning around, he quickly returned to his calm expression.
Hyacine chuckled.
“Cassie, what you just said sounds very misleading~” “Huh?” Castorice turned her head blankly.
After all, she was already over a thousand years old.
After being stunned for a moment, she understood what Hyacine meant and blushed.
“N-no…
that’s not what I meant…” Amos wanted to join in, but seeing Cyrene simply smiling and moving closer without saying a word, he immediately remembered the serious matter.
“If none of you have plans, stay here tonight.
I’ve already asked people to bring dinner and bedding.” Hyacine nodded.
“Staying over is no problem, but…
are these books really so urgent to organize?” “Not really.
It’s just that Okhema won’t be very peaceful tonight.
Staying together is safer.” One sentence broke the awkward atmosphere, and all three girls looked surprised.
“How could that be?
Okhema is the safest place in the world…” “I think there was a citizens’ assembly today.
Lord Mydei and Lord Phainon both attended.” “They seem to get along very well♩” “That’s right.
Even though they’ve only known each other for a few days…” Talking about this topic seemed to raise Castorice’s spirits a little, but halfway through, she realized something was off.
Lines like these that sounded like teasing should have come from Amos.
Why was Cyrene saying them instead…
Cyrene blinked at the other two girls, then looked at Amos.
“You were about to say this just now, right~” The line he had intended to use to change the topic had been stolen by Cyrene, so Amos smiled helplessly.
“That’s right.
I did it.” Castorice and Hyacine looked at each other, both seeing confusion in the other’s eyes.
“You two shouldn’t whisper in public~” Amos had intended to tell them these things anyway.
He just found the girls cute and wanted to tease them a little.
So he picked up a scroll he had prepared long ago.
“You should all have read this book.” The three girls focused their eyes.
The scroll was titled Examination of the “Citizens’ Assembly”.
It was a research report written by a professor of the Grove.
It recorded in detail the evolution and operating mechanisms of Okhema’s citizens’ assembly and was very important for understanding Okhema’s political system.
But to Amos’s surprise, the three girls looked at each other blankly.
None of them had read it.
Amos almost lost his composure.
“This book is one of the few useful works from the Grove.
It’s concise and easy to understand, suitable for readers of all ages, and perfect for newcomers to Okhema.
Yet none of you have read it.” Hyacine scratched her head.
“I only arrived in Okhema not long ago.
I don’t even know the roads well yet.
I really haven’t had time to read.” Castorice’s answer was the simplest, “This kind of book is too specialized.
Bookstores don’t like stocking it, so…
it’s hard to find…” Cyrene sighed helplessly, “We’ve only been in Okhema for a few days.
We don’t even know the roads yet.
How would we have time to read?” “And is this the kind of thing a cute girl should read?” ‘Why not?
Shouldn’t arguing about politics be everyone’s instinct?’ Seeing that none of them were interested in the scroll, Amos could only put it away with disappointment.
After thinking for a moment, he decided to use another method to help the girls understand what he was doing.
He shouted toward the depths of the sea of books, “Dinner time!” In an instant, the earth shook and mountains trembled.
Countless little Chimeras rushed out from every corner of the sea of books, and the room was filled with chirps and meows.
“Boss, look at me!” “If the food isn’t good, I’m taking tomorrow off!” “Everyone’s so good at eating~” Amos clapped his hands and quieted the little Chimeras.
“Tonight’s dinner comes in three flavors.
Sweet, salty, and Kiki Snacks.
Which one do you want?” “Sweet!” “Salty!” “Of course Kiki Snacks!” The Chimeras enthusiastically voiced their opinions.
Although the three girls had never attended a citizens’ assembly, they roughly guessed that Amos was recreating one.
“Alright, alright, I understand everyone’s requests.
But the kitchen can only provide one flavor tonight, so let’s reach an agreement and decide by voting.” “Whichever option gets more than two-thirds of the votes will become tonight’s dinner.” Hyacine raised an eyebrow.
“If they choose Kiki Snacks, are you really going to feed them Kiki Snacks as their meal?!” Obviously, among the three choices, Kiki Snacks tasted the best but were also the least nutritious, basically junk food.
Amos did not answer and merely smiled.
Soon, the first round of voting ended.
None of the choices had gained more than two-thirds.
Before Amos announced the result, the little Chimeras had already started arguing noisily.
Some were trying to persuade their companions.
Some were canvassing votes for their preferred flavor.
Some had even figured out coalition politics on their own.
‘Support my flavor today, and I’ll support yours tomorrow!’ If Phainon, attending the citizens’ assembly for the first time, had been standing here today, he would definitely have cried out, “It’s exactly the same as the voting scene at the citizens’ assembly!” When Amos announced the second round, a result finally appeared.
Among the two factions representing the orthodox flavors, many beasts swore that sweet and salty could never coexist, so they accepted the Kiki Snacks faction’s invitation.
The Kiki Snacks faction, which had the fewest supporters under Hyacine’s smiling gaze, unexpectedly, yet somehow not unexpectedly, won the flavor war.
Cyrene found the scene amusing, Hyacine sighed helplessly, and Castorice felt that she had already understood what Amos meant.
“I understand, Lord Amos.
You mean that the citizens’ assembly is not a sufficiently reliable system.” “The people voting all have their own positions.
Sometimes they change their positions because of pressure or temptation, and sometimes they oppose things simply for the sake of opposing.” “Perhaps they also know that doing so benefits no one, but…
they feel that both sides losing is better than letting their opponent win alone.” Amos still did not answer and maintained his expression of “think about it some more.” Castorice could not help but look at the other two, only to find that they were looking at her as well.
Clearly, they had thought the same thing.
Could there be some deeper meaning behind the citizens’ assembly?
A series of toot sounds came from the hallway as a Little Ica drove in, followed by attendants carrying food.
Hyacine stepped forward to thank them.
She first placed the meals for the other three on the table, then accepted the oversized meal prepared specially for Little Ica.
Only when she talked with her colleagues from the Garden of Life did she discover that Amos had not changed the little Chimeras’ meals at all.
They were still receiving the multi-flavored nutrition set most suitable for their growth.
“Why is it a nutrition set?
Weren’t we getting Kiki Snacks?” “Too many flavors.
I’m taking leave.” “The boss is really good at handing out food~” The little Chimeras immediately started making noise again, but Amos remained unmoved.
He simply went out for a short walk.
When he returned with fruit juice, the little Chimeras had already divided up the food and found places to eat enthusiastically.
Amos sat back down and smiled.
“So, do you understand the citizens’ assembly now?” Castorice nodded.