Murphy's question concerned a history far too distant.
The Garden of Eden in the Golden Age had been established around five hundred years before the Era. He was asking about events from before the Golden Age, when the Garden's settlers had yet to arrive in this world. It was a truly ancient age.
And yet the Sanghe people, natives of this world, had actually recorded a few things about that time.
Of course, as the world's indigenous inhabitants, they had not yet developed a written language in that ancient age. Their so-called records were therefore ancient quipu—knotted cords used for record-keeping. Rather than proper history, they were more like legends and myths about a distant age, and most were incomplete.
But in the Pharaoh's account, Murphy had noticed a detail that struck him as quite intriguing.
After tonight's reception banquet had ended perfectly at midnight, Murphy returned to his temporary residence with the slightly tipsy Triss and Adele, who had spent the whole evening watching the dancers. He turned to Triss and said:
"The Pharaoh told me that one of his ancestors had recorded a poem praising the 'first leader.' It described a courageous queen leading the first Sanghe people out of an oasis and into the sea of sand.
"Even he can't confirm whether the poem is genuine, but as far as I know, there have never been any female Pharaohs of the Sanghe Empire, right?"
"Mm, that's right. All eleven Pharaohs, including Thutmose II, were men."
Even when drunk, the great historian Triss could give precise answers to the questions behind historical mysteries. She went on at length:
"As far as I know, the Sanghe people faced a difficult situation in the early days of the Era. You've seen the terrain in the Land of Origin yourself. Crossing