Gron led the way at the front, while the firefly chief followed behind with his clanspeople.
Long-standing habits from life in the wilderness kept the fireflies carefully surveying their surroundings as they walked.
Fireflies were unsuited to combat by nature, but to survive, they had developed keen senses and exceptional memories.
This, too, was a kind of wisdom born of weakness. After all, surviving in the wilderness required a few special tricks of your own.
"The rock walls are thick and covered in moss. This cave doesn't look freshly excavated. It must have existed for a long time."
"There are five warriors surrounding us, equipped with simple armor and crude weapons. Their bearing makes it clear they've seen combat. They aren't new recruits."
"That massive stone gate back there doesn't look like an existing fixture. The workmanship is rough. It was made four or five days ago at most."
Bit by bit, the fireflies gathered useful information and factored it into their assessments.
But the more they noticed, the more worried they became.
Five warriors might not sound impressive, but in the wilderness, that was already a considerable force.
Quite apart from how long it took for an insect to grow old enough to become a warrior, the process itself was fraught with danger.
Then there was the equipment they needed, along with the constant full bellies required to maintain their fighting strength. None of that was easy.
Especially when it came to the fellow at the very front.
Even among the surrounding warriors, he stood taller and larger. The weapon in his hand shone with a peculiar luster and was made of a material they had never seen.
There was also something about him they couldn't quite put into words.
The longer they looked, the more incredible it seemed. Their keen senses gradually revealed just how unusual the scene before them was.
"This isn't simply a difference in strength or size. There's something..."
"There's something extraordinary about this insect that sets him apart from all of us. Is it because of the god he mentioned?"
Intense curiosity stirred within them.
Almost instinctively, that faint impression alone drove the firefly chief to reactivate his light-producing organs, which had grown desperately weak.
Yet Gron showed no reaction whatsoever to the firefly chief's scrutiny.
After leading them a little farther and making sure every insect had entered, he turned and walked back to the gate.
"What is he doing?" the firefly chief asked curiously. "There aren't any insects left outside."
Before all the insects' eyes, Gron once again pressed his hands into the grooves in the massive stone gate.
Then, with that terrifying brute strength, he actually dragged the gate back into place.
Without so much as a heavy breath, Gron returned to the head of the group and continued leading the way.
Only as they walked did the fireflies realize that those two enormous stones had been set there not by some mechanism, but through sheer brute force.
"Impossible! How could an insect possibly do something like that?"
Some of the fireflies at the rear couldn't believe their eyes. To these weathered insects, who had spent their lives struggling on the edge of death, the sight was unimaginable.
This was something they had never seen before.
Once they realized that, quite a few fireflies quickly took out the notebooks they carried and began sketching the scene or recording it in writing.
This was how fireflies had always lived, using their wisdom to preserve what mattered so those who came after them could survive more easily.
Interestingly, the firefly chief was both the fastest to finish and the most thorough in his records.
That probably had a great deal to do with the rules by which fireflies chose their chiefs.
"..."
Only after finishing his notes did the firefly chief remember the situation he was in. He certainly couldn't push open that massive stone gate.
Now that their escape route was gone, if the other side attacked, he would be nothing more than prey to be hunted.
Realizing resistance was hopeless, the firefly chief abandoned the thought entirely and turned his attention to their surroundings.
Fireflies were naturally more curious than other insects, as evidenced by their willingness to carry less food just to bring more collected documents.
The firefly chief had always believed that, even if his clan wasn't the strongest, it was certainly the most knowledgeable.
Yet what they saw next surpassed anything they could have imagined.
After passing through the tunnel, the group arrived before a settlement still under construction.
Orderly streets and tents surrounded them, and quite a few houses were being built.
Fields planted with edible crops lined both sides of the passage, while at its end stood an enormous temple blazing with fire.
Clans had no concept of a home. After all, they spent their entire lives wandering.
Yet at that moment, the firefly chief began to gain a faint understanding of that concept.
He finally realized that he seemed to have arrived somewhere extraordinary.
The closer they drew to the central temple, the greater their astonishment became.
Finally, they reached an entrance guarded by two clan warriors, and the doors opened.
At the far end of the room stood a flaming divine statue, enshrined atop a high altar.
And there, floating in midair, was the god's incarnation.
"Heavens, what is that?"
"Flawless! Utterly perfect!"
Just like those before him, the firefly chief was instantly overwhelmed by the god's perfect form.
Tears streamed down his face.
This was the overwhelming pressure of a higher order of life. From the very first instant he saw him, no words were needed for him to understand how great a being stood before him.
Several quick-witted fireflies immediately took out their finest, largest pelts or pieces of cloth, along with their most precious pigments, and began painting on the spot.
Those fireflies who had no red or orange pigments wailed in despair.
A few even planned to injure themselves and use their blood as paint. Fortunately, their nearby clanspeople restrained them before they could succeed.
Isn't this a bit much? The corner of Lin Jin's mouth twitched, and he felt intensely awkward. I'm not a god of dreams, am I? How does looking straight at me somehow corrupt their minds?
"Ahem... I am the Sunfire God. Welcome, exiles from afar."
"I already know of your request. Are you seeking a place to settle? Are you seeking a home where you need never worry about food or clothing?"
"You need worry no longer. Offer me your faith, and you shall receive my protection. Hunger and despair shall never come near you again."
Lin Jin radiated his light, doing everything he could to show his goodwill.
And in the fireflies' eyes, that bearing truly seemed like truth itself.
"Then, your answer is..."
"I, Aemon, chief of my clan, pledge allegiance to the Sunfire God and offer my faith! From this day forth, I shall be his believer!"
"We all pledge allegiance to the Sunfire God and offer our faith! From this day forth, we shall be his believers!"
Damn! You knelt way too fast! I spent ages thinking up those lines, and I didn't get to use a single one!
Before he could finish his speech, the fireflies all dropped to their knees, and Lin Jin nearly choked.
He had still underestimated his own appeal.
Thinking about it carefully, insects approaching flames was almost an instinct, much like their attraction to light.
Seen that way, he, a great ball of fire, seemed to have been rather attractive to insects from the start.
Hold it in. Keep holding it in. Hold it in harder.
Lin Jin finally managed to suppress the urge to make a snarky remark. He was a god now, and a god couldn't behave so improperly.
"Very good. Then today, I shall formally bestow a new name upon you."
"Hmm... the Glow Clan. As my new believers, I bestow upon you the name Glow Clan."
"It symbolizes faint points of light in the darkness, walking through the dark yet still holding hope. You shall be torches that carry the light!"
"The Glow Clan!"
"The Glow Clan!"
"The Glow Clan!"
The fireflies-or rather, the Glow Clan now.
The Glow Clan erupted into unprecedented cheers, their vision of a beautiful future filling them with excitement.
Lin Jin nodded as well. The better he treated them now, the more faith points he could harvest in the future.
"Then, Glow Clan, I formally declare you citizens of Ashen City."
Before you continue