After the Abyss Herald departed, everyone remained silent, carefully surveying their surroundings once more.
They returned to the village chief's house in silence.
Half an hour passed.
No one spoke.
At last, Lumine scratched her head and finally sensed just how strange the atmosphere had become. She spoke softly,
"Um… do you all have questions? I can explain, if you want."
Dehya and the others exchanged glances, their emotions growing increasingly complicated.
Questions…
There were simply too many.
The inexhaustible water Lumine had produced earlier, the strange cubic blocks.
So-called enchanted weapons.
Why the Abyss Order addressed Lumine as Princess.
What kind of relationship she had with the Abyss Order.
As for why Cyno had appeared here in the first place,
that almost felt like the least important mystery now.
After a moment, Alhaitham took a deep breath and spoke carefully,
"My apologies. I just… didn't expect Miss Lumine to have ties to the Abyss Order."
Lumine blinked and smiled brightly.
"You don't need to test me. I do have a connection with the Abyss Order, but I'm not part of the Abyss!"
Alhaitham paused, then let out a bitter smile.
"Sorry. The Abyss is involved in matters far too large. We can't afford to treat it lightly."
Lumine waved her hand dismissively.
"Honestly, I only found out about my connection to the Abyss not long ago myself. I'm pretty confused too."
Alhaitham nodded, but remained cautious, pondering aloud,
"That Abyss Herald said you were… a princess?"
Lumine curled her lips.
"That's just something they made up because they needed me. Reality is scary like that."
After a brief pause, she added in explanation,
"My brother is the Prince of the Abyss Order, the actual ruler of the Abyss Order right now."
"So them calling me a princess isn't that strange."
"When I first woke up, I traveled all across Teyvat looking for him. Later, when I reached Liyue, I found out that he'd been deliberately avoiding me."
"He kept talking about some 'final war' and other nonsense I couldn't understand."
"Anyway, once I knew he was alive, I stopped chasing after him."
"I don't really know much about the Abyss either. This time, they probably came out only because they needed something from me."
As she spoke, Lumine glanced at Cyno with a trace of guilt.
"Sorry. I dragged you into this."
Cyno shook his head slightly and said nothing.
After resting for a while, his complexion had improved somewhat, though the strain of overusing his Vision still weighed heavily on his body. For the time being, intense combat was clearly out of the question.
Alhaitham rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"So… your brother is the ruler of the Abyss Order. Their plans for war, are they aimed at Heavenly Principles as well?"
Lumine pressed her lips together, then gave a careful answer.
"Not just Heavenly Principles."
"Morax once told me that he and my brother signed a contract. One of the terms was that Morax would ensure I could continue traveling freely across Teyvat."
"I used to think that since they could sign a contract, they weren't truly enemies."
"But when they met again later, it was obvious they were at odds."
"The Abyss Order might not only want to overthrow Heavenly Principles, they may also have plans involving the Seven Nations."
"I don't know exactly what he wants to do. Just… be careful."
Alhaitham's heart grew heavier.
Sumeru's internal problems weren't even resolved yet. Now there was Heavenly Principles, and on top of that, the Abyss Order's schemes.
What a mess.
Even someone as intelligent as Alhaitham felt a headache coming on.
"Don't worry," Lumine said firmly, patting her chest.
"I won't let that guy do whatever he wants."
"The priority right now is for you to resolve Sumeru's problems as quickly as possible and join the alliance."
"Once that happens, any Abyss plan won't be worth fearing."
"Liyue joined the earliest, which is why they're the strongest now. Just in terms of god-level combat power alone, they have four or five."
"They also command nearly ten thousand enhanced Millelith soldiers, each comparable to a Vision bearer."
"That's why I think the Abyss Order doesn't dare stir trouble in Liyue. They waited until I left before rushing out to find me."
"After all, Liyue now has the strength to wipe out the entire Abyss Order outright."
Lumine wasn't exaggerating in the slightest.
If anything, she was being conservative.
She hadn't even mentioned the dragon cavalry or Liyue's air forces.
As for god-level power,
even that was an understatement.
Zhongli and Azhdaha alone were top-tier gods.
If Azhdaha stood on solid ground, even Zhongli would struggle against him.
Guizhong wasn't specialized for combat, but she still counted as a high-level god.
Mountain Shaper and Madame Ping, staff in hand, were undeniably god-tier.
Xiao wasn't far behind either.
And that didn't even include the hot-weapon divisions.
Two thousand soldiers firing in coordinated formation were enough that even Zhongli would choose to avoid them.
Saying Liyue possessed the power to single-handedly destroy the Abyss Order was no joke.
Alhaitham fell silent, head lowered in thought.
At first, he had only believed Lumine was well connected to the Four Nations and had come to help out of goodwill.
He never imagined her background would be this overwhelming.
To think she even had ties to the Abyss Order…
That complicated things immensely.
The Abyss Order didn't play by rules.
If Lumine truly was the Abyss Prince's sister, then even if the Abyss wouldn't openly assist her,
Could her brother really watch her come to harm?
If Lumine were endangered in Sumeru, Aether would almost certainly intervene immediately.
And when the Abyss Order acted, they didn't care who stood in their way.
To them, everyone in Teyvat, aside from the Abyss itself, and perhaps the Fatui's Jester, was an enemy.
At that point, destruction would come indiscriminately.
Liyue might have confidence in handling the Abyss Order.
Sumeru did not.
Unconsciously, Alhaitham began to regret inviting Lumine here.
"…Enough," he sighed softly.
"We'll deal with things one at a time."
"The most urgent task right now… is resolving the Akademiya problem first."
Although a mess of chaotic troubles had collided all at once, once Alhaitham sorted through his thoughts, he understood that the situation was not without a way forward.
If the Akademiya issue could be resolved and Nahida welcomed back, then, given Nahida's relationship with Liyue, Sumeru would clearly be able to join the alliance as well.
At that point, the threat posed by the Abyss might even be set aside.
They would have only one true enemy left: Heavenly Principles.
And by joining the alliance, they might also gain access to those strange and extraordinary artifacts.
This was an opportunity for Sumeru to grow stronger.
After thinking it through, Alhaitham pushed those considerations to the back of his mind and turned to Cyno, speaking softly,
"Since you're here, that means you've already been exposed. The Akademiya has likely begun issuing a warrant for your arrest."
Cyno nodded and replied calmly,
"After delivering the letter to Collei, I returned to the Akademiya and noticed that the Thirty Corps had significantly increased their deployment around my usual range of activity."
"I suspected Azar had taken notice of me, so I left Sumeru City immediately."
Paimon scratched her cheek, curiosity written all over her face.
"You figured that out just from that? You're so smart!"
Cyno glanced at Paimon and said quietly,
"At first it was only suspicion. Later, when I left Sumeru City, I noticed the Thirty Corps following and attempting to capture me. They even set up defenses around teleport waypoints."
"..."
Paimon fell silent.
Alhaitham added,
"You didn't go to Gandharva Ville, did you?"
Cyno shook his head and answered bluntly,
"I didn't want to bring trouble to Tighnari. Since you said you would head for the desert if you were pursued, I came straight here."
For some reason, Lumine suddenly felt as though she had just shipped a couple.
He didn't want to trouble Tighnari, but had no issue troubling Alhaitham?
That was true love right there!
So in this so-called academic trio, Alhaitham was actually the odd one out!
Alhaitham, however, didn't seem bothered by Cyno's straightforward honesty.
He had always found the relationship between Cyno and Tighnari rather peculiar anyway.
Especially when the two of them had once stood together, quietly smiling in relief as they watched Collei recover.
A three-person movie, with only him standing alone.
Still, Alhaitham didn't mind.
Watching Cyno and Tighnari's live performance was far more entertaining than any film.
"Before leaving, I also quietly visited the Homayani household,"
Cyno continued.
"I met Dunyarzad. Her Eleazar has already been cured. I asked her to help monitor developments in Sumeru City."
Dehya immediately slammed her hand on the table, anger flaring.
"Dunyarzad just recovered! And Eleazar being cured is already shocking enough for Sumeru!"
"What if she gets exposed?"
It was obvious that Dehya truly cared about Dunyarzad.
Lumine instantly shifted her gaze, eyes gleaming with excitement.
This pair…
Also totally ship-worthy!
Just imagining it made Lumine feel energized.
Strangely enough, Lumine had never been particularly interested in shipping Ryen with Ganyu and the others.
Instead, she was inexplicably enthusiastic about rare and unusual pairings.
She shipped Ei and Makoto as sisters.
She shipped Guizhong and Madame Ping.
Back when Guizhong had just been revived and wrapped an arm around Ping, declaring, "Ping'er is my wife," Lumine had nearly fainted from excitement.
At the time, she had even thought that if Zhongli truly harbored romantic feelings for Guizhong, she would personally scratch his face.
Perhaps…
This was why Lumine and Cloud Retainer got along so strangely well.
"Your concern is unnecessary, in my view,"
Alhaitham said lightly.
"Dunyarzad's condition in the late stages of Eleazar was known throughout Sumeru."
"She rarely leaves the house, and her family wouldn't allow her to. She also understands how important the resolution of Eleazar truly is."
"With Nilou and Dehya involved, she won't drag any of you into danger."
"A sickly, delicate noblewoman isn't worth the Akademiya's attention."
"She's actually the most suitable candidate for internal coordination."
Dehya pursed her lips. Dunyarzad's letter had indeed said as much.
Still, she couldn't quite relax.
"She's been ill since childhood and never got to experience the outside world."
"What if she can't bear the loneliness, and this guy assigns her work, and she goes out on her own and gets noticed?"
Alhaitham gave Dehya a calm glance.
"Do you not trust her?"
"Of course I trust her! It's just that, "
"Then trust her."
Alhaitham didn't allow Dehya to continue. She huffed softly and said no more.
The auntie smile on Lumine's face grew even wider.
Nilou and Dunyarzad…
That pairing also worked!
Two gentle girls, one who loved to dance, the other who loved watching her dance,
What a beautiful, emotionally rich drama!
Lumine clasped her face, eyes sparkling.
Candace poked her curiously.
"Lumine… what's wrong with you?"
Lumine gazed dreamily ahead, her face full of bliss.
"I'm healed…"
"???"