Cyno said, "This plan must have been set in motion before we arrived at Aaru Village, since Divine Knowledge Capsules haven't just recently become popular."
"But as soon as we got close to Aaru Village, those people seemed to foresee our arrival and evacuated ahead of time. Why is that?"
Paimon spread her hands. "Yeah, why is that?"
Candace said, "Usually, that kind of situation points to an inside informant."
"One of us might be feeding information to the other side."
Lumine looked around. Alhaitham suddenly spoke up. "It seems none of you have realized the problem yet."
Lumine looked at Alhaitham. "Do you have any idea?"
Alhaitham turned his gaze to Cyno. "Cyno. The reason they could predict our movements is because you're here."
[Cyno: I am definitely not a spy.]
[Paimon: Yeah, there's no way Cyno is a spy.]
[Lumine: I completely trust Cyno. I can feel his sense of justice.]
[Furina: Justice. I like that word.]
[Ningguang: Cyno's actions have always been driven by his ideals. That's why he can't possibly be a spy.]
[Dehya: I think so too.]
Paimon was taken aback. "Wait, what do you mean by that?"
Cyno replied coldly, "Watch your words, or I won't be polite."
Alhaitham said, "I'm just making a reasonable deduction. And I have my reasons."
Candace interjected, "You're saying Cyno is the informant? That's interesting. I thought you were the most suspicious one, since you've been acting alone all this time."
Alhaitham lowered his head. "That's a fair point. But on the way back from the hospital, I remembered something—Cyno is different from all of us."
Cyno said coldly, "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Alhaitham's tone suddenly grew sharp. "Do you still remember who you are, Cyno? The General Mahamatra."
Cyno's pupils contracted.
Alhaitham continued, "You are a Mahamatra of the Akademiya. You've always had access to extra information—who did what, what stains they have. Only with that knowledge can you take action."
"In other words, the Akademiya has always been feeding you information through special channels. Given their methods, wouldn't they also keep tabs on you?"
[Paimon: So the Akademiya has special surveillance on Cyno.]
[Lumine: That would make perfect sense.]
[Paimon: I thought it might be something like tracking through the Akasha, since Alhaitham never takes his off.]
[Alhaitham: Perhaps that's part of it. But as far as I know, the Akasha doesn't have a tracking function.]
[Nahida: To track a location through the Akasha, I believe only I would be capable of that, since my consciousness can enter any Akasha wearer's body.]
[Paimon: So the problem lies with Cyno.]
Everyone fell into thought.
Alhaitham continued, "If you're going to keep a vicious wolf, you naturally need to know how not to get bitten by it."
Cyno understood Alhaitham's implication. "Are you saying the Akademiya is monitoring my movements?"
Alhaitham said, "It's not just that. The Akademiya monitors everything in Sumeru. But they might have special methods for you."
"Every so often, there's a Share Day. On that day, the Akademiya inputs information into the Akasha through Divine Knowledge Capsules. Once, I found a thick notebook beside the console. The contents were all about you, Cyno."