Sumeru Akademiya, the next day....
THUD!
Someone placed a stack of books in front of the desk where Lumine was sitting. The blonde girl gasped. Her attention shifted to the guy standing in front of her.
"Kazami?" Lumine said.
"Class is over. Other students have left and you're still here. Whatcha thinking about?" The indigo-haired man said to Lumine.
"Huh? Since when is class over?" Lumine asked, surprised. She glanced around the classroom. The tables, once full of students, now seated only her, Kazami, and the lecturer packing away his supplies.
Kazami snorted at Lumine's reaction. He then said, "Take these books back to the library. Afterwards, don't forget to eat and drink to get back on track."
"Couldn't you return those instead?"
"You are the one who borrowed these books."
Lumine was about to reply, but Kazami had already said, "Hurry and return them. I gotta meet with Mrs. Nahida."
"Okay," said Lumine, her voice laced with resentment.
****
"The dean's favorite student...," Lumine grumbled upon arriving at the House of Daena.
Kazami was Lumine's classmate from Inazuma. The boy was actually smart, but unfortunately lazy. Every time the lecturer gave her a group assignment, Lumine hoped she wouldn't be paired with him. Sadly, things didn't always go like she wants. She often worked together with Kazami because Lumine was an active student in class.
"Just put the books in order on the shelf. Don't make anyone else do it." Lumine continued to grumble while shelving book after book.
"Why did Mrs. Nahida favor him so much?!" Lumine unconsciously raised her voice.
Other students in the library immediately said "Shhh!" to remind Lumine.
A grim smile touched Lumine's lips as she bowed her head, a feeling of embarrassment radiating from her. She then moved to a different shelf in order to look for the books that she required.
She headed to the western part of the library, where the books from Amurta and Spantamad's darshan were located. The girl wanted to look for books about the environment, since the project she was working on was about the relationship between humans and the surrounding nature.
Lumine looked through numerous shelves. Because this wasn't her area of expertise, she couldn't locate the books.
Where are environment books located? Lumine started to feel annoyed. The books in this area were thick, and the titles were odd.
As Lumine continued past countless shelves, she noticed a man choosing books. Lumine halted, sensing familiarity with the man.
The man had tan skin and short white hair. His eyes had orange irises. He had a black piercing in his left ear and a black choker around his neck. He wore a denim jacket. Underneath the jacket, he wore a gray t-shirt. He donned black trousers and black and white sneakers.
Unmistakably, he was-
"Looking for a book, Miss?" The man's words startled Lumine as he turned to face her.
"Umm... I'm looking for a book about... environment," Lumine replied while scratching her scalp that wasn't itchy.
"This is Spantamad's area. If you want to look for that topic, you can go to Amurta's."
"I searched all over but couldn't find it...."
"You can search the book database on the computer, right?"
Lumine gasped upon hearing that.
"You didn't know?" The man asked. One of his eyebrows raised at Lumine's response.
Lumine gave a quick nod. "Thank you very much, Mr... umm… what's your name?"
"Cyno."
"Thanks a lot, Mr. Cyno!" Lumine said again, then quickly went to the computer in the corner of the House of Daena.
How embarrassing! Lumine said inwardly as she typed in the book she was looking for.
It didn't take long before Lumine found the book she was looking for. She rushed to the shelf that held the book, picked it up and opened it to see the list of contents, then took it with her when she found the right one. There were four books that Lumine borrowed.
After successfully borrowing the books, Lumine left the House of Daena. Outside, she encountered Cyno once more, with a bag slung across his shoulders. This time, she saw him talking to a man with black hair with a green ombre on his bangs. His hair that reached his neck was tied up.
That's... Professor Tighnari? Lumine observed the young-looking man. Last week, she had attended a seminar given by that botanical professor in order to complete the references for her project.
What was Cyno's connection to the professor from Amurta's darshan?
Cyno and Tighnari ended their conversation, with Cyno leaving Tighnari afterward. Lumine trailed behind the white-haired man.
Cyno went to the back door leading to the Akademiya garden. He went to a gazebo and took a seat.
Lumine was hiding in the bushes, watching Cyno. He pulled a book from his backpack and began to read. Cyno flipped to the next page in under five minutes.
"How long are you gonna hide?"
Lumine's heart skipped a beat. Cyno's voice pointed to where she was hiding.
Cyno shut the book he was reading. "Come on out, or I'll force you."
Lumine slowly emerged from where she was hiding.
"Sorry..." Lumine bent her head, not daring to look at Cyno.
"Sit down." Suddenly, Cyno gave an order.
"Huh?" Lumine's head shot up.
"Sit here." Cyno showed a seat inside the gazebo opposite him.
Lumine went into the gazebo and sat, just like Cyno said.
"Why have you been following me?" Cyno asked, straight to the point.
"It's… nothing."
"Hm?"
"It's nothing." Lumine repeated her words.
"What do you mean by 'nothing'?"
Lumine fell silent.
"Be honest."
"When did you realize I was following you?"
Cyno briefly looked at Lumine. Lumine figured the man was irritated by her question.
"Since I finished talking to Tighnari." Cyno said.
I was walking softly to avoid being heard, yet he still found me. How? Lumine gulped. The person in front of her was clearly not an ordinary one.
"I... I just want to make sure...."
"Make sure of what?"
"I just want to make sure that I'm meeting the right person."
Cyno folded his arms across his chest.
"Last night... I almost died if you didn't help me...."
"Almost died from what?"
"A black and purple monster... what's it called? Uh, I didn't know. I bumped into a strange creature."
"What's it got to do with me?"
"I saw you from afar!"
"I had never met you before."
"Yeah. However, I saw that person from afar once he defeated the monster. You and that person shared the same features."
"Oh?"
"I don't know you, but I often saw you at Akademiya. That's why I was surprised when you became Lup—"
Before Lumine could utter another word, the man sitting opposite her quickly covered her mouth with his hand, preventing her from finishing her sentence.
Cyno placed his index finger on his lips, signaling Lumine. "Don't say that name out loud anywhere," Cyno whispered.
Lumine nodded gently.
Cyno took his hand away from Lumine. He surveyed the gazebo before nodding to the girl. "You can continue. Just keep your voice down."
"So... last night, it was really you, Mr. Cyno?"
Cyno nodded. "I rescued you from the Abyss attack."
"Ab...y...ss?"
"That monster appears at night through a portal. It can take many forms. The one you encountered last night was the Humanoid Abyss type. It has a human-like form and is able to disguise itself as a regular human to find prey by blending in."
"Ah...." A mix of annoyance and regret washed over Lumine as she recalled the monster disguised as a beggar.
"Where did those monsters come from?"
"They originated from the void, the underground world. Close to Khaenri'ah."
"Khaenri'ah? Wasn't that country extinct 700 years ago?"
"Some say the monsters are cursed residents of Khaenri'ah. However, some also say they originated from the Earth's core."
"Huh, are you sure?" As far as Lumine knew, from her geography lessons back in school, the earth's core was extremely hot. If that's true, the monster's skin color should be more like volcanic magma, not purplish-black.
"No one knows for sure. What is certain is that the monsters reached the earth's surface in order to expand their power, so that this planet belongs to them completely. Thus, there is a Hero who is tasked with protecting the earth so that the Abyss's goal could be prevented."
So the form I saw last night is called Hero. "I didn't think that in this Land of Scholars, there would be such a creature."
"You're from Mondstadt?"
"How did you know that?"
"Everyone from Mondstadt says so."
"Well... because there have never been any cases of Abyss monsters. We live our daily lives normally."
"How lucky." Cyno stood up. "Now that you live in Sumeru, you need to be aware of your surroundings. Don't stay out late at night if you don't want to encounter creatures like that."
"I understand. Thank you for telling me, Mister Cyno."
"Just call me Cyno. I'm still 27 years old."
"Okay, Cyno."
"I have to go now. I still haven't finished my thesis."
"Ah... Okay." Lumine stood up as well. I'll also be working on my assignment. Bye, Cyno."
Lumine turned around. Before she could take a step, Cyno said, "What's your name?"
The blonde girl faced Cyno again. "I'm... Lumine. Nice to meet you," Lumine said with a smile.
"Okay, Lumine. See you next time." Cyno picked up his backpack and walked away from the gazebo.
Lumine, witnessing Cyno's erratic behavior, stood speechless, her jaw slack with surprise.
What the heck? Asking my name and then… left?