Alhaitham looked at Nahida, who was watching him closely. After a long silence, he finally said, "I'll investigate this thoroughly."
"Thank you, Alhaitham," Nahida said sincerely.
Alhaitham shook his head. "There's no need to thank me."
Lora clapped her hands. "Alright, you two, get ready to head out! When you come back, I'll make sure to reward you properly!"
Hearing that, Cyno and Alhaitham exchanged a glance. Both saw the same helplessness in each other's eyes. Perhaps this was one of the rare times they actually agreed.
After the two left, Lora, Nahida, Lumine, and Paimon wandered around Aaru Village together.
Walking beside them, Lumine asked, "Did King Deshret really exist? The one who ruled the desert people long ago?"
Nahida nodded. "I've never met King Deshret, but I can confirm that in Sumeru's past, both King Deshret and the Flower God did exist. And the relationship between the three gods may not have been as hostile as the legends say."
"Huh? Not hostile?" Paimon looked at her in surprise. "Then what was their relationship actually like?"
Nahida shook her head and sighed. "I don't know..."
"Do you know, Lora?" Lumine turned to her.
Lora, who had been looking around, blinked when called and turned back. "Uh... well..."
"I know a little, but not much. I'm not from Sumeru, after all."
"Then what exactly was their relationship like?" Paimon asked eagerly. Even Nahida looked at Lora with anticipation.
After thinking for a moment, Lora said, "How should I put it... You can think of the three gods of Sumeru as allies. Very close allies, in fact. As for anything beyond that, I haven't looked into it deeply, so I can't say much more."
It was a bit vague, but there was no helping it.
Paimon and Lumine exchanged glances.
"Who would've thought King Deshret and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata were allies? If that's true, then the hostility between his followers and the people of the rainforest is just too..."
Paimon trailed off, unable to find the right word.
"Too dramatic," Lumine finished.
"Exactly! Way too dramatic!" Paimon nodded.
"The world is a grand opera. What's wrong with a little drama?" Lora said with a smile. "Maybe one day, I'll put on an even more dramatic performance for you."
"Huh? Lora, that sounded kind of strange," Paimon said, eyeing her suspiciously.
Lora shook her head. "Just a passing thought."
Perhaps because the topic felt a bit heavy, they didn't stay outside for long and soon returned indoors. Uncle Anpu had arranged lodging for them near the entrance of Aaru Village. The place had good lighting and a great location.
After several days of investigation by Cyno and Alhaitham, they finally uncovered what had happened to the missing mad scholars.
Everyone gathered again at Candace's place for a discussion.
Once the two finished reporting their findings, the room fell silent.
"So someone has been using those mad scholars, extracting their brains to make Canned Knowledge? That's horrifying..." Dehya shuddered, her face filled with unease.
"I can't even imagine it... that's terrifying..." Paimon covered her eyes and hid behind Lumine.
Nahida clenched her fists. "I thought the Akademiya still had at least some bottom line. I didn't expect them to go this far!"
"The sages of the Akademiya stopped seeing themselves as the same kind of beings as the desert people long ago. No. They don't even see the people of Sumeru as equals anymore. To them, everyone is just something beneath them." Candace sat calmly to the side as she spoke, her tone steady, without visible anger.
"Unfortunately, when we reached their base, it was already abandoned. We didn't catch anyone," Alhaitham said with a sigh. "It seems they anticipated our investigation and evacuated in advance."
"You mean someone leaked our information to them?" Dehya reacted immediately, staring at Alhaitham. "Was it those two you interrogated before?"
"No, it shouldn't be them. They don't have that kind of capability," Cyno said, shaking his head.
"I think we've overlooked something," Alhaitham suddenly said. He looked at Cyno. "Cyno, have you forgotten your position? General Mahamatra."
Everyone turned to look at Cyno. He said nothing, only frowned as he looked back at Alhaitham.
Alhaitham continued, "As the Akademiya's General Mahamatra, you're considered extremely dangerous by the sages. I once came across a notebook that recorded everything about you. Your behavior patterns, relationships, habits. It covered every aspect.
That notebook was meant to be uploaded into the Akasha. In other words, the sages used the Akasha's computational power to predict your actions."
"So my movements were anticipated, which gave them enough time to escape after I arrived in the desert?" Cyno frowned deeply, his expression turning grave. "They actually used the Akasha for something like this."
"If you want, I can help you delete the data about you from the Akasha," Lora suddenly said. "Of course, it won't be free."
"You can alter the contents of the Akasha? How is that possible?" Cyno was taken aback by Lora's words. "The Akasha was created by Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. Even the Sages can only input knowledge into it during the Akasha Pulses."
Alhaitham added, "Don't underestimate Miss Lora. Her and Miss Nahida's origins are far more extraordinary than you can imagine."
"…I'm not interested in that. And there's no need to delete anything," Cyno said, shaking his head, showing no curiosity about their identities.
"You really don't care?" Lora asked.
Cyno shook his head. "I don't. And besides, I already know where they went."
"Really?" Paimon looked at him in surprise.
Cyno nodded. "Of course."