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***

Lumine put Paimon away so she could eat in peace and as soon as she raised her knife, ready to dig in, Yomite and Hu Tao appeared in her field of vision.

Lumine eyed him with dismay because she just knew that their appearance meant her lunch will be interrupted, and her stomach has been growling since three days ago when Paimon made her scale the Hilichurl towers in order to search for a ‘treasure’.

“Hello, is this seat taken?” Yomite asked while gazing at Lumine and…the precious thing stuffing her cheeks. It was simply adorable.

“If I say yes, will you go away?” Lumine responded, her hunger making her a bit more cranky and blunt than she wanted to sound. In reality, she wanted to ask him a couple of questions and hoped that he would stay.

Perhaps this was also why Paimon was usually increasingly more annoying in the hours right before their meals. If that was the case, then Lumine needed to seriously look into what kind of snacks she should buy for her with her remaining Mora to keep Paimon’s chattering to a minimum.

“I would, but unfortunately, It seems like you have somewhat of a hostile relationship towards me and I want to know why. We met half an hour ago for the first time. What’s up with the enmity ?” Yomite sat down across from her.

Before Lumine could even blink, Hu Tao snatched a moon pie from Paimon’s platter, looking smug and entirely unrepentant about the fact that she just stole her food.

“Hey!” Paimon screeched indignantly and stamped her feet in mid-air. “Get your filthy hands off my moon pies! We worked hard for that!”

Lumine nodded in agreement, frowning at Hu Tao as she shamelessly took a large bite of her moon pie. “Wow, to think it tasted this good! I should really buy it again in the future!” Hu Tao hummed as she took another bite.

“Hey! Don’t act as if you bought it! This is stealing! Stop it!” Paimon screamed as she was holding onto Hu Tao’s hat while Hu Tao ate her food.

“This is good, give me another one!”

Hu Tao ignored her jab and reached for her plate. Luckily, Paimon rushed forward and slapped her hand away.

Hu Tao held her hands up in a placating gesture.

“Well, it was a lovely meeting with you guys. I regret that I have matters I must attend to, so I must be off. Till next time,” she winked at Yomite, and then, with a dramatic swish of her ponytails, she departed, but not with empty hands.

“Good riddance!” Paimon huffed, “Wait…” She looked back at the table but her platter was nowhere to be seen, “My moon pies! Wait, you thief! Paimon will eat you once she catches you!” Paimon flew after the running Hu Tao, swearing she will get her revenge, and finally, it was quiet. Only Lumine and Yomite were left alone.

“So…now that we are finally alone, let’s talk,” Yomite said as he crossed his legs. This was, of course, his plan all along.

To get rid of the obstacles named Cutie Paimon and Hyperactive Hu Tao. He wanted to have a quick discussion with the person in front of him. With Lumine.

He was 95% sure of who she was. Ever since the beginning when she showed up, saying she needed help to find her lost brother, immediately reminded him of the characters from the story the goddess Sia mentioned to him and coincidences like that are rare.

But there was still this 5% chance he was wrong but for the most part, he was likely to be right.

If it was confirmed, then she was without a doubt, one of the twins, and the main character of this story. Now, how much should he tell her, or keep a secret from her? Should he even tell her anything at all? It wasn’t his job, nor did he accept some kind of mission from the goddess. Sia only mentioned he could interfere, to help her, but she didn’t say it as an order, or something that he needed to do.

The choice was up to him and him alone.

Lumine didn’t say anything, choosing to turn back to her meal instead of answering his question.

“Look at me when I am talking to you,” He raised his voice a bit. This was important and he didn’t feel like playing around.

Lumine sighed and looked at the flying figure of her friend disappearing while chasing Hu Tao behind his back. “I assume you’ve planned this out. You made a perfect place for this, so you probably already know what’s coming. Good then, I will begin. Where is my brother? Have you seen him?”

Yomite shook his head and replied, “I have no idea how your brother looks, nor where he is, nor his name.”

“Whats your relationship to the unknown god…where do I find her?” She inquired with a deadly gaze.

“Nothing, no idea who she is nor where she is. Now, let me be the one who asks, why are you hostile to me? I did nothing wrong.”

“…That is…” Lumine bit her lip.

He was right. She was acting hostile to him ever since she met him more than an hour ago. Normal people would usually ignore when someone was talking bad about them or didn’t like them, but he just went in and immediately asked her what was wrong. Why was she acting like that towards him?

And…

She didn’t know.

She didn’t know the answer to that. Seeing his ability, triggered something inside of her mind, the tragedy of separation from her brother, her only family.

His ability looked like a cube, while the unknown god, who separated her from her sibling, also had an ability related to a cube, but the color wasn’t even remotely similar, the same could be said about the abilities.

So at this point, she finally came to a realization that she was just being rude. All this time.

“I am sorry…I simply don’t know what to do anymore…” Lumine pursued her lips, her expression struggled to stay in her neutral, expressionless state, but her brow and the corners of her lips were faintly straining in a way she would not normally permit. She looked down and let out a strained voice from her throat, “It’s too much on me, I am hungry, I have no money, I have to take care of Paimon as well because she is a dear friend and that’s just the way I am, I can’t abandon her despite my difficulties…I can’t find my brother, I don’t know how to cook, I don’t have a place to stay at…I am simply hopeless…” A wry smile, a truly wry smile appeared on her face. She couldn’t hold up her head.

Lumine started slowly opening up her heart, to a stranger she basically just met, not knowing whether he cared, whether he would laugh, or just leave her there for good. She needed something. She needed to talk to someone, about the things she was going through. About the difficulties. She didn’t want to bother Paimon… Her heart was screaming, desperately begging for some sort of support. A pillar that can help her, so that she wouldn’t completely break down.

Yomite could feel the vortex of uncertainty, bewilderment pain and hesitation swirling inside of her. He didn’t want to admit it, but the various things she just said to him, with that pitiful expression, were greatly, powerfully, fiercely shaking his heart.

No human was emotionless, even if you tried to hide it, there is still at least one thing, one certain thing that makes you feel sad or makes you show some sort of emotions.

So what should he do now?