Tighnari asked very gently, his eyes fixed on Nahida, not missing the slightest change in expression on his face.
Nahida raised his head and met his gaze.
Then he looked at Aether beside him—the golden-haired youth was also looking at him, his eyes gentle, carrying a sense of reassuring kindness.
Nahida was silent for a moment.
Then he spoke, his voice soft, as if he were talking about something very simple: “Sure.”
He looked down at the zaytun peach in his arms, then at the little one on his shoulder who was gnawing on a fruit, the corners of his mouth curving slightly.
“It’s quite simple,” he said.
“I found Amid when he was still an egg and hatched him.”
Tighnari raised an eyebrow slightly.
“The Akademiya saw Amid and discovered he was a creature they had never seen before, so they wanted to capture him for research.”
His tone was very calm, as natural as saying, “The weather is nice today.”
“So I brought him and escaped.”
Amid was gnawing on a zaytun peach, and upon hearing this, his movements paused.
He looked up at Nahida.
Mom’s face had a faint smile, his eyes clear, with no trace of lying to be seen.
Amid silently gave him a thumbs up in his heart.
‘As expected of the God of wisdom, this statement is indeed true.’
He didn’t believe for a second that if he used Teleport in front of Azar, that old guy wouldn’t be interested in him.
He immediately cooperated.
Putting down the zaytun peach, he stiffened his little face, putting on an angry expression, and waved his little claws in the air.
“Bi!
‘Right, right, right!
It’s all the Akademiya’s fault!’
His “I’m very angry” look, paired with his puffed-up cheeks and waving little claws, didn’t look intimidating at all; instead, it was quite cute.
Tighnari looked at him and couldn’t help but chuckle.
But after laughing, his expression became serious again.
The Akademiya…
This explanation fit his impression of the Akademiya very well.
Those scholars would do anything for research.
Capturing an unseen creature for study was certainly something they would do.
The look he cast at Nahida held a bit more sympathy.
This little boy must have suffered a lot, escaping with a newborn cub.
Aether also nodded.
Although he didn’t know much about the Akademiya, he had heard of the obsession with knowledge held by the scholars of Sumeru.
It was not strange for them to do such a thing.
Paimon, however, was different.
After hearing Nahida’s words, his little face immediately flushed red.
“Ahhh!” He flew up, stomping his feet in the air, his little hands clenched tightly.
“These guys are too much!
He got angrier the more he spoke, his little body trembling.
“How could they do this!
Amid is so small!
So cute!
They actually wanted to lock him up for research!”
Amid looked at him, seeing him even more agitated than he was, and was a bit bewildered for a moment.
‘Paimon…
you’re really loyal, a true brother.’
Aether’s expression turned sour.
He looked at Amid—the small green creature was hovering beside Nahida, his antennae swaying, looking every bit like a sentient being.
What was the difference between this and using living people for research?
He frowned.
But soon, he thought of another question.
He looked at Nahida and asked a very natural question: “What about the Dendro Archon?
Does she just let them do this?”
—The air went quiet for a moment.
Nahida didn’t answer immediately.
He lowered his head, his gaze falling on the zaytun peach in his hands, and said nothing.
In those clover-shaped eyes, something flashed across.
Amid sensitively sensed his emotional change.