Although the atmosphere between the two in the illustration is somewhat tense with swords drawn, and Cyno has a stern face—looking less aloof than Xiao but more serious.
Paired with the title of General Mahamatra, Cyno's appearance at this moment is indeed frightening, but people like Furina and Hu Tao are not panicked at all.
Because when hosting the martial arts tournament before, Cyno had come, and they already knew him and what kind of person he really is.
In the current situation, there's no need to think—Cyno is definitely the one who will be won over; he's purely one of us.
But everyone has to admit that when Cyno is in work mode, he is indeed calm and handsome, with agile and elegant movements without any excess.
Throughout, he maintains a cold silence, not saying a word—completely unlike his usual self.
Just thinking about Cyno's usual state makes everyone unable to hold back laughter; his jokes aren't that funny, but the way he tells cold jokes with a straight face is hilarious.
To be fair, if Cyno wasn't cold-tempered, and he couldn't hold back laughter while telling his own cold jokes, it would make everyone feel too embarrassed.
Fortunately, when he tells cold jokes, he mostly has a serious, expressionless face, so everyone doesn't feel embarrassed—only sometimes when they don't get the punchline, his explanations become awkward.
[Alhaitham: "If I remember correctly, in the past at the Akademiya, you and I didn't have much interaction. A rare meeting— is it worth getting so excited, Your Excellency the 'General Mahamatra'?"]
Now even readers outside Sumeru know Cyno's identity—the General Mahamatra!
It sounds very impressive and strong; does he count as Sumeru's number one warrior?
Whether Cyno is or not, I don't know, but Paimon definitely isn't—readers notice that at some point, Paimon has already shrunk behind the Traveler.
Mainly because her actions are very eye-catching: head hidden behind the Traveler, but her butt sticking out—where did this Chopper come from?
Not to mention embarrassing Paimon—in the story, Alhaitham and Cyno haven't met much, but in reality, the two often see each other.
Now the two are reading the book together; they just got off work together and came to join everyone to read.
[Cyno replies: "Surviving that spear by luck doesn't mean you can escape 'judgment,' Alhaitham."]
"Judgment"! Furina perks up with interest—you just mentioned judgment, right?
What's the charge? Witnesses? Testimony? Evidence? Hurry and bring them up! This god will pronounce sentence for you!
This time, the story has too many hidden plot lines; Furina originally couldn't understand it, even couldn't figure out Cyno's reason for attacking Alhaitham, but now she gets it all.
Isn't it just wanting to judge Alhaitham, but Alhaitham refuses to accept it, so they duel? This, I'm familiar with.
So that's it—the General Mahamatra also handles the work of duel proxy.
Furina recalls Clorinde and suddenly thinks, is everyone who does this job so cold in expression?
In the book, it's written that Cyno says he didn't use full strength; otherwise, the Traveler couldn't have stopped him.
This actually confuses the readers a bit—not confused about whether the Traveler's combat power is enough, mainly confused by Cyno's words.
When exactly did the Traveler stop you? Besides the first strike, the Traveler was just watching from the side.
Everyone hasn't forgotten that long series of manga panels—it was you and Alhaitham fighting intensely, right? What exactly did the Traveler block? Traveler, why were you just watching?
Though Cyno indeed didn't go all out; he didn't even use elemental power.
[Cyno continues: "You seem to trust Alhaitham a lot, even stepping in to block me for him..."]
["If it were me, I absolutely wouldn't stand on his side. I wouldn't believe a single word he says."]
This sentence somehow has a bit of ex-vibes, like warning the next one after breaking up with Alhaitham, but Cyno absolutely doesn't mean that.
He just discovered Alhaitham's "petty theft"—during the recent exchange, Cyno sensed divine knowledge capsules on him.
Privately possessing divine knowledge capsules is enough for Cyno to carry out "judgment."
As for Cyno saying he wouldn't believe—it's toward the "hunting target"; it would be the same for anyone.
Cyno calls out Alhaitham for hiding things and demands he hand over the divine knowledge capsules; otherwise, he'll take action.
The illustration gives a close-up of Alhaitham, from a top-down perspective—because it's overhead, Alhaitham's hair covers his eyes, making his emotions unreadable.
Another reason emotions are unreadable is that this angle prominently shows Alhaitham's chest muscles.
Though most readers don't pay attention to this, there are always those readers skilled at "discovering beauty" with peculiar focus points.
So big... no, I mean, really fighting?
If Alhaitham doesn't hand over the divine knowledge capsules, wouldn't they really have to fight?
Alhaitham seems to be pondering; readers feel a bit tense—if talks break down, would they really fight? Fighting here would be a pure waste of combat power, right?
Fortunately, in the end, Alhaitham takes out the divine knowledge capsules—it seems no fight is needed.
But this surprises Lumine; Alhaitham actually carrying divine knowledge capsules is something the Traveler never expected.
Back when Alhaitham had sticky fingers, it was done very professionally—professional enough that the Matra responsible for checking didn't discover it, let alone Lumine.
[Traveler: "It seems you did lie to us after all."]
Lightly, this is lying; heavily, it's betrayal!
Lumine: I once suffered betrayal, first from the scholar—he was too smart; I couldn't outplay him.
Though in the story, Lumine is questioning Alhaitham about lying to her, Alhaitham ignores her.
Alhaitham directly starts debating with Cyno, saying that the other seems to be a "missing" Matra as well.
Alhaitham's meaning is: if the goal is to capture him, then at the Akademiya, couldn't he use authority and manpower to "judge" him?
If so, why not act then, but wait until now to come alone to the desert?
[Traveler, puzzled: "Could it be a mission arranged by the sages?"]
Alhaitham still ignores the Traveler—one can only say he doesn't want to communicate with idiots, or he'd want to die.
The cute Lumine is confused at this moment, clearly not understanding the implication in Alhaitham's words.
People like Ayato and Yae Miko could immediately see the subtext.
Alhaitham is saying that Cyno is actually also a "fugitive" now; he has lost his identity as General Mahamatra—otherwise, he wouldn't have come alone.
For veteran cunning readers, this is the kind of plot they love to see—this is what a back-and-forth confrontation is!
Mutual attacks, countering with a check! King's move!
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice Lines · Cyno: About Cold Jokes
"What cold jokes? I only tell jokes; let me tell you one..."