Collei was too shy to strike up a conversation, and Eula wasn't very comfortable talking to strangers either. But with Amber around, these weren't problems at all. Soon, the three of them were chatting away.
"That girl... who is she?" Collei pointed at Sucrose.
"Ah, you mean Sucrose." Amber waved at Sucrose while calling her name, "Sucrose, come over here!"
Collei looked at Amber with 'admiration.' Amber was truly amazing, effortlessly doing what she herself wouldn't dare to do.
With Amber leading the way, the girls quickly became familiar with each other, while the boys on the other side were also getting along well.
"Hmm, you have good taste." Cyno smiled faintly.
It seemed there were still people who could understand his jokes. After all, despite Tighnari and Faruzan's vast knowledge, they couldn't appreciate such hilarious jokes.
"It's just that Mr. Cyno tells jokes well." Albedo replied flatly.
Tighnari glanced at Albedo, unable to tell from his calm expression whether he was being serious or not.
Faruzan, meanwhile, felt a headache coming on. As a senior scholar of the Haravatat, which specialized in linguistics and philology, she found Cyno's pun-based dad jokes unbearably cringe.
The Haravatat studied language and writing, after all!
Come to think of it, Alhaitham also belonged to the Haravatat, but his usual response to Cyno's jokes was simply to ignore them.
"Is everyone here?" Lumine arrived, having just finished registering.
She was accompanied by Clorinde, who had also signed up and decided to come with her.
Wriothesley had been interested in participating, but since he couldn't leave the prison for long, he naturally couldn't make it.
Unless, of course, he knew Lucian—with Lucian as a 'mode of transportation,' he could've come and gone in a single day.
"Oh, if it isn't the famous Honorary Knight! Come join us and listen to this 'Joke King,' Mr. Cyno. His jokes are hilarious." Kaeya chuckled.
"When Kaeya says something is 'hilarious'..." Lumine turned her gaze toward the dark-skinned 'jock' Kaeya was referring to.
The Sumeru group naturally wanted to get to know the Traveler as well, so introductions were exchanged.
Meanwhile, Mona noticed a problem—where was Klee?
Klee, bored by the incomprehensible jokes, had already run off, heading straight for the beach.
Soon after arriving at the shore, Klee spotted Lucian and the others playing there.
Realizing Klee was missing, Mona used hydromancy to track her down and followed.
"Lucian! You—!" Mona stormed up to Lucian, fuming.
Lucian was puzzled. Why did it seem like she was here to settle a score? Weren't they friends?
With so many girls watching, he didn't want to look like some heartless scoundrel who'd wronged her.
"Why did you trick me into reading that book?!" Mona demanded.
Lucian understood now—she really was here for 'revenge.' He carefully considered his response.
"Ahem, Mona, you're the one in the wrong here. I let you read that book, and because of it, you stayed in Mondstadt and made many friends. Isn't that a good thing?"
"Besides, it was time for you to leave your master's side and forge your own path."
"The reason your master never came looking for you is because she wanted you to walk your own road—to reach the 'destination' she foresaw, or even surpass her."
"So, reading that book was a crucial turning point in your life. If anything, I just helped speed up the process."
"You don't have to thank me, but you certainly shouldn't be blaming me."
Lucian felt no guilt over his words. After all, according to fate, Mona would've read that book sooner or later—he'd just accelerated the inevitable.
By the time he finished, Mona's mouth hung slightly open, her brain working overtime.
Something felt off, but... what he said made sense, right? Right...? Wait, was it...?
"Mmm... I suppose you're right..."
Guizhong covered her mouth, stifling a laugh. Who knew Lucian could talk his way out of things like this?
Furina's brain was also whirring. Was Lucian... conning her? She wasn't sure—better observe further.
"Sorry, Lucian. I misunderstood you." Mona apologized.
"No worries, no worries. Let's drop it. Who else from the Knights came?" Lucian waved his hand, playing the 'magnanimous' role.
He quickly changed the subject, not giving Mona time to think too deeply.
He'd spotted Klee, and he doubted she'd come to Liyue alone.
"Well... I don't know everyone, but they're over there. Want to go?" Mona said.
"Sure, let's go." Lucian nodded. He'd been meaning to meet the Mondstadt crew anyway.
When they arrived where Cyno and the Knights were chatting, Lucian heard Cyno in the middle of another joke.
"I just thought of a new one," Cyno said.
"When the chicks in Sumeru grow up, who should be sent to count them?"
Everyone pondered. Logically, someone good at math, right?
But since this was coming from Cyno, conventional reasoning didn't apply. Maybe the opposite—someone bad at math?
"I'll guess Paimon," Lumine said.
"I don't know why, but I'm mad about this!" Paimon puffed her cheeks.
Cyno shook his head—wrong answer.
"Is it Kaveh?" Faruzan ventured. "Because 'Kaveh' sounds like 'he feeds them' in our language."
The group fell silent. Truly, a Haravatat elder—she'd already cracked Cyno's joke logic.
Cyno shook his head again—still wrong—but gave Faruzan a thumbs-up, signaling she had 'great potential.'
"Charlotte. Because she's a reporter (one who records)." Clorinde deadpanned.
The crowd was stunned. With her cold, expressionless demeanor, how did she get dad jokes?
Come to think of it, Cyno also looked pretty aloof when he wasn't talking. Why were all these 'cold' people so good at puns?
And they all had Electro Visions—Electro's reputation was taking hits left and right.
Cyno shook his head again but gave Clorinde a thumbs-up too.
This trip to Liyue was worth it—so many hidden talents here!
Among the 'cold' people present, Shenhe seemed to be the only one who didn't tell jokes. Oh, and Alhaitham—he might be capable, but he definitely couldn't be bothered.
Kaeya didn't answer. If Cyno were from Mondstadt, he might've said 'Timmy'—since Timmy was always counting pigeons.
With no more guesses, Cyno revealed the answer: "It's Alhaitham."
Alhaitham looked up—what did he have to do with this?
"Because Alhaitham is the Scribe (sounds like 'count-chicks')."
Alhaitham lowered his head—so it wasn't about him.
The group fell silent again. Faruzan clicked her tongue. So it was a job title pun—the depth of language and writing truly was profound.
"Brilliant!" Albedo clapped.
"Huh? Was that brilliant?" Furina blinked, confused.
"Judging by universal rationality, it was indeed good." Lucian nodded, feeling inspired.
"I've got a joke too." The group turned. Though few recognized Lucian as the 'Prophet,' no one minded another conversationalist.
"There's another master!?" Cyno's eyes lit up as he eagerly watched Lucian.
Hu Tao and Navia also stared at Lucian. Both bosses had heard his jokes before and knew he wasn't about to drop anything wholesome.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice • Cyno: About Lucian
"A true master—someone who can rival me in the art of jokes. I wonder how he fares at Genius Invokation TCG..."