The camera came loaded with enough film to get a hundred snaps. I thought I’d teach her a little bit about camera angles and lighting, so for that, Lumine and I first decided to picture some animals around the city.

Lumine kept glancing at me. My mustache and my beret made me look great, but out of place. In any case, my face did not suit a mustache—or a beret.

Walking around the academy grounds dressed like someone straight out of a play or a circus earned me a bunch of snickers from the distance.

Some of the students I had met at Jeremy’s party noticed me and waved our way as well.

Lumine and I found ourselves near the fountains at the central plaza of the academy. It was still early in the day and very few people were around. Wait.

It was early in the day. Weren’t classes still on?

“Are you playing truant?” I asked Lumine.

The girl turned her head.

“That’s not good. You should attend your classes.”

Lumine pointed at me. She seemed to be saying ‘I am with a professor, that’s not truancy.’

It was a gotcha moment. I didn’t say anything more. Truancy with a professor… well played.

Pigeons and sparrows held regular meetings near the fountains. When people were not around, the bird parliament assembled atop the lavish statuette of the sun-god’s first priestess and discussed their future.

It was quite an important historical moment for all birds. Their economy above the skies of Glorenstein all depended on this.

“That’s why, we should picture that to commemorate the moment.”

Lumine meekly tilted her head. Her idea of pictures was much different than mine.

Of course, both of us knew that ‘stopping time’ was semantics. But that did not take away the novelty of the perspective.

Lumine looked at me. My Lumine-meter told me that she was ‘what’s the point?’

“We are here to figure the point out. Of course, I also want you to take better pictures.”

Lumine, who had the camera in her hands, shrugged and went to the right. She pointed the camera at the bird-senate, and by extension, pointed it at the sun.

The more light exposed to the film, the better; but if you pointed the camera directly at the sun, it would just leave a bad glare on the film.

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“Haah… not like this.”

I guided Lumine to fix the camera position. Not directly at the sun, not directly behind it either. We avoided the pitfalls of glare and backlight by making the picture not too bright and not too dark.

Next, I told her to lean and hold the camera low. I didn’t know how it would look on a legacy camera like this one, but lowered angles made things look bigger.

Lumine snapped the picture.

We both stood together and looked at the camera.

Until it was processed, there was no telling how good it turned out. In the end, we both sighed and decided to get some other pictures.

We were about to head out, when it happened.

A person in crutches walked towards us. The rugged man with a stubble and thick mustache was someone I knew.

“Professor Ethan? Your makeover is great.”

I smiled at his words. This person, an ex-knight, was Professor Barnum. He taught a practical class on real-life battle experience and was also the person who was hit by the curse of the demiurges.

“Thank you!” I grinned. “You look better now, professor.”

“My back still hurts, but I am much better. It would have been too late if it wasn’t for you, professor.”

I shook my head.

“That is not the case. I only expressed my doubts about what I had seen in the front line.”

Barnum nodded.

“It must have been God's will. We avoided a messy situation. I still don’t know what memories Demiurge tried to erase, but at least it is nothing important.”

Barnum chuckled at his words. He looked like a friendly neighborhood man, the image was only solidified in my head since he was older than my father, the current count.

We all reasoned that the curse must have erased the demiurge’s true identity.

We were immensely lucky that no cursed one regained their memories. If they remembered and talked about the presence of the other demiurges, I would have had to step in.

Barnum thought the air had become too stuffy and turned to the girl next to me, but his smile disappeared as soon as he saw Lumine.

“S-student Lumine…” Barnum muttered. “How surprising. I didn’t expect to see you with the professor.”

It was a confusing reaction.

“Is it surprising?” I asked.

“It is. You two are the very opposite of each other.”

I glanced at Lumine from the side of my eyes. She didn’t seem to mind the professor’s comment. I didn’t want him to inadvertently say something that could be considered rude.

“We are not. We are best friends, right Lumine?”

Lumine flinched.

“Friends? You truly make friends with everyone, Professor Ethan!”

I noticed it. The soft, momentary flinch. It wasn’t at Barnum’s words, but mine.

I chuckled at Barnum’s words and continued talking with him, but my eyes were still on the girl. I cut the conversation short and Professor Barnum left for his way.

When he was out of earshot, I turned to Lumine.

“Are you all—”

“—Professor…” Lumine interrupted me before I could speak. “I should go to class.”

She was perfectly fine not going but changed her mind now.

Lumine turned away and started walking off without saying another word.

“You can skip it if you want. I’ll take the blame—” I was cut off once again. Lumine firmly shook her head.

“No,” she said. “Please stay in your lane.”

And with those words, she walked off.

Wow, ok. That was a little rude.

It was said that the mouth was the door that brought disasters. This was the first time I had experienced the disastrous words of Lumine that had alienated her from the class in mere days.

Were it anyone else, they wouldn’t have noticed.

Were it anytime sooner, I wouldn’t have noticed either.

I had spent far too many hours with Lumine to not be able to tell her expression, so I knew. This was the most expressive I had seen her.

I told myself to have a chat with her the next time I saw her…

But Lumine did not come out of her room. Not at dawn to water the flowerbeds, nor in the morning to attend class.

Lumine had completely shut herself inside her room.