Star Rail, Starting as Kiana

"Hmph!"

"If you in the Upper Layer District think you can lecture us about hardship, then I suggest you go see Natasha and get your head checked."

"You think not having enough to eat or wear is the suffering of the Lower District? But in reality, to survive, a simple piece of food in your eyes might buy a few days' worth of heating supplies—or just to survive, it might be traded for something even harder to swallow, enough to keep a family alive for a week."

Bronya didn't argue further. Watching how many people treated the food Kiana gave them as treasure, not eating it but carefully wrapping it up and tucking it away, she finally understood just how dire life was for the people of the Lower District.

"Well, it's not that bad, really. It's just that these pastries are too precious. I want to take them back for the kids at home. Those children were born in this place and have never tasted anything like this."

Originally just a logistics member of the Underworld Fire, seeing Seele speak so harshly, even though Bronya's clothes hinted at her identity, he still wanted to explain—the Lower District wasn't that desperate.

But not explaining was fine; the explanation only made Bronya feel more ashamed.

Especially when she heard more people mocking the Supreme Guardian and the Upper District, Bronya couldn't even muster a rebuttal.

"Alright, we're here."

Seele was the first to reach the Elevator Platform. The vagrants who had been plotting to ambush the miners saw Seele charging with her scythe and dropped their weapons, fleeing in panic.

"What's this?"

Seele picked up a battered robot from the ground, thinking it was one of Svarog's special machines. She was about to destroy it when it spoke.

"You're the 'what'! Your whole family's the 'what'!"

"Looks like it's from the Interastral Peace Corporation. But it can still talk? Pretty good quality."

"Beep. You know the Interastral Peace Corporation? Great.

Self-introduction. I am the Home Finder, Richard, version 0.63. Expert model. Annual luxury edition. Nickname: Chad.

Chapter 27: This Kid's Actually Pretty Interesting

When they realized the robot was damaged and needed repairs, everyone's eyes turned to Kiana.

"Why are you all looking at me? You don't actually think I can fix it, do you?"

"No, just try saying something. And don't you have any suitable tools in your inventory?"

"I do, but..."

Kiana rummaged around and indeed found the Home Temporary Repair Guide for the Home Finder, along with some replacement parts.

But there was a problem now.

"It's broken. The Home Temporary Repair Guide has been updated hundreds of generations by now. Chad is just an early Test Machine Model. The parts don't match."

"So it can't be fixed?"

"Can't be fixed."

Hearing Kiana say that, March 7th lost interest.

"Then toss it. There's a trash can nearby."

"Trash can!"

Seeing Stelle's eyes light up, Kiana couldn't help but complain: "Stelle, don't get so excited every time you see a trash can. Do you really think you'll find rare supplies in there, or maybe repair tools?"

Kiana was about to reach out and grab Stelle to stop her from running off, but March 7th's soft little hand caught hers, fingers interlaced, blocking Kiana's move.

Kiana: ?

Looking into March 7th's eyes, Kiana seemed to guess what was on her mind and couldn't help but twitch her mouth.

"March, you're not going to tell me you actually believe Stelle can find something in that trash can, are you?"

"Mm-hmm."

Seeing March 7th nod, Kiana almost lost it.

And March 7th's explanation was even more absurd.

"As everyone knows, near a venomous snake, there's bound to be an antidote. So near a broken thing, there's bound to be parts. Besides, didn't you say it yourself? Don't trust common sense. I trust you too."

Never mind what kind of 'common sense' that was. Kiana didn't even know how to respond. Trusting her? Did March 7th really think that just because she said it offhand, Stelle would actually find something?

"Found it!"

Kiana watched as Stelle pulled out all sorts of things that shouldn't exist from the trash can, left speechless.

Bronya also looked over at Seele.

Her expression clearly said: "Were you lying to me before? You said resources were scarce and weapons were rare? Then why can a trash can yield perfectly packaged food and all kinds of weapons?"

Seele was curious too. She'd never rummaged through the Lower District's trash cans, but she could swear resources were truly scarce—no one would throw away food or weapons.

But Stelle ignored the food and weapons, just setting them aside. Instead, she grabbed a box and carried it over to the robot.

Inside the box, unsurprisingly, were various parts and the tools needed for repairs. Unfortunately, the part models still didn't match.

Seele had some Underworld Fire members send the found food back to town, while the weapons were given to those unwilling to leave.

After all, though they were called weapons, most were old flintlock guns. At a certain distance, their power and accuracy dropped sharply, but they were decent for self-defense.

"Hey, I feel like we're forgetting something?"

March 7th watched the members start distributing weapons, then looked at her companions. She felt like something was missing but couldn't remember what.

And far away in the Fighting Club, the host raised Dan Heng's right hand and announced loudly to the crowd below.

"Congratulations to our newcomer, Cold-faced Little Azure Dragon, for achieving seventeen consecutive wins. I wonder if he can break the club's win streak record and claim both the Rookie King and Streak King titles."

"Whoa!!!"

Because everyone was armed, any vagrants they spotted along the way who thought about looting or starting a fight—upon seeing Seele leading the group and the rest carrying weapons—chose to flee without a fight.

So the group smoothly rescued all the miners.

After Kiana gave the miners simple bandaging, some of the former miners led the others back, leaving only a few miners and Underworld Fire members behind.

Not long after walking down the road, they found a broken minecart blocking the tracks.

"What now?"

Seele and March Ling Seven tried to shove it aside, but no matter what material the minecart was made of, it was wedged perfectly in place, refusing to budge no matter how hard they pushed.

Seeing this, the Home Finder, Chad, crawled out of Stelle's pocket, ready to prove its worth.

Too bad—the moment it appeared, the problem was already solved.

"Gotta say, spatial abilities are really handy."

Kiana simply used her power to move the minecart aside.

"Beep?"

Chad was stunned. Chad fell silent. Chad crawled back into Stelle's pocket and played dead.

But when they followed the road deep into the mining area and found Oleg, his expression was a bit odd.

"Boss, these people came looking for you. Oh, and Sampo brought them—said they're from outside the planet? Huh? Where's Sampo?"

But when Seele turned around, Sampo had vanished without a trace. He was still with the group at the entrance, and now he was just gone.

"Sampo brought them? That girl over there in the Silver Mane Iron Guard Uniform?"

"She seems to have been tricked into coming. The one I mean is over there."

Seele pointed at Kiana, surrounded by the crowd. March 7th tried to pull Kiana away, but every step she took, the crowd followed. Helpless, March 7th gave up and just stayed with Kiana in the middle of the crowd, forced to soak up everyone's adoration.

"Didn't you say there were four? Where are the other two?"

"One of them got roped by Sampo into the Fighting Club, not here. The other—oh, I see him. Over there."

Seele pointed at a trash can not far away.

Right then, Stelle was rummaging through it for supplies. Feeling like someone was talking about her, she poked her head out of the trash can and looked toward Seele and Oleg.

"That kid's really something..."

Oleg felt like today had been too surreal. First, they found a huge vein of Geomarrow, only to clash with Svarog and the vagrants.

After barely sorting that out, the people Seele brought were all so unique.

"Iron Guard Girl, Seele says you're from the Upper District and never knew what the Lower District was really like. Now that you've seen it, what do you think?"

"The Supreme Guardian must..."

Bronya wanted to defend her mother, but everything along the way—the miners, the Underworld Fire members, even the vagrants—all pointed to one thing: much of their suffering was because of Cocolia.

So Bronya's words died in her throat.

Chapter 28: Seele: You Look Down on My Clothes?

"Forget it, Iron Guard Girl. We'll talk about your business back in town."

"Seele, I want to talk to those people. Introduce me."

Seele pushed through the crowd to Kiana's side, explaining that Oleg wanted to have a proper talk with them.

Since that was exactly why Kiana had come, she didn't refuse.

But once the two sides started talking, Oleg wondered if he'd been too hasty—maybe he should've waited until they got back to town.

He'd worried that being the public face of Underworld Fire might intimidate the outsiders, so he sent Seele off to take Bronya for a walk nearby.

Now it seemed he should've been worried about himself.

"I should've kept Seele here. Why do I feel like she's the Underworld Fire boss and I'm the outsider?"

The moment Oleg's attention wandered, he heard Kiana in front of him ask something.

"Sorry, I spaced out. What did you say?"

"The Stellaron? Sorry, only the City Builders would have access to that. Maybe Svarog knows something. But if what you say is true—that the Stellaron caused all this disaster—it's probably been hundreds of years. I can go back and dig up some old records to help you look into it."

Oleg finished speaking and quickly suggested they all head back to town.

Not for any other reason—every Underworld Fire member and miner was now standing behind Kiana. Even the ones who'd come with him first had moved to her side after hearing her story.

It gave Oleg the strange feeling that he'd been usurped.

Not that Oleg cared about power—he only led Underworld Fire publicly because no one better was available. But seeing his own comrades line up behind someone who'd just arrived still felt weird.

With Oleg's endorsement, they returned to town, and Seele led the group to the Goethe Grand Hotel.

Bronya, now changed into casual clothes, stood beside Seele.

"Miss Seele, thank you for the clothes."

"You sure know how to talk, missy, but drop the honorifics—it sounds weird. That Iron Guard outfit of yours was way too flashy; I just didn't want you causing trouble for us."

Seeing Seele's tsundere expression, Kiana couldn't help but curl her lips.

Sure enough, no matter which world, Seele and Bronya would always be bound by fate.

"But..."

"But what? You think my clothes are dirty?"

"No, no."

Bronya quickly waved her hands, worried Seele might misunderstand. Seeing that the other girl wasn't actually angry, she tentatively voiced her concern.

"It's just... well..."

Bronya's upbringing left her at a loss for how to explain the situation. She racked her brain anxiously, then glanced at her reflection in the restaurant's mirror.

Wearing the same style of outfit as Seele, the two were nearly identical in height and build, so there was no issue with fit.

Thank goodness it was Bronya and Seele from Star Rail—if this were Honkai Impact 3rd, who knows how much padding would be needed to keep things from sagging.

Meanwhile, Kiana had just confirmed their room and was about to head out for a stroll when she noticed Bronya's door was ajar, with no sound coming from inside. Assuming Bronya had left and forgotten to close it, she planned to shut it on her way.

But as she leaned over, she spotted someone inside.

Seeing Bronya's current attire, Kiana didn't hold back her praise, giving a thumbs-up to the sight before her.

"Hot pants with black stockings—awesome!"

Seele caught Kiana's voice too, shifting her gaze from Bronya's face down to her lower half.

Hot pants, black stockings, tall boots.

Tsk. Seele felt that while the same clothes looked sharp on her, on Bronya they were downright alluring.

And Bronya's face flushed bright red.