Kaslana's Way of Survival

"Are you trying to get revenge for what happened during the day?!"

Then, the golden-haired adult male standing in the shadowy part of the stage began to recite.

The man wore a purple suit with a white shirt underneath. Though he stood in the shadows, his tone remained serious and earnest.

"After all, this was her first act of robbing the rich to help the poor. Though she had her companions' aid, the Saintess was still recognized by the wicked noble due to her own words and actions."

"She couldn't afford to be recognized like this. She had to think of some way to bluff her way through. The moment the noble spoke, such a thought arose in the Saintess's heart."

"Poor soul, have you fallen into the net of love?"

The moment the golden-haired man's voice fell, the white-haired girl on stage pressed the hand holding the bag to her chest, while her other hand reached forward, fingers spread wide.

"Y-You... what nonsense are you spouting!"

The red-haired noble girl looked as though she hadn't expected the white-haired girl to say such a thing, taking an exaggerated step back.

"'Would that Kaslana girl really say something like that?' Such a doubt unconsciously rose in the noble's heart."

"Must I groan in agony and speak her name for you?"

Seeming to realize that her rambling act was working, the white-haired girl took a step toward the noble, closing the distance. At the same time, the noble girl, as if frightened, took another step back.

Kaino Kaslana, sitting below the stage, watched the play and let out a soft sigh. He extended his right hand and gave a slight wave. The spotlight floating directly above the stage shifted slightly, recentering on the white-haired girl.

"It was time to leave. Realizing that the noble's suspicions about her identity had been thoroughly shaken, the Saintess decided to take her leave."

Watching the interaction between the two girls on stage, the golden-haired man couldn't help but smile.

"Then, I'll be going now." The white-haired girl gave a slight nod, a smile appearing on her face. "And you, milady, shall we meet again when the next love letter's notice is delivered to you?"

After speaking, the girl gave a slight bow and walked off to the side.

The spotlight above shifted again.

"Guards, what are you doing?" The red-haired noble girl gritted her teeth and swung her right hand forward forcefully. "After her! Catch her!"

There were still only two people on stage, but the white-haired girl began moving erratically, as if she were in danger.

"The Saintess was in peril... A few soldiers wouldn't threaten her, of course, but revealing too much force might expose the identity she'd worked so hard to conceal."

"Fortunately, the Saintess had a tool prepared by her best friend."

Suddenly, the white-haired girl reached her left hand into a pocket in front of her, pulled out a handful of air as if she'd grabbed something, and then threw it forcefully to the ground.

"Ugh... cough, cough! What is this?!"

The noble girl suddenly began coughing violently, as if struck by some lethal attack, and fell to her knees, hands on the floor.

"Then, farewell, milady."

The white-haired girl smiled faintly, turned, and walked toward the back of the stage.

Just as the girl fully disappeared into the darkness, the spotlight suddenly shone on the noble girl kneeling on the floor.

"Hehehe." The noble girl, who had been kneeling, suddenly laughed as she stood up, then brushed off her clothes. "Good thing she didn't discover the secret underground."

Kaino snapped his fingers. The spotlight above dimmed, then dissolved into particles and vanished. At the same time, a curtain suddenly appeared in the air and slowly descended, covering the stage.

Clap, clap, clap.

The boy sitting next to Kaino, around the same age, and a little girl of five or six began clapping enthusiastically.

Kaino silently joined in, unable to suppress a yawn.

Today was Christmas, so the children at the orphanage had specially prepared their favorite play: the third act of "Saintess Kallen." The story had been told to them by the orphanage's priest, said to be adapted from real events.

The protagonist, Saintess Kallen, was played by the orphanage's oldest child, Theresa. The noble girl was played by another child, Mikhail. The narrator was the orphanage's manager, the priest.

Though it didn't show on the outside, Theresa was a girl nearly 18 years old. The other girl, Mikhail, was 14—the same age as Kaino.

The orphanage had no electricity, so the spotlight needed to set the atmosphere for the play was provided by Kaino.

To be honest, the two of them performed very well, and Kaino really liked the story. But when the same play had been performed several times, to the point where Kaino could recite it with his eyes closed, that was another matter entirely.

Not to mention that Kaino couldn't fully enjoy the play—he had to constantly focus on controlling the spotlight above.

It felt like watching a Houmu comic he'd seen many times while having to solve math problems in his head the whole time.

Naturally, Kaino didn't have much interest in this play.

"Kaino, Karel, light the candles on the dining table and tidy it up. We're about to have dinner." The golden-haired priest, who had been narrating, pulled back the curtain and looked at Kaino and the others sitting in their chairs, still clapping. "Also, Kaino, you can remove the curtain now."

"Ah, okay."

Kaino responded, then waved his hand. The curtain dissipated into nothing, just like the spotlight had.

"Come on, Karel. Time to work."

He patted the boy beside him, who had stopped clapping and wore a face that screamed "I'm lazy, I don't want to work." Kaino stretched and got up, heading toward the dining table.

"Sigh, fine, fine."

Karel stood up from his chair with a dejected look, then crouched down to look at the little girl still clapping beside him. "Tania, stay right here, okay? Don't fall off the chair the moment we leave."

The little girl named Tania stopped clapping at his words, raised her hands, and waved them around randomly while nodding.

"Hey, hey, Kaino, what do you think Theresa and the others made for dinner tonight?"

After getting up, Karel jogged a couple of steps to catch up with Kaino and hooked an arm around his neck, asking with a grin on his face.

"How could I guess what she wants to make?" Kaino rolled his eyes. "Like, even though I know she likes bitter melon, could you have predicted she'd serve bitter melon turkey at Christmas last year?"

"Don't mention bitter melon... I thought you two were from the same family? Father said you're both from that Kaslana family, just like Saintess Kallen." Karel tilted his head as he spoke. "I figured you'd have some common interests or something."

"Have you ever heard that Saintess Kallen liked bitter melon?"

"How would I know? And stop talking about bitter melon!" Karel shook his head, a pained expression on his face.

"Don't worry, this time Mikhail and Theresa are preparing dinner together... Anyway, there definitely won't be any bitter melon turkey or bitter melon cake or anything like that." Kaino shrugged in explanation.

Chapter 8: A Similar Yet Different World

Kaino had been at the orphanage for nearly five years now.

After being hit by Schicksal's pursuers back then and losing consciousness, Kaino had woken up here.

At first, Kaino was genuinely astonished by the existence of this orphanage. It wasn't just the different point in time—many familiar yet unfamiliar people had counterparts here, making the two places seem like similar yet different worlds.

For example, Theresa, who shared the same face, name, and appearance as his Big Auntie. Though her looks and name matched, her personality seemed completely opposite. And then there was the orphanage director, Otto, and so on.

Of course, despite the extreme similarities, these people's experiences were somewhat different from those he knew.

The most obvious was Father Otto, the orphanage director. Although he came from the Apocalypse family of the Schicksal Church, just like the Schicksal Overseer from Kaino's world, historically at this point in time, the other Otto should already have become the Overseer.

Yet here, he was running an orphanage in this remote, frozen wasteland.

Then there was the play "Saintess Kallen" that they had just performed. In Schicksal's textbooks, Saintess Kallen had stolen an important item from the Schicksal organization alone, been captured, and was eventually executed by hanging.

But in "Saintess Kallen," although Kallen also stole that so-called important item from Schicksal, she wasn't alone—she had her companion's help. At the same time, Kallen wasn't recaptured; instead, she died in that companion's company, eroded by Honkai energy.

And the most, most, most obvious thing was that if his Big Auntie hadn't lied to him, she should already be forty... well, now forty-five, but in any case, she absolutely shouldn't exist in the year 1494.

Yet the girl named Theresa at this orphanage not only existed but was already eighteen, in the prime of her youth.

Even if she was still just as short.

"Hey, Kaino, are you secretly badmouthing me in your head?"

Theresa, who had just set the food on the table, suddenly lifted her head to glare at Kaino, her tone unfriendly.

"No, no, how could I possibly do that?" Kaino quickly covered up.

Even after five years, when facing her, he still subconsciously treated her like his Big Auntie, putting himself at a psychological disadvantage.

"Hmph, better not be." Theresa snorted twice, then stood in front of the dining table with her arms crossed, proudly raising her chin to look at everyone, smiling in a way that didn't suit an eighteen-year-old girl at all.

But that wasn't a big problem—after all, some people were still like that even at forty and were still beloved.

"Hehe, how's the dinner we prepared this time?"

"Mm... to be fair, it's really good. Totally unexpected." Kaino looked at the table—stewed fish, beet soup, potato beef, fruit salad, toast, and bitter melon pie—and couldn't help feeling a bit shocked.

The abundance was part of what surprised Kaino, but the bigger reason was that the only abnormal dish was the bitter melon pie... So, as long as someone was watching, you could actually make normal food for a holiday?

Still, Kaino had to admit that although Theresa probably had Kaslana blood too, aside from her habit of adding bitter melon to food, her cooking skills were better than his.

Little Tania, sitting on a chair nearby, was waving her arms and drooling as she stared at the food on the table.

"Wow, Theresa, did you really make all this?" Karel swallowed hard, staring at the table in disbelief. "Did you just watch the whole time and let Mikhail do everything?"

"Oh, except for that pile of bitter melon pies."

"Hey, what do you mean by that?!" Theresa's smug expression vanished instantly as her eyes went wide, glaring at Karel.

"Don't forget, I'm the one in charge of your meals every day! And if you don't believe me, you... you can ask Mikhail."

"That's right, Theresa made all this food herself," Mikhail nodded apologetically from the side. "I don't know much about cooking, so I just watched and stopped her from putting bitter melon into the pot."

Kaino and Karel silently stared at Theresa.

"Wh-what's with the staring!" Being stared at for so long seemed to make Theresa a little embarrassed. "Bitter melon is healthy! Eating more bitter melon is good for your growth!"

"Like... growing to under one and a half meters as an adult?"

Unable to hold back, Kaino blurted out the jab.

"Hey! Kaino, you—"

"Alright, alright, stop picking on little Theresa. Everyone, let's eat." Father urged them with a gentle smile. "The food won't taste as good once it gets cold."

"Yes." The children, including Kaino, all responded, ending their antics as they sat down to start eating.

"Wah~ Father, you're picking on me too." Theresa turned and looked up at the priest standing beside her, her face as bitter as if she hadn't eaten bitter melon for a week. "You called me little."

"Alright, 'little Theresa' is a term of endearment." Facing Theresa's tearful complaint, the priest couldn't help but smile, then crouched down and patted her head like he was comforting a child. "What, don't you like it, little Theresa?"

"N-No, not at all." Theresa shook her head sheepishly, then hopped onto her own chair. "I-I'll go eat first."

The priest smiled and took his seat at the table as well.

The meal passed in silence.

"By the way, Kaino, come to my room after you finish cleaning up the dishes." Having cleared his own tableware, the priest suddenly looked up at Kaino. "I have something to discuss with you."

Kaino, who was tidying his own utensils, exchanged a glance with Karel beside him, raised an eyebrow, and then nodded to the priest.

"Understood, Father."

The priest nodded in acknowledgment, then carried his dishes and headed toward the kitchen first.

"Hey hey, do you know what Father wants with you?"

Seeing the priest walk off with his dishes, Karel nudged Kaino with his elbow and asked in a low voice.

"Did you mess something up?"

"No. If you haven't done anything wrong, how could I have?"

Kaino shook his head, heading toward the kitchen as he replied quietly, "If I had to guess, it's probably about my return home—there might be some progress."

Karel froze at that, swallowed hard, then followed Kaino.

"You're leaving the orphanage?"

"I don't know, I'm just guessing. After all, there's nothing else that would need Father to talk to me alone."

Kaino sounded rather troubled as well.