At night, beneath a bright full moon, Kiana slowly woke up. "Ouch..." She found her hands bound with thick hemp rope and herself lying on a makeshift bed: a white cloth spread over a pile of straw.
"You were so impulsive. Grandpa Arthur is my martial arts teacher. He's not someone you can take on."
The familiar voice sounded again. Kiana followed it and saw Kallen sitting against the wall, her hands still cuffed in heavy shackles. Her eyes were full of concern. "But don't worry. I've already explained things to Grandpa Arthur. You and I only just met, and you'll be able to leave here first thing tomorrow morning."
Kiana protested indignantly, "I didn't! I was just caught off guard! But... what about you, Sis?"
Seeing that Kiana was still worrying about her at a time like this, Kallen felt a warmth in her heart. She put on a carefree expression. "I'll have to stay here for a while longer. It's fine."
Only then did Kiana realize she still hadn't asked Kallen's name. "Oh, right, Sis, I don't know your name yet. I'm Kiana. What's yours?"
"My name is Kallen, beautiful young lady." Kallen smiled.
Kiana asked curiously, "Kallen, why are you being kept here?"
Kallen gave a bitter smile. "...It's probably because I stole something that belonged to someone else."
For some reason, Kiana was brimming with confidence as she declared, "You stole something?! There's no way someone as kind as you would steal! They must have made a mistake!"
Kallen couldn't bring herself to lie when she saw the innocent look in Kiana's eyes, so in the end, she told her the truth. "No, I really did steal something from someone..."
"I get it! You must have robbed the rich to help the poor, like Robin Hood." Kiana still believed Kallen had a good reason for what she'd done.
Kallen let out a helpless sigh. "It wasn't like that. If I had to explain... it's because if that thing fell into the hands of someone with ulterior motives, it could cause an irreparable catastrophe. All right, it's very late. You should get some rest." With that, Kallen stopped answering Kiana's questions and slowly closed her eyes.
Night had fallen deep. In an alley not far from the dungeon, a naked man covered in wounds hung upside down from a clothesline. If Kiana had been there, she would have recognized him as the man who had dragged Kallen away that morning.
"Damn it, I'm going to kill you bunch of idiots—" Before the man could finish, another heavy punch slammed into his stomach, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
In front of him stood a black-clad figure wearing a black robe just like his own and a Raven Mask.
The black-clad figure held an identity document, comparing the photo on it with the man's swollen, bruised face. "Goodness, forgive my frankness, Mr. Castro, but your looks... have reached a whole new level of ugly. I doubt even Honkai Beasts—well, Exotic Beasts, I suppose—have many with looks as... distinctive as yours."
"You brat! Just wait till I get down, and I'll—Mmph!"
A large piece of cloth was stuffed into Castro's mouth. The black-clad figure patted him with a smile and said amiably, "Mr. Castro, you talk too much. Take a little rest. It's still eight hours until dawn, and I'll borrow your clothes for a while."
"Oh, right. I hear the residents of this neighborhood don't get along very well with Schicksal's enforcers. If you're still alive tomorrow morning, I'll give your clothes back. All right, I'm off!"
The black-robed figure put on the Raven Mask and disappeared into the night.
The next day, just as Kiana was sleeping soundly, a guard's cold voice rang out without warning. "Kiana, your mother is here to take you home."
Kiana sleepily lifted her head. "Huh? Oh, I'll be right out." As she got up, she looked at Kallen reluctantly. "Kallen, what about you...?"
Kallen gave her an understanding smile. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Go see your family."
Kiana hesitated, but the guard roughly shoved her. "Enough talk. Move!"
"Don't push me, jerk!"
As she watched Kiana leave the cell, Kallen's smile gradually faded. A faint sadness once more settled over her face. Nearby, the guard turned toward a corner and drew his sword. "Who's there?"
"Oh? Is that how you treat your master?" A black-robed figure stepped out of the shadows and stared coldly at the guard.
"C-Castro, sir."
"How did you get on with what I told you to do last night?"
"Sir, you didn't tell us to do anything last night..."
"Useless!" The black-clad figure suddenly slapped the guard so hard that he toppled to the ground. "Do you all treat my orders like they're just hot air?"
The black-robed figure grabbed the guard by the collar and hauled him up. "If this happens again, you won't see another sunrise!"
"Yes... Sir, I was wrong." The guard knew that keeping his mouth shut was the best thing to do in this situation.
The black-robed figure snorted, let go of the guard, and looked toward Kallen's cell, nodding. Then he turned and walked out, leaving Kallen staring after him suspiciously. Mr. Castro seems... strange today.
Outside the cell, Kiana stared at Bronya, who was dressed like a big doll, and fell into deep suspicion. That's my mom? Have you ever seen a mother so much shorter than her daughter? But under the intimidating presence of Heavy Trooper Bunny, she ultimately kept quiet.
"I'm very sorry. My daughter has caused you trouble. We'll be leaving now." Bronya held a parasol wildly out of proportion to her height, then turned and hurried away, pulling Kiana along with her.
"Bronya, don't walk so fast! Wait for me! Oh, wait—where's Sheng Jiu?" Kiana finally noticed something was off.
"He has his own mission. Let's go." Bronya led Kiana to a secluded little room, opened the door, and stepped inside. "Kiana, you idiot, you're so reckless. You went straight for the black-robed man."
"Things were urgent at the time, okay! Normally, I'm quite refined and—" Before she could finish, the door was suddenly pulled open, and the black-robed figure who had appeared in the cell earlier walked in.
"You followed me here? Just watch what I can do—"
Enemies meeting were bound to clash. Ignoring Bronya's attempt to stop her, Kiana launched a roundhouse kick at the black-robed figure. He hadn't expected her to attack, and took the full force of her kick without bracing himself. He was immediately knocked to the ground.
"Hmph, you dare come back? I'll show you—"
"Kiana, you idiot, look who it is," Bronya said helplessly.
"...Do all... girls... greet people like this...? Damn..." A familiar voice came from behind the Raven Mask. Kiana jolted in surprise, then immediately crouched down and removed the black-robed figure's mask, revealing Sheng Jiu's face, twisted with pain.
"Ahhh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Kiana's face turned as red as an apple. She hurried to help Sheng Jiu up and sit him in a chair...
After resting for two minutes, Sheng Jiu was finally able to speak smoothly again. Kiana sat to one side, her face red, too embarrassed to look at him.
"All right, it's fine. It's my fault, my fault. I should've explained things to you beforehand. Look, I'm fine, aren't I?" Sheng Jiu smiled and ruffled Kiana's hair.
"Don't flatter yourself! I... I wasn't worried about you!" Kiana said, but she still looked up at Sheng Jiu's swollen left cheek. "...I kicked you way too hard just now. Are you really okay?"
"Hey, it's fine. I'm tough as nails. What could happen to me? Here, have an apple." Sheng Jiu produced three apples as if by magic and handed one each to Kiana and Bronya. "I found out what you asked me to look into."
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