60: Chapter 54 Different Karen

Aren't these guards way too lacking in security awareness?

Following behind the escort carriage, Kaiwen couldn't stop grumbling in her mind.

The three of them were less than thirty meters from the carriage, yet not a single person came to chase them away. She even briefly wondered if she had turned invisible.

"Is there something wrong with their eyes?" Kaiwen asked the other two in a low voice.

Bronya ignored her.

Only Kiana made a shushing gesture at her.

Fine then.

Kaiwen could only keep following the stumbling carriage, creeping forward at a snail's pace.

Tsk...

It felt like it wasn't just the guards who were faulty; there was probably something wrong with the horse, too.

Why was this horse stopping every three steps and swaying every five?

If Kaiwen walked two steps faster, she had to stop and wait for it.

"Do you think this horse is lame?" Kaiwen turned back to ask once more.

But this time, Kiana merely glanced at her and didn't say a word.

And Bronya didn't even look.

Well, the atmosphere was indeed quite awkward.

The carriage finally pulled up in front of a detention center made of stacked stone.

Arthur climbed down from the carriage and led the guards as they brought Kallen inside the main gate.

Before entering, Kallen even glanced back toward Kaiwen's group, as if saying, "Take your time, no rush."

Kaiwen: "..."

Fine, the whole world was giving them a green light; she was the only one here feeling nervous.

The three of them huddled in the alley across the street, waiting.

Once Arthur finished handing over custody and led the guards away down the cobblestone road, Kaiwen finally turned to look at Kiana.

But Kiana had already stood up, staring at the detention center opposite them with a fire of determination in her eyes.

Just as Kaiwen was still figuring out how to get inside...

"Ahem, ahem..."

The guard standing post at the entrance suddenly coughed, then slowly turned his body in another direction.

The other guard, hearing his cough, glanced over out of curiosity, then seemed to realize something and hurriedly turned around as well.

Yeah, very deliberate—so deliberate that Kaiwen couldn't even bear to watch anymore.

Kaiwen looked at the cracked door behind the two guards.

Is... isn't there a better way than this?

Kaiwen tentatively took a step forward.

The two guards faced the wall completely motionless, as if intentionally turning a blind eye.

Kaiwen took another step.

Still no reaction.

As she walked in, Kaiwen looked back; her gaze met one of the guards', and he immediately jerked his head away.

Isn't this way too blatant?

Inside the detention center, the situation was even more absurd than outside.

The first guard they encountered at the end of the corridor froze for a second upon seeing them, then pointed toward a side path with complete naturalness.

Kaiwen looked in the direction he pointed; it was a set of stone stairs leading down to the underground cells.

She turned back wanting to say thank you, but the guard had already run off, as if terrified she might talk to him.

The second guard was even more extreme.

Seeing Kaiwen and the others approach from afar, he lay straight down on the ground, closing his eyes motionless.

Passing by him, Kaiwen glanced down.

This guy was still peeking at them.

"Thanks," Kaiwen muttered softly.

The guard on the ground's lip twitched, almost losing his composure.

But a guard still had some professional ethics after all, so he didn't burst out laughing.

At the underground fork, there was no helpful guard brother to point the way this time, so they had to split up and search.

Kiana and Bronya took left and right, while Kaiwen headed down the stone steps alone, creeping toward the deepest part.

The underground cells were much cleaner than Kaiwen had imagined, with several oil lamps hanging on the walls to keep her from tripping.

On both sides of the corridor were iron-barred cells, most of which were empty.

Only the innermost cell still had a faint light burning.

Kaiwen walked over and peered inside through the iron bars.

Kallen was sitting cross-legged on a straw mat, weaving something with wheat straw in her hands.

Hearing footsteps, she raised her head.

Upon seeing Kaiwen's face, Kallen's eyes lit up, and she set down the weirdly shaped creation she was mid-weaving: "Oh? You're the girl who came down from the sky today!"

She crept up to the iron bars, looking closely at Kaiwen's face through the railing, and clicked her tongue: "The more I look, the more similar you seem. You wouldn't happen to be a distant relative of mine, would you?"

"Maybe," Kaiwen said, looking at Kallen inside the cell. "You seem quite leisurely here."

"I've been locked up I don't know how many times; I got used to it long ago," Kallen said casually, rattling her handcuffs.

How many times? She really did know she was in a Samsara loop.

"You know you're constantly repeating?"

Kallen tilted her head at Kaiwen, not denying it, and smiled: "Yeah. Get caught, locked up, put on trial, then die, wake up again, get caught again. Over and over, too many times to count."

She sounded very casual when saying this, but Kaiwen could hear the underlying exhaustion in her voice.

Kaiwen fell silent for a moment, then spoke: "Do you know who trapped you in this loop?"

Kallen's hands, weaving the weird figurine, paused.

"I don't," she looked up at Kaiwen. "Do you?"

Kaiwen looked into those eyes identical to her own and nodded.

"Otto. It's Otto who trapped you here in a continuous Samsara loop."

"Otto? How is that possible?" Kallen shook her head repeatedly upon hearing this, her tone tinged with absurdity. "With his high aspirations and useless body, he wants to lock me up?"

Looking at Kallen shaking her head in the cell, Kaiwen couldn't help feeling a pang of sorrow in her heart.

Just as she wanted to explain further, footsteps suddenly echoed from deep in the corridor.

A series of hurried leather shoe taps.

Kaiwen reacted quickly, stepping aside instantly to hide in the shadows of an adjacent empty cell.

The footsteps drew closer and closer.

A cluster of warm yellow lamplight swayed from the end of the corridor, illuminating the entire underground cell area.

The person holding the lantern stopped in front of Kallen's cell.

It was a blonde young man.

Hiding in the dark, Kaiwen saw his face clearly.

It really was Otto.

Unlocking the cell door with a key, he squatted in front of Kallen and pulled a folded piece of paper from his chest, handing it over urgently.

"Kallen, look, this is the boat ticket I managed to get. Head out through the north gate tonight while they're changing guards; no one will stop you."

Kallen glanced at the boat ticket and didn't take it.

"Otto."

"Let me finish..."

Thump—

Before he could finish, Kallen cleanly chopped the back of Otto's head with her palm.

Did that sound crisp? A crisp sound means a good head.

Kaiwen rubbed her own head in vicarious pain—this Kallen... she really hit hard.

"Alright, you can come out now." Kallen dusted off her hands.

Kaiwen stepped out from the shadows: "Aren't you going to try to escape?"

"I can't escape; I've tried." Kallen looked down at Otto lying face down on the ground with his butt in the air and shrugged. "As soon as the boat sets sail, it gets swallowed by a Honkai Beast coming from the sea."

"Then you..."

"I've tried every method. Breaking out by force, escaping in disguise, obeying arrangements... Not a single one worked, not even one." Kallen's tone remained flat.

Kaiwen opened her mouth, wanting to say something more.

Kallen waved her hand to interrupt her, tossed the oddly shaped straw figure onto Otto's back, dusted off the straw bits from her trousers, and curled the corners of her eyes in a refreshing smile:

"Alright, since it won't be long before this world resets again, instead of sitting here waiting to die, why don't you come out and play with me for a bit?"