Star Rail: Starting with a Lyre, Living off Busking [66]

When Svarog spotted her, Seele had already noticed him too—the famous robot and little girl pair from the Underworld.

But, truth be told, things between Wildfire and the Robot Settlement were far from friendly. If anything, the two groups held a mutual grudge.

The harsh living conditions in the Underworld meant people were constantly fighting over limited resources, so tensions flaring up was more than natural.

While these disputes weren’t serious enough to lead to full-scale war between their factions, there was always one particularly disruptive group adding to the chaos—the Vagrants, a band of thieves and extortionists who harassed miners, stole supplies, and demanded “protection” fees.

Most of them were thugs from the ranks of the wanderers. If they could follow any basic rules, they wouldn’t be reduced to being Vagrants.

They only caused trouble when desperate, and that desperation was an everyday reality in the Underworld.

When these Vagrants weren’t busy fighting miners or stealing their supplies, they were stirring up bigger conflicts that often led to ugly, drawn-out confrontations.

The mines, as the Underworld’s lifeline, couldn’t function if the miners couldn’t protect what they earned, which meant a halt in Geomarrow production. And without that, the supply line to the Overworld would be cut off.

Whenever things got this bad, Oleg would lead Wildfire into the mines to restore order, leaving Seele in charge of the town’s security. That’s how she’d ended up rescuing the bard, Venti, in the first place.

But not every situation went smoothly. Sometimes, things got so serious that even Seele had to jump into the fray, often leading to open combat.

The scale of these conflicts made life difficult, yet they weren’t issues that could be solved overnight.

And the Robot Settlement, as a third party, often intervened in these disputes—both to secure supplies and maintain stability in the Underworld.

This usually resulted in Wildfire and Vagrants clashing, only for Svarog’s automatons to arrive and break up the fight, dealing out punishment to both sides without concern for who was in the right.

Svarog, after all, was an impartial enforcer. He didn’t care who was in the right or wrong—he just acted according to his own calculations.

Of course, this meant he ended up making enemies on both sides. Though Vagrants weren’t a real threat and one squad of automatons could scatter them, it was still frustrating for Wildfire to get caught in the crossfire. As the “big brother” of the Underworld, they expected at least some respect.

But Svarog refused any alliance with Wildfire, citing some lengthy calculation that Seele couldn’t make heads or tails of.

According to him, the “most optimal survival strategy” for the Underworld involved remaining autonomous.

That kind of logic made no sense to most people in the Underworld, where literacy wasn’t common and abstract theory was a luxury they didn’t have time for.

In her experience, if you didn’t have food, no amount of “strategic planning” mattered—you’d end up fighting for every scrap you could get.

And then Svarog would start teaching Clara to say infuriating things, like:

“See, Clara, even in extreme conditions, humans can’t avoid fighting amongst themselves.”

Or he’d add,

“Human actions always deviate from rational calculations, Clara—”

When talks broke down completely, he’d declare,

“Humans who try to undermine calculated results are a threat to Underworld survival. Calculation complete. Conclusion clear: enforcing Wildfire’s compliance through force is the most efficient solution.”

Now, who wouldn’t find that aggravating?

While Seele didn’t hate Clara, and she understood why the Robot Settlement preferred to stay neutral, there was always that tension when they met, inevitably leading to arguments.

And Seele’s knowledge couldn’t match Svarog’s—sometimes she suspected even Clara might know more than her—nor could she ever provoke a reaction from the stoic robot.

It was maddening to argue with someone so utterly emotionless.

Picking on Clara was, of course, out of the question; Seele wasn’t that petty.

So, over time, Seele avoided meeting them altogether.

Still, she was surprised to see Svarog outside his base today instead of standing guard at the Furnace Core.

Wildfire had tried negotiating with him before about using the elevator shaft, but Svarog had always rejected it, giving more of those over-the-top explanations Seele couldn’t stand.

Now here he was, sneaking Clara up to the Overworld on his own?

And claiming they were looking for Venti…

Did the bard have some scheme he hadn’t mentioned?

Though, that was mostly her own fault for never asking. Seele wasn’t one to puzzle over plans. If something could be solved directly, she preferred to act, rather than waste time on details.

Venti usually thought things through for both of them, anyway—she just had to follow his lead.

It was absolutely not laziness. It was called trust in one’s comrades.

But running into someone from the Underworld who was also talking about Venti? She couldn’t let that slide this time.

She’d have to find a way to get their intentions out of them.

With this in mind, and to ensure the injured Guards she’d rescued would make it safely, Seele kept a careful distance, shadowing Svarog and Clara all the way to the nearest shelter.

There, an Administrative District official was addressing the crowd—

Reassuring them not to panic or fear. He promised that Belobog’s backbone—the Silvermane Guards, embodying the Supreme Guardian’s will—had fully mobilized to ensure everyone’s safety.

All they had to do was follow orders, head to their assigned rooms, and wait patiently. The crisis would soon pass.

Seele had heard these bureaucratic lines many times and found them dull. What caught her attention, however, was a different announcement.

Apparently, Bronya Rand, the acting commander, was holding the line at the restricted zone, and the Supreme Guardian intended to recall her to lead the assault against the dragon.

Just more empty promises—sounded nice, but would probably just make Bronya faint from frustration if she heard it.

—

Bronya hadn’t actually fainted, but she was close.

After secretly sending a letter to Gepard, several urgent messages demanding her immediate return had arrived later that night.

Each was more forceful than the last, warning that if she continued her “stubborn behavior,” she would be stripped of her acting commander title and confined to the household.

As for the plan to make her lead the dragon assault? That was clearly just a convenient excuse to bring her back.

Her mother had started resorting to desperate, shameless tactics.