Honkai Star Rail: My Chat Group is Full of Broken Timelines — Chapter 81

Chapter 81: Initial Cooperation with the Stellaron Hunters

“Stelle?” Kazuki stared at the gray-haired, gold-eyed girl in front of him, an involuntary twitch starting at his brow.

That signature messy hair, those brilliant golden eyes that seemed to hold fragments of distant stars, and the dazed way she was currently rubbing the back of her head—it was unmistakable.

She was the protagonist from the game, the one players controlled. At this point in the timeline, she was still a fully-fledged member of the Stellaron Hunters. She was Stelle.

‘What in the worlds is she doing here?’ Kazuki wondered.

“I knew there’d be good stuff in the trash can!” Stelle suddenly clapped her hands, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him, as if she had just unearthed a priceless treasure. “When it exploded just now, I saw a flash of red light, and sure enough, a whole live person flipped right out!”

Kazuki was speechless. “…”

‘Wait a minute,’he thought, a strange sense of deja vu washing over him.’Is this some kind of convergence of world lines?’

If it weren’t for the Chat Group, if Firefly hadn’t become the Titania II he knew, perhaps one day, in some other timeline, Stelle would have been the one to pry open the lid of the SAM armor and find her.

And now, here he was, having just given Stelle a mild concussion and inadvertently led her to believe he’d been blasted out of a dumpster. Could this be considered a callback to an event that was never meant to be?

“Where’s your mom?” Kazuki crossed his arms, looking down at the girl who had all the bewildered energy of a little raccoon.

“Kafka… Right, where did Kafka go?” Stelle’s brow furrowed in concentration, her fingers unconsciously toying with the zipper on her jacket.

“She said to stay here and not move… then I fell asleep in the trash can, and when I woke up, I found I’d pulled a five-star…” She rubbed her head again, her gaze growing hazy. The explosion had clearly rattled her more than she let on, leaving her memories fragmented and intermittent.

“If you can’t remember, don’t force it. You need to take it easy with a concussion,” Kazuki said, shaking his head. He raised a hand, and with a soft hiss, the flames of the armor dissipated, revealing him to Stelle.

He never expected to run into her while she was still a Stellaron Hunter. Could his being drawn to this specific location by the Antimatter Legion also be a future foreseen by Nanook?

“This brat’s constitution is quite interesting,” a new voice chimed in. A crystalline mirror, seemingly materializing from nowhere, began to circle around Stelle. “To get up with only a concussion after taking a hit from your bomb… her physical fitness is pretty impressive.”

“Whoa… what is this?” Stelle jumped, startled by the sudden appearance of the floating mirror.

“Alright, Ms. Herta, let’s not scare the kid,” Kazuki said with a weary smile, shaking his head.

“Her? A child?! Does she look like a child to you?” The mirror, the Fifth Mirror, began to scrutinize Stelle even more closely.

Kazuki had to admit, he shared the sentiment. Stelle’s appearance was deceptive. With her cool, sharp features and slender build, she looked like the kind of person who would be difficult to approach. But the moment she opened her mouth, that off-kilter, wonderfully abstract personality shone through. At her core, she was a child who hadn’t quite grown up yet.

“Let’s just wait here for her guardian to arrive,” Kazuki said, finding a relatively intact slab of stone to sit on. “Kafka shouldn’t leave her alone for too long.”

He was also keen to use this opportunity to figure out who else was currently part of the Stellaron Hunters. Firefly was out of the question. Silver Wolf had been playing games with him in the Chat Group just yesterday, her tone as natural as if he hadn’t been gone for three years. As for Blade… without Sam’s ‘strong-man lock’ to keep him in check, how would they even manage to calm him down?

Time trickled by in the silence of the ruins. To pass the time, Kazuki pulled out a deck of cards and gathered Stelle and the Fifth Mirror for a game of poker.

Stelle’s concussion didn’t seem to dampen her enthusiasm for cards in the slightest, but her luck was abysmal. This, combined with Kazuki and the Fifth Mirror secretly “setting the stage”—subtly swapping cards during shuffles and intentionally dealing her terrible hands—meant it wasn’t long before she was sighing in defeat.

“I lost again!” Stelle slammed her cards onto the ground and poked the Fifth Mirror huffily. “It must be this broken mirror of yours! It’s bad luck! I saw you swap cards when you reflected the light just now!”

“If you can’t afford to lose, don’t play, kid,” the surface of the Fifth Mirror rotated, its tone dripping with Herta’s signature disdain. It did, however, secretly flash Kazuki a glint of light that clearly meant, ‘Good job.’

Just then, a crisp sound cut through the quiet desolation. The sharp tap, tap, tap of high heels clicking against rubble echoed through the ruins, exceptionally clear in the dead silence.

Kazuki looked up. A woman in a black coat was walking slowly toward them. Her long, burgundy curls swayed gently with her steps, and a faint, unreadable smile played on her lips. It was the Stellaron Hunter, Kafka.

“Hmm?” Kafka paused, her expression turning to one of mild confusion as she took in the bizarre scene of two people and a floating mirror sitting together in the distance. ‘Why would there be people here?’Before she could ponder it further, a black cat materialized at her feet, spoke a single, inaudible word, and vanished.’Cooperate with him? I understand.’ Kafka nodded to herself. No longer bothering to conceal her approach, she walked straight toward Kazuki.

“Kafka!” Like a puppy seeing its owner, Stelle immediately scrambled over and hugged her arm, launching into a complaint. “I’ve lost so much I’m about to lose my shirt! They teamed up to bully me!”

Kazuki calmly gathered the cards and stood up. He had, in fact, tampered with the shuffle and dealt favorably to himself and the mirror. This child, Stelle, had absolutely no sense of fraud prevention. She was the type to happily help count the money after being sold, and she still hadn’t realized the problem was the dealer.

“Darling, I was only gone for a moment, and you’ve already caused so much trouble?” Kafka affectionately rubbed Stelle’s hair before turning her gaze to Kazuki. She extended a hand, her smile widening. “Hello. I’m Kafka, of the Stellaron Hunters. Thank you for playing with Stelle for so long.”

“Kazuki.” He shook her offered hand, feeling a distinct coolness from her fingertips. Kafka’s smile seemed gentle, but he could feel the sharp scrutiny hidden in her eyes.

As they let go, Kafka suddenly leaned forward. Her red lips parted, and she lowered her voice to a seductive, magnetic whisper. “Dear… listen to me…”

Before the final word could be uttered, a flash of blue light erupted. The Fifth Mirror zipped between them, its crystalline surface flaring with a blinding glare that cut Kafka’s words short.

“Hmph. To dare play your little tricks in front of me… aren’t you a bold one?” Herta’s voice, sharp and imperious, echoed from the mirror.

Kafka’s movements paused. The smile on her face didn’t waver, but a flicker of understanding crossed her eyes. She looked at the image of Herta’s doll, Phantylia, reflected in the mirror and gave a slight nod. “My apologies. It was just a small test. I meant no harm.”

She had recognized the figure in the mirror at a glance: Herta, the 83rd member of the Genius Society. For this man to be involved with such a monumental figure, and on such familiar terms… it was telling.

‘No wonder Elio said we could cooperate with him,’Kafka mused.’Herta is also a crucial part of the plan to come.’

“All this testing back and forth is meaningless,” Kazuki said, pushing aside the mirror that was still protectively hovering in front of him. He looked directly at Kafka. “Let’s speak plainly. What did Elio tell you? Am I in his script, too?”

Kafka’s pupils contracted slightly, a hint of genuine shock breaking through her composed facade. She nodded. “You really are… quite different. Elio said that we can seek your cooperation in the future. The Stellaron Hunters are not your enemy. On the contrary, we can help you.”

“Help me?” Kazuki nodded thoughtfully. It made sense. The Destruction, the Trailblaze, the Elation… these were among the few Aeons and Paths that wouldn’t be ‘captives’ of Nous’s grand calculations. They could break through established constraints. If he wanted to escape his current predicament, the power of a faction aligned with The Destruction was indispensable. And Elio, with his fragment of the Terminus who moves backward through time… there was no harm in being on good terms with him.

He looked up at Kafka, his tone becoming curt and businesslike. “So, what do you need my help with right now?”

Relationships were a matter of give and take. If he was going to need the Stellaron Hunters’ help down the line, he had to show some sincerity and willingness to cooperate now.

“I’m becoming more and more curious about you,” Kafka laughed, a strand of her burgundy hair lifting in a nonexistent breeze. “It’s simple. Help us subdue someone. He is a future partner of the Stellaron Hunters.”

Kazuki raised an eyebrow. A future partner of the Stellaron Hunters? Could it be…