Star Rail: Starting with a Lyre, Living off Busking

"...Hah...hah…"

Pela's hurried footsteps echoed, her bangs whipped by the wind, round-rimmed glasses nearly slipping off her nose.

"—Just how long are you going to keep flying?" she muttered, chasing the mechanical bird before her, refusing to let it out of sight.

It had been several hours since Serval's arrest. Pela had specifically watched as Gepard and his squad had passed, keeping a close eye on the situation.

Under normal circumstances, Captain Gepard would still be at the frontlines of the Restricted Zone. Even if he were reassigned to another post, he wouldn't return for another month or two, considering the ongoing Rift threats. No one would expect him to come storming back, especially with a warrant in hand.

But Pela had glimpsed a corner of that warrant—and the unmistakable portrait sketched by her own hand when compiling Venti's dossier.

Whatever the reason for it, seeing his face on an arrest warrant was a disaster waiting to unfold.

She quickly handed off her duties to her deputy and rushed home to secure her bird.

But the bird had taken off on its own, as if guided by some hidden instinct, soaring directly toward a specific destination.

Pela couldn't let it go. Not only did it contain unprocessed data, but it also held the plans for protective technology and a unique shield mechanism within its chip—designs she couldn't allow to fall into the wrong hands.

The Silvermane Guards had access to the technology only because of the Randaus' reputation and the Sergeyevich family's trustworthiness. The children of both families had served in the Guard; they wouldn't misuse the technology. But if someone without that trust got hold of it, the approval process alone would be tied up for ages.

And Pela wasn't exactly clueless about mechanics herself. Not only was her friend Serval known as Belobog's resident mechanical genius, but Pela had also earned her credits in record time, well before the usual age requirement.

This bird's self-navigation system could mean one of two things:

One, it was preset with a time and location, guiding it along a fixed path.

Two, it had a homing function, similar to an automatic return, either to its original location or its owner.

And since Venti had told her this bird came from a little girl in the lower district...

Could it be that the bird was heading straight toward her?

If so, it must involve Venti, as he was the only person she knew who could freely travel between the upper and lower districts.

The only other person capable of moving between the districts was that black-market trader Gepard kept catching—a guy called Posan, right?

He was always hawking unlicensed goods in the upper district and had been involved in several fraud cases. Despite claiming it was all fair trade and mutually agreed, the Guards hauled him off to the cells whenever he got caught, though his sob story often softened the hearts of trainee judges, earning him reduced sentences.

From Pela's findings, he had multiple "backstories," all equally dubious. The kind of guy you could easily picture as Venti's "questionable friend."

She'd been meaning to warn Venti about people like that, honestly. Any talk about "looking out for him" came from a "motherly" concern for him, really, nothing else.

Not that Venti's questionable "friendships" mattered right now.

With the news buzzing around about Serval and Venti's treason charges, Pela didn't need to guess what the Supreme Guardian had in store for her as well.

If she didn't run now, when would she?

Even as she panted from exhaustion, her mind kept racing. Serval, at least, had Gepard as a safety net.

While she may have been in shackles, who would dare subject her to harsh interrogation?

The Landau family might be blindsided for now, but as one of the Architects, they would never let Serval die without a full investigation.

But Venti...he was different.

He had no status, no connections. Out of habit, Pela had tried to investigate his background.

She'd come up with nothing. It was as if he'd appeared out of thin air in Belobog.

Between his whimsical poetry and his free-spirited nature, it was almost as if he'd arrived from a distant star…

It wasn't the first time that thought had crossed her mind. But regardless, any aid from his homeland wasn't likely to help him here.

If the Silvermane Guards got their hands on him, Cocolia—no, the Supreme Guardian—would make an example of him.

No, someone as innocent and carefree as Venti couldn't be sacrificed over false charges.

Clutching her fur-lined hat, the Cecilia flower pinned on it fluttering in the breeze, Pela's heart raced.

Until—

At last, she spotted him around the corner, Venti standing there without a care, looking entirely unscathed. Her heart finally felt some relief.

Nearly sprinting toward him, she grabbed his hand, ready to lead him away.

"There's no time to lose! I'll explain later, but for now, we need to—"

Before she could finish, a powerful grip halted her, nearly lifting her off her feet.

Such strength was rare, something she'd only seen from Captain Gepard and a few other officers.

Turning, she found herself staring at a girl about her age, only slightly taller, holding her arm. Pela blurted out,

"What the—where'd you get that gorilla grip?"

"Forget that weird insult for now. Are you upper-district types all in the habit of grabbing strangers' hands and dragging them off?"

Seele, her face dark with irritation, shot back.

Of course, it had to be her; if it were Svarog, Pela would probably have been lifted into the air, spinning like a ballet dancer by now.

"Oh, isn't that the mechanical bird Venti borrowed from me?"

A soft, childish voice chimed in.

Pela turned to see a young girl with white hair and bright red eyes, perched on the arm of a towering humanoid robot.

The imposing figure, with its crimson eye and imposing military frame, exuded a powerful aura.

It was one of the automatic control units from the Geomarrow Pioneers—still operational?

A bit startled, Pela took a step back, while Venti, still holding her hand, turned and cheerfully introduced them.

"Hey, Pela! We were just on our way to find you. Don't be afraid; these are my family—my friends from the lower district."

Before she could process his words, Venti casually dropped another bomb.

"As you can see, I'm the one they've labeled as the big-time criminal who summoned the Wind Dragon. I'm about to turn myself in—wanna come along?"

"...Huh?"

The round-faced girl with glasses found her brain momentarily short-circuiting.

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Thanks for reading! Let me know if you spot any mistakes or inconsistencies!

Posture and water check! Remember this is a fan translation!

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