Just as Hu Tao thought Kiana was getting some exercise after eating...
Kiana grabbed the bars with both hands and pulled outward. The thumb-thick iron bars were bent apart by sheer force.
"Holy crap!"
Hu Tao blurted out Liyue's favorite curse in shock.
She looked at Kiana's slender arms, then compared them with her own. There wasn't much difference between them.
Her gaze shifted to the bars of her own cell. They were just as thick.
Seeing that Kiana had come out without even blushing or breathing hard, she couldn't help but wonder.
'Could these bars be poor quality?'
After thinking about it, she put her hands on them, feeling the cold iron against her palms, and cautiously tried pulling them apart.
The bars didn't move at all.
Seeing that, Hu Tao took a deep breath.
"Hnnng..."
She tensed her whole body and started pushing with all her strength.
"Pff... I can't! I can't anymore!"
Her face bright red and nearly out of breath, Hu Tao sat on the bed, gasping.
Seeing Kiana casually bend the bars that she herself hadn't been able to budge even after using every ounce of strength she had, she couldn't help asking, "H-how... h-how did you do that?"
That question voiced what Xiangling and Paimon were thinking too.
Kiana's arms looked about as slender as theirs, yet she could easily bend iron bars that thick.
Even martial arts training couldn't explain it. The two of them had trained too, but they still couldn't do anything like that.
"Because I'm a Kaslana."
Kiana answered as if it were only natural.
As a Kaslana, if you couldn't even bend prison bars, what kind of Kaslana were you?
You might as well go around calling yourself an Apocalypse.
Although they didn't know what "Kaslana" meant...
It sounded very powerful.
"So slow, so slow, so slow!"
Compared to everyone else's shock, Lumine was completely calm. She'd already seen Kiana's monstrous strength.
Kiana rolled her eyes at her before pulling apart the bars of her cell too.
Looking at the broken bars one after another, little Paimon asked worriedly, "If we leave now... doesn't that count as breaking out of prison?"
She'd heard that escaping from prison would make you guilty even if you hadn't committed a crime.
"If we're guilty, we're guilty. Worst case, we just never come back!" Lumine made a statement worthy of an outlaw.
She refused to believe that if she hid in another nation, the Millelith would still be able to catch her.
Kiana nodded in agreement.
In her current state, the prisons of any world were practically meaningless to her.
Locking her up would only mean giving her a free meal.
If they did it often enough, it might even put the government into deficit.
After hearing that, Xiangling and Hu Tao looked at each other. Hu Tao was the first to move.
She walked into one of the undamaged cells, locked the door herself, lay down on the bed, and crossed her legs.
"I think staying in prison isn't bad at all. You all can go. I'll stay here and enjoy myself."
"Tch~" Paimon looked at her and made a scornful sound. "You're just scared..."
"Um... I'll stay too."
As soon as Xiangling spoke, Paimon immediately swallowed the rest of what she was about to say and gave Xiangling a thumbs-up.
"Good decision!"
She must have remembered her father and decided to stay so he wouldn't worry.
Hu Tao opened one eye to look at Paimon, then took off her hat and covered her face with it.
A perfect example of out of sight, out of mind.
She changed her attitude even faster than Mr. Yun on the opera stage.
"Then we're heading out."
The moment Paimon finished speaking, Kiana took the two of them and disappeared from the prison.
The next second, the prison door opened from the outside.
Two Millelith soldiers walked in. The first thing they did was announce, "You're being released!"
But when they actually looked inside the cells, they were stunned.
All four cells had been destroyed.
The bars were twisted beyond recognition.
Of the original four prisoners, only two remained. The other two had vanished.
"How did you two get out?"
"What do you mean, 'How did you get out'?" Hearing that she had been released, Hu Tao immediately became bold. She knocked on the bed frame and said, "This Hall Master's cell is this one!"
"Then why are all four cells destroyed?"
The Millelith questioned her.
"How should this Hall Master know!"
Hu Tao answered confidently, "Go ask them!"
The Millelith glanced at the two still inside the cells and waved his hand.
"Release them... As for the other two who escaped..."
"Issue a wanted notice!"
Hearing that, Hu Tao, who was already walking outside, couldn't help laughing.
"Pfft..."
Noticing the Millelith looking her way, Hu Tao quickly grabbed the slower Xiangling and ran outside.
After leaving the prison and stepping onto the street, Hu Tao spread her arms toward the setting sun.
"Ah! Freedom!"
Then she burst into laughter.
"What a pity little Paimon won't get to enjoy it."
Turning around and seeing Xiangling looking worried, she walked over and threw an arm around her shoulders.
"Don't worry. She may be wanted, but with Kiana by her side, she'll be fine!"
With that disappearing teleportation ability, there were hardly any people in Liyue... no, in all of Teyvat who could catch them.
Probably only someone as strong as Rex Lapis could catch them for certain.
——
After disappearing from Liyue's prison, Kiana, Lumine, and Paimon, two people and one emergency food, appeared on a mountaintop.
Before them lay the bustling view of Liyue Harbor.
The distant sunset, the ships in the harbor, and the lively streets were all clearly visible.
Just as Kiana was wondering where she should start looking for the Psyduck Levi had mentioned, the group chat notification sounded right on time.
[Ding! You have been active in another world for more than 24 hours. Return immediately?]
"No."
Why go back now? She'd stay a little longer.
She was going to let Theresa know.
'Even without me, St. Freya Academy can still run!'
'Wrong.'
'Without me, St. Freya Academy can't run!'
'Let's see if she still dares to pull out Judah every chance she gets.'
'Every time she does, I'll run away from home for a day.'
'Without my help, with that much work, it'll wear her out!'
"Achoo!"
———
Theresa rubbed her nose, casually signed the document in front of her, then looked up at the busy figure beside her.
"Himeko, hurry up!"
"..."
Himeko felt like her hand was about to stop belonging to her. Kiana's figure couldn't help appearing in her mind.
"I miss you, Kiana."
She might not have done a good job, but at least she got it done.
When it came to Himeko herself, she had to deliver both quality and speed, and the key point was that there wasn't any extra pay.
If she asked why, the answer was that Kiana didn't get any either.
"Hurry up, hurry up!"
Listening to the urging beside her, Himeko let out a deep sigh.
———
[Ding-dong!]
While Kiana was still thinking about where she might run into Psyduck, Levi spoke in the group chat again.
[Levi: The plan to beat up Psyduck has been postponed for now.]
After intense discussion, the coronation ceremony has been tentatively scheduled for the day after tomorrow, so Psyduck has escaped disaster this time.
[Kiana: ? Then what am I supposed to do now?]
[Levi: Come home with me.]
[Stelle: Ohoho.]
[Stelle: Not...]
[Ding! "Group Member" Stelle has been muted by "Administrator" Levi for ten minutes!]