On the rooftop, Kallen donned a mask and covered her clothes with a burlap sack.
"Stop!" she shouted, drawing everyone's attention. Then, with a leap, she landed beside Shakespeare.
"Who are you?!"
"I'm Ka... I won't tell you," Kallen began to answer, but stopped herself just in time. She kicked the questioner away, scooped up Shakespeare, and began to flee.
Kallen shoved aside Schicksal missionaries, shouting "Sorry! Forgive me!" as she went.
"Well done!" "Ooh-ooh-ooh!"
The crowd cheered Kallen's heroic act, spontaneously forming a circle to block the missionaries' path.
They wouldn't dare confront Schicksal directly, but they wouldn't obstruct anyone who dared to oppose them.
Kallen carried Shakespeare into an alleyway and set her down. The tsundere Shakespeare, her face flushed, presented Kallen with the mask and hurried away. Kallen waved goodbye, her face lit with joy.
Watching Kallen's radiant happiness, Otto remembered their first meeting. Kallen had been smiling just as brightly then. He recalled the invitation she had extended to him at the time.
"Come help me save the world!"
That night, Kallen spent hours staring at the mask in her hand, lost in thought. Finally, she excitedly told Otto that she would become a Phantom Thief and steal Victor's ill-gotten gold, to show him that justice still existed in the world.
Otto didn't object. He had known all along that Kallen would make such a decision.
He opened a hidden wardrobe, revealing countless costumes he had collected over the years. Otto had Kallen try on one outfit after another, until, after much deliberation and mutual appreciation, they settled on a purple gown called the Sixth Serenade.
Exhausted from the selection process, Kallen collapsed onto the floor.
"By the way, why do you have so many clothes... and why do they all fit so perfectly?"
"That's a secret~ Now, let's see the gadgets I prepared for you!"
Otto produced a necklace, a bracelet, and a pile of miscellaneous items.
"Otto's Little Lecture Time is starting! This bracelet can shoot out a grappling hook, this necklace is a smoke grenade to confuse enemies... and this is... and this is..."
As Otto explained the functions of each gadget, he equipped Kallen with his various inventions.
"Next, the calling card!"
"Is it really necessary to send a letter beforehand?"
"Of course... A true Phantom Thief only earns their title by sending a calling card before precisely stealing something..."
As he wrote the letter, Otto couldn't meet Kallen's gaze or tell her its contents. The letter contained his own selfish desires. In it, Otto subtly hinted that Victor should hide the items in his basement.
Otto didn't want Kallen to know what the Schicksal Organization was truly up to. If she found out, he and Kallen could never return to how they once were...
The next day, Victor received the letter and, fearing the Phantom Thief was coming to steal the basement's experimental data, deployed all his guards there.
That night, Otto, disguised as a lady with a sprained ankle in a green dress and hat, passed by, distracting the remaining guards.
Kallen seized the opportunity to infiltrate Victor's mansion.
Because Victor had diverted all the guards to defend the basement, Kallen moved through the mansion unopposed. After thoroughly searching the entire estate, she finally found Victor's hidden stash of gold coins.
"...I remember Otto teaching me which coin was the most valuable, but I've forgotten everything... Oh well, it's not heavy anyway. I'll just take them all!" Kallen packed all the gold coins into a large sack, preparing to leave.
But as she was about to depart, Victor arrived with his men.
"Hmph, just as I expected. That arrogant warning letter was nothing more than a trap! Where are my gold coins?! Where are all my gold coins?!" Victor laughed boisterously at the entrance, but his face turned ashen when he saw his room, once piled high with gold, now completely empty.
Victor stared at the white-haired, purple-clad girl carrying a massive burlap sack, and it all clicked into place.
"How could you just stuff them all into a sack like that? That's a load even ten strong men couldn't lift!
With that hair color and monstrous strength, you must be that clumsy daughter from the Kaslana family!" Victor said triumphantly, pointing at Kallen.
Think, think, Kallen! Think of a way out, or your identity will be exposed... At this moment, Shakespeare's speech flashed through Kallen's mind.
"Poor soul, have you fallen into the net of love?"
Aaaah, Kallen, what are you saying?! That's a line from the play!Never mind, as long as I don't get recognized...
Kallen was so embarrassed she wanted to sink through the floor, but she continued speaking to avoid being discovered.
"Do you want me to utter her name in agony?!"
Seeing the stunned expressions on everyone's faces, Kallen seized the opportunity to toss the smoke bomb Otto had given her and vanish before their eyes.
After escaping, Kallen distributed the gold coins to beggars and suffering people she encountered along the way.
Finally, she stopped at the flower shop owner's house. Gently pushing open their window, Kallen gazed at Sasha sleeping soundly. She placed the gold coins beside her bed and quietly slipped away.
But shortly after Kallen left, Sasha turned over in her sleep, and a Stigmata silently appeared on the back of her hand.
In 1470, the Honkai continued to spread like the Black Death. Schicksal tried countless methods, but none worked. In fact, many of their efforts only accelerated the transformation of patients into Dead Soldiers.
Otto sat in his laboratory, tears streaming down his face in helpless despair. His experiment had failed again. The test subject had already become a Dead Soldier and been killed.
No matter how many times I try, I'll fail just as many times... But if I can't become a Great Inventor, I'll be abandoned again...
These patients are all going to die anyway. I'll keep trying until I succeed.
Driven to madness, Otto began conducting human experiments with reckless abandon, but they all failed. Finally, Eleanor, who possessed a Stigmata, was brought before him.
Having exhausted all other options, Otto, at the end of his rope, began extracting his own blood, repeatedly refining the Schariac portion.
After injecting his purified blood into the dying Eleanor, a miracle occurred. Eleanor miraculously recovered. The symmetry between her Stigmata and the Holy Blood had achieved an eerie balance.
When the cure finally worked on Eleanor, Otto, who had long yearned to live up to Kallen's expectations and become the Great Inventor everyone anticipated, wept tears of joy.
The Schariac Clan's true Saintess had been born. Otto bestowed the name Schariac upon Eleanor, and Eleanor Schariac became his most devoted follower.