AJ 1-10 (Patreon)

Chapter 1: I Came to a Different World and Became a Village Girl?

On the Terra continent, in the northwestern tundra of Ursus, this place is attacked by severe cold all year round and even staying in one place for a long time is a delusion.

In the village of Kobvich, Talulah was quietly walking in wearing an old military uniform. After checking that no one was following her, she found a secluded spot and sneaked in quietly.

However, she didn't expect that the next moment, her eyes were covered by a pair of warm and soft hands.

"Let me see who sneaked in! It's a naughty little draco~ it's the little guy who said she will go chop wood together the day before yesterday—where did she go to play again?"

Listening to the slightly teasing voice, Talulah couldn't help but sweat on her forehead. She wanted to change the subject in embarrassment and quickly said, "Aha, good morning! Jeanne, I didn't expect you to get up so early."

"It's already afternoon. If you come back later, I guess grandma will think you were caught by those people in black clothes..."

Jeanne looked at this silly girl who wanted to change the subject and felt helpless.

"Okay, I'm back now, right? Take your hands away! Your hands are so cold!"

As she said this, Talulah forcibly removed the two hands covering her eyes.

She looked back and saw a girl in black casual clothes, with golden hair blowing in the wind, standing in front of her.

"Why do you always catch me when I come back secretly? I'm already very well hidden."

Talulah couldn't help but complain. She always got caught when she returned secretly.

Looking at the hair that swayed because the owner was in a good mood, she didn't know how many times she had been curious to pull it to see what would happen.

"Who knows? Maybe it's telepathy or something like that? My intuition tells me that you would pass by here." The girl named Jeanne responded easily.

The smiling expression combined with her beautiful face attracted Talulah very much.

For some reason, this girl appeared to have a special charm to her, and her every move caught Talulah's attention. Talulah would always subconsciously agree with Jeanne's words. No matter how absurd and unreliable they were, her first reaction was always that Jeanne would not lie to her.

"Okay, let's go! This time you are in trouble; grandma is almost dying of anxiety." 

As she spoke, Jeanne panickly took Talulah's hand and pulled her into the house.

Her full name is Jeanne d'Arc, but people familiar with her would directly call her Jeanne. She still vaguely remembered that she once lived in a world with a very developed civilization. At that time, she didn't need to worry about winter heating and food like now, and the winter in that world was not so difficult to endure. She still remembered that her current body belonged to a character she liked very much in a game in her previous life.

She spent a lot of money to upgrade each of her forms to Max Ascension. For this, she lived a poor life for a long time.

Her last memory before her death was returning home from work. The moment she turned on the light, an unknown explosion occurred, which blew her here directly.

Who knows whether it was because of a gas leak or if someone was really fighting in the Holy Grail War?

To be honest, she actually preferred to believe the latter.

Afterward, she opened her eyes and found herself in this world. She landed in a wilderness. Not to mention people, even birds were nowhere to be seen around.

But after waking up, she discovered two huge objects on her chest, which was also quite frightening.

After careful observation, she found that her body had turned into Jeanne d'Arc from a certain game.

Fortunately, she also inherited Jeanne d'Arc's power, which prevented her from freezing to death in this icy and snowy land.

However, the strange thing was that she could switch freely between her two forms, the black and white ones, just like cross-dressing. She finally found the village according to the Revelation and stayed in the village under the pretext that she was a poor person wandering because of a Catastrophe.

However, there were some jokes along the way, and the villagers were very wary of her black outfit. It took her a long time to convince them that she had nothing to do with the Ursus patrol team.

At that time, she saw the villagers' animal ears, and according to what she saw, she found that she had come to the Terra continent.

But the problem was that she only knew some general and main plots of Arknights, and she couldn't remember the specific year when something happened.

Adding various event activities to the plot made the already complicated timeline even more convoluted, causing her to forget everything. Even if she wanted to do something, she gave up because she didn't know what to do. She had to find a reason to ask to stay.

But it wouldn't be wrong to follow the Revelation. Although this village was not very rich, it was also a very friendly and harmonious village in this famous tundra, different from those extremely xenophobic villages. Although Jeanne's words were a bit suspicious, the villagers saw that she didn't even have any luggage, so they believed she was a refugee.

They agreed to Jeanne's request to settle here, and a kind old couple took her in.

But when she saw the little deer Alina, she knew what period she was in.

So, after she came to this other world, she began a happy rural life.

Although life in the village was hard, she still liked this kind of life.

She doesn't know if it was because she became Jeanne, but the girl who was only interested in picking fruits could now do all the housework and farm work in an orderly manner.

She could even take on the workload of other families alone. This made the villagers sigh that the old couple really picked up a treasure.

And when this silly Talulah moved in, she occasionally had time to go to the forest to hunt wild animals.

Anyway, those wild animals couldn't run away from her who had the power of a heroic spirit, so hunting was still a very easy thing for her.

Back to reality, Talulah couldn't help but panic when she heard Jeanne's words.

She asked hurriedly, "Wait...wait a minute! How did grandma know that I went out secretly? Didn't I tell them I would go hunting in the mountains with you?"

She was still frightened by her grandma's nagging.

So, in order to travel smoothly these days, she had already said that she would accompany Jeanne to the mountains to chop wood and protect her to no't make them worry.

She went out early the day before yesterday, and Jeanne was not the kind of big mouth who would go around talking.

What puzzled her was how her comprehensive plan was exposed.

Looking at the question marks on Talulah's face, Jeanne couldn't help but sigh. Then she said, "Some draco clearly said they would come back the next day. Now the sun is almost in the afternoon of the third day. She still stayed on the mountain for a while for this. It's very cold."

Jeanne felt helpless as she looked at Talulah who was a little embarrassed. This girl was usually quite reliable; why did she act stupid when encountering something like this?

Could it be that there was a parasite in her brain that was sucking her IQ?

----

Chapter 2: Talulah Squatted with Her Head in Her Hands

"Talulah, Jeanne, come in! Don't let them see you wearing this!"

Hearing this made the two of them quickened their pace and walked into the house.

An old man looked at them anxiously as they entered then heaved a sigh of relief after looking around with some concern.

"I told you not to wear this dress. It's too conspicuous! Wearing this kind of clothing will attract bugs!"

The old man turned around and heated up the broth in the pot, then scolded the two of them.

"That big black bug is poisonous! If it bites you, the land won't grow crops!"

The old man shuddered with lingering fear, as if he recalled something terrible.

"Jeanne has learned bad things from Talulah! You can't wear that outfit; it's too conspicuous in the snow! If those bugs see it, it will be bad luck again..."

"I'm the one who came late, right? How could I have led Jeanne astray?"

Talulah was obviously a little unconvinced because she heard Jeanne say that she occasionally dressed this way before she came.

"How dare you say that? Every time you run away, you're gone for two or three days, and when you come back, you can't even bring back a piece of bread, and you always go out wearing this strange outfit..."

"Grandma, we usually wear ordinary clothes, and we've never been caught by other outsiders wearing this kind of outfit..."

Talulah explained with a smile. She was also surprised; how did Jeanne manage to never be seen by others when she went out in her own clothes?

"And I only wear this dress when I have something to do. This is a gift from my father. He was robbed by a man with a glowing halo on his head, and he was seriously injured to keep this dress. I escaped crying while wearing this dress! With my father's blessing, nothing will happen."

When the old woman nearby heard this, she knocked on Talulah's head with the bowl she was about to put a soup in.

"Bad child, you lied! Last time, you said it was a gift from a guy with a snake's tail, and it was blessed by their chief. This time, it's even more nonsense. How could there be a guy with a glowing halo on his head? If there is people like them, why would we light candles? We'll just find someone to come so save everything!"

"Ah~ Did I say that last time? I forgot; grandma, you have a good memory..." Talulah tilted her head and thought about it.

Looking at her expression as if she had to remember what she said next time, grandma couldn't help but knock her head gently with the bowl.

"Ah! I know I was wrong, grandma; please stop knocking! Jeanne, come and persuade grandma! Why are you just standing there and watching?"

Talulah quickly asked for help from Jeanne who was watching the fun. It was the two of them who were being lectured at the beginning, so how come she was the only one being hit in the end?

Jeanne sat on the side appearing like she was watching a fun show. She looked at the head that was hit by the bowl, as if she heard the empty echo inside.

"Okay, grandma, calm down. She can't have a good memory like you. She's not smart to begin with, and if you keep hitting her, she'll really turn dumb."

"It's better if she's really stupid, so that she doesn't run around all the time and make me worry about her at night. Don't you feel heartbroken that you always lie to us people who's about to go into the coffin?"

As the old man spoke, he served a bowl of meat soup to the two of them.

"Wow! What day is today? There is meat soup? Did I forget some important day again?"

Talulah was a little surprised. You know, in the village, not to mention meat soup; even finding vegetable soup is a problem. Meat is so precious. In the village, it is basically exchanged for necessities of life.

"Hmph, what important day! This is the prey that Jeanne hunted yesterday! The soup is made from the meat left after decomposition; otherwise, how could we eat meat at this time? Eat it quickly, and you can send this to Alina later."

"Hey, really? Jeanne hunted again! So great! Then can we have barbecue in a while?"

"What barbecue? Isn't that wasteful? How can meat be wasted like this? The family kept some, and the old man took the rest out to exchange for things. I guess I can get you new clothes and quilt materials this year."

The old lady looked at Talulah, as if she didn't expect her to say this. She tapped her head and said:

"If you really want to eat, there is a lot of meat hidden in the cellar. You, Jeanne, and Alina can go to the back mountain and eat it secretly. The harvest this year is not good. Some families have no moss seeds for next year. If they know that we still have enough meat to eat, who knows what will happen?"

"Really? Why can't Jeanne eat the prey she hunted openly?"

Talulah couldn't help complaining a few words. She also understood that this year's season, her family is already a very good family.

Even if they know that it was Jeanne who hunted it with her own ability, some people are unreasonable when they are jealous.

They will think that Jeanne robbed the prey that originally belonged to them, and they may secretly frame their family—not for other reasons, just because their family is better off than theirs.

But with their skills, let alone hunting wild animals in the mountains, they may not even catch rabbits.

"Then go and hunt one yourself! Don't you always say you're awesome? Why haven't I seen the prey you hunted?"

"How can it be that easy? I've been there before."

She said with some depression after hearing what her grandmother said.

She had tried hunting before, but the beasts in this area became very cunning in the battle of wits and courage with hunters. In addition, she couldn't catch up with them once they got into the depths of the forest.

At first, she worked hard for a month and only hunted a tumor beast and a few rabbits. The tumor beast was burned to death by her flames, and a large part of it was inedible.

And Jeanne's hunting method was something she couldn't do even if she died of exhaustion. This girl relied on her physical fitness, which was even more formidable than hers, so she could just rush over and knock the prey on the opposite side unconscious.

You know, she is Draco! Her race is also one of the best on land. So what race is Jeanne?

"You also know that prey is not easy to hunt, but those guys don't care about these things! Otherwise, why would your grandfather go to them to exchange meat for cloth, cotton, and other sundries? Isn't it better to wait for the caravan to come here? Isn't it just to make them think that our family is not doing well so that they won't be jealous and hurt others?"

Grandma looked at Talulah worriedly. She was very relieved about Jeanne, and her intelligence and cleverness could make her live a good life.

But Talulah was different. This child was too naive, and these kind of people were most likely to be taken advantage of by others.

Because they tend to think the best of others, those who have ulterior motives like such silly and naive people the most.

If she gets married one day, she is worried that this girl will be bought by others and still count the money for them.

Fortunately, Jeanne is watching, and she will surely not let her reach this point.

---

Chapter 3: Alina is an Angel

"Grandma, what's wrong?"

Tallulah suddenly noticed that the old woman had stopped talking and was just looking at her. A worried expression appeared on her face as she looked around to see if anything was wrong.

"Nothing. I'm just worried if anyone will want you when you get married."

"I... I'm not old enough to get married yet!"

Tallulah's face flushed red upon hearing this. She didn't expect the old lady to say this thing so suddenly.

"Anka from the next village got married at the age of fifteen. You're old enough."

"Isn't that too early? Besides, even if I get married, shouldn't Jeanne get married first? Why are you so worried about me?"

Tallulah became increasingly shy as she listened. She glanced at Jeanne who was drinking soup. Jeanne's big eyes and expression fully conveyed her emotion of "I just want to watch this kind of excitement; please continue," so Tallulah quickly changed the subject.

"She has no shortage of admirers. If she hadn't said that she wasn't going to consider this kind of thing, someone would have approached her long ago."

"Um, I lost even in this aspect!"

Tallulah lowered her head and drank her soup in a depressed mood. Although she had no thoughts of getting married now, she felt a little uncomfortable about parting with Jeanne who would likely easy to get married.

As for herself? She hadn’t thought about it. She was an infected person, and who would want to marry someone like that?

Her life had been decided when she made that choice.

"Grandma, I brought all the mended clothes!"

A quiet voice came from outside the door. A gray-haired Alina walked in. With a gentle smile on her face, her expression seemed to purify people's hearts.

"Oh, Alina, you're here. Didn't I tell you that I would pick up the clothes later?"

When Jeanne saw Alina, she also took the clothes and served her a bowl of hot soup.

She is Alina, as Grandma calls her. She looks very quiet and weak.

She is also a member of the village. Because her family members have passed away, the two elderly people often help her family.

After Jeanne came here, the two quickly became familiar with each other. Because she is weak, Alina often helps the family with sewing and washing.

"Anyway, there was nothing to do, so I brought it here myself."

"Alina, you are finally here! Grandma and Jeanne scolded me so badly just now! You have to help me speak up!"

Tallulah felt instantly refreshed when she saw Alina and told her about the suffering she had just endured.

"How dare you say that? It would be great if you were as stable as Alina! She likes reading and handicrafts. You are the only one among the three of you who can't sew clothes."

"Old Mother, Tallulah works very hard. She never slacks off when she works... Hey, it's actually broth?"

"That's right! I worked a lot!"

Tallulah proudly straightened her chest, as if she had found her backbone.

"You just spoil her. I don't know what will happen in the future. Forget it; you guys chat. I'm going back to the house to rest."

Grandma smiled and shook her head, picked up the clothes, and went back inside. If it hadn't been for seeing Tallulah coming back, she would have gone back to the house to rest.

Sometimes she couldn't help but sigh that she was really old and not as young as these children. If it were twenty years ago, she wouldn't have felt tired at all.

But now, if she doesn't rest well one day, she can't even think about doing any work the next day. If it weren't for Jeanne and the others helping her, she and her old man wouldn't even be able to survive this cold winter.

"Sometimes, it's really impossible not to accept old age..."

As she spoke, the old woman gradually fell asleep.

Outside, the three of them were chatting. Tallulah was still learning how to mend clothes with Alina while also worrying about not being able to learn.

On the other side, Jeanne was weaving a piece of red cloth. Although Tallulah didn’t understand why Jeanne wanted to weave the cloth herself, she had never seen Jeanne wear any red clothes in over a year. Jeanne wove very slowly, and she probably couldn’t accomplish much in a day.

But they had long been accustomed to this way of getting along, and Tallulah liked the kind of cloth that gave her a warm feeling.

However, she kept hearing a faint crying and wailing sound. When she turned around, there was nothing there. Maybe it was just her imagination?

It was maybe the howling wind outside.

"By the way, Alina, how are you preparing? It is said that the blizzard in the next few days will be more severe than before, so you have to pay attention!"

Jeanne reminded her, after all, Alina's home was not like theirs. She naturally didn’t need to say more; Tallulah was a Draco with dragon blood, and that body was great for work!

"Ah, it should be enough. I haven't used anything recently, and the remaining supplies should be enough to survive this winter."

Alina thought for a moment before responding.

"Okay, I'll go see what's missing tomorrow. If we run out of supplies in a few days, it will be hard to survive."

Jeanne was still a little worried. She had helped Alina store some things some time ago, which should be enough for the winter. But who would have thought that this winter would be particularly terrible? She was genuinely concerned.

Suddenly, she sensed something and immediately put down the work in her hands.

A Revelation told her that a group of Patrol search teams would come tomorrow to conduct another search. Even Jeanne who had a good personality couldn’t help but feel a little unhappy. This was the fifth time they had come to plunder this winter. They were going to completely strip them!

"What's wrong? Could it be that those black bugs are coming again?"

When Tallulah and the others saw Jeanne’s expression, they immediately thought of this reason.

This wasn’t the first time Jeanne had discovered that the patrol team was coming, but she always used her intuition as an excuse.

Although this was a bit absurd, Tallulah still believed this explanation. The following accurate predictions made them completely trust Jeanne's words.

After seeing Jeanne nod, they hurriedly followed her to hide the valuables at home. The magical thing was that every time Jeanne guided them on where to hide, they would not be discovered.

This ability which was almost like prophecy was Jeanne's Personal Skill: Revelation. It could guide her on what to do. But this kind of almost intuitive insight was so amazing that ordinary people would find it hard to believe it was real.

However, they still left some supplies in the cellar. If there truly was nothing left, the patrol team would definitely become suspicious. It was better to leave some supplies to mask their eyes.

Yet, Jeanne's Revelations this time had always given her a much more deeper sense of crisis.

Was something going to happen? Were those who were coming really the patrol team?

----

Chapter 4: The Saint Who Dedicated Herself to Save the Nation

That night, everyone went to bed with some worry. They knew Jeanne's ability, and every time she had a premonition of the arrival of those black bugs, it became a reality.

Inside the house, Tallulah and Jeanne slept in a bunk bed. It was evident that it had been spliced together based on a single bed.

Tallulah couldn't sleep. She kept hearing faint sounds again, like a groundhog screaming.

She sighed. The sound vaguely reminded her of Kashchey. Although she didn't know what it was, it was definitely not a good thing.

Jeanne who uses on the upper bunk was currently praying quietly to a wooden cross, which was also something she saw being done every morning and evening.

Sometime ago Talulah became curious and asked what the name of the god Jeanne believed in was, but she said that the name of god should not be used in vain.

This also made Tallulah a little helpless. In the legend of Ursus, countless evil gods were sleeping in this snowy field. She was just worried that Jeanne would believe in the wrong god and encounter misfortune.

However, Jeanne had prayed to it for such a long time and no problems happened so far. It was probably not a cruel evil god.

Amid the gentle prayer, Tallulah fell into a deep sleep. Even the piercing screams were ignored by her.

After a while, Jeanne finally finished praying.

Since she came to this world, she always prayed subconsciously.

When praying, she could really feel the warm light. It was the only god watching her, and it would help her when necessary.

For example, because she did not know the language of this world, when she prayed on the first day she came to this world, God directly gave her the ability to learn all languages.

Although she was once an atheist, she would not stubbornly believe that it was false when the chosen god appeared in front of her.

But what made her feel strange was that even though she also possess the identity of a witch, she was watched by God like this. So why was Jeanne burned to death on the execution ground?

With the degree of favoritism of that god, shouldn't it have come to punish those guys?

But it's all in the past, and she will know sooner or later. As for now, let's go to sleep first.

As Jeanne gradually fell asleep, she came to a strange space in a trance.

This was a world composed of Jeanne D'arc's memories. She could come in every once in a while to know the Heroic Spirit's experience.

In the past two years, she witnessed the trials she experienced from the perspective of the saint Joan of Arc.

Until today, the girl's fighting career was about to end.

She saw the messenger of God telling her that if she continued to lead this army forward, she would be captured in this battle.

But she only hoped to die immediately after being captured to avoid torture.

She saw the betrayal of the nobles. Both materials and money were withheld and even disappeared directly.

The weapons supported by the people were taken away by other armies and discarded at will in defeat. How ridiculous!

She witnessed the Black Death spreading across the continent constantly taking the lives of others, while the nobles who supported the battle turned a blind eye.

And Jeanne silently endured all this and led the army to victory.

But she didn't know that the people who really wanted her dead were the emperor and nobles she had fought for.

In their eyes, this village girl with a very high reputation was a more dangerous person than the British army.

Until the end, when she was about to retreat to the city, the gate was closed.

The girl who knew she would be captured was still caught. In the end, she was ridiculously sold to the British.

And those French royals and nobles refused to pay the ransom and prevented others from doing so just waited for the news of her death.

In the end, the angel came to the prison and was stopped by her when he was about to rescue her.

The angel told her that if she didn't leave, she would be burned to death by these people sooner or later. But she accepted this fate.

She was ready to use her death to awaken the people of France, hoping that this war, which had lasted for nearly a hundred years, could stop.

The angel finally left and could only wish that Jeanne would not suffer the pain of punishment and that the malice would eventually return to those people.

Finally, she watched herself being tied to the stake in Jeanne's body and left this world in the flames.

At this time, she was still a girl under 20 years old.

This made her finally understand the anger of the Black Jeanne d'Arc; even if it was just fantasy, it was understandable. Because even she was full of anger.

Angry at those greedy nobles, angry at those who slandered her, and those who called her a witch... This anger appears to be able to ignite everything, but that self-forgave everything and died generously.

When she opened her eyes, the sky outside was already nearing dawn.

She stood up, prayed, and narrated her troubles. This was her habitual practice, and it only took more than ten minutes.

On the other side, Tallulah also woke up.

Today, her voice appear a little weak, and she could only hum twice, as if she had no strength to scream too miserably last night.

Just as the two got up and started a busy day, the infected patrol team also set out. They headed toward the village on the map to complete today's task; otherwise, they might be worse off than those infected people.

When they were halfway there, they saw a few guys in black standing there, as if they were waiting for them.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The captain of the patrol team noticed the terrifying aura of these guys and asked with some uneasiness.

Just by looking at the aura of these guys, he knew they were definitely not ordinary people. Looking at their sophisticated equipment, he could guess that they were private soldiers in the hands of a noble, so it was better to be a little less civilized.

"Take us to Kobuvic Village, and give us a few sets of your clothes."

The leading man said coldly, and the murderous aura around him implied that if they dared to refuse, he would kill them before going.

"This... this is against the rules. If the higher-ups know, we will be in trouble!"

The captain quickly refused. He didn't want to get involved in this matter. Is this kind of shameful business between nobles so easy to get involved in? If you are not careful, you will die without knowing where you are.

"You are not qualified to refuse! Either lead the way or die here; you can only choose one!" The guy's tone was obviously a little colder, and the murderous aura emanating from his body was like a snake swimming there, making people's hair stand up.

"Okay... okay, I can lead the way. But it's just a very remote village. Even if we set out now, it will take at least half a day!"

As he said, he and his team members led the guys to the remote village.

He didn't know which poor guy had angered these nobles again.

---

Chapter 5: Fangs of the Deathless Black Snake

In the afternoon, the group finally arrived at the village. The patrol team couldn't help but sigh; these people were indeed elite soldiers. Their legs were weren't weak from running, and they didn’t need a breather.

"Sir, we are here. The village you mentioned is not far ahead," the captain said respectfully, sweating profusely under his mask. He could see that these people were not good individuals.

"That's good. You can go back."

Upon hearing the cold voice, he suddenly felt a warm current flowing through his body. He didn't expect these people to be so easy to talk to.

But the next moment, he was dumbfounded. The others had disappeared as if they had teleported, and then his soldiers behind him fell to the ground with their heads and bodies separated.

"What are you doing?" he shouted angrily. Although they were a group of scum who should have died in the snowfield long ago, they didn’t see it that way. They thought they were soldiers loyal to the Emperor of Ursus, loyal subjects collecting resources.

As for the civilians? There was nothing they could do. After all, the country had to go to war, and they could only abandon them at that time.

But now, someone was actually attacking them? Although they had expected it and their superiors would offend the nobles for them, they still couldn’t accept it when it actually happened.

"This is for the future of Ursus. Please rest here!"

With that, the captain of the patrol team fell to the ground. Blood dyed the earth red and was soon covered by new snow, as if nothing had happened here.

That was natural; no one could count how many corpses were buried in this land called the Ursus Snowfield.

The attackers walked toward the village, obeying Duke Kashchey’s order to eliminate a person hindering the development of Ursus.

One of them took out a picture of a girl with blonde hair and purple eyes. This was the target Kashchey had identified through spiritual contact.

By the way, they planned to turn this village into a sea of fire. But they would spare Draco and Elafia; they were still useful. If given the chance, it was best to kill the girl in the photo.

Although the mission was strange, they were the sharpest teeth of Duke Kashchey—the "Snake Fang" of the Deathless Black Snake!

Their mission was to clear all obstacles in the way of Lord Kashchey’s great cause.

After walking for a while, they entered the village. The villagers saw the black-clad figures from a distance, and their faces changed drastically. They hurriedly hid in their homes refusing to come out.

The attackers paid no attention. They came to massacre the village, not to collect taxes, so the villagers' opinions were of no concern.

At that moment, a man who appeared to be dressed in rags and reeking of alcohol came forward. He asked with a flattering demeanor, "Lord... Lord, do you need a guide? There is nothing in this village that I don’t know. If you exempt my taxes, I can tell you everything!"

The leader looked at him, pulled out the painting, and asked coldly, "Do you know where this person is?"

The drunk glanced at the girl in the painting and immediately perked up. "Lord, I know! She’s the girl adopted by old Ivan's family! She wandered into our village a few years ago. Their home is in the patched house on the east side!"

Without another word, the Snake Fang turned and ran in that direction. The happy drunk was left behind, shouting excitedly, "Lord! Remember to exempt my taxes! I am Anthony! Remember to exempt my taxes!"

Afterward, he turned around and went home to drink happily. He didn’t feel the slightest guilt for betraying Jeanne.

He realized that these people were not from the patrol team at all. He was sharp enough to tell at a glance that they were the nobles' subordinates!

Why? Their gloves and shoes were inlaid with gold edges and noble family crests! Although inconspicuous, he had sharp eyes!

Did those patrol units have this kind of money? If they had such spare cash and connections, they would have asked their superiors to leave this place where no one lived.

As for Jeanne... Anyway, she was going to die, so why not give her some benefits?

He still had the meat that old Ivan exchanged yesterday and two bottles of good vodka! He would make a good meal to celebrate—celebrate that the smart Anthony had saved another batch of food.

On the other side, Jeanne suddenly felt a sense of danger approaching and hurriedly said to Tallulah and the others, "Tallulah, take Grandpa and the others away quickly. And call the villagers! Don’t worry about the finances; get away from the village as soon as possible!"

"What happened, Jeanne? Those Infected Patrol wouldn’t be so cruel, right?"

Seeing that Tallulah wanted to ask more, Alina interrupted her. Tallulah carried the two elderly people on her back and hurriedly evacuated.

"Don’t be impulsive, Jeanne! You must come back alive! Even if you don’t want your home and money, promise me you will protect yourself!"

Several of them were still worried and wanted Jeanne to run with them, but she refused.

She knew the others were coming for her. If she disappeared, the village would also suffer.

Watching the four figures disappear into the distance and then looking at the approaching enemies, she sensed the murderous aura that couldn’t be hidden.

But this didn’t affect her at all. After all, she had experienced war in her dreams. Now that the memories in those dreams had become her power, how could she lose her composure?

The ten members of the Snake Fang soon spotted Jeanne dressed as a village girl, watching as Tallulah and the others ran away.

Just as they were about to separate and give chase, a strong light suddenly illuminated the area. They saw the village girl suddenly wore a silver armor with purple clothes bearing a cloak, holding a massive flagpole.

"This is a tough one! She must have been on the battlefield!"

When they saw the blonde girl, most would praise her beauty at first glance. But these killers felt uneasy!

This woman was definitely not simple. If they were careless, they might fall here.

Everyone abandoned the plan of splitting up and decided to eliminate Jeanne directly before addressing anything else.

Jeanne held the flagpole tightly in her hand, drawing the Sword of Catherine she wore with her other hand. This Noble Phantasm originally meant for self-destruction could naturally be used as a weapon on its own.

On the other side, Tallulah used her excellent physical strength to carry her grandparents a distance away. Alina behind her was also running as fast as she could.

Along the way, they sent out an alarm to the village, urging everyone to leave quickly. But only some left; the rest preferred to bury themselves in their homes rather than come out.

"Alina, take good care of Grandpa and Grandma."

As she spoke, Tallulah felt a strange energy fluctuation coming from the village and walked toward it worriedly.

She couldn't leave her friends behind and run away by herself; that was definitely not what Tallulah should do.

Besides, although she wasn’t very skilled at sewing, she was confident in fighting.

"Go, child. It’s enough for Alina to take care of us. You must come back with Jeanne intact!"

---

Chapter 6: About whether Kaschey sent them just to die

While Tallulah was rushing back quickly, the battle here had already started for a while.

The snakes stared at Jeanne, trying to see what race she was.

With the tactics they had trained, even those Ursus veterans would be eliminated in one encounter.

But this girl who looked like an ordinary farm girl appeared to have changed into a different person the moment she picked up her weapon.

And this girl with thin arms and legs actually defended their first attack and swung two of them away with a flagpole!

Judging from how badly they were beaten, she must have been very strong!

What the hell is this?

Even the little Draco adopted by the Duke back then couldn't match her strength.

Could it be a Abyss Hunter from Aegir's side?

That's not right! What are those water creatures doing running to the snowfield? Are they going to see if there are any penguins here?

In short, the situation was reversed in an instant.

Unexpectedly, the girl they originally thought to be the prey was actually the hunter!

No wonder the Duke wanted to get rid of her!

But he didn't have the time to be stunned, and he couldn't even separate his mind and speak.

They just wanted to evacuate quickly and call for help to deal with the girl. In order not to arouse the suspicion of the Grand Duke here, they only brought ten elites.

"Although I don't know why you attacked me, since the war has started, don't think you can leave safely."

Jeanne has seen through their thoughts and rushed over with her weapon. The Originium Arts used by these guys were completely useless.

Although she didn't know where the limit was, she was confident that she could resist their Originium Arts with her exceptional EX-level Magic Resistance.

She directly used a flagpole to swing one away, and it crashed heavily into the tree and didn't move, while the other hand waved the sword and chopped down another enemy.

The other members quickly drew out their weapons and planned to surround her and use close combat to make her reveal her flaws. But the big flag was like a spear, and she waved it tightly, so she couldn't fight in close combat at all.

Jeanne fought calmly. She knew what these enemies were going to do next. She just needed to find a way to deal with them and then fight back.

It was just like... in a dream! Her Revelation would tell her how to defeat them, and then she just needed to implement it.

When Tallulah arrived, there were only three people left in Snake Fang fleeing and being chased by Jeanne.

This battle was completely the opposite of what Tallulah had imagined. She knew that Jeanne was strong, but she didn't expect that she could even beat these guys.

When she saw these people's Originium Arts, she knew who they were. She had seen this kind of Originium Arts before. It was a private army belonging to Duke Kaschey!

"Kaschey, you are really haunting me..."

Tallulah thought angrily, and the next moment these anger turned into flames that could burn everything around, attacking the Snake Fang.

Now Snake Fang was dumbfounded. There was a draco blocking the way in front and village girl blocking the way behind. What should they do?

They had never fought such a cowardly battle! What's the difference between this and sending one Emperor's Blade to kill Patriot?

The flames exploded, melting everything around. The house where they had lived for several years was also affected and burned.

Tallulah looked at everything burning around her sadly. She was surrounded by the smell of burning corpses, and her heart was extremely sad.

Jeanne also felt reluctant as she looked at her burning wooden house. After all, she had lived there for several years, and it was really hard to just disappear like this.

Suddenly, as if she thought of something, she rushed into the sea of fire and disappeared!

"Ah! Go back Jeanne! I don't want the things anymore!"

Tallulah panicked instantly. She didn't expect Jeanne to be so reckless. What important things could be more important than herself?

But the problem is that this flame is her Originium Art, not an ordinary fire!

It is more powerful than a naturally burning flame, but now she can't find a way to extinguish the flame.

Just when Tallulah was at a loss, Jeanne had successfully come out of the sea of fire. There was no trace of burns on her body, and she was holding many bits and pieces.

There was the red cloth she had been making, some things from the old couple, and a strange bottle filled with water... and her secret private money!

She forgot that the money she had saved was still in the house!

If she hadn't snatched it out, her little money would have melted into metal.

"You are too reckless. What is more precious than life? How can I explain to them if something happens to you?"

Tallulah quickly took the things from Jeanne's hand while complaining about her reckless behavior with some fear.

"Ahaha, it's okay. Doesn't this flame have no effect on me?"

She also felt relieved to enter after discovering that this flame was an Originium technique. Although she didn't know how much the flame that was natural would affect her, she won't try to set herself on fire again.

But the flame composed of this Originium art is basically equivalent to the Magecraft in Type-moon World, and it can't cause any harm to her at all.

When they brought Alina and the old couple back, this place had turned to ashes. Only a piece of charred smoke was left floating on the ground.

The two old people looked at the burned house and said nothing. They just stared at it for a long time before muttering:

"It's good that it's okay, it's good that it's okay."

But at this time, the villagers who saw the situation calmed down surrounded them and looked at Jeanne and Tallulah with some fear.

"They actually killed the patrol team! We are finished! We are finished!"

"What can we do? Where did the fire come from? Are they infected?"

"Think about it, if they are not infected, how can they defeat the master of the patrol team?"

...

Tallulah lowered her head and remained silent. She knew that she had harmed everyone. Those Snake Fangs must have went here because she came here.

"We are finished! We are finished! Those are not the patrol team! They are the private soldiers of the noble! I saw the noble family emblem with my own eyes!"

Among the crowd, Anthony who had pointed the way before shouted. His face was flushed, and he obviously drank a lot of wine. He was the type who enjoyed watching the fun and spoke loudly about what he knew.

"That group of guys went for Jeanne! After they came in, they took out Jeanne's portrait! We will be wiped out by the nobles soon! We are finished! So I, the village chief, will not pay you back the five rubles I owe you."

Anthony danced with joy like a clown. The villagers who had been taken care of by their family couldn't stand it anymore and directly pressed the drunkard down.

"Let's go to Alina's house first. We'll talk about what happens next."

Looking at the villagers' reactions, Jeanne smiled and said to them, and they saw them supporting the elderly and carrying things step by step towards Alina's home.

And those villagers also wisely made way for a wide road. Tallulah found that these people had all kinds of emotions in their eyes, pity, confusion, sadness, despair, disgust... and more of them were reluctant.

She then decided something, and her eyes seemed to be burning with fire and extremely firm. But she followed Jeanne silently.

----

Chapter 8: Separation or Continue to Walk Together?

Talulah looked at the Elaifa beside Jeanne in disbelief.

How did she sneak out? Shouldn't she be sleeping peacefully at home? She had no reason to leave with them!

Talulah's mind was a little confused. Who else could the deer in front of her be except Alina? She couldn't think straight for a while.

"Alina, why did you follow me?"

"Of course! Of course I have to go with you. How could I let you two leave me alone?"

"No, we were driven out for various reasons, and you were not among them. You don't have to go with us! This is very dangerous. Now is not the time to act on impulse! Besides, what if Grandpa and Grandma find out that you have disappeared?"

Talulah's worry was not unreasonable. Compared with the two people with steong abilities, Alina herself was not the type who was good at fighting.

In addition, her body was a little weak, and Talulah was concerned that she wouldn't withstand the blizzard on the ice field.

"Of course I told them, and they agreed to let me leave. They said they could take care of themselves... There is one more thing I haven't told you: I am actually an infected person!"

After hearing this, Talulah was silent.

After living with Alina for such a long time, she didn't realize that Alina was also infected?

Looking at Jeanne's expression, she should have discovered that Alina was infected a long time ago. But how come she hadn't seen her Oripathy attack after living with her for so long and getting along with her every day?

No, since she came here, Alina's Oripathy hadn't had many attacks. At first, Talulah thought it was a mild infection, but now she suspected there must be other reasons.

"Well, let's go together." Talulah looked at Alina. She didn't expect her to follow her secretly on such a dark night. But if she was infected, it would be more dangerous to stay in the village

 However, the flame on the tail used for lighting flickered between large and small, indicating that Talulah was not calm inside.

"What should we do next? Find another village to live in seclusion? Or should we find a way to leave Ursus and seek a more suitable country?"

Jeanne asked the two. She didn't care; anyway, she could live well wherever she went.

If it didn't work, she could try her luck in Lateran. Maybe she would be taken in because of her god.

Anyway, those angels with halos on their heads must have something to do with the god of hers, and that guy didn't like people pirating him.

"I want to act in the snowfield. I want to give all the infected a place to live, instead of being used as meaningless consumables like now."

Talulah said seriously; this was exactly her ideal.

Over the years, she had seen too many people captured simply for becoming infected, whether they were a doctor who had saved lives just seconds before or a soldier who dedicated himself to Ursus.

This environment, where you were oppressed simply for being infected, regardless of good or evil, made her want to seek change. All of this had to start in the snowfield, where the infected were most oppressed.

"What about you, Jeanne? Why don't you go to Lungmen? Although it's far away, if I write you a letter, you can still find a good job."

Talulah looked at Jeanne. She was different from the two of them. She was not infected but had to leave because she was implicated.

If she wrote a letter to that old man Wei Yenwu, he would surely take good care of Jeanne for her sake, right?

In her mind, there seemed to be a voice telling her to leave, leave here, leave quickly. Please, please leave quickly...

Could it be that Kaschey did something to her before he died?

"Of course I will act with you. Who can rest assured with the two of you like this! Without me, you may not even be able to find the next village."

Hearing Jeanne's words, although Talulah had some guesses, she was still a little surprised. She hadn't expected that Jeanne actually planned to act with her, but she didn't need to do so at all!

"Rather than living a dull life in a place I don't know, I hope to change something. Maybe their arrival tells me that I should take action. I agree with your theory."

Jeanne continued without waiting for Talulah to speak. She could guess what Talulah wanted to say.

It was nothing more than words like "infected" and "non-infected," which had no persuasive power for Jeanne, who did not agree with this concept.

"Okay, let's go quickly. I remember there is a cave in front where we can rest. Really, I shouldn't have listened to you and sneaked out in the middle of the night."

As she said that, Jeanne pulled the two of them and walked quickly toward the cave. This also interrupted Talulah's train of thought, making her forget that she was persuading Jeanne to leave them and live her own life.

Jeanne naturally couldn't argue with her. If she continued to argue, she wouldn't be able to change this stubborn girl's mind even by tomorrow.

The best way was to let another topic directly engage her brain. Anyway, that girl could only handle one thing at the same time, so she couldn't react.

After a long time, she would naturally accept it.

That night, the three girls who left home spent their first night in the cave. Talulah was already sleeping soundly there, while Jeanne was praying.

There was nothing mysterious about it; she simply recounted everything that happened that day and sorted out her thoughts.

After finishing, she found Alina looking at the two of them still smiling.

"I thought you would oppose me joining you like Talulah."

Jeanne said to Alina. She knew that this gentle friend of hers was very rational.

Compared to Talulah, who was easily impulsive and went to extremes, Alina would restrain her inner impulses more and be more rational. So she agreed that the possibility of Jeanne leaving was still very high.

"I can't do it." Alina stretched and continued, "If possible, I also hope that Jeanne can find a Nomadic City to live in, and you can live better than you do now, no matter what you do. But I also know that you will definitely do something once you decide on it. When you decide on something, you may not have noticed; the light in your eyes is shining..."

....

Faintly, Talulah had a dream. She saw Kaschey turned into a black snake, wailing constantly under the shining of the sacred light.

Under the brilliance of the light, its body was constantly melting, and the black snake was continually regenerating.

This seemed to be a kind of obsolete torture she had read about in a book in Great Yan, called check Lingchi. It was a horrible method of cutting off the flesh of the victim one by one without letting him die.

"Please, let me go! I was wrong; I shouldn't have done it to her... Ah, ah, ah... I was really wrong; I surrender! Can I surrender? Don't continue; I really can't hold on..."

It desperately begged for mercy, pleading with the owner of the light to forgive it, but the only response it received was the ruthless light that kept burning it.

---