Before long, Jeanne and Lyudmila had stealthily made their way to a storage site for supplies. Inside, a vast quantity of standard-issue weapons and crossbow bolts were stored, their metallic surfaces glinting with a cold light in the night.
As for how they got in? Naturally, they had knocked out the sentry guarding the area, taken the warehouse keys from his person, and slipped inside.
"Wasteful... truly wasteful! These things are quite precious, too."
Jeanne, who intended to burn the place to the ground, now wore a look of reluctance. Standing there amidst a warehouse full of weapons, she looked like someone lamenting the actions of a profligate spendthrift.
The fact that the "spendthrift" wasting materials was actually herself didn't matter; what mattered to Jeanne was that she was about to set this place on fire.
In truth, Lyudmila didn't entirely agree with burning this specific spot. Compared to these materials—which weren't exactly easy to ignite—it would have been far more convenient and impactful to burn their granary.
However, Jeanne's reasoning held weight: if they burned the food supply, the ones to suffer might not be these soldiers, but the villagers on the tundra who were already struggling to survive. These soldiers had specialized transport routes; even if their food vanished, more would be sent within a short time. And how could a group of well-armed, strong men let themselves starve while waiting? The defenseless peasants would become their prime targets for plunder. They would simply march into the villages and seize everything edible.
"Do we need to find some oil or something? This place is full of steel! Even if you bring a torch, you won't necessarily be able to get this place to catch fire," Lyudmila remarked. She wasn't optimistic about Jeanne's plan to use fire against a room full of metal, as getting it to burn was little more than a pipe dream.
Unless, of course, Jeanne possessed Originium Arts like Talulah's—capable of generating ultra-high temperatures without effort to melt the weapons into molten iron.
Thinking of this, Lyudmila glanced at Jeanne. It couldn't be that coincidental, could it? Does she actually have that kind of power? Isn't her ability supposed to be controlling beasts?
"No need. Just watch."
As she spoke, Jeanne drew the holy sword from her back. In an instant, flames coiled into every corner of the space, and the surrounding steel began to glow and melt under the scorching heat of the blaze.
"Let's go! If the fire keeps burning like this, I'll be fine, but I'm worried you won't be able to stand the heat."
Jeanne grabbed Lyudmila and ran outside. By now, the soldiers would surely notice the changes, and they needed to use the chaos to make their escape.
Not long after they left the warehouse, the burning building acted like a beacon, instantly drawing the attention of a massive number of soldiers. This was where their weapons were stored! Even if they were just standard equipment, such an intense fire would ruin them all. If word reached headquarters, they would all be held accountable.
"Quickly! Move all flammable materials away from the area and find a way to extinguish the fire!" an officer-like figure shouted, directing the surrounding soldiers. Since the fire had already started, the priority was minimizing the loss.
The fire was peculiar, though. There were clearly no combustibles inside that warehouse, so how had it started? Had they been infiltrated? Considering this, the officer quickly reported the incident to his superiors. However, the voice on the other end of the communicator was calm—there was even a trace of what sounded like joy.
"Understood. Ensure the fire does not spread to other sectors."
The deep voice said only those few words before hanging up. Looking at the burning warehouse in the distance, the man showed no emotion. He stood there like a statue, watching the raging inferno for a long time before slowly walking back into his tent.
"Well? Can you confirm it was that lot?"
Inside the tent, another officer of equal rank looked at him. The half-smile on the man's face was the kind of expression that would give anyone else goosebumps. The first impression he gave was one of pure danger; that "kind" expression looked less like a genuine look and more like a smiling human-skin mask he had pasted on.
"I can't be 100% certain yet, but it's a safe bet. What are they calling themselves now? Reunion, right? That fire looks very much like the work of that flame-user among them."
The officer was referring to Talulah. To his knowledge, in this region, she was the only one capable of wielding such terrifying pyrokinetic Originium Arts. It seemed the guests they had been waiting for had finally arrived. He hoped they would show a bit of backbone to make up for all the days they'd spent freezing in this wasteland.
The two officers exchanged sharp glances. It wasn't that they looked down on their opponents, but in their eyes, the enemy was at best a band of disorganized stragglers. The only real difficulties would be Patriot and his Shieldguards—or perhaps, this time, those "beasts" would be added to the list. Beyond that, nothing caught their eye. They were elite, rigorously trained soldiers who had survived multiple rounds of elimination; how could they possibly be compared to the trash found around here?
"I don't quite understand. You were the one who said we should keep this mission stealthy and avoid being noticed. So why did you go and make such a huge scene in the end?"
After running for a distance, the two dove back into the deep mountain forests. Lyudmila, finally catching her breath, questioned Jeanne with confusion. She didn't understand the logic. If you wanted to cause trouble, wouldn't it have been better to hit the Originium weapon stockpile that's prone to exploding? At least that would reduce the firepower we face in the future.
"You've just arrived, so you aren't clear on the situation. These guys were coming for us from the start; the Catastrophe Mine was just a coincidence that gave them an excuse. Now, they won't have the energy to go out and harass anyone else."
Jeanne genuinely didn't trust the moral compass of these soldiers. If they couldn't find a lead on Reunion, they would likely use the "search for Infected" as a pretext to victimize anyone they could find. This wasn't alarmism; a large portion of the people held there weren't actually Infected, but villagers from nearby settlements. Jeanne had guessed as much and confirmed it through people trading in other villages.
These soldiers didn't need a reason to snatch people; sometimes they did it out of boredom, or to make a bit of extra cash. But for Reunion, this was bad news. The soldiers might tell those captives that the reason they were snatched was due to suspected collusion with the movement. If that happened, even if those defenseless people escaped, they would vent their hatred on the Infected. That was something Jeanne wanted to avoid at all costs.
She suspected the profits from the Catastrophe Mine would largely fall into the soldiers' pockets, which is why they cared so much about the excavation and were even conscripting labor from other mines. But now, things were different. Once they realized Reunion had found them, they would pour all their energy into preparing for war, leaving them no leisure time to oppress the populace.
"When you put it that way, it makes sense. Let's head back, then. Everyone is waiting for us."
Lyudmila nodded and rose to return to the village with Jeanne. Ordinarily, walking the tundra at this hour would be extremely dangerous—not just because of the darkness, but because of wild beasts. But for these two "superhuman sisters," those weren't problems at all. If anything, the beasts were the ones who should be worried about becoming dinner.
"I have one more thing to handle. Wait for me a moment."
With a flash, Jeanne vanished from sight, leaving Lyudmila standing there alone. She stared in the direction Jeanne had disappeared for quite a while. With no other choice, she simply waited.
Meanwhile, Jeanne had made her way to a small hillside not far from the camp. This spot was hidden deep within the woods, making it extremely difficult for others to discover. There, she summoned the mutated Earth Dragon from before.
"From today on, your name is Laifu. I have a mission for you. See that place over there? Dig a tunnel from here to there!"
Jeanne pointed directly toward the spot in the camp where the heavy weaponry was stored.