After returning to the village, Talulah's intuition told her that Jeanne definitely had a hand in that bizarre blizzard. If her deduction was wrong, Talulah promised herself she'd eat her own tail!
The problem was, she couldn't fathom exactly what Jeanne had done. Coupled with the massive influx of rescued people arriving to build the new village, she had to set the matter aside for the time being. For a long while, she was entangled in endless administrative tasks, leaving her almost no time to ponder how fishy the incident was. As time passed, she actually ended up forgetting about it.
"Even though I know you're quite capable, looking at the current situation, I think I still underestimated your administrative skills."
Talulah had just rushed back to the village from the outskirts after hearing from her subordinates that people from the two different villages were on the verge of a physical brawl over some verbal disputes. She had hurried over immediately. Although she heard Jeanne had already gone to handle it, she couldn't help but worry: What exactly does Jeanne mean by "handling it"? Would she solve the problem by solving the person who raised it?
In the past, such things hadn't really happened. Any conflict was usually brought to the village administrators, and rarely did anything escalate to the point of bothering the leaders. Since everyone lived in the same village, most issues were just two people bumping into each other during a chat and having a disagreement that spiraled from a verbal spat into a scuffle—those were easy to fix.
But now, it was different. A dispute between two individuals had evolved into a clash between two villages. And since it happened during this relatively idle period, heaven only knew if things would spiral out of control.
When she arrived at the scene, she saw the two groups separated as if by a clear boundary line, glaring at each other. Standing right in the middle was Jeanne.
The two sides clearly had their tempers flared and were ready to fight, but once Jeanne arrived, no one dared to make a move. They could only stand there obediently, waiting for Jeanne to grasp the situation.
Talulah watched the entire process: Jeanne assessed the facts, handled the dispute, and finally scolded the two men who had caused the mess until they looked like shamed children. The two Ursus bruisers being lectured were nearly two meters tall; standing before them, Jeanne looked like a little child. To look them in the face, she actually had to tilt her head back.
Despite this, these two men were as well-behaved as toddlers in front of the relatively small Jeanne, even bowing their heads to receive her scolding. After Jeanne perfectly resolved the incident, she even pulled the two village chiefs aside for a talk. Seeing the two elderly men admitting their faults under Jeanne's words, Talulah felt a wave of genuine admiration.
At times like this, Jeanne was almost a completely different person. In this state, she was like an impartial judge, capable of speaking words so fair that everyone felt compelled to agree.
"When have you ever 'highly' regarded me, Leader Talulah?"
Having settled the matter, Jeanne walked side-by-side with Talulah as the villagers dispersed. The two walked slowly through the snow, treating it as a rare moment of rest.
They had put a great deal of effort into establishing the new village as quickly as possible. Fortunately, after several months, they had helped the villagers complete the preliminary construction. The remaining tasks could be left to the residents; if they wanted anything more, they would have to work for it with their own hands.
"You might call me that, but I always feel like you're just making fun of me."
Talulah looked at the woman who kept teasing her with the "Leader" title. If she weren't outmatched in a fight, she'd definitely show Jeanne some "color" to prove her "majesty"!
The two strolled through the snow, laughing and chatting without any particular destination, simply allowing their weary minds to relax.
Then again, the tundra had been surprisingly quiet lately. Places that were once chaotic and lawless now seemed as if someone had pressed the pause button, falling into a state of silence. Even the nauseating Inspection Squads were rarely seen anymore. It got to the point where Talulah once wondered if they had hit them so hard that the squads had become an endangered species.
Normally, this was the peak season for them to be active, especially along the mandatory paths between villages. Their sudden disappearance made the region much quieter. Everyone stayed huddled in their own villages, focusing on their own lives.
"Oh, right. Didn't you say that Lemuen had some friends coming over? How come I haven't seen her at all lately?"
As they wandered, Talulah suddenly remembered Jeanne mentioning that the Sankta had two friends who had traveled specifically to see her. But lately, forget the two friends—she hadn't even seen the Sankta herself more than a few times.
"Her? She's helping her friend complete a mission. Her friend only came here because she took a job. Otherwise, how else do you think someone could pass through the Ursus security checks safely?"
Jeanne recalled the Apostolic Knight who had been gone for quite a while. She had left with Mostima to carry out the mission and hadn't returned. Jeanne wondered how it was going. But on second thought, they shouldn't encounter anything dangerous. Given the current situation, there wasn't much in this area that could threaten their safety.
Moreover, Mostima held the position of a Messenger of All Nations. It was unlikely that anyone would be crazy enough to attack a Messenger of All Nations.
"Doing a mission here? I really don't know what this place has that could attract outsiders. Do they need help? If they do, we can lend a hand."
Hearing that they were here on a job, Talulah was puzzled. What could possibly be in a place like this that would make someone pay for an investigation? Did they hear there was Originium here and plan to start a mine?
"I heard they're investigating Catastrophe data here; that Mostima is also a Catastrophe Messenger. As for help? I don't think it's necessary. I get the feeling they quite enjoy the feeling of acting together again."
In Jeanne's view, besides the mission, the two were here to enjoy working as teammates once more. After all, they were once comrades in the same squad and likely missed the old days.
If Fiammetta, the third member of that squad, heard this, she would immediately refute Jeanne. In her eyes, this was absolutely NOT a sentimental journey through the past! Every time Mostima went out, she had to write a report, and that brat always "disappeared" when it came time to do the paperwork! Fiammetta had to finish two people's worth of reports by herself! Every time that happened, Fiammetta wanted to take her weapon and crack that woman's head open. But then she'd remember her duty as a monitor—if she killed the target, it would count as a failure on her part—so she let it go.
Hearing that the visitor was a Catastrophe Messenger, Talulah's respect for her grew. Nowadays, fewer and fewer people were willing to become Catastrophe Messengers, especially in a place like Ursus, where they were exceptionally rare. Since they frequently dealt with Catastrophes, their risk of contracting Oripathy was incredibly high—even higher than the workers in Victoria.
Even in their own ranks, aside from the two experienced Messengers with Patriot, the rest were mostly amateurs.
"Maybe when they get back, we can hire that Catastrophe Messenger to give our people some lessons," Talulah thought to herself. The main reason was that previous blizzard—it was too suspicious, and no one on her side could figure out what had happened. Even if the Messenger couldn't explain it, brushing up her subordinates' knowledge wouldn't hurt.
Just as Talulah was lost in thought, Jeanne's next sentence grabbed her full attention.
"By the way, they brought a message. Since the year is coming to an end, and New Year's Eve is a very important holiday in Laterano, the Pope wants to invite me to Laterano to celebrate this year."