By this time, every gaze was locked onto the sophisticated device. Most of the outcasts weren't pondering any grand strategies; they merely wanted to find a merchant outpost where they could barter the machine for a mountain of coin or winter provisions.
After all, this hardware was a genuine product of the Ursus imperial forces. Even if the model was several years old, such an item was an absolute rarity in these forgotten wastes, meaning it could easily fetch a handsome price.
Their reasoning was simple and entirely practical. A few voices in the crowd even began discussing whether they should creep back and trade the device directly to Reunion. Talulah and her inner circle would likely honor the exchange without simply seizing the goods and executing them on the spot.
As for whether trading with the very leader they had just crossed swords with was humiliating? To a pack of rogues like themselves, dignity was a worthless currency that didn't matter a whit.
If they possessed a single shred of honor, they would never have mounted that circus in the courtyard to begin with. Of course, turning back to Talulah was merely a desperate fallback option. If they could avoid it, they naturally preferred not to show their faces around her camp again, as even they felt a lingering trace of embarrassment.
"So what do we do next? Find a border town, liquidate this contraption, and find a quiet corner to live out our days?!"
Suddenly, a man stepped forward, tossing his recommendation into the ring.
The moment the suggestion left his mouth, he felt a dozen chilling glares lock onto his position. The ruffians guarding the military gear stared at him in unyielding, hostile silence.
"Even if we manage to liquidate this piece of hardware, how much coin do you think it will yield? Furthermore, with so many mouths to feed in our band, how much will each person actually pocket once the sum is divided?"
The counter-question struck a painful chord in the hearts of the crowd. Even if the transmitter was incredibly valuable, their individual shares would amount to a pittance. To survive the looming winter, they required a massive stockpile of supplies, but how on earth could they secure such wealth?
"Leave the arrangements to me," the exiled leader murmured, a dangerous gleam in his eye. "If fortune smiles upon us, we can secure a bounty far greater than simple coin. And even if the gamble fails, we lose absolutely nothing, do we?"
As if by common consent, every head turned to glance toward the distant silhouette of the moving city. Even the few faint-hearted souls who hesitated initially chose to express their agreement through a heavy, complicit silence.
With their path decided, the exiles sprang into motion. They trailed the slow-moving platform from a safe distance while frantically tinkering with the strange device, occasionally exchanging twisted, unsettling grins that would leave any onlooker thoroughly alarmed.
Meanwhile, aboard the moving town itself, the community remained completely oblivious to the plot brewing in the drifts. The vanguard was busy sweeping through the metallic corridors, hunting down any remnant rebel soldiers who might be hiding in the underbelly, either putting them to the sword or driving them down the ramps.
Patriot, who was directing the security sweeps, harbored zero sympathy for these remnants. The old general had never possessed a drop of kindness for the rogue elements wandering the snowfields.
According to the seasoned veteran, those soldiers had never been decent men even when they served in the regular ranks. After breaking away from their regiments, they claimed to be noble deserters fleeing imperial tyranny, but in reality, they were simply undisciplined thugs who couldn't endure military order and chose to flee into the wastes to live as bandits.
The old gentleman insisted that such scoundrels deserved no mercy. Consequently, Jeanne showed no hesitation during the sweeps, utilizing her staggering speed and tracking prowess to drag over ten hidden stragglers from the vents in a brief four-hour window.
Her efficiency easily outshone the efforts of the regular scouts, though the maiden couldn't help but feel a fleeting, amusing sensation that she had somehow drifted into the role of a bloodhound.
With the security checks nearing completion, the massive city blocks began their slow, thunderous crawl across the frozen plains. The regular villagers, most of whom had never set foot on a moving town before, clustered near the railings, staring out at the shifting landscape with wide, curious eyes.
To these folk who had spent their entire lives confined to isolated northern hovels, a mobile settlement was a mythical entity that existed only in the colorful tall tales spun by traveling merchants over a cup of winter ale.
Even though the structure beneath their boots was a crumbling, half-abandoned relic, the marvelous sensation of traveling across the tundra without taking a single step left them entirely spellbound.
After handing over the last batch of hidden stragglers to the guards, Jeanne made her way back to the primary command hall, only to find the atmosphere inside exceptionally grim. The core leaders were gathered around the central table in heavy, brooding silence, as if waiting for a hammer to fall.
Talulah was visibly shaking with rage. Jeanne noted that the metal mug resting in the Draco's hand—which had contained cool water just moments prior—was now bubbling violently, sending thick plumes of steam into the air. The young leader had clearly hit her limit once again.
"You are back. How fares the underbelly?" Talulah asked, draining the boiling water in a single, reckless gulp before narrowing her eyes to look at her companion.
Gazing at the furious Draco, Jeanne's sharp intuition told her that Talulah had almost certainly scalded her tongue on that bubbling water! However, the maiden possessed the good sense to keep that realization to herself, knowing that pointing out the blunder right now would only earn her a lifelong grudge.
"The sweeps are complete. There shouldn't be any stragglers left near the engines," Jeanne replied, glancing around the quiet room before asking hesitantly, "But what on earth happened here? The mood is completely frozen."
"Do not even bring up those wretches! Every mention of them makes my blood boil!" Talulah barked, her fist slamming onto the map table with a heavy thud, her features contorted in pure fury.
"Those exiles somehow stumbled upon a military broadcast array in the drifts. We just intercepted a wide-range transmission detailing our exact heading and structural vulnerabilities. Those ungrateful cowards are actively summoning the imperial army to wipe us out!"
A wave of deep regret washed over the Draco. She realized she should have simply unleashed her inner flame and incinerated the schemers the moment they mounted their challenge in the courtyard. Even if the surrounding onlookers had deemed her ruthless and unfeeling at the time, it would have been infinitely better than allowing those vipers to live and orchestrate the destruction of the entire movement.
But weeping over spilled milk was entirely pointless now. The betrayal was absolute, and their immediate priority was to devise a defense against the looming threat.
This crisis was the true source of the heavy silence hanging over the command hall. The regular vanguard didn't harbor a single shred of blame toward Talulah for letting the villagers walk away earlier, even if those exiles had proven themselves to be thoroughly unprincipled scoundrels.
After all, those outcasts had once labored alongside them as companions under the same banner. Had Talulah executed them merely for wanting to leave the movement, it would have dealt a devastating blow to the trust of the remaining camp.
"I see," Jeanne murmured, pinching her chin in deep thought. This development meant they were about to face the full might of the regular imperial garrisons patrolling the northern borders—a scenario that was exceptionally perilous for their ragtag forces.
"Scouts have spotted the smoke trails of imperial landships on the horizon! They are bearing down on our coordinates at full speed!"
Before Jeanne could finish analyzing the tactical layout, a breathless lookout burst into the room, delivering the grim tidings.
None of them had anticipated the imperial forces reacting with such terrifying speed. Talulah's expression stiffened for a brief heartbeat before she pressed her lips into a thin line, rising from her chair to inspect the viewports.
Patriot had already strode out of the complex to assemble his shieldguards, preparing his veterans for the brutal clash ahead. The old general hadn't uttered a single word of reproach; he simply adjusted his halberd and marched out into the snow to do his duty.
Jeanne and Talulah crowded around the compact console screen, their heads nearly touching as they scrutinized the flickering display. The primitive radar array clearly indicated two massive imperial landships cutting through the snowdrifts, closing the distance rapidly.
"I will fly ahead to assess their numbers and composition," Jeanne stated, straightening her posture as she prepared to depart. Given the gravity of the situation, her ability to take to the skies made her infinitely more effective than any terrestrial scout. "You stay here and direct the overall defense."
"Jeanne... tell me truly, did I commit a grave error back then? Should I have simply put them to the sword?"
Talulah accompanied Jeanne down the quiet corridor. Once they reached an isolated corner away from the prying eyes of the guards, the Draco halted, her voice hollow and trembling as she voiced the doubt gnawing at her spirit.
She was genuinely shattered by the realization that the very people she had liberated from the brink of death could possess a nature so thoroughly vile and twisted.
"How could any of this be your fault? Do you honestly believe executing them on the spot would have been a wiser path?" Jeanne countered, her tone entirely casual as she continued toward the exit.
"As far as I am concerned, your decision was perfectly just. If there is any flaw in this affair, it is simply that our luck was wretched—we happened to release a pack of spineless vipers. You only need to remain true to your own heart. Leave the rest of this mess to me!"
With those parting words, Jeanne stepped out onto the open observation deck. A few heartbeats later, the remaining villagers watched in awe as a magnificent, familiar draconic beast roared into the skies, carrying the maiden straight toward the approaching imperial fleet.
Hiding behind a ridge far out on the white plains, the exiled scoundrels watched the soaring shadow cut through the clouds, instantly realizing their dark plot had borne fruit! The conspirators gathered in a tight circle, laughing hysterically while mocking the sheer stupidity of the Draco leader.
"Let's pull back a bit further!" the ringleader directed, a cruel sneer playing on his lips. "If the clash turns bloody, we don't want to get caught in the crossfire. Once the cannons fall silent and the imperial soldiers move on, we can creep back and scavenge the valuables from the wreckage!"
Under his guidance, the outcasts continued to mock Talulah's compassion while scrambling to a safe distance, eagerly waiting to harvest the scraps of the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Jeanne crossed the frozen expanse in record time, closing the gap with the imperial fleet. Yet, just as she raised her blade and prepared to unleash a devastating strike upon the leading landships, she was confronted by an utterly unbelievable reality.
The terrifying Ursus imperial army was actively turning its hulls around. They were fleeing the field at full speed!