Jeanne walked through the deep darkness. In this particular area of the city, not even a shred of moonlight managed to pierce the gloom. Left with no other choice, she conjured a small, dancing flame in the palm of her hand, using the faint glow to survey her immediate surroundings.
Standing directly before her was a large group of men, watching her in absolute silence. To any outside observer, the scene looked exactly like a gang of Chernobog street thugs preparing to commit daylight robbery against a defenseless maiden, a sight that would make anyone break out in a cold sweat.
Forget about a young, vulnerable girl—even if a massive Ursus powerhouse wandered into this alley and found these men staring at him so intensely, he would likely wet himself on the spot.
Yet, despite the undeniable menace of the situation, the slender girl clad in black clothes showed zero signs of fear. On the other side, the men continued to glare down at her, looking for all the world as though their sole intent was to terrify the young maiden until she burst into tears.
"If you all keep standing there like that, I am going to scream for help and start fighting back!" Jeanne sighed, an expression of utter helplessness washing over her face as she addressed the group.
Her tone sounded as if she harbored complete confidence in her ability to single-handedly thrash these suspicious individuals using raw physical force. And in truth, that was the reality of the situation; Jeanne possessed total certainty that she could wipe this entire crowd out in the blink of an eye.
If anyone wondered where such immense confidence came from, Jeanne's answer would be simple: she knew them far too well. Every single person standing in this darkness had been thoroughly beaten by her hand before, and more than once!
"Well, you see, Boss, you didn't say anything first! Since our leader kept her mouth shut, how could any of us underlings dare to speak up before you?"
The moment one of the men spoke, the heavy, oppressive atmosphere instantly dissolved into pure comedy. It felt exactly like a player who had braved countless hardships to face the final dark lord, only to discover the supreme evil was actually a harmless Psyduck.
It was truly... an unimaginable twist.
"Cut the nonsense, and stop calling me 'Boss'! You are all significantly older than me. Calling me that makes it sound like I look ancient!"
"How could that be, Boss? In our hearts, you are forever nineteen, aren't you?"
"Yeah, that's right, Boss!"
"Understood, Boss! No problem at all, Boss!"
Within seconds, the grim tension transformed into a sea of jovial banter. A scene that started like a dark alleyway robbery shifted into a lighthearted comedy routine, the abrupt tonal shift enough to give anyone whiplash.
"I should have never let you lot mingle with those Yetis! Look at you now—you didn't learn a single one of their good traits, but you picked up their terrible habits in record time!"
Jeanne massaged her temples in pure agony. The lesson these men had taught her was that proper discipline took a lifetime to instill, while turning into a clown required only a single conversation. It was as if they had all been infected by some sort of Yeti virus, steadily evolving into a troupe of dedicated pranksters.
Who could have guessed that this very group used to be a band of stubborn rebels who gave even Talulah a massive headache? Back then, wanting to spare the leadership any further grief, Jeanne had personally volunteered to take charge of these troublemakers.
Yet, these very individuals, who had once carried deep-seated grudges and desired nothing more than to watch the world burn with them, had transformed into Jeanne's most fanatical supporters within a single month, rediscovering a genuine desire to live.
The only problem was the way they looked at her now. Whenever Jeanne caught them staring, it invariably reminded her of a certain bug-eyed old friend from her memories, making her hands itch to poke them in the eyes.
"This is all the magnificent result of your guidance, Boss!"
"Hearing you say that makes me feel like I committed a grave error somewhere. Is it too late to look for a time machine?"
Staring at these victims of the Yeti virus, Jeanne could only offer a helpless expression. She rubbed her forehead right over her headgear, waiting a brief moment before asking:
"Alright, come on. Which one of you geniuses decided it was a brilliant idea to arrange our meeting in a pitch-black place with zero light? Whose masterful strategy was this? I want to give him a proper reward!"
Jeanne squeezed the words out from between her teeth. Her gaze swept over the clowns, searching for the most unreliable culprit among them so she could deliver his prize.
She felt that taking a high-altitude, ropeless bungee jump off the back of a flying wyvern would be an excellent form of recreation. It would surely grant them the marvelous sensation of being born anew, a memory they would find difficult to forget for the rest of their lives.
"Wasn't it your instruction, Boss? You mentioned that we aren't here to launch an invasion, but merely to scout out the city's specific layout to make our upcoming actions easier. I just figured we ought to maintain a low profile..."
Seeing the dangerous look on Jeanne's face, a burly Ursus man attempted to salvage his situation, offering his explanation with complete honesty after a moment of hesitation.
"And so you chose a place this dark? We are conducting a stealth mission, not forming a bat squadron! If a stampede breaks out in the dark in a moment, we won't even be able to find a physician to tend to the injuries!"
The urge to throw a punch welled up within Jeanne once more. She even began to question whether bringing these men along had been an irresponsible choice on her part.
Observing their antics, Jeanne couldn't help but wonder if deploying them to Chernobog had been a mistake. Why did she get the distinct impression that these people might not even survive until the day the main operation began?
"Forget it, I don't care about the location anymore. First, tell me what you have accomplished over the past weeks. Surely you can provide me with at least one piece of good news so I have something to show the leadership when I return!"
Jeanne's tone grew softer, yet the men felt the hairs on the back of their necks stand up. They knew all too well that if they failed to present solid results, they would likely find themselves lining up tomorrow to look down the throat of a bared-fang wyvern.
"Our endeavors have been going very smoothly. We are currently drawing up a comprehensive layout of the structural districts. However, rumors have been circulating through Chernobog recently, so we must proceed with extreme caution."
"Exactly. In the past, the military police only bothered to verify whether someone was infected. But now, those officials have begun demanding residency permits and documentation. People like us simply do not possess those papers anymore..."
"Even so, our scouting of the school district is entirely complete. The specific maps have been drawn, and you can take them back with you today, Boss."
The men scrambled to report the results of their scouting. While the outcome wasn't quite as flawless as Jeanne had hoped, it far exceeded her worst fears. For this crowd to achieve such a standard proved they had exerted an immense amount of effort.
"Very well, I see that you have all worked hard. This intelligence is incredibly vital to our cause, and accomplishing this much under these conditions was no small feat." Jeanne nodded, her voice growing entirely gentle. Hearing their leader's praise, the men beamed with genuine joy.
"Think nothing of it, Boss! We merely executed the tasks within our capabilities. Besides, this serves as proof that those of us without the infection can still contribute our own strength to the movement!"
Indeed, these individuals were uninfected citizens who had been mistakenly branded as infected by the Chernobog authorities and exiled to the frozen wastes. To have survived such a place without contracting Oripathy was a stroke of miraculous luck.
And now, they were scouting out the city's inner workings, familiarizing themselves with every street to ensure that when the day of action arrived, they could play their part perfectly.
"Alright, hand the drawings over to me. I shall personally visit the school district to take a look. Before I set out, Commander Patriot reminded me numerous times to pay close attention to the educational sectors."
Jeanne stood up, intending to inspect the location herself. In truth, she was somewhat familiar with that area from prior visits; this trip was merely to verify the accuracy of the drafted maps.
She refused to allow any unforeseen mishaps to occur near the schools. The last thing she wanted was to see Patriot standing there in stony silence, his heart breaking over the tragic fate of the youth of Ursus.
The old general cared deeply for the students. In his eyes, the only force truly capable of reshaping the future of Ursus resided within these vibrant, youthful children; they had to be shielded from harm at all costs.
"Uh, about that, Boss... the guard presence around the schools has become exceptionally tight lately. Rumor has it that a few infected individuals are currently hiding out in that sector, so..."
"If you have something to say, spit it out! Since when did you start hesitating to speak with me?" Jeanne naturally saw right through the man's demeanor. Did they truly think they could hide their thoughts from her with such flimsy expressions?
"Well, Boss..." The Ursus man looked at Jeanne with an incredibly earnest expression. After a brief hesitation, he said, "If the circumstances permit, could you perhaps extend a hand to save those students? When we were moving through the area earlier, we gave them our word that we would do everything in our power to help them."
"Yeah, that's right! They actually aided our scouting efforts significantly during this operation!"
In an instant, the surrounding men broke into a flurry of eager chatter, all voicing their support for the hidden youths.