Over the next few days, though sporadic skirmishes broke out across the city, no large-scale conflict materialized. This left both the local garrison and many onlookers completely bewildered.
Previously, it seemed a full-blown war between Dublinn and the garrison was imminent. Yet, out of nowhere, the Dublinn forces had vanished into thin air, as if quietly biding their time for a specific signal.
The situation left the colonel thoroughly agitated. Looking out over the city felt like knowing it was infested with rats and cockroaches, yet the moment he reached to crush them, the slippery bastards disappeared without a trace.
To make matters worse, the factory producing his extermination supplies hit an unexpected snag, leaving him pacing back and forth in his office in a foul mood.
Someone had discovered the facility's location. Factoring in the time needed to relocate production, their plan to purge the city of those pests would be delayed even further.
The thought sent a surge of irritability through him. But as he pieced together the bizarre occurrences of the past few days, a realization dawned on him.
There was a traitor in his midst. He needed to purge any soldier showing the slightest hint of disloyalty—it was the only logical explanation!
Meanwhile, Jeanne had been keeping exceptionally busy. For the past few days, she and Talulah had been tirelessly shuttling between local workers. Thanks to their relentless efforts, the tension between Victorian and Taran laborers had finally begun to ease.
At its core, the grand political conflict had little to do with the working class. Whether someone was Taran didn't stop a Victorian worker from earning a living, and even if the Tarans achieved independence, it wouldn't directly ruin a ordinary laborer's life.
Likewise, for the Taran workers, harboring endless hatred for their fellow factory mates was ultimately pointless. After all, no one said Tarans and Victorians were destined to kill each other forever.
"I count this as a win," Jeanne said as the three of them sat together to rest. "Though I swear, if you offered me a fight with an Emperor's Blade next time, I'd take it over this agonizing diplomacy. Convincing people to change their minds is ten times harder than beating them up!"
Reed sat beside them, gradually relaxing in their company over the past few days. Truth be told, working alongside them here felt far more comfortable than living at Dublinn's main camp.
Jeanne and Talulah treated her as a real comrade rather than a political puppet. That alone made her want to cut ties with her sister and Dublinn entirely. Had the timing been better, she would have already asked if Reunion was taking new recruits so she could join them on the spot.
However, Reed knew it was merely a sweet daydream. She couldn't abandon Dublinn so easily, nor could she completely sever her blood ties with her sister.
"In most cases, changing how people think is far more difficult than defeating them in battle," Talulah said, picking up a fried chip and taking a bite. The faint exhaustion etched between her brows showed just how much energy she had poured into the endeavor. "If you hadn't been here, I wouldn't have had the confidence to shift those Victorians' minds."
"But seeing progress makes it all worth it, doesn't it?" Reed offered, trying to lighten the mood. "At least inside those factories, people aren't drawing hard lines over identity anymore. If this keeps up, getting them to truly accept one another isn't completely impossible."
Jeanne and Talulah exchanged a look and let out a soft sigh. While Reed's optimism was touching, the likelihood of achieving complete harmony was exceptionally low.
The three lapsed into silence, munching on their fried chips until Bagpipe came rushing in.
"Where have you been? You look like you've been rolling in the dirt!" Talulah asked, looking curiously at the disheveled Bagpipe.
"Don't ask! I've been runnin' ragged dodgin' those garrison guards!" Bagpipe collapsed into a chair, not even taking a breath before signaling the cook to bring her some food. She had been surviving on takeout from this very stand for days.
"Why are you hiding from them?" Talulah asked, finding the inner workings of the Victorian military increasingly absurd. "Aren't you Victorian soldiers too? Do your military factions fight each other behind closed doors now?"
"Our Cap'n's been put under house arrest by those bastards!" Bagpipe bit viciously into a chip as if it were the face of a Londinium noble. "And Cello got caught and thrown in with the Cap'n too after sendin' a report to Londinium! In short... we've been abandoned!"
Bagpipe spat out the words with bitter resentment. She was still a Victorian soldier on paper, but Victoria had discarded them—the entire Tempest Squad had been treated as disposable pawns!
Chewing furiously helped clear her head slightly, but it didn't change their reality. She could only rely on Janie, Rhodes Island, and this small sanctuary for now while trying to carry out her duty. That was why she had been ducking through alleys covered in grime, making herself look as unnoticeable as possible to the guards.
"If you're trying to hide, why not just dye your hair?" Jeanne asked, gesturing toward Bagpipe's vibrant orange locks. "Bright orange stands out like a sore thumb in this city."
"D'ye think I haven't thought o' that?!" Bagpipe raised her voice in frustration. "I daren't even step foot in a barbershop! What if a hundred garrison guards burst through the door the second I sit down? There's hardly any o' Tempest Squad left on the streets as is. If the only one left who can contact ye gets hauled off to jail, we're completely done for!"
Bagpipe slumped back against her chair, her exhaustion obvious to everyone. Avoiding the garrison while trying to gather intel—especially when several guards had already seen her face—had taken a heavy toll on her.
"I can help you with that," Jeanne offered suddenly. Though she didn't know the first thing about hair dye, she had her divine revelations! Guided by the light, she could manage a decent illusion or transformation.
A short while later, the bright orange-haired Bagpipe was gone. In her place sat Janie's "cousin"—a blonde Bagpipe.
"Och, that makes movin' around a whole lot easier!" Bagpipe beamed, running a hand through her new blonde hair before turning to glare at her teammate. "If Cook wasn't so useless at this stuff, I wouldn't have spent the last few days hidin' in ditches like a rat!"
"I'm just a cook!" the soldier named Cook protested defensively. "If I knew how to style hair, I'd have opened a salon long ago! The work's easier, and I wouldn't have to sweat my soul out over a hot stove..."
Bagpipe didn't stay to listen to his rambling. She waved a quick goodbye and slipped out the door, eager to make use of her new disguise.
"Things are looking worse by the minute," Talulah remarked once Bagpipe had left, her expression darkening. "They're bold enough to lock up active Victorian officers now."
The unraveling situation in Victoria continued to push past the limits of her imagination. She wasn't worried about the Victorian state or County Hillock itself, but rather about the Infected workers in the factories. Those poor people had reached out to her for help, and now she felt utterly powerless to rescue them from the impending storm.
The sheer complexity of Victoria's political landscape gave her a splitting headache just thinking about it.
"Don't worry, we still have a fighting chance," Jeanne said gently, patting Talulah on the head like a parent comforting a distressed child.
Talulah froze. Catching the smug, playful glint in Jeanne's eyes, she instantly realized what her friend was thinking.
She wanted to hit her so badly!
Unfortunately, in a contest of raw force, she was no match for Jeanne.
Talulah felt deeply aggrieved.