"Once things are wrapped up here, should we go check out that Kjerag place together?" Remilia suggested, looking at her younger sister with an inquiring tilt of her head.
Flandre Scarlet nodded enthusiastically, her colorful crystal wings chiming softly. "Sure! It sounds like a fun adventure!"
With the bracket officially over, the entire group returned to the Reunion Movement's massive main landship. Even now, many of the Infected soldiers and personnel throughout the corridors were still chatting excitedly about the recent aerial "fireworks." After all, the Reunion Movement hadn't celebrated any holidays or experienced a peaceful festival in a very long time. Even if the baseline soldiers didn't know exactly what occasion or match the display was for, those brilliant, cascading lights in the sky had brought genuine, long-awaited smiles to many weary faces.
Back at the designated Gensokyo quarters, Remilia immediately sought out Letty Whiterock and relayed Flandre's geographical suggestion to her.
"How far exactly is this Kjerag place from our current coordinates?" Letty asked, her voice carrying a naturally crisp, cool resonance.
"It shouldn't be too far at all," Flandre chimed in, stepping forward to explain. "We are currently located just northeast of the Victorian border. Kjerag itself sits directly to the northwest of Victoria. That means after leaving this sector, we just need to head due west along Victoria's northern frontier. If we see a sudden, massive range of jagged snowy mountains appearing to our front-left, that means we've successfully reached Kjerag."
As Flandre spoke, she glanced over at Patchouli Knowledge, who smoothly pulled out a comprehensive physical map of Terra from her magical archive. She then pointed her pale finger directly at the alpine region Flandre had just described.
"It really isn't that far in terms of absolute distance," Patchouli observed, tracing the mountain paths. "At our flight speed, we could easily soar over there in about a day or two."
Letty looked closely at the map, noting the vast white expanses and the lack of Catastrophe paths, and nodded in satisfaction. "Then I have absolutely no objections." After saying that, she turned her gaze back to Remilia. "When exactly do we set out?"
Remilia looked toward Eirin Yagokoro, who gently shook her head with a calm smile.
"Inaba Tewi, Reisen, and I won't be accompanying you on this particular journey," Eirin clarified. "I plan to head over to Rhodes Island directly to take a look at their medical facilities and research data."
Remilia thought it over for a brief moment before finalizing the schedule. "Then we'll set out in three days. Once Letty is fully settled and comfortable in Kjerag, the rest of us will head over to find you at Rhodes Island."
Eirin Yagokoro nodded, fully agreeing to Remilia's arrangement. As for Letty, staying entirely alone in the high, frozen mountains was no problem at all. As a seasonal Youkai, she had long been perfectly accustomed to living in absolute solitude during her periods of activity. Moreover, she didn't particularly enjoy overly crowded, noisy, or lively environments anyway. For her, if the local temperature was suitable and there were plenty of superstitious mountain inhabitants around to provide her with enough collective 'Awe,' it would be a flawless living environment.
After finalizing the upcoming itinerary, Remilia patted Flandre on the shoulder. "I'll leave it to you to notify the Reunion Movement leadership of our departure date."
Flandre nodded obediently, then left the quarters to walk down the hall to Talulah's primary office.
Inside the spacious office, the core Operators of the Reunion Movement were sitting together in a relaxed circle. Many of the female Operators were curiously, gently touching Yelena's hands to see if it was actually true, just as Talulah had claimed, that Yelena could now flawlessly control her surface body temperature and would no longer cause immediate frostbite upon physical contact.
Seeing Flandre arrive at the doorway, everyone smiled warmly, waved, and instantly invited her inside.
"Why has little Flandre come over to see us again? Come here!" Alina reached out with a fond smile and familiarly picked Flandre up, setting the little vampire on her lap.
"It's like this..." Flandre began, quickly explaining Remilia and the others' travel plans to the gathered Reunion Movement leadership.
Hearing that Remilia, Flandre, and the rest of the mansion crew would be leaving the landship in just three days, a visible look of deep reluctance and sadness appeared in Alina's eyes. "Leaving us so soon?"
"Yeah, it's mainly because Sister Letty isn't very well-adapted to the warm environment down here," Flandre explained the practical reason behind the rush. "Since Sister Yelena is already fully cured and doesn't need any further medical observation, my big sister intends to accompany Sister Letty to Kjerag to get her settled."
"Kjerag, huh? I've heard stories about that land. Covered in thick snow year-round, it truly is a magnificent, suitable home for someone like Miss Letty," Talulah readily agreed after hearing Flandre's logical explanation. "Since that's the case, we certainly won't force you all to stay in a climate that harms her."
Flandre sat in the office chatting for a bit longer, enjoying the attention and snacks, before politely saying goodbye to Alina and returning to Remilia's side.
The next morning, Buldrokkas'tee and Yelena walked over to the Gensokyo quarters together, carrying a beautifully wrapped box.
They expressed with immense sincerity that during that critical period of the treatment, Letty's immense, tireless efforts in staying confined within the room to control the freezing air and keep it perfectly surrounding them were absolutely instrumental in Yelena's successful magical awakening. So, upon learning that Letty was preparing to leave the ship, they had specifically prepared a farewell gift. Although it consisted of relatively inexpensive local trinkets and materials they could gather, it fully expressed their deepest gratitude toward Letty.
Letty accepted the gift graciously, a soft smile gracing her features. She then reached into her robes and produced a neatly bound notebook. She mentioned that she had personally compiled a structured, comprehensive guide on the refined manipulation of cold air, which she handed over to Yelena. Letty assured her that as long as Yelena practiced the exercises diligently every day, she might eventually reach their high level of elemental mastery.
Yelena thanked Letty once again from the bottom of her heart. After concluding their conversation with the ice Youkai, the father and daughter pair walked over to where Flandre was hovering.
"Is there a special one for me too?!" Flandre's ruby eyes widened in delight, and she asked with an excited, glowing face.
Yelena laughed softly, reaching out to gently pick Flandre up in a warm embrace. "Of course there is. If it weren't for you running around to help, Flandre, the others would have never come to our ship in the first place. Flandre, you have genuinely saved both the Reunion Movement and my life."
As she spoke, Yelena reached out and playfully tweaked Flandre's nose. Flandre let out a bright, bell-like laugh, kicking her feet happily.
"This is a handmade decorative knot I wove entirely by myself. I truly hope you like it," Yelena said, taking out an intricate, beautifully woven rope knot and handing it over to Flandre. Flandre's eyes widened further because the creative weaving of the threads looked exactly like a stylized, miniature version of herself, complete with little crystal-like accents.
"Mwah~! Flandre absolutely loves it! Thank you so much, Sister Yelena!" After taking the custom knot, Flandre carefully and proudly hung it right at her waist alongside her outfit, before leaning in to give Yelena a happy kiss on the cheek.
Following that, Yelena distributed thoughtful gifts to Remilia and the remaining members of the mansion as well.
"We didn't really help you with much during the actual healing process, so I feel a bit unworthy of accepting such a heartfelt gift," Remilia noted politely as she accepted the token, maintaining her elegant, noble poise.
"How can you say that, Miss Remilia? If you hadn't captured that Ursus High-speed Battleship alongside Flandre back then, the Reunion Movement wouldn't have ever developed the safety and resources to where it stands today," Yelena said with absolute sincerity.
The two sides chatted warmly for a while longer. Letty kindly mentioned that once the peak of winter arrived on the plains, she could easily travel down from the mountains to temporarily stay with the Reunion Movement and help them manage any severe winter weather until the spring thaw arrived. After thanking Letty yet again for saving her life, Yelena and Buldrokkas'tee finally took their leave.
In the quiet afternoon, Logos, Anto, and several other elite personnel representing Rhodes Island arrived at the quarters to pay a formal visit.
"I heard you all are planning to leave the Reunion sector?" Logos asked straightforwardly, his floating quill hovering idly behind his shoulder.
"That's right. I plan to take my little sister out across the continent to have some genuine fun. Also, Letty desperately needs a relatively cold, high-altitude place to live comfortably," Remilia explained smoothly. "So we're going to head straight over to Kjerag and check out the local real estate."
"Kjerag, huh? That is indeed a very fascinating choice of destination," Logos mused, nodding slowly.
"I've heard the geographic terrain there is incredibly high, completely surrounded by sheer mountain peaks with year-round heavy snow. However, the native people living there are notoriously traditional and somewhat xenophobic toward outsiders. If Miss Letty wishes to permanently live there in peace, it might take a bit of political effort to clear the hurdles," the one speaking next was the veteran caster, Pith.
Hearing her realistic warning, the other Rhodes Island Casters turned their eyes toward Letty, wondering how she would handle the local friction.
Letty merely smiled serenely and nodded slightly, completely unbothered. "It is no matter. If Kjerag is truly as traditional and isolated as everyone says, I think settling down and gaining their respect will actually be quite simple for someone like me."
"It's wonderful that Miss Letty possesses such confidence," Pith replied with an appreciative nod. "As for Miss Remilia, Flandre, and the others—on behalf of the leadership of Rhodes Island, I sincerely and formally invite you all to visit our landship whenever you have the free time. I am absolutely certain that both Dr. Kal'tsit and Amiya would welcome your arrival with open arms."