Sensing Yelena's gratitude, You Yi could not help but sigh inwardly. This kind of emotion was a rare commodity on Wis'adel's side of things. Truly precious.
The battle had ended quickly, but the silence it left behind stretched on so long it felt suffocating.
The snow at the village entrance had been stained a dark red with blood. Bodies lay sprawled everywhere—members of the inspection squad, villagers, and guerrillas alike. When the cold wind blew, the stench of blood mixed with the icy air and burrowed into the nose, enough to make someone nauseous.
The surviving villagers huddled at the doors of their wooden houses, staring at the pitch-black Cautus girl with a mix of fear and reverence in their eyes.
The two surviving guerrilla boys, Alyosha and Igor, stood not far away. Their weapons were still raised, and they stared at her blankly, as if they were looking at a monster.
"Y-Yelena?" Alyosha called tentatively, his voice trembling.
Yelena immediately noticed their reaction. She parted her lips, wanting to answer, only to realize she did not know what to say.
She lowered her head and looked at her own hands. That black substance still covered her body, slim and form-fitting. And it had been these very hands that had just killed more than ten inspectors.
For a moment, she no longer recognized herself.
"Don't be nervous."
You Yi's voice sounded in her mind.
"You're their savior right now. If you keep making that expression, they'll think you've been possessed by some filthy evil spirit."
Yelena froze. "Aren't you a filthy evil spirit?"
"?"
"Well, thanks a lot."
You Yi choked for a moment, then added, "That said, you're not wrong. In their eyes, I'm probably even scarier than some filthy evil spirit. So right now, you'd better act normal. Like an ordinary person."
Yelena was silent for a few seconds, then asked softly, "What should I do?"
"Hmm. Good question. Just do what you'd normally do."
You Yi continued, "You're still you. The people who know you won't fear you because of this. And strangers… you're not going to hurt them anyway."
Yelena took a deep breath and walked toward Alyosha and Igor.
The two boys instinctively stepped back, then realized what they were doing and stiffly stopped themselves.
"Y-you just now…" Igor looked at her, clearly remembering that strange black figure from before, and stammered.
Yelena cut him off. "Where's the captain?"
Igor lowered his head and pointed at a corpse not far away.
Yulievich lay face down on the ground, his back stabbed several times. The blood had already frozen solid. His eyes were still open, staring toward the village entrance as though he were still furious.
Yelena walked over, crouched down, and reached out to close his eyes.
The moment her fingers touched that icy skin, they trembled slightly. She remembered how Yulievich had always looked after her, how he used to pat her head and comfort her, and a thousand little things from the past.
But she did not cry.
She stood up and looked at the surviving villagers.
There were only a few dozen of them, mostly old people and children, with very few able-bodied adults. They huddled together, saying nothing, only looking at her with those same numb eyes.
Suddenly, a question surfaced in Yelena's mind.
The inspection squad was dead. An entire unit, including the captain.
Ursus would never let that go. Sooner or later they would send people to investigate. They would search for the killer. They would take revenge on this village.
What would happen to these villagers?
She opened her mouth, but did not know what to say.
You Yi's voice came at the right moment. "You can ask them what they plan to do."
Yelena hesitated, then spoke to the villagers. "What… what are you going to do next?"
No one answered.
The silence was as thick and heavy as the snow itself.
After a long while, an old woman with graying hair lifted her head and said in a hoarse voice, "What can we do? We can't leave, and we can't live."
An old man beside her nodded, coughing twice. "At our age, these old bones can't walk anymore. If we leave this place, we'll just freeze to death on the road."
Yelena's throat tightened, but she still walked up to them and did her best to keep her voice steady.
"You can come with me. Come to the guerrillas. There's food there, and a place to stay. It's better than staying here."
Some people looked up hopefully.
But the elderly did not move.
The old woman shook her head. "These old bones of ours would only drag you down. Let the children go."
Yelena wanted to say something, but another old man cut her off.
"We know you mean well. But we've already lived most of our lives. If we're going to die, then we'll die in our own homes."
He coughed again. "You should all leave quickly, before the inspectors' reinforcements arrive."
Yelena stood there, looking at those old people, unable to find any words.
You Yi's voice sounded in her mind. "Respect their choice. You can't save everyone."
Yelena bit her lip, then turned toward Alyosha and the others, making up her mind.
"Take everyone who's willing to go. Bring whatever we can carry. Move!"
By the time they left, the snowfall had grown even heavier.
Yelena turned back for one last glance at the village. Faint light glowed through the windows of the wooden houses. The old people stood in their doorways, motionless, watching them go like frozen statues.
She suddenly remembered something Captain Yulievich had once said:
On this frozen plain, simply staying alive was already a kind of luxury.
They took with them all the supplies the departing villagers could spare—black bread, potatoes, blankets, and whatever else they could carry. Along with the weapons and rations stripped from the inspectors' corpses, it was not much, but every bit of it was life-saving.
There were adults and children in the group. The youngest were only five or six. They followed behind in silence. No one cried. No one spoke.
Yelena walked at the front.
The snow fell harder and harder, and the wind cut at her face like knives, but she felt no cold. That layer of black substance wrapped around her body, shutting the deadly chill out and continuously feeding her warmth.
You Yi suddenly said, "You did well just now."
Yelena did not answer.
His tone was uncharacteristically serious. "If it were someone else, they might have just run and not cared whether those people lived or died. At least you tried to help them."
Yelena was quiet for a long time before finally asking in her heart, "Will those old people die?"
You Yi did not answer.
But the silence itself was an answer.
By evening, they finally returned to the guerrilla camp.
The camp had been set up in a sheltered patch of woodland. Dozens of tents were crowded together, and smoke drifted through the gaps between them, bringing a faint sense of warmth beneath the gray-white sky.
The sentries spotted them from afar, and after a few shouted calls, a whole crowd came out to meet them.
At the very front was a towering figure.
He stood a head taller than everyone else, wrapped in a heavy cloak, carrying that unmistakable halberd and massive shield over his shoulder.
Only when he drew nearer could one clearly see the face ravaged beyond recognition by Oripathy: cracked skin, crystal growths jutting outward, and yet those crimson eyes remained as sharp as blades, as though they could see straight through a person.
Buldrokkas'tee.
Patriot.
Yelena's adoptive father.
His gaze swept over the group. It paused for a moment when he saw the villagers.
Then, when it landed on Yelena, it froze.
-------
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (261 Chapter) (Ending)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (130 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (80 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (130 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (120 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (78 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (189 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (135 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (145 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (102 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty...then Who Am I? (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (50 Chapter)
Arknights: Why Are All My "Brothers" Girls? (54 Chapter)
Danmachi: Start Training Haki (59 Chapter)
Emiya Shirou's Rebirth (30 Chapter)
I Can Get Stronger Just by AFK'ing—So I Joined a Chat Group (50 Chapter)
Endfield: I Can Always Pull Out One Yuan (65 Chapter)
Limbus Company : I Started a Company in Project Moon (50 Chapter)
Lobotomy: Do Cooks of Alley 23 Dream of Bloodfiend Knights? (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: Freya Familia's "One-Blade Shura" (60 Chapter)
DanMachi: Emiya, the Great Hero Becomes the Protagonist (90 Chapter)
TYPE-MOON: One Special Instance Every Week (40 Chapter)
From Danmachi: The Abundance Apothecary (70 Chapter)
Lord Shadow Descends on DanMachi (90 Chapter)
Fuse with Me, Exusiai! (41 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail — After I Die, I Forge Their Madness (60 Chapter)
DanMachi: The Last Zeus Familia (95 Chapter)
Endfield: Arknights Heroic Spirit Summoning (75 Chapter)
Toyokawa Family Finances (105 Chapter)
Starting From DanMachi to Become Stronger (90 Chapter)
DanMachi: My Familia Is Made Up Entirely of Heroines from Every World! (75 Chapter)
Arknights: My Intel Refreshes Daily (110 Chapter)
Digimon : I Never Meant to Do Evil, Even Though I Wasn't Chosen (40 Chapter)
Miss Holmes Could Never Be the Losing Heroine! (40 Chapter)
Takayama Gamu at Tracen Academy (40 Chapter)
Legendary Trainer Takes on MYGO (40 Chapter)
Arknights : Yandere Game: The Operators Have Come Knocking (100 Chapter)
Arknights: This Dating Sim Is Seriously Wrong! (120 Chapter)
Arknights : Ch'en Hui-chieh, I'm Done Being the Good Guy! (50 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Wasn't This Supposed to Be a Family Simulator? Why Am I the Family Heirloom? (40 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail : The Trailblazer Only Wants a Peaceful Life (45 Chapter)
Arknights: The Unlucky Dad? But I've Got the Chronicle of Time! (55 Chapter)
The Wheelchair War God Is Speedrunning Hogwarts (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: The Elemental Blaster of Orario (45 Chapter)
Playing Honkai in Star Rail (30 Chapter)
As an Alien, I'm Solo Leveling in Warhammer 40K (30 Chapter)
Arknights: A Symbiote's Survival Guide (70 Chapter)
My Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck Is Built Entirely from Stuff I Picked Up (30 Chapter)
I Can Hear the Thoughts of Uma Mutsume (30 Chapter)
Dead-Men Chat Group: Winning the Resurrection Bracket (40 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero: Saving the World While Falling in Love! (40 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: My Breathing Techniques Can Be Leveled Up (50 Chapter)
Type-Moon Age of Gods: Starting with a Simulation as Heracles (40 Chapter)
Terra Love Trap: They All Want Me to Themselves (40 Chapter)
Dimensional Ranking: Top Ten Saviors (40 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen: Naoya Zen'in Wants to Stay Alive! (40 Chapter)
Bleach: This Everyday Multiverse Is Seriously Falling Apart! (60 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it