When a proactive person becomes passive, it often comes across as lamentably bleak and lonely.
And when a person who has always been passive becomes proactive, the reasons behind it are often just as heartbreaking.
Why did Bronya, without any proof from Seele, still choose to believe and help her without hesitation?
Because she couldn't even imagine what kind of soul-crushing, painful experience it must have taken to make the Seele who always cowered, always carefully hid behind her, become the way she was now—trembling with fear, yet forcing a smile, summoning the courage to try and persuade her and Sin.
Seele, persuading others...
This was a girl who seemed to need to muster all her courage just to speak loudly.
For some reason, seeing Seele like this, Bronya felt indebted to her, as if she owed her a great deal for a very, very long time...
The roar of the engine cut through the quiet mountain forest, leaving a clear track in its wake as it sped away. Then, not long after the silence of nature had returned, it came roaring from another direction, and roared away again.
"This is so annoying! Bronya, why are you going in circles in this godforsaken place?"
In the back of the snowmobile, Sin, whose lips were numb from the cold, finally couldn't take it anymore and yelled, "Is the freezing wind that refreshing?"
She regretted it so much. Getting mixed up in this nonsense with you two was a huge mistake! My limbs are so cold they're almost numb!
"Sin..."
The snowmobile wasn't big. Even for three young girls, it was a tight squeeze. Sitting at the very back, Seele felt a pang of guilt hearing Sin's complaint. She pulled her arms, which were tightly wrapped around Sin, closer, trying to give her a little more warmth.
She's right. Trying to find a stranger in a densely populated town is like looking for a needle in a haystack. But isn't it even more ridiculous to be running around like a headless chicken in this boundless snowy plain?
"Don't touch me!"
Sin was ungrateful. She roughly shook off Seele's arms and snapped, "What, do I look pitiful to you?"
"Alright, Sin, calm down."
Bronya, who was focused on driving, turned her head to admonish her, then found a slightly more sheltered hollow and slowly stopped the vehicle. Being at the front, she was even colder than the others.
"Sss... hah..."
Bronya took off her gloves and rubbed her frozen, stiff hands. She started a bonfire under the cover of a few large boulders. As the warm, orange flames leaped up, the three of them huddled together, shivering and warming themselves by the fire.
This damn weather, why is it so cold...
"Seele, have you found any clues to the person you're looking for?"
Bronya was as accustomed to the harsh environment of the snowy plains as if it were her own home. She took out the food from her backpack, which had long since frozen solid, divided it into three portions, and placed them on the bonfire. Then she turned her head slightly and asked.
They had a clear division of labor on the way—Bronya was in charge of driving, while Seele focused on searching for clues, such as traces of someone having stayed, footprints, or anything else.
As for Sin...
She was just along for the ride, which was why she had been so dissatisfied the whole way...
"No..."
Seele shook her head, cowering, and smiled bitterly. "Last time, Bronya Oneechan only had time to tell me that he was in the wilderness. But... the wilderness is just too big..."
"Tch, Bronya..." Sin scoffed. "Look what you've done!"
"No, it's not Bronya Oneechan's fault!" Seele hurriedly explained, but was rudely interrupted by Sin.
"Alright, cut the crap. We're looking for someone, right?" Sin picked up a piece of not-yet-fully-thawed roasted meat from the fire, took a bite, frowned, and spat it out. She said sarcastically, "You and Bronya are both useless, one more so than the other. Tch... let me teach you!"
With that, she stood up from the bonfire, walked over to Bronya's other side, and crooked a finger at her with an arrogant and disdainful look. "That thing in your pocket, let me use it."
Sin would never deign to use the word "borrow."
"?"
Bronya was clueless. What on earth do you want?
"Tch, forget it. I'll get it myself!"
Seeing Bronya was so slow on the uptake, Sin couldn't be bothered to waste any more words. She just stuck her hands into the bottom of her clothes and rummaged around. Then, to Bronya's dumbfounded expression, she pulled out a round object and tossed it up and down smugly. "This piece of junk is enough for me!"
It was a hand grenade.
"Sin, you..."
Bronya was startled, realizing what Sin was up to. But before she could stop her, the smile on the girl's face turned ferocious and cruel. With a Click, she pulled the pin, casually tossed it up and down a couple more times, then turned and threw it with all her might into the open space behind them.
"Look out!"
It was too late to stop her. Bronya could only throw herself on top of her and Seele to protect them from the impending blast.
BOOM!
"Hahahahaha... get off!"
Hearing the deafening explosion, Sin laughed heartily in satisfaction. Then she pushed Bronya, who was lying on top of her, away with a look of displeasure and said smugly, "Since we're already going in circles in this godforsaken place, we might as well make a big scene. If that guy is really like Seele said, he should know where to go when he hears this!"
One loud boom, and she felt refreshed.
She had always preferred to solve problems with violence. What was the point of dilly-dallying? It was just annoying!
"..."
Bronya was a little helpless. She had just brought some weapons for self-defense, but she hadn't expected Sin to squander them like toys.
"What, not satisfied?"
Sin turned and glared at her, her face a warning.
"...Forget it. You have a point."
Bronya resignedly unfastened the harness hidden under her clothes, removed the pistol and two spare magazines tucked into it and put them away, then handed the harness, which still held three grenades, to Sin.
Compared to wasting time like headless chickens, making some noise to indicate their position was indeed one way to do it.
"Hmph, as long as you understand."
Sin snorted and took it, casually playing with it in her hands. Then, seeing Bronya's hesitant expression again, she shot her an impatient glare. "What, don't you trust me?"
I'm not stupid. How could I let something as dangerous as a grenade actually become dangerous?
Besides, there are only three or four of them. I'm counting on them to get things done. How could I waste them casually?
But you expect me to explain all this to you patiently?
Heh, in your dreams!
"...Sigh."
Bronya knew what kind of person she was. She shook her head helplessly and turned to Seele. "Seele, let's expand our search area a bit. Sin will make noise in different places, and then we'll circle around those positions and gradually narrow the area. How about that?"
"Okay."
Seele nodded, of course she wouldn't object.
Although it seemed fraught with problems, how could she not understand that both Bronya and Sin were, in the end, trying to help her?
It was just that some people were straightforward, and some were stubborn...
Ten minutes later, the bonfire was extinguished, and the snowmobile started up again, speeding away with a roar.
Just like before, the serious Bronya focused on driving, the meticulous Seele was in charge of looking for clues, and as for Sin...
Still with nothing to do. Only this time, depending on her mood, she would randomly pull the pin on a grenade and toss it behind her.
BOOM!
"Hahahahaha!"
Both the explosion and the laughter were left far behind by the speeding motorcycle, unable to cause them the slightest harm.
The three grenades were quickly used up. Sin smacked her lips, dissatisfied, feeling like she hadn't had enough fun. She casually threw the now-empty harness away, then stuck her other hand into Bronya's clothes again, grinning mischievously. "Hand it over!"
Bronya jolted, and the motorcycle nearly crashed into a tree. She quickly corrected her course, narrowly avoiding a tragic accident.
"Hey! That's enough!"
Sin ignored her and unceremoniously pulled the slightly warm pistol from between Bronya's legs. She turned sideways and casually pulled the trigger a few times, then looked bored. "No fun. Here!"
With that, she suddenly tossed it to Seele behind her. Seele also jolted and fumbled to catch it. She looked down at the piece of iron in her hands, then at the two people in front of her, completely bewildered.
This thing... how did it end up in my hands?
---||---
An army's collapse is like a landslide, but recovery is like drawing silk from a cocoon. Although he had slept soundly all night, Lin Wei still felt groggy and weak. If not for the need to regularly add wood to the bonfire, he wouldn't have even wanted to move.
Today, the Stigmata still hadn't responded to him. Yae Sakura remained silent, which cast an even darker shadow over Lin Wei's heart.
"You're not in good condition right now. It's best not to overthink things or act rashly."
Schrödinger had once again hidden herself in the shadows, her voice coming from the small beacon. "Compared to those grand plans, letting your body's immune system recover is more important, don't you think?"
"Heh, of course I know..." Lin Wei pulled the thick bearskin tighter, his bitter laugh sounding weak and faint. "But, recovering in a place like this? I'm not a real bear who can just find a not-so-terrible hole in the ground and hibernate through the whole winter..."
"That's why you need to be even more careful," Schrödinger said.
"Hehe, you're right. I do need to be careful," Lin Wei said with a helpless smile. "Seele... she's probably still waiting for me at the orphanage, right?"
What a pity, I can't go now...
To wait with such anticipation, only to be stood up so unceremoniously, Seele must be very anxious, right?
Lin Wei found a bit of dark humor in the situation. "Maybe if she gets anxious enough, she'll come looking for me here on her own?"
Outside the cave, the cold wind howled. In his weakened state, there was nothing he could do.
This feeling of being at the mercy of fate doesn't feel good... Lin Wei thought to himself. His eyes vacant, he couldn't help but think of himself more than a year ago. Even then, he had never been "at the mercy of fate"...
As he sat there quietly thinking, a heavy drowsiness gradually crept over him.
"Lin Wei, I think I hear something outside."
In a half-asleep state, Schrödinger's voice suddenly woke him up.
"Just the wind," Lin Wei mumbled, turning over, and told a cold joke. "It can't be that this bear I've killed three times has some old friends coming to visit, can it?"
Unlike more than a year ago, even if he was sick and weak now, he wasn't someone just anyone could mess with.
He was about to go back to sleep, but he suddenly opened his eyes. The faint sound, carried on the wind, how did it sound so out of place?
Pop...
It sounded like something exploding, very faint, almost inaudible under the cover of the howling wind.
"Would someone be setting off fireworks in this deserted place?"
Lin Wei thought to himself, holding his breath and waiting. After who knows how many minutes, certain that he had heard a similar sound again, he immediately tried to sit up, but was pushed back down by a hand just as he was about to push off his "blanket."
"I told you, it's best not to act rashly."
For the first time in this world bubble, Schrödinger revealed her form to the conscious Lin Wei, her half-real, half-phantom face still expressionless. "What do you want to do? I can do it for you."
"...Is that so? Thanks."
Lin Wei was only stunned for a moment, then he smiled slightly and pulled out a strangely shaped, pitch-black pistol from under the blanket. He turned it around and handed it to the renowned doctor. "Just go to the entrance and pull the trigger, aiming at the sky."
If that sound is Seele trying to send a signal, I have to respond in time.
"Okay."
Schrödinger nodded, took the projected Judgment of Shamash, and walked toward the entrance. As Lin Wei had said, she aimed at the sky and gently pulled the trigger.
What would it look like to use a Divine Key to send a signal?
Even a counterfeit Divine Key was no ordinary flare gun. A stream of red light shot out from the barrel, trailing a long tail of flame, piercing through the bone-chilling sea wind, and shooting straight up into the high sky.
BOOM!
It flew hundreds of meters high before exploding with a deafening roar, creating a sky-covering, brilliant firework. Even in the daytime, it was still dazzlingly bright.
"Hehehe, this way, Seele should be able to see where I am, right?" Lin Wei thought to himself. "To be able to act so proactively and find a way to get my attention so quickly, the current Seele is much more capable than I thought..."