The next morning, when Talulah awoke, she found that the other two had already been up for some time, preparing breakfast.
Kashchey is being tormented by that strange light... Why would I have such a bizarre dream? Talulah wondered to herself as she got up to help them prepare breakfast.
After packing their belongings, the trio, led by Jeanne, set out to find shelter and the struggling Infected.
Meanwhile, Old Ivan's home, once filled with life, now lay eerily silent. The three children who had brightened his days were gone: the quiet Alina, the rambunctious Talulah, and the gentle Jeanne. Just yesterday, they had been living with hope, but now they were forced to abandon the village and brave the harshest of climates.
Now they too had to leave this place, everyone scattering to find new homes. Who knew when they might see each other again? Perhaps they would never meet again.
"May the great Emperor protect my children, guide them to a new homeland, and grant them peace and happiness," the Old Grandmother murmured silently as she prepared to depart. The village had decided to head west, hoping Jeanne's words would bring them hope, as they had in the past.
"Forget it," the Grandfather grumbled, bundled in his cotton-padded coat. "If the Emperor could truly protect his people, so many tragedies wouldn't have happened." He had originally planned to work in the mines these past few days, hoping to contract Oripathy. He wanted to be a scapegoat should the children's secret ever be exposed.
But after days in the mines, he remained uninfected, while the three children had left them for other reasons. He recalled Talulah's complaints about the Emperor and now believed that the cold-hearted ruler couldn't possibly protect his people.
Yet what good did such thoughts do? This nation relentlessly devoured those who still clung to kindness and hope.
The nobles gorged themselves on their ideals, growing fat and complacent. The Emperor remained indifferent, unable or unwilling to care for his subjects. This nation craved endless war above all else.
Beneath this relentless machine, how many kind-hearted souls like them had been crushed? No one knew. All they could do was flee, relentlessly, endlessly.
Turning one last time to gaze at their village, they let out a sigh of resignation and followed the other villagers as they fled into the distance.
"How much further do we have to go, Jeanne?!" Talulah shouted over the howling wind and driving snow. The blizzard obscured the path ahead, forcing them to rely entirely on Jeanne's uncanny intuition.
Fearing they might lose each other in the storm and become lost in the snowfield, they tied themselves together with a hemp rope, the three of them trudging forward, luggage strapped to their backs, hands clasped, step by grueling step.
"Almost there! There should be shelter ahead! Just hold on a little longer! We can rest soon!"
Even Jeanne felt a knot of anxiety tightening in her chest. By trusting her path, they had entrusted her with their lives.
Jeanne could only pray inwardly, hoping the Revelation wouldn't fail her. Whether it was her imagination or not, she always sensed a faint resentment when she prayed, as if the Revelation looked down on her.
But she was just a weak and powerless Saintess (Serpent's Fangs: You're full of it!). Without any great power, she naturally felt anxious.
Fortunately—or perhaps inevitably—they discovered an abandoned village. The three hurried toward it.
Judging by its state of disrepair, the village had been deserted for about half a year. They found a relatively intact house and settled in.
However, the disheveled furnishings gave them an unsettling feeling. Rather than looking like a planned move, the chaotic state suggested a hurried departure due to some unforeseen event.
They cautiously searched the entire village, finding clear signs of recent habitation. The woodshed was packed full of firewood, and in some dilapidated houses, pots still sat on the hearth, though the food inside had frozen into solid blocks.
Back inside the house, they unanimously agreed that something was deeply wrong with the village. It was clear that people had been living here right up until the moment the villagers fled.
But where had the villagers gone, and why had they fled in such haste? Talulah even found an ancient gold ring and some jewelry hidden in a concealed corner of one of the houses.
An ominous feeling settled over Talulah's heart. She had a gut feeling that if they stayed longer, they would uncover the truth about the village—a truth that might shatter her dreams.
"The villagers definitely didn't just move away! There's something very strange going on here!"
With that, Alina handed the book she had been carrying to the others.
"This book can't be cheap! I found it in what looked like a wealthy house. The bookshelf even had a hidden compartment where I found a few gold nuggets."
Jeanne took the book from Alina. Just looking at its exquisite cover told her it was worth a fortune. Yet these valuable books had been left behind on the shelf like trash. It was utterly bizarre.
"Do you think this village might be haunted? Like the ghosts and monsters in Jeanne's stories, lurking in the shadows and plotting to kill us?" Talulah asked, shrinking back nervously as she spoke. She remembered how Jeanne would sometimes tell her ghost stories at night, terrifying her so much she couldn't sleep for nights on end.
Once, Jeanne told a particularly horrifying tale about a haunted bathroom. For nights afterward, Talulah refused to go to the bathroom alone, forcing Jeanne to wake up and accompany her.
Now, trapped in this deserted village by a blizzard, surrounded by inexplicable events...
Isn't this exactly the kind of place where Jeanne's ghost stories come to life? Talulah felt a genuine surge of fear.
It struck her as odd that she felt no fear toward fierce enemies, yet these ghost stories could leave her shaken for days.
"Ha ha ha ha ha..."
Jeanne and Alina stared at each other for a long moment before finally bursting into laughter.
"I'm not joking! Isn't this place just like that strange mountain village from Jeanne's stories? And remember that story Jeanne told about the parents who suddenly turned into pigs, forcing their daughter to work for a heartless corporation? Didn't that story also feature a deserted village? What if it's all true?"
Talulah's face flushed crimson as she spoke, her voice tinged with embarrassment. She couldn't help it—she was genuinely terrified! Besides, they already knew she was afraid of ghosts, so what was so funny?
And that wretched Jeanne! Knowing full well how terrified Talulah was of ghosts, she still insisted on telling ghost stories from time to time, and Talulah would always eagerly listen, too.
Still, she wasn't entirely without methods to resist Jeanne's "tyranny."
Jeanne was terrible at math. Whenever she couldn't sleep, Talulah would insist on tutoring her the next day. Watching Jeanne's pained expression always filled Talulah with malicious glee.
However, in this ongoing battle, Alina, who had remained silent throughout, observing from the sidelines, might ultimately emerge as the greatest victor...