Jeanne watched as the Land Dragon skillfully dropped the heavy bags from its back onto the ground. The smaller dragon-kin nearby quickly strapped new bags onto it, and the beast sprinted back into the tunnel to continue excavating deeper.
These creatures, all possessing dragon blood, were summoned into this world by Jeanne. The cost was surprisingly manageable—only twenty units of Originium were required to summon one Land Dragon.
This was one of the fundamental changes to Jeanne's "Dragon Witch" abilities after arriving in this world. The power that originally required a Holy Grail for summoning had shifted to consume Originium and Pure Originium instead. It was hard to say if this was a blessing or a curse; her summoning no longer felt like a "gacha" game where everything depended on luck and "face." Instead, it scaled directly with the energy provided.
To summon a powerful dragon, she needed more energy—which meant more Originium. However, summoning a Great Dragon on the level of Fafnir was still impossible. If Fafnir were dropped into Terra, she would be classified as a walking Catastrophe. In fact, dragons themselves were catastrophes in physical form. While Wyverns weren't social animals and thus less of a threat, Fafnir was different. A Great Dragon of her caliber possessed the power to destroy a city in a single blow; summoning her would require an amount of Originium equivalent to a Catastrophe-grade event.
Jeanne estimated that even if she worked this Land Dragon to death, it could never dig up that much Originium. She could only leave that to future luck.
As she pondered, Jeanne continued to use Originium to summon dragon-kin. For some reason, she was constantly worried that their combat power was insufficient. Perhaps she suffered from "firepower deficiency phobia"? Then again, being overly cautious rarely led to major mistakes. Besides, Talulah was handling the overall strategy; Jeanne was content to just play her role as the Saint.
Jeanne strolled back into the village, noting how much the environment had changed. Thanks to the "Holy Water," they had grown enough food to ensure no one went hungry. Consequently, Talulah had begun actively rescuing Infected from the mining areas. However, this created a new problem: the village now hosted a mix of people, including some with rowdy or thuggish personalities.
This gave Talulah a significant headache. Fortunately, with the original villagers keeping a watchful eye, these local hooligans didn't dare cause too much trouble. Still, they were a hidden danger. Jeanne couldn't think of a perfect solution; if she were the leader, she'd likely have the troublemakers tied up and whipped.
But this wasn't the army. Talulah had discouraged Jeanne's harsher ideas, striving instead to reform the community. As for those who were truly beyond help... the rule was simple: "No work, no food." These people were fair-weather followers; the moment trouble appeared, they would run faster than rabbits.
"Hmm-hmm~ hmmm..."
Jeanne was humming a tune as she entered their home, only to see a furious Talulah hurl her canteen to the floor.
"What's wrong? Did those thugs upset our dear 'Taru-rua' again?" Jeanne teased. She couldn't imagine what would make Talulah—who always maintained a dignified air in public—lose her composure like this.
While Talulah could be a bit "clumsy" or dorky at home, to the villagers, she was a majestic leader. They had never seen her angry.
"It's not those guys," Talulah said in a low, heavy voice. Jeanne's playful expression immediately turned serious. "The patrol just returned. There's an army out there indiscriminately massacring villagers, looting money, and kidnapping women. Their primary targets are the villages that have helped the Infected."
Jeanne's brow furrowed. She hadn't expected the military to be so depraved as to start slaughtering civilians. "An army? What kind? Why would they come to the barren tundra to scavenge? What does the intelligence from the city say?"
Talulah shook her head. "This operation is extremely clandestine. My informants have only heard rumors. Apparently, their true target is the Infected Guerrillas."
This was bizarre. The military had tried to wipe out the Guerrillas many times before, but why were they so hell-bent on it this time? Neither of them could understand the army's erratic behavior, and they had no idea what kind of equipment the enemy was bringing.
"What's your plan? Face them head-on or avoid them?" Jeanne asked. She could guess Talulah's thoughts, but such a pivotal decision for their future had to be made by the leader.
"Tomorrow, I'll take the patrol and search for the Guerrillas. Jeanne, you stay in the village. Those bastards won't find the Guerrillas that quickly."
Talulah had made her choice. With Jeanne staying behind, the villagers would have a chance at survival regardless of what happened. Talulah herself would take the risk.
"Alright. If there's danger, I'll come to help you." Jeanne sensed that this journey would lead to a significant turning point for Talulah, so she didn't stop her. Besides, she couldn't solve everything for her; Talulah wasn't the type to sit back and watch others bleed for her.
Meanwhile, at the Guerrilla camp, the atmosphere was more tense than ever before.
"Commander, seven villages in this area have already been destroyed by the army... not a single soul escaped..." an Infected soldier reported, his voice cracking. Seeing the carnage had made him want to charge the army and die fighting.
"The enemy has brought a landship. They've openly announced they are here for us and had the Inspection Teams tell the villages that there are rewards for information."
Patriot listened in silence for a long time. Finally, he spoke: "Then we... attack head-on! Their landship's... resupply point... do you know... where it is?"
"I do! There are very few landships on the tundra, and only one supply hub in this sector!"
"Good. Tomorrow, we... go to the supply point! We... wait for them there! Everyone... go and prepare. We have... a hard battle... ahead of us."
Amidst the cheers of his men, Patriot stood up slowly. His heart was heavy. He wasn't sure if this was the right decision. He knew that for the enemy to act so brazenly, they must be confident. He was facing a landship fleet; even for him, a frontal assault would be difficult to survive unscathed.
But the enemy was clearly gambling with the lives of the villagers. They didn't care about civilian casualties; to draw him out, they were capable of even more horrific acts.
Fortunately... his condition had improved significantly, and the burden on his body had lessened. Otherwise, such a dangerous operation might truly have been his last.
Still, one question haunted him: What is driving them to hunt us so recklessly?