It was the morning of the second day. Talulah asked Flandre about the situation in the north. Flandre briefly explained how she had set up an ambush at the canyon, waited for the other party to pass through, destroyed the passage, and then wiped out the team.
"In that case, I'll take some people and go with you." "From what you've said, many of the equipment from that group should still be intact." "We can bring them back, clean them up, and use them again..." Talulah said.
"Let me go instead!" Alina stood up and stopped Talulah's actions.
Talulah looked at her with some concern. "It's still unclear what exactly happened that made the Reconnaissance Squad choose to retreat, but it's obvious they might return."
"You need to stay here to handle any potential crises; I'll just take some people there to bring the items back." "If I find a Communicator, I'll destroy it directly." Alina said firmly.
For the Reunion Movement, her temporary departure with some people wouldn't have a major impact, and with Flandre along, safety was guaranteed. But if Talulah weren't here and the Reconnaissance Squad returned, it could mean disaster for the Reunion Movement. Therefore, Talulah's presence in the Reunion Movement was more vital.
Talulah wanted to say more, but Alina reached out with her pale hand. "Don't forget, Talulah, I am no longer an ordinary person without combat capability."
Seeing this, Talulah could only nod and agree to Alina's request. "Then be careful with everything."
After stepping out, Alina gave Flandre a thumbs-up. "It's settled. Let's go find some people from the Militia."
Alina pulled Flandre along to the Reunion Movement's Training Ground. At that moment, Buldrokkas'tee was there training soldiers. He wasn't surprised by the reason for their visit. However, he hadn't expected Alina to come instead of Talulah.
Alina told him about her conversation with Talulah. After listening, Buldrokkas'tee expressed his agreement with her view; there was absolutely no need for Talulah to personally make a trip just to investigate the situation and recover useful supplies. He raised his hand and summoned a squad.
"These twelve soldiers will be under your responsibility for now, Alina." "You all follow Lady Alina to the north; obey her in everything on the way, understood!" "Understood!" The soldiers stood straight and looked at Alina.
"Then everyone, follow me!" Alina held Flandre's hand and led the twelve soldiers toward the northern path.
Over an hour later, they arrived outside the valley. At this time, it was still filled with Red Mist. However, compared to yesterday's sky-blotting density, it looked much better today. Of course, this was an illusion. The Magic Circle Flandre had set up here could distinguish between the Infected and non-Infected groups. When non-Infected came here, all they saw was a sky-blotting blood mist. While the Infected also saw a heavy mist, they had a visibility of about ten meters, unlike the non-Infected who couldn't even see their own feet.
"You caused this too?" Alina asked.
"Yes, a very simple Concealment Spell. It's just that my sister and I both like red, so it appears red." "If you like, it can be changed to any color." Flandre looked at the Red Mist and then waved.
"Everyone, keep close to me!"
The group quickly followed. Although this Red Mist was caused by this young girl, walking into it like this still made one feel a bit uneasy.
They hadn't gone far before they saw a corpse lying on the ground. The twisted appearance of the corpse sent a chill from the soles of their feet to the crowns of their heads. Just what kind of painful process must one endure to be twisted into such a state?
"Take everything useful from him, and then bury the body!" Alina's moral compass was still quite high at the moment; she couldn't bear to see these people stripped bare and left exposed in the wilderness, so she asked everyone to bury the corpses on the spot.
"No need. Just drag this corpse along; we're going inside, there are dozens more in there." "Once everything is collected, I'll just use an earth spell to cover them all up." Flandre remarked from the side that burying them one by one was a waste of time; it would be faster to gather everyone together and have her bury them in a mass grave. After all, they hadn't brought hoes when they came out, and digging a pit large enough for a person would be very strenuous.
Although Alina felt this approach was a bit inhumane, the soldiers nearby said that being buried underground was already a great blessing for these people. Most who died in battle weren't given a burial; they were left for nature to arrange for beasts to deal with them. Hearing this, Alina said nothing more.
After all, she hadn't truly been on a battlefield like the others. Although she had "a little bit" of strength, Talulah had protected her very well, so she had only heard about many things from others and hadn't witnessed the cruelty of the battlefield firsthand.
Dragging the already stripped corpses and picking up a few more along the way, they successfully reached the other end of the valley entrance. Compared to inside the mist, the people here died in even more gruesome and bizarre ways. But what puzzled everyone was that such a dense scent of blood hadn't attracted any beasts. They had encountered several packs of beasts on their way here. However, because they had many people, even Rift Beasts were unwilling to start a fight easily.
Soon, the equipment and even the clothes of these people were stripped clean. Then, everyone piled the corpses together, and under Flandre's spell, the bodies slowly sank into the earth. The Communicator was also found by a soldier and thrown into the pile of corpses by Flandre. If the Ursus people came looking, even if they could lock onto the Communicator's location, they would have to dig down forty or fifty meters to retrieve it.
After handling everything, Alina asked the question everyone was curious about. These corpses had been here for a whole day; with such a strong smell of blood, why hadn't they seen any beasts dragging them away or eating them?
"It's simple; an Anti-Organic Life Formula can do it." "Heehee, just kidding. It's just an Idler Dispersal Spell." "I applied a spell to this woodland that only the Infected can approach; non-Infected will subconsciously move away when they get close." "At the time, it was to prevent beasts from disturbing the mood while playing. I didn't expect it to have a new effect now!" Flandre looked happily at Alina's exasperated face and laughed as she did several somersaults in the air.
Hearing this, Alina became interested in learning magic. Flandre remarked that she hadn't even learned the Flight Spell after half a year, calling her a real dummy.
"Even that big dummy Cirno from the Misty Lake, who likes to freeze frogs, can fly. Sister Alina still can't after so long; she's even dumber than Cirno." Flandre expressed that flight was as easy as breathing; why hadn't Alina learned it after so long?
Alina looked speechlessly at Flandre, who was wiggling her bottom smugly in the air. If it weren't for the ancestral Bloomers she wore, she would have probably exposed herself long ago. Come to think of it, she indeed hadn't studied magic. Seeing Flandre's effortless manner, she decided to make time to practice. If nothing else, this Flight Spell was indeed very useful.
After another hour or so, the group successfully returned to the settlement around noon. Seeing the equipment and clothing they brought back, many people showed happy smiles. Although these clothes were still stained with blood, for the Ursus Infected, having something to wear was what mattered most. As for whether they were stripped from dead bodies, that didn't matter at all. Besides, these clothes looked so clean and neat; after washing them to remove the blood scent, they could be worn for at least several years.
Of course, the distribution of these clothes would ultimately depend on the high-level arrangements, but the amount brought back yesterday and today was quite significant. Giving one to every individual might not be possible, but one per family shouldn't be much of a problem.
While everyone was waiting expectantly, the group returned to the military camp and set down the weapons and equipment; specialized personnel would then count and clean them.
Flandre flew in the air, watching everyone's bustling activity, and couldn't help but raise her hands and shout.
"Ura!"
Seeing this, the Reunion Movement soldiers below laughed heartily and then raised their fists one after another.
"Ura!"
Then Flandre was pulled back to the Reunion Movement's Office by Alina.
At this time, Talulah was studying the intelligence in her hands; she was very uneasy about the sudden departure of those Reconnaissance Squads yesterday. So she had arranged for many people to scout for information in the east. Only when she saw Flandre and Alina return did a slight smile appear on her solemn face.
"I just heard; your harvest this time was quite good!" Alina nodded.
"We brought back over fifty sets of complete clothing and weaponry." "Flandre's combat here was very efficient; the clothes on those people were mostly undamaged, and the weapons were all intact." "It's enough to equip nearly a whole company." "Including yesterday's equipment, and accounting for maintenance and logistics, we can basically field a fully equipped team of a hundred people."
This was still a conservative estimate from Alina. The total complete equipment obtained over the two days was about 160 to 170 sets. However, they wouldn't usually arm everyone at once; about ten to twenty sets would be kept as spares and for maintenance. So, the equipment from the two days could basically arm 150 people.
One must realize that the Reunion Movement's current armed force was only five or six hundred people, and some were still using very old weapons and equipment. If they had had such a team before, Talulah wouldn't have been afraid of the Ursus encirclement at all. After all, fifty people would be more than enough to block the northern valley. The remaining hundred people, together with her, could have completely wiped out that group of Reconnaissance Squads in the west without any problem. As for the east, Patriot just needed to hold it.
Hearing Alina's news, Talulah's entire face lit up with joy.
"Excellent. However, the Ursus retreat this time is very strange; we cannot let our guard down. Have His Excellency Patriot distribute those equipment immediately and begin training as soon as possible." "We need to improve our strength as much as possible before Ursus makes its next move."