How to Train a Hound

"But they can't declare war on a pharmaceutical company—a nation's war can only be waged against another nation. Unless they want to abandon their national identity." Persephone shook his head. "They have very limited options. My goal is to force them back to the negotiating table, and then they will have to pay the price."

She turned her head and glanced out the porthole. The city gradually shrank, while the land seemed to expand with increasing altitude.

"The current emperor of Ursus is not very good at controlling his army. So there is a lot of room for maneuver. It is not impossible to gain control of Chernobog without Rhodes Island becoming a target of everyone's attacks. As long as there is a one percent chance of success, I am confident that I can do it without any mistakes."

"Making it so complicated..." Miss Surtr pushed the joystick. "I'd rather just go to the Winter Palace and have a sudden death or create another volcano in the North..."

"So we've come back to the topic." Persephone glanced at the time; at this aircraft's speed, it would probably take at least another several tens of minutes to reach the designated area. "Regarding the Starfall Hermitage, I just talked about their origins. Now I'll talk about their development."

"Oh?"

"I'm a little tired, can I lean on your knees for a bit?" Persephone's voice softened slightly. But compared to the coldness of her previous frail demeanor, this time it clearly had some warmth.

The difference between a cool, aloof loli and a friendly young lady—that's probably it.

"You can do whatever you want with such trivial matters." But Miss Surtr didn't care about such details.

So Persephone lay down on her lap—not as a lap pillow, but with most of his upper body resting on it. And then a warm and soft sensation washed over him.

—It's a bit... weird.

Miss Surtr tilted her head slightly, looking a little uneasy. She figured she probably didn't need both hands to pilot the aircraft—one-handed control was perfectly fine. And the other hand could easily be lowered a bit to do something else...

Her hand unconsciously left the control panel—and then Persephone caught that hand and gently pulled it into her bosom.

"Forehead...?"

"Can I borrow your hands to warm them up?"

"Oh." The Flame-haired maiden nodded, trying her best not to think about the warm touch from her fingertips, and... a subtle pressure.

She slightly adjusted the blood flow, raising the temperature of her hands a little.

"Is this okay?" she asked.

Then the Maiden Doctor rubbed her hand against it.

"Well, that's good... So let's go back to a hundred years ago. The hunters of Aegir's pursuit of the Starfall Hermitage was nearing its end after nearly a hundred years of one-sided beatings. Because during this hunt, the hunters encountered almost no decent resistance—because until a hundred years ago, the Order had not shown any great power. They were just very good at hiding, very well concealed. They didn't resist but just fled, which inevitably made the hunters less vigilant."

"So that's how the problem arose?" Miss Surtr replied casually. "Aegir was raided?"

"Very close," Persephone replied. "During that period, the hunters of Aegir faced enemies beyond the Hermitage—they had many enemies, many of whom were not on land, but active along the coast, the borders, and even in the depths of the sea. The Abyssal Hunter were not numerous, so after a century of easy hunting, the number of experienced hunters participating in this hunt dwindled. Meanwhile, the proportion of newcomers continued to increase."

"And so, a hundred years ago, a dramatic change occurred." She paused. "After an unrecorded operation, but which was essentially just an ordinary hunt, all the Aegir hunters of that class became members of the Starfall Hermitage overnight."

"Huh?" Miss Surtr was slightly surprised.

"It must have been some kind of widespread mental disturbance, or corruption— Skadi was unwilling to reveal details. But she told me that the corruption of the Star Evolution was silent and irreversible. In that upheaval, the Aegir paid an unimaginable price. And after that, the relationship between hunter and hunted changed in an instant, and the Secret Order became the Aegir's greatest adversary."

"Contamination, erosion. During that time, many powerful warriors—whether or not they were Aegir— became followers of the Starfall Hermitage in a very short period of time. At its worst, the followers of the Hermitage nearly turned Iberia into a wasteland. Until one day—"

"One day what?"

"I don't know. We haven't obtained any relevant intelligence yet—the information I've gathered from Skadi and other sources only allows me to understand this much. At the moment, all I can confirm is that the Starfall Hermitage possesses powerful persuasive abilities. And when dealing with them, formidable military strength and unwavering will are equally important."

"I think my will is pretty strong."

"You used to be very resolute. So resolute that they didn't dare appear before you, or if they did, you treated them as ordinary adversaries and ignored them. But now..."

Persephone didn't continue. The red-haired guy clicked his tongue, feeling that the guy's opinion didn't seem entirely unreasonable.

—Okay, I have to admit it. Right now, I'm not exactly lacking in spirit, but at least my stability has definitely declined.

—Ah... in that case, Skadi's frequent visits looking for a beating weren't entirely without reason. Hmm... pollution? I should find some time to have a good talk with her about this.

She thought to herself.

She made up her mind. She made a schedule.

For the next ten minutes or so, neither side spoke.

She was focused on flying the plane, while Persephone lay lightly on her lap, her eyes slightly closed, seemingly asleep.

But she knew Persephone wasn't asleep— Chernobog's operations hadn't stopped because of her temporary absence. Surtr could sense it, even now. Persephone hadn't stopped remotely operating the drone swarm.

She must be very tired.

—At least let her body rest for a while.

The girl thought to herself, and made the aircraft fly even more smoothly. This inevitably caused the speed to decrease slightly, but this small error was insignificant.

And so time continued to flow, bit by bit, second by second. But the instant the planned, vast canyon overgrown with pyrite appeared before the girl's eyes, a pale red figure, trapped within, became clearly visible on the lower part of her retina!

—Ludmila!?

She saw the integrated hunting dog that had broken free of its collar.

The hound lady is currently imprisoned in a temporarily vacated vehicle, her hands and feet bound, along with a small group of battered Reunion Movement warriors!

I heard that uploading at set times and then modifying the content can make a leave request exceed the 1,500-character limit? Is that true?

Section 107: Methods of Training Hunting Dogs

Ludmila.

Ludmila, the Crownslayer.

The red hound, the integrated dagger, Ludmila, daughter of the scholar Ilya.

She still remembered the fire from days before, the impending disaster, the death, and the madness rooted in her heart. That ball of flame, that inferno, that blurry figure. And the scorching fire that seeped into her flesh and bones, coursing through her limbs and bones.

That is a power that ordinary people cannot face.

To confront it is to confront death.

So after she woke up, she fled, fulfilling her last responsibility by bringing the news of impending doom back to the Reunion Movement before hastily escaping.

The only option is to run away. What else can we do but run away?

When she saw the Patriot's encampment engulfed by a fiery tornado, all hope and courage vanished from her heart... She would set aside the revenge for her father for now; after all, upon reflection, there were many unanswered questions about what had happened back then. Lord Kal'tsit might not have been the real culprit, and Talulah's treatment of her might not have always been based on sincerity and expectation.

When people have excuses and reasons, they start to hesitate again about many things they would never have done before. And when fear, accompanied by the pungent smell of Sulfur, gripped her heart, the fact that Patriot's fate was unknown and Talulah was nowhere to be found became the driving force and excuse that made her take that crucial step.

She fled, taking with her a group of Reunion Movement warriors who believed in her and followed her. She wanted to escape Chernobog, escape Ursus, escape this vast frozen land beneath her feet, and return to the distant region of Siracusa, the place where she had acquired her skills. There, she would reorganize her thoughts and power, and then, for the second time, march toward her own goal.