Because I Am Surtr Chapter 17

Today's two sections had been combined; there would be none this afternoon.

Section Sixteen · Meeting Miss W

W

W had been a war orphan. Having survived countless battles, she joined Sarkaz Babel Tower as a mercenary, where she met Theresia. Within an exceedingly short time, she became one of Theresia's supporters and most loyal followers.

W was always smiling. Whenever W smiled, nothing good was bound to happen.

Yet when W entered Miss Surtr's field of vision, the smile on her face seemed somewhat unsteady.

"Long time no see, W." Surtr tilted her head and looked toward the sprawling camp at the edge of her vision—the temporary encampment was now as chaotic and out of control as an anthill scalded with boiling water. She could clearly smell the blood drifting from every corner of the camp and hear the intermittent clashes of weapons and ringing steel.

Surtr decided to get straight to the point.

"I've decided to bury the Reunion Movement here for good. Take your people and leave. I can't guarantee that innocent people won't get caught up in it once I start."

She did not look at W. She did not look at that face, nor at the expression it would reveal.

—Sorry. I couldn't save Theresia. Even if, in your eyes, I had no obligation to save her at all. But as the Doctor of Arknights in my previous life, it was still my failure that you ended up this way.

"So that's all you have to say?" W's voice drifted vaguely, as inscrutable as ever when it came to the sincerity hidden within. "You came here on your own, ruined the efforts and achievements of so many people on your own, then lightly tossed out a single line: 'I've decided'?"

Her voice was grating, seemingly mocking, though perhaps it was merely an outlet for her emotions.

"If I kept infiltrating the Reunion Movement, sooner or later I would become one of Theresis's confidants. Then I could locate where his real body was and put a knife through his neck... Everything in my plan had been going smoothly. Barring any accidents, that 'colleague' Theresis had arranged to keep me in check during the battle for Chernobog would have died in a perfectly reasonable manner. Then, while taking control of the mercenary corps, I could have gone even deeper into his power structure... And you want to destroy all of that?"

Her words seemed filled with fury, but amid that fury, she had laid out her plans and current situation in full.

"...You'd better tell me you've found a more suitable way to avenge Her Highness. I know you can do it. The only difference is whether you're willing to!"

The corner of Surtr's mouth twitched.

—What am I supposed to say? How could I calm this Theresia fangirl, furious from disappointment, without exposing those two bastards' secret?

—Am I supposed to tell her outright that Theresia wasn't completely dead, that she and Persephone were plotting some grand scheme and even keeping it from Kal'tsit? Or tell her plainly that the reason I hadn't killed Theresis a second time was precisely because I knew he had retrieved Theresia's remains and filled them with vitality? And that this was obviously the vessel and tool that would let me bring her back to life after Theresia finished whatever she was doing?

—There was no way that would work! Those two had kept things so secret; no matter how you looked at it, this had to involve something huge!

Surtr silently sighed in her heart.

—Fine, fine. I'll take the blame. I'm used to being a tool anyway, so what's one or two more people hating me?

—But Persephone... Forget it, I'll help draw some fire for her. Back when I played the game, W was always shouting about killing this innocent Doctor. Persephone might not be innocent, but Rhodes Island still needed her intelligence and her brain, both now and in the future.

"Sorry." Every trace of a smile and microexpression vanished from Miss Surtr's face. "But I've already made my decision."

"And Rhodes Island's people will be here soon. They'll try to awaken Persephone."

She had thought W would be angry, would fly into a rage. She had even prepared for the worst-case scenario of W turning hostile and attacking on the spot—though that would not have been much. At worst, she would get blown up by firecrackers and stabbed by toothpicks. This was not her looking down on W; to her right now, handmade bombs and Sarkaz daggers really were only at that level.

After all, she was a transmigrator who had fought for five years and possessed a cheat from countless worlds and styles. On Terra, a world that, strictly speaking, could only be considered low-tech with mid-level magic, it was hardly strange for her to become a powerhouse whose combat ranking could be counted quickly from the top. If anything, she had progressed slowly. Compared to other transmigrator freaks—if the stories in those novels about countless worlds were true—reaching only this level after five years was as slow as a turtle's crawl.

She had been ready.

Yet the Sarkaz maiden before her did not seem to display the fury she had expected.

"So you came to clear away the obstacles in the path of the former Babel Tower, now Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals?... Are you planning to go back?"

"You're not angry?"

"Why would I be angry?" W cocked her head and bared an exaggerated grin. "I've always missed everyone at Babel Tower. Especially that Miss Doc-tor who was so fond of making plans." She bit down hard on those words, as though gnawing into a thick slab of ribs. "If she wakes up, I'll welcome her with open arms, because I've been planning to find a private place with her. To properly, slowly, catch up."

Well, she was beyond saving—Surtr thought sorrowfully.

—You'd better pray for yourself, Persephone. I now feel there's over a ninety percent chance you'll wake up from your coffin with amnesia. Because otherwise, you probably won't live very long. With your intelligence, surely you can guess what kind of situation will await you after you wake up.

—Tch. One dead, one missing; at first glance, this almost feels like Infinity Terror. Let's hope that while learning Chu Xuan's indifference, you've also picked up one or two parts of his decisiveness. It'll save me some trouble.

So Miss Surtr nodded.

"Understood. If you want to 'catch up' with her later, I'll make some room for you."

"And." She checked the time. "If you don't have any other constructive suggestions, get your people out of here as soon as possible. I'll make my move in half an hour at most. First Patriot, possibly FrostNova and Mephisto while I'm at it. Then I'll either deal with Talulah directly, or wait for her to come to me."

W did not object, and added one more thing.

"Alex might go to the core city. It seems he and his father have some father-son matters to discuss."

"Oh, I know a little about that." Miss Surtr raised an eyebrow. "Fathers and sons killing each other is never a good thing. If possible, try to clear up the misunderstanding between them. Consider it a favor I owe you."

She saw W, who had been about to turn and leave, suddenly stop.

"Has anyone ever told you, Surtr... that you're the most arrogant person in this world?"

"A lot of people have said that." The flame-haired Sarkaz tilted her head slightly, looking at the white-haired woman before her in confusion. "But what does that have to do with me? Why should I, Surtr, need others to wag their tongues about how I act?"

"Looks like you're not only arrogant, but lonely too." W shook her head. Her toe lightly scraped against the ground with a hint of unease. She smiled, but there was something strange and unusual about it. "Look around you more, Surtr... Sometimes, what you think is kindness may look like nothing more than condescending charity to others."

She turned and vanished into the dust and haze.

Leaving only the flame-haired visitor from another world hesitating in confusion.

—What was with everyone today? Did all these women get their periods at the same time? Why was every single one of them talking in riddles?

She thought about it for a long time, yet still could not reach an accurate conclusion.

—So she stopped thinking about it, just as she always had.

W returned to the camp five minutes later.

Her two companions immediately noticed something was off about her—her eyes were slightly red, and one side of her cheek was faintly swollen, bearing the vague imprint of a slender hand.

Ines seemed about to say something, but Heredrey stopped her just as she moved. He shook his head at her, then pulled her toward the outskirts of the camp to muster the troops, leaving W alone with some space.

W said nothing either. As usual, she merely watched the two of them vanish at the edge of her vision with a faint smile.

"...Why can't you ever say anything nice, W?" she said to herself.

"Why do you always have to make every meeting turn out like this? When Your Highness has already..."

She abruptly raised her hand, about to slap herself across the other cheek.