"How many people in this world can stand shoulder to shoulder with you, or even surpass you in combat prowess?"
"Probably none." Miss Surtr's answer was simple and swift—she truly had not met many people who could still be alive after she went all out. Of course, that only applied to humans.
"What about those who aren't human?"
"Five or six? Seven or eight? There are quite a few whose strength I'd have to test in a fight." Surtr shrugged. She remembered the Furnace Behemoth she had encountered on the wasteland back then, that colossal monster whose every step brought disaster. It had taken three days and three nights of battle to force it to the brink of death. Then, just before delivering the final blow, she had discovered that after suffering a massive loss of power, the behemoth's human form was actually Nian, the operator who would join Rhodes Island in the future!
That had been incredibly awkward. As a result, she had been forced to spend ten times as long as the battle itself—an entire month—treating that hotpot girl. She had also had to endure her bizarre cooking, in which she used chili peppers as water. Though during the latter half of that month, the girl had long since recovered and was merely pretending otherwise, deliberately stuffing Surtr with super-spicy peppers just to watch her suffer. Still, who could blame her? Surtr had nearly beaten her to death. One meeting, one fate; no matter who won or lost, Surtr was in the wrong.
She shook her head inwardly and temporarily suppressed that... less-than-pleasant memory. In any case, Nian back then and Surtr back then had indeed been on the same level. Surtr grew a little stronger every day, but Nian had twelve siblings waiting in the wings. Who knew whether some hidden old monster might emerge later?
"Perhaps a few more." Miss Surtr corrected herself. "But no more than twenty. And they basically don't appear in the human world. Once you return to Rhodes Island and see the world map and the relevant records, I imagine your intelligence will make it easy for you to deduce their respective ranges of activity and their identities."
"They come from mythology? Indeed, I know far too little about this world right now. Although I have a general understanding of common knowledge in my mind, along with knowledge and academic information that can be activated whenever needed, I only remember the knowledge itself. I don't remember the process of learning it."
Persephone lightly tapped her forehead.
"I've already understood the basic situation. Thank you for answering my questions. But based on my observations and judgment of you, since you've told me everything without reservation, you must also be expecting me to be equally forthcoming about something. And I currently have no important intelligence to give you—so you must have some relatively unimportant question that requires the assistance of my mind?"
She tilted her head and cast an inquisitive look at the flame-haired Sarkaz before her.
"You've already proven the 'strength' you possess. In response, I do indeed need to provide the corresponding 'intelligence.' Ask directly. I'll offer feedback based on the information you provide."
"...You really haven't changed." Surtr gently exhaled. "There is indeed something I need to ask you about—I want to find someone. She's currently somewhere in this city. She controls a force made up of people infected with Originium Infection—you should know what that term means. Her force has now been defeated by me, and quite a few of its members have already been placed on Rhodes Island. But her whereabouts remain unknown."
"I want to find her, and I also intend to bring her to Rhodes Island. I should have told you what Rhodes Island is, hadn't I?"
"You didn't. But I can guess." Persephone waved a finger. "Besides, the information you've provided is far too incomplete. Hmm, you acted here without restraint, so that person's force must be somewhere around this city. You defeated her force, yet you want to recruit her. Judging from your usual way of doing things, you must have a certain degree of fondness for that woman."
"Is it a split personality or mental contamination?" She easily guessed the source of the present contradiction.
"That's one of the reasons I came to you for answers." Surtr shook her head. "I met her once several years ago and helped remove some... unstable factors from her mind. According to my plans, she shouldn't be here at all right now. At the very least, she shouldn't be here with her current objective."
"What objective?"
"Driving the infected to seize this Mobile City. Before that, she reached several agreements with the nation behind this city. They most likely involved war."
"Does she know that you treated her several years ago?"
"She does. She was quite grateful at the time, and I stayed for a while to teach her some swordsmanship."
"You only taught her swordsmanship?"
"Hmm, and some... immature ideas, in retrospect. Things like uniting the majority, class struggle, establishing base areas, and consolidating thought. But not much—"
Miss Surtr fell silent.
Because she sensed that something about the way Persephone was looking at her had changed markedly.
How should she put it? It felt like watching a drenched piglet beneath a dripping roof. There was pity, disdain, and a small measure of matter-of-factness.
Surtr was no stranger to that look. After all, Persephone had often looked at her that way in the past. So she asked directly—
"Is that enough information?"
"More or less." Persephone drew in a tiny breath. "Let me ask you this: how old is she?"
"Her teens... early twenties? Maybe a little older?"
"You taught her swordsmanship and ideology. Did she never call you her teacher?"
"...She didn't. Why?"
"I think I understand why the past me neither died at your hands nor set a trap to kill you later. Someone like you, who arbitrarily drags people out of darkness and then arbitrarily abandons them in the light, will sooner or later be hacked to pieces. So leaving you alone was fine... Did I used to say things like that to you often?"
"Is there a problem?" Miss Surtr asked, confused.
"...So even I was like that?"
The purple-haired Doctor-to-be rubbed her temples, looking rather troubled.
She suddenly let out a heavy sigh.
"What's the most conspicuous place in this city?"
"Uh... the main control tower at the city center?" Surtr answered uncertainly.
"Then why aren't you going there?"
"...She's there?"
"Shouldn't you wait for someone in the most conspicuous place?" Persephone shook her head, her fingers turning slightly white. "You've made a complete mess of things. If you want to haul her onto Rhodes Island, the best thing you can do is find a woven sack, stuff her into it, take her back to the island, and worry about the rest later. But I imagine you probably won't believe that advice."
She reached out and fiddled with something inside the Sarcophagus's machinery. Then she tossed it over. A handmade device that looked like an antique phone with numerous wires exposed landed in Surtr's hand.
"This is a communicator. Take it with you. You'll need it."
"And then..." She waved her hand. "Go ahead and do things your own way."
Four hours left... I hope Arknights goes easy on me when it stabs me in the back. _(:з"∠)_
I hope Talulah's characterization won't differ too much from what I expect. Revising the saved chapters is so painful... _(:з"∠)_
It's time to fight the big dragon.
Ah... That awful, miserable feeling of a soldier running into a scholar—someone you can't beat even if you cut them down—has returned.
Miss Surtr hated this feeling. It made her feel like an idiot who knew nothing. It was also because Persephone's intelligence was genuinely a little too high, at least relative to hers. So whenever they interacted intellectually, the final result always proved the Queen of the Underworld right.
But as expected, she still felt a little unwilling to give up without running headfirst into the wall first.
"Fine. I'll go and try." Miss Surtr put away the communicator and reached out, dispersing the wind barrier outside. "The girl who came with me last time was Red, who answers directly to Kal'tsit, the one who holds real authority within Rhodes Island. Since I've made such a grand appearance here, she probably won't come over. But aside from Red, another person might come looking for you."
Flames began to flow, taking shape. The form of W appeared, followed by a mass of burnt ash that colored it, creating W's signature horns and white hair.
"Her name is W, and she's Theresia's superfan. I told her you were here, and she may be a little unhappy with you..."
All right, not a little unhappy. If W saw Persephone, she would probably immediately chop her to pieces. However, considering the difference between them in combat ability, knowledge, and intelligence, if they really started fighting... Miss W probably wouldn't survive until the second after Persephone retaliated.
—But Persephone had always maintained her persona as a "neurotic, fragile, highly intelligent girl." So W wouldn't die. At the very least, she wouldn't remember dying, and might even partially fulfill her wish by easing some of the grief in her heart over Theresia's death.
—That was why she had thought of telling Persephone to fend for herself back then. Of course, that was only one part of the reason.
And Persephone clearly understood what she meant.
Before you continue