"But now... perhaps I really shouldn't be so presumptuous?"
The thought lasted only an instant. The flow of past memories occupied barely any time in Miss Surtr's mind. In the eyes of everyone in the present world, the Sarkaz researcher carrying a woven bag had merely spaced out for a moment upon seeing an old friend. Then she smiled and extended her slender hand toward the Elafia before her.
"Long time no see, Teacher Alina."
A fragrant breeze blew toward her.
Miss Surtr was slightly startled, then felt softness and warmth. She had only expected a handshake, but she hadn't expected to receive a hug instead. The embrace lasted several seconds before finally leaving the somewhat stiff girl.
"Call me Alina. Don't add 'Teacher.'"
The deer girl with silvery-white hair seriously corrected her. Her slender finger tapped Miss Surtr beside the lips. For one brief moment, some good-for-nothing actually wanted to stick out her tongue and lick it. Only then did the deer girl restore her composure. As she smoothed the slightly wrinkled hem of her skirt, her gaze inadvertently swept over the woven bag in Miss Surtr's hand.
There's a strange sour smell.
Surtr thought to herself, unsure where it was coming from. It probably wasn't an important detail, so she casually ignored it.
"Long time no see, Alina." Surtr went along with her smoothly.
"You two chat. I'm going to check on Old Stubborn." Yelena cut in, then headed into the clinic without the slightest hesitation. As she left, her two pointed ears bounced up and down, clearly showing that she was in a good mood.
All right, it seemed she still intended to leave Talulah some dignity and wasn't planning to publicly execute her.
Then Yelena's matter could be set aside for now. Alina made a guiding gesture, indicating that Surtr should follow her into the clinic. As they walked, she spoke.
"It really has been a long time, Surtr—may I call you Al? Just like before?"
"As you like."
"Your personality is still the same as before. You're always like this, but that makes it very easy to suffer losses."
"I've never been the one suffering losses." Surtr shrugged. Excluding all the miserable experiences in the dream realm, she really hadn't suffered any tangible defeats on Terra. There was probably no human who could fight better than her, and among monsters... there probably weren't many either.
"Whether you suffer losses isn't for you to decide, Al." Miss Alina merely shook her head. "Fighting isn't the only way to solve problems. Victory doesn't mean the problem has been solved either. I can tell that you're very tired right now. Come rest in my room for a while. Standing here while carrying such a large bag of foolish things makes it hard even to talk."
The sourness in the air seemed to grow heavier again. Who knew who had eaten a lemon without finishing it? But Miss Surtr had never cared about such trivial details. She nodded and followed Alina into the clinic. The woven bag in her hand seemed to have grown heavier than before, though she had no idea what had gone wrong.
She couldn't be bothered to care.
The clinic was busy, but not as busy as one might have imagined. Perhaps Persephone's drones were providing enough assistance, or perhaps Bodegard's Guerrilla Squad had brought enough manpower. On the way from the clinic entrance to Alina's room, nothing came up to delay them.
Everything went smoothly. Alina's room was just as clean and simple as Surtr had expected. Her gaze swept over the calendar, the decorations, and the thickness of the documents on the desk. Unsurprisingly, she discovered that someone had not only recently begun living in this room.
She closed the door and set the woven bag down near the bed. After sitting in the chair beside the coffee table, she watched as Alina brought over a water pitcher filled with cold water.
There were ice cubes inside the pitcher.
"You knew I was coming?" Surtr poured herself a cup and took a sip. The tiny ice cubes carried a faint sweetness—the flavor she liked.
"If Little Tal could guess it, of course I could too. After all, Little Tal is so stupid, and I'm a little smarter than she is."
Alina sat down on the other side of the coffee table. As she passed by the bed, she lightly kicked the woven bag, whether intentionally or not.
Someone might cry.
"So you came to Chernobog a long time ago?" Surtr pretended not to notice.
"Mm." Alina nodded. "I could guess what Little Tal was planning, and I knew that since she had already taken action, she would definitely exclude me first. So I didn't try to persuade her then. Even if I had, she wouldn't have listened. But I also knew that if she chose a place to attack, it would definitely be Chernobog. She had been eyeing this city for a long time, though her purpose back then was different..."
She sighed softly.
"I had no choice but to come to this city myself and establish a foothold. I waited for her to attack the city... If you hadn't arrived in time, Al, I would have stood on Chernobog's walls to stop her, so she wouldn't make a huge mistake. But just as I was preparing to leave, I saw the fire rising in the distance."
She was referring to the grand spectacle Miss Surtr had deliberately created while bullying Junjun. The pillar of flame rising into the sky could be seen clearly even from Chernobog.
"From that moment, I knew you had already arrived, Al. So I returned to the clinic and waited for news from you. I knew you would definitely be able to bring Little Tal back. When that happened, I could go find you, return to the Reunion Movement, or wait for you to come find me."
The corners of Miss Surtr's mouth twitched slightly.
"You had that much faith in me...? What if I hadn't managed to reach Chernobog in time?"
"Of course I did. After all, you're Surtr." Miss Alina blinked. "But if you hadn't arrived in time and Little Tal insisted on attacking Chernobog, I would have jumped straight off the walls—and that's a joke."
Yet Surtr didn't think Alina was joking at all. Hadn't the woven bag beside the bed begun trembling too? She couldn't help lifting her cup of iced sugar water and taking a sip, if only to calm herself down.
A serious girl was terrifying!
After experiencing H8-4
I think I now thoroughly understand Big Sis Talulah from GT8-1.
Don't blame her, don't blame her. (Click to kill civilian.)
Section Thirty-Three: The Trident River Campaign, Terra Version
Tremble.
A chill burst from the depths of her heart, filling her veins and seeping into her marrow, transforming into countless fine steel needles that pierced through her flesh.
Did it hurt?
Perhaps it did.
But more painful than the ache was the bewilderment and helplessness spreading through her heart.
Talulah had originally thought she was ready. She had thought she possessed justice, lofty ideals, and noble goals. For the sake of Terra's future, she was willing to make sacrifices and pay the price.
She had thought she was ready.
Yet when she heard Alina's voice, when she clearly heard the Elafia's words, when she understood the resolve contained in the words "I would jump straight off the walls," she realized that she had never been ready at all.
—Lose Alina?
—Lose her forever?
—Lose my Little Deer forever?
—No. I can't tolerate it. I can't accept it. I... don't want that!
Breathing became difficult, and her blood seemed to flow backward, making her feel cold. She knew that she had once exiled Alina, but she also knew that when she issued that order, she had tacitly allowed several of Alina's students and a group of supporters to leave with her. She knew that Alina would be safe under their protection, and she knew even more clearly that whether her plan succeeded or failed, Alina would not be caught up in it.
The chill grew stronger and stronger, yet deep within her heart, a gloomy flame seemed to ignite. Amid the intertwining cold and heat, pain was born. In her plan, she had actually arranged an ending for every officer of the Reunion Movement, for every family member and friend she trusted and who trusted her. In the past, she had believed she could do it, that she could harden her heart. Yet now that her wish had been fulfilled, fear and lingering dread surged over her like a tide, drowning her.
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