Chapter 83

As a medical professional with some personal prejudice against the country of Ursus, Folinic was initially very reluctant when she heard that she had to clean up the scene for the Ursus people... But after Nana added that "it won't consume our medical supplies," Folinic realized that her captain just wanted people to collect the bodies... rather than cleaning up the battlefield in the conventional sense.

After setting down the last corpse that had died from massive bleeding, Folinic looked at Black Horn and said something, while pointing at the Ursus Landship with a complicated expression.

Meanwhile, Franka was also fully armed but had no chance to make a move, smacked her lips and exclaimed:

"... Nineteen people, all killed instantly... the same wound location, the same way of dying..."

As he spoke, the fat fox put down the last corpse he had examined and put the envelopes containing various banknotes, some in small change, some in large ones, half-written letters home, and diaries into a sealed bag. Similar spoils had already piled up into a small mountain.

Afterwards, the fat fox tore off the corpse's clothes. The former was thrown into a crevice in the sinkhole to be burned on the spot, and the latter also needed to be disposed of... However, Nana said that they should disguise themselves as bandits like Rusty Rusthammers passing through, so things like clothing, which can be considered 'supplies,' might have to be dealt with elsewhere.

Then, looking at Folinic's somewhat distorted expression, the fat fox, who had dealt with many disgusting things in the BPRS system and felt no pressure at all, tilted his head:

"If Folinic isn't comfortable with it, then let us handle it... You're a doctor, aren't you? There's no need to force yourself to adapt to this kind of situation."

"... I... am not having trouble adjusting..."

"Oh? So you have a problem with the captain's decision to annihilate the entire enemy force?"

"No, it's not that... I... although I said it outright, I don't think I was hiding it... I hate Ursus..."

The word 'dislike' might not even be enough to describe her feelings. After thanking Franka for the chewing gum, Folinic frowned again as she looked at the soldiers of the Ursus the Dominion piled up like small mountains of slaughtered meat...

Yes, she hated, loathed, and even loathed the Dominion called Ursus.

Even though she harbored a deep-seated, known hostility towards that country, seeing these lifeless, spiritless mounds of flesh... even though she could calmly handle various medical courses that would cause physical discomfort to ordinary people... Folinic felt a deep sense of disgust.

It's strange... she seems to be defending an enemy she dislikes.

Perhaps if we think about Folinic's understanding of 'battle' a little further... when the term 'sweeping the battlefield' is mentioned, Folinic thinks of collecting wounded soldiers, contacting the 'enemy' government to demand ransom, and then dealing with the subsequent open and covert attacks.

Leaving aside those on the Landship who died as if from Catastrophes, literally paralyzed by the shockwaves, Rosemary is the only publicly listed war caster and annihilation-type operator in Rhodes Island's archives, Folinic has always treated that Little Cat as a humanoid cannon... But Nana's battlefield, a place for close-quarters combat, was dealt with far too cleanly...

The enemy's clothes were not even damaged. Apart from a few weapons that were severed at their weak points, only the gushing blood flowed like a small river into the frozen soil and tundra... It was less a battlefield and more a slaughterhouse assembly line.

This scene even subtly changed Folinic's definition of 'life,' to the point that it made a child who had been wandering in Ursus since childhood and whose mother had died from persecution in Ursus have some thoughts like, 'Aren't you being too extreme?'... It was truly a mixed bag of emotions.

Franka was no stranger to Folinic's reaction. Blacksteel Worldwide produced many similar employees every year in the hot-spot conflict zones of this land... After all, only when people are no longer threatened with death can they relax... and begin to ponder philosophy, to think about the meaning of life, and to weigh the weight of fate.

"... Well, anyway, people have to survive before they can think about these things... The recording of Captain Medic's conversation with those people can also be viewed in PRTS... She made all sorts of excuses, offered a six-figure bribe in Lungmen Dollar, even brought up the Emperor's name, she said both good and bad things... but they still insisted on sending the Infected in our team to the mine... What did our dear captain say about it again?"

Franka playfully patted her head, closed one eye, and held up a finger to her lips:

"Oh... they've already found a way to die~"

"... really."

As he spoke, he glanced at Miss Franka beside him. Although the crystals on her body were hidden under her clothes, going to the mine would not only be Franka's responsibility, but would also mean at least half of the team would be lost.

The other party made no attempt to hide their malice towards the Infected from the very beginning... But even with her tragic childhood as a backdrop, Folinic still felt that these people's hostility towards the Infected was a bit too fanatical.

Recalling the conversation between her Medic captain and the sorcerer, Folinic stopped paying attention to the corpses.

"... That's what the commander's superior demands... In other words, it's the de facto controller of the Third Army... Those Old Nobility are deliberately persecuting the Infected... But why? What benefit does it bring them?"

"I don't know, isn't this exactly what our captain is investigating?"

Seeing Franka casually pass the buck to Medic, Folinic sighed and took off her medical rubber gloves. Compared to the predicament her captain was facing, she felt even more hopeless about her own job ahead.

"... Rhodes Island, on the other hand, aims to change the public opinion in Ursus regarding the Infected... Can this really be accomplished simply by giving lectures on Oripathy?"

"It's normal not to finish it; in fact, it's a situation that requires long-term effort to change."

As Su Sulo suddenly joined the conversation, the Little Fox with purple and pink hair glanced at Folinic's expression before nodding gratefully to Franka. The latter responded with a thumbs-up... As former members of the Ticarondo team, having worked and lived together on the same ship for three years, they had this much understanding.

As for the current... bizarre battlefield environment... the Ticarondo Infected District was far more terrifying than the battlefield between Nana and the Little Cat. Su Sulo would not waver in his resolve because of something of this magnitude.

"It may sound harsh, but neither Kal'tsit nor the Emperor expected us to change the climate of Ursus all at once... The biggest significance of our operation this time is that logistical stations will be established in Ursus. You could even say we're just here to cover Medic's mission... Folinic, you just need to do your job well..."

Seeing the intern, who was being left to his own devices by his mentor, nod silently, Su Sulo checked with Franka one last time to make sure there were no oversights on the field... As the three of them left, the Little Cat threw an iron bucket into the crack from a distance.

Leaning against the porthole of the Exploration Vehicle's cab, watching the flames gradually rise, Durin witnessed Nana's entire ICA-style battlefield maneuver:

"... Using liquefied Originium solution to treat corpses... While I can roughly understand the convenience of Originium Crystals even if it's not completely burned... isn't this incredibly environmentally unfriendly?"

"Compared to industrial Pollution, the Originium content in a barrel of Refined Originium is still quite limited... The main reason for doing this is simply because it's convenient... Haven't you already stated all the benefits?"

As she spoke, she habitually ruffled the blond hair of the 'big kid' who was about the same height as the Little Cat. Nana, who was busy running around, didn't notice Durin's hesitant expression at all.

Black Horn and Yato were sent by Nana to retrieve the navigation log, while Ranger and Liskarm were tasked with looting the Landship's warehouse as much as possible before Nana blew up the ammunition depot... because Nana felt that since they hadn't been resupplying in the cities where the Old Nobility forces were based, ensuring their own supplies was crucial.

Of course, considering the internal calls from the Ursus army and the difficulties in transporting supplies after the ship capsized, Nana only asked Liskarm and the others to take the larger supplies... and the whole process wouldn't last too long.

Around nightfall, Nana would consider deliberately detonating the enemy's ammunition depot to cover up the conspicuous structural damage to the Rosemary Tactical Unit.

Finally, after taking away everything that might record 'Rhodes Island'... including shipboard avionics, officer Terminal, bridge navigation logs, and a series of other miscellaneous items, Rhodes Island's Exploration Vehicle will continue on their way to complete the mission given to them by Emperor Ursus.

As for the silent cruisers in Kazdel... well, we saw them, but what happened to them afterward, we don't know.

"The current situation is this: we have two missions, one overt and one covert... On the surface, we are to conduct a medical literacy lecture that leads to the Snowfield and then south and back, but covertly, we need to investigate the truth about how Ursus is persecuting the Infected near the Snowfield."

"Although we all know that this unusual persecution may be part of the internal political struggle in Ursus... but Folinic said in the team channel when dealing with the traces that even if it was out of fear of the Infected, such a high-profile oppression of the Infected with the tacit approval of the Old Nobility Faction was too bizarre and too... high-profile."

"Since things are unreasonable, there must be a reason for the unreasonableness... After all, if the only purpose is to use the persecution of the Infected as a pretext to plunder their wealth, such a law will only benefit the lower and middle classes in the operation... Whether it is forming such a team or specifically having the army do these thankless tasks, it is undoubtedly a loss for the finances of those great nobles."

"The border troops we encountered this time must have held a high position in the military because they were on a gunboat... And if they were after money, they should have stopped when I offered them a bribe, since I think my threats and bribes were sufficient."

"But as everyone has seen, things have taken a turn for the worse. Rather than corruptly plundering money, they seem to see persecuting the Infected as a mission..."

"Of course, we can't rule out the foolish assumption that they'll still keep all our possessions after labeling us as the Infected... But I personally believe that their superiors... those nobles, deliberately arranged it this way... It's an order and a commitment from the soldiers."

Looking at the silent crowd, Nana took a marker and wrote her final guess on the handwritten board covered with notes:

"They are deliberately, even specifically gathering the Infected together for systematic persecution... I can't find a more reasonable explanation for this than that they want to incite the Infected to resist."

Nana drew a circle on the drawing board and continued:

"And why they did this is the direction of my investigation... If you all know this, please let me know if you find any useful information... Don't use the system, just tell me verbally..."

"Regarding our subsequent actions, although we cleaned up the battlefield as much as possible and simulated it as a scene of the Infected suicide attacks... even though we properly handled all the records and evidence I could think of, we still face a problem."

Inside the cockpit, even the Little Cat's daily flight was canceled. In the darkness, relying on the multi-functional radar, the Exploration Vehicle sped towards the first target village under the high-speed driving of the PRTS. Everyone stared silently at the handwriting tablet that Nana had pulled out.

"... That warlock, they did contact their superiors while reviewing our files... this will undoubtedly become a clue that the Ursus Third Army suspects..."

Seeing Nana's judgment, Folinic, holding a cup of hot cocoa, took a small sip and said helplessly:

"... I think they don't even need clues; they might just pin the blame on us because we appeared in the missing soldiers' communications..."

"... Although we did do it, we can just deny it and that's the end of it..."

Seeing that everyone had slightly different opinions on whether or not to be honest with each other, Nana tapped her writing board to draw everyone's attention to her: Qi

"My guardian once said something like, 'When your enemy suspects you can do something, you'd better actually be able to...'"

"Rosemary is a registered annihilation operator on Rhodes Island's records. The Ursus Military will undoubtedly suspect us. Even with disguises, the suspicion won't disappear easily..."

"However, being able to do it is one thing, but having the whole world believe you did it is another... The silence of a hundred-meter-class warship is no small matter; their superiors will definitely investigate... And for us, this is a good opportunity to shake off... and more importantly, to clear Rosemary of suspicion."

Seeing Nana mention her name, the Little Cat flicked its ears and looked at Nana with a spirited expression... Unfortunately, since the goal was to clear its name, the Little Cat certainly couldn't continue doing this:

"Next, I will turn back and attack them again... and you, next, have something to do..."

While speaking, he instructed the PRTS to activate the Exploration Vehicle's navigation system. Numerous Ursus Landship responder signals were clearly marked on the Rhodes Island map.

Although most of them displayed countdowns to 'finally confirmed status,' and the status data for the Ursus warships didn't even originate from the Ursus Intercity Network, it didn't matter; Nana was simply pointing to an Ursus supply fleet... Umbrella

If the Exploration Vehicle continues at its current rate, it will likely 'encounter' the cargo ship, a thousand-meter-long vessel, at its original target location—an unnamed Ursus village—about a week later, meaning they will access each other's Intercity Network records.

"... You guys should go ahead and give that medical lecture... and it would be best to invite the people on that ship as well... of course, you can use the excuse of purchasing supplies... the corruption in the Ursus army isn't just limited to the Old Nobility; the forces controlled by the New Nobility are just as bad... most importantly, you need to show evidence that Little Cat and 'I' were indeed present in front of them... an Ursus supply ship, and the team investigating the Silent Ship a hundred miles away is attacked again, giving the Rhodes Island team a perfect alibi."

Hearing Nana's explanation, Jessica, who still had an aura of Halo surrounding her, nodded and said:

"I understand... but in that case, how will you establish your own alibi, Nana?"

After saying this, Jessica noticed that Nana was looking at her with a kind smile... At the same time, Franka and Liskarm suddenly realized what was going on, and Su Sulo and Blaze also clapped their hands.

Seeing everyone's eyes on her, Jessica shrank back nervously and asked:

"W-what's wrong?"

Seeing that even with her Halo, she remained as oblivious as ever, Franka smiled and shrugged.

"It's nothing, we're just watching... our captains for the next few weeks."

"Huh?"

Realizing she was about to become someone's substitute again, Jessica, despite possessing invincible power, still couldn't escape her usual unlucky fate and let out a painful cry:

"Eeeeeeeeeeeee--?!"

PS: Waaaaaaah!

PS2: Next is the second half of the first encounter... Although it's the cleanup of the last battle, the cleanup is actually very important at times like this.

In other words, Nana is going to have a rare opportunity to relive her job as a 'Cleaners'.

PS3: Although it's a bit out of character, I'll still emphasize the timeline here for easier understanding.

It is currently winter of 1093. The Kazdel Civil War has officially ended, Theresa is dead, and the Doctor was hastily taken to the Black Coffin in Chernobog by the potted lynx... The Little Bunny has officially accepted the continuation of civilization and stayed on Rhodes Island, where it was healed by Warfarin.

As for Nana, after several months of sailing from Kazdel, coupled with Nana's frequent fainting spells at the Medical Department, this time jump occurred... This is also the reason why there is permafrost in northern Kazdel even though we haven't entered the Snowfield yet... because winter has arrived again.

PS4: This Arknights fanfic is being written like a Detective Conan fanfic... (scratching head)

Wailing cat... It's Kal'tsit's bikini... I wonder if it will get banned, I guess it'll be fine as many people see it as they want.

Potted plant. jpg

4th Crimson Warm Winter: 085 Bloodfiend Cat

Listen, a true assassin needs to be acutely aware of changes in their environment and to be quick and swift in changing their identity.

Finding a weakness and delivering a fatal blow is the norm and rule of assassin operations. When a weakness is revealed, one must either avoid it or cover it up... Now, Nana is doing the latter.

The Emperor of Ursus would not say a good word about Rhodes Island 'Rhodes Island attack on the army because of the invitation, just as his actual control over the country is now limited to the city of Saint Petersburg... Nana cannot completely hand over the greater good and public opinion to the enemy, so the task of removing Rhodes Island from that attack can only be handled by Nana herself.

Before setting off, Nana had already stored the basic model of Bloodfiend Arts and related data in PRTS. Under the care of the two medical operators, Su Sulo and Folinic, the Little Cat could learn safely. However, when the constitution enhancement effect of Bloodfiend Arts reached one-third of the original constitution, the Halo of 'Master' would lose its conspicuous substance due to the mixing of Witchcraft.

The Little Cat is essentially just an ordinary Feline. After confirming the nature of the spell and the threshold for predicting its effectiveness, Su Sulo and Folinic felt that, if all went well, the Little Cat would probably be able to actively conceal its Halo before the Exploration Vehicle reached the first target point.

Similarly, Jessica's Halo might be even easier to conceal... she doesn't even need to actively learn those ancient, complex, and seemingly bizarre Witchcraft.

By adjusting the Bloodfiend enhancement level shared by Nana through the agent's spellcasting Terminal 'Anna' which has been synchronized, Jessica can easily decide whether to make the Halo visible.

The convenience brought by technological advancements is fully reflected in the cost of learning magic.

What surprised Nana was that she thought Jessica's Halo and physical enhancement spells should automatically stop working after she left... After all, 'Anna's' effective range should be less than five kilometers in normal environments, and maintaining an effective distance of three kilometers is already considered to be due to the clear weather Originium Dust.

But the truth is, even though Nana has left the area of influence of the Intercity Network of the Exploration Vehicle, according to Cole and Andy's messages... Jessica still retains her Halo and spell enhancements.

[So, it's almost certain that our Little Cat is relaying your magic Nana?]

Listening to Kate's curious questions, Nana tugged at her ill-fitting Ursus military uniform, rolled up her sleeves, and looked at the agent Terminal, which was also beyond the range but could still be used anywhere.

Since she's not a researcher, Nana can't be sure if it's 'Anna' intervening or if Bruce's bloodline has become an extension of her magic... But overall, it's a good thing that Jessica can maintain her 'Halo' status, significantly increasing the safety of the team.

However, what Nana is more worried about now is how Jessica will pretend to be someone she's not.

[Don't worry, Mom has already gone to Mia's. We're always connected to your consciousness world; there's very detailed information there about makeup and disguise. With that theoretical support, Mom will teach Jessica well... Nana, you need to know that music and acting are Mom's strengths; she once said she could become an actress.]

"... Two just like that... is there really such a thing?"

[Hmm... Mom really was invited by a theater troupe... But Dad said that because I was too young at the time, Mom declined quite easily... I remember, it was called something like the Red Orchestra? Or the Diamond Theater Troupe? It seemed pretty famous...]

Tilting her head, Nana frowned, feeling that she vaguely remembered what Kate had said. However, upon closer inspection, she realized that there were many performance groups with similar names, so she immediately put the matter out of her mind.

"Although I think there are some differences between 'disguise' and 'acting'... I can teach Jessica about 'deductive reasoning'... Although, the role of Medic doesn't require much deliberate 'acting'... She already possesses all the qualifications a team leader should have."

Is this a sign of care and concern for the team members?

"No, it's about having enough money available at critical moments to subsidize things like the insulation layer of Exploration Vehicle —a form of financial freedom..."

You're so realistic.

Without further arguing with Kate about whether 'love and justice' or 'money' was more important to the team, Nana started to work out her Thought Chain Ring. After confirming that no one had witnessed her getting off the bus, she began to check the items before the mission.

Before setting off, Nana handed her uniform to Jessica. She was wearing Ursus warlock uniform that was still stained with blood, clearly taken from a corpse.

So, the question is, what is Kazdel least lacking?