Arknights: Suika's Messenger Journey

The heavy iron chain swept across his body with a shrill whistle, sending him flying several meters like a rag doll. The man who hit the ground lay twisted at unnatural angles, looking dead at a glance.

After that blow, the few people behind him fled in terror, trying to escape the iron whip's attack.

"Suika, don't!" The moment the iron chain saved her, Alina recognized its owner.

After all, the iron chain hanging from Suika's waist was far too conspicuous. Alina had asked several times why she carried something so heavy around her waist.

Suika had only said it was something important that had to stay with her at all times.

Now, those things that normally barely caught Alina's attention had become the most terrifying weapons.

"These bastards were trying to kill you. We can't let them get away!" Suika's eyes were filled with coldness as she faced them.

In her view, these people clearly had hands and feet, yet refused to earn their own living.

Shortsighted and selfish, it was people like them who made the already poorly regarded Infected seem even more despicable to outsiders.

Suika had given them a chance. If they hadn't raised their weapons against Alina just now, she might have spared their lives and handed them over to Talulah.

But the moment they swung their weapons, they had already become dead men in Suika's eyes.

Amid the whistle of the iron chain cutting through the air, Suika caught up to the fleeing men and sent them crashing to the ground.

The last one was about to escape her attack range when, in the next instant, the chain suddenly lengthened and wrapped around his legs.

"Run? Not a single one of you is getting away!" Before his despairing eyes, Suika dragged him before her and stomped on his neck.

With a crisp crack, the last man breathed his last in the snow.

Not far away, Alina stared at Suika standing among the corpses like an evil spirit, scarlet pupils radiating a chilling light. She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.

Suddenly, Suika vanished from where she stood and appeared beside her, her eyes fixed fiercely on Alina's back.

"Old bastard, I'm protecting her life. Don't believe me? Try it!"

Hearing Suika's words, Alina felt an icy chill behind her. When she turned around, she saw only a gray shadow vanish into the forest.

"Suika... you..." Alina opened her mouth, not knowing what to say.

"Let's go. It's not safe here. We need to head back first, and we'll talk about the rest later."

Although she had killed them all, Suika felt no joy at all.

Because she understood that this was merely an insignificant move by the mastermind behind the scenes.

To Him, success would be pleasing, but failure would be of no consequence.

But for Alina, it could cost her life.

And once that bastard set His sights on her, even if it was only a sidelong glance, it wasn't something an ordinary person like Alina could endure.

Unless they dealt with the mastermind or Alina grew strong enough not to die to ordinary schemes, He had plenty more methods to make Alina die in whatever way He wished.

"Alright!" Faced with the surrounding carnage, Alina knew they couldn't remain here for long. She nodded, then hitched up the cart and prepared to leave.

Just then, hurried footsteps approached. Accompanied by the wind and snow blowing toward them, Talulah arrived.

When she saw the corpses on the ground, she couldn't help but feel a wave of lingering fear.

She recognized them. They were the Infected she had previously ordered expelled.

She hadn't expected them not to go far, but to linger around the camp.

Seeing Alina standing not far away and looking slightly at a loss upon seeing her, Talulah reached out to support herself against a tree trunk. Her whole body relaxed.

"It's good that you're alright!"

Suika, however, looked at her.

"I heard the Shieldguards wanted to execute these scum, and you were the one who saved them.

Look at the people you protected. They actually raised weapons against Alina.

If I hadn't been there, do you understand what the result would have been?

I understand that you want to save Ursus's Infected, and I understand your ideals.

But you need to know that human hearts hold both good and evil. Not everyone is worth saving.

If you can't punish evil effectively, evil will think you're weak and easy to bully. It'll keep testing your bottom line, then feed on you to grow stronger.

Talulah, I admire your ideals, but you need to remember that not everyone can walk with you all the way to the end.

But you must protect those willing to follow behind you. That is your responsibility as a leader.

Instead of abusing that pointless sympathy of yours in a vain attempt to save these shortsighted pieces of trash."

Suika's rebuke was razor-sharp, and Talulah had no strength to refute it.

What had happened before her already explained everything. If Suika hadn't been there, the outcome would have been hard to imagine.

"Suika, stop it. I'm fine, aren't I?"

Alina reached out and pressed a hand on Suika's shoulder, trying to calm her anger.

"I'll be leaving after spring comes, but I'm worried about you.

Talulah is too careless. Danger has always been around you. If there's a first time, there'll be a second and a third.

You're my friend. I don't want anything to happen to you."

Suika looked at Alina, her gaze no longer fierce. Over these past days, she had come to recognize Alina as a friend, rather than simply a regrettable description in a game. She wanted Alina to live safely and peacefully, not someday hear news that she had died for no clear reason.

What Is the Best Item for Staying Alive?

After returning to camp, Talulah was very quiet.

FrostNova came over and saw the cartful of vegetables.

"Wow, where did you get so many vegetables?"

"It was all thanks to Suika. Her liquor sold for a good price, and in the end we traded it for these vegetables. If everyone saves a little, they'll last us quite a while."

Alina said with a smile.

The children who had heard the news gathered around the cart and laughed joyfully.

The other Infected also cheered and ran off to spread the news when they saw so many vegetables.

Though each household might not receive much, the Infected never expected much to begin with. After enduring countless hardships, most people were already satisfied to have vegetables to eat in the depths of winter.

"What's wrong with Talulah?" Unlike the others, FrostNova noticed that despite Alina bringing back so many supplies, Talulah looked utterly distraught. Clearly, she had suffered quite a blow, so FrostNova came over to ask Alina what had happened.

Alina looked at the cheering crowd around them, then pulled Suika to stop her from speaking here. She pointed toward the place where she and Suika lived in the distance.

"It's not convenient to talk here. How about we go to my house?"

FrostNova nodded, then said to the person beside her.

"Big Bear, take these supplies to the storeroom yourself."

"Got it, Boss!" The person beside her briskly pushed the cart toward the warehouse as the children watched.

Led by Alina, FrostNova and Suika entered the house together.

Inside, Alina recounted what had happened outside the village.

After hearing it, FrostNova understood why Talulah had worn that expression.

The reason those people hadn't been hanged and had instead been expelled was Talulah's kindness. If she hadn't believed they had merely gone astray for a moment and wanted to give them a chance, none of what followed would have happened at all.

And if Ibuki Suika hadn't been stronger than them, then Alina, a woman without the strength to truss a chicken, would have had no good outcome against those armed, deranged bastards.

"Put simply, Talulah's intentions are good, but she hasn't seen one thing clearly: human nature is inherently evil.

Not everyone deserves to be saved, because some people are born bad due to their nature, whether they're ordinary people or Infected.

They're wolves that can never be fed full, and snakes in winter.

You give them food and let them survive. You give them warmth and save them from death. They won't thank you. They'll only demand more from you until they've sucked you dry, then go searching for the next kind-hearted person.

What can you possibly use to save people like that?

Saving them will only result in more good people getting hurt.

Talulah just can't see that. Does she think her ideals alone can make everyone follow her forward?

Give me a break. Those people are stumbling blocks.

Instead of removing the stumbling blocks, she wants to drag them along with her. Isn't she just making trouble for herself?"

Thinking of what had happened to Alina made Suika furious. It wasn't as if she hadn't explained this sort of thing to Talulah, openly and indirectly, over the past few days, but Talulah simply wouldn't listen.

As for this kind of behavior where someone only regretted things afterward, Suika only wanted to say that Talulah was regretting it far too soon.

"I'll have a good talk with Talulah about this. I believe that after this incident, she'll find the path that truly belongs to the Reunion Movement."

Seeing Suika grow angrier the more she spoke, FrostNova reached out and patted her head, then took out a piece of candy and placed it in her hand.

"As for the future, my suggestion is that you bring two fighters whenever you go out. Nothing else matters as much as this: if you run into this again, or encounter a Patrol, you have no combat ability at all. It's simply too dangerous."

After FrostNova finished speaking, Alina nodded slightly. Recalling what had happened earlier, she was still somewhat shaken.

If Suika hadn't been there to deal with those bad people, she might already have said goodbye to the world.

"No. I need to think of a way to make sure you can at least protect yourself."

After FrostNova left to find Talulah, Suika stroked her chin and spoke.

"Hm? I'm still alive, aren't I? You don't need to be so nervous over this, and don't blame Talulah either. The path she's walking is difficult. We can't hold her back."

Alina reached out and stroked Suika's head, soothing her restless emotions.

Meanwhile, Suika quietly considered how to increase Alina's combat strength in a short time.

First, there were items. Touhou had quite a few items with formidable combat power.

If she could draw suitable equipment and leave it for Alina, that would be the best way to improve her combat strength in the short term.

Next were Arts. Alina was also Infected, so in theory she could use Originium Arts. But for most ordinary people, this depended on talent. They would dig deeply into whatever they were good at, like FrostNova.

Only places with a strong academic atmosphere, such as Ludwig University in Leithanien, or a small number of Sarkaz who specialized in studying Originium Arts, possessed a wide variety of ways to use Originium Arts.

Beyond that, there was only family and bloodline inheritance.

For most ordinary Infected, researching Arts basically meant seeing what direction they were suited for, or what sort of ability their Oripathy had granted them.

Suika planned to spend a bunch and see whether she could get a few suitable skills or items, at least ensuring that after she left, Alina wouldn't be schemed to death by The Black Snake again.

As for pulling The Black Snake out of Talulah's body, she wanted to do that too. If that bastard dared show himself, she would absolutely use Three-Step Ruin and beat the thing into a loach.

But he was deeply buried in Talulah's mind. Everything Suika currently had was brute force, and she hadn't touched mental combat at all.

So there was nothing she could do about it.

After Alina went to sleep, Suika walked outside.

She looked at the twin moons overhead, then picked up clumps of snow from the ground and piled them into the shape of a rabbit's head outside the door.

"Lucky rabbit, grant me strength. Give me something useful!"

After saying that, Suika put a full one hundred thousand Lungmen Dollars into the item box.

The next second, a battered old broom appeared before her.

Marisa's Beloved Flying Broom (Replica):

Though it looked rather battered, it was a replica of Marisa's favorite flying broom.

Riding it, Marisa traveled throughout every corner of Gensokyo.

Speed: cruising speed of 80 kilometers per hour, maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour.

Maximum flight altitude: five kilometers.

Comes with a wind barrier and temperature control.

An essential item for home travel and visiting relatives.

—Warmly recommended by Marisa, produced by Kappa Heavy Industries.

Fly, Fly, My Proud and Unrestrained Self

Though it wasn't the genuine article, Suika was quite satisfied.

First, it wasn't flashy at all. Even if it was left inside the house, no one would steal it.

Second, its speed was quite good. A cruising speed of eighty kilometers per hour in the air was more than enough for its rider to escape most pursuits.