A Vulpo Girl's Life as a Rhodes Island Operator

The dense forest suddenly gave way, and the narrow field of view opened up.

"There's... such a hidden stream here?"

FrostNova sounded somewhat surprised.

Clearly, even she had not known about this.

Trade

"There are... traces of someone having stayed here."

What Fengling sensed was right beside this stream.

At most, they could be called traces of someone having stayed here.

At the destination Fengling had sensed was a noticeably sunken patch of ground, with remnants of a simple campfire and fuel that had not fully burned away beside it.

Fengling reached down and touched it. The blackened firewood was completely cold, clearly extinguished long ago.

As for what she was looking for, she had found it as well.

"This is it!"

Though she had never seen it before, Fengling immediately decided that this was the target she had been searching for.

A pocket watch that looked... somewhat worn.

Its exterior had oxidized severely, and it had a rather ordinary round shape. A thin chain was attached to it.

It perfectly matched that vague intuition.

Come to think of it, Fengling found it rather strange too.

The time she had found the picture book belonging to the girl named Ifrit on Rhodes Island, the intuition had already been much stronger than her usual sense for finding objects.

This time, however, that intuition had been even more direct and obvious. Before even finding the actual object, Fengling had already had a hazy impression of its shape.

Did the owners of these items share some kind of trait?

Unfortunately, Fengling's current clearance seemed insufficient for her to meet the girl named Ifrit. On Rhodes Island, all records concerning that girl had been encrypted, and even her race was unknown.

Perhaps this time, she could meet the owner of the item she had found?

"See, FrostNova! I found what I was looking for! I wasn't lying to you, was I?"

Fengling showed FrostNova what she had just found, hoping to put her doubts to rest.

"This is what you were looking for?" FrostNova's expression seemed strange. "Why... can you find things like this?"

"Uh... Originium Arts?"

On Terra, if someone asked, the answer was always Originium Arts.

But that definitely would not work as an excuse right now.

FrostNova... might know this item.

Fengling narrowed her eyes slightly. Judging by FrostNova's reaction just now, she already had a few guesses.

"Fine, just think of this way of finding things as some sort of talent of mine. It isn't very stable, and I don't know when or where it might activate." Fengling explained seriously. "I know that still sounds suspicious... but from your perspective, I shouldn't know this item or its owner, should I?"

FrostNova nodded.

"Then next, I'll go find this item's owner. If I find them, you'll believe me, right?"

"What you're saying is indeed too bizarre... but just as you said, if you can find this item's owner right in front of me, then I'll believe you." FrostNova remained extremely serious. "If you cannot do that, it means your suspicious behavior today cannot be explained... I will not consider you an enemy for that reason alone, but your freedom will be restricted from then on. Do you understand?"

"It's a deal~"

Though satisfying her curiosity at an inappropriate time could easily come at a cost, Fengling did not feel any instinctive sense of danger about the situation.

So there was a very high chance that nothing would go wrong.

More importantly, this intuition was unusual, so Fengling wanted to verify exactly what this talent she had never understood was about. Or, failing that, she could at least figure out some of its patterns.

"Then we can head back... Hmm, judging by the feeling, the owner of this pocket watch seems to be in your settlement."

"Alright."

Fengling and FrostNova returned the way they had come.

Nothing strange happened along the way.

When they reached the entrance to the settlement, it seemed to have become busy.

Carts pulled by all sorts of pack beasts, large and small, had gathered at the entrance to the Reunion Movement settlement.

"Everyone moved quickly." FrostNova seemed to know what was on those carts. "The nearest outpost has already delivered what you wanted. There is still plenty more to come, so wait patiently for a few more days."

What I wanted?

Fengling immediately understood.

The minerals for the trade!

"Since we're passing by, you can take a look while you're at it." The corner of FrostNova's mouth lifted slightly. "Hmph... This won't affect your 'talent,' will it?"

"Of course not." Fengling took out a thin black glove from inside her jacket and put it on.

Though Originium ore was generally inactive Originium and not especially dangerous, the first lesson for field operators was never to touch Originium constructs or Originium ore with bare hands.

That was why gloves like these were indeed standard equipment for field operators who had to deal with such things.

"Miss FrostNova! We brought these minerals according to Leader Talulah's instructions. Do you need to inspect them?"

One of the men responsible for transport asked.

"Let our customer inspect them directly." FrostNova gestured for Fengling to step forward.

Fengling lifted the tarp covering one of the carts.

Before her was a large, extremely rough chunk of rough Originium ore that looked obviously substandard at a glance.

"Hmm..." Fengling pondered for a moment.

If she judged by appearance alone, then by Rhodes Island standards... this rough ore was probably even poorer quality than usual.

This did not seem to match the "good goods" Talulah had spoken of so confidently.

How strange...

Fengling ran her gloved hand across the mineral.

Even through the glove, she could feel the coarse texture of stone.

But after lightly tapping it, a knowing smile appeared on her face.

"You people... really have some nerve!"

Fengling gripped the stone portion of the rough ore and squeezed hard.

Fragments of the outer stone shell immediately fell away.

Revealing a crystalline sheen beneath.

This was not rough Originium ore at all! It was a massive chunk of extremely high-purity Originium ore!

"H-Hey! Miss, you can't just say things like that! It looked like this when we dug it out. We just didn't know the inside would be so pure. Who would dare chisel at Originium ore for no reason?" the driver hurriedly said.

Yet the smug smile on his face could not be suppressed no matter what.

"How would those trash who only know how to oppress the Infected dare touch something dangerous that might turn them into Infected too?" the driver said proudly. "As long as we hand over an obvious amount, isn't the rest ours to handle? Miss, Leader Talulah told us to give you all the best minerals!"

"A Rhodes Island truck was completely looted by the Reunion Movement, but the Reunion Movement did not go too far. They released the Rhodes Island personnel and stuffed a cartful of worthless minerals into the truck as a token compensation."

Talulah slowly emerged from the main gate.

"Good morning, Fengling. Are you satisfied with this script, in exchange for everything on your vehicle?"

"Yes." Fengling's face was full of warm smiles, with a hint of mischief occasionally flashing through them. "I think this is a perfect trade for both sides."

Patriot

The Reunion Movement settlement was quite strict about access control.

So even after Fengling had inspected the cargo, the carts still had to undergo a lengthy inspection according to security procedures.

Even if the people were fine, the vehicles themselves might have been tampered with without anyone knowing.

Ordinary civilians lacked the relevant experience and might not notice anything at all.

Therefore, such caution was necessary.

Besides, the goods were far from all delivered, so it was not yet time for Fengling to get busy.

Thus, FrostNova continued shadowing Fengling as she completed her search for the item.

By this point, Fengling was already very close to her destination.

As Fengling continued along her route, the surprise in FrostNova's eyes grew stronger and stronger.

Clearly, in FrostNova's eyes, Fengling had been following the correct route the entire time.

This was a wooden shack whose foundation had barely been packed down.

Even in this densely populated settlement, the surrounding area could be described as exceptionally deserted.

It was frighteningly quiet.

"It can barely be called a house... At most, it's a place to shelter from the wind and rain."

Fengling examined the wooden shack and came to that conclusion.

That was, if a dwelling made by crudely tying together and piling up trees and thatch could be called a wooden shack.

Though sturdy enough, it was completely unsuitable for living in.

And as Fengling approached...

A terrifying sound came from within the shack.

Thud! Thud!

Every sound was like a heavy hammer crashing into the ground.

The owner of the shack came out.

As he stood there... he was a city wall.

Before Fengling stood a giant who surpassed the ordinary meaning of "huge" and "burly." He wore a solid helmet and heavy armor, simply standing there.

The horns on his head resembled the antlers of the Elafia race somewhat.

But no Elafia could possibly grow into something like this. No mutation could make that possible.

He instinctively made people feel that—this was a monster in the literal sense.

There was an air of "decay" and "collapse" about this giant.

He seemed to have lived for a very, very long time, but... his long life was nearing its end.

He seemed to be... a Sarkaz [demon in the broad sense]?

"Hmm?"

Perhaps it had been too obvious, but Fengling realized that she seemed to have learned something beyond her own knowledge.

Some information could not be obtained through sight alone.

"You, why, come here?"

The giant spoke.

He was asking FrostNova.

Though his voice was strange and hoarse, with extremely unnatural pauses between words, it still carried a weighty feeling.

"I wasn't looking for you. She was." FrostNova pushed Fengling a little toward the giant, offering no further explanation.

There was something strange about FrostNova's tone.