Mission: Rescue

She paused, her gaze falling on Dorothea's pistol. "There'll be fighting up ahead. There are a lot of plague-infected corpses."

"Here?" Dorothea was startled. They were already close to the Mist Harbor District; by all rights, it should have been very safe here. "How do you know?"

Vanessa did not answer. She remained silent, but her steps never faltered as she walked straight ahead.

Dorothea hesitated only a moment before gritting her teeth, tightening her grip on her gun, and hurrying after her.

Meanwhile, in the mansion.

Elliot's gaze fell on the card the Difference Engine had just spat out:

[Mission: Rescue]

"There seems to be a group of people up ahead surrounded by plague-infected corpses, barely holding out. They need help."

He had obtained this card by placing the previously discovered [Clue: Faint Cry for Help] into the [Investigation] slot.

Clue cards of this kind were uncommon. They usually concerned the girl and were always crucial, so Elliot had chosen to intervene as soon as he saw it.

His gaze shifted to the card representing Vanessa.

This card's appearance had changed several times: it had started as [Unemployed Girl], become [Novice Caregiver] after she found work at the hospital, and upgraded again to [Skilled Caregiver] after she defeated the corpse infected with Mad Rat Disease in the street fight.

And just now, the slot had suddenly swallowed the card. When it popped back out a moment later, its name had quietly changed:

[Devout Girl]

There was also a line of small text at the bottom of the card:

"My Lord, I shall walk this earth in your stead."

Staring at the transformed card, Elliot sighed inwardly with mixed feelings.

He could tell that the girl had been very wary of him at first, and that she had reacted with fear when controlled.

But now, she had come to regard him as her faith and her support.

But had he... ever treated the girl kindly?

He had behaved like a pure "player" all along. Wherever there was danger, he would take control of her without a word and send her into it. Whichever option looked interesting, he would click it, brutally stripping her of her free will.

Only after he obtained [Spirit Vision] and discovered that this was no ordinary game had he reined himself in a little.

Yet even so, the few words the girl let slip grew increasingly devout.

Elliot understood why-this city, this world, was too cruel to Vanessa.

The world had never treated her gently, making even a player like Elliot seem kind by comparison.

"Still, it's a good thing..."

At least the girl no longer resisted his control. That made things much easier and gave him more room to maneuver.

Elliot turned his gaze back to the tabletop, looking at the card beside [Devout Girl]:

[Dorothea Ramsey]

Elliot picked up the card and tried putting it into the slot.

With a click, the card was ejected.

"I can't control her even though she's become a teammate?"

It seemed that, as the player of this game, the girl's card was the only one he could control. He could not manipulate the others.

Elliot narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

Vanessa led the way without the slightest hesitation in her steps.

She threaded through the Harbor District's maze of dilapidated streets, alleys, and heaps of junk with the precision of someone strolling through her own home.

At first, Dorothea thought she simply happened to know the area. But as they ventured deeper and the route grew increasingly complicated, the girl's steps remained just as certain, and Dorothea's astonishment deepened.

"Are you... very familiar with this place?"

"No," Vanessa answered without looking back. "This is my first time here."

"Are you a 'Sunken Knower' from the 'Secret-Keeping Society'?"

"What's that?"

Vanessa turned to look at her in confusion, yet her legs seemed to have eyes of their own as she precisely skirted a pile of collapsed masonry and a deep pit.

Dorothea opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Surely even a Sunken Knower with [Premonition Vision] could not navigate such complicated terrain without looking?

Just then, Vanessa suddenly stopped, bent down, grabbed the edge of a heavy manhole cover, and heaved it open before jumping down without hesitation!

Dorothea nearly cried out in shock. She had actually jumped straight into an abandoned sewer?!

The Harbor District's sewer system had been built in the Old Scandia era and abandoned many years ago. Its interior was as intricate as a maze; even the local gangs dared not venture deep inside to explore it lightly!

Dorothea fumbled out a box of matches and was about to light one to test whether the air below was breathable when Vanessa's voice reached her.

"Don't worry. Come down. It's safe."

A muscle in Dorothea's cheek twitched. She could only climb carefully down the rusty iron ladder.

Vanessa, just how many more secrets are you hiding?

"Let me make this clear first," Dorothea said in a low voice, gripping her pistol and looking warily into the darkness. "I'm not an official investigator yet. I don't have any supernatural means for direct combat... just this gun."

She had been quite confident in her marksmanship, but after witnessing Vanessa's performance along the way, she suddenly felt a little uncertain.

Vanessa looked like a supernatural being no matter how she considered it, and perhaps quite a powerful one. How strong would the enemies have to be for Vanessa to take a fight so seriously?

Vanessa suddenly stopped. Dorothea immediately rolled behind a collapsed stone wall and raised her pistol, aiming ahead.

Then she saw... Vanessa had merely bent down to pick up a rust-covered crowbar from a pile of refuse.

Dorothea: "..."

Vanessa glanced at her. "You don't need to be nervous. I'll tell you in advance when we're about to fight."

Dorothea froze. She could even tell her in advance?

"You can sense enemies?!"

What she did not know was that, once combat began, the Difference Engine on Elliot's side would raise a tabletop specifically for combat amid stirring background music...

Vanessa nodded and said earnestly, "Yes... we're going to fight very soon."

Before long, she led Dorothea up through another manhole.

Only then did Dorothea realize-they had gone into the sewers to take a shortcut?

Does she have an entire map in her head?

Dorothea had no time to ask. She had barely emerged halfway when she saw a sight that made her scalp prickle-

A large crowd of contorted corpses, emanating an ominous aura, were frantically ramming and clawing at a small, tottering two-story building. They gathered below it, letting out low growls!

Without the slightest hesitation, Vanessa charged over like an arrow loosed from a bow, crowbar in hand! Once close, she gripped the crowbar with both hands and swept it fiercely sideways!

With a dull impact, a corpse's head burst like an overripe watermelon!

Almost at the same moment, a familiar cry of surprise came from a gap in an upstairs window!

The girl looked up and saw a familiar, ugly face.

"Alice?"

Through the gap in the window, Alice's eyes widened in shock. Then she shouted anxiously, "Quick... run! V-Vanessa!!"