The two girls laughed for what felt like ages, finally stopping only when Talulah glared at them with resentment. Wiping away tears of mirth and rubbing their aching abdominal muscles, they took a long moment to regain their composure.
"What's so funny?! I'm seriously discussing the possibility of such things! After all, we've never seen ghosts before. How can we know if they truly exist?"
Talulah's face flushed crimson as she spoke, her voice trailing off, clearly lacking confidence.
"Who would have thought the valiant Talulah would fear evil spirits? Shouldn't the ghosts be afraid of you, the dragon?" Jeanne teased.
"How would I know? I never heard of fire dragons warding off ghosts back in Yan! Besides, don't you think invisible ghosts are far more terrifying than ordinary enemies?"
Talulah lay flat on the ground as she answered Jeanne, her face showing obvious frustration. She puffed out her cheeks like a pufferfish.
Seeing this, Alina and Jeanne each poked one of Talulah's cheeks. In no time, the pufferfish deflated.
"Alright, enough playing around! We need to talk seriously now! If this blizzard continues, we won't be able to travel for the next few days!"
Talulah waved her hands to shoo the two away and sat up again, continuing:
"Even if there aren't any ghosts or monsters, this Snowfield is rife with tales of demons and evil gods! If such malevolent entities are truly active here, we'll be at a severe disadvantage!"
Seeing Talulah's I'm being super serious now expression, Jeanne replied:
"Rest assured, this wasn't the work of demons or monsters. I found signs of a fierce battle in the square, along with the remains of some villagers. It's possible raiders came here, pillaged the village, and slaughtered the inhabitants..."
Jeanne paused, her gaze hardening. "Another possibility is that the Inspection Team came here and abducted the villagers to work as miners. I personally find the latter explanation more plausible."
Hearing Jeanne's words, Talulah and her companion fell silent. Their expressions gradually turned grim, and the only sound in the room was the crackling of the firewood.
"Why... why would they do this? This village couldn't have been entirely Infected, so why were they taken to the mines?"
After a long silence, Talulah finally voiced her burning question. Weren't the Black Bugs satisfied with endlessly collecting taxes?
They're not Infected. According to the law, they shouldn't even be allowed in the mines!
Jeanne gazed at her bewildered friend and sighed helplessly. She said softly:
"Does it even matter if you're Infected or not? Once you're in the mining area, even if you weren't Infected before, you'll become one! Those bastards won't let anyone leave alive."
Jeanne looked intently into Talulah's eyes and continued, "As for the Empire's laws? In this Snowfield, they're just scraps of paper! Do you think the court would ever hear a case like this? In this Snowfield, if the Inspection Team bugs want to frame you, they have endless ways to do it! They could accuse you of being Infected just for stepping through a door with your left foot first or for wearing a hat!"
Talulah sank into deep thought. She knew the Inspection Team members were overbearing and arrogant, but she had never witnessed such blatant brutality in the city or the villages she had visited.
This was an entire village! How could these innocent people have died without anyone escaping? And their possessions... devoured by these insects?
No wonder the deluxe edition books Alina found were still here. What would these creatures even want with books? They were after the village's money, grain, wine, and meat!
Knowledge—that worthless, cumbersome baggage—was never on their radar.
But how did they manage to gather all the villagers in the plaza without a single person escaping?
Judging by the traces left behind, they were seasoned criminals. Yet we've never heard a word of this happening in recent years.
News about the Inspection Team spreads like wildfire. If even one person escaped from the numerous villages they raided, the word would have spread.
A terrifying thought flashed through Talulah's mind, but she immediately dismissed it. That could never happen.
The three of them lay by the hearth. Though the room was still habitable, the furniture was too dilapidated to sit on.
Judging by the brutal demolition methods evident at the entrance, there wasn't much intact furniture left. They might as well have wrapped themselves in blankets and slept on the floor.
Perhaps exhausted from the day's journey, the two musketeers soon fell into a deep slumber. Meanwhile, Jeanne continued weaving the red cloth, which appeared nearly large enough for a person's garment.
Since arriving in this world, the usual necessities of life had seemed less crucial. While she couldn't match the Heroic Spirits' ability to survive entirely on the Northwest Tundra's frigid winds without food or drink, she could still remain alert for days without sleep and endure days without food. However, she would avoid the latter if possible.
After all, someone with a "King's Stomach" had once declared: "Hunger is our greatest enemy!"
As for this peculiar fabric? It was the highest-grade Holy Shroud Jeanne had painstakingly crafted using her own magical energy—a formidable defense against nearly all threats!
Jeanne was revered as a Saint! In this world, her divine nature manifested as four miraculous abilities: enhanced miracle-inducing power, rapid self-healing and stamina regeneration, greatly amplified leadership charisma, and the ability to craft Holy Shrouds.
Among these, her miracle-inducing power allowed her to create Holy Water. Though even her bathwater could be considered Holy Water, she still prayerfully crafted a bottle herself.
After all, no one would willingly drink her bathwater unless their life was in imminent danger, right?
The Holy Shrouds she personally wove were also graded by tiers. The most basic ones couldn't even withstand a dagger strike, while the close-fitting garments she wore boasted remarkable magical and physical defenses.
The cloth she was now painstakingly weaving by hand was of the same high caliber, primarily for Alina's sake.
In Jeanne's memories, Alina had been killed during a robbery. To protect her, Jeanne poured vast amounts of energy and magical power into crafting this shroud.
After all, she couldn't just give away clothes she'd worn for three years to someone else, could she? It would sound so strange. What if Talulah asked, "Why are you wearing Jeanne's clothes?"
Just imagining that scene made something stir in Jeanne's DNA, but thankfully her iron will kept it under control.
Gazing at the two slumbering figures, Jeanne couldn't help but wonder what hardships these two had endured after leaving their village in their original world.
Without abilities like Revelation, they would have had to rely solely on maps and memory to navigate the harsh landscape. Surviving in such a place must have been incredibly difficult.
But she was certain of one thing: this abandoned village was definitely a place they had never visited in the game.
Jeanne casually added another piece of firewood to the dwindling flames, coaxing them back to life. Wood was plentiful in the village; they could burn it for a month without running out.