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Ahh... My body's starting to warm up...

—Could it be... she's here?!

She's here! She's here! Relax, everyone, she's here! Even the Liches are no match for her flames!

...Don't let your guard down! The Royal Guards aren't...

You wanted to bring whose what back with you now?!

*Huff*...

You hurt my people. If you turn to violence, then we will return the favor—

With violence—

I see you.

3, 7, 22, 36. 【Code words】, 【Code words】.

...What are the Ursus Royal Guards... doing here?!

*Huff*...

Talulah... You shouldn't have come. You should've waited for the Captain...!

You want to know why we are here.

We are here because we are looking for the duke's daughter. In other words, you. We need to assess the situation.

The sound of the snow falling to the ground is crisp and clear.

What did you just call me?

The duke's daughter, and bear this in mind. Given your social standing, surely there are more civilized vocabularies you could use to refer to us.

Huh?

...Whose daughter did you just call me?

You deny the truth, as you are wont to.

You think I'm the daughter of a snake?!

Anger... and it stems from your irritation... You want to run away from the truth.

The 'Emperors' Blade'...? *Spit*! You came all the way here today to mock me? Or are you here to kill me?!

*Hiss*.

—Protect Talulah!

(My brothers! The Royal Guards may be fierce, but there's only one of them! We have Talulah leading the charge, and we'll hold the line! With the rest of you supporting us, we'll definitely...)

(...My Infected brothers?)

(The duke's daughter? What is he talking about?)

*Hiss*.

You didn't tell them who you really are.

Is this part of your plan?

...Plan...? What plan?

How dare you mock her?!

You better watch who you are talking to before you try to provoke someone and turn people against her, executioner. My identity has nothing to do with the goal we are working toward here.

You can only turn one against another if there existed trust between them in the first place. I doubt there is any trust between you and the rest of them.

I can only surmise... You believe the trust they have for you will remain unscathed even after they come to know who you really are.

All that coming from a masked villain that carries out covert massacres at the Ursus Empire's behest? I'm afraid no one here needs to be criticized by your kind.

Your words are strong... and confident.

If this is as you expected... Very well, I must reassess the situation.

I bid you goodbye, then. Remember this well. There is one thing we share with the people standing around you.

We have no trust in you. You must take action to earn even the tiniest trickle of trust.

Stop.

*Hiss*... You have a question?

You attacked my people. You know we are here.

Am I perhaps misunderstanding you?

Who are you trying to rat our secrets out to?

*Huff*...

Which secret?

Soldiers, we can't let him give away our location!

(Talulah, are you confident... you can defeat a Royal Guard?)

(If we don't do this, we'll face even more losses down the line... We'll have the Patrol Unit and even the Ursus army hunting us down day and night!)

(It takes the Royal Guards time to respond to our actions.)

(Only if we bring the enemy in front of us under control now will we have the choice between retreating or pressing forward later. If we want to be able to pick, we have to act now!)

Besides, while we may need to raise our guards against him, we have no reason to fear him. He represents fear, but fear doesn't stand a chance against our anger for our unjust treatment.

—She's right. The guerrillas have no reason to fear the empire's murderers.

How can we still call ourselves the Aegis of the Infected if we just tremble in fear? A lone man is no match for all of us, united! He's just a lone executioner, nothing more!

You are mistaken about one thing... I am not here alone.

There is one more of us behind you.

A figure wearing a large overcoat stands solemnly on the path Talulah just took.

Each and every flake of white snow, falling from the gray sky up above, abruptly turns black as it lands on his coat, before disintegrating and scattering across the ground as ashes.

There's two of them...?

So what? Just the two of you trying to cut off the dozens of us? Ridiculous!

Daughter of Kashchey, allow me to postulate that you've come to the following conclusion: Your peers will not be suspicious of you merely because of your identity.

Then let us verify the results. If your judgment proves incorrect, then the promise your father made to us shall be considered void.

What is he talking about...?

What are you people daydreaming about?!

Snap out of it! They're not just after Talulah!

...What?!

Do you think these murderers will just let the rest of us go once she's dead?

Protect Talulah!

No... Protect the soldiers!

First, push them back! After that, secure a way out! Finally, protect yourselves!

Don't think too hard about it all right now! Just do everything you can to stay alive!

After all... there is nothing we can do if we aren't alive. If they kill us here, it'll all be over!

Live!

What you said could not be more different than how your father would see it.

...I am afraid you may only prove to be a disappointment, leader of the Northern Tundra Infected.

I'm not a leader.

I am just... an Infected. I have no reason to impress you.