Arknights' Lock of Heaven

347

"I want to go back."

Three days ago, on Rhodes Island, Frostnova looked at Talulah with a complicated expression.

During her time imprisoned on Rhodes Island, she was surprisingly obedient and never resisted.

In this gray-white prison, Froststar would come to visit her every now and then.

Each time, all I could see was her deep in thought.

It's been so long, and apart from the first few times, the two of them haven't spoken much.

So Frostnova had no idea what she was thinking.

In the past, Frostnova didn't know what to say to Talulah.

What should we say? Condemn her? Because she almost brought our compatriots to ruin.

Or perhaps it's a condemnation of her weakness? That she would actually compromise with her mortal enemy?

Those who needed to be criticized have already done so in the past.

Let's talk about the past, those days on the snowy plains?

In short, nothing felt quite right no matter what we talked about.

Frostnova didn't know how to face Talulah.

Especially after learning the reasons behind all of this.

Alina... the kind and determined little deer, only in the end did she realize what she had gone through.

what……

But now, he has to leave, leave Rhodes Island, leave the warm Casimir Plains.

He went to his harsh, cold hometown, to the snow-covered plains.

Now is the best time to see her.

"I'm leaving," she said with a complicated expression, "to go back to the snowfield."

“I see,” Talulah, who had been looking down, looked up at Frostnova. “That’s good.”

Upon hearing this, Froststar felt a surge of inexplicable anger.

"What do you think I'm going back for? To clean up the mess you left behind!"

In a sense, that's not wrong. The hundreds of thousands of infected people gathered on the snowfield were indeed a mess left by Talulah.

"Just one sentence, 'That's really good'? You make that sound so easy!"

She said indignantly, "A mess involving hundreds of thousands of people!"

"It's only early autumn now. Don't you know what will happen to those hundreds of thousands of people by winter?"

Upon hearing this, Talulah paused, a complex light flashing in her eyes.

"That's really... difficult..."

"How do you plan to resolve this?"

"Let's not go for the worst I can think of, shall we?"

"That's none of your business," Frostnova scoffed. "We have our own ways!"

“Is that so?” Talulah murmured upon hearing this, “The fact that you are so resolute now, without even a trace of confusion, suggests that you are quite confident.”

"That's fine, that's fine."

After saying that, both of them fell silent.

After a long silence, Talulah finally spoke, "Oh right, what I said earlier was really good. I meant that your face is finally rosy again."

Upon hearing this, Froststar looked at her in astonishment.

Talulah said to herself, "I still remember the days you spent on the snowfield."

"Your face is as white as the snowflakes that can be seen everywhere in Ursus, and your body has been almost completely destroyed by the Originium..."

"And now, at least to me, you look incredibly healthy, with a rosy complexion, and you haven't continued to lose weight; you might even have gained a little weight."

"Rhodes Island's medical skills are not bad at all. It seems they're not just good at fighting."

Hearing this, Frostnova glared at her fiercely.

What do you mean by "gained weight"? This person still can't speak properly, even though she's a girl herself.

"Although I'd love to know your plans, you certainly won't tell me."

Talulah then changed the subject, "I can only advise you not to underestimate Ursus."

"The Reunion Movement may seem impressive, but we all know that none of the so-called opponents we encountered in Ursus were really giving it their all."

“Those nobles…”

"You don't need to tell me these things!"

Before she could finish speaking, Frostnova interrupted her.

“Nobles, huh,” Frostnova sneered, “they had better pray our plans go smoothly!”

"if not……"

Hearing this, and seeing her confident expression, Talulah's eyes widened slightly.

Seeing her surprised expression, Frostnova smiled.

She wasn't lying; the nobles of Ursus had better pray that Xia Yu's plans went smoothly.

Because if things don't go smoothly... the backup plan is already obvious.

He will lead those hungry infected people south.

"The streets are littered with the bones of nobles and officials, and the treasuries are burned to ashes."

Recalling the two poems Xia Yu had mentioned, and looking at Kazimierz's current state, Frostnova said to Talulah, "I remember you were born in Yan Kingdom, so you should be able to understand the meaning of this poem."

"..."

"Patriot...did he agree?"

"Of course, who could touch those infected without the old stubborn man's approval? Especially after you served as a cautionary tale."

"I understand. Then I can only wish you all the best."

"..."

-

"That's the ship, right?"

The Sarkaz swordsman, codenamed Flameblade, carrying his signature longsword, gazed from the camp's simple watchtower at the enormous creature slowly approaching on the horizon.

Because of the butterfly effect caused by someone, he did not join Rhodes Island before, but continued to mingle among mercenaries.

Now, like the remaining eight hundred or so people in the camp, he has been hired by Rhodes Island.

We must escort this ship to the eastern snowfields of Ursus.

“Rhodes Island, my last employer was ruined by this company,” he sighed. “It’s a real shame, considering the Reunion Movement paid them quite a bit.”

Yes, of course it's a lot. Besides, it's not just the Reunion Movement that pays salaries; the Sarkaz mercenary group also receives a salary from Theresis.

Of course, the same applies here.

After all, the second salary is a sure thing.

"Aren't you used to it yet?" a Sarkaz companion teased. "You're not some newbie anymore. You're a veteran who survived the Civil War. How many times has this happened to you?"

"One second you're fighting side by side, the next you're facing each other with swords drawn. That's the characteristic of us Sarkaz mercenaries. You can't miss it."

That's why we have such a bad reputation on the mainland...

Thinking of this, Yan Ke shook his head. What's the point of talking about reputation with these people?

They had long been molded into savage beasts by the daily grind of killing, with fewer and fewer civilized habits remaining in their bodies.

And aren't I also caught in this vortex?

They could clearly see the inevitable outcome if things continued this way, yet they were powerless to change it.

Ha, what a damn world.

When did it start...?

Just a few years ago, there was still hope, and the heroes led the Sarkaz forward.

Water conservancy projects, farmland reclamation, city construction, healthcare, education... everything is promising, as long as it doesn't decay on this ancient land, the Sarkaz civilization is striding forward.

Then, with a civil war, everything was destroyed.

Yan Ke thought absently, "The victor of the war is His Highness Therese."

The result is that the Sarkaz have become what they are today, and their so-called hope has vanished.

During the civil war, I sided with Princess Therese because I agreed with her ideals more than Princess Theresa did.