Seeing that Seele and Bronya looked like they might start arguing the moment they met, Natasha spoke up to smooth things over.
"Seele, don't rush it. They might be able to help you."
Stelle, holding her phone and recording, narrowed her eyes and blurted out, "With that bad of a temper, I'm not helping!"
After interacting with Stelle a few times already, Natasha had a pretty good grasp of her personality and went along with her words.
"Don't be like that. Seele is the typical tough-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside type. She doesn't mean any harm."
After saying that, Stelle turned her head to look at Bronya.
For a brief moment, she felt as if she were being influenced by something. With an encouraging look, she stared at Seele, as if saying, I've done everything I should, I've said everything I should, hurry up and help her already!
Bronya was a bit confused and also couldn't really withstand Stelle's intense gaze.
Still, she gently nodded.
Natasha spoke again. "It's like this. After what happened at the mining area, a lot of people were injured, and the clinic is already overcrowded. After you helped calm things down, Seele and I have been busy taking care of the wounded."
"As you know, resources underground have always been scarce. On top of that, the incident happened so suddenly that the clinic's medical supplies are about to run out. We need to get more from somewhere else."
Hearing this, Stelle asked, "Are there other towns underground?"
Seele shrugged. "Heh, the situation in the other towns is even worse than ours.
"The reason there are more and more drifters in the mining area is because the Fragmentum is spreading underground. There are wandering monsters everywhere, and every town is deeply affected."
"The equipment and supplies we depend on to survive have all been swallowed by the Fragmentum. If you want to fish anything out from inside, you have to risk your life."
The more Seele spoke, the more worked up she became, and her voice grew louder.
Natasha looked at Seele with concern. "…Don't get so worked up, Seele. It's not good for your health."
Then Natasha turned to Stelle and Bronya and continued, "Right now, because of the newly discovered vein, this town has a few more job openings."
"But that alone is still far from enough to meet the needs of the drifters. Sooner or later, conflict between them and the town is inevitable."
"And actually, Seele and I didn't grow up in this town. We're from an industrial town to the north. Its main city area was infiltrated by the Fragmentum a few years ago."
"I used to run an orphanage there that also served as a clinic, but once the erosion happened, we had no choice but to move to Boulder Town. After all, you have to make sure you can stay alive first before you can save more people."
Bronya nodded and said, "Count me in for going into the eroded city areas to gather usable supplies."
For Bronya, this wasn't anything new. Aside from fighting Fragmentum creatures, searching for supplies and historical ruins in a world sealed in ice and snow was also one of the Silvermane Guards' duties.
Stelle didn't say anything. She simply took out her bat to show her stance.
Then Bronya looked at Seele and frowned slightly. "Are you going too? You look really tired…"
Seele blinked, a bit stunned.
She hadn't even figured out what was going on yet, how did things suddenly flip around so she was the one being questioned?
"Hold on! I haven't agreed to let you join yet!" Seele said to Bronya.
Bronya replied seriously, "This involves people's lives. Having one more helper can't hurt, right? I also have quite a bit of experience dealing with the Fragmentum. I'll definitely be useful."
"Hmph, then… don't drag me down," Seele said through gritted teeth, still being stubborn to the end.
Natasha, on the other hand, looked quite happy. "...If Seele didn't refuse, that means she's already acknowledged you. With you accompanying her, I can finally feel at ease. Come on, I'll make a list of supplies for you."
Soon after, the three of them set off.
Their destination was Rivet Town.
The main targets of this operation were steel plates, bandages, medical alcohol, and painkillers. Seele, who was familiar with the lower district, led the way.
When they reached a bridge, Seele pointed at a large house on the distant hillside and told Stelle and Bronya that it used to be Natasha's orphanage, and that she herself had spent her childhood there as well.
Bronya, meanwhile, fell into deep thought.
She didn't know if it was just her imagination, but she felt a sense of familiarity.
After that, Seele led the two of them toward the market square. That street was not far below the stone bridge.
However, on a street not far from the market square, all three of them stopped in their tracks at the same time, staring in shock at the scene before them.
The street in front of them had turned into flowing magma. Heat waves surged upward, and the air twisted…
There was no doubt that this place had been destroyed by something.
The temperature of the magma was terrifying, easily scorching the ground. It was hard to imagine what kind of monster could have turned this place into such a state.
"What on earth is this…"
Bronya's pupils suddenly shrank. She thought of a type of Fragmentum monster regarded by the Silvermane Guards as a powerful enemy, one that caused heavy losses every time they went on an expedition against it, the Flame of the Outer Universe.
Seele clicked her tongue. "Tch!"
For people of the lower district, seeing any kind of scene wasn't particularly strange. After all, they had long since been living alongside the Fragmentum. It was only recently that the upper district had started seeing the Fragmentum appear within the city itself.
After witnessing such a horrifying scene, Seele's shock lasted only an instant. Soon after, she began worrying about the supplies.
Although the market square was still some distance away, who could guarantee that those supplies hadn't already been burned up?
The next moment, Seele's figure flickered and turned into a phantom. Once again, she entered that unstable state that felt as if she were detached from the world, stepping across the flowing, scorching magma on the ground and charging forward.
Seeing Seele rush out, Bronya and Stelle also had to find a way to get across.
The two of them couldn't enter a quantum state, so they couldn't just walk across the magma like Seele did.
Fortunately, there were places around that could be climbed.
After the three of them made it past the magma, they received some good news, the supplies hadn't been burned.
But when Seele went to check, she immediately got some bad news as well.
"Damn it, why is everything empty? Do monsters even rummage through boxes?" Seele cursed angrily.
Bronya said, "Fragmentum creatures don't need human supplies. And even if they were looting, they wouldn't be this… polite."
Seele's expression darkened. "You mean someone got here before us?"
"It's just a guess, look, there are still footprints on the ground here," Bronya said.
"And I noticed something strange on the way here. This town has been eroded by the Fragmentum for years, yet some places are still clean and tidy, as if someone deliberately cleaned them."
Seele lowered her head and looked at the traces Bronya pointed out. "The smell of the soil is still fresh. Whoever it was probably didn't leave long ago. Let's go, even if we have to turn this entire market upside down, we need to find those supplies."
After a moment of silence, Stelle spoke up. "Do you think it's possible that Sampo usually lives here?"
"Sampo?" Bronya asked, puzzled.
"The guy who brought us to the lower district," Stelle explained.
Seele rolled her eyes. "Sampo may be dishonest, but he's not stupid. He'd have to be crazy to choose to live in a place this heavily contaminated by the Fragmentum!"