The two laughed for a good while before finally stopping under Talulah's resentful gaze. They wiped away tears and rubbed their aching midsections, taking a moment to catch their breath before their expressions returned to normal.
"What is so funny?! I'm trying to have a serious discussion about the possibilities here! Since we've never seen a ghost, how can we know for sure they don't exist?" Talulah's face was flushed with embarrassment. Her voice trailed off at the end, clearly lacking conviction.
"I never thought the day would come where the brave Talulah would fear demons!" Jeanne teased. "Shouldn't the ghosts be the ones afraid of a Dragon like you?"
"How should I know? Back in Yan, I never heard anything about Fire Dragons being able to exorcise spirits! Besides, don't you think an invisible ghost is way scarier than a physical enemy?" Talulah flopped onto the floor, her cheeks puffed out like a pufferfish.
Seeing this, Alina and Jeanne each reached out to poke one of Talulah's cheeks until the "pufferfish" finally deflated.
"Alright, stop playing! We need to talk business," Talulah said, batting their hands away and sitting up straight. "If this blizzard keeps up, we won't be able to travel for days. Even if there are no ghosts, the stories of demons and evil gods on the tundra aren't just myths. If there's a real malevolent entity active here, we'll be at a huge disadvantage."
Seeing Talulah's "I-am-being-serious.jpg" expression, Jeanne turned grave.
"Don't worry, this wasn't the work of demons or ghosts. I found combat traces in the plaza and several skeletons of villagers. It's possible raiders hit this place... or," Jeanne paused, her eyes narrowing. "It's more likely the Searchers came through and dragged the villagers off to the mines. Personally, I lean toward the second theory."
The room fell silent, save for the crackling of the firewood. The gravity of Jeanne's words weighed heavily on them.
"Why... why would they do that?" Talulah finally asked. "A whole village couldn't possibly be all Infected. Why would they be forced into the mines?"
Jeanne looked at her disillusioned friend and sighed softly. "Does it matter if they're Infected? Once you're in the mines, even if you weren't Infected before, you will be soon. Those people aren't meant to leave the mines alive. As for Imperial Law? Out here on the tundra, it's nothing but a scrap of waste paper."
Jeanne looked Talulah in the eye. "Do you think a court would even hear a case like this? On the snowfields, if the 'black bugs' want to ruin you, they have a thousand ways. You could be labeled 'Infected' just for entering a room with your left foot first or for wearing the wrong hat."
Talulah fell into deep thought. She knew the Searchers were tyrants, but she had never seen an entire village simply... erased. These innocent people were gone, and their property had been swallowed by those parasites. No wonder the fine books Alina found were still there—the Searchers didn't care for knowledge. They wanted money, grain, alcohol, and meat. Knowledge was heavy and worthless to them.
But how did they manage to round up everyone in the plaza without a single person escaping? Based on the evidence, these men were professionals—serial offenders. Yet, in all her time on the tundra, Talulah had never heard news of this. News of the Searchers usually travels fast; if even one person escapes a village, the word spreads.
A terrifying thought crossed Talulah's mind, but she quickly shook it off. That... that couldn't possibly happen.
The three of them lay down by the hearth. The furniture in the house was too decayed to sit on, and the "violent demolition" style of the raiders had left little intact. It was better to just wrap themselves in blankets on the floor.
Perhaps exhausted by the day's journey, Talulah and Alina were soon fast asleep. Jeanne, however, remained awake, continuing to weave the red cloth. It was almost large enough for one person.
Since coming to this world, the basic necessities of life seemed less urgent for her. While she couldn't survive entirely on "Northern Wind" like a Heroic Spirit, she could go days without sleep or food and remain perfectly functional. However, as a certain King with a legendary stomach once said: Hunger is the enemy! So, she ate when she could.
As for this strange fabric? It was the highest-grade Shroud of Saintly Burial, woven bit by bit using Jeanne's own mana. It was a powerful protective item capable of negating most forms of damage.
In this world, Jeanne's status as a "Saint" manifested as four specific abilities: the power to trigger miracles, rapid recovery of health and stamina, a massive boost to Leadership (Charisma), and the ability to craft Shrouds.
The power to trigger miracles allowed her to create Holy Water. While technically even her bathwater could qualify, she preferred to create it through prayer. Unless it was a life-or-death emergency, she doubted anyone would want to drink the alternative.
The Shrouds she made varied in strength. The simplest ones couldn't even stop a dagger, but the undergarments she wore herself possessed incredible magical and physical resistance. This new piece she was hand-weaving was of the same high quality—specifically for Alina.
In her memories of the "original" timeline, Alina was cut down during a robbery. Jeanne was pouring her heart and mana into this Shroud to prevent that tragedy. After all, she couldn't very well give Alina her own three-year-old clothes—that felt weird. Would Talulah ask me, "Why are you wearing Jeanne's clothes?"
At that thought, something in Jeanne's "DNA" (perhaps her Inner-Gudako[1]) twitched, but her Saintly will suppressed it.
She looked at her two sleeping friends. She wondered how much they must have suffered in the original game timeline without someone like her. Without the gift of Revelation, they would have been wandering blindly through the snow.
Jeanne added a fresh log to the fire. There was enough wood in this village to keep them warm for a month.
[1] Fgo female protag.