A dead silence fell over the room. The three of them stared at each other, nobody saying a word. Alina, however, had a look on her face that seemed to say, "I thought I was the first one..."—though perhaps that was just an illusion.
"What are you thinking? Talulah, didn't you mention before that there were 'strange things' in your mind?" After a long pause, Jeanne finally explained. "I wanted to see what those strange things are and if I can resolve them. I was too exhausted before, but now that I've finally recovered, I figured I'd help you."
Jeanne didn't understand why her perfectly normal words were being misinterpreted so wildly. Perhaps these two were just looking at her through a "tinted" lens today.
"I'm going to go check on the fields," Talulah blurted out, her face turning a deep crimson as she bolted for the door.
She hadn't expected to have misunderstood so badly. She had been sitting there with her tail twitching so nervously it practically carved a masterpiece into the floorboards. She had to get out of there to cool down before she could face them again.
"I didn't think Talulah would let her mind wander to such places... she's really grown up, hasn't she?" Jeanne sighed.
"Why do you sound like an old grandmother? Aren't you supposed to be around the same age as Talulah?" Alina asked curiously. When she first met Jeanne, Jeanne claimed she was nineteen. Four years had passed, and she still claimed she was nineteen. Her appearance hadn't changed a day. Alina sometimes wondered if Jeanne was actually some ancient monster pretending to be a young girl.
"I feel like you're thinking something rude..." Jeanne squinted at the little deer, seemingly sensing her thoughts. "I'm not an old lady in disguise. I really am nineteen. Forever nineteen. My body stopped growing the year I turned nineteen."
This was the truth. Because she was Joan of Arc, and Joan of Arc only had nineteen years of life. Whether she was walking this earth as a Heroic Spirit or a Pseudo-Servant, her physical form was frozen in time.
"I'm sorry... I didn't know," Alina apologized sincerely, seeing the gravity in Jeanne's expression. She had assumed Jeanne was just a late bloomer—though, looking at Jeanne's figure, both she and Talulah were quite envious. Nineteen? With that body?
"But if you're nineteen... then Talulah and I are technically your older sisters," Alina teased. "Come on, call me 'Big Sister'!"
"Not in this lifetime. Look at your tiny frame! I bet in two years you still won't have caught up to me..."
Alina's forehead darkened. She reached out with a smile and pinched Jeanne's cheeks. "Did such wicked words really come out of Jeanne's mouth? Big Sister needs to teach you to listen to your elders..."
"I shoud be tellin' you dat!" Jeanne mumbled through pinched cheeks as she reached out to pinch Alina back. The two of them began to scuffle like children.
"I'm back. The crops in the fields are growing a bit too fast," Talulah said, pushing the door open, only to find Jeanne and Alina making faces and pinching each other. "Are you children? How old are you to be acting so childish?"
"I'm only nineteen! I am still a child!" Jeanne said shamelessly.
"Stop it. When I first came to the village, you said you were nineteen," Talulah said dismissively. "If you're forever nineteen, then you aren't allowed to drink alcohol anymore! Only juice. In my family, you have to be twenty to drink."
Jeanne was speechless. She wasn't an alcoholic, but in this freezing weather, being the only one relegated to the juice box while everyone else drank vodka to stay warm was a cruel fate.
"Anyway, back to business," Talulah said seriously. "The crops are growing too fast. Will there be problems? We worked hard for those seeds; if they fail, we'll be eating nothing but dirt and potatoes this year."
"Ah, that shouldn't be an issue," Jeanne explained. "To melt the permafrost, the concentration of Holy Water I used was quite high. Since I'd never done it on this scale, I didn't want to risk the ground staying frozen."
"Wait, wasn't that basically your bathwater? Is that really more effective than the Holy Water you make through prayer?"
"Of course! To make Holy Water of that concentration through prayer alone would take me several nights of non-stop effort. But that growth spurt won't last forever. It'll start to slow down in a month, though the effect will linger for about half a year."
"That's incredible," Talulah marveled. "Your 'bathwater' suppresses Oripathy, melts snow, heals diseases, and makes plants grow like crazy? Is there anything it can't do?" She looked at Jeanne with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "If it can suppress Oripathy that well... maybe I should have a bowl."
"Your eyes are terrifying! If you want to try it, I can go soak a fresh vat for you right now. You want some?"
"..." Talulah and Alina both froze.
"Never mind. I don't have a habit of drinking someone's bathwater," Talulah refused flatly.
"Are you sure? You might like the feeling," Jeanne said with a playful, mischievous grin.
"Absolutely not! I, Talulah, would rather die of thirst out in the snow than drink your bathwater!" Talulah waved her hands frantically.
"It's no big deal," Jeanne laughed, seeing them look at her like she was a freak. "I was talking about the stuff made through prayer! The effect is the same! I wouldn't actually give someone my bathwater to drink!"
"Right, right. We understand. We totally get it," the two said with standard, forced smiles.
"You don't get anything!" Jeanne sighed, realized they were just messing with her head now. "Anyway, Talulah, you should get some rest. Tonight is going to be a long, exhausting night. You probably won't get any sleep."
Talulah and Alina exchanged a look. Jeanne... you really have a way of making things sound extremely weird.