Seeing that Jeanne's expression wasn't a joke, Talulah simply nodded. She didn't show a particularly shocked reaction.
From her perspective, it wasn't strange at all for an Infected to become someone who seeks revenge against the non-Infected, or even to turn into someone more mad and extreme. Every Infected carried that potential within them. Once an Infected gained the power to dominate others, it was actually rarer for them not to seek retribution.
Perhaps this child's inclination toward that path was simply more prominent, which was why Jeanne—observing the two boys from the side—had sensed it.
"You're acting so nonchalant. If I didn't know you well enough, I'd think you didn't care about this kind of thing at all," Jeanne muttered in a low voice, glancing at the sleeping children as she turned back to Talulah.
She had originally expected Talulah to be startled by the news and pay special attention to the matter. To see her so calm... was this within her expectations or beyond them?
Talulah only smiled, then looked toward the white-haired Liberi boy before casually chatting with Jeanne again.
"It's not that unusual, is it? Who among the Infected in this country doesn't harbor resentment toward 'normal' people? Even if the common folk aren't the true culprits behind their suffering."
Over the years, Talulah had seen countless instances of Infected taking revenge on non-Infected. Some would even go as far as forcibly infecting the target's entire family as a form of vengeance. The reasons were complex, but it boiled down to a hard life and the spite born from seeing others live better than themselves.
Talulah had seen so much of this that she had lost count—especially back in Kashchey's mobile city. The old snake had a particular fondness for orchestrating events that exposed the darkest sides of human nature.
"And besides, you said it yourself—the boy only has the possibility. I'm not Kashchey; I'm not going to lead him down that path."
Talulah knew how sensitive Jeanne was to emotions like hatred. Someone who could use hatred as fuel would naturally notice the deeply hidden feelings in that child.
In truth, Talulah had noticed something was off as well. Although the boy acted terrified, there was a moment when he thought they were non-Infected where he flashed a look of madness that even startled her. For a split second, he genuinely had the intent to kill them. It was hidden deep and vanished instantly due to the massive gap in their strength, but it proved the boy had a very painful past.
Thinking of this, Talulah looked up at the stone ceiling of the cave, sitting in silence for a moment before speaking to Jeanne again.
"This country is too cold... so cold it's turning humans into beasts. It doesn't even spare children this small."
There was a trace of melancholy in Talulah's eyes. She yearned to change this broken reality, but every time a child like this appeared before her, she felt a profound sense of powerlessness. She knew her strength was limited and she couldn't save every innocent soul, but knowing that didn't make the heart feel any lighter.
"Regardless, that child will need you and Alina to put in some extra effort! I believe that with your education, he'll turn into a good kid in the end. Besides, he has that best friend staying by his side."
Talulah looked at Jeanne with a smile. Jeanne's "mental education" was indeed formidable; that mouth of hers had resolved countless conflicts and grudges in the village. In the village, everyone basically viewed Jeanne as a judge. People with traumatic pasts like these children were often willing to pour out their pain to her.
Of course, in most cases, Jeanne still preferred to use her fists over her words. To her, a punch was often more effective than eloquence.
Hearing Talulah's words, Jeanne stared directly at the dragon before her and couldn't help but complain.
"Don't make it sound like it's just our job! You should put in some effort too! You can't just use me like a jack-of-all-trades, can you?"
Jeanne thought about the workload she currently carried. If she wrote it all down on paper, her list would be several lines longer than anyone else's. Thinking of the mountain of tasks, Jeanne felt that Talulah truly lived up to being a Dragon—her talent for "being lazy" was practically legendary.
"Every time I think about how much work I have to do, I feel like I'm being exploited by you until there's nothing left..."
Jeanne's performance only earned her a helpless look from Talulah, who was already used to these complaints. Almost every month, she'd hear Jeanne grumble about her workload, but the moment Talulah tried to delegate those tasks to someone else, Jeanne would enthusiastically run back to help anyway.
She was stuck in a cycle of complaining to get a lighter load, then getting bored and jumping back in to help until she was busy again.
The truth was, Jeanne just liked to talk. Even if Talulah gave her nothing to do and let her idle in the village, she wouldn't be able to sit still. She was the type of person who couldn't stop complaining while working, but felt physically uncomfortable the moment she had nothing to do.
Just like before, Talulah had told her to rest in the village, but after three days, Jeanne was already out in the fields helping the villagers—doing the work of ten people all by herself.
Eventually, Talulah realized that when Jeanne said these things, she was just venting. Talulah only needed to provide an ear and listen quietly. Since Jeanne, when left idle, either thought of ways to prank her or talked about random nonsense, listening to her grumble was the safer option.
"Fine, fine. I can see you aren't even really listening. You should get some sleep, or you won't have the energy for the road tomorrow."
Seeing that Talulah was struggling to keep her eyes open, Jeanne quickly urged her to rest. Unlike herself, who could go nights without sleep, Talulah's performance would suffer tomorrow if she didn't get her rest. Even if she was a dragon, she was still a biological creature—unlike Jeanne, who wasn't even sure what category she fell into these days.
"But you're right. With us watching over him, and his friend there to balance out his abnormal emotions, we won't let him turn into the person I described."
Jeanne muttered softly to herself. It was unclear if she was actually talking to Talulah, as Talulah had already drifted off.
In reality, Jeanne wasn't saying it for the sleeping dragon; she was saying it for the boy in the back, Sasha, who was currently pretending to be asleep. She had realized a while ago that the little one hadn't fully passed out. Perhaps even after agreeing to go to the village, he couldn't let his guard down, so he had been eavesdropping on their conversation.
He was likely worried they were tricking him. This little guy's vigilance was much higher than Eno's; it seemed he had been carrying the weight of both their safety on this journey.
Just as Jeanne said, if they wanted Eno to grow up healthy and not become the mad Mephisto, Sasha couldn't just be a bystander. These two viewed each other as their most important mental pillars, which meant Sasha's words would always be more effective than any formal education.
Jeanne wasn't sure if Sasha had truly taken her words to heart or if he would continue to let Eno's darker impulses slide in the future. The boy had his own thoughts; he didn't get up to say anything to Jeanne, choosing instead to continue his act of being asleep.
But the act didn't last long. As Jeanne sat there in silence, listening only to the crackling of the fire, Sasha eventually succumbed to exhaustion and fell into a real sleep.
When he finally woke up, the first thing he did was look at Eno beside him. After confirming his friend was okay, he remained silent, observing his surroundings.
"You stayed up all night again, didn't you? You should have called me to switch! I was hoping you'd just fallen asleep and forgotten to wake me..."
When Talulah woke up and saw that it was already light, she began lecturing Jeanne while grumbling about her own oversleeping. Jeanne always did this; when they were in the wild, she'd rather lose a whole night's sleep than wake them for their shift.
Only Patriot was different—the old gentleman could actually wake himself up exactly on time.
"It doesn't affect me much! I can recover after a quick rest later. Why should I wake you up and ruin both our nights of sleep?"
Jeanne's voice was spirited, showing no signs of fatigue at all. It was as if she hadn't been the one pulling an all-nighter.
"Looks like it's going to be another clear day! Let's get moving; let's see if we can make it back to the village today!"
She stood up, looking at the bright sunlight spilling into the cave entrance, and spoke to herself with a tone of deep satisfaction.