Seeing their actions, Flandre gave a thumbs-up in approval.
She then stood in place, waiting for the two of them.
"Father... is she looking for the people from Reunion Movement?"
Peter asked uncertainly.
Old Peter nodded, while he wondered what a Sarkaz Blood Demon was doing coming to Ursus to find the Reunion Movement.
He quickly thought of someone: Buldrokkas'tee, known by many in Ursus as "Patriot," a Wendigo and one of the Reunion Movement's cadres.
Old Peter couldn't find any reason for her to come other than to look for him.
"So, are we going to help her?"
Peter looked at the girl not far away, who had been standing there quietly smiling at them, yet making his skin crawl; he whispered to ask his father's plan.
"Where do you come from, Your Excellency?" Old Peter asked after thinking for a moment.
Hearing the older man speak a bunch of gibberish to her, Flandre felt a bit helpless and opened her mouth to respond in several languages she knew.
"I don't understand what you're saying. If you can understand me, please switch languages."
But clearly, both Old Peter and Peter himself only spoke the Ursus language, so they felt a sense of bewilderment after hearing Flandre's gibberish.
They immediately understood her meaning: there was a language barrier.
"What should we do?" Faced with this situation, the two were momentarily stumped.
"Let's take her with us; after all, she saved us," Old Peter said, gritting his teeth after thinking it over.
He didn't agree because he trusted Flandre, but because he had no choice.
Without a common language, he couldn't understand what she actually wanted to do.
Moreover, Blood Demons were recorded as being temperamental and extremely cruel.
What if she turned on them immediately if he refused?
Considering the reputation of Blood Demons on the continent of Terra...
Old Peter couldn't guarantee the outcome if he refused, so he ultimately chose to agree.
Once they found the organization, even if the two sides fell out, they could escape the Reunion Movement's punishment by using the language barrier as an excuse.
Seeing the old man point at her and then at himself before he and the youth began searching the bodies of the Reconnaissance Squad for items, she nodded.
The two found some thick undergarments from the corpses to put on, covering their scars and the exposed marks of Originium.
Then they packed up all the hand crossbows and short knives, picked up the men's water canteens and the Khleb they carried, and had a simple meal.
After eating, they nodded awkwardly at Flandre's speechless expression, shouldered the remaining supplies, and headed in another direction.
Because both were injured and carrying heavy loads, they didn't walk very fast.
However, Old Peter was clearly an experienced hunter; he led them to a hollow on the leeward side of a mountain.
Sitting there, their tracks wouldn't be easily discovered, nor would they be hit directly by the north wind; with the concealment of the forest and high mountains, it was a rare and safe spot.
Old Peter took out a lighter he'd swiped from a corpse to start a fire, then used the free coats they'd also swiped to shield the perimeter.
This not only made it warmer but also made it harder for the firelight to be spotted from a distance.
Seeing Flandre just sitting there motionless, Peter subconsciously handed over a piece of Khleb.
Looking at the dry bread that suddenly appeared before her, Flandre shook her head.
She had drained two people of blood yesterday, which was enough to sustain her without needing to eat for a long time.
Seeing his puzzled look, Flandre suddenly flashed a smile, then stared at his neck and deliberately gulped.
Remembering the stories about Blood Demons, Peter's face instantly turned white with fear; he trembled as he walked back to his father's side before feeling a bit more relaxed.
"Father, do those Blood Demons really drink blood?"
Peter asked after sitting down properly.
Old Peter had seen the scene just now; he could sense that the girl didn't have any malicious intent. To be precise, at the end, she looked like she'd pulled a prank and succeeded, very much like Peter's mischievous behavior when he was a child.
This put his mind at ease considerably.
"I don't know, but there have always been legends about Blood Demons drinking blood. I don't think it's baseless."
"Don't look at how small that girl is; neither her means of flight nor that Originium Arts that crushed people out of thin air are things an ordinary person can do."
"Don't think too much just because you look a few years older than her."
After Old Peter finished speaking, Peter couldn't help but blush.
He had indeed felt that her quiet appearance while sitting there was somewhat cute, which was why he'd dared to approach.
"Besides, we need to hurry and rendezvous with the Reunion Movement's group. George and the others are still over there; we have to find people to save them."
Old Peter's words made Peter's expression turn grave again.
Although they were incredibly lucky to have escaped and been saved, the others who went to the mine with them were still imprisoned.
Thinking of the miserable state of his comrades in that prison, he knew he couldn't stop yet.
After resting for the night, the three set out again the next morning.
Along the way, except for a few words exchanged between Old Peter and Peter, Flandre didn't say a single word the whole time.
It wasn't that she didn't want to chat, but she couldn't do anything about it until the language barrier was resolved.
At night, the three stopped again, but this time Old Peter didn't use any concealment like before; instead, he left the fire out in the open.
"We're only twenty kilometers away from the Reunion Movement's base. Logically, there should be outposts here; our fire will attract them."
"Regardless of what this Blood Demon wants, it's best to resolve it here."
Old Peter didn't want to be ungrateful for the girl's life-saving favor, but he also didn't want to bring an outsider into the Reunion Movement's base just like that. So he deliberately used this method, hoping to be noticed by the Reunion Movement's people.
Just as he said, the fire quickly alerted the nearby scouts.
The configuration of two men and one girl also quickly caught their attention.
"I know those two; it's the father and son, Old Peter and Little Peter. Didn't they go with the others to the mine to rescue the Infected? Why are only the two of them back, and why did they start a fire here on purpose?"
"I don't know about the one next to them, but what are those things sticking out of her back? They look quite pretty."
After some whispering, the scouts chose not to appear but instead sent the news back to the base.
Talulah was sitting with Buldrokkas'tee and the others discussing their next plans when Frostnova came over with the news.
"Three people appeared twenty kilometers away. Two of them are the Peter father and son who left earlier to rescue people from a mine, and there's one stranger."
"Old Peter lit a fire to attract our scouts' attention."
"This is the scouts' description of the other person."
"They want us to decide what to do."
Talulah took the intelligence handed over by Frostnova.
"About ten years old, blonde, with a pair of very strange wings hanging with many crystal-like things."
"A child?"
"What about the others!"
Talulah also knew about Old Peter and the others' operation; in fact, she had authorized it.
After all, for the Reunion Movement, rescuing a few more brothers meant a bit more strength.
Furthermore, the Reunion Movement didn't have to worry about betrayal at all.
Because they had already been trampled into the mud, and the absolute discrimination and oppression between the Infected and non-Infected in Ursus ensured people wouldn't betray their own class.
But she hadn't expected that only two would return this time.
"I will go. Peter, my soldier."
It was Buldrokkas'tee who spoke; his meaning was clear: Peter was his subordinate, so he would take responsibility for this matter.
"Let's go together. I also find it strange that only the two of them returned, and indeed, it's been a long time since their operation without any news. I'm not at ease," Talulah also stood up.
Standing up, Talulah looked at the child nearby.
"Sasha, help me tell Alina that I'll be back a bit late."
"Frostnova, after we leave, I'll leave the security here to you."
The two nodded upon hearing Talulah's words.
"Let's go!"
Talulah looked at the already prepared Buldrokkas'tee, and then they walked into the darkness together.
By the fire, Flandre Scarlet had long since noticed the gazes staring at her from the surroundings.
Although they tried their best to conceal their movements, those surging heartbeats were all too obvious to a Blood Demon.
However, she didn't sense any malice from these people, so she guessed she had already reached the Reunion Movement's territory.
Since she had come looking for the Reunion Movement anyway, she naturally wouldn't refuse their observation or even testing.
Before long, an even more powerful heartbeat approached from afar.
Flandre couldn't help but stand up and stretch; if she wasn't mistaken, the person she was waiting for had arrived.
Seeing Flandre stand up, the Peter father and son also hurriedly rose, looking around nervously.
"Stop looking blindly, it's over here..."
Flandre had just finished speaking when she remembered they couldn't understand her; she sighed helplessly. The language barrier was too frustrating; once she got to Lungmen, she definitely had to enroll in a class and study properly.
On the other side, the newly arrived Talulah looked in surprise at the fire not far away.
She heard the girl's pure Great Yan accent.
But her image was clearly... Just then, Buldrokkas'tee, seeing Flandre pointing at their group, knew they had been exposed and stepped out first.
"State your purpose, Blood Demon. (sarkaz language)"
Hearing the voice, Flandre Scarlet stood up and looked at the tall figure appearing in the forest.
"Oh my god, you're really tall!"
"Hello, my name is Flandre Scarlet, you can call me Flandre."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, the last Pureblood Wendigo—Buldrokkas'tee. (sarkaz language)"
Flandre very politely gave Buldrokkas'tee a lady's curtsy before looking at the female figure beside him.
"I'm here to find the one beside you. How's her sarkaz language?" Flandre asked after scratching her head.
"No problem, you can just say what you need to, I understand," Talulah replied, also in the sarkaz language.
Hearing her words, Flandre had a look of pleasant surprise.
"That's great, that way I won't have to say everything once in the sarkaz language and once in the Great Yan language every time I speak." Flandre Scarlet breathed a sigh of relief.
As expected of the vessel meticulously cultivated by the Immortal Black Snake; there were no problems at all regarding her education.
Flandre then continued to speak.
"Two things. First, the Sarkaz civil war has ended. Queen Theresa was killed by assassins, and now the entire Kazdel is controlled by Theresis and the pro-war Military Committee. They are looking forward to a revenge that belongs to the Sarkaz."
"Of course, I'm not here to ask you to go back and join them, and their target isn't Ursus either, so you can rest assured; this fire won't burn its way to Ursus for the time being."
"Second, and most importantly, I hope to stay with you for a while... until next spring. After that, I'll go to Lungmen to see if there's a way to settle down."
"This is also why I came to find you. Before I came, I received intelligence saying that you, Ms. Talulah, seem to have some connection with Lungmen. I wonder if you could help introduce me, or ideally, help me get a temporary residence permit."
Flandre Scarlet explained her purpose very frankly.
"No. Blood Demon. Untrustworthy." It was Buldrokkas'tee who spoke.
Carrying the memories of the Wendigos, he knew how vile the Blood Demon clan could be, so he couldn't trust the girl before him.
"Buldrokkas'tee, don't be so rigid. At least this child has come with goodwill, and we should respond with goodwill."
"Miss Flandre Scarlet, right? You can rest for a bit while I ask our companions some questions?"
Talulah pointed to the Peter father and son who were standing nearby, not knowing what to do.
"Of course, that's your right."
After Flandre finished speaking, she walked back to the fire and sat down again, and only then did the Peter father and son walk over at Talulah's call.
"What happened? Weren't you going to rescue people? Where are the others? And why did you bring back a Blood Demon!"
Knowing Buldrokkas'tee had difficulty speaking, Talulah asked on his behalf.
The Peter father and son then recounted the entire story: how their group was captured after arriving at their destination, their accidental escape, how Flandre Scarlet had descended from the sky and killed all the Reconnaissance Squad members before they could be recaptured, and how, despite the language barrier, she had kept pointing at the Reunion Movement mark on Peter's body. Knowing she was also looking for the Reunion Movement, the three of them had successfully returned together.
Judging from the pile of Reconnaissance Squad items left over there, there shouldn't be any problem with this story.
In the middle, Talulah had interrupted the two several times to ask about certain details, and both answered fluently, showing that this was not a fabrication but a personal experience.
After finishing the inquiry, Talulah looked at Buldrokkas'tee.
"I think since she's the one who saved our people, we can trust her words."
"And it's only for one winter..."
"Blood Demons. Cruel and cunning. Not to be trusted!" Buldrokkas'tee still held his ground.
"Then leave her to me. I'll keep an eye on her. It's only for one winter; it shouldn't be much of a problem."
Talulah said insistently.