Chapter 447: In the End, the Root of the Trouble Is Still You
At Steven's question, the smile that had just surfaced in Talulah's eyes quickly faded. As if recalling something unpleasant, she let out a long, heavy sigh first.
"You were only gone for a short ten-odd days," she said slowly, "but what Reunion—under my leadership—has gone through isn't something that can be explained in a few words."
"Then take your time," Steven shrugged indifferently.
"I've got plenty of it right now. Besides, I'm holding onto a big, warm thermos. We can totally chat like this all night."
Steven really didn't seem bothered at all.
They were still out on the tundra, after all. Outside, icy winds howled relentlessly, and even inside this dilapidated room, the broken walls couldn't fully block the cold from seeping in. But Steven had never cared much about temperature to begin with.
And just like he said—hugging this little fire dragon was already far beyond the level of a hot-water bottle.
Warm, soft to the touch, and if you paid attention, there was even a faint, uniquely girlish fragrance. When Steven said he could really talk like this all night, he absolutely wasn't joking.
"You're such a jerk."
Talulah shot him a glare. Noticing that she had somehow gone from sitting on a soft seat to a hard one, she could only helplessly shift her position a little—both to make them more comfortable and to shake off much of the earlier sense of exhaustion.
Sure enough, once she reminded herself that no matter what, she still had Steven as her final support and fallback, thinking back on everything she'd gone through no longer felt quite so suffocating.
"If I really had to summarize it," Talulah continued, "with the supplies you left behind, both Reunion and the guerrilla group we've gradually entered into cooperation with have been steadily improving."
"At the very least, we don't have to worry anymore about comrades falling into danger because of hunger or the cold. That's all thanks to you."
As she spoke, Talulah reached out and grabbed Steven's hand—which had been far too unrestrained around her waist. This guy claimed he wasn't going to 'eat' her, yet when it came to taking liberties, he was only getting more and more skilled.
That said, Talulah didn't actually dislike his actions. If anything, as she talked about serious matters, her gaze toward Steven was filled with unmistakable gratitude. Without his help, just this single migration alone would've been enough to cause massive casualties among the Infected she wanted so desperately to protect.
Her slender fingers interlaced with Steven's hand—one that was a full size larger than hers—as she nestled against his shoulder and murmured softly.
"Thanks to those supplies, we also found a group of other Infected wandering across this snowfield. If there's a chance later, I'll introduce you to them properly. As for the two leading them… how should I put it? I feel like you'd probably get along with them pretty well."
At the thought of those two figures clad in fortress-like heavy armor, Talulah's gaze softened even further.
They too were leading people who simply wanted to survive and find new hope. Their goals might have been more straightforward and unpolished, but it was as if they were silently proving to her that on this path—this path of bringing hope to other Infected—she wasn't alone after all.
As for why Talulah was so sure Steven would hit it off with the two who called themselves Mudrock and Big Bob. It was mostly because they are the type of people who enjoyed fighting while wearing indescribably heavy armor.
One had to know—even someone as famously powerful as Patriot didn't wear armor that achieved the kind of full-body coverage those two did.
At that point, it wasn't just a matter of restricted movement anymore. Being able to move at all in that kind of getup already qualified someone as a natural-born monster.
How could Talulah not feel that these people would definitely have common ground with Steven?
"Mm, isn't that a good thing?" Steven nodded.
"I'm actually pretty curious myself. When we get the chance, you can introduce them to me."
He was mildly interested in the two people Talulah claimed he'd definitely get along with. But what mattered more was this—
If things were going so well, why did Talulah still look so troubled?
Whatever had pushed her into this state, it definitely wasn't because of that.
"But aside from that," Talulah continued, shaking her head, "the difficulties and dangers we're facing have only become more and more obvious."
"To be honest… I never knew being a leader could be this exhausting. If I had to choose again, I'm not sure I'd still have the courage to shoulder all of this."
The faint smile at the corner of her lips finally vanished, replaced by a deeply visible look of worry.
"You know this already—Reunion is still a brand-new organization. And the position of 'leader' that I occupy doesn't have even the slightest stable foundation."
"Once the most urgent issue—food and survival—was solved, the most difficult problem among the Infected immediately surfaced."
"You should understand this too," she said quietly.
"Among the Infected, the hardest thing to establish… is mutual trust."
Talulah pressed a hand to her forehead. Every time she thought about this, a dull, maddening ache would flare up in her head.
Forget the Infected in general—even Patriot's guerrilla fighters couldn't claim to fully trust their own comrades.
And for the Infected—people who had already suffered persecution before—even when those beside them were fellow victims who had endured the same pain, trusting others still felt impossible.
If this lack of trust couldn't be resolved, then the collapse of Reunion was only a matter of time.
In fact, she didn't even need to do anything wrong. Problems were already starting to appear.
"Putting all that aside," Talulah said, her brows tightly knit, "what's giving me the biggest headache right now is that some of the Infected simply refuse to trust the guerrilla group."
"Especially after we finally shook off the Ursus army—those people came forward, saying they wanted to take a more 'stable' route, and planned to break away from Reunion entirely."
Her expression made it clear that this was the true source of her current exhaustion.
"Mm. Splitting supplies, right?" Steven nodded.
"I get that. But if that were all, it shouldn't have pushed you this far, should it?"
Talulah let out another sigh—then shot Steven a glare.
"What if," she said slowly, "the secret that I'm no longer an Infected—because you cured my and Alina's Originium infection back then—got exposed?"
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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