In the first two days after she arrived, everyone was surprised to see Flandre Scarlet flying in the sky, but now they had grown used to it. From time to time, someone would even ask where she was going.
"I don't know! Just wandering around!" Flandre responded with a silly smile as she flew toward the outskirts of the city.
After reaching the outskirts, Flandre flew aimlessly for a while. Suddenly, she noticed thick black smoke billowing in the distance. Thinking a fire had broken out, she headed over with the intention of helping. As it turned out, several large chimneys were spewing out clouds of black smoke. Curious about what was happening here, she landed quite openly at the main gate.
Her sister had told her that although they could fly, they should do so politely and not just fly into other people's workspaces whenever they pleased. So, even though she could have flown straight inside, she didn't, and instead approached the main gate first.
Flandre's arrival had long since been noticed by the other party. Since only a few people in the entire Reunion Movement could fly, and Flandre was a household name, the guard sent someone to inform the local supervisor while inviting Flandre into the security room. While Flandre was curiously eyeing the tiny security room, the guard brought her a cup of steaming hot water.
"Lady Flandre, we don't have much to drink here, only a cup of hot water. I hope you don't mind."
Flandre took the cup and, sensing the man's heart racing, couldn't help but ask, "Uncle, is something the matter?"
The man shook his head. "No, it's nothing!"
A moment later, several more people walked out from inside. They looked covered in grey soot, with a fine layer of dust coating their faces.
"Lady Flandre!" Upon arriving, they didn't enter the small security room but instead bowed respectfully at the door.
"No need to be so formal. I was just passing by and saw a lot of smoke, so I thought there was a fire and came to check it out." Flandre pointed toward the chimneys outside. She could feel that some of these people had racing heartbeats just like the guard, appearing very nervous. Though she didn't know why, she still explained the reason for her visit.
After hearing Flandre's words, those people finally relaxed. Then, one man whose heartbeat remained steady looked at Flandre.
"Lady Flandre may not know, but this is an Iron Smelting Plant. All the raw iron materials needed by the Reunion Movement come from here."
Flandre clapped her hands together. "I remember Yelena saying before that all the broken equipment is sent to the Iron Smelting Plant to be reforged. Is that true?"
"That is indeed the case; Lady Frostnova was correct. We captured a lot of supplies in the recent battle, and some were unusable due to damage. They were sent here, and we plan to start a separate furnace to reforge those damaged weapons into iron once this batch is finished," the man continued.
"Eh? Since it's all iron, why change furnaces? Wouldn't it be better to burn them all together?" Flandre asked, puzzled.
"Because these weapons are forged from Composite Metals, which are different from ordinary ones. They need to be smelted separately so that the iron blocks can be reused to craft new equipment. Although there is some loss in the process, generally speaking, equipment made from this Composite Metal is much better than what we can make with our own iron blocks." The man continued to answer.
Flandre nodded, then glanced at the crowd suspiciously. Just as she asked that question, the heartbeats of those who had calmed down earlier accelerated once again. Finding this very interesting, she asked if she could go inside and take a look.
"The smelting plant is filled with dust and is very dirty. Lady Flandre, with what you're wearing..." The person speaking was one of those whose heart had started racing. At this moment, although he was panicking inside, his expression remained calm, as if he were truly worried that Flandre would get herself dirty if she went in.
"Is that so? Alright then! Since nothing is wrong here, Flandre will head back first."
Flandre stood up, said goodbye to everyone, and flew into the air. In the sky, Flandre was eager to share this interesting occurrence with someone else, but since there was no one around her, what should she do? Naturally, she could only share it with Alina. After she finished telling the story, Alina was silent for a long while.
[Sister Alina, don't you think it's interesting? Those people's hearts were beating so fast. Just like Flandre when she's done something bad and is afraid of being scolded by her sister.]
Seeing that the other party didn't respond, Flandre sent another message.
[No, I was thinking that Flandre has helped us discover a big decay, and I'm wondering how we should praise Flandre.] Alina's gentle message came through.
[Ah, a decay... Flandre doesn't have any cavities!] Flandre waved her hands dismissively.
[It's not about cavities. Little Flandre, help me keep an eye on that place. Don't let anyone inside leave. I'll bring Talulah and some men over right away.] Alina responded.
[Okey-dokey!] Flandre replied and then landed on a branch of a large tree not far from the smelting plant. She sat down and began to play with a nearby Feathered Beast while waiting for Alina and the others to arrive.
Half an hour later, Flandre saw a convoy approaching from a distance. She jumped down from the tree and waved to Alina in the vehicle.
"Sister Alina!"
Alina reached out and picked up Flandre. "Little Flandre, are all those people still inside?"
Flandre nodded. "Mm-hmm, nobody has come out!"
Then she looked behind Alina. In addition to Talulah, there were dozens of Reunion Movement soldiers. Talulah nodded to Flandre and then led the men toward the smelting plant.
The guard at the smelting plant turned pale when he saw Talulah and the massive group of soldiers behind her. Before he could even open his mouth to give a warning, a burst of flame exploded beside him.
"If you don't want to die, stay exactly where you are." With a cold expression, Talulah led her men and charged into the smelting plant.
The security guard knew instantly that they were probably finished. He looked nearby; Talulah had left four men to guard the main gate, and one of them was staring intently at him. Noticing his wandering eyes, the soldier immediately aimed his crossbow at the guard, scaring him so much that he instantly clutched his head and crouched there obediently, not daring to move.
A short while later, everyone from the smelting plant was gathered in the open space by the entrance. Seeing the fully armed soldiers and an angry Talulah, some in the smelting plant felt terror, some felt fear, and others were simply confused.
Just then, Alina walked in carrying Flandre. Upon seeing Flandre, the faces of many who had seen her earlier instantly turned deathly pale.