Liberi Reader

Here we are.

...You don't need to bother yourself with this, Talulah. The tractor's been missing for months. They were probably stopped by the Patrol Unit. There's not much we can do about it.

Even if all we can do is find their bodies, we'll at least be giving their families some closure.

If the intel recon gave us is correct, this should be the area where they'd gone missing.

......

Talulah, snap out of it! Everything they said is just a load of horseshit.

I'm fine.

They're just a bunch of heartless bastards... Don't let it get to you!

None of them had the willpower to keep going, to leave the tundra! They fought so many battles with you, and they thought you a coward?! You're the most fearless soldier among us!

Talulah, trust me. All of us follow you by will!

Captain Buldrokkas'tee used to be an Ursus soldier, but we all know he's the most steadfast man we have! All of us trust him!

Not necessarily. He's strong. Way too strong. Stubborn, too. The people who didn't trust him were just afraid to speak up.

It only takes a brief moment for trust to completely crumble. If all the people who followed Patriot died one day, would the ones who come after them be as steadfast as them?

Rumors can destroy us. Before there are rumors, those who are innocent are innocent, and those who are skeptical of others are also innocent.

But no one is innocent once rumors begin to spread.

But what does your upbringing has to do with anything?! You've done so much for all of us!

It's fine. Calm down.

Besides, I haven't really done all that much for them.

Come on, don't say that.

Are you sure you want to go by yourself? Faust has been tagging along with those crossbow guys lately, and he's really getting the hang of it. If the guerrillas aren't around, you could bring them with...

Protecting the Infected traveling with us is our top priority. We aren't fighting this war just to fight a war. Our goal is to help our fellow men survive. Don't put the cart before the horse.

Protecting them is our top priority.

Know this by heart, and make sure everyone else does as well.

Well... godspeed.

Don't worry. It's just negotiating with the locals. Everything will be fine.

......

Before, I probably would've just run inside and started asking questions right away.

I wonder when did I become like this.

Hiding and sneaking around... It was just being suspicious and cautious at first, but this is practically antagonizing everyone now.

I'm not even sure if it is unexpected things that I'm worried about or a repeat of those tragedies.

What a rundown place. Looks like they didn't have much of a harvest this year. Everyone looks so tired.

Weird. It should've been a while since the last time this village resettled, but there's a lot of tractor marks around the village's entrance.

There are scraps at the assembly workshop... but I don't think they're from the village's old tractors. The authentication box is gone. If the vehicle belonged to the village, there's no reason to take that out...

It's getting dark. I should take a look at the junkyard.

This is weird. There's your household garbage, but there isn't much else.

No equipment for processing spent Originium here? If it's not in the junkyard, then where?

It's winter, so there should be wheat straws and warming grass husks everywhere. Did they run into food problems?

...No... that's not right. They burned them. I need to check out their granary.