On the Terra Continent, within the Ursus region, lay the Northwest Tundra. This region was perpetually ravaged by bitter cold, making sustained settlement an illusion.
In Kobuvich Village, Talulah, clad in worn military attire, stealthily entered the settlement. After confirming she wasn't being followed, she discreetly found an unoccupied spot to slip into.
Little did she know that moments later, a pair of warm, soft hands would cover her eyes.
"Let's see what's snuck in here... A mischievous little Draco, huh? After promising to gather firewood together the day before yesterday, where did you run off to play this time, you little rascal?"
Hearing the slightly teasing voice, cold sweat broke out on Talulah's forehead. Feeling awkward, she quickly tried to change the subject. "Ah-ha, good morning! Jeanne, I didn't expect you to be up so early."
"It's already afternoon. If you'd come back any later, Grandmother would have thought you'd been captured by those black-clad people..."
Jeanne watched Talulah's clumsy attempt to deflect the conversation with a helpless expression.
"Alright, alright, I'm back now, aren't I? Take your hands away! Your hands are freezing!"
With a slight tug, Talulah pulled Jeanne's hands away from her eyes.
Turning around, she saw a girl with golden hair and a black casual outfit standing before her, a single strand of hair waving playfully in the breeze.
"Why do you always catch me sneaking back? I've been so careful!" Talulah couldn't help but complain. Every time she tried to slip in unnoticed, Jeanne always caught her red-handed.
Talulah glanced at the ahoge swaying gently, a sign of its owner's good mood. She wondered how many times she'd felt the urge to pluck it and see what would happen.
"Who knows? Maybe it's some kind of telepathy? My intuition just told me you'd pass by here," Jeanne replied casually, her smiling face incredibly captivating.
For some reason, Jeanne possessed a unique allure that drew Talulah's attention to her every move.
Talulah always subconsciously accepted Jeanne's words, no matter how absurd or unbelievable they sounded. Her first reaction was always that Jeanne wouldn't lie to her.
"Alright, let's hurry! You're in big trouble this time—Grandmother is frantic!" Jeanne said, grabbing Talulah's hand and pulling her into the house, despite her slightly startled expression.
Her full name was Jeanne d'Arc, though those close to her simply called her Jeanne.
She vaguely remembered Jeanne mentioning once that she had lived in a highly advanced world. In that era, she hadn't needed to worry about winter warmth or food security, and the winters hadn't been so harsh.
She remembered that her current body belonged to a beloved character from a game she had played in her previous life.
She had spent a fortune to upgrade every form of this character to Np 5, enduring a long period of austerity to achieve this.
Her last memory before death was of returning home from work. The moment she flipped on the light switch, a mysterious explosion had blasted her into this world.
Who knew if it was a gas leak or someone actually conducting a Holy Grail War? To be honest, she preferred to believe the latter.
After that, she opened her eyes to find herself in this world, landing in a desolate wilderness with not a soul in sight, not even a bird.
The sudden appearance of two massive, pendulous masses on her chest upon waking up had given her quite a fright.
Upon closer inspection, she realized her body had transformed into Jeanne from her game.
Fortunately, she had inherited Jeanne's powers, which kept her from freezing to death in this icy wasteland.
Oddly enough, she could freely switch between her black and white forms, as easily as changing clothes.
After much hardship, she had finally found this village through a Revelation. She had stayed under the guise of being a pitiful wanderer, forced to flee her home due to a natural disaster.
However, this led to some humorous misunderstandings. The villagers, wary of her all-black attire, remained suspicious. It took considerable effort to convince them she had no connection to the Inspection Team.
It was then, noticing the villagers' animal ears and piecing together their words, that she realized she had arrived on the Terra.
The problem was her knowledge of Arknights was limited to vague impressions and the main plot points. She couldn't recall the specific year any particular event had occurred.
Moreover, the convoluted timelines created by various event stories had only further muddled her understanding. Even if she wanted to act, her ignorance of what to do had led her to abandon the idea. For now, she had simply made up a reason to stay.
Still, following the Revelation couldn't lead her astray. Though the village wasn't wealthy, it stood as a rare beacon of friendliness and harmony in the Tundra—a stark contrast to the xenophobic communities that dominated the region.
Despite Jeanne's somewhat suspicious story, the villagers, seeing her arrive with no belongings, believed she was a refugee.
They granted Jeanne permission to settle, and a kind elderly couple took her in.
The moment she saw Little Deer Alina, she knew roughly what era she was in.
And so, after arriving in this foreign world, she began a cheerful rural life.
Though village life was tough, she genuinely enjoyed it.
Perhaps because she had become Jeanne, the one who had once only known how to pick fruit now managed all household chores and farm work with remarkable efficiency.
She could even accomplish the workload of an entire family on her own, leaving the villagers to marvel at how the elderly couple had truly struck gold.
And since the silly Talulah had moved in, she occasionally even had time to hunt wild game in the forest.
After all, no wild animal could outrun her enhanced by the power of a Heroic Spirit, making hunting a breeze for her.
Back in reality, Talulah's heart skipped a beat at Jeanne's words, panic rising within her.
"Wait... wait a minute!" she blurted out. "How did Grandmother know I snuck out? Didn't I tell them I was going hunting in the mountains with you?"
She still trembled at the thought of Grandmother's nagging.
To ensure her outings these past few days went smoothly, she had long since told everyone she was accompanying Jeanne to gather firewood in the mountains and protect her, reassuring them not to worry.
She had left early the day before yesterday, and Jeanne wasn't the type to blab secrets.
What puzzled her was how her meticulously planned scheme had been exposed.
Seeing the question marks practically piling up on Talulah's face, Jeanne couldn't help but sigh. She changed the subject:
"Someone promised to be back the next day, but it's already late afternoon on the third day. I even stayed up on the mountain a little longer for you—it was freezing."
Jeanne looked at the somewhat embarrassed Talulah, feeling a mix of helplessness and exasperation.
This girl is usually so reliable when she's working, how does she become such a ditz when it comes to personal matters?
Could there be some kind of parasite in her brain, sucking away her intelligence?
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Spy- Happy ENDFIELD Release everybody! As celebration, here is a Arknights fic!