By the time Jeanne finally figured out how to teach them, the sun had long since dipped below the horizon, and the sky had turned pitch black.
She hadn't expected that just finding a quiet place to think would cause an entire day to slip away unnoticed. Moreover, she had missed her midday nap! For someone with a biological clock as precise as hers, skipping her rest entirely was practically unheard of.
For a moment, Jeanne wondered if she had been influenced by some mysterious power that had caused her to "skip" through the day's events directly to the present.
"But it'll be bedtime soon anyway... How strange. I feel like I just woke up, yet here I am, about to sleep again."
Jeanne hopped off the tree stump and stretched under the dark night sky before skipping back toward home. To any outsider, it truly looked as though she had just slept from dawn until dusk—a feat that made one wonder if she was even human.
In truth, while she appeared to be asleep, she had been in a state similar to it, during which she gained a complete understanding of how to instruct the others. It was truly enviable to have "connections upstairs"; any troubling matter could be resolved just by mumbling a few words and taking a nap.
"Pfft... Did you fall into a well? I haven't seen you all day, and now you look like you've been soaking in a tub."
On her way back, Jeanne ran into Talulah, who looked like she had just finished clearing away the ice mist and was rushing home. She was soaking wet, as if she had been caught in a torrential downpour. Strangely, her clothes hadn't frozen over in the sub-zero temperatures.
This meant she had been using her Arts to maintain a constant temperature around herself so her clothes wouldn't turn into a layer of ice, yet she hadn't bothered to dry them completely. What was the point?
Seeing Jeanne, the listless look in Talulah's eyes regained a bit of spark, and she gave her a mock-exasperated roll of her eyes.
"You have the nerve to ask? I've spent the entire day struggling to get rid of that mess. Yelena and I thought the sun would melt it, but it didn't do a thing! I..."
Upon seeing Jeanne, Talulah immediately began to pour out her grievances. It seemed the poor girl had suffered quite a bit of frustration today. Between melting the ice only to create a floor of water and Yelena leading the Yeti Squadron to break the frost into smaller pieces, it had been a nightmare.
There were even a few Yetis who had come up with some truly bizarre "creative" ideas during the process. Talulah found herself admiring Yelena's patience; how could that stoic girl tolerate such a group of eccentrics being so hyperactive under her command?
They were truly the oddballs of Reunion. Talulah made a mental note to stay on guard; she didn't want the rest of the movement to be "corrupted" by the Yetis' peculiar energy. The mere thought of a future where everyone in Reunion acted like a member of the Yeti Squadron made her scalp tingle.
How had she never noticed what a bunch of clowns they were before?
"Don't you feel uncomfortable dressed like that? You have fire, don't you? Wouldn't it be better to just toast your clothes dry?"
Talulah sighed at Jeanne's question, her expression suggesting there were far too many reasons to explain.
"Mainly because if I dry them now, they'll just end up all wrinkled. It's less trouble to just deal with it properly once I get back."
Talulah was simply too exhausted to care about her outfit. Rather than drying it now only to have to tidy it up again later, she preferred to just make do for the moment. Life was hard enough; she'd take any shortcut she could get, even if it meant being a bit damp. With her Originium Arts, she didn't feel the cold, so it wasn't a major concern.
"But where were you? I didn't see your shadow all day. Did you run off somewhere again?"
Talulah was naturally curious about the girl who had vanished for a full day, especially since she had used "preparing for a class" as her excuse to bolt. She was mostly curious about what Jeanne intended to teach, though she harbored some doubts about whether Jeanne could actually pull it off.
Jeanne had to find a way to smooth things over. She couldn't exactly say she'd been cat-napping in a remote spot all day.
"I'm mostly prepared now. When the time comes, just follow what I do. As long as you aren't too dim-witted, you should be able to learn it."
Despite her own inner uncertainty, Jeanne spoke with an air of authority that made the skill sound incredibly impressive.
"Then I'll look forward to it, 'Teacher' Jeanne..."
The two chatted as they returned home. Talulah soon put the matter out of her mind and didn't think about it again for several days. During that time, Jeanne continued her preparations. Even though she knew how to teach it in her head, she needed to make sure her hands knew the movements too.
The bigger issue was the lack of a reference subject. Even Jeanne had to rely on her Revelation to verify if her methods were correct. She couldn't exactly kidnap a Sarkaz or a demon for a live demo—that would be a bit inhumane for her own teammates. And even if she used Patriot as a case study, his physical constitution probably couldn't handle a full-scale Baptismal Chant, could it?
Why has Ursus been so quiet lately? she wondered. Couldn't they send one demon or a stray Emperor's Blade my way?
To be fair, only someone like Jeanne would think of an Emperor's Blade as an "elite mob" to be farmed.
Finally, Jeanne's first small-scale class began without much fanfare. Jeanne herself was actually quite nervous. She had never been a teacher, and considering the highly specialized nature of this knowledge, she was wary of her own capabilities.
The attendees consisted of some Shieldguards, members of the Yeti Squadron, Talulah, and Alina. Everyone else was busy with their usual duties.
"Good luck today, Teacher Jeanne!" Talulah whispered, noticing Jeanne's tension and trying to help her relax.
"Alright. Thank you all for taking the time to be here. As you know, we may be facing some significant trouble soon..."
Once everyone had arrived, Jeanne spoke with a solemn tone about the impending dangers. It was no longer a secret; they had all heard that elites from Kazdel were coming to take Patriot away.
They would never allow such a thing to happen, no matter how dangerous the enemy. Patriot was the Commander who had protected them and fought alongside them for years. They had no reason to let him be taken just because the foe was formidable. That was why they had given up their precious rest time to listen to Jeanne's fledgling lecture.
Jeanne had told them that what she was about to teach would likely play an unexpected role in the coming battle.
"The technique I am going to describe is called the Baptismal Chant. It is a skill that allows one's weapon to deal immense damage to Sarkaz, or creatures like demons..."
In Jeanne's original world, this was a miracle passed down through the Holy Church, their most potent weapon against their enemies. Jeanne had never actually been a member of the Church, let alone "learned" the Chant. She could perform similar miracles simply because she was a Saint; the technique was an instinctual part of her being.
Now, she was attempting to teach these people how to use that power. Combined with her Holy Water, the results should be spectacular. As for how different her version was from the Church's traditional inheritance, even Jeanne didn't know.
While Jeanne was earnestly teaching this new skill, far away on the Ursus border, their enemies silently stepped onto the ancient, frozen soil.
"According to the navigation, this is Ursus. Our contact should be arriving soon, shouldn't they?"
The leader, a long-horned Sarkaz wearing a ram-head mask, stared at the cold land and muttered to himself.