Within a matter of days, the trio reached the coastal border zone. Only upon arriving here did Jeanne fully grasp how dire conditions had become along Iberia's frontiers.
The atmosphere could barely be described as grim—it was downright hostile. The locals harbored intense animosity toward obvious outsiders like Jeanne and Skadi, an antipathy that turned sharply toxic the moment they realized Skadi was an Aegir.
Had Skadi not been carrying her massive, intimidation-inducing greatsword, Jeanne had no doubt the surrounding crowd would have banded together, seized the suspicious Aegir, and burned her at the stake on the spot.
"This is getting way out of hand," Jeanne muttered, sitting before a large iron pot filled with a vague, unidentifiable stew. She was eating lunch with Fafnir and Skadi while her eyes darted toward the hovering villagers. "The persecution of Aegir here makes the treatment of Infected in Ursus look mild by comparison. I can hardly imagine what kind of nightmare the local Aegir endure every day."
At first, Jeanne had assumed the villagers were hovering nearby because they were starving and too proud to beg. But after watching them for a while, she realized the truth.
It wasn't food they cared about; it was the presence of two foreign intruders. Paranoia in this region had reached a fever pitch, where outsiders were practically viewed as threat factors that needed to be eliminated.
If Jeanne hadn't subtly flexed their formidable combat capability early on, the locals wouldn't be standing at a cautious distance, glaring. They would have already moved to attack.
Thinking about this, Jeanne suddenly remembered Andoin and his followers. How on earth had he managed to rescue villagers across these lands under such hostile conditions? How had he convinced these deeply paranoid people to trust him?
What Jeanne didn't realize was that the locals trusted Andoin purely because he was a Sankta. To a population driven to desperation and clinging fanatically to Laterano's faith, a haloed Sankta was nothing short of a walking miracle.
"I visited Iberia years ago," Skadi said softly, glancing at the nearby crowd before letting out a quiet sigh. "Their hostility wasn't nearly this extreme back then. Perhaps losing their homes to sudden disasters drove them to dump all their resentment onto us."
Had Skadi known the regional sentiment had devolved to this extent, she never would have brought Jeanne to this place.
When the villagers caught Skadi looking their way, they flinched, pulling back as if trying to avoid a spreading plague. To them, even meeting an Aegir's gaze felt like catching a lethal infection.
The party had encountered this reaction multiple times over the past few days. It had reached a point where they didn't dare purchase dried rations from local merchants, and every drop of drinking water had to be tested repeatedly before consumption.
It was a harsh necessity. After catching a shopkeeper trying to slip poison into their food at a previous settlement, caution was their only shield.
"You two. State your names and your business in this region immediately."
An Inquisitor—his body scarred from countess battles—marched up to their campfire, his longsword already pointed squarely at Jeanne and Skadi.
One look at his eyes made it clear: if their answers failed to satisfy him, he would cut them down without hesitation and write them off as cultists from The Deep Sea Church.
"I am a traveler from Laterano, passing through to assess the local situation," Jeanne replied calmly, retrieving her official credentials. She had been through this song and dance multiple times already. "This is my personal bodyguard."
Hearing that Jeanne hailed from Laterano, the surrounding crowd's demeanor shifted noticeably. To those devoutly adhering to Laterano's teachings, an envoy from the holy city was practically a divine messenger.
Though they couldn't comprehend why a representative from Laterano was traveling alongside an Aegir, the villagers' glares toward Jeanne softened significantly. But only toward Jeanne.
Their hatred toward Skadi remained entirely unchanged. To most people in these parts, the Aegir were deeply suspicious entities—some even viewed them as harbiongers of disaster.
"Is that so..." The Inquisitor examined Jeanne's credentials carefully. Satisfied they were authentic, a look of grim hesitation settled over his face as he stared at the pair.
He seemed torn between launching an attack or standing down. Attacking an official delegate from Laterano could trigger a diplomatic nightmare, yet letting them go—especially with an Aegir in tow—went against every instinct he possessed.
"Your credentials are in order, Miss Envoy," the Inquisitor said, his gaze shifting back to Skadi. "However, your companion remains highly suspicious. Can you guarantee that this Aegir—"
"I already told you," Jeanne interrupted smoothly, cutting him off before he could finish. "She is my bodyguard, tasked with protecting me on this journey. I assume full responsibility for her actions. Are there any further issues?"
Having dealt with multiple Inquisitors recently, Jeanne could practically recite their interrogation script from memory.
The Inquisitor blinked, caught off guard by her swift response. He stared intensely at the young woman, searching her eyes for any trace of anxiety, guilt, or deceit.
Had Jeanne shown the slightest hint of hesitation, he would have used Skadi's presence as grounds to drag them both off to the dungeons.
Yet Jeanne stood her ground without a flicker of fear. Coupled with her confirmed status as an envoy from Laterano, the Inquisitor didn't dare push the matter further.
Rumors had already reached the High Inquisition regarding the recent death of a Sankta in the region, prompting high-level diplomatic exchanges between Laterano and Iberia for the first time in years. Word had it that Laterano was considering sending aid to help combat the sea beasts. Offending an envoy at this delicate juncture was a risk he couldn't afford.
"Very well," the Inquisitor gritted out, his tone sharp and unwelcoming. "Consider yourself warned. If either of you causes trouble within Iberian borders, you will face the full weight of our law."
Despite his compliance, Jeanne could tell he was practically itching to find a pretext to lock them away. To him, any outsider was a dangerous threat, and locking them up was always the safest option.
"Understood. We will cause no trouble," Jeanne replied smoothly, her expression unreadable.
The Inquisitor lingered for a few more tense seconds, glaring at them before turning on his heel and walking away, clearly frustrated by his failure to secure an arrest.
Vexed, he immediately went off to harass the very villagers who had reported Jeanne and Skadi, taking out his irritation on the locals instead.
"Let's move," Skadi whispered once the Inquisitor was out of earshot. She stood up and signaled to Jeanne. "The place I wanted to visit is just ahead."
Jeanne nodded and fell into step alongside her. She now understood why Skadi had made this coastal zone her first stop: she was coming to pay her respects to the past.
Along the trail, Skadi gathered small, wild flowers growing by the path, carefully binding them into a neat bouquet using her hair ribbon. She held the flowers against her chest with solemn reverence as they walked.
Eventually, they arrived before a secluded, inconspicuous cavern. Inside sat a collection of rough stone cairns arranged like makeshift gravestones, their surfaces carved with crude, jagged symbols.
This was the memorial Skadi had built after first coming ashore years ago, when she realized her entire squad had fallen in the war beneath the waves. There were no bodies buried here—only stones marking their memory.
Each stone bore an engraving representing a fallen comrade's weapon. At the center stood a cairn marked with a uniquely shaped weapon—a sweeping, scythe-like blade that Jeanne couldn't quite identify at a glance.
As Skadi raised her bouquet to lay it before the monuments, her body suddenly stiffened. She stared into the dark cavern, her eyes wide with total disbelief at the sight before her.