Strength in Numbers

Eloysius said she wanted to introduce us to the Grand Duchess, but we still don't know why she really wants to help us.

My memory bank has no record of a young Ursine noble like her either.

But a woman acting as a special ambassador, who also personally knows the Grand Duchess, must be extraordinary.

But Rhodes Island has stepped into the sights of Ursus, and we have no way of knowing how the local administration views us.

I will support your decisions, Doctor, but please be careful.

Take a comms terminal, at least! If anything happens, reach out immediately. We'll come get you right away, even if we have to smash the place up while we're at it!

I can feel your nerves from here. You need not be wary. Please, call me Grand Duchess Elisa, as my friends do.

I can tell that you are an individual of keen intellect.

You are to address Her Imperial Highness as Grand Duchess Elisa.

Forgive me, Your Imperial Highness. I am obligated to maintain protocol and decorum.

What does it matter?

True goodwill has nothing to do with formality. Allow our guest to relax a little.

I welcome each and every guest to Bresk with open arms.

Is this not the part where you introduce your friend, Elotta?

Oh, yes, of course. This is the one I was just speaking about, the Doctor of Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals—

As I said, there is no need for such formality. Come forward, closer to the fire. My attendant shall fetch us some tea forthwith.

It may be difficult for travelers from afar to adapt to Bresk in this season. Though she may be remote, there are times when she is a warm and pleasant home.

Has your journey here been a smooth one?

Please believe me when I say that all you have seen here is in service to maintaining the city's hard-fought serenity.

Elotta has already explained to me in great detail the excellent work her new Oripathy specialist friends have done in the field. Yours is a talent our city sorely needs at this moment.

Our young Tsar wishes to bestow his favor equally upon every Ursine citizen. He even wishes for the division of infection to no longer plague his people.

It is for this reason that he labors himself to exhaustion, such that even the most steely-eyed courtier is left heartbroken at the sight.

But rare is the one who truly understands how precious a treasure His Imperial Majesty's innocence is. We who call ourselves his followers must do all we can to enact his will.

Bresk borders the largest mining district in the Far North, but the methods we have available to treat Oripathy fall far short of His Imperial Majesty's ideals. Which means we require some able doctors.

If that is Your Imperial Highness's goal, Doctor is the best partner you will find here.

I have read Rhodes Island's scientific papers for myself. Unlike those dusty old scholars of the Imperial Universities who simply repeat the findings of others, Rhodes Island leads the vanguard in the field of Oripathy research.

Oh my... I have never heard our proud young officer express such admiration for anyone before.

Has working in Grypherburg changed you? I still distinctly remember your father grumbling to me about the awkward situations you would provoke at the ducal banquets.

A rather embarrassing part of my past, Your Imperial Highness.

If I may explain this admiration further, I have always respected those with true talent and ability, such as Your Imperial Highness, and Doctor.

I am incredibly grateful for the reminder about my father. I nearly forgot to pass on his regards.

His factories still produce uniforms of the highest quality for every soldier in the Far North. His name can still be heard at every banquet on the frontier.

We had best return to the topic of our friend here.

Let us speak plainly. What plans does Rhodes Island have for Bresk?

Oh dear, oh dear... Doctor—that is how I should address you, yes?

If this young lady has provoked a misunderstanding, then I do apologize.

We welcome Rhodes Island building an office in Bresk, and I wish to offer as much aid as I can...

But the Far Northern mines are not open to sightseers at the moment.

If your comrades are lost, then I ask you to leave with me their descriptions and last known whereabouts. I shall deploy every last man I can spare to help you find them.

I am afraid—

Your Imperial Highness.

What if I invite them to travel with me, under my name?

Oh, Elotta... You always were such a naughty little rascal.

You know that Bresk needs specialist Oripathy doctors.

You know that with your recommendation, I would not consider this a favor to be repaid, allowing your friend to do business here.

Now look here. What is it you wish to do? Drag our esteemed guest into our muddy, snow-laden troubles?

Elotta... You are complicating the situation.

This is not a complicated matter. Pray forgive my bluntness, Your Imperial Highness.

I have never concealed my objective here.

By the Tsar, there is hardly a soul in Grypherburg concerned about the possibility of unrest in your Bresk.

But there are many curious about the closure of the mining district, and the mutations among the Infected.

Those coming here may be idle young nobles, or scientists researching Oripathy, but they can just as easily be an Army captain, or dignitaries from the State Council.

If they have their suspicions, then let them come and speak those suspicions here.

The Armies see me as a fence-sitter currying favor with the new nobles, while the State Council sees me as some provincial Grand Duchess. I am well used to everyone laying their doubts and curiosities onto Bresk.

So, my dear Elotta, who sent you here to heap more blame upon me?

No, no, no! Your Imperial Highness misunderstands!

You know that this is just a cushy job for me, paying a visit to your demesne.

My only intention was to petition you to grant these Oripathy specialists permission to accompany me into the mining district, that we might investigate the strange happenings surrounding the Infected there.

......

Pray, speak, my friend.

I did not ask this earlier, but my curiosity abounds.

Your colleagues, whyever did they go to the Central Mining District?

Oh...

A young woman I care for, and healers of Oripathy who only wish to find their comrades...

If I were to refuse you, I would seem rather cruel, wouldn't I?

I understand your position. You were just worried for our friends from afar, worried that they would get drawn into danger.

Naturally, I do not wish anyone in my lands to meet with misfortune. If I ever have the time, I would like to send stoves out to every soul who lives upon the frozen earth.

Elotta, can you promise me you will ensure our friends' safety, to the best of your ability?

Your Imperial Highness may trust in me.

Good, good. Go now, Doctor. Go find your people.

I permit Rhodes Island to enter the mining district of the Far North.

I wish that I were so kind, but few are they who appreciate the kindnesses of others.

People revere those who snatch their rights from their hands, and are grateful whenever a portion of those rights is returned to them. But I do not believe such acts can be considered kind.

The winds of the Far North are bitter indeed. You had best pack some warm clothes, Doctor.

Doctor, Eloysius! You're back!

Indeed. No need to look so excited, Gospozha Amiya.

This is the administrative center of Bresk, not some den of evil. Our chat went rather smoothly, da?

Alright, yes, I admit that.

But it really was the only way I could create the ideal conditions for discussion. And the results speak for themselves, no?

What of her?

Oh? And how did you imagine her?

If you were to only look at how she handled these strange happenings, then you would not be wrong.

After they occurred, the affected Infected were immediately sent to the mining district's research institute, where she tasked the researchers to find the cause within a week, upon pain of exile or deportation.

Soon after that, she declared martial law in the Far North, sealing all the miners within the district and blocking all communications, leaving the outside completely blind to what was happening inside.

Highly efficient, and colder than winter.

But so long as you can pinpoint exactly what she is trying to conceal from you, it is not difficult to persuade her.

The problem is that most of the time, she will leave you no opportunity to find that weak point.

Those Infected, for example. Are they affected by changes in pathology, some new symptoms of Oripathy, or something else?

That's where the issue lies, the lack of details. That is all the information that made it to Grypherburg. The moment the Infected change, they are sent off to be supervised by the research institute.

I have read your paper on the changes in Originium and new Oripathy symptoms, as have research institutes across Ursus, who are already launching their own projects based on that paper.

If these changes were simply those mentioned within, they would not merit this sort of response.

It is highly likely that the abnormalities springing up in the mining district are an entirely new threat.

An entirely new threat...

The institute looking into the cause, the district under lockdown, all the miners isolated from the wider country...

This way, everyone will believe the matter is settled, but in truth?

After the incident, all work in the district stopped, and all communications were cut off. Deity Grypherburg's inquiries have received no response. None is able, and none dares, to look too deeply into this.

You have met her, and perhaps this has you believing she truly is a 'kind' administrator.

Of course she would have let you in. After all, this is 'the friendliest place to the Infected in Ursus', 'the Pearl of the Far North', 'Paradise in North Ursus'—

Bresk, capital of Breskenoy.

You didn't see anything unusual in the city these past two days, aside from the lack of people. That is how she runs the Far North.

Like how, since she became governor, nobody has been sentenced to death in the governorate. Has that lessened the number of people here who have met tragic ends? No.

Oh, you wound me. I promise my assessment just now was not tinged by any personal feelings. I was simply answering your questions.

We are partners now, aren't we?

I understand, Eloysius. Are these abnormal Infected still under the supervision of the research institute in the mining district?

Indeed. To be more precise, they are in the Central Far North Mining District Laboratory.

That's the first place we need to visit.

Is it now? Having the same destination would make things much more convenient.

Anything else you would like to ask?

Of course. I never intended to give you the run-around in the first place.

I do have a question, Eloysius.

Ask away.

Earlier, when we were at your friend's house, we had to cut our conversation short. I should have asked you this question first, but I never found the opportunity.

What is it you hope to gain from this investigation?

...If I may be serious for a moment?

I want the truth, the truth about the mutations in the Central Mining District's Infected.

I do not want the Infected miners to suffer unduly, nor do I want the people of Ursus to sit ignorant of a looming disaster.