Not long after the giant spider fell, Baiye returned to Ningning's side carrying the White Mage girl who'd been wrapped up in spider silk like a rice dumpling.
She set the girl down, and with a swift stroke of her blade cut away every strand of silk binding her, then instructed Ningning:
"Those three men's corpses are more or less intact; they should be resurrectable. I'll go bring them over here. Ningning, I'll leave her to you."
Facing this heavyweight who could one-shot a boss in ten seconds flat, Ningning couldn't suppress the admiration in her heart. She tugged open her collar, stood at attention, and saluted:
"Yes, sir!"
But she'd forgotten Baiye didn't understand English:
"Yessir? What's a 'yessir'?"
"It's nothing. Lord Baiye, please go and come back quickly, and leave things here to your humble servant."
Baiye narrowed her eyes and eyed this White Mage full of wicked schemes suspiciously, unsure what fit of madness had come over her now:
"...Ningning, could you please not suddenly change your way of talking? It sounds really gross."
"No can do. This is to express my reverence and love for you."
Seeing Ningning play the fool at her with such a straight face, Baiye couldn't be bothered to argue and simply left first, off to collect the corpses.
Watching Baiye go, Ningning crouched down and looked at the girl beside her, still frozen with terror.
She was thin, her hair dry and brittle, wearing the wilted, crushed-by-life look of someone bearing a burden too heavy to carry.
But Ningning, who'd read countless faces in this eroge, could tell this kid was absolutely a beauty in the rough.
Mm. Hungry.
Well then, might as well pick up this side-quest and give her a hand.
Her lust stirred and her collector's itch flaring up at once, Ningning decided to meddle just this once, and waved a hand before the girl's eyes:
"Hello? You okay? Can you snap out of it?"
"...Can they be resurrected? Thank goodness, they have to be resurrected..."
But the girl seemed unable to see Ningning's hand, only kept murmuring Baiye's words over and over in a low voice.
Those light-brown eyes, which should have been clear, now vacantly reflected the faint light of the cavern ceiling, as if her soul were still trapped in that horrific web.
Half a minute passed before the ashen-haired girl's pupils contracted, her wits abruptly returning. As if pricked by an invisible needle, her body began to tremble violently.
First she looked at Ningning's concerned face, so close by, and then her gaze swept the surroundings in terror—
The giant spider's massive slain body, the scattered, tattered web, and, in the distance, the remains of her teammates that Baiye was gathering up.
"Wuu...!"
A stifled sob squeezed out of her throat, tears rolling down in big pearl-like drops, mixing with the dust and silk-shreds on her face to leave streak after streak of wet trails.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's-it's all because of me..."
The girl's voice was hoarse and broken, heavily nasal and thick with irrepressible self-reproach:
"It's-it's all my fault... I'm just too useless..."
She struggled to sit up, but her body had long since given out, and she could only half-lean against the rock wall, both hands clutching the filth-stained hem of her mage's robe, knuckles white.
Seeing her state was off, Ningning hurriedly reached out and grasped her thin wrist, soothing her:
"All right, don't rush to cry just yet. What happened just now?"
"W-we'd only just come in... and that spider, it-it attacked, and killed everyone."
"It's all because I'm too useless, I can't even use the lowest-tier healing magic properly, and that's why everyone died..."
"Wait, hold on, don't think about those terrible things for now. What's your relationship with the others in your party?"
"I-I'm a trainee White Mage who only registered as an adventurer last month..."
The girl sobbed out her story, every line steeped in self-blame, unnaturally fluent:
"My name is Xueli. I came to Tati City a month ago. The Boss and the others said their party was short on people, so they took me in... even though, even though I'm always causing them trouble, they never once looked down on me..."
Ningning listened, brows knitting tighter, and went on gently coaxing information out of Xueli:
"You're always causing them trouble? Can you give some examples?"
Xueli nodded and counted them off one by one:
"I walk slowly and hold up the party's pace; I can't learn healing magic well, so I'm no help; and I get hurt a lot, and it costs a lot of money every time... the Boss and the others covered my medical fees. They said I could pay it back slowly, no rush..."
"How much do you owe them?" Ningning went on.
"A thousand gold coins." Xueli hung her head, downcast and grieving.
At that figure, Ningning at last fully confirmed the guess in her heart.
She said nothing more to Xueli, only stood up silently and waited for Baiye to come back with the corpses.
Before long, Baiye had bundled the three men's bodies together and dragged them to the cavern entrance.
Ningning glanced at Xueli, who knelt weeping on the ground, and waved to Baiye, mouthing at her:
"Come here, there's something I need to discuss with you."
Baiye too glanced at Xueli, gave a slight nod, and followed Ningning off to one side.
"I just got the situation from that kid. Here's what she said..."
Ningning recounted everything she'd just heard from Xueli. When she finished, Baiye frowned and asked in a low voice:
"You mean those three men were actually good people?"
Ningning immediately shot her a look:
"Good people? Captain, are you dense? What kind of good-guy adventurer takes in an inexperienced rookie healer? What kind of good-guy adventurer racks up a thousand gold in a single month treating a few injuries?"
"This is plainly taking advantage of a newbie who doesn't know the ropes; it's a straight-up scam!"
"I see." Baiye finally understood, and nodded. "Then, Ningning, please resurrect the three of them."
"I've been meaning to ask: what are you resurrecting them for?"
"To report their crimes, of course, and see them brought to justice. How could we let them off with an easy death?" Baiye said.
"That won't work, I'm afraid. We have no evidence." Ningning shook her head.
"Can't we just have Xueli be a witness?"
"That's the hardest part. This kid Xueli has been PUA'd hard; chances are she'll side with the perpetrators instead."
"What does PUA mean?" Baiye said, mimicking Ningning's pronunciation. "And I don't understand, how could she possibly defend a gang of swindlers?"
"That's Stockholm syndrome for you."
"Anyway, if we tell this kid the truth now, not only will she not be grateful, she'll fight you tooth and nail to defend those three con men, and she'll insist on working herself to the bone to resurrect them."
Baiye listened, thoroughly lost, and shook her head to show she couldn't believe it:
"That's impossible."
"Go try it and you'll see." Ningning shrugged.
Baiye had a strong sense of justice, but she'd simply experienced too little of the world, and her temperament was too stubborn and unbending.
A person like this couldn't be forced back around by talk alone; she had to taste despair for herself.
Once she'd smacked into the wall, she'd know to turn back.
Thinking this, Ningning watched the half-believing Baiye go, watched her sit down beside Xueli and strike up a conversation.
Not long after, Ningning heard Xueli's furious voice:
"...I won't have you slandering the Boss and the others! They're my benefactors. You may have saved my life, but I will absolutely not allow you to say such things!"
This kid, she'd been brainwashed but good.
Right on cue, a deflated Baiye came trudging back in retreat and slumped dejectedly to the ground:
"You were right, Ningning. She won't hear a word of it."
"I told her she'd been swindled, that the money she owes is an enormous sum, that the Holy Temple's resurrection vouchers are expensive too... and she actually said she'd sell herself if she had to, to resurrect those three beasts, and keep paying off the debt! Haah..."
Ningning studied Baiye, collapsed at her side and already starting to question her whole life, and shook her head with a sigh:
"I did tell you... But, well, I do have an idea."
The instant she heard that Ningning, who had wicked ideas by the bushel, had a plan, Baiye immediately sat bolt upright, eyes shining:
"What idea?"
"Don't get worked up just yet. This method will definitely bring her to her senses, but it's not exactly above-board. If you can accept that, then play along with me the whole way. If you can't, then respect her fate and leave it be."
"I accept! Tell me, what do you need me to do?"
Ningning fought hard to suppress the corners of her wildly rising mouth.
Heh heh, as expected of Baiye, gullible as ever.
A few little words, and she'd been talked right into helping her win over Xueli.