Lappland the Decadenza

[Code Name] Lappland

[Gender] Female

[Combat Experience] 8 Years

[Place of Birth] Siracusa

[Date of Birth] Nov 11

[Race] Lupo

[Height] 162cm

[Infection Status]

Originium crystals distributed across surface of body, confirmed Infected by medical examination.

[Physical Strength] Excellent

[Mobility] Excellent

[Physical Resilience] Standard

[Tactical Acumen] Excellent

[Combat Skill] Outstanding

[Originium Arts Assimilation] Excellent

Lappland, unemployed. The only daughter of Alberto Saluzzo, patriarch of the Siracusan Famiglia Saluzzo. She is currently separated from her family. Lappland excels in solo combat, and often assists Rhodes Island in tactical Arts assaults and elimination operations.

Imaging tests show the indistinct outlines of internal organs, obscured by abnormal shadows. Originium granules detected in the circulatory system. The subject is confirmed to be infected with Oripathy.

[Cell-Originium Assimilation] 14%

The Originium crystals on Operator Lappland's body are still spreading.

[Blood Originium-Crystal Density] 0.33u/L

Density has significantly increased compared to previous results.

'She's crazy! Patients like her are the most annoying to deal with. She's always so polite and cooperative when we're conducting tests, and even smiled while saying she'd take good care of herself as Medical suggested... And look what happened. Can we just beat the daylights out of her, so we can treat her here uninterrupted for a month?'

'You want to try?'

Lappland did not notify anyone before returning to the Rhodes Island landship. She suddenly showed up in HR's office, taking up half the sofa while her weapon occupied the other half. She looked as if she had just came back from traversing the wastes, covered in sand and dust... had it not been her gorgeous and somewhat extravagant Siracusan attire suggesting more to her story.

Before she showed up, we learned from mission logs sent by the Nuova Volsinii branch about what happened at the Carnevale, including the fact the city government had revoked all of her licenses and banned her from returning to the city. We tried to ask how she was related to the city's unrest that nearly turned into civil strife, and she did not shy away, giving us a rundown of what she did over the next two minutes. She spoke in a breezy tone, but the operator in charge of recording stopped writing, frozen with fear. According to her, what she did at the Carnevale included but was not limited to: Helping strangers put Alberto—her own father and head of Famiglia Saluzzo—in prison, driving a cargo landship loaded with weapons into a massive parade crowd, and helping a Vulpo mother exact vengeance... All of this, to 'spice up' the Carnevale.

'Honestly, shouldn't they have given me a medal?' Lappland added, after a brief pause, 'How else would they be able to boast about how Nuova Volsiii has gotten off to a good start in reforming Siracusa!'

'Though...' she suddenly stopped talking, looked at the operator recording her words, and asked, 'What do you think? If the Carnevale started like this, won't future Carnevales only get more and more boring?'

With her signature smile on her face, it was hard to tell if she spoke with regret or schadenfreude. The operator was stunned and didn't know how to respond, so the conversation abruptly ended there.

Lappland and Texas bumped into each other in the Rhodes Island lounge.

We have a rough understanding of the subtle relationship between the two operators—everyone can still remember why Lappland joined Rhodes Island in the first place, after all. After the collaboration between the Lungmen branch and Penguin Logistics ended, she suddenly cornered one of our operators, handing over her resume with a smile and—while resting her two strangely shaped blades on the operator's neck—asked: 'Is Texas your employee?' Afterwards, be it a deliberate provocation, inexplicable adulation, or vague investigation, it is no secret that she has always set her sights on Texas, and thus we have prevented them from meeting directly. However, one time Texas unexpectedly returned to the landship, and by the time we were aware and trying to prevent them from meeting, she had already run into Lappland who was drinking alcohol by herself in the break room.

The operator who had rushed to 'get the situation under control' came back silently, and described what he saw with a confused look on his face: Lappland casually took a glass from the alcohol rack and poured a glass of amaretto whiskey, and Texas sat down, took the glass and drank it like it was just a normal day. Lappland nonchalantly asked Texas about her recent work as a special logistics consultant for Nuova Volsinii, and made a few casual jokes about city hall's attempt to promote the 'New Urban Management Act' to other Siracusan cities, to which Texas replied with a few words. After finishing her drink, Texas leisurely stood up and left, and they even wished each other well before going their separate ways! They seemed like nothing more than a pair of old friends who understood each other perfectly and had met up at an agreed time whilst going their respective ways.

To be honest, we have no clue what exactly happened. We only know that they had met a few times during the Carnevale, so how did their relationship suddenly turn out like this? Have they resolved their differences and reconciled, or is this another tug-of-war, with a hidden turbulent undercurrent? Who knows? One day they might cross swords and stain the deck with blood. For a while after this, we continued to observe the two, who met up a few more times, but the general atmosphere was similar to that day in the break room.

'I'm tired. Tired of guessing what's going on between them.

'I don't care if those two have let go of their grievances or not, but at least they're no longer as tense as before, which saves us a lot of trouble.'

—An HR Operator in charge of observation

Famiglia Saluzzo traces its origins to the Siracusan Autonomous Region three centuries ago. Siracusans see the family as extremely robust, even turning a mistake made at an important point in history into a story of survival.

In the late 1030s, when Signora Sicilia established the 'Guns and Order', there were many dissidents, Alberto's grandfather among them. During the most important revolution of modern Siracusan history, the head of Famiglia Saluzzo stood against Signora Sicilia, and this decision nearly spelled the end of the family. Several major opposition famiglie were practically liquidated overnight, and Famiglia Saluzzo too suffered the Signora's retaliation. To spare the rest of his famiglia from suffering, Alberto's grandfather ultimately ended his life in his own study, and the ancient family established during Lethanian rule that rose to prominence by selling bootleg liquor to Gaul almost collapsed entirely.

Fortunately, Alberto's father painstakingly brought his family into the Grey Hall and they became one of the Dodici Famiglie, though the family's prestige and power had yet to recover from the prior shock. Alberto was born into and grew up in those circumstances, and took over the famiglia's future from his father's hands.

—Excerpt from a special study on Siracusa conducted by a certain Columbian university

We once asked Lappland about Famiglia Saluzzo's situation, but she was uninterested and kept yawning in response, so we eventually abandoned our questions.

Based on information later provided by HR, we managed to make a rough analysis of what happened. Alberto did not at all trust the emotions and legacy between the generations of his family: his grandfather's mistake during Signora Sicillia's reforms had, after all, brought upon disastrous consequences, but he was also disgusted by his father's harsh denouncements of his grandfather, and this distrust was passed down and reflected in his attitude towards his daughter—He had an almost perverted desire to control her, equipping her with an elite education, but also throwing her into the barrens as a child for training, and even expelling her from the family because of her various transgressions. Of course, this analysis is meaningless, for it is difficult for us to attribute Lappland's current behavior solely to a 'failed education'. This would not explain her simultaneous 'politeness', 'aggressiveness', 'hunger for battle', and 'penchant for theatrics'. After observing her for a long time, she seems to have been 'born' mad, while her father and family's influence merely fanned the flames.

'Let's just settle Lappland's files as-is. There's no point analyzing a lunatic's personality.'

Lappland's return to Rhodes Island has provoked strong reactions in some of our Operators. In particular, Operator Lunacub who had just recently recovered from rather serious injuries suddenly began running down the landship corridors, excitedly shouting 'I finally saw Agnese again!' Or Operator Projekt Red who would on occasion suddenly tense up, muttering words like 'Grandma'. Meanwhile, Lappland would always just happen to be passing by, as if the one they were talking about were by her side.

[Classified Log]

Take good care of Red. The Signori dei Lupi's game is over, but this child has grown up in such unusual circumstances, and suffered so much deception and betrayal that will take a long time to deal with. I came up with many ways of stopping her from ending up like this, but still I failed in the end. Fighting with each other is natural for the Signori dei Lupi, and not every human who interacts with them can be as lucky as Lunacub, or Lappland... to naturally integrate into a wolf pack, even becoming their sovereign in the latter case. I hear she has made a deal with Emperor and Duck Lord while representing the wolf pack.

Be it Emperor, Duck Lord, or the Signori dei Lupi, I have dealt with many beings like them. They are immortal, and most find a way to get along with humans and live on this land with their unique character. I've also met humans with unusual life experiences. Be it due to their ancestors' adventures or major Catastrophes, they possess powers or insights beyond human limits and are closer to the former. Lappland seems to have been born this way. She is obviously still young and her experiences aren't that out of the ordinary, but the boundaries on her are already blurred. She is embracing a certain kind of madness ordinary people will find difficult to comprehend, which is not a good thing... Continue watching over her, Doctor.

Going back to our original topic, the Beast Aristocrats may phrase it differently, but it all comes down to the same thing: they felt uneasy. If even they feel threatened to the point of ignoring their respective traits so they might contact each other and figure out a countermeasure, then we must focus on what is causing their nervousness.

Luchino recognized this special client: she once opened the doors of Tailor de Montano and ordered two Carnevale outfits of the highest quality in one breath, and even personally drew the famiglia patterns she wanted on the costumes by hand. This time, she was still wearing one of the outfits, but the Carnevale mask that used to be sitting at her waist was now missing. Unlike a traditional Siracusan suit, the mask is the most important part of a Carnevale outfit, and the most unique visualization of the event. Luchino could not ignore the missing mask, and boldly asked why.

'I gave it away.'—That is how the client responded.

It was not De Montano's professionalism that led him to ask the question, but Luchino still expressed his willingness to make her a new mask and complete her outfit. After all, he knew who his client was, and it would be best if she had a mask ready for any future Carnevales. Nonno had passed a long time ago, and his current skills were already 'up to par', so as the current manager of De Montano, he was obliged to maintain any relationships with old clients, no matter who they were.

'No need, little tailor. Is there a difference between wearing one mask and wearing two?

'The outfit is clearly already complete!'