Chapter 421
Here, this is it.
As he spoke, Will took a folded paper lantern out of his pocket.
Because the Festival of a Thousand Lanterns requires a large number of paper lanterns, they were designed to be foldable for easy carrying and storage.
Simply extend it to the sides when using it.
Sure enough, the monkey entered the peach orchard.
Nacho said quietly, "Then you must have stolen more than just this one, right?"
"Brother Nachjo, I only stole this one!"
"Um?"
"... Okay, five."
"We'll see."
"... A dozen or so. Anyway, there are so many paper lanterns in that warehouse, no one will notice even if I steal a lot."
Will explained, "I plan to steal some to sell for money, as a way of paying the rent the Empire is giving us."
"You're dreaming."
"Right, Brother Nachjo?"
"Get out of the way."
"Ouch."
Will lowered his head and silently walked to the side.
Nacho then approached Leon and lowered his voice.
"I guess you're thinking the same thing I'm thinking right now."
Leon glanced at Will, who was standing not far away, his hands in his pockets, kicking pebbles on the ground with a bored expression.
"After you mentioned Will last night, I asked Rebecca, and she said that guy's background is hard to investigate. I'm worried that this kid won't be able to withstand the pressure and will turn against us at the last minute," Leon said, expressing his concerns.
Although he didn't particularly dislike this carefree, hot-blooded young man who called himself a chivalrous thief, the matter was of great importance, and Leon couldn't let his subjective judgment dictate the overall situation.
"There's definitely no way they'll turn against me."
Nacho said, "Although it was a bit difficult to investigate, I managed to dig up Will's background over the past few days. Apart from his age and somewhat impulsive personality, he is indeed very suitable to join the Lionheart Society."
"Is that so...?" Leon said thoughtfully.
"So, how do you say it?"
Nacho asked, "This is the fastest way we can get paper lanterns."
After a moment's thought, Leon spoke methodically.
"Bring a few people with you tonight, but not too many, to avoid any accidents that Lionheart Society."
"Then bring enough Imprint Stone. We don't need to steal the paper lanterns from the warehouse. We can hide the Imprint Stone on the paper lanterns in the warehouse and then use Illusion magic to conceal them. This will save a lot of time."
"Finally, let's count the number of paper lanterns collected from other sources. Our goal is to cover all districts of the empire."
Nacho nodded. "Understood, I'll take care of it right away."
"Okay, try to get it done before 3 a. m."
"No problem."
Upon receiving the instruction, Nacho turned and walked towards Will.
After a brief exchange, Will jumped three feet high in excitement.
"Brother Nachjo!"
As he spoke, Will turned around and waved to Leon, "Brother Leon for this opportunity, Leon!"
"Alright, let's go." Nacho pushed his shoulder and headed towards the alley's exit.
"Hey? Isn't Brother Leon coming with us?"
"Nonsense, have you ever seen a Queen personally go to the front lines to do the work?"
"Oh, that's true."
The two walked further and further away, their figures soon disappearing into the crowd.
Losweiser glanced at Leon, a smile playing on her lips.
"To be honest, I also thought you were going to handle this personally."
Leon shrugged. "You taught me that as a leader, you don't have to do everything yourself."
"But also—"
"But we must also be prepared to bear all the consequences if the plan fails," Leon interjected.
"Hmph, you remember it quite well."
A good leader will not steal credit from his followers.
Take the warehouse as an example.
Leon was only responsible for formulating plans and making decisions; the actual execution was carried out by the members of the Lionheart Society.
If the plan succeeds, it will be the result of the joint efforts of Leon and everyone in the Lionheart Society;
But if they fail, Leon won't blame Nacho and his team.
As he had just discussed with Losweiser, this was the pressure of leadership; he would bear the full consequences of failure.
And Losweiser will always stand by his side.
"So what do we do now?" Losweiser asked.
Leon thought for a moment, "Let's go, let's go see Teacher Caroline and the others again."
Casmod Orphanage.
The children and several nuns carried two large boxes of paper lanterns to the doorway.
"You've worked hard, kids. We'll have stewed meat for dinner!"
"Yay!"
"Teacher Caroline is the best!"
Everyone cheered and ran towards the cafeteria, ready to welcome the once-a-year stewed meat banquet.
Caroline turned her gaze away from the children and looked at Leon standing in the doorway.
"These paper lanterns are the ones you ordered, sir. We've been working overtime to make a lot of them."
"Yes, thank you for your hard work, Teacher Caroline."
Caroline gazed at the disguised old friend before her, and even that brief moment was enough to bring her comfort.
She didn't know what Leon was going to do.
But as Sharon said, Brother Leon is back, and we're saved.
"Teacher Caroline!"
Sharon's voice came from behind me.
The group looked in the direction of the sound and saw the little nun running towards the door, holding a paper lantern in her hand.
"I... I've finished the last paper lantern, please—please accept it, sir!"
Sharon handed over the paper lantern with both hands.
It is already open.
The paper lantern was covered with the names of all the nuns and children at the Casmod Orphanage, so many that it was almost overflowing.
However, a separate row was left at the very top of the paper lantern.
This line contains only one name:
Leon Casmod.
"This paper lantern is..."
"Very memorable, sir!"
Sharon explained excitedly, "We all wrote our names on it, and the name at the very top... is, is..."
Sharon seemed to be too excited, and she became somewhat incoherent.
Leon naturally noticed the Only One name written separately on the paper lantern.
Judging from the handwriting, it must have been written by Teacher Caroline.
At that moment, Leon seemed to realize something.
Could it be that the teachers have already... recognized me...?
"He is our hero, sir."
Teacher Caroline reached out and gently supported Sharon's hand, moving the paper lantern a little further towards Leon.
"It was true before, it is true now, and it will be true in the future."
"So please accept this paper lantern; it carries the hopes of everyone at the Casmod Orphanage."
Leon was certain of his suspicions.
But now is not the time to acknowledge each other. There are too many people around, and we will have time to embrace each other once everything has settled down.
Leon stared at the paper lantern covered with names, his pupils trembling slightly.
After a short while, Leon reached out and solemnly took it.
"I understand, thank you, Teacher Caroline, and Sharon."
You're welcome, sir.
After a pause, Teacher Caroline smiled, but her tone was very serious.
"May your military prowess flourish."
As a nun, she almost never said "May your martial arts prosper" when saying goodbye.
Over the years, there has only been one person who could make Caroline say those four words every time she said goodbye to him.
His name is Leon, and he is the best child Caroline has ever taught.
129, the Server's Number One Female Gunner.
In the early hours of the morning, Nacho led a group of people back to the Lionheart Society.
Will was following behind him.
Judging from the smug smiles on the thieves' faces, they must have succeeded.
"Walker, take this kid to get familiar with the area."
"Clear."
Walker left with the curious Will.
Nacho then found Leon, who was studying a map of the five major regions of the empire.
"Everything is taken care of."
Nacho said, "We've placed Imprint Stone on all the paper lanterns in the warehouse. We've also secured the locations for these lanterns on the day of the Festival of a Thousand Lanterns, in the Imperial City, the Upper City, and the Middle City."
"Didn't it cover the downtown and slums?" Leon asked.
Nacho shook his head. "Perhaps these two areas are not worthy of special paper lanterns in the eyes of the royal family."
Upon hearing this, Leon scoffed.
Although it sounds a bit far-fetched, everything makes sense when you think of it as an empire.
"It's alright, the paper lanterns we've collected through other channels should be enough to cover the Lower City and the slums."