The moment Jeanne spoke those words, she immediately captured Talulah's attention.
The Pope had invited Jeanne to Laterano for the New Year? Talulah hadn't expected this, but on second thought, it wasn't entirely surprising. She knew that New Year's held a status in the hearts of Laterano citizens second only to Christmas. However, for the people of Laterano, it was mostly just an excuse for a massive carnival. Since Christmas and New Year were so close together, they simply extended the Christmas holiday and merged it with the New Year celebrations.
"You agreed? Then when do you leave? New Year isn't far off; if you wait much longer, I doubt you'll make it in time."
Talulah understood that since Jeanne was telling her this, she had already agreed to go. Otherwise, she wouldn't have brought it up. Besides, it wasn't a big deal. Talulah didn't believe anything dangerous could happen to Jeanne in Laterano of all places; the idea seemed impossible.
"I'll need to wait a few more days. A shipment is supposed to be arriving; I'll leave after I receive it. It contains maintenance equipment to help Patriot and the others. Once it's here, they'll finally be able to repair their own weapons."
That was the maintenance equipment Jeanne had asked Emperor about. To be honest, the chances of obtaining it were so low that Jeanne had almost given up on the idea. It was equipment for Ursus military gear from over a decade ago; such things had long been phased out and destroyed within Ursus. You couldn't even find them if you tried.
Supposedly, the destruction of this gear began during the Great Purge. By now, the only places you might find even a few spare parts would be in a museum. But that specific equipment was the only kind Patriot and his men knew how to use. Because their weapons hadn't seen proper maintenance or servicing in years, they were currently not much better than scrap metal.
But if they could get this equipment and do some basic repairs, they could easily get another three or four years of use out of their gear. After all, you could tell how sturdy the stuff was just by the fact that it hadn't completely broken down after all this time.
"That boss of yours can actually get his hands on such things? He really is a formidable individual."
Talulah was surprised that the head of a logistics company could source such items. These were essentially antiques, and extremely rare ones at that. No one would usually spend a fortune just to buy one and let it sit around. What use would it be? You'd be better off spending that money on Gaulish artifacts; at least those would appreciate in value.
"He is very formidable. You could say he's a guy whose reach spans the heavens! Honestly, when he told me he had a lead, even I was surprised."
The two of them continued their walk, but it didn't last long before Jeanne went to help organize the warehouse. Since she had decided to go on a long trip, she wanted to get the warehouse affairs settled first. Furthermore, the spoils of war included explosives; if they weren't stored properly, people could actually die!
Standing in the warehouse and looking up at the massive pile of supplies with her team, Jeanne felt a headache coming on. It looked like she'd be working overtime tonight! This was the source of Jeanne's true pain—overtime! Why did such a thing even exist in this world? Shouldn't such a "dark civilization" be destroyed?
"Um... Jeanne, which part should we start with?"
Over the past few days, the others had been stunned by Jeanne's miraculous warehouse management skills. They now admired her from the bottom of their hearts! If nothing else, they felt that with just the scraps of knowledge they'd learned from her, they could easily apply for a warehouse manager position on any nomadic city and get the job effortlessly.
"Hmm... let's start with that pile of weapons! We need to be cautious with the explosive materials. I think I'll have them sent over to the mountain side for storage. We have to be careful to avoid any accidents that could blow up the entire warehouse."
Jeanne pondered for a moment and decided it was best to send the weapons over to Patriot's side. Regardless, keeping that stuff in the village was too dangerous.
She knew in her heart that among the current residents, there would surely be those dissatisfied with their lives who intended to cause trouble. No matter where you were, such people always existed, making these items too risky to keep here. She wasn't just worried about people stealing them to fight the leaders; she was worried some thief would bring a torch and accidentally blow the place sky-high!
This wasn't an exaggeration. Jeanne had already caught several little thieves trying to sneak into the warehouse to steal food lately. Their universal tactic was always to bring a torch!
However, since they were moving things within the village this time, she couldn't use the Wyverns to haul the freight. She was worried a single flap of their wings would demolish some of the newly built houses.
A few days later, having finally finished clearing the mountain of supplies, Jeanne didn't even have time to rest before she arrived at a nomadic city not too far from the tundra.
The reason for her visit? To collect the goods from Penguin Logistics, of course. Jeanne had only just learned that the items they brought this time included more than just that single piece of equipment.
As Jeanne walked through the city, she noticed how desolate it was. Perhaps it was because it was too remote, being near the tundra, or perhaps it was just the area she was walking through, but the place was in ruins. Crumbled walls and debris were everywhere, as if the city had been struck by a massive Catastrophe. Passersby walked with hurried steps, and you barely saw anyone speaking to one another.
Jeanne found it strange. Just how bad did a City Ruler have to be to let a city fall into this state? She had thought the environment in Chernobog was bad enough, but this place was even worse.
"Welcome! This is the new branch of Penguin Logistics!"
When Jeanne entered the building at the address she was given, the first person she saw was the boss of Penguin Logistics himself—Emperor! What was he doing here instead of running his business in Lungmen? Was he here for a nostalgic trip to his homeland?
"The things we're transporting are a bit dangerous. If I'm here personally and something goes wrong, I can pull a few strings to keep things moving. I'm at least better at that than these girls! To be honest, if this weren't your business, I wouldn't have taken this order."
Seeing Jeanne's confused expression, Emperor explained the situation. He really didn't feel safe letting the three girls deliver goods to Ursus alone; after all, this place was quite a hassle.
At that moment, the four members of the Exusiai squad (including Lemuen) greeted Jeanne. It seemed they had accepted this mission despite the high probability of complications.
"I didn't realize you had connections in Ursus. I thought Ursus officials were the type to refuse all cooperation."
Hearing that Emperor had connections even in Ursus, Jeanne was surprised but also felt it was quite normal. After all, this penguin had lived for an unknown number of years; having some secret connections was understandable. She wondered how he got along with people in this country. Did they sit at a table and down bottles of vodka together? She felt like he was definitely capable of doing something like that.
"I have connections, yes, but it's mainly for business. You're an Ursus local, so you know the situation—shipping goods here is even more profitable than in Lungmen!"
Emperor leaned in and whispered to Jeanne. From his tone, this boss had quite a few assets here and even several long-term partnerships.
"Let's not talk about that for now. We won't be staying long this time. Once the delivery is finished, we're preparing to pull out. This area might not be very peaceful lately; it's easy for trouble to start."
It was clear that Emperor was in quite a hurry. However, it wasn't because he was worried about business being delayed elsewhere, but rather out of safety concerns.
This made Jeanne curious. Originally, he had said he would stay for a while; why the sudden change of heart after just a few days of no contact?
"What exactly happened to make you all so eager to leave?"
Seeing how the Exusiai quartet already had their luggage packed, it looked like they planned to depart immediately. What was going on to make them so rushed?