Seeing that Jeanne was unaware of what had occurred, Emperor let out a tired sigh. He took out a cigar, placed it in his mouth, and prepared to explain the situation.
However, before he could start, Exusiai, who was sitting nearby, chimed in with great enthusiasm. "Oh, I know this one! There was some kind of battle here yesterday. The sound of explosions lasted the entire night—it didn't feel like it was ever going to stop!"
As Exusiai spoke to Jeanne, she sounded as if she were describing a perfectly mundane event, showing none of the fear one might expect from surviving a night of artillery fire.
Then again, that was normal. Among the group, this big-hearted angel was likely the only one who slept peacefully through it! Texas, on the other hand, hadn't let her swords leave her hands for a single second last night, staying alert to every shadow.
"We certainly can't see any tension from you regarding explosions! How do you do it? How can you live like normal in that kind of situation?" Croissant said, yawning as she sat nearby. She was utterly helpless against this high-energy angel.
Croissant hadn't slept well either, constantly worrying that someone would break in or that they'd be caught in the crossfire. She had only managed to catch a few winks in the latter half of the night. Even though Emperor had told them at the start of the noise that the fighting wouldn't reach their location, who could truly relax under those circumstances?
"Why wouldn't I be able to sleep? It's just explosions. Once you're used to the sound, it's fine, right?"
Hearing this, Jeanne understood. Of course Exusiai wouldn't be worried about explosions. The girl was practically famous for them! Jeanne had heard from Lemuen that during her school years, this child had achieved the "brilliant" feat of blowing up her alma mater seventeen times! Apparently, that record was legendary even in Laterano.
It was understandable that she wasn't worried. Had she been awake last night, she probably would have sat down with Texas and the others to discuss the finer points of fuse triggers. This was an expert-level figure; while others were still figuring out how to set off a charge, she had already been contributing case studies to the field of "artistic destruction."
"Don't make it sound like the place you lived before had such terrible public security! You lived in Laterano; how could daily explosions be as common as eating and drinking?" Croissant felt speechless at Exusiai's description. However, she also knew that as unreliable as Exusiai could be, she never exaggerated her feats.
Croissant simply couldn't fathom why a place with supposedly excellent security sounded like a war zone in Exusiai's stories. Was it really just the sound of explosions all day? The others, whose impressions of Laterano matched the general public's, were equally confused.
The only one present who knew the truth was likely Emperor. Having dealt with Laterano many times, he knew exactly what kind of "virtue" the Sankta possessed. Even Jeanne's impression of Laterano—aside from it being a bit "lively"—was that most Sankta should have personalities similar to Executor.
Exusiai, meanwhile, couldn't understand why they were linking public security to explosions. Those two things weren't necessarily related, right?
"Alright, alright! Stop obsessing over these little details! Let's get moving. The sooner we hand over the cargo, the sooner we can head back! Getting caught in a battle in Ursus is the ultimate misfortune."
Emperor muttered the last bit to himself. Clearly, he had suffered at the hands of these Ursus warmongers before; otherwise, he wouldn't be so cautious. It wasn't because he was a coward; even Jeanne knew how fanatical Ursus citizens became when war was mentioned—it was a state where reason simply evaporated. This country was built on combat, and joining the military was the primary way for the poor to gain wealth and status.
"So you didn't keep the goods in the city! I was wondering why I didn't see your trucks anywhere."
Jeanne followed the Penguin Logistics crew out of the city, twisting and turning along the path until they reached a remote location where a massive freight truck was parked.
It appeared this truck contained the equipment Emperor had brought for her. Jeanne was curious—wasn't he afraid of things being stolen in such a secluded spot?
"Of course we couldn't bring it into the city. Do you have any idea how much they'd charge us? Those guys are more cutthroat with taxes than the Lungmenites! They'd skin a layer of hide off a roadside stone if they could!"
Emperor spoke bluntly about the greed of Ursus administrators. This wasn't a secret; almost every merchant knew it. If you did business in the capital, Deity Grypherburg,
things were slightly better because the Emperor and high officials kept a lid on things. People didn't dare be too brazen there.
But on their own fiefdoms, the lords' word was law. There was no need for them to hide anything. To them, merchants were nothing more than beggars kneeling for scraps. Furthermore, these old-money nobles disliked merchants because they disrupted the "peace" of the city and accumulated vast wealth. In the eyes of a City Ruler, that was their money!
"And it's not like we didn't prepare! Look—didn't we hire professional staff specifically to guard this equipment?"
Following Emperor's finger, Jeanne saw an unremarkable house in the corner. Inside, three people were busy cooking something to eat.
These were people Jeanne knew! Lemuen, Mostima, and... what was her name again? She had heard the woman had changed her codename again—now she was called the Dawn Destroyer?
Jeanne wondered what her superiors were thinking, changing her codename every other week. It was a miracle they could remember it. If it were Jeanne, she'd be lucky to remember a few syllables! And it was no wonder Exusiai hadn't asked about her sister yet; they had clearly already met! Jeanne had been wondering if the girl's memory was really that short.
"So when they said they had a mission here, they were actually just helping you with some field work? Fiammetta really does have a good temperament; if it were me, I would have punched Mostima long ago!"
Jeanne had seen the mountain of paperwork Fiammetta had been handling! The thick stacks of documents were enough to make even Jeanne's cowlick twitch in sympathy. To do all that work, only to find out they were just doing field work for their own company?
"Of course not. They're just helping out while they're in the area. If it were truly as you said, that Liberi would have probably plastered Mostima into a wall by now. You have no idea how tedious Laterano paperwork is."
Emperor denied Jeanne's theory, but looking at the way Fiammetta glared at Mostima from time to time, Jeanne remained skeptical. No matter how much someone claims they aren't angry, you can't hide the "I want to stab you" look in their eyes!
The two didn't discuss it for long. Exusiai had already sprinted toward Mostima, and the classic game of hide-and-seek began once more. It seemed that when Exusiai first arrived and saw her sister, Mostima had gone into hiding to avoid her.
Even without using her strange Originium Arts, Mostima was too fast for Exusiai to catch. Before long, the game turned into "four cats chasing one mouse" as the rest of the squad joined in.
"If you were out here, you could have said something! I was worried you'd run into trouble," Jeanne said to Lemuen, who was inside the house eating hotpot. This woman was something else—happily singing and eating hotpot while forgetting all about their business!
"Actually, I only found out about the specifics halfway here. I'm just helping out for a few days. In a bit, I have to help Mostima finish the commission. I expect by the time you've settled things on your end, we'll be done with our mission too!"
Lemuen scratched her head sheepishly and spoke to Jeanne in an apologetic tone.