"Since you're all heading back too, I'll take my leave first! Oh, it looks like it's about to snow. Why don't you stay here for the night and head back tomorrow?"
Up in the sky, Jeanne waved her hand, bidding farewell to the group. However, it was clear that the members of Penguin Logistics weren't paying much attention to her departure. They simply waved their arms mechanically while their focus remained entirely on the creatures beneath Jeanne—the Wyverns she was riding.
Despite having lived many years, this was the first time they had ever seen a so-called Wyvern. They were filled with curiosity about everything regarding these creatures. Everyone present, except for Lemuen who had seen them before, stood there with dazed expressions, watching Jeanne's figure gradually fade into the distance.
Among them, perhaps only Emperor—who had lived for an unknown age—and Mostima—who had gained knowledge from "that fragment"—had some inkling of what they were seeing, but even then, it was just a faint clue. In this world, there were no such things as "Wyverns." While the Vouivre people might have had such totems in the past, no one had actually seen the living creature. Thus, the gaze of those two was filled mostly with intense curiosity.
On the other side, Lemuen, who could feel what her sister was thinking through their empathy, wore a faint smile. It was a rare treat to see little Exusiai make such a shocked expression!
"Alright, alright! You've seen enough. We need to hurry up and get moving! Remember, time is Lungmen dollars, and it won't wait for us!"
As Jeanne's back disappeared from view, Emperor snapped Exusiai and the others back to reality. Although Jeanne had suggested they stay the night, Emperor decided to leave immediately. As for it snowing at night? For a veteran long-haul crew like Penguin Logistics, that was nothing! They had undergone specialized training for navigating between various cities in all conditions.
As for why he was in such a hurry to leave? Emperor had his reasons; otherwise, he wouldn't be so eager to get back to Lungmen when nothing was wrong there. His keen instincts told him that this incident was merely the beginning—something much larger and more serious was about to happen here. One should never underestimate a penguin's intuition!
Perhaps Emperor didn't know exactly what was coming, but his sharp observation skills told him the situation wasn't simple. Hadn't the number of soldiers on the streets decreased significantly? It was likely that the so-called City Ruler was consolidating his forces to prepare for departure. Perhaps the lord felt that Ursus was no longer a place he could stay and was planning to pack up and run?
Whatever the case, it had nothing to do with Penguin Logistics. They were already in their vehicles heading back to Lungmen. Once they reached Lungmen, they would be safe!
With their departure, the area returned to silence. Thanks to everyone's efforts, there wasn't even a trace left to show that people had ever been there.
"This... this really is the equipment we're familiar with! With this, our weapons can finally be restored. We finally don't have to fight with gear that's on the verge of breaking!"
When Jeanne returned to the village and showed the equipment to the Shieldguards, their tone was one of pure joy. They stroked the machinery as if it were a priceless treasure. It was understandable—a weapon is a warrior's second life! With a good weapon, one can achieve twice the result with half the effort in battle.
But what about them? Ever since they broke away from Ursus years ago, they didn't even have supplies, let alone equipment to maintain their own weapons. Fortunately, their enemies hadn't been overly powerful, and they could perform basic maintenance themselves; otherwise, their gear would have been scrap metal long ago.
"I'm glad it's useful. With this, your weapons and Patriot's can be repaired. You won't have to rely solely on the raw quality of the steel to withstand the enemy anymore," Jeanne replied with a smile as she watched the joyful Shieldguards.
Afterward, she and the Shieldguards moved the heavy machine onto the landship. Because the energy required to start the machine was massive, only the landship could currently provide enough power.
"Actually, we tried using a newer Ursus Originium weapon maintenance device before, but its operation was completely different from this one, and it broke far too easily. It was completely useless!"
During the move, a Shieldguard shared their past experiences with Jeanne. Those times had indeed been difficult; they had tried countless devices, but none could repair their high-spec weapons. The main issue was that their gear was of such high intensity that modern, standard maintenance equipment simply couldn't handle the repairs.
When the power was connected and the equipment roared to life, a Shieldguard skillfully operated the complex-looking machine. He had once served as the equipment maintenance specialist for this squad, responsible for everyone's weapons. Due to the lack of equipment, he hadn't performed this job in years. Now that he was touching his familiar tools again, he was happier than anyone.
He placed his shield on the device to begin a series of repairs. Emperor had been incredibly thorough; he had even prepared the materials needed for various types of weapon maintenance! Looking at the processed metals, Jeanne thought to herself that it was no wonder the boxes weren't huge but were incredibly heavy.
She had used eight Wyverns just to haul this massive thing back to the village! After unloading the cargo, her Wyverns were exhausted, even sticking their tongues out. She had turned majestic Wyverns into tired dogs; it was quite a tragic sight.
Tonight was a night of celebration for the other Shieldguards! They no longer had to watch their "partners" slowly march toward the scrap heap; they could finally heal them.
However, this wasn't true for everyone. For the team members in charge of maintenance, this was the beginning of a grueling life. They had an entire army's worth of weapons to fix! This workload was so immense that even if they worked 24/7 (007 style), they wouldn't finish anytime soon. Plus, these weapons hadn't been touched in years; trying to perform maximum repairs on gear nearing its breaking point was no easier than treating a terminal patient.
From another perspective, however, this was a good thing. The clever Shieldguards quickly found a solution: delegate the less critical work to "apprentices." And who were the apprentices? Basically, the little members of the Yeti Squad. The Shieldguards had been teaching them weapon maintenance for years; today was finally the day to put them to use!
Of course, none of this had much to do with Jeanne, nor did the wails of the Yeti Squad members. She was no longer on the landship; she had returned to the village to pack her things for Laterano.
She had already made arrangements with Lemuen. In a few days, once they finished their commission, they would rendezvous with Jeanne and head to Laterano together.
That's right—thanks to Jeanne, Mostima, the Messenger of All Nations who usually handled affairs around Lungmen and Yan, would be acting as Jeanne's escort for the duration of this round trip. This meant Mostima could also return to Laterano for a short visit, though the blue-haired fallen angel didn't seem to care much about that.
If this trip hadn't been specifically authorized by the Pope—waiving the need for tedious paperwork—the Dawn Destroyer (Fiammetta) would likely have been the first of the trio to go on a rampage.
Oh, right. There was also a bit of bad news. A letter had arrived, supposedly from Mostima's current superior. It stated that her boss intended to have a "friendly" chat with her upon her return regarding her mission reports—specifically, why every single one was so illegibly scribbled.
From the fact that the Sankta superior had used so much force that they had poked seventeen holes in the parchment while writing, it was clear they were serious! This time, even the all-powerful Dawn Destroyer couldn't help her. Submitting a few hundred words of nonsense to fool a superior? You really had to be bold to pull a stunt like that.