120. Give Them a Dating Budget
After learning about Nacho’s situation, the group shifted back to the earlier topic about the Lantern Festival.
“So, Captain, what’s the actual plan?” Rebecca asked.
“The action plan is simple,” Leon replied, “We have a Shadow Stone that records the conversation between King Cant and Queen Elizabeth, right? This dialogue is critical evidence exposing their dirty rule. We just need to let the Empire’s citizens see it.”
He continued, “What I propose is to collect enough Shadow Stones, and then insert them into the paper lanterns on the night of the Lantern Festival. Once we release thousands of these lanterns, we can use the interactivity of the Shadow Stones to project the imagery across the night sky.”
Hearing this, Rebecca’s eyes lit up. “Oh~~ so that means everyone in the country will see it!”
Nacho chimed in, “Not only the common folk; there are also parts of the Imperial army and some royals who haven’t been corrupted by King Cant. They’ve been keeping their heads down in the dark political arena, waiting for a new leader to change everything.”
“So, if our Lantern Festival Shadow Stones are successful, not only will we gain the support of the Empire’s common people, but even some military and royal members will side with us?” Leon asked.
Nacho nodded, “But don’t celebrate too soon. The ones who can openly resist the Empire are a minority. Plus, we still have to deal with d*e-hard Imperial loyalists and countless monsters, like the Sharp Blade Special Forces and Fusion Beasts.”
“Got it. I guess the Empire must have hidden cards we don’t know about, which is why we brought in some help.”
Nacho blinked, “Some help? But I only see the Silver Dragon King here. Where are the others?”
Realizing a point, Leon turned to Rebecca, “Where’s Claudia? Didn’t she come with you?”
“Oh, your Aunt said—”
“Wait a minute!”
Before Rebecca could finish, Nacho interjected.
He wasn’t usually rude — interrupting wasn’t his style — but the term “Leon’s Aunt” was quite a heavyweight, prompting even the steady Nacho to inquire, “I read your intel. You’re from an orphanage, so where does this aunt come from?”
This time Leon didn’t have to explain; Rebecca eagerly raised her hand to answer, “The captain’s aunt is Charlotte’s sister, and they’re both from the Dragon Race!”
“……”
“Claudia’s an aunt and is also the next Dragon King of the Sea Dragon Race!”
“……”
Nacho scratched his head, feeling a mix of emotions.
Seriously, who studied this little guy Leon?
First, he marries a Dragon King, and now even his relatives are Dragon Kings?
This level of connections can’t just be described as “solid”; Nacho’s vocabulary was not equipped to depict General Leon’s abstract yet magnificent family background.
Leon slapped Rebecca lightly on the face and pushed her toward Roswizer, “Adults are talking, kids don’t interrupt.”
The twin-tailed girl hid behind her sister-in-law and made a goofy face at the captain.
Leon redirected his gaze towards Nacho, “She’s exaggerating; it’s not that dramatic. I only found out a few days ago that my master’s wife is from the Dragon Race.”
Nacho shrugged.
It was unclear whether this shrug indicated indifference or if he was simply numb to this explosive news.
Good grief, it seemed regardless of whether they were enemies or allies, Leon always managed to leave Nacho speechless.
“So… where did our mysterious helper Claudia go?” Nacho slightly leaned towards Rebecca, who was hiding behind Roswizer.
“Oh right, Aunt Claudia said she’s really interested in human culture, so she’s been hanging out in the Central District library these past few days.”
The Empire was divided into five districts: the royal city, upper district, central district, lower district, and the poor district where Leon and the others were currently situated.
Wealth levels decrease in that order.
Of course, this drop was undoubtedly due to the Empire’s layers of exploitation.
The royal city extracts from the upper, the upper extracts from the central, and so on.
So, the most carefree folks were in the royal and upper districts, where the richest resources of the entire Empire are located — incomparable to the central district or below.
“The library? If she’s spotted flaunting around as a dragon, we’ll be in big trouble!” Leon said.
“Yeah… that’s not really an issue. With the current chaos on the front lines, the Empire’s understaffed, and the patrol intensity is way down,” Rebecca replied. “Plus, our Lionheart Association has informants in every district. Even a wanted captain like you can walk around if you keep it low-key during certain times. Just don’t draw too much attention.”
Leon was slightly taken aback. “You guys have completely infiltrated the whole Empire…?”
Rebecca scratched her head, “Not entirely. The royal and upper districts are quite strict. Aside from Martin, we don’t have strong informants there. But we have a handle on the central district and the lower ones.”
After a pause, she added, “So, Captain, if you want to go out, we can arrange something. Don’t worry, it’ll be safe.”
To think that during this time, the Master and Rebecca had already developed the Lionheart Association to such a scale.
No wonder when Leon said he was going to officially declare war on the Empire a few days ago, the Master didn’t stop him. Turns out that old guy was pretty confident in this revolutionary organization against the Empire too.
So… should he go out for a walk?
Leon glanced at Roswizer, a rather inappropriate thought crossed his mind.
He opened his mouth, but the words got stuck in his throat.
Forget it… the serious stuff is more important, so—
“Hey, Sister-in-law, you’ve never walked through human districts, right?” Rebecca suddenly asked.
Roswizer snapped out of her daze, “Uh… no.”
“With only three days left until the Lantern Festival, how about you two have a simple date before the big event!”
“What? In the middle of all this chaos? Who has time for dating?” Leon protested.
Rebecca narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the captain.
She might be a bit slow, but she could read the room.
Especially since Roswizer’s mind clearly wandered off after Rebecca mentioned even Leon could sneak out at certain times.
And what she thought about was needless to say.
But given how stubborn this couple was, Rebecca didn’t want to push too hard.
So, she just had to…
“Captain, aren’t we supposed to gather enough Shadow Stones? It wouldn’t hurt to have you and your sister-in-law go out on a field trip since the current members of the Lionheart Association here aren’t enough. Is that okay?”
“Uh…”
“Nah, give them a dating budget — I mean, a procurement budget! You can’t come back until you spend it all!” Rebecca commanded, hands on her hips.
Nacho shrugged, then added to Rebecca’s statement,
“Truth be told, you two going out won’t affect our Lantern Festival plans. Just make sure to return before midnight tomorrow.”
“And Leon, it’s been years since you were last in the Empire. Setting aside those corrupt rulers, this was once your hometown. So before you save your hometown, shouldn’t you remember what it looks like now?”
With reason and emotion, the two mainstays of the Lionheart Association suggested Leon and Roswizer take a leisurely trip, proving it truly wouldn’t impact their plans in three days.
If they kept dodging it, it would only make everyone uncomfortable.
The couple exchanged glances.
Finally, Leon said, “Alright, we’ll go out tomorrow and gather some Shadow Stones.”
Rebecca nodded enthusiastically, “Mm-hmm, that’s more like it! Take your sister-in-law for a nice stroll.”
Weirdly, it felt nostalgic, like country relatives visiting the city.
