Arknights: Reunion's Conqueror Of The North

Leon the Squire Pt. 3

Chapter 66.3:

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When Blitz left their company again, followed by Croissant as they make their way to the ground floor. Texas and Exusiai are left behind, patiently waiting for the duo to return. They sit, or lay there in the lounge, silent, thinking about the stories Nathan told them. Some parts are believable, while others sound downright extreme to actually happen, and to think, he went through all of that, and perhaps even more beyond his squire years. And to think, he was that young when exposed to all of that horrors. It's no wonder why Nathan acts the way he is.

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Unable to hold on to her concerned feelings, Exusiai rises from the sofa, plants her feet on the floor, and looks at Texas. Her head is tilted back, and her boots rest on the coffee table. It appears as though she's napping. It has been a long day after all. Unfortunately, Exusiai has no idea of the concept of personal space. She yells for Tex to wake up, who glares at her, angry for interrupting her quick sleep.

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Exusiai: "Hey Texas... Hey Texas... Hey Texas... Hey Texas—"

Texas: "Okay, I'll bite! What is it, Ex?"

Exusiai: "Do you really believe Lenny's story?"

Texas: "No... Yes and no. No, because most of what he said is just extreme and defies the logic of our world, if this world even has logic in the first place, and yes because we have no way to disprove it. We either believe or not. I sure don't, but I want to hear what he says next because I want to see this through the end."

Exusiai: "Are we going to leave after this?"

Texas: "That... I don't know anymore."

Exusiai: "Where are we even gonna go if we do leave?"

Texas: "I have... no clue. I just want to get away from all of this chaos as soon as possible."

Exusiai: "Ironically, Blitz's cities are oddly more peaceful than the other nomad cities we've been in. It's like, almost every corner, there's this goon ready to jump you, with sixteen of them ready to jump in next. His cities? It's so quiet it's terrifying."

Texas: "I have to hand him that; he is ruthlessly efficient."

Exusiai: "Do you think he learned that from Maccready?"

Texas shrugs: "We shall see."

*They hear voices coming from the hall, and when they turn or rise to look, Blitz and Croissant have returned from their small adventure below—the former carrying a large, heavy bag on his back, and the latter casually lifting a roller suitcase close to her chest. They're having a conversation, and sound like they're having much fun discussing money, especially Blitz's Crusader's way of spending his massive wealth.*

Blitz: "Maccready was never a material person, but he also loves earning money, as you do, I guess. Besides, what good is money for when you just hoard it? He also preferred to live life as a peasant since it was a way more engaging life than a noble. He only earned that much wealth from mercenary work, tournaments, honest work, less-than-honest work like robbery or extortion – mostly to the rich – any job that pays, I guess."

Croissant: "What did he spend his money on then?"

Blitz rounds the bar counter to grab his rifle: "Oh, you're gonna like this," *He says, his voice having slight giggles. He slings his gun over his shoulder and looks up at the ceiling briefly, reminiscing.* "Since money's essentially worthless to him, Maccready's choices of boons are so ridiculous but well-intentioned. There's one time he requested to be the governor for a week in one city he was in, and they're still trying to revoke most of the laws he passed with difficulty to this day..." *He tightens his lips, doubtfully.* "I believe; I haven't gone back there. Another one is when he asked for the governor, and a bunch of his agents to go door-to-door to the poor places of their city, and hand out bags of cash to each commoner there. And another is where he got the entire city drunk because he said that all drinks and food are free."