Heavenly Calendar Year 720, September 12th, Bread Festival.
This was a festival from the distant past, commemorating the creation of bread. Although the long passage of time had diluted its significance for many, there were still plenty of people who celebrated it properly.
Woodrow Norris was one such person.
Physically strong, with a full beard, he walked the streets of Rhine City in a suit of armor. The sunlight shone down, making his red hair appear exceptionally bright.
He was in a very good mood.
Not long ago, he had ordered his soldiers to patrol the area near the North City Gate to see if any restaurants were opening. As it turned out, they had found one called the Sunshine Whisper Restaurant.
If no restaurant had opened, he would have been unable to properly observe the Bread Festival. Since he couldn’t make bread himself, that would have been his regret for the year.
But now he didn’t have to worry about that. A restaurant had opened, and it wasn’t far from the North City Gate—undoubtedly an excellent choice.
It didn’t take long for Woodrow to reach his destination.
At a quiet crossroads, he could see the Sunshine Whisper Restaurant with its doors open, a sign reading “Open for Business” hanging outside.
A smile on his face, Woodrow entered the restaurant.
Inside the spacious dining area, tables and chairs were neatly arranged, but no other patrons were present. It appeared quite desolate.
“It’s the Bread Festival, yet no one is here.”
Woodrow sighed, but then he caught the scent of bread in the air and nodded with satisfaction.
“Welcome.”
A crisp voice rang out.
A young girl with silver hair and crimson eyes, dressed in a white dress, walked over and asked softly, “What would you like to order, sir?”
“Are you the server at this restaurant?” Woodrow asked, looking at the girl.
“Yes, my name is Lucy Coffey,” the girl replied with a smile.
“Very few shops open in Rhine City these days. This restaurant hasn’t been open before, either. Why did you open it today?” Woodrow was in no rush to order, asking questions instead.
“Because today is the Bread Festival. It’s a day worth commemorating. I think a day like this shouldn’t be missed by our restaurant. Of course, that’s just me, a server, guessing my boss’s thoughts. But the boss was really looking forward to the Bread Festival before.”
Amelia, posing as a server, had already rehearsed many scenarios for her interaction with Woodrow. She handled his questions with ease.
Woodrow suspected nothing and his expression turned pleased.
As someone quite particular about bread, seeing others enjoy the Bread Festival naturally made him very happy.
“Ten servings of your special breads. I want each one to be different,” Woodrow declared with a sweeping gesture.
“No problem. Please wait here a moment, sir.” Amelia retreated into the kitchen.
In the back kitchen, both Eileen and Jenny were present.
Because Amelia was going to be interacting with Woodrow, Eileen was also worried about unforeseen events and was ready to rush out at any moment. But luckily, nothing had happened.
Jenny was nervously making bread. By now, the aromas of various breads were wafting from the oven.
“Prepare ten different types of bread. One serving of each,” Amelia instructed Jenny.
Jenny quickly nodded.
Since she had been baking bread for a while, most of the loaves were ready to be taken out shortly. Amelia brought out the servings one by one and handed them to Woodrow.
Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
The last serving of bread came out of the oven.
When Jenny handed the bread to Amelia, Amelia instructed, “Alright, Jenny, you should get some good sleep now.”
Before Jenny could even react, Eileen appeared behind her. A swift knife-hand strike knocked Jenny unconscious. Eileen then grabbed Jenny’s body and headed straight upstairs to hide her.
Amelia placed a prepared slip of paper under the last serving of cream bread, covering it.
She then waited a moment, and Eileen returned.
“Is she hidden?” Amelia asked.
“I hid Jenny in the wardrobe. She won’t wake up for a while and won’t be able to reveal our information.”
“That’s sufficient.”
Amelia carried the bread out on a tray and placed it on Woodrow’s table.
“This is the last one, sir,” Amelia said with a smile.
Even when simply facing bread, Woodrow maintained a very serious expression as he watched the tray being set down.
Amelia didn’t disturb Woodrow’s meal. After setting it down, she turned and returned to the back kitchen.
“We need to go.”
“Is this enough?”
“It should be enough. The situation with the Iris organization is about to reach its peak. Woodrow won’t have enough time to focus on us.”
As Amelia spoke, she glanced at the Bullet Comments.
Based on some information from the Bullet Comments, combined with her own judgment, her plan was nearly complete. But she wasn’t one hundred percent certain of its ultimate success. She only hoped nothing unexpected would happen.
Amelia and Eileen then left directly through the restaurant’s back door.
==========
At the Iris organization’s base, Amelia and Eileen met the rest of the members.
Beth, Lester, Charles, Brandon!
They had all gathered and were discussing the various events of the previous night.
Seeing Amelia and Eileen arrive, Beth said with a smile, “It looks like the area you two were responsible for went well. There’s been quite a bit of chaos there. I’ll report your contributions to the organization later and get you a reward.”
“It was our duty,” Amelia replied with a smile.
In the eyes of the other Iris members, one of them was a Trainee Apostle and the other a Low-Rank Apostle, so expectations for them weren’t high. Those low expectations were something Eileen, who was actually a Mid-Rank Apostle, could fulfill in a very short time. That was why they had ample time to go to Jenny’s place and make other arrangements.
By now, the other Iris members had also finished arranging their respective areas of responsibility.
“Rhine City is currently in chaos, with the southern part of the city being the most severe. Besides the people we killed, the soldiers of the Three Great Kingdoms are also slaughtering each other. Many have died. Under these circumstances, the commanders of the Three Great Kingdoms in the north city will likely not be able to sit still for long and will go deal with it. Our opportunity has arrived.” Beth’s eyes were very bright as she spoke.
If they could obtain a Mana Crystal Cannon, it would be profoundly significant for the entire organization.
“So, we just need to go wait near the North City Gate for those three commanders to leave, right?” Lester asked.
“Yes,” Beth nodded, then added, “After I leave Rhine City this time, I won’t be returning anytime soon. What about you, Lester?”
