9:00 PM.
Moff and the others had been walking for nearly a full day. In the past hour, they still hadn't found a suitable inn.
The sky was completely dark now.
Demacia's streets at night were as lively as ever—but it had nothing to do with the five of them.
Moxi was so sleepy she could barely keep moving. Her feet probably hurt too, and even so, she was still forcing herself onward.
Moff's feet hurt as well, and the three companions weren't doing any better.
Back in the afternoon, they could still laugh and chat, dreaming about the future.
But now, none of them had the strength to speak.
9:30 PM.
Seeing that everyone was about to collapse, Moff told them to rest for a bit.
The kids squatted against a wall. The ground was still damp from the earlier rain, so they didn't dare sit at first.
But they were so exhausted they stopped caring and sat down anyway.
Moxi fell asleep leaning on Moff's shoulder. Her little face was dirty, but she slept peacefully.
The other three companions just let their heads droop, barely holding themselves up.
They hadn't even eaten much for dinner. A bowl of thin "meat" soup with barely any meat and a piece of bread—how could that possibly fill them up?
And after doing physical work all day, they were exhausted, sleepy, and hungry all at once.
"Maybe we should go back to that inn… the one that's three silver a night."
"Yeah. Don't we have enough money?"
"But I'm kinda hungry… I want to eat."
"I'm so tired…"
Leaning against the wall, they spoke weakly, too drained to even raise their voices.
Moff sat there with his head lowered, silent.
So this was the world of adults…
In front of him was a puddle. The light here was decent—when he looked down, he could see his reflection.
Dirty, just like the rest of them.
He stared at the face in the water, at his own childish features.
One of his strengths was that he could face reality.
They'd worked hard all day and earned four silver coins—five people.
If they really wanted to, they could still find somewhere to sleep tonight. But tomorrow they'd have to start all over again.
The way things were now, they could push through one day, maybe two, maybe three.
But what about four days? Five?
Today's experience alone was enough to make him understand one thing:
The adult world was not easy to survive in.
He glanced at his three companions. They were clearly forcing themselves to hold on, and none of them wanted to be the first to admit they missed the church.
Then he looked at Moxi, asleep. She was tiny—only five years old.
Even though it made him feel bitter and unwilling, Moff had to accept the truth:
Right now, he didn't have the power to change his situation.
He gently adjusted Moxi, settling her so she could rest her head on another companion's shoulder.
Then Moff stood up and walked toward a certain direction.
The movement made the other three lift their heads, confused.
"Moff, where are you going?"
"Moff?"
Moff's back vanished around a corner. The three didn't have the strength to chase him, so they lowered their heads again and waited.
They trusted Moff wouldn't abandon them.
Moff walked along the road with his head down, step after step.
"What's wrong? Giving up already? Isn't this the adult world you've been dreaming of?"
A voice sounded.
Moff stopped and looked up. The man standing ahead of him hadn't left—not once. He'd been watching silently the whole time.
Moff bit his lip hard, forcing back the swelling ache in his chest.
He didn't dare step forward, because he knew it—aside from parents, nobody would spoil him anymore.
Luke walked closer, smiling, and ruffled Moff's hair again and again. "You're still so little. Stop trying to be a grown-up all the time."
That single sentence shattered Moff's last line of defense.
He couldn't hold it back anymore. Tears poured out like rain.
He threw himself into Luke's arms and cried loudly.
"I… I don't want to be a burden to everyone…"
"I don't want to be dead weight anymore!"
"I don't want to be thrown away again!"
He was scared—terrified of living through the thing he least wanted to experience… a second time.
If he could earn money, then he wouldn't be a burden anymore. If that was true, then maybe his mother wouldn't have left him back then.
If that was true, then the adults at the church would be happy, right?
He was the leader of the kids, so he had to protect Moxi, protect all of them.
He wanted to earn so much money—so that nobody would ever be abandoned again.
But…
But why did it have to be like this?
This time, Luke simply listened in silence. Only when Moff cried until he had no strength left and finally stopped did Luke ask, "How much money do you think counts as 'a lot'?"
Moff sniffled a few times, thought hard, then said, "Th-thirty gold!"
He'd never seen what thirty gold looked like.
But it had to be a huge amount.
Otherwise, his parents wouldn't have fought so violently over it.
Thirty gold could change so many things.
Luke shot him a look. "You're my first personal guard, and you've got this little ambition?"
With his hands behind his back, Luke spoke like it was nothing. "I can get you to earn a thousand gold. Believe it or not."
Moff asked blankly, "How much is a thousand gold?"
It was far beyond anything he could imagine.
Luke thought for a moment, then gave him a simple comparison. "You know that candy you like? If you eat five a day, you could eat it for a hundred years."
"A hundred years…"
Moff's mouth fell open. He only knew that one year already felt like forever.
So a hundred years had to be forever and ever.
And a thousand gold had to be an unbelievable amount.
His confidence wavered. "Can I really earn that much?"
Luke didn't answer directly. He asked, "Do you trust me?"
Moff didn't hesitate. "I do!"
"Then that's all you need." Luke patted his head. "Go call your friends over. Today's 'life experience' ends here."
Moff gave a small "Oh," then turned and ran.
Not long after, he brought the other kids over.
And Luke had already prepared a carriage.
On the carriage…
Watching the five children fall asleep almost immediately after lying down, Lux sighed and gently stroked Moxi's hair, her face full of heartache.
This was the world—unfair by nature.
And she could tell this wasn't just childish stubbornness.
They simply didn't want to cause trouble for the adults anymore.
Today had been a journey of their tiny pride.
"You said you had a way," Lux asked curiously, looking at Luke. "What is it?"
He'd said he could help Moff earn money, and even she could tell Luke hadn't been joking.
Luke smiled. "Don't ask so urgently. I don't even know if it'll work."
Lux frowned. "Then how could you promise so confidently?"
"Worst case, I just pay the difference myself," Luke said with a shrug. "Consider it charity."
A thousand gold was a fortune to most people. To him, it was a drop in the bucket.
Even if his idea failed, he could just fill the gap with his own money.
This wasn't a sudden impulse. Luke had had a vague idea for a while—today was simply when it finally clicked into place.
And the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to fit.
What had driven Moff to leave the church?
A big part of it was pride.
Maybe Luke's earlier words had stuck deeply in Moff's mind.
He didn't want to be a burden anymore. He didn't want to only receive without giving back, so he wanted to prove himself by earning money.
So in that case—why not think of a way for them to do labor and earn money at the same time?
That shouldn't count as child labor, right?
He'd even found the perfect delivery crew in advance.
Aren't the church kids the ideal choice for delivering papers? Delivering papers wasn't heavy work, and it perfectly matched what Moff wanted—work, then earn money.
And the base of operations was already there too.
There were three Illuminator churches in the capital, conveniently spread across the three districts.
Using them as bases, they could cover the entire capital.
The carriage stopped at the Illuminator Church.
Hearing the commotion outside, several Illuminators in white robes came out. Kahina and Fiora were with them as well.
Once they'd gotten word in the afternoon, they hadn't been quite as panicked anymore.
But they were still worried about the kids.
After Luke woke the five children and helped them down from the carriage, the kids saw the Illuminators who'd come to receive them.
Their eyes darted away.
Moff was the first to step forward. Guilty, he said, "I'm sorry. We shouldn't have left without permission."
With him leading, the other kids apologized too.
This time, every word came from the heart—they'd just been too embarrassed before.
The Illuminators, understanding why the children had run away, couldn't bear to scold them. If anything, they felt even more heartbroken.
The kids had no parents, so they had no choice but to learn how to be "sensible" far too early.
They brought Moff and the others inside, got them washed up, filled their stomachs, and only then arranged for them to sleep properly.
Later, in the church's back courtyard…
Kahina looked at Luke's profile. Under the moonlight, his sharply defined face looked especially handsome.
After staring a few times, she suddenly remembered why she'd wanted Luke here and said seriously, "Your Highness, thank you for this."
She knew Luke had followed from the very beginning to help untie the knot in Moff's heart.
He'd put real effort into it.
"It's fine," Luke said with a smile. "I had nothing better to do anyway."
He turned and glanced at the girl beside him. Her face showed the fatigue of a long day. She truly was kind-hearted—she'd been worrying and blaming herself over those five children for a long time.
When Kahina noticed Luke looking over, their eyes met for a moment, and she quickly looked away.
She sat quietly on the bench, the moonlight falling across her pretty face.
"Oh, right." Luke seemed to remember something. He reached into his clothes, felt around, then pulled out a small box and handed it to her. "This is for you."
Kahina took it, puzzled. "What is it?"
As she opened the box, she immediately saw a beautiful necklace resting inside.
Her heart jumped before she could stop it.
"This… is for me?" Kahina couldn't help confirming.
"Of course. It's not expensive—just a little gesture." Luke nodded. "It suits you. I was planning to give it to you this afternoon."
"It's really pretty."
Kahina's ears turned red without her noticing, heat rising to her cheeks as her heart sped up.
She was the daughter of the richest house—what precious necklaces hadn't she seen?
She'd even worn necklaces worth a fortune. These days, there were almost none that could truly make her feel anything.
And yet, for some reason, staring at this one—so clearly not even worth a hundred gold—her heart wouldn't stop racing.
She was about to say something else when she heard approaching footsteps.
Startled, Kahina quickly put the box away.
"There you are!"
Lux came trotting over, full from dinner and in a good mood.
Fiora followed behind her.
Both of them had eaten dinner at the church since they hadn't gone home. The food was simple, but they didn't complain.
Luke was different. He was picky, so he barely ate.
He planned to reward himself with a late-night snack after going back.
Seeing everyone was here, Luke said, "Perfect. Since you're all here, I've got an idea. Interested in hearing it?"
At that, Fiora sat down with a look of genuine interest.
Lux, remembering the "way" Luke mentioned on the carriage, nodded eagerly as well.
Kahina asked, "What idea?"
"An idea that might be able to solve the church's financial crisis," Luke replied.
Kahina nodded and fell silent, waiting for him to continue.
Luke cleared his throat and asked, "What do you think about… newspapers?"
"Newspapers?"
The three of them looked at one another, each seeing confusion in the others' eyes.
Luke continued, explaining, "Something that prints many of Demacia's events and stories onto one sheet of paper, then releases it—so the whole capital, even all of Demacia, can see it."
After observing the capital for so long, Luke had realized Demacia was missing something crucial:
The spread of information.
It wasn't that there was none—it was just backward.
In the modern world, people used phones. Tap a screen and you got news instantly.
In a medieval era without phones, what did information spread rely on?
A sheet of paper with a few important things written on it.
Usually, something happened and it spread from one person to ten, ten to a hundred—but the efficiency could only be described as slow.
A newspaper was different. It recorded all kinds of things, and it spread far faster.
What Luke saw was a market that hadn't been developed at all.
And he'd even found the delivery team in advance.
The church kids were perfect for delivering newspapers. It wasn't harsh work, and it could satisfy Moff's desire to contribute labor and earn money.
And as for the base, it was already there—three churches, three districts, one network that could cover the entire capital.
"That's the gist of it." Luke finished his explanation. "Any questions?"
The three of them found it easy enough to understand.
Hearing Luke describe it, it really did sound workable.
After all, humans were social creatures. Gossip was a universal hobby.
If things were truly as Luke said—waking up each day and instantly learning what was happening across the capital—it would absolutely satisfy people's curiosity.
And being able to know what's going on without leaving home wasn't bad at all.
As for problems… there didn't seem to be many.
Because Luke had already laid out what needed to be laid out.
Seeing the three of them not speaking, Luke said, "I've explained all this—could you at least react a little?"
Fiora asked, "What kind of reaction do you want?"
Luke replied, "Like being so amazed you immediately pull out your wallets and offer them to me, crying and begging me to take you under my wing."
All three girls went silent, faces full of disbelief.
"Don't dream about that kind of reaction," Fiora said with a laugh. "But I am interested."
Lux and Kahina nodded too.
It wasn't that the idea was some earth-shattering miracle. The reason they understood it so quickly was because they'd seen similar structures before.
A massive empire couldn't survive with no information network at all.
Luke's proposal was simply fresher—more novel, with more moving parts.
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