On the day of the Harvest Festival, the city was livelier than ever before.
There were colorful festival decorations hanging over the streets, giving the surroundings a more festive vibe.
The people had been decorating their city for the past few days, and Thirteen and his group decided to join the festivities in the afternoon.
They ate food from street stalls, bought souvenirs, and watched a few performances on the streets.
Thirteen allowed his team to enjoy the Harvest Festival, but there was something that he forbade them to do and that was to get drunk.
The operation that they would do later in the evening was very important, and he needed everyone to be sober when they started their operation.
In the eyes of the locals, they were one of the countless tourists who had come from faraway places just to experience their festival.
Because of this, they made sure to treat them with great hospitality and gave them a memorable experience.
Even Vassago and Poca snacked on various delicacies that they had never tasted before.
After thinking long and hard, Poca decided to stay and join Thirteen's group, which significantly enhanced their scouting party's abilities.
During the days leading up to the Harvest Festival, Thirteen and the others memorized the locations where they would attack while everyone in the city was exhausted from partying and drinking.
Drunk people would not be able to move fast enough to extinguish the flames that they would be setting at midnight, which would make this the most memorable Harvest Festival of their lives.
Thirteen was smiling from ear to ear when he noticed that even the City Guards were getting drunk as they let their inhibitions loose for a day so that they could enjoy the festival.
Even the City Lord, Paven, made an appearance at the plaza and gave a speech. Aside from congratulating everyone for a bountiful harvest, he once again mentioned the upcoming war against the Barbarians and raised the importance of winning for the sake of the Sumatran Kingdom.
The seven-year-old listened to the old man's speech while eating the meat skewers that he had bought from one of the stalls near the plaza.
Aside from Parania City, two other cities would suffer a similar fate later that same night.
They were none other than Dunn City, where Anwir was currently located, and Rosenda City, where Amery and his team of Assassins were stationed.
Rosenda City was governed by one of the City Lords from the Conservative Faction, who was an ally of General Stark.
The main reason why Thirteen decided to target this place as well was to ensure that the Radical Faction would not think that they were the only ones who were targeted during the Harvest Festival.
The second reason was that Rosenda City had the third-largest Granary in the Sumatran Kingdom.
Thirteen believed that if the major granaries, including the underground basements where the preserved meat was stored, were compromised, the war preparations of the Radical Faction would come to a screeching halt.
Even if the Radical Faction were to declare that this was the doing of the Barbarians and rally their people to fight without food and weapons, their army wouldn't even have the strength to cross the strait that led to the Barbarian Lands.
They had tried to invade that region in the past, but they were repelled by the very people who didn't shy away from war itself.
The Tigerkins had recognized how powerful the Barbarians were, alongside their allies, the Orcs.
If they were to really attack them based on emotional outbursts, their army would suffer major losses.
It would not even be an exaggeration to say that if they lost, the Barbarians could mount a counterattack, conquering their lands in the process.
When Paven's speech ended, he was met with thunderous applause, proving his popularity with the city's people.
Thirteen clapped alongside the others so that he wouldn't stand out in the crowd.
Tiona wasn't coiled around his neck because the Tigerkins could easily recognize her for what she was.
As an alternative, she coiled around Thirteen's arm and turned herself into steel, forming a black snake armlet on her Master's arm.
"Everyone, get into positions," Thirteen said in a volume that only his teammates could hear. "You all already know what to do. Remember, failure is not an option."
Dixon, Armand, Thane, and Alina all nodded their heads at the same time.
Vassago and Poca, who were perched on top of one of the roofs in the Plaza, watched as their Master's team divided themselves into three groups.
Dixon and Thane would head toward the Granary, while Armand and Alina would head towards the Barracks.
Thirteen, on the other hand, would head toward the City Lord's residence with Tiona, Vassago, and Poca.
It was already dark, but the city was brightly lit with paper lanterns, illuminating the streets.
Thirteen walked confidently towards his destination without worrying about what others would think of him.
He was wearing a festival mask over his face and carried two meat skewers in his hand.
In the eyes of others, he was just a child, enjoying the festival like everyone else. A few even asked him if he was lost, but he just told them that he wasn't and wished them a happy harvest festival.
When he finally arrived near the forest, Thirteen walked the off-
beaten path, away from the eyes of the people.
Tiona reverted to her snake form once more and coiled herself around Thirteen's neck, guiding his steps in the darkness.
Above him, two Pocopocos circled the forest, hooting from time to time, telling him that there was no danger in the surroundings.
They still had a few hours before their operation began, but all of them wanted to position themselves in the best possible locations to ensure that their individual goals had a higher chance of succeeding.
"Tiona, remember this, our goal is to steal not to fight," Thirteen said softly. "If the situation asks for it, escaping is the top priority no matter what. Do you understand?"
Tiona nodded her head before flicking her forked tongue on her Master's right cheek as if assuring him that she understood everything.
The two moons of Solterra illuminated the surroundings, so it wasn't that dark, allowing Thirteen to navigate his way in the forest and arrive at the corner of the residence, where the guards rarely stepped while on patrol.
When he reached his destination, he sat cross-legged behind a tree and controlled his breathing, lowering the speed of his heartbeat.
Soon, he sat like a stone statue, melding with his surroundings.
This was his form of meditation, which allowed him to calm his mind and raise his body's performance to the peak.
He stayed in this position for a few hours until he heard Vassago's hooting, signaling him that it was almost time to start their operation.
Thirteen slowly opened his eyes, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
"It's showtime," Thirteen muttered.
Tiona nodded her head in understanding as she crawled down from her Master's body and slithered toward the wall of the residence in order to climb it.
Vassago also moved to grab the grappling hook in Thirteen's hand and flew above the wall of the residence, securing it in place.
The seven-year-old then nimbly climbed the wall, and laid down over it, making his body as undetectable as possible.
He and Tiona looked toward the East, where the Granary was located.
A few minutes later, something lit up in the distance, which informed Thirteen that their operation had officially begun.
One of the guards, who was slightly drunk and manning the gate of the residence, saw the flames in the east and started shouting.
"Lord Paven! The Granary is burning!" the Guard shouted. "The Granary is burning!"
A moment later, the Old Tigerkin rushed to the gate and looked at the distance with a grim expression on his face.
"All of you, follow me!" Paven roared. "We will extinguish those flames no matter what!"
""Yes, Lord Paven!""
Almost everyone in the residence left to run toward the East, allowing the seven-year-old and the Black Snake to enter the City Lord's residence undetected.
This was going to be a long night, and Thirteen was more than eager to use every second of it to loot the City Lord's Residence while its Master was away.
