Kitty Killer Isn't That Cold

In theory, Nana could take the lives of at least four hundred people with this forty-kilogram weapon... but if it wasn't for fulfilling a contract, then the lives and souls lost by the dead would have no meaning.

Clearly, this kind of "philosophy" didn't seem like something an amnesiac like Nana could have come up with.

The person who had instilled it in Nana was, aside from her agent, the only family she had left.

And if ICA couldn't be trusted, then the person Nana could rely on had to be here.

A wooden Laterano "church" that, in pursuit of asceticism, would always relocate once the surrounding streets began to flourish—something that could, in a sense, be considered the boundary between the city and its outskirts.

"We're here. It should be safe for now."

After several hours of driving, the assassin, who had remained silent the whole way, finally said something that put the children at ease.

As the small white family car—which looked perfectly suited to its driver's temperament even if someone saw it—pulled over by the roadside, Nana, still dressed as a medic, got out and exchanged a glance with a nun who was probably slacking off at the entrance... then the latter immediately ran into the church.

She was a stranger, but that didn't matter... that person had always been surrounded by strangers wherever she went. Back then, that person had picked Nana up like a stray kitten or puppy by the roadside and even had her serve as a nun for several months.

Getting out of the car... Nana turned back to check on Colt. He still wore a sour expression, but after hearing from his younger siblings about how she had been "kidnapped," he no longer insisted on going off to "die." Like Matilda and Kevin, his white hair had also been dyed black by Nana.

"The priest here is trustworthy. You can stay with him for now."

"Even if you say that..."

"...Let's go inside first."

Nana didn't force Colt to trust anyone. In fact, she rather liked his habit of staying alert at all times.

It was just that if he thought being vigilant meant opposing everyone he "didn't trust," then his life was probably going to be difficult.

With that in mind, Nana took Matilda's hand. The big cat and little cats held hands in a line... while Colt, still looking unhappy, dragged their luggage behind them—luggage that he himself had once been part of.

The moment they entered, the children were astonished by the church's simplicity. Even the gaps between the wooden wall panels were merely packed with dirt and moss, while the floor was nothing more than planks laid over bare earth. Apart from tables and chairs, the only decoration in the whole building that could be called devotional was a wooden cross atop the lectern... and Nana solemnly bowed deeply to the Laterano man before her, who had a Halo above his head and Light Wings behind his back.

"It has been a long time, Father."

"Indeed, it has been a long time... Hmm, I can't hear the noise in your heart now. It seems you haven't come to seek answers from me."

Ignoring the fact that he had used Originium Arts on her the moment they met, just as he had in the past—after all, he used to say it was customary among Laterano—Nana had never been to Laterano and couldn't verify that, so she went straight to the point.

"I have come to ask for your help. You are the person I trust most. While I leave to confirm the state of their families, I hope you can look after... and protect them... hide the children so those demons do not find them."

Nana's extremely high opinion of the man before her left the little ones behind her stunned, but Colt was still the one who worriedly interrupted.

"Is this uncle really strong? Can he help us?"

"...He only needs to let you stay here and deal with the police. What does it matter whether he's strong or not?"

Seeing Nana's puzzled expression, the three little cats were the ones left open-mouthed in shock. In just a few short hours, they had experienced special police kicking down their door, a firefight, explosions, a high-speed car chase, and kidnapping... They had a clear understanding that the people at the very top of this city were trying to cause them trouble.

They had originally thought that someone Nana trusted would be like the leader of an underground organization from an animated show, or a warrior with tremendous power... This uncle in a plain, monochrome robe with a Halo over his head really didn't look like that sort of person.

After carefully finding a tone that wouldn't hurt anyone, Colt gently reminded Nana, who was carrying a weapon case and a shoulder bag.

"Isn't it bad to drag an ordinary person into this...?"

"An ordinary person? Ordinary person... First of all, you three little brats are the ordinary people here... Besides, whether the priest has power has nothing to do with why I brought you here..."

"And compared to power, trust is much harder to obtain."

With a soft laugh, the Laterano priest summarized what Nana wanted to say, then knelt on one knee to bring his gaze level with the children's.

"If Nana brought you here, then you must have gone through something very difficult... As an ascetic, I do not possess superhuman skills like Nana's. But I will help you. I will help everyone who needs help."

"You make it sound easy. How are you going to help us? We're going up against Loken Watertank..."

"Brother..."

Kevin failed to stop his impulsive brother, but even after hearing something he shouldn't have heard, the priest's expression remained peaceful and serene.

The man merely shook his head, then gestured for the unfamiliar nun, who had been watching from the side the entire time, to leave and prepare whatever the children might need.

"That sort of target clearly isn't something children can handle. I imagine Nana will be the one taking action... She needs someone she trusts to care for the innocent, so I will answer that trust. It is that simple."

As he spoke, he extended a hand toward the children and made his promise.

"Though I have neither power nor authority, protecting the good is a mission granted by the Lord. I believe those Nana is willing to help cannot be evildoers... so I will defend you with my life. That is my promise."

"...Um, Father, maybe don't keep saying things like 'my life' so casually... It's terrifying. Children, come over. Hurry and put these uniforms on."

The unfamiliar nun, who had appeared again, interrupted the conversation the children didn't know how to answer. Only after Nana nodded in confirmation did they accept the plain robes from the nun.

Watching the children begin studying where to thread their cat ears through the hood and where to put their tails, the priest smiled and explained to Nana.

"The cloth was donated by believers in the surrounding area... People wear clothes like these every day when they come to pray or participate in community events, and there are quite a few minors around their age among them. I will truthfully explain to the people nearby that these three children came here to escape disaster... Please don't worry. In the undeveloped areas nearby, people come to ask the church for help like this every few days."

"...Just as you ended your afternoon lesson early to cover my escape from my pursuers back then, I have never underestimated disguises that can blend into a crowd since then... But their situation is far more serious than mine was. The city itself is looking for them. If possible, it would be best not to let adults see them..."

At Nana's reminder, the priest, who had remained unflappable until now, gave the girl an unexpectedly serious look.

"...So... like those children, you too have fallen into a vortex of suspicion?"

"No, it's just... Father, I seem to be doing something greedy."

After watching the children put on the church uniforms, Nana nodded toward Matilda, who was waving at her from afar, and spoke in a low voice.

"I seem dissatisfied with the life I have, which could be called happy. Under the excuse of work, I want to pursue a beauty that seems to exist only in fairy tales. I don't know whether I will regret my choice..."

"...Though I don't know the details, since you brought them to me, I imagine their families have already fallen apart before your own happiness could be destroyed..."

She shook her head, then nodded. The black-haired Feline flicked her tail irritably... Fortunately, her medic's coat, designed to protect against Originium particles, was rather stiff. Nana's cat tail could only swish restlessly beneath her skirt instead of making the childish mistake of flipping it up.

"I am about to confirm that."

"Of course, of course. Unlike the lost girl you once were, you are now striving to seek salvation for strangers... Just as I told you back then, you have already become a qualified nun..."

At that, the priest's gaze flicked toward the space above the girl's twitching cat ears.

"So, your return here means you intend to use that dangerous Originium Arts again?"

"...I haven't decided yet..."

Though she said that, the way she looked away made the priest's smile unexpectedly brighter.

"Don't worry. I told you before that the only ones likely to give you trouble would be the Notarial Hall... Any Sankta with proper empathy would not make things difficult for you. After all, you are the victim, even if you no longer remember it... As long as you continue pursuing goodness and virtue, you will receive the salvation that belongs to you... Or rather, you are already saving others... You think you have become greedier than before, but in my eyes, you are walking your own path."

As he spoke, the priest waved to the nun leading the children into an inner room, then led Nana toward another room.

He opened a creaking wooden door and lifted the boards covering a cellar... The priest picked up an oil lamp from a crate beside it and descended underground step by step. Nana followed with practiced ease... When she had first come to this city, exhausted in body and soul, she had followed the priest in exactly the same way.

Though it was an extremely poor monastery that relocated often, as a monastery, possessing weapons was naturally indispensable.

Even in the city, this church had an essential Laterano firearms maintenance room... In this entirely wooden church, only the area holding firearms, ammunition, and Originium rounds seemed to have been built with expensive carbon materials. Even less dust had gathered there than outside.

Most importantly, the layout of this area had never changed after any relocation... That allowed Nana to quickly adapt to the surroundings. As she had five years ago, she knelt—or rather, sat formally—before a Laterano religious tapestry.

The priest also took a "flail" down from the wall. Of course, it only looked like one; in reality, it was a censer... The Sankta had once used it in religious rites. Now, it had been taken out to "purify" and "Bless" Nana and her weapons.

As the recorder began formally playing scripture, the floor beneath Nana and the weapons she had laid out began to glow faintly... as though the girl were kneeling atop an enormous illuminated icon.

The priest finally lit the incense. Nana had removed all her equipment and arranged it neatly before herself. As the girl began to pray, a shattered Halo and wings wreathed in black light flickered in and out of sight around the Feline girl.

"Hmm... You finally bought a gun of your own? Yes, using a fixed casting unit is good for you... Teekaz Witchcraft places too great a burden on a Feline body. Even if the life you lost has given you the Law of the Sankta, it will not strengthen your physique in the slightest... After all, you are already considerably stronger than an ordinary Sankta."

As the priest spoke, he carried the censer slowly past her. White smoke rose, followed closely by black mist...

"...Wailing, suffering... Teekaz spells use suffering as their medium. They force you to crave blood and make you enjoy death... And I do not even know what you paid just to gain the right to wield it... Losing your memories may not have been a bad thing. As long as you persist in pursuing kindness and beauty, it may not be impossible to make death your strength..."

"...I don't care about that past... I don't think I ever cared about the future either."

"Then seize the present, Sister. Though your origins differ, you possess a Halo and wings as well... Even if the desires of this world have shattered our Law and reduced it to blackness, you still have the strength to pursue light."

The chain-linked censer swung several times over the girl's head. Amid the curling smoke, the shattered Halo of black light flickered a few times... Yet it did not shine, clearly showing that she still could not sense the power of the Law like a proper Sankta.

But that was a matter of physique, not the girl's will. The priest then carried the censer closer to Nana's precious weapon case.

Amid the curling smoke, the case's clasp clicked softly... The mist moved like nimble fingers, opening the compartment within. A large gun with an elegant wooden frame appeared in the incense-filled air.

"WA2000... No one knows why the Law gave it this name, but the Law records it so, and so we call it that... But a large gun, personnel-search radar, and an entire set of combat drones... Even though I already knew you liked collecting contraband, seeing it in person still makes me worry about the blood pressure of the Notarial Hall's executors..."

"...Shouldn't you be more worried about their blood sugar than their blood pressure?"

As the shattered Halo and wings disappeared, the priest let out a helpless, awkward laugh for the first time at the girl's retort.

Everyone knew that Laterano people loved sweets... What Angel got older without having some blood sugar problems?

And so, as the recorded Bible fell silent, Nana packed away her weapons once again... fastening her precious equipment case shut and lifting it up.

"Thank you. I feel much better."

"I only made you feel a little better... The Law and Witchcraft are nearly opposite powers. You cannot fuse them merely by stuffing Teekaz and Sankta components into the same body... But saying that is useless to you. And since you remain safe and free, those villains who sought to lay hands on the Elders' power must at least be too occupied to concern themselves with you."

After saying that, the priest looked Nana up and down in her medic's attire, then frowned slightly.

"Come to think of it, where is your cross?"

"...Uh... At home... Home... got blown up."

She didn't dare say that she had blown it up herself... The atmosphere fell silent. A few seconds later, the priest sighed.

"...Come with me."

With that, the two of them stepped over the creaking floorboards and returned to the surface.

In truth, for the children's safety, Nana should have left the church as quickly as possible and headed to the Loken Watertank experimental zone to prepare for infiltration... But since it had been a long time since she had seen the priest, the girl patiently waited for him to return.

During that time, Nana endured Matilda, who had crawled over after catching her scent, repeatedly sniffing at her. Several minutes passed before the priest returned with a sigh, carrying an armband bearing the emblem of the Laterano Radiant Church.

The priest carefully tied it beneath the medical identification armband on the girl's medic's coat.

Wearing two armbands was somewhat strange, but if one thought of a standard-bearer in the wilderness, it was perfectly normal to hang several flags from a single pole to convey information. With that in mind, Nana said nothing.

"Even if you are surrounded by doubt, do not abandon your faith... No matter what others say, kindness itself must never be denied... Leave the children to me. Sister, go and do what you believe you must."

PS: Now, here is one of Nana's available disguises.

You think it's Jessica, but it's actually Nana!

PS2: So short hair means Seventy-Seven?!

PS3:... Indeed... she could be...

PS4: But from a character-setting perspective, Seventy-Seven isn't Rosemary's—Matilda's—stalker... Their relationship might be reversed in the future... I would rather write scenes where Rosemary acts spoiled with Nana...

PS5:... And speaking of the plot... The next part might... uh... Anyway, it will still be free. If you like it, please support it. If not, just close it.

Rosemary's Embrace: Tight Security

Speaking of Laytonson's Loken Water Tank Laboratory, the first thing that came to mind was undoubtedly the high-tech park in the newly developed district.

Starting from Whitewood Church, one could take the ring road for twenty kilometers, pass through the city government's toll station, enter the newly built and level highway, and after another five kilometers, see the end of the road.

At first glance, this Originium Engine maintenance zone with charging facilities seemed no different from an ordinary government rest stop with a red roof... but from the moment a vehicle's tires crossed the speed bump, the ground beneath them no longer belonged to the state.

This place belonged to Loken Watertank, and at the end of the rest-stop road stood the entrance to the laboratory's technical park.

Citizens of Columbia could place any legal weapon on land they owned... including, but not limited to, Originium explosives, large Laterano automatic guns, and even standard six-inch cannons from Victorian Landships... all of them were entirely legal.

From this point onward, the Loken Water Tank Laboratory security team could, under the Personal Fortress Act, shoot dead any "desperado" who came looking for trouble.

And in Columbia, whether a company owned such privatized land was essentially the benchmark for determining whether it had reached the "second-rate" tier...

For a city within a city like this—with a vast, flat "buffer zone" around its perimeter; walls, watchtowers, heavy fortified guard posts, and even small city-defense cannons around key facilities; Colombian Military protection; and Armored Huntsmen arriving at one's doorstep within minutes after an alarm was raised—how to enter and accomplish one's objective was also the key test of whether an "operator" could reach the second-rate tier.

Nana's circle of assassins... or rather, mercenaries by nature, had many stories they loved to tell about such "tests."

For example, there were rumors of a person with immense physical strength who had ignored warnings about private land and directly cut through the city walls. Whatever stood in front of them would be cleaved in two by sweeping strikes.

It was said that even if a mobile city stood in that person's way, they would cut through the mobile city along with it. A true brute.

Then there were those with mysterious spells. Legend said that at the end of their secret Witchcraft, life, space, and even the passage of time could dance in their palms... When mercenaries heard of such people, they generally assumed it referred to the master of Leithanien's Tower. For ordinary people with limited sources of information, that was the pinnacle of spellcraft.

The former was easier to explain. Through her agent's introductions, Nana knew that quite a few absurd species and special individuals could achieve similar feats. But the latter, Nana believed, basically referred specifically to the Sarkaz... or rather, the Royal Court Witchcraft of the Teekaz.

As a Chimera incapable of arising naturally, Nana clearly possessed the power to wield Teekaz Witchcraft. But Nana herself was simply too weak. Even with spell enhancement, a Feline's physical abilities could at most allow Nana to jump from the side of a mobile city without breaking her legs.

Though Nana herself didn't consider that remarkable, it already surpassed the average level of the Elders and was more than a step above ordinary Sankta and Sarkaz.

But even so, even strengthened to the limit, Nana's body could not support powers such as Severing or stopping time... Users of Royal Court Witchcraft were genuine monsters. Nana had long given up on comparing herself to them.

And if she forcibly used such power, she would probably explode into Nana paste before killing the enemy... Fortunately, if her objective was only to enter private property, Miss Assassin would never need such terrifying Witchcraft in her life.

"Hello..."

"Hello~ Welcome to Loken Watertank Experimental Park. Please present your identification..."

"I am a medic from Contingency Contract. My identification is here... I need to speak with the person in charge of Loken Watertank Experimental Park."