Kitty Killer Wasn't So Cold

"...Do you have an appointment? Which person in charge are you meeting?"

"No. It was a sudden situation... As for the person in charge, anyone will do. I'm just here to demand an explanation... After all, there was such a huge explosion in the city today, and all of you showed up armed... Don't you have any idea why?"

Faced with the Feline lady's sour-faced questioning, the security guards in chest rigs exchanged baffled looks. One covered the earpiece on his ear and began quietly asking about something, while another brought over a registration book.

"Then, please register here. Also, we prohibit you from bringing weapons inside... Please leave any Firearms Arts or bladed weapons longer than nine centimeters at the checkpoint. We will keep them for you."

Nana obediently drove her car into the checkpoint and obediently registered her identity...

Yes, she was only entering an experimental complex. Why would she need to cut through the walls, or use powers capable of severing space or stopping time...? Wasn't this something she could settle just by talking?

Having completed the registration, Nana strode boldly past at least two shifts' worth of security personnel and entered the checkpoint. But she did not merely intend to swagger in—she also intended to make these security guards work for her.

"Come to think of it, do you have lockers for valuables? My equipment is expensive... You wouldn't want to argue with me when I leave, would you...?"

"We do. May I ask what item it is?"

"A Laterano Gun... A weapon. An essential item for getting around out in the wild..."

She opened the weapon case and let them take a look, then handed over her costly WA2000 after locking it up. She also voluntarily took the silver twin pistols from her shoulder bag. Thus, all the obvious contraband was inspected without arousing any suspicion.

Nana generally did not consider this sort of "storage" to count as losing her equipment. As long as she got inside, wasn't the warehouse behind the checkpoint somewhere she could retrieve her gear from whenever she wished?

There was another benefit to voluntarily handing over equipment: they would assume you had genuinely come here to conduct business. The following body search and inspection of personal effects generally would not involve "liquid detection" or "destructive testing"... Many mediocre sales agents and those below them liked to use petty tricks to disguise dangerous items as something else and smuggle them in, as though they had no idea how to perform a job without those things...

Nana did not have that problem, so she was usually quite relaxed around checkpoints. Just as she had expected, her medical shoulder bag contained nothing but proper medical supplies. After removing a few modular scalpels that could barely be considered harmful, the only item explicitly forbidden from entering was Nana's portable medical Arts medium... It was also her medical practitioner's badge—not a fake, but something Nana had legitimately ordered from ICA.

In a doctor's hands, it was a tool for saving lives. But as a casting medium, it could not escape its identity as a "staff"... Besides releasing medical Arts, properly casting destructive spells was also one of its uses. It was perfectly normal for it to be prohibited from private property.

As for the body search afterward, there was no need to dwell on it. Everyone only needed to know that Nana had successfully fooled the Loken Watertank checkpoint. Aside from serving Nana cheap candy and flavorless ordinary tea, they had even specifically found a female Feline among the security staff to conduct the search. They had put considerable thought into giving her proper courtesy.

"With that, your registration is complete... In addition to these prohibited items and weapons, there are a few things I would like to ask you. A Contingency Contract messenger arrived here not long ago, but when we asked her, she knew nothing about your visit... Can you explain that?"

"It was a sudden decision made because of an unexpected incident... Who knew things would suddenly turn into an explosion in the middle of the city...? Besides, wasn't your company's conduct what made matters worse? I had originally planned to say this to the person in charge of the laboratory, but if you want to hear it, that is fine too... Don't think no one knows about the chain traffic accident this morning..."

Seeing that the black-haired Feline truly looked ready to launch into a lengthy speech, the security guard—who had received some instructions from his superiors—immediately waved his hands to stop her. The confidential matters he had been told to guard were about to become common knowledge among the entire squad.

"Alright, alright! These aren't matters us outer security guards should hear... Nor do we want to know what you intend to argue about with our superiors... Also, since you do not have an appointment, we have arranged for you—or rather, that messenger requested that you meet the person in charge together with her."

"I see. No problem."

Though she said so in an even tone, the black-haired Feline rose naturally enough. Yet compared with that "mask" which seemed perpetually calm, Nana's tail swaying beneath her skirt perhaps better revealed the girl's current state of mind.

The female Feline who had searched Nana earlier was now leading her onward. The smiling girl asked about strange tales from the wilderness, while the black-haired girl could only tell her of sights she had seen during past assignments while rapidly considering how to remedy this unexpected situation.

Nana's original plan had been to deal with the escorts—or rather, surveillance personnel—around her the moment she passed the checkpoint, then begin her infiltration.

Without ICA's support, Nana could only rely on her own skills and proceed one step at a time... The sole piece of good news was that, without combat recorders, none of Nana's direct kills would be entered into the files as evaluation criteria for Number Seventy-Seven.

Under ordinary circumstances, Nana rarely laid hands directly on people who were not targets.

Usually, she merely made them sleep for a while in some secluded corner... At most, if their builds suited her, she might strip off some clothes for a later disguise.

What truly gave Miss Assassin a headache now was that the real messenger wanted to meet her... Though Nana could indeed speak at length with the security lady about the wilderness, Originium, and Catastrophes, her identity as a Contingency Contract medic had ultimately been forged by Miss Agent.

Appropriate disguises and well-chosen words could make other factions hold back because of Contingency Contract's influence, but Contingency Contract was fundamentally a small organization... Nana's knowledge of it remained quite rudimentary. She only barely knew that it was composed of the foremost experts in every field and the most ambitious idealists.

Nana had never encountered an exposure like today's before.

She only knew that the more idealistic a person was, the more likely they were to take their methods to extremes... Would such lofty idealists, traveling the land and laboring for others, tolerate her "offense"?

"This is the administrative building. Look out the window—that brick building is the sanatorium completed not long ago... The testing area is in front of the sanatorium... If you wish to visit later, you may enter through the disinfection passage at the end of the administrative zone."

"...So that project that turned everything nearby upside down is over there?"

"Ahaha... Don't let the researchers hear you say that. They seem to have made some important breakthrough recently, and they've been acting rather full of themselves..."

While chatting, Nana checked the security situation in the "administrative zone" through the transparent glass walls outside the building.

Clearly, just like the heavily armed checkpoint outside, the administrative lobby guarding the "disinfection passage," the second gate to the testing area, required confirmation of both guide and visitor identities even to enter the building.

The Feline lady who seemed so fascinated by the wilderness could only bring people as far as the entrance. Once she confirmed the handover of the "visitor," she waved goodbye. Clearly, outer security personnel lacked clearance to enter further inside.

However, compared to the outer guards who wore only chest rigs and carried light shields, swords, and other weapons, the atmosphere and security strength in the administrative zone had visibly risen by several levels.

Upon entering, the first thing the girl saw was lightly equipped agents patrolling back and forth with Arts longswords hanging at their waists.

In the resting areas with distant benches, vending machines, and corners of the lobby, crossbows and staff-shaped Arts units lay casually within reach. Their technical operators appeared either to be playing cards and resting or adjusting their drone units. Their atmosphere was far livelier than the agents guarding the doors... But anyone who mistook that for slacking off would likely pay dearly.

Those resting corners were all ideal locations for instantly building defensive positions using walls and furniture. If someone launched a forced assault, whether attacking the testing area from outside or breaking outward from within... the crossfire from these positions could eliminate any intruder.

Clearly, Loken Watertank had not merely prepared for infiltration. They had armed the entrances and exits of the testing area in both directions.

Finally, blocking the experimental disinfection corridor and the depths of the lobby were heavily armored operators holding massive two-handed shields. Nana generally only saw people dressed like that while escorting dangerous cargo.

They wore fully enclosed, internally circulated armor, and the thick shields in their hands could withstand a direct hit from Etch Rounds fired by a large firearm.

If Nana encountered such enemies head-on, she would likely have no choice but to force her way through with Arts... Yet against a place that could summon Columbia's regular military for support at any time, a frontal assault happened to be the worst possible option.

The agent who took over escorting her did not give Nana much time to look around. Once the signatures and documents from the earlier handover had been processed, an agent wearing sunglasses—someone whose gaze could not even be seen—coldly approached Nana.

"Doctor, I will take you to the reception room next... The entire administrative zone is currently under military control. If you get attacked for looking around, don't say I didn't warn you..."

Nodding silently to show that she understood, Miss Assassin sighed inwardly. Loken Watertank's defenses were clearly impeccable. While physically sealing off all entry and exit routes, they also guarded every person moving through this area with extreme vigilance. To a certain extent, Loken Williams truly had prevented outside investigation into the testing area.

Nana immediately changed her line of thought. The nature of this operation had shifted from disguised infiltration to preliminary reconnaissance... Every piece of intelligence she could obtain during the day might prove useful after nightfall.

But before beginning anything, Nana first needed to deal with the accident involving her disguise as a Contingency Contract member.

At that moment, Miss Assassin selected a new identity from her list of possible personas... If she were a journalist, then learning of the Bruce family's fate and arriving in disguise to investigate would be perfectly natural, wouldn't it?

And identification... Journalists conducting undercover investigations probably did not carry identification either, right? In any case, excuses did not need to be perfectly logical. They only needed to sound plausible.

Following the agent, who was not particularly watchful himself but would bring enemies down on her from all directions the moment she acted, Nana basically gave up on making a move here and now.

Miss Assassin quickly settled into the role of the "news worker" she had conceived. Then she thought of something... With ICA turning against her, perhaps Contingency Contract's intelligence network would make the best platform for releasing news?

That was right. She possessed exclusive intelligence provided by Miss Agent, along with the testimony of the three children on her side. Once those people from Contingency Contract got involved, never mind whether Loken Watertank's plan could continue smoothly—at the very least, public discussion would immediately explode.

As long as public pressure rose, even with military backing, the Columbian government would have no choice but to respond for the sake of votes. Once military personnel were forced into silence, Miss Agent's organizational faction could exert its influence... In terms of righteousness, righteousness was on her side!

Having seemingly found a way to break the deadlock, Nana's tail rose slightly.

The question afterward was how to stop Loken Williams from panicking and immediately throwing Kate and Cole into the experiment... Or had Williams already taken the lives of that mother and daughter during these few hours?

The moment that thought surfaced, Nana bit her lip and crushed it. Even an assassin would not take someone else's life so easily.

Even putting aside the fact that they were human... Even if they were experimental animals, a special sample with only six family members... Less than a day had passed, and half of them were already gone after only a few hours? Williams, weren't you using them up far too quickly?!

Reminding herself of the purpose that had brought her here, Nana had just been invited into the room and was about to establish her identity first when a sudden, familiar sensation of being struck by a "blackjack" immediately interrupted her professional smile.

Amid the crackle of electricity and black mist suddenly leaking out, Nana's smile froze on her face. Her expression did not change, yet the agents both inside and outside the room could feel the atmosphere around the girl instantly turn gloomy.

"...Are all you Sankta from Laterano this rude?"

"...This truly is unexpected... I merely sensed the arrival of a 'compatriot,' so I activated Empathy according to the Law. My apologies. I did not expect you to be so... unusual."

The elderly woman in a cowboy hat rose in mild surprise and bowed to Nana, whose broken Halo and wings had appeared. Yet even as the old woman realized what had happened... the agents inside and outside the reception room remained utterly confused.

All they saw was the Feline doctor before them suddenly become the rarely seen "Fallen Angel."

"Hey—!"

Nana casually slapped away the agent's hand, which had instinctively reached for her cat ears to see whether they were part of a disguise. Before Nana could explain herself, the elderly Sankta woman in the cowboy hat waved to stop the agents' rude behavior.

"Gentlemen, please be quiet. That was merely an ordinary exchange of feelings between Sankta... She is a special Feline-Sankta hybrid Chimera. Though rare, such cases are not unheard of. This is not a disguise. If you continue making such a fuss, you will only further lower our opinion of Loken Watertank."

With that explanation, the elderly woman's Empathy Arts vanished. Nana smoothed down her cat ears, which had puffed up slightly from the reaction of her Arts, and her dim, broken angelic features returned to transparency.

The old woman handed Nana a business card and gave her a benevolent smile.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, my compatriot. Since you are a local doctor and also a 'colleague' from Contingency Contract, I must introduce the organization I belong to: Rhodes Island Pharmaceutical Company... Could you spare me some time?"

Pursing her lips as she accepted the card, Nana had only one assessment of this brightly smiling old woman.

She definitely was not used to lying... What did she mean by a Feline-Sankta hybrid Chimera?

Sankta should all know that Sankta and other races could not produce Sankta offspring... That was the Law.

But... fine. Just as Miss Assassin could use Witchcraft, Nana was not particularly surprised that she could use the Sankta "Law" as well... Though her Halo was broken, other Sankta could feel Empathy with Nana, this "Fallen Angel"... The situation was simply absurd. Nana herself had no idea what she was.

So there was no point talking about something so uncertain.

Thus, the black cat girl, who appeared to have turned back into a Feline, spread her hands and gestured for the old woman to continue.

PS: Today... I don't really feel like posting Nana's available disguises... A joke stops being funny when it gets used too often.

For today, let's have Rosemary instead.

Speaking of which, the kind person who usually helps find pictures once complained... When she searched for pictures of cats, ones without clothes were easier to find than ones wearing clothes... But I can't post unclothed pictures here... So we've reached a deadlock...

PS2: I unconsciously slowed the pacing while writing this... Ah, whatever. Please give me some votes... It feels like this book's lively days may soon be over.

Rosemary's Embrace: Negotiations Fail, Assault Begins

Rhodes Island Pharmaceutical Company... Nana remembered that name.

Although Columbian companies generally had some sort of business dealings with Nana, her impression of Rhodes Island was probably not because of any "commercial activity"... This company had once appeared on the caution list provided by Miss Agent.

And its warning notes were...

Rhodes Island's actions themselves show no political leanings, but its employees more or less possess sensitive political backgrounds.

Its research projects are mostly related to Oripathy, though they also involve engineering and even physics. On the surface, they only conduct scattered, unsystematic projects with a small number of elites. Compared with first-rate enterprises supported by major institutions, their future prospects are difficult to assess.

In terms of military strength, its operational teams are roughly at the level expected of a normal pharmaceutical company. Their evaluation is average, though their idealistic tendencies are pronounced. However, considering the past achievements of sensitive individuals within the organization, its hidden combat capability is likely stably first-rate or above... But because of its small scale, cautious avoidance is sufficient.

Not only ICA, but even Miss Agent's "organization" had issued such instructions... That already said much about Rhodes Island's political background.

Was it something like a semi-public "place of exile"?

Nana did not know, nor did she care...

Perhaps she should now thank the Sankta race's ability of "Empathy." Though exposing her broken Halo and Light Wings had drastically increased the chance of Number Seventy-Seven's identity being revealed, the mental connection between Angels had greatly reduced the time she needed to spend explaining herself.

The old woman's Halo responded to her. Laterano's miracle... the thing called the Law, commandments, and heavenly principles responded to the black-haired Feline without words.

Though they had never met, their goals were the same... Quite unexpectedly, Nana's identity as a "Contingency Contract medic" could actually continue to be used.

Thus, with a silent mutual understanding, the two women began chatting familiarly about medical equipment and Oripathy treatment while waiting for Loken Williams.

The conversation, filled with professional terminology, quickly caused the watching agents to lose interest. Once the agent assigned to watch the old woman yawned and left on his own, only the person who had brought Nana into the room remained in the conference room.

Nana glanced at the messenger who called herself Outcast, then turned to the agent standing in the corner with his head slightly bowed. She could not tell whether his sunglasses hid sleepy eyes.

"...Waiting itself is not an issue, but we've been sitting here for at least half an hour, and your person in charge still hasn't arrived... Ms. Outcast, did they say which person in charge would be meeting us?"

"They said Loken Williams would come personally... But I've waited here for over an hour, and you've been sitting here for quite some time too... Whether he comes or not, I honestly no longer care. Speaking of which, I'm investigating the illegal experiments. Little Cat, why did you come here?"

"Because of a request from my upstairs neighbor..."

"A request?"

"Yes. She said... Her neighbor, a family I also knew, had an adult male who participated in Loken Watertank's experiment and was declared dead... That in itself was not a problem. But while the deceased was critically ill, his wife and eldest daughter went to Loken Watertank to visit him as well... And they have not returned since.

"On its own, that might not have seemed like a problem either... But this morning, while my upstairs friend was telling me about it, my apartment building was suddenly attacked. The explosion reached my home, and my friend had no choice but to flee with the remaining children... So I came here to ask..."

Using short sentences to steadily intensify her tone, Nana looked at the agent with increasingly unfriendly eyes.

"Is Williams trying to provoke me... to provoke our Contingency Contract?"

Just as Nana had expected, the old woman did not care at all that she was borrowing Contingency Contract's name. She even exchanged information with Nana.

"So, you actually only came to confirm the mother and eldest daughter's condition?"

"Yes. Illegal experiments are already bad enough. If we confirm that illegal detention and abduction have been added to the list... I think we can directly submit a letter of protest to the governor. Or perhaps another opposition party..."

"That would indeed be feasible... It's just..."

Clearly, the old woman had concerns about Nana's plan as well. The "medic" sighed.

"Yes. If we proceed step by step and follow procedure, everything will be too late... So I need to confirm Kate and Cole's situation right now. Otherwise..."

At that point, the agent, who had been too lazy to pay attention to the two women talking to themselves, gave a soft laugh.

"Otherwise what?"

"Otherwise... otherwise... otherwise I'll write all of you down in my little notebook and publish it all..."

Watching Little Cat's face turn red as she pulled a waterproof handwritten notebook from her shoulder bag, took a pencil from the pen holder on it, and viciously wrote something down, the agent struggled to suppress the twitching of his mouth. His remaining professional ethics would not allow him to laugh here... unless he could not hold it in.

Then the agent began slapping his leg and laughing loudly: