Chapter 213

"... Blessing... you mean the 'Blessing' ceremony when the Guardian Gun are issued? Indeed, aside from incense burners and other consumables that can be brought in, the only place with the Holy Icon is here... How many Firearms Arts require the ceremony in total?"

"Four."

"Understood. Sister Mary's afternoon prayers will be over soon. I will prepare the ceremony and supplies for you immediately."

"This... I can actually do it myself..."

Whether Federico was emphasizing his tone or simply making eye contact was a habit, being suddenly stared at by a tall man over 1.7 meters was quite startling for Nana.

Federico himself had no malicious intent.

"Helping the citizens of Laterano is the job of the Executor, and the Blessing ceremony is a double Blessing for both the weapon and the user... No member of the Laterano Church can stand by and watch a user touch a newly Blessing weapon with an unblessed hand. "Blessing

"I'm now a cooperating operator with Rhodes Island. Although I don't know why you're requesting this Blessing at this time, I presume it's for preparing for a mission with Rhodes Island... Helping you is my job now, so please don't interfere with official business."

Watching the other person turn away and begin preparing for the ceremony after finishing speaking, Medic felt it was difficult to judge Federico... His words showed no consideration for others, and within Sankta's Empathy, it was as if this person didn't even exist.

His actions were undoubtedly well-intentioned... but the execution of them seemed very mechanical... as if the other party themselves had no feelings.

That's very strange.

"No... no, Medic!"

"Mary, I'm sorry I've been so busy lately. How have you been?"

"Um!"

Running over, the little sister in orange, Feline, was so excited to see Nana that she even let her ears twitch rather unladylike under her headscarf... She didn't seem to realize it, and Medic decided to pretend she didn't see it.

"I'm sorry, I had something to discuss with you..."

"It's Blessing ceremony, right? No problem. Although I didn't have the authority to issue Guardian Gun in Laterano before, I've done similar ceremonies in Victoria many times... Medic, you've always been helping me in the past. This time it's finally my turn to help, so I'll do it."

Nana's smile was tinged with helplessness as the orange cat happily held her hand. Meanwhile, the little black cat from Rhodes Island suddenly tilted its ears in confusion.

"However, does Victoria often request Blessing ceremonies?"

"Ah... well, on the one hand, many nobles who collect and Guardian Gun from various channels may donate them. In order to ensure the purity of the Firearms Arts, we will perform an additional Blessing on them before handing them over to the Executor who come to collect them."

"Furthermore, due to discrimination against the Sarkaz, many people deliberately use this as an excuse to make donations and then solicit Blessing. Now it seems they might be using this as a pretext for bribery... Unfortunately, I didn't realize it and was even thrown into Ursus for refusing the increased stipend..."

Seeing Mary's downcast mood, Medic turned and took her hand. Mary realized what he meant and gave him a gentle smile.

"But it's alright. I now have the Executor's Certificate and am currently managing this small monastery as the head of the Rhodes Island Chapel... Perfect, the Rhodes Island lounge is too luxurious for me; the nuns can sleep on hard wooden beds at most."

Before Medic, a fellow nun whose daily life was nothing short of extravagant, could react, Federico... or rather, Rhodes Island's codename "The Executor," had already completed the arrangements for the ceremony:

"I've already handed over Sister Mary's case to the Inquisition via the Intercity Network. The corruption within the Victoria Church seems to be more severe than I imagined... Medic, rest assured, the Executor won't let this go unpunished..."

As he spoke, the Executor handed the incense burner to Mary:

"In addition, I have arranged the ceremony you requested, Sister Mary, you will perform it."

"Yes... yes!"

Seeing Mary looking at him with sparkling eyes, Medic smiled slightly.

"Okay, please."

PS: Waaaaaaah!

PSS: The next chapter is about heading to Ursus. I've thought about it and decided not to cause any trouble on the way. Let's fast forward six months to the summer in Ursus.

6th Patriot's Gun: 233 Arrived in Ursus

After Blessing ceremony that felt very familiar, and armed with the Guardian Gun given to her by Father Jonathan, Nana once again began her journey to save lives.

Before leaving, the assassin received a lot of help.

Seemingly sensing something from Nana's empty gun barrel, before setting off, Mary and the Executor found the Exploration Vehicle and gave Nana a box of Magnum Etch Rounds marked with Laterano.

Just as Father Jonathan helped Nana without hesitation in the past, they, now standing beside Nana as fellow priests, have made the same choice as the priests back then.

'May the original owner light your way.'

Nana responded to them in the same way.

Even as Rhodes Island loomed far behind, Nana continued waving frantically... And this time, in a chapel inside a Landship, they were unlikely to be attacked without warning.

If we were to say what Nana remembers most about her departure, aside from the help she received from the church, besides FrostNova who came to see her off and seemed inexplicably angry, it would be W, who was being dragged along by Ace and had a bright smile on her face despite being full of anger.

Was it because of ACE and the others' conversation that it was exposed? Just like how Su Sulo was constantly being accompanied by Touch for the past few days, W's appearance of giving an Elite Operator a headache clearly shows that she also has strong opinions about whether or not to go and rescue the Doctor.

Of course, Medic doesn't know how Kal'tsit communicated with W, and as long as W doesn't blow up Rhodes Island, Medic doesn't really care... Would W do such a thing?

Clearly, as a former mercenary from the Babel, W knows exactly what his attitude towards Rhodes Island should be.

'Hey Medic, remember to tell that person she's still a suspect... I'm going to confront her face to face, don't let her die on the way!'

Medic didn't know if W was aware of the complex feelings she had for the Doctor in her tone, but it seemed that no matter what, even if this static beauty was thrown into the Infected Incinerator and her mouth remained stubborn, nothing would change.

As for the other operators, they all saw each other off in a normal way, so we'll skip that here... It's worth mentioning that Amiya's friends also came to see her off.

Popukar, Aili, Xiya, and Fang, Kroos, and Beagle and Cardigan's friends who often attend Rhodes Island's field operator training courses with the children... perhaps also adding Red, who shouldn't be showing her face in public...

In short, Amiya's classmates, Medic's patients and juniors, except for FrostNova who was exceptionally allowed to participate in the send-off event because of Patriot, were all part of what was supposed to be a secret special operations team. However, for some reason, it seemed like everyone knew about it when they actually set off.

Well, after all, those connected to Medic are not ordinary people, and those who saw Nana off all had their own authority and connections.

While the way things turned out was unexpected, it was also understandable.

Aside from the minor incident before departure, Nana and her Human Resources Special Operations Team, thanks to their professional skills, the superior performance of their Exploration Vehicle, the weather forecasts for the Contingency Contract, and the ICA's Catastrophes- free flight routes, successfully completed their six-month journey without any major incidents.

This route was only passable by Landship due to the terrain; it was also traversed by the Exploration Vehicle's superior resupply capabilities, which were unmatched by ordinary civilian vehicles. In reality, by the time they reached Chernobog, the Exploration Vehicle had already depleted most of its supplies, making it virtually impossible to return to Rhodes Island via the same route.

But there was still a way out: Lungmen... Under Weedy's tuning, the Exploration Vehicle's reactor still retained enough Originium Steam to barely reach Lungmen... As for the plan to procure Originium Prime to fill the reactor in Chernobog, although Nana wrote it down in her memo, no one thought it could succeed.

If it were the Ursus of the past decade, which earned foreign exchange by exporting cheap Originium, then giving them more money might have helped them find poor, mining-heavy units, from whom they could have obtained some purified Originium or similar materials.

Although burning these impurities in the Exploration Vehicle's reactor is not very friendly to Weedy, if something doesn't exist, it doesn't exist. Some civilian vehicles in Ursus even run on firewood, and some even pull themselves because they don't want to waste fuel. In short, as long as it can run, that's fine.

But these things are still too far off for Nana and the others. Right now, they should be thinking about how to get close to the Doctor's Sarcophagus... or, to put it a step further, how to get through the defenses of the Old Nobility troops stationed outside and enter Chernobog.

As expected, the agreement reached with the Emperor a year ago was nothing but a piece of paper in the eyes of these de facto rebels. The Chernobog Rhodes Island office, which was originally scheduled to be completed last September, was also forced to be indefinitely delayed due to interference from the Old Nobility Faction's army.

This time, Medic prepared three layers of cover for these people. The outermost layer was Folinic's visit to her ancestors' graves. Although Folinic herself had an almost allergic reaction to the word Ursus and a visible extreme aversion to it, she was indeed a genuine Ursus person... Place of origin and identity cannot be changed.

The next step was to cultivate good relations with the Old Nobility Faction in Chernobog in order to expand Rhodes Island's network of connections across the land. Amiya's accompaniment was ostensibly to provide cover for this objective.

And when the two masks (seven neighboring V4VI chess enterprise) fail to have an effect, there is still the last... Columbia flag.

Although the details are somewhat far-fetched, Medic's initial establishment of the smuggling route for the Infected from northeastern Ursus to Columbia did indeed give Columbia's pioneering efforts a significant boost.

As the Ursus Civil War intensifies, even though Chernobog is located at the very edge of the world, hundreds of thousands of miles away from Columbia, if it's for the sake of certain special the Infected personnel and to spread Rhodes Island's influence... Medic can come up with any absurd reason as long as it can convince those suspicious Ursus officials of their own justification.

Medic has already explained his three-step plan to everyone along the way... The main role is played by Medic and Amiya. No one is forcing Folinic to force herself, after all, given her childhood experiences in Ursus, if she could still greet Ursus with a smile, it would probably arouse suspicion.

Therefore, Folinic only needs to play herself.

Will these plans work? Zero.

Medic didn't know... What Medic did know was that if the Ursus Nobility army was too hostile to Rhodes Island, and even if Rhodes Island could provide considerable stability for its the Infected, it still wanted to keep everyone outside the borders, then Medic would have to resort to the infiltration plan that he had initially rejected.

During the voyage, Medic also made some operational plans for his future infiltration... such as either immediately holding the Sarcophagus after infiltrating, or directly seizing the entire Core City of Chernobog where the Sarcophagus is located.

Kal'tsit provided Medic with a detailed design map of that Mobile City... Although it's decades old, even if the details have changed since then, the general structure is still very valuable. (Mio)

But how many of these preparations will actually be used? (Chess)

Medic didn't know; all she could do was try her best to 'prepare,' because her agent had said that death only comes when you're panicked.

But no matter how uncertain she felt inside, in front of everyone, Medic was always the same confident, smiling Medic... Only in this way could those sensitive and delicate children, like Amiya and Mika, not be too nervous... To be honest, Nana was worried that their mindset would overwhelm them before the operation even began.

Fortunately, the Exploration Vehicle's route still gave everyone a little time, but now, that little bit of time is about to run out.

...)

Terra, June, 1095 AD.

The weather, which would be unbearably hot in Columbia, was exceptionally pleasant in Ursus. And when the few 'kids' who usually went to play on the rooftop flight deck around noon set off to enjoy their last bit of free time, Saria, who usually didn't participate in the operators' outdoor afternoon tea activities, made a rare appearance in the air traffic control position on the rooftop.

The so-called air traffic control position for the Exploration Vehicle is actually located next to the flight deck catapult. It is 30 centimeters higher than the flight deck and surrounded by transparent material. It allows for observation of the catapult's working status, real-time reporting, and the location of operators for taking off and landing drones.

Previously, this place had always been Ptilopsis exclusive domain of Medic's Originium Engine, used for observing and testing Tactical Unit. But now, Medic suddenly realized that it was also an excellent place to observe Amiya and the others' tea party.

"Saria, what are you looking at?"

"I'm watching a wilderness survival tutorial featuring Operator Typhon, Amiya, and Mika..."

"Ah, they should be learning about the four seasons of Ursus by now."

With a soft chuckle, Medic hadn't expected that the Rosemary found in the Exploration Vehicle's textbook would become Amiya's daily pastime... However, having a slightly older Snowfield hunter as a teacher would likely help Amiya improve her adaptability to the Ursus land.

After all, this Little Bunny, like Rosemary, is a true city kid. Although it won't cause any problems in Chernobog, if things eventually escalate to the point where everyone wants to run away... then Typhon's experience in Sami will be a real lifesaver.

"Although I don't know how much Mika will listen to... at least they don't seem as reserved as they were at the beginning. We're about to pass through the Ursus army checkpoint, hopefully everything will go smoothly."

"Hope alone won't work in this situation; the enemy won't lower their hostility just because you beg them."

"Well... that's true... I can only say I hope it doesn't escalate to the point where violence is necessary... Also, thank you for your hard work at the beginning."

"You mean the suggestion to remove me and Ptilopsis from the crew list?"

Seeing Medic nod in agreement, Saria recalled the action plan that had been gradually being refined and detailed recently, and said:

"Using the fact that the outside world is unaware that I and Ptilopsis have already left Rhine Lab, it is indeed feasible to use this as an alternative to enter Chernobog through other means... However, I must remind you, even if Medic is Rhodes Island's recognized master of magic, if the other party possesses sophisticated equipment, no concealment spell can hide it... Currently, I do not know of any spells that can conceal spells detected by spell detection machines."

"It's alright. Just introduce yourself as Rhine Lab... It's just a ride. Strict checks will make the crew disembark, but I've never heard of making passengers disembark."

'But that only applies to vehicles that are clearly designated for passenger transport; there's a separate set of checks for passengers...'

Saria only thought about it for a moment, but didn't say it aloud.

After all, the manipulation of magic is actually a very flexible thing. If you find that the other party is carrying sophisticated equipment, you can just go and inspect them as a passenger... Medic has many contingency plans, and there is always a suitable plan to be implemented.

Saria's only comment was that Medic had too many contingency plans... Many of the scrapped plans differed only slightly from the current ones, and she hoped there wouldn't be any mishaps.

[Medic, the Ursus Military sent a message instructing us to proceed to a designated location for disembarkation and inspection.]

"I see."

After exchanging a glance with Saria and nodding, Medic left the air traffic control position of the Exploration Vehicle... Then everyone put aside their relief at the smooth journey ahead and got into action.

"This is Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals. We have arrived at the designated location and are beginning the inspection procedures."

[... I see you. Just to confirm, you have ten crew members, including one Laterano nun who accompanies the ship, and three Blacksteel Worldwide security personnel. So, there are actually ten people, right...?]

"Yes."

[Then please disembark for inspection. This is a routine entry procedure. Please deactivate the vehicle's fire control system and do not do anything that might cause misunderstanding for our gunners.]

After reciting its lines with utter indifference, the Ursus high-speed warship hung up the communication.

Putting down the microphone, Medic turned to look at the group of people behind him who were ready, then glanced at his reflection in the full-length mirror by the lounge entrance. He nodded, noting that although he immediately felt warm, his understated attire, though not particularly conspicuous, made him feel warm.

"Then, don't give yourself away..."

"Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals... I heard you're a company that specializes in making medicine for the Infected, and you're quite famous. So you just come to Ursus... Don't you know why we're at war?"

Despite the undisguised frowns and reprimands from the Ursus soldiers, Medic maintained his smile as always.

"After all, it's a request from my superiors; I can't refuse..."

"And what the hell is this entry application you wrote? Tomb sweeping? Who needs to sweep tombs?"

As he spoke, the sergeant, who had a sour face, noticed that Folinic's face was even more sour than his... Although Folinic's race was actually Feline, it could be seen from her ears that Folinic had some Ursus blood.

The Ursus sergeant in charge of the inspection found the request absurd, but since he couldn't find any other reason to refuse entry, he asked for Folinic's parents' names and registered them before signaling the other soldiers to get into the vehicle for inspection.

"We'll be spending some time inspecting your vehicles. The weather's nice today, let's all soak up some sun..."

"Of course, but do all inspections now require crew members to leave the ship? There's a lot of sophisticated medical equipment on the vehicle."

As he spoke, Medic glanced at the bodyguard following behind the sergeant, who, after raising an eyebrow, actually turned his back on his own... seemingly admiring the Ursus high-speed warship.

Regardless, the enemy's corruption is an opportunity for him. Medic smiled, reached into his pocket, pulled out a stack of prepared wallets and a pack of Lungmen cigarettes from Rhodes Island vending machine, and handed them to the sergeant.

"I still hope everyone can handle things a little more carefully and be more mindful..."

The sergeant, who had been wearing a sour expression, suddenly broke into a wide smile as he swung the somewhat thick stack of blue banknotes in his hand and heard the rustling sound.

Seeing the other person's greasy, relaxed expression, Medic's expression remained unchanged, but his fingers were already rehearsing how to shoot the other person.

"Oh, medical equipment, huh... Guys, the stuff in the car is all expensive and we can't afford to pay for it. Be careful what you do while you're checking it out. The owner said he'll treat us after we're done~"