In the center of Pittsburgh stood a giant tower.

It was a location with security on a whole other level compared to any other facility in Divide.

A group of well-dressed people, clad in white coats, made their way towards the tower.

As they arrived at the entrance of the tower, they were intercepted by guards. These guards were fairly well equipped with magic and gear, especially for mere gatekeepers.

One man out of the group of white-clothed people stepped forward and handed the guard something. It was an access card that served as a photo ID.

“I’m researcher Rania Morrison. I’m meant to enter at 14:00.”

Only allowed personnel could enter the tower, and only at pre-appointed times. Everyone else would be turned away, regardless of their identity.

The guard took Rania’s access card and compared the picture against his face.

After confirming they matched, he returned his access card.

“Pass.”

This was not the end of things though.

The guards began checking the identities of Rania’s escorts.

The guard, who was comparing their access cards and faces, started to frown before eventually opening his mouth.

“Wait, this… !”

*Smack*

The moment they had realized the pictures and faces didn’t match, the guards had all slumped to the ground.

“Arrrgh!”

“Ow!”

The entire guard post charged with securing the main entrance to the tower had been completely incapacitated.

They quickly took measures to ensure their tracks had been covered. After all of the guards collapsed, Rania and the other researchers stripped them of their useful gear before stashing their bodies somewhere they wouldn’t easily be found.

“Their next rotation shouldn’t arrive for another two hours.”

“Let’s hurry and get out before that.”

Rania Morrison’s face transformed from the face of a young, sophisticated male into that of a delicate female’s.

He, no… she was Swan Katarina.

The white-clothed researchers around her were in fact secret agents from the Side Guard.

They began to move quickly.

Though they had dealt with the human element, there was still one last set of security checks that needed to be taken care of before they could enter the tower. It didn’t take long for the well-trained Side Guard to disable Divide’s state-of-the-art security systems.

With the security systems down and the guards incapacitated, their escape route was now secured. The silent assault and destruction of the tower’s tight defenses had been carried out in less than thirty seconds, proof of the thorough preparation that had been put into this operation.

“It’s always impressive seeing this in-person.”

Swan mumbled, looking at the Side Guard busily working.

It was indeed impressive. The Side Guard had both started and completed all of their preparation for this tower infiltration mission within a day.

As a result of their diligence, they removed countless security systems rapidly, as well as managing to locate and kidnap the individual meant to enter the tower at this hour. They had used this person’s genuine access card to get the guards to lower their guard.

“No matter how much we prepared for this, without you Lady Swan, we could not make it even this far.”

Swan had overpowered as many as ten guards before they realized they were under attack. It was utterly amazing that she could overwhelm so many well geared and highly trained specialists within a few seconds through sheer force.

Just as Swan and the Side Guard were praising each other, her communication pad vibrated.

[-The Outsiders seem to be aware of our movement. When you think it’s dangerous, escape immediately.]

It was a warning from Desir.

All emotion fell off Swan’s face for a moment. Her mouth then twisted into a smile.

“Such a cute kiddo.”

Swan could feel just how much he worried about her through the plain words she saw in front of her.

As she chuckled to herself, a member of the Side Guard approached her with a quizzical expression plastered on his face.

“What’s happened?”

“Our operation seems to have been exposed.”

Although it didn’t seem like anyone knew they were sneaking into the tower, if the enemy already knew about their existence, there was a good chance that they had arranged something in advance.

“Nothing’s changed. Just means we’re on a stricter time limit.”

Swan made the same decision as Des1r.

She could not leave the Outsiders as they were. They were already powerful enough to swallow up a country as powerful as the Kingdom of Divide. She expected them to only grow stronger from here on out, and pose a threat to the Empire in the near future.

If she missed this chance, it would be nearly impossible to come back into Divide and finish the job. There was a need to figure out what they were planning right now, no matter the cost.

Swan entered the tower, working her artifact once again.

The Side Guard followed her quietly. They absolutely trusted and followed any judgement of the Royal Guards.

* * *

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Inside the tower several researchers could be seen scurrying around. If it wasn’t obvious before, it was now plain as day that the tower within Pittsburg was some form of research facility.

‘They have been researching chimeras, as expected.’

The researcher that the Side Guard kidnapped, Rania Morrison, had a rather important title in this tower.

‘Being the biotechnology expert has its perks.’

Swan, who had donned his face, was not stopped at any point in the tower. Thanks to that, they quickly managed to figure out what kind of research was being undertaken in this facility.

They were attempting to create something beyond simply combining monsters.

This tower was focused on researching how to use high-tier swordsmen and magicians in the creation of chimeras. The thought of facing several chimeras with the ability to freely manipulate magic and aura was utterly terrifying.

“Have you found anything?”

[-I found a place where numerous chimera are stored.]

“How many chimeras approximately?”

[-It’s hard to tell exactly, but there’s at least several hundred chimeras in here. Their quality is terrifying too. Each one is at least as powerful as a Rook Class swordsman, and there are many that are already at the level of Bishop Class.]

Swan frowned.

The figure of several hundred had surpassed her expectations by far.

If there were other facilities like this in other cities, their military force could already be a threat to the Hebrion Empire.

‘If you include their soldiers, perhaps Divide and the Empire are already on equal ground… ’

Anyhow, they had figured out what the primary purpose of this tower was.

This was already more than enough to go off of, and certainly enough to consider this mission a success.

‘Should we leave?’

Leaving was the obvious answer presented to her. However, the mission had been too easy. While it was likely because they had thoroughly prepared, something still triggered her sharp intuition.

‘This is the best time to escape.’

Nobody seemed to have realised that they had sneaked in yet.

[-Lady Swan, what should we do?]

[-Get ready to retreat. On my signal, retreat immediately.]

[-Yes.]

It was then.

She looked up.

It was truly a gigantic tower.

There were so many pillars spanning such a large distance into the sky.

Something crossed her mind out of the blue.

‘If they just wanted to build a structure to store and research chimeras, why would they build something that stands out like this? Moreover… the design of this tower is extremely inefficient for storage.’

She had pinpointed the issue troubling her, something a normal agent would have missed in the heat of a mission.

But Swan was different.

‘Above all else, getting this information was far too easy indeed. We figured out everything after simply sneaking in and walking around.’

She looked around.

‘It feels like they wanted us to leave after gathering all this information… Am I being too paranoid?’

“Nice to see you, Mr. Rania Morrison. We meet again.”

[-Lady Swan, the head of the Flying Dragon Division has passed through the main gate.]

She received the alert at that exact moment. A report from the Side Guard in charge of the main gate. At the same time, she spotted the shadow of a man entering into the tower, and he spotted her as well.

He was in silver armor, carrying a long spear. He certainly looked very different from the normal guards of the tower, just based off of his expensive looking magic equipment.

Siegfried.

A beautiful young man with long hair. He approached her with such an affable face.

With him in the lead, other Flying Dragon Division members entered the tower as well.

They were all excellent knights, even without their wyverns.

The military force that was originally meant to be at the Royal Palace was at the tower for some reason.

[-I thought they only stayed at the Royal Palace. I don’t know why they came now, of all times.]

This must have been what they arranged in advance.

“Everyone, do not panic. Remain ready to retreat and prepare for battle.”

[-Yes, ma’am.]

The Side Guard, still pretending to be researchers, spread out all over the working area, blending in with the other researchers. Even though they made themselves appear busy, they managed to arrange themselves into formation, ready to respond to any aggression from the Flying Dragon Division, should the need arise.

The Flying Dragon Division made their move in a flash.

Siegfried raised his voice.

“We have been alerted to the fact that there are intruders inside. We will verify all people present, as we are in an emergency situation.”

He declared this to everyone in the room. The internal researchers complained bitterly, but they couldn’t do anything about it. They started getting ready to be verified under the watchful eyes of the Flying Dragon Division. Getting verified wasn’t a difficult thing to do. They just had to show their identification card as the Flying Dragon Division made their rounds.

“Apologies for the interruption, Mr. Morrison. Surely you understand.”

Siegfried approached Swan, no, Swan with Rania Morrison’s face to be exact.

‘Dammit.’

Swan muttered internally.

She didn’t know Siegfried and Rania Morrison knew each other, but she couldn’t afford to fall into any trap either. She had to play this carefully.

“I believe we briefly met at the last conference. Is the research you presented going well?”

“Good to see you, Sir Siegfried. Yes, of course. It’s going very well.”

“That’s great. Since you probably have the most to do, we will verify you first.”

Siegfried raised his chin. The Flying Dragon Division then surrounded her.

Siegfried sighed.

“Why would I go to the damn conference, Swan Katarina.”

Apparently he knew Swan’s identity from the start.

“… How did you know?”

“Well, in preparation for a situation like this, my superior lent me an artifact.”

He brandished a magic tool of some kind. They looked like a pair of glasses.

“This device is the ‘Eye of Truth’. It detects all who disguise or conceal their true selves using an artifact.”

“That’s certainly a precious artifact.”

“Indeed. This tool can filter out most secret agents.”

He put the glasses away and brandished his spear.

“Why don’t you surrender peacefully? We know about your subordinates already.”

Swan sighed before deactivating her artifact.

“If you pretend you didn’t see me here, everyone can live. Will you just let me go?”

Siegfried giggled, as though her suggestion was utterly ridiculous.

“Did you think we would accept that kind of offer?”

“No, I just warned you out of courtesy.”

Swan stretched out her hand. Simultaneously, something appeared and morphed in her hand, before solidifying into a long spear.

“I will end this quickly.”

—-