Léon: The Cat Killer

In theory, Nana could use this 40-kilogram weapon to take the lives of at least 400 people... but if this is not to fulfill the contract, then the lives and souls lost by the dead would be meaningless.

Clearly, this kind of 'philosophy' seems to be something that someone like Nana, who suffers from amnesia, could not possibly figure out.

The people who instilled this idea in Nana were her only remaining family members besides her manager.

If Nana can't rely on the ICA, then it's definitely here.

A wooden, lateran 'church' that, in its pursuit of asceticism, always moved away after the surrounding neighborhoods prospered, could in some ways be considered the boundary between the city and the suburbs.

"We've arrived. This place should be safe for now."

After driving for hours in silence, the killer finally said something to reassure the children.

As the nimble white family car, so discreet that it wouldn't seem out of place with the driver's demeanor even if seen, pulled up to the side of the road, Nana, still dressed as a doctor, got out and exchanged a glance with the nun who was probably slacking off at the entrance... The latter then immediately ran into the church.

He was a stranger, but it didn't matter... that guy was surrounded by strangers all the time. Back then, that guy had picked up Nana like she was a stray cat or dog, and even made her a nun for several months.

Getting off the bus... I turned around to check on Colt, who still had a sour face, but after hearing his younger siblings talk about being 'kidnapped,' he no longer insisted on going to his 'death.' Like Matilda and Kevin, his white hair had also been dyed jet black by Nana.

"The priest here is trustworthy; you may stay with him for the time being."

"Even if you say so..."

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

There was no pressure on Colt to trust anyone; in fact, Nana quite liked his habit of always being vigilant.

However, if he thinks that being vigilant means going against all people he doesn't trust, then his future life will probably be very difficult.

Thinking this way, Nana held Matilda's hand, and the big cat and the little cat held hands and formed a line... Finally, Colt, with a sour face, was responsible for pulling the luggage containing them. He himself had once been part of the luggage.

As soon as they entered, the children were astonished by the church's simplicity. The gaps between the wooden wall panels were filled with mud and moss, and the floor was simply a plank of wood laid on the dirt. Apart from the tables and chairs, the only decoration that could be considered to have any religious atmosphere was the wooden cross placed on the lectern. Nana then solemnly bowed deeply to the Lateran people in front of her, who had a halo above their heads and wings of light behind them.

"It's been a long time, Father."

"Indeed, it's been a long time... Hmm, I can't hear the noise in your mind now... It seems you didn't come here to seek my advice."

Ignoring the fact that this person used Originium Arts upon first meeting, just like in the past—after all, he had said it was a custom among the Lateran people… Nana had never been to Lateran and couldn't verify it, so she went straight to the point:

“I have come to ask for your help because you are the person I trust the most. I hope that you can take care of them and protect them while I leave to check on their family situation... and hide the child so that he will not be found by those demons.”

Nana's high praise for the person in front of her left the little ones behind her stunned, but Colt still interjected with concern:

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

"...It's enough to just let you stay overnight and deal with the police. What does it have to do with how strong he is?"

Seeing Nana's puzzled expression, it was the three kittens' turn to open their mouths in surprise... They had experienced SWAT officers kicking down doors, gunfights, explosions, car chases, and kidnappings in just a few hours... They were well aware that the city's top figures wanted to cause them trouble.

They all originally thought that the person Nana would trust would be a leader of an underground force like in an anime or a warrior with great power... The uncle in front of them, dressed in a simple monochrome robe and with a halo above his head, really didn't seem like that kind of person.

With a carefully crafted tone that wouldn't hurt anyone, Colt gently reminded Nana, who was carrying a weapons case and a shoulder bag, beside him:

"It's not good to involve ordinary people..."

“Ordinary people? Ordinary people… First of all, you three brats are the ordinary people… Also, whether the priest has power or not has nothing to do with me bringing you here…”

"But compared to power, trust is the hardest thing to obtain."

With a light laugh, Father Lateran summarized what Nana wanted to say, then knelt down to align his gaze with the children's:

“You must have gone through a lot of hardship to have Nana bring you here… Although as an ascetic I don’t have superhuman skills like Nana, I will help you. I will help anyone who needs help.”

"Easy for you to say, how can you help us? We're going to deal with Loken's water tank..."

"elder brother……"

Kevin couldn't stop his impulsive brother, but even though the priest heard things he shouldn't have heard, his expression remained peaceful and serene.

The man simply shook his head, then gestured for the unfamiliar nun who had been watching to leave and prepare what the children might need:

“That kind of target is obviously not something a child can handle. I suppose it will be Sister Nana who makes the move… She needs someone she can trust to take care of the innocent, so I will reciprocate her trust. It’s that simple.”

As he spoke, the priest extended his hand to the children, making this assurance:

“Although I have neither the power nor the right, protecting the good is a mission given by the Lord, and I believe that the person who would ask Sister Nana to help me in this way must not be an evil person... So I will defend you with my life... This is my guarantee.”

“...Father, please don’t keep using the word ‘life’ so casually...it sounds scary. Children, come here quickly and put on these uniforms.”

The reappearance of the unfamiliar nun interrupted the children's conversation, who were unsure how to respond. Only after Nana nodded in confirmation did the children accept the plain-colored smocks from the nun.

As the children began to figure out where to thread the cat ears through the hood and where to thread the tail, the priest smiled and began to explain to Nana:

“Those are fabrics donated by believers in the surrounding area…and people wear these clothes every day to pray or participate in community activities, including many minors of similar age. I will truthfully explain to those around me that these three children came to escape disaster…please don’t worry, people like this frequently come to the church for help in the surrounding reclaimed areas.”

"...Just like how you ended your lunch break early to cover my escape from the pursuers, I've never underestimated the power of disguise to blend into the crowd since then... But their situation is much more dire than mine was back then. The city itself is searching for them; it's best to keep adults away from them if possible..." Ling

Upon hearing Nana's reminder, the priest, who had remained expressionless throughout, gave the girl a surprisingly serious look: [The sentence is incomplete and lacks context. It appears to be a fragment from a larger text.]

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

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

Watching the children don their church uniforms, Nana nodded to Matilda, who was waving at her from afar, and then said in a low voice: "Think..."

"I seem dissatisfied with my seemingly happy life. I'm using work as an excuse to pursue a kind of idyllic existence that seems only possible in fairy tales. I don't know if I'll regret my choice..." (Noon)

"...Although I don't know the specifics of the situation, since you sent them to me, their families must have already fallen apart before your own happiness was destroyed..."

Shaking her head, then nodding, the black-haired Feline irritably flicked her tail… Fortunately, the medical coat used to defend against Originium particles was quite sturdy, so Nana's cat tail could only sway restlessly under her skirt, avoiding the mistake of lifting up the skirt—a mistake only children would make. Nine

"I'm just about to confirm this."

“Of course, of course. Unlike the lost you of the past, you are now striving to seek salvation for strangers… Just as I said back then, you are now a qualified nun…” Master

At this point, the priest's gaze flickered to the top of the girl's trembling cat ears: wine.

"So, your return here also means you're going to use that dangerous, primitive technique again?" Scar

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

That's what he said, but seeing the girl avert her gaze, the priest's smile unexpectedly brightened:

“Don’t worry, as I’ve said before, the only thing that might cause you trouble is the notary office… Any Sakta with the right empathy won’t make things difficult for you, after all, you are the victim, even though you can’t remember anymore… But as long as you continue to do good and pursue virtue, you will get your own redemption… In fact, you are already redeeming others… You feel that you have become greedy compared to the past, but in my opinion, you are on your ‘path’.”

With that, the priest waved to the nuns who were leading the children into the inner room, while he led Nana to another room.

They opened the creaking wooden door and lifted the wooden planks covering a cellar... The priest picked up an oil lamp from a crate and went deeper into the underground, and Nana followed him with practiced ease... When Nana first arrived in this city, exhausted both physically and mentally, she followed the priest in the same way.

Although it was an extremely poor monastery that moved frequently, self-defense was naturally an essential element for any monastery.

Even though it is located in the city, this church has a gun repair room, which is essential in Laterano. In this all-wood church, it seems that only the part where firearms and Originium bullets are placed uses expensive carbon building materials, and there is even less dust than outside.

Most importantly, the church's structure has never changed since the relocation... This allowed Nana to quickly adapt to the environment, just like five years ago, when Nana knelt down in front of a Lateran religious tapestry... or rather, 'sat upright'.

The priest then took a flail off the wall, though it only looked like one; it was actually an incense burner… The Sarkaz used it for religious ceremonies in the past… Now it was being used to purify and bless Nana and her weapons.

As the tape recorder began playing the scriptures, the floor where Nana and her weapons were placed suddenly lit up with a faint light... as if the girl were kneeling on a giant viewing lamp.

The priest finally lit the incense. Nana had already removed all her equipment and neatly arranged it in front of her. As the girl began to pray, a black light, a broken halo, and wings appeared and disappeared on the girl.

"Hmm... You finally bought your own gun? Yes, using a fixed casting unit is good for you... Tikaz sorcery is still too much of a burden on Felin's physique. Even if the life you lost gave you the discipline of the Sarkaz, it won't enhance your physique in the slightest... After all, you're already much stronger than a normal Sarkaz."

As the priest spoke, he carried the incense burner slowly past, white smoke rising up, followed closely by black mist...

"...Wailing, suffering...Tikaz's magic uses suffering as its medium; it forces you to crave blood and make you savor death...and just to make you qualified to use it, I don't even know what you've paid...losing your memory may not be a bad thing for you. As long as you persist in pursuing goodness and beauty, then making death your power is not impossible..."

"...I don't care about that past...I don't even care about the future."

"Then seize the 'now,' Sister. Though we come from different backgrounds, you too possess an aura and wings... Even though the desires of the world have shattered our precepts and corrupted us into darkness... you still possess the power to pursue the light."

The incense burner linked by chains swayed a few times above the girl's head, and amidst the swirling blue smoke, a broken halo of black light flickered a few times... The absence of light clearly indicated that she still could not feel the power of the commandments like a proper Sarkaz.

But this was a matter of physical constitution, not the girl's will. The priest then carried the incense burner close to the girl's weapon box.

Amidst the swirling smoke, the locks on the case made a soft "kata" sound... The smoke, like deft fingers, unfolded the inner compartments of the case, revealing a large gun with an elegant wooden structure in the incense-filled air.

"WA2000... No one knows why the precepts named it that way, but that's how the precepts record it, so we'll describe it that way... However, the large guns, personnel search radar, and the entire set of combat drones... Even though we already knew you liked collecting these contraband items, seeing them in person still made us sweat for the notary office executive officer's blood pressure..."

"...Isn't blood sugar a bigger concern than blood pressure?"

As the shattered halo and wings disappeared, the priest let out a weak and awkward laugh for the first time in response to the girl's rebuttal.

Everyone knows that Lateranos have a sweet tooth... What angel doesn't have some blood sugar problems as they get older...?

Thus, as the Bible playback ended, Nana put away her weapons again... and even fastened and picked up her treasure's equipment box.

"Thank you, I feel much better."

"I'm just trying to make you feel better... Discipline and sorcery are almost opposite forces. To integrate them, you can't just stuff the components of Tikkaz and Sakorta into your body at the same time... But these words are useless to you, and you are currently safe and free... I suppose those villains who want to seize the power of the people of the gods are at least too busy to care about anything else."

Having said that, Father Wu looked at the young woman's medical attire, sized her up, and then frowned slightly.

"Speaking of which, where is your cross?"

"...Um...at home...the house...was bombed."

He didn't dare say he'd blown up himself... and the atmosphere fell silent. After a few seconds, the priest sighed:

"...Come with me."

As they spoke, the two of them stepped back onto the ground through the creaking floorboards.

For the children's safety, Nana should leave the church as soon as possible and head to the Loken Water Tank Test Area to prepare for infiltration work... But since it had been a long time since she had seen the priest, the girl patiently waited for him to return.

During this time, the girl endured Matilda crawling over and sniffing her body repeatedly. Several minutes passed before the priest returned, sighing, with an armband bearing the emblem of the Lateran Church of Radiant Light.

The priest carefully tied it below the girl's medical armband, which marked her as a doctor.

Although it was a bit strange for one person to wear two armbands, considering that it was common for a flag bearer in the wilderness to have several flags on a single flagpole to convey information, Nana didn't say anything.

“Even if you are caught in a cloud of doubt, do not give up your faith... No matter what others say, good intentions themselves cannot be denied... Leave the children to me. Sister, do what you think you should do.”

PS: Now revealing one of Nana's usable disguises.

You thought it was Jessica, but it's actually Nana!

PS2: So short hair means 77?!

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

PS4: But actually, from a character design perspective, Seventy-Seven isn't Rosemary's (Matilda's) stalker... Their relationship might be reversed later... I'd prefer to write a story where Rosemary acts cute towards Matilda...

PS5: ...As for the plot...the following part might be...well...anyway, it's still free. If you like it, please support it; if you don't, just close the window.

1st Rosemary Embrace: 015 Tight Defense

When talking about Leidensen's Loken Tank Laboratory, the first thing that comes to mind is the high-tech park located in the newly developed area.

Starting from Baimu Church, take the ring road for 20 kilometers, then pass through the municipal government toll station to get onto the newly built smooth expressway. After driving for about 5 kilometers, you will see the end of the road.

This Originium Engine maintenance area, complete with charging facilities, may look no different from a typical government rest stop at first glance... but from the moment a vehicle's tires hit a speed bump, the ground beneath its feet is no longer owned by the state.

This area belongs to the Loken Water Tank, and at the end of the rest stop road is the entrance to the laboratory technology park.

Colombian citizens can deploy any legal weapons on their own land... including but not limited to Originium explosives, large Lateran rapid-fire guns, and even the Victoria land-based 6-inch cannons... all of these are legal.

From here on, the security team at the Loken Tank Laboratory can use the Personal Fortress Law to kill any 'desperate criminals' who actively seek trouble.

In Colombia, the ability to own such a private piece of land is essentially the baseline for judging whether a company has reached the 'second-tier' level...

For a city within a city with a wide and flat outer perimeter, surrounded by walls, watchtowers, heavy bunkers, sentry posts, and even small city defense artillery outside key facilities, and protected by the Colombian military, sounding the distress alarm means armored guerrillas will be at your doorstep in no time... How to enter it and achieve one's own goals is also the key to whether "Salesman Wu Yi's Wife VIII Age Qi Liuyi" can reach the second tier.

In the world of assassins like Nana... or rather, in the mercenary circle, there are many anecdotes about this kind of 'test':

For example, there is a rumor about a person with immense physical strength who once ignored warnings about private land and directly cut through the city wall. Anything that stood in his way would be cleaved in two with a powerful, sweeping motion.

It is said that he is a brute who will cut the moving city in half even if it blocks his way.

For example, those who possess mysterious magic are said to be able to control the flow of life, space, and even time in their palms at the pinnacle of their arcane sorcery... Mercenaries usually assume that such a person refers to the Tower Lord of Letania... For ordinary people with limited access to information, this is the pinnacle of magic.

The former is understandable; Nana learned through her agent that many outlandish races or special individuals can do similar things. However, the latter, Nana believes, basically refers specifically to the Sarkaz... or rather, the royal court magic of the Tikaz.

As a 'Chimera' that cannot be born naturally, Nana clearly possesses the power to wield Tikaz magic, but Nana herself is far too weak. Even with magical enhancements, Felin's physical abilities are at most such that Nana can jump off the side of the moving city's ship without breaking her leg.

Although Nana herself doesn't think this is anything special, this level is already above the average level of the gods, and is more than a step above the Sarkaz and Sarkaz on the screen.

Even so, even when strengthened to the limit, Nana's physique could not support her in using powers such as 'Severing' or 'Time Stop'... The users of royal court sorcery were all true monsters, and Nana had long given up comparing herself to them.

If that power were used forcibly, Nana would probably blow herself up into Nana-chan before she could kill the enemy... Fortunately, if the target is just to enter a private territory, the assassin will never need to use such a terrible spell in her entire life.

"Hello……"

"Hello~ Welcome to the Loken Water Tank Experimental Park. Please show your identification..."

“I am a medical practitioner in the Crisis Contract, and my credentials are here… I have something to discuss with the head of the Loken Water Tank Experimental Park.”