Janet's eyes picked up the target that she had been tailing, or trying to, for the past few days. Ever since her failure, she had been keeping an eye on him through rumors and sightings.

The guild wasn't happy that she returned with her target still alive, but that much was forgivable once she gave the reason, even after receiving her partner's aid. First off, the supposed Runist was fully capable of fighting on his own, proving that he isn't your average ass-kissing rich boy. Second, his partner came around and knocked her around to next week. She could still remember that pain as though it happened just hours ago.

They planned and waited, wanting to make sure that the target was completely alone, but to no avail. It became even more troublesome when they left on a quest and have no ways to target them any further.

They were left in the dark until today, when the passing of the season took place. She expected them to return, figuring that they knew about the small festival being in place. It was only then that she saw them singing and dancing about in the festival, pretending that nothing was wrong.

She fumed at the sight. Then even worse, the target was having a grand old time with his partner on top of the roof of a moonlit night, a sickeningly perfect romantic getaway.

It wasn't as though she had any residual grudge against the target. The Runist, also known as the Plague Doctor, was ordered to be assassinated due to his actions back at the guild. Then, after researching both the records of the Runist and Adventurer's guilds, realized that the man either gained his abilities illegally or had gone through connections to get to where he was now. As a professional, she had to do what she can to take the target down.

That didn't mean she wasn't allowed to fume at the sight of the targets having all kinds of fun, while she was left skulking about like some weird stalker.

It wasn't easy making a living in this city, and she sure as hell never planned on being an assassin before all this.

But fate had other plans for her, and now it offered her a seat to the most outrageous scene she could have ever seen. She wanted to do away with the target, especially since the target was inebriated from the looks of it.

But her senses told her that the dragonic bitch was still aware of her surroundings. Even now, she sensed danger just thinking about going after the Runist now.

She slammed her fist to the roof of the building she was at, several miles away from her target. Some of the nearby clutter, small boxes that had her meals prepped for stakeouts like this, were blown away by the sheer force of her Strength stat.

Her anger was nonsensical, she knew. She just wanted to be done with this horrible mission. She didn't want to keep going after a target with dubious origins. She breathed, using the technique Lyle taught her so many months ago when they were at their worst. As soon as she was done relaxing the tension in her body, she reminded herself why she was doing this.

She was doing this to get paid. She was doing this to make the world better. She was doing this to survive in this world.

That's all she needed to think about. Just as she was about to return to her stakeout, something clicked and began vibrating at her waist. She unfurled her cloak to reveal her dark leather pants that were encased with small tool belts, three for each section of her leg. One of the tool belts, one having a small rectangular silver plating, vibrated quietly before she took it up.

It was a magical device with etched runes to make transport of voices, but only works with the connected individual, a magical walkie-talkie of sorts. She pressed her thumb on the surface, hearing the voice on the other side in her mind. It wouldn't be good to receive a call during a stakeout like this, no matter how far away she was.

Black Wing, do you copy?

"Loud and clear," The assassin replied. The voice was curt, clear, and borderline military-esque.

Mission update. You are to return to the guild and cease tracking the Plague Doctor.

"What?" She asked incredulously. "Why? I have him in my sights right now. I can finally–"

This is not up for discussion. The guild wants you to return as soon as possible. You are to wait for further instructions.

"Any reason for this?" She asked, her voice steeped in frustration. "You know I deserve this after so much time lost on this."

The voice trailed off for a moment, the silence becoming deafening between the two. After that moment cleared, the voice replied again.

The Alchemist's Guild is being… problematic. They started losing profit thanks to the whole fiasco, and now they're demanding recompense from anything they could pick up. They're targeting us now.

Janet widened her eyes at that. She knew thanks to her target's interferance, the Alchemist's Guild had been going around like mad, trying to recuperate their losses. It was their own fault that they supposedly put all their eggs in one basket from the weird disease going around the adventurers, but to think they had the balls to go after the Assassin's guild…

"But what about the Plague Doctor?" She asked, still keeping the man in her sights.

There are too many eyes on them. You see that you're not the only one watching them, right?

She grumbled, admitting his point. Even if she kept watching to find a perfect way, in the end, someone would spot her, and that would make things difficult not just for her, but for the entire guild. She hoped that if she was patient enough, she could find that, but apparently that was meaningless.

Still, she completely erased her frustrations after logically seeing things through from another person's perspective. The Runist may live a little longer. She can handle that.

"...Understood. I'll return as soon as I'm able."

Good. And make sure to pick up something from Lyle on the way. One of our own got hit good in the chest.

"Is it Chester again?" The girl rolled her eyes. "I'm surprised he's still alive after all this time in the guild."

The voice let out a tired breath. You and me both. See you there.

The call was cut off then, turning the device into nothing but paperweight now. She put the device aside in her pack, and stared one more time at her target.

By this point, the target disappeared, but she found herself not really caring anymore. The idea of getting more money outweighs her sense of justice.

But she will catch him one day. She was sure of it. But for now, a smile was placed on her lips as she thought about returning home after all this time.

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"I wonder what Lyle would make for me…"

The thoughts of good food after days of eating nothing but rations and water filled her mind as she disappeared in a wave of wind, leaving not a single trace of her stakeout location intact.

…..

The scent of tea filtered through his nose as Cronus took a long sip from his well-crafted cup. Sure, he could have been able to enhance the tea further with some runes, or perhaps reconstructure it to heal all sorts of aches in his body, but he found that just laying back and accepting the natural tea into his system was easier for the soul.

Even with all the power at his disposal, it still doesn't fix all the problems he had on his plate. If anything, having it only increased the number of problems.

He was currently sitting on his comfortable plush chair within the confines of his office at his manor. His office was big enough to incorporate several dozens of people at once. Shelves riddled with books and tools, parchments upon boards upon walls, and several other documentations and writing tools to configure his day-to-day task. The best part of his position of power is that he can do all of his mundane tasks as the Lord with just a single flick of his mana, but if that was all it took to rid his country of all issues, the world would be at peace ten times over.

"Honey, you're frowning again," His wife, Isabelle, spoke up through the silence.

As usual, his wife was lounging at her own chair, a lot more softer and less grandiose than his own. While his was to replicate his standing as a Lord, Isabelle's was just a super comfortable chair to sit on. He sometimes envied that simplicity.

"It's my face," Cronus answered half-lazily, half-jokingly. Honestly, it wasn't his best work, but he was tired.

"The report was that bad, huh?" Isabelle said, a rare frown on her usually smiling face. "Still, I suppose it can't be helped. An angel in our midst, a tower exploding and causing the area around it to die off, and the other noble houses picking up the chaos of it all can really put a damper on the spirit."

Cronus was very, very sure that he only told her about the angel. She must have read through the reports that were intended for him. It wasn't as though he had a problem with her looking over Alissa's reports. He just can't stop her from snooping around every other private report available. She would be a nightmare to deal with as any sense of personal belongings wouldn't matter to a woman like her.

Still, that's what he loved about her. She's dedicated to getting into other people's business.

"If you know, then why bother asking?" Cronus asked. Isabelle only shrugged her shoulders as though saying 'I don't know' in the laziest way possible. "But yes, you're right. Honestly, the angel was the only good part of the report."

Hearing from Alissa that the twin sister of the little girl, the one with the rare white silvery hair, was actually an angel in disguise was quite something. Who'd have thought that an angel from legends would be overseeing her wards, the otherworlders, to do their duty? As for how she ended up in that situation, it was hilarious in his opinion.

He knew Zeke's attunement, being of a higher-realm, is powerful. But to think that it could also swallow an angel's power to tier up. It was the highlight of the report. Still, having an angel around does set off some alarms in his head, reminding him of just how serious the towers were.

And thus it ramped up his concerns even more. He was glad to know that the tower they were sent to has been cleared as he expected. What was not expected was the result. They already told him that the towers tend to explode upon being cleared, but even they didn't know the result of what would happen to the towers in Arcelot.

Now that it was known, it became a national issue. The area left behind the explosion was now completely devoid of mana, magical energy that has completely lived within Arcelot ever since the beginning of the pocket dimension. The true cause for concern is what would happen to the stability of that area.

If more explosions occurred like that, it was possible that it could disturb the natural pocket dimension's quarters, causing it to become chaotic for everyone living inside; people, monsters, and all other sorts of creatures that lived within the confines of the dimension.

Thankfully, the tower's explosion hasn't gone that far, and it would likely slowly recover in the next few decades, but that started to make the nobles who noticed the result start ramping up trouble.

Especially House Corran. After Hamil displayed that they were ordered by Cronus, House Corran and several other noble houses began to question his leadership for the umpthteen time. Even after displaying power beyond mortal understanding, the noble's way of twisting their perception of reality is probably on a god-like level even Cronus can't compare to. Apparently, if Cronus can't even help keep the dimension safe from these so-called invasive towers, then how is he supposed to keep their country safe?

Surely, someone from their own houses once they reach the Master-stage can do it better. If Cronus actually saw one of the nobles from the houses survive to Master without getting stabbed in the back or assassinated by the other houses, he'd gladly compete with them. As it stands now, he'd rather choke on the towers than to deal with them.

Eventually, he stood up from his chair and looked over the other side of his office. His mana surged and caused the normally decorated wall he faced to change its display, showing the window to the outside world from the top of his manor.

It was a beautiful sight. The capital city was alighted in bright lights and filled with colorful events from the passing of the season. It was a small event, but Cronus wouldn't take that away from them. Even he would enjoy the passing of the seasons every so often, but sometimes he was caught in his own head too much to truly take in.

Plus, once you see hundreds and hundreds of passing seasons, you have already seen them all at this point.

His darling wife stood next to him, linking her arms with his. She laid her head on his shoulder, the sweet scent wafting to Cronus and letting him relax in her gentle touch.

"Honey, tell me what's really on your mind," Isabelle finally said. Her voice was whimsical and chimed like a bell in his ears. "I can't read your reports enough to know your worries, your fears."

Cronus took a moment to gather his thoughts. "I don't care about the other nobles, about the towers. Honestly, the angel was a blessing. What I'm truly worried about is the cause of all this. Why is this happening?"

"You mean why did otherworlders appeared in the first place?" Isabelle asked. Cronus nodded in return.

"There's only one reason why this would happen in the first place. Something is about to happen, something that I haven't seen even after all this time that I've been alive. For all I know, it could be the end of the world. And I'm supposed to just sit back and wait for it to appear?"

"Isn't that why we made so many countermeasures?" Iaabelle asked. "Why we brought Zeke and Mikella over to us?"

"That's the thing–it's not enough," Cronus shook his head. "You saw the reports. There was one survivor in the tower. She died, but that didn't stop the implications from appearing. Just how many are there? How many have survived and are now hiding underneath our sights? I didn't even know my own student was hiding such individuals under my nose. What else could be hiding out there?"

Isabelle tightened her grip on his arm. "I admit… I'm a bit worried too. But honestly, I'm more concerned for those two. Especially that child…"

"I wish you would spare your concern for the country, darling," Cronus said with a bitter smile. "For all we know, this could be the very thing we fear. The otherworlders might actually try to invade us. Perhaps the System itself believes that our time in this world is over, and it is now time for a fresh start?"

"If that was the case, then why go such a roundabout way?" Isabelle countered easily. "Why not give us an infectious disease with no cure? Why not just summon a horde of Grandmaster-rank monsters everywhere across the world? You're thinking too small, Cronus."

Cronus actually shivered at the thought. His wife can be… a little bit too much for his imagination sometimes.

Cronus let out a defeated breath. "Yes, I suppose."

"And if what you said truly is the case, then I don't see how Zeke and Mikella have any intentions of invading us. If anything, they just want to live peacefully. Though, I can't say the same for the rest of the otherworlders. But then, isn't it small-minded to believe they all share the same ambitions? We can't say the same about ourselves."

Cronus hung his head back in mock surrender. "Alright, alright, I give. You win. Still, I'm surprised by how much you like them. Did they really strike your fancy that much?"

"Mmh… when I heard about the survivor," Isabelle's tone sombered a bit. "Dear, imagine being in a new world and the only times you see someone from your old world, they either perished or want to kill you? There is only so much misfortune they can handle, and at such a young age…"

The two were, by far, the oldest couple in the entire country. While Isabelle wasn't as old as Cronus–to them, people younger than their forties were practically children. No matter how advanced they are, time stays at the same mundane pace.

Cronus let out another tired breath. "Sure, why not add more shit to the pile? It's already started stinking up the place."

He rubbed his eyes in exaggerated exhaustion. At the corner of his eye, he noticed the little vixen smiling deviously at him.

Oh, she knew just how to ruffle his feathers, doesn't she?

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