>>>>>

  After being invited into the city, all of the undercover Night Raid members were amazed by what they saw. Since the chat group members were used to building cities with a modern feel (thanks to Kaitogakure in the Naruto world), on top of a spotless city, Paradise City was also built with modern architecture and materials-- something that had never existed before in this world.

  "Woah..."

  From the paved roads to the typical suburban homes and modern-looking city streetlights, Paradise City was the same as it was in the early 2000s, minus the vehicles, because the chat group members agreed that the world was not ready for such technology. (Although there were trains in this world.)

  "Welcome to Paradise City! Book Merchant Lubbock from Imperial Capital."

  Tatsumi, tasked with welcoming them directly, proudly introduced his living pce: "My name is Tatsumi, and I am a guard captain in this city."

  "I was tasked to guide your cart to your residence within the city, so I hope you're all willing to cooperate!"

  ...!!!

  While three of them have quite friendly expressions after hearing Tatsumi's words, in their mind, all of them realized something from his introduction.

  'We have been discovered!!' (Mine/Leone/Lubbock thought)

  Getting a city guard captain as their guide when entering the city, the Night Raid members naturally found it too suspicious and were heavily suspected that they might have been discovered by the owner of the city from the very beginning. However, despite that, the founder of this city let them in, so they concluded that they might fall into a trap!

  Now the unnatural expression of those powerful Teigu users makes sense, as everything has been pnned.

  Now they were thinking whether they should try to escape or continue pying their roles, continue infiltrating the city.

  Mine and Leone gnced at Lubbock, waiting for his order, and he just shook his head-- instructing that they would continue to py their roles and see what the city's ruler wanted to do to them.

  Since they were already inside the city, Lubbock knew it would probably be more impossible to get out, as it's impossible to get in. During their inspection, Lubbock had touched the outer wall of the city earlier and knew very well that the wall was 'alive', and Lubbock guessed the wall must be a sort of product of an unknown Teigu.

  Although it sounds unbelievable, Lubbock believes the enormous wall that surrounds the city is under control. This also expins why there's no one could enter the city by climbing the wall, and the safest method to enter the city is from the gate of city.

  ...

  "Uh, nice to meet you, Captain Tatsumi. My name is Lubbock, and here are my 2 clerks I have brought from the Capital." Lubbock introduces himself kindly and gives a wise expression, perfectly pying his role as an 'intellectual' book merchant from the Imperial Capital.

  "My name is Mine. Nice to meet you." Mine followed, doing her role perfectly as a taciturn clerk.

  "And my name is Leone! I hope this city is safe like the rumor we have heard on the outside!" Leone also introduced herself, doing her role as an over-friendly clerk... which is very suitable with her personality.

  Hearing Leone's words, Tatsumi tapped his chest with confidence: "I don't know how safe the Capital is, but I promise you with me here, we will do our best to make everyone in this pce feel comfortable and safe!"

  "You look so handsome, Captain Tatsumi!" Leone praised.

  "Ahahaha... I am not that good. I am just a small city guard captain."

  "But a captain is a very good position, right? You must be very famous here!" Leone continues baiting him.

  "No, I am truly not."

  Tatsumi felt embarrassed by her praise and then looked at the prosperous city that he was proud of. "Compared to Team 2, who developed and built this city in 3 days, they are the true heroes of the city!"

  "Team 2...? Is that the name of the group that built the city?" Lubbock inquired, "That's a weird name. There must be team 1, right? Can you expin their identity, Captain?"

  "Ah, I forgot you guys are new here!" Tatsumi nodded, "Let me expin to you how a group of people managed to build this city in three days."

  After that, along the way while bringing their caravan to their designated residence in the city, Tatsumi expined the history of this city, which was created about 2 weeks ago by a group who called themselves Team 2... and Tatsumi himself did not know if there was a Team 1 or Team 3 besides them.

  Tatsumi also expined how this city was mostly created by 1 person (Sakuya clone), but other members also helped build the city in various aspects - from government, source of food, technology, and security.

  All of their members are also very charismatic and have their specialty, especially their leader, Crocodile, who was able to convince all the citizens in a short time and lead the team 2 as the highest commander of the city-- alongside who also controls the wall of the city alone with his power.

  Hearing that this complex city was built in 3 days, Night Raid members naturally feel disbelief. Especially after hearing that the leader of this group was the one who built and controlled the city walls directly with his special powers.

  As Lubbock guessed earlier, no wonder that no spies managed to infiltrate this city, and they were gd that they had no pns to infiltrate this city by climbing the city walls secretly.

  Plus, according to Tatsumi, all members of Team 2 have very strong superpowers, some of them have terrifying powers like controlling lightning, sand, and wind.

  Learning all of these facts, to say trio Night Raid members feel desperate and in despair is an understatement.

  Especially after knowing one of them is capable of controlling a massive structure like the wall of the city... although they already got some precious information about this pce, now they are also not confident whether they were able to escape safely from this city!

  >>>>>

  After Tatsumi escorted the three of them to their designated home in the city, the three Night Raid members then explored their residence (a modern real estate style house) and made sure this pce was safe for them to talk about secret things.

  After making sure everything was okay and there was no surveilnce installed in their home, the three of them then gathered in the living room to report what they found so far.

  ...

  "This house is amazing."

  Mine, who admires how cool this house was, quickly praised, "I have never seen a house like this before, it is so clean, and the foundation material of the house is so solid!"

  "It seems that the owner of this city is paying extra attention to us, because this house, from what was observed, is very close to the heart of the city and was given to us for free because of our merchant status."

  Lubbock also gave his opinion, also clearly in doubt, "Even though it makes sense to give us such a strategic location for us to sell our book, you guys should already realize that we might have been discovered from the beginning."

  "I feel like the owners of this city let us in because they wanted to show us what this city is all about." Leone nodded and argued, "And I admit, so far, the rumors about the city are much better than I expected."

  "I have not seen any litter or trash on the street, and no one looks unhappy."

  "That's right!" Mine nodded in agreement and praised, "Aside from the house, some of the furniture in this house is also amazing, like that air conditioner box is truly something revolutionary! Something that could cool the room when the outside is hot is really good thing!"

  "That communication device is also great, something Tatsumi-san calls a smartphone." Lubbock, remember the weird device that Tatsumi used to contact the government of the city about their pcement, also added, "According to the guard captain, on top of delivering voice, it could also send a text message, voice recording, and direct monitoring."

  "A device like this is perfect for spying, but Tatsumi said it's freely avaible in the city as long as you have the money..."

  "I feel like the stuff and the city itself are way more futuristic than any pce in the Empire!" Mine nodded excitedly, "Lubbock, I want to explore this city to find information and buy that smartphone and other unique products in this city!"

  "Good idea." Lubbock quickly agreed, "I'll go to the government office to take care of my business permit and find out information about the identity of the group that leads this city, alongside their regution."

  "Since you two are out, I'll also go out to a pce where I can get information, like a tavern or bar." Leone said happily, excited to go out, "I'll try to find out directly what the residents who already live in this city whether they are truly happy or not!"

  "Very well." Lubbock easily accepted Leone's suggestion.

  After the three of them had sorted out their mission, they immediately went out of their residence and explored the city-- especially Mine, who was excited because this city, in her opinion, was the perfect city to live in after retiring from her Assassin job.

  >>>>>

  After walking for about 30 minutes, Mine stopped walking around because she didn't know where she was in the city. Thanks to the size of the city, Mine, who is still new in this pce, naturally easily got lost and has no idea where she is right now.

  "Oh man, I forgot to look at the map of this city in Lubbock because I was so excited."

  Mine facepalmed herself and muttered, "Where am I supposed to ask for the location of the market here... because this city might be even bigger than Imperial Capital despite newly built..."

  "But I admit, I like what's in this city, and all the people seem happy."

  Mine muttered with a smile, satisfied as she looked around with all people talking and walking around with a smile on their faces, "I even took the initiative to walk down the alley and under the bridge, and there wasn't a single homeless person there."

  ...

  As far as all the pces Mine has seen so far, this city is the perfect pce for retirement, and even much better than the city she wants to live in her dream.

  All the residents are happy, the security is guaranteed, it is clean from garbage, and there are so many things that amaze her like the smooth asphalt road, ton of glowing sign for each shop in the city, tamed Earth Dragon carriage going along in order, kind and respectable guard of the city and much more.

  The tap water in the city is safe to drink, and there are various job offer stations provided by 'government that any commoner could enter without qualification whatsoever. Thanks to that, so far Mine has not seen any unemployed or homeless people in the city at all... which in Mine opinion is a sort of miracle.

  In addition, this city also provides chairs to sit on every few meters-- allowing pedestrians to rest if they are tired, which Mine used right now.

  ...

  "What a good-looking city. Looking better than Imperial Capital since everything is so clean."

  "And it's also much safer, and I haven't found any slum area so far either."

  "Team 2 is doing a good job at managing this pce."

  ...

  While Mine was resting and happily observing her surroundings, suddenly, she recognized a brown-haired girl who was guarding the entrance gate this morning, clearly walking toward her.

  From the information from Tatsumi, the guard captain earlier, Mine already knew that this girl's name is Misaka Mikoto. She is the person who has a "lightning/thunder" power Teigu simir to General Budo, and was one of the strongest people in this city.

  This situation made Mine feel panicked, but she quickly calmed herself down after remembering her and her friend's situation, which in fact, who got trapped in this city. If she ran away from Misaka, it would only make Mine become suspicious, which would make their situation worse.

  Until they could find a way to escape this city safely, Mine knew that she really should try not to make trouble at all.

  Also, Mine is thinking that this might be a chance for her to get more information from Misaka directly, it's clear in her eyes that Misaka is very bad at acting, and she could tell she was coming for her. As a trained assassin, it was easy for her to read anyone's facial expression and tell their intention, whether good or bad.

  Her gut feeling told her that this kind girl had no ill intentions towards her, so she might as well try to 'py along' with her.

  As expected, a few seconds ter, when Misaka arrived in front of her, she immediately greeted Mine in a friendly manner, "Hello! I saw you this morning! What a coincidence!"

  "Y-Yeah... W-what coincidence..."

  Mine commented while doing her best not to compin in her mind, since Mine can tell Misaka's act is really, really bad, "Is there anything I can help? Anyway, thank you for helping us this morning!"

  "No problem, it's my job to let people enter the city safely!" Misaka replied proudly and introduced herself (acting), "My name is Misaka Mikoto, what's yours?"

  "Umm... my name is Mine, a clerk for Lubbock-san, the book businessman." Mine introduced herself as well, py along with her, "N-Nice to meet you, Misaka-san!"

  "Nice to meet you, too!" Misaka replied excitedly, thinking her acting so far is perfect, "So you must have been walking around the city here, right?"

  "Y-Yeah..."

  "I see. Do you like this city so far?"

  "Yes. I like it! The rumor didn't do justice, and everyone in this pce seems happy!"

  Hearing her question, Mine nodded honestly with excitement, then remembered the problem she was facing now, "But... Right now I'm trying to find the location of the market in this city, but I got lost because I don't have the map of the city yet."

  "Can you help me point out the direction of the market, Misaka-san?"

  ...!!!

  Hearing what Mine said, Misaka's eyes brightened up, and then she quickly invited her. Misaka already knew that Mine's hobby is shopping from memory, so she's not surprised and already has an idea how to get along with her quickly.

  As someone who comes from the modern era and has a simir hobby as a girl, the mall is the perfect pce for Mine to visit, and thankfully, this city does have a modern mall built in! (It was Misaka's request to Sakura)

  "So, are you here for shopping? If you don't mind, would you like to go to the mall with me?" Misaka invited with confidence and added, "I also have something I want to buy in there, and I can treat you to something in there!"

  "Mall? What is that?"

  Hearing the unfamiliar term from Misaka, Mine becomes wary, but her gut feeling tells her that the mall is something good.

  Besides, Mine think that if she accepts Misaka's invitation, she can build a good retionship with her and ask for information about this city better-- since she already knows that Misaka is one of the members who built this city.

  In the end, Mine accepts Misaka's offer based on trying to befriend her, but after visiting the mall and shopping together with Misaka, just in a single afternoon, Mine now treats Misaka as her best friend with simir interests and hobbies!