Renaxan

  >>>>>

  At the secret base of Night Raid, Najenda, who had returned from the revolutionary army headquarters, immediately gathered her subordinates to discuss the new mission she had received, which was to infiltrate the new city and gather information from it. Najenda then expined the mission objective she had received, the information known so far, and her own opinion about this mission.

  "The existence of a city that promises its residents safety and prosperity is too much of a fantasy, so in the opinion of high-ranking members of the revolutionary army, there is a high possibility that this city is just a lie or facade," Najenda commented.

  "..."

  Mine, a pink-haired girl with twin tails, immediately expressed her opinion, "However, if that is true... isn't this a good thing?"

  As someone who had a difficult childhood and had to move around to survive, Mine also dreamed of living in a pce where safety and comfort were guaranteed. In fact, she always had a goal after leaving the Night Raid group: Mine wanted to live in peace and enjoy the fruits of her bor.

  If this city were true as rumored, Mine would certainly be interested in living there after getting retired from Night Raid.

  "If it is true, of course, this is a good thing." Najenda nodded in agreement.

  Leone, another night raid member who was a wild blonde-haired girl, immediately commented with a frown, "But if that's true... honestly, leader, I don't like following up orders from the higher-ups."

  "Forcing them to cooperate..." But, a middle-aged man who was a burly member of the night raid and ex-Empire soldier, also had an opinion: "If the city is proven to be safe and has no intention of competing with the revolutionary army for the Empire, should we still attack them and force them to join in?"

  "..."

  Hearing But's opinion, all the members fell silent and couldn't answer, including Najenda herself, who was initially sure to do this mission.

  "I think... we can still invite them, but... don't force them." Sheele, a young woman with gsses and long purple hair and night raid member giving her opinion.

  "You're right, Sheele." Mine nodded optimistically, "If this Paradise city is true according to the rumors and doesn't want to interfere with the fight with the Empire, it's better just to leave it alone."

  "If the rumors are true, it's quite logical that the city owner wouldn't want to join the revolutionary army."

  Lubbock, a member of the Night raid and another ex-Empire soldier, a green-haired man, expined, "After all, if they join the revolutionary army, the Empire will target their city, and that's not a good thing for the peace and prosperity of the city itself."

  "That makes sense."

  ...

  After discussing and debating on what to do in carrying out the mission, Najenda finally decided that Mine, Lubbock, and Leone would carry out this mission.

  As the 3 people who walk around the Imperial Capital the most among the other Night Raid members (because they don't have wanted posters), these 3 people are the most suitable to carry out this infiltration mission. They can't afford testing the chance whether Paradise City knows about their wanted posters.

  ...

  >>>>>

  In the Paradise City, Misaka and Hisako are busy guarding the city entrance as usual every day... but today was especially important. Because they heard that there will be a lot of merchant groups visiting and staying in the city from this morning, Crocodile is also giving them additional help to do their job.

  The help Crocodile granted to them was the group of Paradise city guard, specially trained by Saber to guard and patrol the city, which is made up of young men and women from the vilge who want to help protect their living pce.

  In this group, among them are the protagonists of this world, Tatsumi and his two childhood friends, Ieyasu and Sayu, who in the original plot were killed in the Imperial Capital when they first arrived-- but now they were still alive and thriving.

  ...

  "We're going to be pretty busy today, so please take care of us!" Misaka greets everyone enthusiastically, "Let's do our best, everyone!"

  As the person who is responsible for guarding the city from outside threats, Misaka also considers all of these guards as colleagues who should be respected and treated equally. This kind of action naturally gathers fans for her, especially when Misaka's appearance is quite cute and pretty.

  In fact, among all Team 2 members, Misaka has the second highest fan number, only behind Uta.

  ...

  ""Yess!!""

  "Misaka-sama is very friendly as usual!" (A)

  "As expected, Misaka-sama is the most beautiful and kind person among the team 2 group!" (B)

  "Shouldn't that be for Uta-sama? But Misaka-san is indeed the second most beautiful!" (C)

  "Don't forget Nico Robin-sama! And also Hisako-sama is no less beautiful and her cooking is number 1 in the city!" (D)

  ""You're right."" (A/B/C)

  "Stop gossiping and get ready on the spot," Misaka grumbles, "If you guys have time to talk such a waste of time topic, you better work harder today!"

  ""Yes, Misaka-sama!!"" (Everyone)

  "Tatsumi!"

  "I am here, guard captain of Paradise City, ready to accept your order!"

  Hearing his name called, Tatsumi, who was appointed as the guard captain in the city by Crocodile (bad taste), immediately stepped forward to face Misaka.

  "Open the city gates and let the line of merchants in! Make sure they are properly registered and guide them to the avaible houses in the city."

  "While on it, Hisako and I will detect those who are endangering the city among them."

  "Do you understand?"

  "Yes, understand!!"

  Thanks to Sakuya's construction skills, the city has a lot of infrastructure and ready-to-live-in houses-- and now the city only cks residents and has no problem receiving a lot of merchants and guests who want to stay. Every day, they receive residents who want to live here, and they welcome them warmly, and among the merchants and businessmen also live here.

  ...

  Tatsumi, who understands how important this business is, seriously saluted her and asked, "Okay! Do you have any more orders, Misaka-sama?"

  "If you all do this job well, I'll treat you to Hisako's cooking!"

  "Misaka-san..." (Hisako)

  ""WOOOOO!!"" (Everyone)

  Hearing Misaka's promise, all the guards immediately became enthusiastic because they knew how delicious Hisako's cooking was. As important members of the town, they had tasted her cooking before, and all agreed that her cooking was the best they had tasted in their entire lives!

  "That's okay for you, right? Hisako-san." Seeing everyone getting excited and serious, Misaka nudged Hisako with a teasing tone, "I will help massage your muscles and shoulders after you're done cooking for everyone."

  "Geez, Misaka-san." Hisako just wryly smiled, "Alright, as long as you keep your promise too."

  "Sure!"

  After the brief briefing between Misaka and the guard team went smoothly, they then went straight to work by opening the city gates and letting the visitors, including the merchants' group, into the city.

  >>>>>

  When the gate was opened, hundreds of visitors entered one by one and were checked carefully by Misaka, Hisako, and the guards.

  The merchant group, in particur, was specifically getting checked thoroughly, starting from the permits they had, the type of stuff they wanted to sell in the city, and whether they would stay in the city or not.

  Among the group of merchant carts lined up, one of the carts was owned by Night Raid members, who disguised themselves as merchants who wanted to enter the city and hoped that they would be able to enter smoothly. Using his identity as a bookstore owner in the Imperial Capital, Lubbock came to Paradise City openly with a legal permit and his commodity (books).

  Lubbock also let Leone and Mine disguise themselves as his clerks, and they were currently waiting in line for their turn to be checked.

  ...

  "This is going to take quite some time..." Mine looked at the long line that stretched dozens of meters to the gate, "Even though we have used the special merchant queue, we still have to queue for a long time."

  "From what I heard from other merchants, this city gets thousands of visitors every single day." Leone nodded in agreement, "And some of them swear that this is a dream city to live in."

  "For now, we can only hope that the Teigu user doesn't see through our disguise."

  Lubbock commented, sitting in front while controlling the horse carrying his cart, "From what I see, the reason why the line is long is because of the strict identity check, which takes quite a while."

  "Anyway, we don't know how the Teigu guards detected all the spies who wanted to enter beforehand. But if we get caught, get ready to run away."

  Hearing Lubbock's order, both Leone and Mine agreed because they weren't here on a mission to cause trouble. Even if they were caught, they didn't pn to fight back because, in a way, if they were caught, they would still be considered successful in entering the city and could seek information as prisoners.

  ...

  Unfortunately for the three of them, even though they disguised themselves well, their disguise is bound to fail-- as Hisako and Misaka, who knew their appearance from their memories, knew their identities already.

  At the moment, both Hisako and Misaka are watching their cart carefully while asking for orders on what to do in the chat group.

  ...

  =====

  [Railgun Girl]: "Both Hisako and I recognize 3 of the Night Raid members are here in the queue to enter the city, disguising themselves as a merchant! What should we do to them?"

  [God Tongue Secretary]: "Indeed. Should me and Misaka took action to capture them now?"

  [Owner]: "Well, that's quite fast."

  [Nico Robin]: "Indeed. I thought Night Raid won't come to us, considering they are staying in Imperial Capital, but I guess I was wrong."

  [Baroque Works Leader]: "@Railgun Girl, @God Tongue Secretary, Who are they?"

  [God Tongue Secretary]: "A green-haired guy who wears thread, a blonde girl who can transform into a beastman, and a purple-haired main heroine with a gun."

  [Mage of Exodus]: "So it's Lubbock, Leone, and Mine. They are there to sneak into your city."

  [Baroque Works Leader]: "It's easy to guess. Seems Revolutionary army faction is getting impatient and uses one of their ACE team."

  [Owner]: "Speaking of what, Najenda picked good people to do the infiltration task among her members."

  [Baroque Works Leader]: "From the memories, Lubbock has another identity, a famous bookstore owner in the Imperial Capital. That kind of identity is perfect to use to sneak into the city as a merchant since he does have a legal document from the Empire for his business establishment."

  [Railgun Girl]: "Forget about that! What should we do? Should we arrest them, or chase them away?!"

  [Owner]: "Not sure. You should ask Crocodile since he is your leader."

  [Necromancer]: +1

  [Queen of Sekire: +2

  [Railgun Girl]: "Why are you acting so irresponsibly?! You are a leader, right?"

  [Owner]: "Sorry, I am currently busy hunting Gastrea creatures sneaking into the city. Even though I can teleport around, this city is so big that I have difficulty finding it!"

  Considering the size of Tokyo, one of the most poputed and biggest cities in the world, Kaito wasn't lying about that. He probably could send a lot of clones, but doing that is very problematic, as he doesn't want people to find out his specialty yet.

  ...

  [Mage of Exodus]: "@Baroque Works Leader. Give us your idea, and I will help."

  [Baroque Works Leader]: "I think it could be worth befriending them since they are the protagonists too. So maybe let them in? What do you think, @Mage of Exodus?"

  [Mage of Exodus]: "Let them in... Yeah, it could be done. You might as well recruit them to work for you."

  [Baroque Works Leader]: "Oh, tell me your idea, Miss Aika."

  [Mage of Exodus]: "According to memory, your goal and the Night Raid's goal to make the Empire a better pce are the same. We can convince them to join us instead of staying in the Revolutionary arm by telling them they also wanted to achieve the same, but without working with other foreign forces."

  [Baroque Works Leader]: "Snatch them away, huh? I like that idea."

  ...

  Looking at a proposal that Aika provided in the chat group, Crocodile couldn't help but want to do it right away. A competent assassin group under his leadership would be a good thing to have, especially since he also wanted to open up the underworld network in this world, and Night Raid would be more familiar with that than he was.

  ...

  [Mage of Exodus]: "With your intellect... You can convince them, right? Crocodile? Or do you need my help to convince them?"

  [Baroque Works Leader]: "No, let us try on our own. At worst, I can always arrest them on the spot and force them to work for us."

  [Railgun Girl]: "Why do you sound like a criminal..."

  [Baroque Works Leader]: "I am a criminal, Misaka."

  [Owner]: "I think you shouldn't be too honest about that Crocodile."

  [Caped Baldy]: "I am watching here."

  [Musician of Red Hair Pirates]: "Me too."

  [Nico Robin]: "Pffft... Watch your step, Mr. Zero."

  [Baroque Works Leader]: "...Don't worry, everyone. I don't have any pn to harm them. Like Aika said, they are still the protagonist of this world, and harming them might do no good at all.

  Looking at all of his team members pop up in the chat group of out of nowhere, Crocodile admits he is scared and reminded him why he really shouldn't doing stupid thing in this world.

  ...

  [Baroque Works Leader]: "@Railgun Girl, just let them in and I will formute a pn to convince them to work for us."

  [Owner]: "Good pn?"

  [Baroque Works Leader]: "I won't force or coerce any of them, I promise."

  [Owner]: "Pffft..."

  [Mage of Exodus]: "Pffft..."

  [Railgun Girl]: "Pffft... Alright, anyway, so, pretend to not know them and let them in inside the city?"

  [Baroque Works Leader]: "Yeah, let them in."

  [Railgun Girl]: "Got it."

  ...

  Knowing Night Raid from memory, Misaka and Hisako honestly didn't mind letting them in to live in the Paradise city, since they were a group of good guys who were forced to kill bad guys. Especially Misaka, who liked to punish bad guys in Academy City and had experience maintaining order in SAO, was very much in favor of what Night Raid did-- albeit she doesn't express it openly.

  [Baroque Works Leader]: "Ah... speaking of which, let Tatsumi guide them when they come inside the city."

  [Mage of Exodus]: "Pffft... I didn't expect you to have such a bad taste, Crocodile."

  [Baroque Works Leader]: "Since they get along in the original plot, they should be able to get along here too."

  [Owner]: "That's true. I also want to see whether Tatsumi and Mine will still be together after you guys disrupted the plot."

  [Root Princess]: "Not Esdeath x Tatsumi?"

  [Mage of Exodus]: "Manaka... Esdeath is not a good woman to be a partner."

  [Root Princess]: "Is it? I think she is pretty cute with how obsessed she was when she fell in love."

  [Mage of Exodus]: "Like how obsessed you are with our Kaito?"

  [Root Princess]: "Ara... Are you jealous?"

  [Mage of Exodus]: "Absolutely not. But I admit you made me feel threatened, and I need to be wary of your moves all the time."

  [Root Princess]: "Pffft... So do I."

  [Mage of Exodus]: "Let's compete fairly, and I hope you don't cheat."

  [Owner]: "Don't fight again, you guys..."

  [Root Princess]: "We won't. @Owner, speaking of which, your business of hunting Gastrea creatures is done?"

  [Owner]: "Yeah, I am done. I create a sort of mini Gungnir made of Varanium and let it fly to the target automatically after receiving the coordinates from Kayaba. It's going to make the news, though, but I don't care because no one can find the truth about it."

  [SAO Administrator]: "Gd I can help you, Kaito."

  [Owner]: "Yeah, thanks!"

  [Mage of Exodus]: "Mini Gungnir? Isn't that quite wasteful for you to do?"

  [Owner]: "Yes, but at least it saves me time. Why do you think I can chat here leisurely right now?"

  [Railgun Girl]: "..."

  [Mage of Exodus]: "..."

  =====

  After confirming what to do, Misaka and Hisako immediately closed the chat group to return to focus on work. When it was the Night Raid members' turn to enter, as per Crocodile's orders, they were allowed to enter the city without any problems, and Hisako then told Tatsumi to guide them inside the city.

  Thanks to this, Trio Night Raid members, who had been on high alert initially, did not expect them to enter the city easily and wondered whether the report was fake, that it was hard to enter the city, and were still on their guard because of it.

  Though, the moment they entered the city, those Night Raid members didn't realize they couldn't escape if they wanted to.