POV Lyanna:"Ah... I shouldn’t have come along..." I sighed, letting out a long breath lazily, even though my feet kept moving, following Cedric in front.—Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.—I glanced back. Those bandits, now wearing armor and holding weapons, were walking in sync even in the forest. My face turned sour."Hah... ANNOYING!!" I shouted while raising my hand to the sky, venting all the irritation that had built up."Just accept it," said Cedric casually, still looking straight ahead.—Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.—I turned to him with a pout. "Hmmm..."—Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.—"That’s an order from the Prince too," he added, still not looking my way."But why do we have to disguise ourselves as bandits..." I grumbled, annoyed.I glanced back again. "And to do a mission together with them too…"—Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.—They walked in unison, their steps almost like a military unit."They’re not bandits anymore. Look at their discipline… they’re more like real soldiers

After Cedric incapacitated their leader, I contacted him through the earpiece. “Seems too easy… I feel like I’m just a spectator here,” I said lazily, watching their fight from a distance. —Whoosh! Whoosh!— Cedric deflected several arrows flying toward him. —TING! TING! TING!— “Don’t let your guard down… something’s off here,” Cedric said seriously. I noticed that the arrows kept coming, even though their leader had already fallen, and most of them were paralyzed by poison. —Whoosh! Whoosh!— —TING! TING! TING!— “This is really strange…” Cedric muttered, his voice clearly audible through my earpiece. Twip. Twip. Twip. While shooting arrows at a few remaining enemies who still looked threatening, I asked, “What do you mean? I don’t get it…” I said, confused, my eyes scanning for danger. Twip. Twip. Twip. “Hah…” Cedric sighed in resignation. —TING! TING! TING!— While blocking attacks, he explained, “In a normal fight, they’d have surrendered by now. If not fled, at least

Three hours later,Victor, who was still busy drawing magic runes on the components and assembling several parts, began to lose focus.Outside, it was already late at night.“Looks like that’s enough for today…” he muttered, leaving all the tools where they were and walking out of the room.As soon as he stepped out, Victor saw Liselotte cleaning Magic Illusion Device No.1.“Lise…” he called, walking toward Magic Illusion Device No.2, which wasn’t being used.When Liselotte turned around and bowed, “Prince.”Victor nodded and said, “Reina will likely bring the children. Make sure the beds and food are ready,” he said seriously while checking the settings on Magic Illusion Device No.2.Liselotte simply nodded, “Understood, Prince…” then started walking toward the back.Seeing that, Victor stopped her, “Ah, wait… one more thing,” he said, stepping toward Magic Illusion Device No.1.After Liselotte turned to him,“Ask Brunhild if that place is ready. If it is, take the children there,” s

"Reina… that's enough. It seems the data is already complete," said Victor through his earphone, though his eyes were still focused on writing down the data from the AMP suit he was analyzing.A few seconds later, Reina’s voice came through the communication channel,"FINALLY!!! I'm free from this slave labor!!!"Hearing that, Victor only sighed, a little annoyed, but chose not to respond further.He watched Reina, who was controlling the AMP suit, jump out of the large hole she had dug. Once Reina got down from the cockpit, Victor walked closer."So? Worker Mecha Type 1 is pretty good, right?" Victor asked happily while jotting down several small notes regarding potential improvements or component additions based on its performance when operated by Reina.Reina descended, then tidied her long black hair with a smooth motion. She pouted slightly, then asked in a confused tone,"Why is it called ‘Worker’…? Isn’t that too… plain?""That’s exactly why it fits, right?" Victor replied casu

After resolving the issue of Lyanna and Reina’s reports that previously did not match,Victor looked at the two of them who were standing silently.“Reina, Lyanna… call Cedric and Rhoderic. It seems we need a strategy to deal with those ‘imperial puppets,’” he said with a serious tone.The two of them replied at the same time, “Yes, sir!” then gave a knightly salute with full determination.Victor nodded, and they immediately turned around, stepping out of the room quickly with firm strides.He watched their backs until they disappeared from sight, then lowered his gaze again to check the notes containing all the information about Crimson Talon that he had compiled, reading them once more carefully.One hour later, after Victor confirmed that everyone had arrived and entered one by one—Lyanna, Reina, Cedric, and Rhoderic—he opened the discussion.“Oh, you’re all here. Please sit… This discussion is very important for my next plan,” he said casually while taking out paper, ink, and a p