We finally stepped onto the pristine, glistening white plaza that marked the entry threshold to the 8th District… the absolute pinnacle of the capital's military and bureaucratic power, where the towering, cathedral-like spires of the central Knights Bureau pierced the skyline.
Stationed at the grand, gold-trimmed iron gates was a heavily armored figure leaning against a massive halberd. It was Damien, an elite vanguard gatekeeper who had known our family line for years. The moment our trio approached, his eyes widened, and he immediately straightened his posture, adjusting his polished steel breastplate.
"Well, hello ladies, The legendary 3rd-ranked Luminous Knight, and the Divine Goddess herself, holding her staff. Though, Lady Elicia, looking at your dress today, you look more like a gorgeous commoner out for a stroll than a fierce military commander. And you in the middle..."
His gaze finally drifted down to my 5'5" frame. He stared directly at my mismatched jade-green and crimson eyes, completely failing to feel any sense of recognition.
"It seems your eyes are quite wonderful, miss. Quite a bold look, joining in with these two powerful sisters for the day. Anyways, standard protocol for the high sector… toll and status cards, please."
Just like Renny and Luscious before him, Damien was completely blind to my true identity. The only "Eirene Rynd" he had ever known was a fragile, heavily scarred, and deeply traumatized archivist who always kept her face hidden beneath an ominous canvas hood, a dark face mask, and a thick trench coat. Today, I was dressed in a simple civilian dress, standing tall, and completely healed.
Since Elicia's continuous-nullification healing spell was perfectly active, humming like an invisible, warm shield over my skin, I decided I was completely done hiding in the shadows of my own family's sector. Moving with a fluid, deliberate grace, I reached up and smoothly pulled my deep canvas hood all the way down, fully exposing my silver-streaked hair and unblemished, pale face to the bright, open sunlight.
Damien blinked, staring right at my face, but he didn't even bother to question it. To his baseline perception, I was just a remarkably beautiful, healthy stranger hanging out with his commanding officers.
A heavy, exasperated sigh escaped Elicia's lips, her piercing crimson eyes flashing with an annoyed, protective glare as she slammed the butt of her high-tier healing staff against the marble tiles.
"Wait, Damien, don't you dare start treating Eirene like she's a total stranger, Look closely at her features. She is placed right here in the middle because she belongs here. Stop staring past her and read the bloodline similarity, you absolute blockhead." Elicia snapped, her voice dropping into a sharp, commanding academic octave that made the gatekeeper instantly stiffen. She gestured with a elegant hand toward my unhooded silhouette.
Damien's jaw dropped so fast I thought it would crack against his polished steel breastplate. He leaned forward, his eyes darting frantically between my unblemished face, my silver-streaked hair, and the sharp, distinctive lines of my bloodline features. He rubbed his eyes vigorously, completely throwing away his professional military posture.
"Eirene?! Is that really you? I barely recognized you there... by the gods, I had absolutely no idea you looked like that beneath the fabric!"
"My biological anomalies have been stabilized, Damien, Now, clear the administrative pathway. We have an appointment with Chief Roman."
Damien scrambled backward a step, his halberd rattling against his gauntleted hand as his eyes widened into dinner plates.
"Woah... hearing your actual voice seems like I'm completely tripping right now! I didn't knew that a bounty hunter who always walks into the Bureau… this silent, completely mute shadow in a hooded trench coat with a dark mask on… could look entirely different. You look like a high-tier noble!"
He paused, his gaze dropping down to evaluate my 5'5" frame as I stood squarely between my two sisters. A deeply amused, mocking smirk suddenly crossed his face as his old, arrogant gatekeeper habits briefly slipped back out.
"But seeing you placed right here in the middle... man, both of them completely surpassed you on both height and your breast size. Standing next to the 3rd-ranked Luminous Knight and the Divine Goddess herself... what a total genetic joke, Eirene. You're like a little stepping stone between two mountains."
A dangerous, icy vein immediately throbbed on my forehead. My left eye flashed a violent, predatory crimson under the bright sunlight, and my right hand instinctively twitched, my brain momentarily forgetting that my four custom-branded firearms were currently being melted down and retrofitted with mist-bayonets at the 6th District forge. If I had Means of Communication in my inventory ring right now, Damien would be having a close-range dialogue with a face full of buckshot.
Elicia quickly patted my shoulder, a sudden, heavy wave of holy mana pulsing from her high-tier staff to keep my Phase 5 vampiric core from incinerating the gatekeeper where he stood.
"Anyway, jokes aside, Toll and status cards. Standard operational procedure for the central headquarters." Damien chuckled, entirely oblivious to the fact that he had just stepped within a microsecond of an absolute slaughter.
"I'll do the honors!" Evelyn chimed in, stepping forward with her usual childish cheer to break the freezing tension.
True to her routine, she dug into the pouches of her white-and-scarlet Luminous Knight armor, pulling out the exact coin amount for our group alongside our identification tokens. She tossed the silver pieces to Damien, who caught them cleanly with a submissive nod, rapidly stamping our clearance ledger and waving us through the grand gold-trimmed thresholds. With the gatekeeper thoroughly stunned, the path to Chief Roman's central office finally lay completely wide open ahead of us.
We moved past the gate, our boots clicking sharply against the polished, immaculate porcelain tiles that lined the grand entrance of the 8th District. The pristine white flooring reflected the bright afternoon sun, making the entire central plaza look like a holy cathedral dedicated to the capital's military absolute power.
As we walked, Evelyn slowed her majestic 5'6" stride just a fraction, her forest-green eyes drifting downward to systematically analyze my 5'5" frame. A deeply mischievous, childlike grin split across her voluptuous face as she wrapped her arms behind her head, her bioluminescent hair tips pulsing a bright, teasing shade of yellow.
"You know, Eirene... true to what Damien had just said, you really are small, Look at your height! In fact, chronologically, you're literally older than me, yet I still look like your big sister from every angle!" Evelyn drawled mockingly, giggling as she deliberately stood up as straight as possible to emphasize her height advantage.
Elicia let out a soft, elegant chuckle, her pristine silver hair catching the sunlight as she adjusted her grip on her high-tier healing staff.
"She isn't entirely wrong, little Ren. Despite your terrifying combat efficiency and your evolutionary strain, you still retain the petite, fragile proportions of the little archivist we used to protect. It's quite an adorable contrast to your reputation as the Crimson Phantom."
A visible vein throbbed on my forehead. I stopped dead in my tracks right there on the pristine porcelain tiles. I turned around to face them, my posture radiating a freezing, razor-sharp pressure. My mismatched eyes… my right eye glowing a dangerous, predatory crimson red, and my left eye shining a cold, analytical jade green… locked onto both of them simultaneously.
"Hey, hey, sisters. Watch your mouths," I snapped, my smooth, entirely restored voice carrying a dangerous octave that caused the nearby ambient mana to drop by several degrees.
I pointed a sharp finger directly at our youngest sister's chest.
"You, Evelyn… stop teasing me about my height. Even though you're an accelerated slime hybrid who can shapeshift into a voluptuous woman, you're still just a six-year-old child inside who relies on me for strawberry jam. Keep pushing your luck, and I'll cut off your sugar supply permanently."
Shifting my glaring mismatched eyes toward our eldest sister, I crossed my arms over my dress.
"And you, big sister… don't try to shush me with that maternal tone. Let's not forget the reality of our survival in the dark. I literally carried your large, unconscious body out of the absolute depths of that catastrophic northern border zone when your elite vanguard division was completely obliterated. My 'small' frame was the only thing standing between you and a shallow grave in the snow."
Elicia's breath hitched slightly, a wave of profound fondness and slight embarrassment flushing across her beautiful features as she raised her hands in a gentle gesture of surrender. Evelyn quickly puffed out her cheeks, her hair tips rapidly shifting back to a compliant, apologetic blue-green rhythm at the mention of her beloved jam.
"Fair point, little Ren, Your tactical weight far exceeds your physical measurements. Now, let us regain our composure. The tribunal awaits."
Turning back around, I smoothed down the fabric of my simple civilian dress and led our trio forward. A few moments later, we crossed the final threshold, standing directly before the towering, obsidian double doors of the Capital Knights Bureau Association. The heart of the kingdom's military apparatus was finally right in front of us, and Chief Roman was sitting just beyond the glass.