Night settled over the Inner City, the cool wind moving through its stone corridors and whispering along the high ramparts. Beneath the shadow of the northern wall, five figures emerged—silent, uniformed, and deliberate.

Elara and Alina led the formation. Behind them followed Mino, Sophia, and Agni Moon, each dressed in tailored combat uniforms that blended into the muted stone. Tonight's mission was simple in concept, difficult in execution: conduct a surprise infiltration drill against the city defense army. The goal was to test their vigilance—and to remind them that complacency was a luxury Black Tortoise City could not afford.

Elara crouched low and signaled toward Alina with two fingers, then motioned to the others to hold position.

We go first. You follow after.

Luciel's training echoed in all their movements. Every hand signal, every shift of weight had meaning—directions, numbers, movement, halt. The team needed no words now.

Minuo responded with a quick "OK" gesture. The earless girl, once shy and uncertain, had settled into the group naturally. Her silence had turned into focus, her fear into awareness.

Elara and Alina exchanged a brief glance—acknowledgment without words—and began their climb. Both moved with practiced precision, scaling the wall like shadows. At their level of strength, the height posed no challenge; it was the silence that mattered.

Halfway up, they paused, pressed against the cold stone, listening.

Two patrolmen strolled along the parapet above, their boots scraping softly against the wall's edge.

"Every night's the same. Too damn cold up here," one grumbled.

"Yeah. I miss Moon Lake. At least it didn't freeze your breath."

"Black Tortoise City's too high. No one would be stupid enough to climb this far up anyway. Let's just head back."

"Not yet," the second warned. "Captain said full patrol or we lose contribution points."

Elara caught Alina's eye. The two women nodded, wordlessly coordinated.

They moved at once. In near unison, both vaulted the final stretch and landed behind the patrols with the lightness of cats. Each drew a folded cloth and a small pottery vial from her belt. Uncorking the bottles, they dampened the cloths with a faintly sweet-smelling vapor—their custom sedative, strong enough to fell an ox, harmless enough to wear off by dawn.

Holding their breath, they approached.

Two swift kicks struck the backs of the soldiers' knees, forcing them down. The women clamped the cloths over the men's mouths before a sound could escape. A single precise strike to the neck finished the job. The patrolmen slumped silently to the stones.

"They'll sleep until sunrise," Elara said evenly.

She retrieved a bottle of ink and a small brush from her pouch, then marked a dark slash across one man's cheek and a mock throat wound across the other.

"Exercise confirmed," she murmured. "Neutralized."

Alina mirrored the gesture on her target. The marks would tell the training officers which patrols had been "killed" in the mock operation.

With the perimeter secure, they uncoiled a rope, dropped it over the side, and motioned downward. Three silhouettes began their climb. Within moments, Minuo, Agni Moon, and Sophia joined them atop the battlement.

Elara gestured toward a dark tower across the inner wall. "Next target: the First Army post at the wall tower," she ordered. "Alina and I handle sedation. You three focus on tagging."

She didn't trust the others yet with close contact work; mistakes would blow the exercise and could get someone hurt.

Agni Moon nodded sharply. "Understood."

"Got it," said Minuo.

Sophia said nothing, only nodded, her face pale beneath the moonlight.

"Move out," Elara whispered.

The group advanced along the narrow wall, crouched low. The stones were slick with dew, their breaths thin and even. Beyond the parapet, the city sprawled below—dark rooftops, distant lamps, a thin coil of smoke drifting from the barracks.

For the three newcomers—Minuo, Sophia, and Agni Moon—the operation carried a dangerous thrill. Every shadow seemed alive, every sound magnified. They had studied under Luciel, but this was different—this was no lesson on paper. This was the rhythm of an actual mission.

The Inner City wall connected seamlessly to the outer ramparts of The Wall fortress, and the transition passed unnoticed. Soon, the tower loomed ahead, faint light flickering through its windows.

Inside, the city defense soldiers were anything but alert. A handful sat slumped around a dying firepit, some nodding off, others chatting lazily. No sentries stood at the entrance. No lookouts. No sign of discipline.

Elara's jaw tightened.

If this had been a real infiltration… they'd all be dead already.

She motioned toward the doorway. "Clear them quietly."

Within moments, she and Alina slipped inside, dispatching the drowsy guards one by one with swift, practiced efficiency. Each was rendered unconscious, their bodies gently lowered to the floor to avoid sound. Only the captain of the guard remained—a man dozing over a half-empty mug at his desk.

Elara turned to the others. "The rest is yours," she whispered. "We'll handle the captain."

Alina disappeared into the interior chamber.

Agni Moon immediately set down her ink kit beside the firepit, her eyes gleaming with a strange mix of focus and excitement.

"All right," she said under her breath, "let's make this one count."

Minuo knelt beside her, brush already in hand. "Copy that."

Sophia stood rigid nearby, her gaze darting nervously between the sleeping soldiers and the shadows of the tower. She clutched her brush so tightly her knuckles turned white.

Then, through the dim firelight, she saw Alina return—dragging a man by his collar across the floor.

Her father.

Alec, captain of the guard, unconscious, his beard pressed against the stone. The sight froze Sophia in place.

Elara's voice was cold but practical. "He's yours, Sophia. Mark him."

"Me?" The girl's voice trembled.

"Yes. You heard the order. We have two more fortresses to hit. Move."

Sophia hesitated, staring down at her father's familiar face. The strong, stern features that had always seemed unbreakable now looked strangely vulnerable in sleep. For a moment, she whispered under her breath, Please don't get angry tomorrow…

But duty overrode sentiment. "All right," she murmured, kneeling beside him.

She opened her pouch, hands shaking slightly. Her brush hovered over his cheek—then paused. The man's thick beard covered half his face, making it impossible to mark properly. After a moment's thought, she sighed, drew her knife, and began to shave it away.

The rasp of metal on coarse hair filled the silence.

Four pairs of eyes turned toward her in disbelief.

Elara blinked. "Does she hate her father?" she muttered under her breath.

Minuo shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Then why—?"

"She probably just wants a clear surface," Agni Moon whispered back, half-amused.

Elara wasn't entirely convinced. Intelligence reports had mentioned Alec's attachment to that beard. It was a matter of pride—his symbol of authority. Losing it, even in a training exercise, would sting.

Sophia, oblivious to their stares, set her blade aside and wiped her father's face clean.

"Okay," she said softly. "Now I can paint."

With quick, careful strokes, she inked exaggerated dark circles beneath his eyes and dotted fake stubble along his jawline—then, inexplicably, drew a thick, cartoonish beard where the real one had been.

"Perfect," she said with a small, proud smile.

The others stood frozen for a beat before Elara finally exhaled.

"Nothing," she said flatly. "Let's move."

Minuo gave Sophia a thumbs-up. "Good work."

Sophia flushed pink but smiled anyway.

"Next target," Alina ordered, already heading for the door. "We've got two fortresses left. If they're as sloppy as this one, the whole defense network's in trouble."

The team filed out in formation, their footsteps silent against the stone. The fire behind them guttered low, flickering across the sleeping soldiers and one freshly shaven captain.

As they crossed the connecting ramp toward the next tower, Minuo glanced back at the dark silhouette of The Wall.

"If every fortress is like this," she said quietly, "they're in for a harsh debrief tomorrow."

Agni Moon gave a wry smirk. "Better now than during a real attack."

Sophia followed silently, the weight of what she'd done sinking in. Her mind replayed the moment she'd shaved her father's beard—the proud symbol he wore every day in front of his troops. She imagined him waking at dawn, groggy and confused, facing Luciel's stern eyes with that ridiculous inked-on beard.

Her stomach tightened.

Maybe I'll… take a few extra shifts at the mansion tomorrow, she thought. Or the next few days. Or weeks.

"Stay focused," Elara's voice cut through her thoughts. "We finish the operation before sunrise."

Sophia nodded quickly, forcing her thoughts away.

The five women disappeared into the shadows once more—five phantoms against the moonlit stone, their movements synchronized, their presence barely more than a whisper in the night. Above them, the wind shifted, carrying the faint scent of ink, oil, and cold stone.

Far below, the city slept unaware.

Tonight's exercise was only a simulation—but its lesson was real. Black Tortoise City's defenses were strong in walls, weak in vigilance. The Ghost Unit had proven that a determined infiltrator could breach its heart without a single alarm raised.

And as the night stretched on, the five figures vanished into the darkness, leaving only silence, a few faint brush marks, and a captain's missing beard as evidence of their passing.

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