Chapter 92: Infiltration(8): Trek to The Empire Pt. 5

It was the seventh day since we went past Silvland, and we were continuing on our way, after a quick breakfast of berries and fried pheasant. Yeah, a weird combo, but it's not like we could pick and choose, we just ate whatever was around the area we had stopped at. And besides, taste-wise, we had no complaints. 

Anyway, we were on the cart, rapidly making our way to our mission destination. Les and Selesa were up front, driving the cart with their stolen appearances. Misen and I were at the back, inside the invisibility and soundproof barriers. I was the most well rested of the group, thanks to recovering my stamina by draining that woman's life force. 

Since we were on a cart, we'd be getting there sooner than we would have on foot, so any minute now... 

"How did I get dragged into this, anyway? The past year or so has been awful, I've just been saddled with responsibility after responsibility, it's fucking stressing me out," Misen grumbled irritably, fidgeting slightly. 

He was starting to get nervous, which wasn't exactly surprising, considering that we'd soon be just one mistake away from dying. 

"Quit your complaining, just focus on maintaining your Lightning Sensory Field at the right level, if it's too weak you won't be able to sense anything, and if it's too strong you'll alert the enemies."

"Tch, I don't need you to state the obvious, I know what I'm doing. You're so annoying," He muttered, looking a little less nervous after snapping at me. 

We could see and hear each other since we were both inside the barriers, but we were invisible and inaudible to anyone outside of them, including the two other members of this group. We had agreed that as soon as Misen detected anyone with his Sensory Field, I'd toss a small stone up to the front of the cart, that'd be the cue for the other two to slow the cart down. 

As soon as they slowed down, Misen and I would jump off the cart, split up using the individual invisibility and soundproof barriers, and quickly go looking for someone who's a physical match to us, kill them after stealing their appearances, and then regroup so that we'd all know what each other looks like. Well, a physical match didn't matter much to me, so I'll focus more on an Elemental type match, and for someone who looks like they're high ranked, or at least not a pawn. 

Oh, and as we jump off, we would also damage one of the wheels of the cart to slow it down, I planned to hit it with the sheath of my sword so that it could be passed off as a strike from a Phoenix's beak. If we didn't slow the cart down, it'd be hard to catch up and regroup. But if it was moving slowly, we'd have enough time to find an ideal target to take over and then regroup. 

We had agreed on the signals to indicate who we were, in case there were too many others around when we regroup. My signal would be a specific sounding clearing of my throat, while Misen's signal was to cough thrice before clearing his throat twice. 

... 

About an hour later, as Selesa teased Les with some mild incestuous sexual harassment, Misen suddenly perked up and nodded at me, letting me know that he had detected someone within his field. 

I tossed the stone at the back of Selesa's neck, she jumped in surprise before turning around and realizing what it was, flashing us a thumbs up...though she was looking to the left of us. She then tugged on the reigns to slow the horses down, Misen and I sprang off the cart, as I slammed the end of my sword sheath against the back right wheel of the cart, cracking and damaging it, breaking off a small piece of the inner frame. Good, that was perfect. 

"Alright, let's split up now, try to get it done within half an hour, any longer and it'll be tough for the other two to wait for us to regroup with them without drawing suspicion. How many people did you detect?" 

"It was three at first, but right before I deactivated it, I'm quite sure that I sensed an entire campsite...I'm certain I detected tents, carts and a whole lot of people."

"I see. Alright, then, activate your individual invisibility and soundproof barriers, I'll deactivate the group ones afterwards. Here, take these...tranquilizer and paralysis needles, they're bound to be useful."

After I handed him the needles, we both activated our individual barriers before I deactivated the group ones, and as I began to walk forward...we ran into each other. Ughh...I should have seen that coming. 

I fell on my back, and judging by the grass that was flattened in front of me, he had fallen t-...oh, crap, the grass. No one could see or hear us, but they'd be able to see our footsteps against the grass. I quickly reached out and grabbed at where I thought he was, it felt like I grabbed his face, and pulled it into my barriers. 

"Wha-? Let go, you little-!" 

"Hold on, our collision aside...walk along the tree shadows, sandy patches or at least where the grass is shortest. Our footsteps flatten the taller grass, so be careful. Anyway...back to splitting up. To avoid another collision, I'll veer off to the right and you go left."

I headed forward after we split up, and after a few hundred meters, the camp came into view. 

It was set up by a grove of trees, with about a dozen large tents, eight carts, and a whole lot of white robes roaming around and performing various tasks. The area was surrounded by some hills, which the white robes appeared to have dug mines into. 

Good, they're all well spread out, there's bound to be a few that are by themselves. 

I spotted the cart that we'd been on too, looks like Les and Selesa had decided to stop by the camp, near a row of refreshments. Good call, it'll be easy and convenient to regroup there, and it wasn't suspicious either, it was perfectly reasonable that a cart that had just come back from a distance, and taken some minor damage, to stop for some food and water. 

I strolled around the camp, sticking by the trees and observing. A lot of them were carrying guns, interesting. Some looked important, but they were out in the open, and I didn't have a way to tell what their Elemental Magic type was. 

About ten minutes in, I hit the jackpot. I saw a group of four of the white robes heading for a mine, one of them leading in front, a young boy.

"Hurry up, pawns, do not lag behind!" He snapped impatiently, zapping them with streaks of lightning. 

He looked young, maybe thirteen or fourteen at most. And yet, the pawns were clearly afraid of him. He entered one of the mines, and kept two of the pawns standing guard outside and took one of them in with him. Hm, he was at least in the Lapdog Tier, and he was a match for my Elemental Magic, and while he was physically smaller than I was, but that wasn't a problem for me. 

I'll follow him in. 

I slowly walked towards the entrance of the mine along the shadows of the trees. The two guards weren't really paying attention, so I was able to slip past them pretty easily. 

I entered the mine and walked in. It was lit up by a row of Light Crystals along the walls, and they had installed wooden pillars at regular intervals to keep the ceiling from caving in. I could hear the faint echo of footsteps ahead and followed after it, slowing down after they came into sight. They may not be able to hear or see me, but if I move too fast the invisibility barrier will shimmer. 

Alright, how should I do this? I need to capture, interrogate and then steal the appearance of the guy in front, but what I do about the other one? I can't kill him, that would make the ones outside suspicious if only one of the two returns. I could knock him out with a tranquilizer needle, but how would I explain the fact that he suddenly went unconscious? As they walked past a spot under where the ceiling looked to have a bit of loose earth, I got the answer to that question. 

I quickly flung a tranquilizer needle at the pawn and dashed forward towards the kid, grabbing him and pulling him into my barriers before he could yell or exclaim. 

"What the-!?" He began, before stiffening as I pricked him with a paralysis needle. 

I then took off his robe and set it aside, before tying him up with my wire as I used the Copy scroll on him. He was wearing basic leather armor, and his trouser was a similar shade of black to mine, and judging by the way the pant legs were rolled up, it was a similar size too, so looks like I'll just have to steal the top part of his gear. He also had a gun. 

He was shorter than me, had an average build, with long black hair that partially covered his eyes on the front, and the back looked like it was long enough to go down to his shoulders, he had it tied up in a high ponytail. He had black eyes, with a deep scar across the right eyebrow, and a light brown complexion. I couldn't see any Anima mutations. 

First off, interrogation. I need to be quick. I entered Soul-Eater Mode and bit him, eradicating the paralysis toxin inside him, before pointing the edge of my sword by his neck as I returned to my normal state. I can't afford to be too bloodthirsty and torture him, I can't let him bleed on the floor, it'll be way too suspicious if there was a bunch of blood all over the place but no victim in sight. 

"I'll keep this simple. Answer my questions honestly and quickly, and I won't lob your head off. First of all, your name and tier?" 

He hesitated as he glared at me, but as I moved the blade closer, the edge brushing against his neck, his expression twisted into one of fear and he began talking. He showed signs of hesitation and anger at times, but it didn't take much to get him talking again. Well, regardless of his rank and pride or whatever, he was still a kid, so coaxing the information out of him turned out to be fairly easy. 

His name was Imsret Seinonm, fourteen years old, had a hyena Anima, he was of the Lapdog Tier, and worked as an assistant to a member of the Research Tier. Perfect. I got the name of his superior in the Research Tier, along with the location of his living quarters, which turned out to be in the same area as where the woman Selesa was posing as was also staying, though in a different building. 

I also got a quick rundown of his backstory, he'd been a resident and orphan of Goldway's slums till he was nine, after which he'd escaped the country and run away, before he encountered the then-Magic Research Group, joined up as a pawn, and eventually worked his way up to a lapdog over the past five years, getting the promotion a few months ago. 

Right now, he was supposed to collect some kind of mineral that was found in these mines, and bring it back to the Research Tier by the end of the day. 

Like the woman that Selesa had replaced, he also didn't know the name of the Retribution Tier's number one, only his codename, Sicario. I asked him about the guns as well, and according to him, most lapdogs had guns, and they were in the process of mass producing them in order to arm the pawns with guns as well. 

He was confused when I asked if they had made any other type of guns, so that meant that for now, they were only making pistols. I asked him about how well he could handle a gun, he explained how accurate he was. 

This whole thing had me uneasy, an army equipped with guns was a dangerous thing to go up against, I should definitely steal one when I head back, maybe someone in Silvland, Bronztan or the Rustlands could examine and reverse engineer it. Anyway, that's not what I need to focus on right now, back to the interrogation. 

He claimed to have no close relationships, but was acquainted with others from the Lapdog Tier and spoke to them whenever he ran into them, as well as a few of the Research Tier members, though in that case, it was mainly speaking back when spoken to, he hardly ever started a conversation with them, that would be risky to do in this hierarchical system. 

As for how he treated pawns, he dodged the question at first, but a little intimidation got him to admit that he enjoyed lording over and commanding them. Apparently, those of higher tiers were allowed to treat those of lower tiers in any way they pleased, and as a result, most pawns were at the mercy of the lapdogs. And for a kid, bossing around adults and being treated superior to them had to feel pretty good. Especially after growing up as a nobody in the slums. 

But lapdogs weren't allowed to kill or severely injure the pawns without a valid reason, since even pawns can be valuable human resources and manpower. He also mentioned that lapdogs could each have a single pawn serve them as their slave, and that he had one too. 

I got a sample of how he talks and what his attitude is like with pawns earlier, and I've now heard how he speaks when feeling afraid and intimidated, so I had a good idea of how to talk to those in higher positions while posing as him...alright, I think I have all the information I need, and I should be able to take his place without drawing suspicion. 

"One more thing, and this is mostly out of curiosity...most of the spies that were found in Silvland and the Rustlands turned out to be suicide bombers with no real regard for their own lives. But you're not like that, so my assumption that everyone in The Empire are a bunch of suicidal fanatics was wrong. Enlighten me."

"W-well, you see...the pawns that are chosen to act as spies are brainwashed so that even if they are captured, they will not give in to fear. The instant that they are in danger, they are brainwashed to trigger the implanted Blood Crystal in them. Not all the spies we sent out are like that, but the majority are."

Hm, it makes a lot more sense now, that many willing suicide bombers seemed a bit fishy, but if brainwashing was involved, that explains a lot. 

I wanted to ask him a few more questions, but I didn't have enough time...now, then, I should hurry up and take his place as an imposter. 

I resisted the temptation to torture him and pricked him with another paralysis needle, before taking off all his equipment and armor except for his trousers. I then took off my utility belt, untied the hoodie around my waist, and took off my sword. Oh, his shoes are different to mine, I should replace mine with them. It was all kind of a tight fit, but it'll be fine after I copy his appearance. 

He also had a card on him, with his name and tier...looks like it didn't have the glowing verification strip that the Identification Cards in the other countries do, that's certainly a relief. I put on his armor and equipment, before using my wire to tie my utility belt, numerous scrolls, and weapons onto his body. I still had a full bottle of poison left, feels like a waste to not take it with me, but I had no way of sneaking it in. 

Anyway, after I finished swapping out our clothes and equipment, I decided it was time to transform myself... 

"You can't move or speak, but you can still see...heh, watch this," I smirked, using the Paste scroll to steal his appearance. 

His expression showed no change due to the paralysis, but as I morphed into him, his eyes appeared to quiver in shock. Ooh, that feels kinda weird, my body changing like that...my hair growing out felt strange too. Whew, the armor fits a lot better now. I rolled up my trouser legs since they were too long. 

After I finished transforming, I put on the white robe, took his hair tie to copy his ponytail, and made sure all my belongings were firmly fastened to his body. Ugh, wearing this much white is my personal hell. 

I then picked up the tranquilizer needle I hit the other one with, and poked it into the center of his eye. His expression began to twist in pain against the paralyzed muscles, before they slumped as I stabbed him through the back of the neck with a poison needle.

Before any blood could drop on the floor, I used Store on his corpse, as he disappeared along with my belongings, after deactivating my soundproof and invisibility barriers and tying their scrolls to his body. I then fried the Store scroll between my hands by running concentrated lightning through it, disintegrating it into ash within seconds. 

Good, the other one is still unconscious. I bit him to heal the tiny prick mark from my needle, making sure not to eliminate the tranquilizer toxin in him. I healed the bite marks as I simultaneously retracted my teeth, before moving aside, positioning his body in the right spot and then slowly shook one of the wooden pillars. 

The bit of loose earth in the ceiling I spotted earlier broke off and fell down, hitting the side of his head. There, once he wakes up, I'll just say that he got hit by falling debris and passed out. I hurried my way into the mine and collected the mineral that this guy was tasked with collecting. It was small raven-black stones with tiny star-like white spots. 

Apparently, it was a versatile ingredient in potions and stuff. Anyway, once I collected a bit more than the amount he had specified that he was supposed to collect, I headed for the exit of the mine. The other guy was still unconscious, and after mulling it over for a bit...I decided to leave him there. The guy I was posing as clearly thought of pawns as beneath him, so would be unlikely to help one out if they collapsed like this. 

I was greeted by the two that had been standing guard outside, who looked surprised to see that I was alone. 

"Welcome back, sir. Oh, er, where is-?" 

"Tch, that worthless fool! He was not even able to avoid a small patch of falling debris, the useless piece of filth is lying in the mine unconscious. Go and retrieve your peer, lowly pawns! I shall be by the refreshment area, do not keep me waiting long, is that understood?" I remarked as I crackled some lightning across my fingers, holding my breath as I finished, waiting to see if that had been convincing. 

"Y-yes, sir, we shall make haste!" 

"Yes, u-understood!" 

Hm, they hadn't been suspicious in the least, and had flinched when I let off some sparks...looks like I nailed it, and it was admittedly kinda fun. I'll now need to maintain this personality without getting too carried away with it or letting my own personality surface. 

I made my way to the refreshments area, the cart was still there, and there were a few white robes roaming about. There was a hint of nervousness on Selesa's face, or rather, her stolen face, but it was subtle enough that no one should notice it unless they really looked closely. 

Also, I had just noticed the difference between the robes of the pawns and the lapdogs. The pawns' robes were fully white, while the lapdogs' robes had black along the hemlines at the end of the sleeves and at the bottom of the robe. It wasn't very noticeable, but I was still pretty annoyed at myself for not spotting it sooner. 

I headed for the refreshments area, picked up a bottle of water and opened it. Before drinking from it, I walked by the cart and cleared my throat in the tone we had agreed on. The two siblings subtly glanced at me in response, looking a bit surprised that I had picked someone smaller than me, but no one else turned their attention towards me...looks like Misen wasn't back yet. 

And the three pawns that I was leading were rushing over...crap, looks like my words had backfired, they were back much faster than I had expected. Damn it, hurry up, you prick! 

"Sir, a-are we to head b-back now?" One of them asked me, flinching in fear as I turned to look at him. 

Man, this tier system sure is strict, full grown adults were absolutely terrified of a young boy and couldn't do anything about it simply because he was in a higher tier. The two that had been standing guard were both holding up the third one, who was still unconscious. 

"Are you trying to rush me?" I inquired with a growl, taking a swig of water. 

"N-no, sir, of c-course no-!" 

"We'll leave when I say so, got it!?" 

"Y-yes, sir!" The two of them said simultaneously. 

How can I buy a bit more time without drawing any suspicion...hm, the one I knocked out in the cave was still bleeding at the spot where his head got struck. 

"Wrap up that one's head, I would rather not be held responsible if he dies of blood loss, I'd prefer to avoid such a troublesome outcome over a measly pawn."

"U-understood, sir!" 

Selesa glanced at me with a hint of amusement in her eyes, I gave her a subtle shrug in response, this was necessary for me to maintain my cover. 

As the two began tending to the injured pawn, I began starting to feel impatient...and right as they finished wrapping up his injury, I heard three coughs before two throat clears to my left. I glanced in its direction, spotting a man with short blonde hair and blue eyes glancing at the cart. He was about Misen's height, and based on his robe, was a pawn. I cleared my throat again, to see if he would react. Yup, he immediately glanced in my direction. 

Alright, that should do. 

"Let us go, pawns! Time to head back," I said in a commanding voice, they immediately stiffened up and nodded. 

They then headed for one of the empty carts, laying the injured one in the back, as they both sat by the front, taking the reigns. Close one, I had almost started to walk in the direction of The Empire, good thing they had moved first. 

I followed them and hopped onto the cart, sitting behind the two driving. 

"What are you waiting for, hurry up and drive!" I snapped, they immediately nodded and whipped the reigns, the horses drawing the cart forward as they did. 

Acting like a total asshole...was kinda fun! 

After about half an hour, the walls came into view. It was different to the walls of the Rustlands, Silvland and Goldway when it existed, it was square in shape instead of round. And it was made purely of earth instead of cement or concrete. Looks like they had used solely Earth Magic. 

This is it...this mission was about to begin for real, I can't afford to have so much as a single slip up from here on out. This thing is about to get serious... 

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