The Mazzanti family group still had to finish investigating The Faceless Ones. Still, with what Vicente had gotten from Sarah the night before, they had discovered some disturbing things.
First, The Faceless Ones faction was very close to one of the few Marquises in the province, someone who had helped found the group.
Second, the leader of this group was a High-level Mage. At the same time, there were other Mid-level Mages like Sarah in this faction of the Ironcrest underworld.
Third, they were going to use Jasmine in some way to get something from the Sacred Devotee Barber, so either they were going to hurt the Mazzanti family by talking to that Sovereign about Jasmine's kidnapping, or they were going to hunt them down. They needed to wipe them out so they wouldn't get in trouble with a Sovereign themselves.
These three critical pieces of information were crucial and necessarily negative to their group and their goal of rescuing Jasmine!
'High-level mage... This is going to be difficult.' Layla thought, aware that the difference between levels became greater with each level.
The fact that they had managed to defeat Mid-level Mages from this enemy group tonight meant nothing. They could only do so because of their special methods and the fact that their enemies had underestimated them. Without these two points, they wouldn't have been able to win!
But the enemy had someone even stronger than Sarah and Cole, a High-level Mage, someone who could easily defeat Mid-level Mages like the woman trapped in the Mazzanti family cell!
'If their supporter, the Marquis, gets involved, we're screwed.' Rory thought as he waited for Vicente's answer to his previous question. 'We've had a lot of trouble with the authorities lately. All it takes is someone interested in us and a disturbing ability to show up, and we're in the crosshairs of powerful magicians.'
Though rare, people with special abilities like Jasmine's and Casey's existed throughout the kingdom. But the royal forces had access to such people. So if a high-ranking noble like the Marquis decided to investigate them thoroughly, they could be in for a lot of trouble!
But apart from a provincial Marquis, they still had to worry about a possible reprisal from a Sovereign!
Vicente then said. "We still have to confirm the integrity of Sarah Mercer's words. Interrogations like the one I conducted are not 100% efficient. In any case, it's very disturbing, but nothing new for us.
We already knew that The Faceless Ones were complicated and difficult to deal with. So, nothing has really changed in our situation. The great thing is that now we know more about our enemies, and we have someone who can be useful to us."
Before, they had been in the dark as to who exactly they would have to deal with, knowing only rumors about The Faceless Ones. But the same enemies they would have had to face before talking to Sarah were the ones they would have to face now that they had 'talked' to her.
"Still, our previous plans are no longer useful," Rory muttered as Layla looked at Vicente.
Vicente said as he looked at her. "We'll have to postpone our plans."
She narrowed her eyes, not liking that at all because, with every day that passed, the chances of them getting into trouble with Sovereign Barber increased.
"You know that..." She was about to say when Vicente raised his tone.
"If you want to fight a High-level Mage, go! Go to Ironcrest, Layla! Do you think I'm joking? You think I don't want to solve the problem?"
"Sometimes I have my doubts." She said as she stood up. "But that's not my concern right now. I fear that we'll all be found out by Jasmine's father! He's terrifying. You don't know the tightrope you're walking, Cesar!"
"I really don't. But what can I do? You want me to do things that are impossible. I wish I could save Jasmine today, but reality won't let me!
I know Jasmine's father can be scary. But now that we've killed more of The Faceless Ones' people, it's almost certain that they'll send even stronger people to deal with us, and maybe even their damn supporter will join the problem!
We need to worry about that before we think about Jasmine's fucking father!" He finished as he stood looking at the woman, the veins in his neck stirring.
Rory looked at them, seeing that the atmosphere in the office was heating up, and said. "Layla, let's calm down. He's right. Jasmine's father is far away from us, while the enemies in the province can reach us very easily."
"So what are we going to do? The previous plans won't work."
"Not at our current level," Vicente said as he saw the grey-haired woman looking at Rory. "But what if we reach the 3rd stage?"
She looked at him. "We become Mages?" Layla laughed. "Do you think it's that easy? And do you think we'll get pentagrams before they act against us or contact Jasmine's father?"
"No," Vicente answered her. "But we can both reach the 3rd stage until the enemy moves. It will take them at least two weeks to send reinforcements and act against us. In that time, we can try our advances. In the meantime, soldiers from the capital will arrive in Millfall."
"Soldiers? Are you talking about the investigators who will come after the death of the four Commanders?" Rory asked.
"Yes, they should arrive in our city before the next emissaries of The Faceless Ones." Vicente nodded positively.
"Do you think they'll give us an advantage against our enemies?" Layla asked, frowning.
She understood what Vicente meant with this information about soldiers coming from the capital. Soldiers like those who came to Millfall didn't have to be as careful with nobles and provincial powers as those from outposts like Nova.
While the investigators from the capital were there, it would be more difficult for any group to operate near Millfall, as such a group would be extremely strict and would not turn a blind eye.
Such a group should come to solve the mystery behind the deaths of the four Commanders, so it would be a group that would not accept bribes and would follow the kingdom's rules to the letter.
Such a group would be under the supervision of a high-ranking member of the royal family. It would be different from any other group of soldiers one might encounter in the kingdom.
With the presence of such people in the city, it was certain that everyone would have to keep their heads down and act more cautiously during their stay in Millfall!
Vicente replied to Layla. "Yes. Not much, but it is virtually sure that there will be no conflict within the city while the emissaries from the capital are in Millfall. That means we'll be protected in the short term.
On the other hand, I have my plans for the soldiers who will be arriving in town soon. With their help, we may be able to turn the odds in our favor.
Anyway, this will buy time for us. After that, it will be time to act on Jasmine!"
