When a group of three soldiers appeared at the spot where Vicente and Sarah were hiding, he looked at the Low-level Mages whose appearance was identical to the portraits Shelby had given him earlier.
'That's them.' He thought to himself before signaling to Sarah that these were their targets.
Looking at the three more seriously, Sarah felt a little unsure. "Is this really going to work?" She asked him. "How can I pass myself off as that woman? I'm stronger than her! What if someone knows her among those who will also be changing shifts?"
Vicente said. "Your level is not a problem. Let's say you found an opportunity on your way here and raised your level. As for your other concern, that won't happen.
These three were previously in a prison in the kingdom's northernmost province. They were the only ones chosen from there to come here. And as I've said, my group knows everything about them."
"How? Did you know who would be chosen to come here?" She asked, trying one last time to convince Vicente not to go any further.
"No. My contacts investigated all the soldiers in that unit, and only when these three were selected did we start investigating them. Anyway, time to act." He said before he moved and appeared in front of the three soldiers.
When Vicente appeared from a bush in the path of the three, they immediately stopped moving towards the nearby prison.
At first, they were silent, but when they saw a Mid-level Mage appearing behind them, they understood what this was all about.
The leader of the three said. "Do you know who we are? Do you know the risks of acting against royal soldiers?"
"We know who you are, Oscar," Vicente said with a humorous tone.
These people obviously knew nothing about him and the actions of the people associated with Shelby. But they didn't need any advance information to understand what was happening.
They were going to change shifts at the local prison, so there was only one possibility that people would want to act against them.
'They want to take our places and infiltrate the royal prison!' The only woman in the group thought to herself as she slowly put a hand on the weapon at her waist.
Meanwhile, Oscar, a black-haired man, felt sweat trickle down his back as he realized that the tall masked man knew his name.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?" He asked.
"Not only do I know your name, I know the names of your comrades here, Evan and Sophia. Not just them, I know the names of Hana, Ayla, Isla, Octavia, Myles, Connor, Jayce, and little Mateo."
"Mateo?" Sophia questioned as she took a step forward and drew her weapon.
That was her son's name!
As she made a horrified expression, Evan and Oscar also showed their concern after hearing the names of their brothers, fathers, and other loved ones.
"Wretch! What do you want?" Evan asked in a terrible tone.
Vicente laughed. "Evan, don't get upset. Everything will be fine as long as you do as we say. You have two options now.
The first is to follow what we have in mind, which will keep your loved ones safe but will probably get you kicked out of the army for betraying the kingdom.
The second is to fight here and now and try to disrupt us. That would make you heroes for the army, but you would die along with your loved ones."
Vicente opened his arms as the weapons on the bodies of these three went out of their control, and their armor tightened over their bodies.
Seeing Vicente's pentagrams, all of the soldiers were scared. Even Sarah couldn't help but sigh at the vista.
Vicente finished. "The road ahead is terrible for you. If you don't choose certain death, you all will become fugitives from the army. But try not to think of yourself. Think of your loved ones, who can have normal lives if you choose the right path."
The three cursed Vicente in their minds for this terrible situation.
They were loyal soldiers who had worked hard since their youth to reach their current positions. They had their dreams within the army and were doing well, according to their possibilities.
It was not easy to choose a path that would suddenly turn them into traitors!
However, each of them felt that they had no chance. If they decided to stand against these two enemy Mages, they would die and even bring about the end of their loved ones.
"They will probably kill us, but we have no choice." The woman said. "I won't let my son die because of a wrong decision. It will be better for him to live as an orphan than to have no chance to live at all."
"That..." Evan opened his mouth before he let out a big sigh. "You're right."
"Alright, we'll do what you want," Oscar said, his expression grim.
Vicente smiled as he saw that they would go ahead with his plans while he eased the tightness on their bodies he caused by manipulating their armor.
"You made the right decision!"
"What do we have to do?" Sophia asked.
Vicente looked into the woman's brown eyes and came straight to the point. "Sophia and Oscar, you will give your information, passwords, codes, and belongings to my companion and me. We'll infiltrate Long Bay Correctional Facility using your identities, so we need to know how to do it without looking like infiltrators."
"It looks like you've prepared well..." Evan said, clenching his fists.
Such incidents have happened in the past. But almost all of them failed because the criminals failed to get the information they needed to assume soldiers' identities.
Later, when these three would enter Long Bay Correctional Facility, they would pass through five barriers that would confirm their identities. If they failed just one of them, all the soldiers about to leave that post would turn on them and arrest them for questioning.
Because of Vicente's earlier speech, the three soldiers realized that these two individuals were no mere adventurers. They knew what they were doing.
"We can do this," Oscar said, looking seriously at Vicente. "But let me tell you, as much as the first three levels of identification can be overcome with the answers we'll give you, the last two are not easy. You'll probably die by the end of the day."
"We're willing to risk it," Vicente expressed as two artifacts in the form of bracelets appeared in one of his hands. "Put these on." He said as he threw them at Oscar and Sophia.
