After a few hours of wandering around, everyone got tired of waiting for me and came down to look for me. Despite having been watching over me for most of my time here, due to the layout, not even Lia was entirely sure of my location, but she knew my general location. Together with Aurelia's eyes, the two of them were able to find me and with Dai Jiang preventing people from approaching I was finally brought out. I was being a little lazy and chose not to shift to my humanoid form and hung myself around Lia's shoulder as we returned to the top floor.
Thankfully, Lia had also been paying attention to the conversation I overheard and shared the details with everyone else, saving me a lot of effort.
"At first I was a little annoyed that you went and left the room, risking our position, but since they already knew it didn't truly matter and we got some good information out of it, although I'm slightly conflicted over it, I won't say anything more on the subject," Yue says, as she then turns her focus to Lia, "this plan of yours doesn't seem too bad so share it with everyone else."
"Alright. So right now we have a nice advantage in the intelligence department as we are already aware that they're planning something and they don't know that their presence has been leaked to us. It's probably reasonable to assume that the Imperial Guard intends to set an ambush for out outside the city. Since they know we are staying here, the Treasury is most likely to be under watch and they'll be paying close attention to who enters and leaves," Lia explains.
"So then what are we going to do about it?" Wanjing asks.
"To put it simply, we do nothing," Lia says as she attracts a blank stare from Wanjing before continuing, "From what we've learned from both you and Yue, the system of communications here surpasses that of Lausiel, even more so for important sectors of the government like the Imperial Guard. Assuming the do intend on setting up an ambush, it will likely be a light encirclement around the roads that lead out of Shipping and once they confirm which exit we there is a high chance that their forces will converge towards us. On this point, there really isn't much we can do."
"So then are we just going to let this happen? Converge on us I mean," Wanjing asks.
"Of course... we are but it's apart of the plan. We will have to spend an extra few days here in Shipping, if this goes well then they'll be all going in the wrong direction. Dai Jiang, can I ask you to look into this and see if my prediction is correct in regards to the encirclement?"
"Sure, but there will be a price. I can't just send my subordinates into the field for free after all."
"Take up the matter of the price with the people here who actually have money. As for the plan itself, it's simple misdirection. With Cory's manipulation of the Elements, she would bring in a fog for our departure day and make some dummies in our appearance to send towards the exit that leads to the Capital. Using the fog to obscure vision, she would bring the dummies out to try and get as many members of the Imperial Guard in that area as we possibly can. Once the dummies leave the city we can use Wanjing's telescope to keep an eye and continue to control them until they run into the Imperial Guard, and when they do meet, that's when we make our exit," Lia explains.
"Not that I think your plan is bad or anything, but..." Wanjing says, trailing off as I interrupt, "why not just beat them all down? I don't think we can't beat them."
"Sometimes we can solve our problems without the use of violence, Cordelia, besides considering their actions since their arrival, they won't start anything around the Treasury or in the city, meaning they will only be looking for a chance with our exit, so the chances of Lia being right about their position is rather high."
"That wasn't what I was going to say, Teacher. I was thinking that if we can bring a heavy fog in, then couldn't we use that and have Lia transform and carry us away unseen?" Wanjing asks.
"..."
Hearing her idea the rest of us remain silent for almost a whole minute before it's broken by Aurelia who says, "maybe I should look into your head more often."
"I can't believe I forgot I can do that now."
We come to the decision that Wanjing's idea is probably the best but we still decide to wait a few days before leaving. Rather than completely follow through with Wanjing's idea, we instead mix it with Lia's, opting to send out some dummies for the Imperial Guard to focus on so as to attract even less attention to our real departure location. This keeps me busy for a couple of days as I'm the only who can make and control them.
Over the few days leading up to our departure, no one bothers to leave the Treasury's top floor as Dai Jiang manages to confirm that there has been an increase in people watching the Treasury's door. She also confirms Lia's theory as there are large groups of people keeping an eye on all the roads connecting to the city not too far from each exit.
But the time has come and as the night falls we begin the operation.