The carriage belonging to Cornelia rushed towards the mansion belonging to Carmella and by the time they reached the mansion, it was almost 7.00p.m. Cornelia had spent the entire afternoon to evening shopping at the commercial district and stocked up her inventory for the up coming journey to the capital. Cornelia wanted to spend some more time window shopping in the commercial/shopping district but she received a message from her father about the assassination of her stand-in, which meant that her cover has been blown and didn't dare to take the risk of roaming within the city and returned to the mansion.
Cornelia knew about the importance of her being alive as she is one of the vital allies to the crown prince and if she succeeded in getting to the Arcadia city alive the crown prince can finally succeed in the conflict with the second prince and ascend to the throne and she can become the Queen of the Arcadia Kingdom.
Once Cornelia reached the mansion, the butler brought her to the pre-arranged room in the second floor, while Sean and Liliana went to Carmella's office in the first floor. Once Sean and Liliana entered the office they saw Carmella seated on her desk while a group of 10 members were also present in the office. Sean took place at the back with his back against the wall while Liliana went to Carmella to inform about Cornelia safely returning to the mansion and also about the performance of Sean during the mission. Once Liliana finished her report she too went to a side to stand while looking at the members who were present at this meeting and saw that they were all elites from the guild, each specialised in their own field.
"Well, I have gathered you guys because of one reason. I need you guys for a very important escort mission. The client this time is Cornelia Hall and I don't think there is any need for me to introduce about her to you guys. We are talking about the future Queen here and once she safely reaches the Arcadia kingdom, the first Prince's ascension to the throne would become a foregone conclusion. The reason I chose you guys because you are the best in your fields in our guild and this is also a chance for you guys, after all if we successfully escort Carmella we would have the support of the future Queen of the Arcadia kingdom" said Carmella and watched the members eyes shine with excitement and nodded her head in satisfaction.
"Don't get too excited, if we successfully complete the mission we would have endless benefits, However the entire mission is filled with many dangers" said Carmella, taking a moment to see how they react but was surprised to see them calm, as if they had already expected such a thing.
'As expected of these elites, they have the mentality to strive for the best and know that nothing is for free' thought Carmella and continued "The person who does not want the alliance of the Hall family and the crown Prince is his brother the second Prince of Arcadia Kingdom, Lux Arcadia and he would definitely try to attack her and he is known to have trained a group of death squad members. From my sources I have found out that anytime within the next three days they would attack you guys during the journey".
The members were visibly uncomfortable when Carmella mentioned about the death squad, after all, they were a bunch of brain washed suicidal super assassins and going up against them was terribly difficult. "I'll give you a chance, anyone can choose to withdraw from the mission, if you find it too difficult. However I'll tell you this, this is also a golden opportunity for you and you will regret it in the future, that is if you plan on being a successful mercenary and last but not the least anyone who chooses to withdraw will be removed from the guild effective immediately. I don't need cowards and incompetent fools in my guild. So who is it that chooses to withdraw? If so come forward and place your guild badge and leave the mansion" said Carmella and scanned at the members in the room.
The room was dead silent but one thing is for certain, the eyes of the members shone with determination and resolve to carry out this mission despite its dangers. Seeing this Carmella was satisfied, afterall it would be shame that the investment she had made to train these elites turn out to be a bunch of cowards who did not have the courage to take a reasonable amount of risk.
"Well, there is no need to get overly worried. If all went as per plan then you will not have to fight much, after all you guys are the last line of defence. Cornelia has already set up her forces in the dark and they will act once the death squad start their attack. All you have to do is to bring Cornelia to safety during the attack and also defend against attack from those enemies who escape through the cracks of Cornelia's forces. After the fight with these guys, you would have to escort her back to Arcadia city and then the mission would be completed" said Carmella and the members all nodded their head expressing their understanding.
"There is also a new member in the team. Come front and introduce yourself Sean" said Carmella and the members line of sight fell on the only new kid in the room.
Sean walked to the front to introduce himself and was greeted by the other members. Some had doubts about his skills, but with assurance of Carmella and Liliana, Sean was quickly accepted into the squad. The meeting continued for a few more minutes, setting various roles for the members of the squad and also the captain of the squad whom Carmella mentioned would be present tomorrow morning before leaving the room when the time was around 7:45 p.m.
Just as Sean was preparing to go to the room given to him, one of the member came and put his arm around Sean's shoulder and said "Hey kid, we are going to have dinner at Stone's restaurant, wanna come with us?"
Sean thought for a second and said that he would go with them with a small smile on his face. Sean knew the importance of socialising with team members of the squadron and knew that for the next 5 years he would have to complete many missions with them and decided to create a rapport with them. Unknown to all the members as well as shadow guards of both Carmella and Cornelia there was a transparent figure floating inside the room where the team meeting took place and had listened to every piece of information.
Meanwhile in one of the shops which sold potions and Scrolls for mercenaries in the commercial district, a group of 7 were gathered on an isolated room while the business was being conducted normally. The shop was owned by a medium level mage family called Paine family.These group of 7 were employees of the various shops in the commercial district on the outside but were actually spies of the second Prince who collect information of various events happening in the Golem city and utilised this room for exchanging information. Within few moments a tall man with stick like physique entered the room and he was one of the employees of the Paine's potion shop and also the head of the squad which was responsible for collecting information in the Central part of the Golem city. The tall man was able to use his position as one of the senior employees in the shop to meet with his team members without anyone being suspicious.
Once the tall man entered he looked at his teammates and said "It seems like Ms.Cornelia has brought forces and they are hidden in the dark. We can expect them to act once the death squad start to attack. There will also be a mercenary squad of 13 members guarding her during her travel to the Arcadia city. J5 and J6 you guys go to the death squad stationed outside the city and convey this information. As for you J7, you will be going to the Stone's restaurant and wait in the restroom and kill this guy and take his place while J3 and J4 will be disguised as cleaners to clean up the mess".
The tall man who is given the code name J1 and he was the transparent figure who listened to the conversation in Carmella's office. He took out the memory crystal and showed the picture of Sean Walker and continued "We need someone to attack Cornelia from up close as a surprise attack, so we need someone inside the mercenary squad and this kid is the weakest member of the team. After killing him in the restroom use this potion to disguise your aura to level 3 and use this mask to disguise yourself as the kid" said J1 as he took out an emerald green potion and a transfiguration mask which was silver in colour to J7. J1 also gave a scroll to J7 saying that it was a memory scrying scroll which would help J7 to have the memory of Sean Walker. He also warned J7 to kill Sean quickly and silently and not cause any commotion. He also gave the instructions to J3 and J4 to clean up the mess immediately and also scrub the toilet so as to not leave any traces of blood or an altercation. Finally after few more minutes of further instructions and warnings the members split up from the room.