"Haa" Cabrera sighed dryly as he checked himself, thinking back to the plan.
He had told the boys to group up and enter the town in intervals, making sure that each group acts oblivious to the other. They would not talk, or even wave a hand at each other throughout their stay in this city.
All this was in preparation for what had been planned.
They were only nineteen, and had split into three groups.
Carl was part of the last group, but he was told to go in first.
And like Cabrera expected, he was immediately tested.
The whole scene of him fighting with Madur (the guy throwing punches), as well as the looting of Nizar (the stealth thief), especially after cutting off his arm, had already reached the ears of the powers here. And because he attracted so much attention, all the other boys were left alone.
How did Cabrera know all this when he came in last and without anyone beside him? Well, that would be the work of Fredrick.
Thinking up to this point, Cabrera was once again awed by Ezra's plan.
'Seriously, how does a five year old think of such things?!'
It was a plan to have wolves, dogs and wild rats bite each other for scraps while the real gains would go to them.
To do all of this while seeming inconspicuous was very hard, no, it was on the verge of being impossible, and would have been impossible if not for some key items.
And to make sure the plan would have the highest success rate even in the case of countless variables, Ezra pulled out every card available to him.
One of those cards was, of course, Fredrick.
Now, do remember that Fredrick was a Knight trainer, one that had taught for seven years before going into retirement.
It wasn't because he couldn't teach anymore, but because Fredrick directly requested it, and a lot of conditions were placed on him because of that.
Why else would an Expert-rank Knight be living in a cottage?!
And in seven years alone, he had gained both recognition and acknowledgement. The name "Demon Trainer" was proof of that.
It showed just how skilled he was, and though Ezra had never seen much of his strength before, no Master-rank was to be underestimated.
The sparring sessions Ezra and Fredrick had? That was just Fredrick throwing his arms around, and Ezra knew so too.
As a teacher for seven years, it meant that he had taught many from both noble and commoner backgrounds.
Unsurprisingly, because of his training methods, not many Nobles had the courage to learn under him, and those that did were mostly the odd ones out.
Fredrick himself had told Ezra that the ratio of commoner to nobles amongst his students was 8:1, which spoke of just how much the nobles avoided him.
In a nutshell, more than half of his students were from common background, and because of his "torture-like training", the results achieved under him were never mediocre.
Never mediocre in the sense that all his students would undoubtedly grow. You simply could not survive his teaching without being able to adapt. And from that, Expert-rank Knights were born, from commoners no less, and it was said that they could grow into Masters if groomed properly.
The empire, which was about to beseech him about his method when a lot of noble complaints began piling up, was immediately ecstatic.
One could simply not have enough Expert-ranks. It was also why he was sanctioned heavily when he mentioned retirement, for they had envisioned him training knights for about ten more years.
Alas, it wasn't going to be so. After persuasion failed, they threatened Fredrick, but he remained adamant.
And so, they took it as a betrayal of some sort and sanctioned him till they were satisfied, not knowing of his curse. He didn't say anything either because, should it be known, he would be questioned and the fact that he was a wandering knight before arriving at Niton would then be brought to light.
For Fredrick, that would lead to too many complications, so he resigned himself to fate. That is, until he met Ezra.
Anyway, back to the matter at hand.
As mentioned above, he taught too many during his seven years as a teacher, therefore, his influence and connections were wide.
Those connections were what Ezra implemented in the execution of the grand scheme as he simultaneously planned the expansion of the information agency.
He used capable people recommended by Fredrick to spy, infiltrate and influence various people and places, while promising them handsome remunerations.
One of those connections, or one of Fredrick's former students, was deployed to this city to spy and collect information, while gaining the trust of the powers here.
He had immediately set up a tavern with the money given to him by Fredrick to use as a hotspot for information.
Naturally, the fact that he was able to set up a tavern in less than a week indicated that he wasn't an ordinary person, and so, he sent a gift package with a few silver coins to the powers that occupied the city.
To say it bluntly, he paid protection fees. And when Cabrera arrived, he immediately went there to get more information about the situation.
How did he know where to go? The name of the establishment was agreed upon by him and Ezra.
Fredrick's student, who was the tavern owner, immediately recognized the signal, and so, he quickly debriefed Cabrera.
—---------------
The journey here had left them tired and sleep deprived, so Cabrera told them to get as much rest as needed while he did the same.
And so, he woke up seventeen hours later, incomparably refreshed.
It was almost sunset when he looked outside, and more importantly…
'It's time to move'
Whatever they did from here on out would affect the entire plan. But if Cabrera wasn't sure of himself, he would never have come here in the first place.
With that, Cabrera inspected his space ring, before taking out food from within it.
What? Of course they brought food while traveling. You didn't expect them to eat the meat of beasts for an entire week, did you?
The others, like Carl, were given enough money for all necessities, since they couldn't reach Cabrera while in this town.
Done with the hearty meal, Cabrera immediately left his hotel, one of the best in the town if I might add, as he made his way back to the gate.
He and the boys already designated an area for all of them to rendezvous, so it didn't matter who left the town first.
He left the town and approached some carriages.
"Where are you heading?" he asked the coachman.
"Why should I tell you that?" the coachman asked back.
"Because I'm heading to the Windless Peaks"
"Oh" the coachman immediately understood as he nodded and said…
"Well, luckily for you, we're heading to Avilla"
"Mind if I join you?" Cabrera asked.
"Well, you see…things-"
The coachman suddenly started acting weirdly, but Cabrera had already figured out his intentions and, without further ado, tossed him six silver coins.
What happened next was a comical scene as the coachman's attitude immediately took a U-turn.
"Of course you can join us, please sit over here. The goods are still being loaded, but we'll be done in a jiffy"
The coachman pointed to his side at the front as Cabrera sat down.
Like he said, the carriage took off not long after.
Cabrera kept observing as he thought…
'Now that you know where I'm headed, what will you do about it?' he thought with a smile stretched across his face.
—-------------------------
Meanwhile, In an expansive room, a chubby man with bald hair was reading some written files on a mid-sized desk and large chair, while another man stood in front of him.
"Yes boss, they all seem to be heading towards the Windless Peaks"
"All of them?" the boss asked to re-affirm.
"Yes, all those who have left, left in the direction of the Windless Peaks" the man reiterated.
"Hmm, send a team to tail them. Who knows, there must be a reason why there are all going to the Windless Peaks"
"Right away, boss"
—-----------------------
At the same time…
"What the heck did you do to get your hand cut off?!"
Nizar was someone known to all the powers in Whittown because of his capabilities as a notorious thief and a skillful assassin of the Night shade gang.
The number of people that had died at his hands were in the tens, and were climbing by the day.
So you could imagine the shock when his gang mates found out that his hand had been cut off, and by someone unknown at that.
Right now, he was being questioned by the boss and, without delay, he explained the story thoroughly. Of course, not without putting some hints to justify his predicament.
"Hmm" the boss mused over what he had been told, knowing that not all that had been said was true.
The fact that the assailant had been able to cut Nizar's, who was at the Adept-rank, hand in one strike showed that he was definitely not your average person.
So, the thousand platinum question was…
'Where did he, no, where did they come from?'
And like so, another power had bit the bait without even realizing it.
All the while, Cabrera and the gang members made their way towards the stage where everything would play out.