I went back into the mansion and explained what I was going to do to Sawyer. Of course, Sawyer immediately understood why I did that and why I should do that. However, he also offered his help in this hostage rescue operation.
"So, what are you going to do?"
"Well, basic scouting, counting the number of people, look at the security, exit point, and high-threat target," I answered.
"It sounds... simple?" Sawyer doubted my simple plan.
"Well, simple doesn't mean easy," I loaded the rifle by pulling the charging handle. Even though it's unsuppressed, there was no need to be stealthy at all. The moment it went bang, time to rush it towards the hostage.
"So, how about the assault plan?" Sawyer asked.
"Stealth, of course. We don't want to be noticed by the enemies before we reach the hostage. However, to extract the hostage safely, we need to go loud, which meant going fast and hitting hard," I added.
The general idea was to bypass all of the security that guarded the kidnapped person, secure the building, then looked for the easiest way out without shooting anyone. Of course, that was plan A. Plan B would involve shooting my way out of there with Sawyer providing fire support from outside.
Sawyer packed MRE and the munitions into one backpack and he carried it on his back. He picked up his rifle and loaded it with a magazine. We then headed outside to pick up the horse. Of course, the next question was...
"Whose horse is this?" Sawyer asked.
"Sumia, the guild master lent it to us for this hostage rescue mission," I replied as I got on the top of the horse.
"I see," Sawyer got on top of the horse and sat on the back.
Using the minimap on my watch, I zoomed the map out to a 6 km radius. In the 6 km radius, there was indeed something that looked like abandoned farmland. It was a complex, and it looked fenced.
Hmm, could that be the headquarter of the bandits that attacked the village earlier? I had zero to little idea about it. However, it should be well-fortified enough to counter any threat that could be considered conventional.
Still, I didn't know whether this region had any military presence or not. So far, I hadn't seen anyone that wore something with an insignia. Considering the ruined mansion, this area was a no-man land.
After an hour of horse riding, we finally arrived at the abandoned farmland. I tied down the horse on a tree while Sawyer had gone first to do the basic reconnaissance of the farmland. Even from where I was standing, there were only three buildings.
There was a ruined barn on the south of the farmland. On the north, a house stood alone, probably the primary building in the whole farmland. On the east was a housing complex. Guards were patrolling the farmland, none of them were wearing armor.
Loadout-wise, they were carrying swords or bows. The magicians were probably in a safe place because they were the high-value target. I put the scope of my rifle in the biggest house on the farmland since it was the most probable place where the hostage or the boss stayed.
I pointed my scope at the window of the house. Inside it, I could see a chair with a girl tied down to it. It was too obvious at this point. I checked the paper that I retrieved from the guild and the girl matched the description.
"If that's the hostage, this building should be surrounded by guards."
Indirectly surrounded should be the best explanation. That house was surrounded by fences with each entrance having one guard guarding it. On top of that, a female magician was sitting down in front of the house's front door.
"Could I gain entry through the window, though?" I pointed the scope of my rifle at the window of that house.
To enter the window, I had to enter through the west side while maintaining a short stance on an unmaintained lawn with grass as tall as my legs. After that, I could go to the window by breaking the window quietly. The wood looked rotten, to be honest. Even chirping it with my machete would do the job.
Patrol around the house was also relatively more crowded than the other buildings. Every six minutes, one guard always went through the same position. Of course, they also had a large point of view due to how large the farmland was.
"Damn, this is going to be a headache."
Sawyer then returned from his reconnaissance. He looked back at me with a little bit of frustration. He should have the same opinion as I did.
"Very difficult to be done stealthily, unless we change the plan a bit," Sawyer commented.
"Such as?"
"A decoy should be nice."
"How will it operate though, Sawyer?"
"Simple. I'll pretend to be one of them," Sawyer coughed, "Natives. Steal something from them and alerted the guard. You know, a greedy bandit would never let go of the thing that they stole," Sawyer added while smiling at his idea.
I was not sure how this plan would work, though, "Hmm, a native with an M16? How will that work?" I asked.
"I'll wrap the rifle with spare clothing to hide it. Don't worry, I'll be no different than them, just like Afghanistan," Sawyer said.
Considering that I successfully disguised myself as an average-looking person back in the conflict of Eastern Europe, I had to say Sawyer would be able to pull the same thing. After all, if he couldn't do it, the agency wouldn't even think of recruiting him in the first place.
"Well, you can try it," I commented.
"Great, now, there's a lone guard on the back of the barn. I'll kill him and take his clothing," Sawyer said.
"Sounds rather simple..." I commented.
"The simpler, the better, right?"
"Right."
I looked for a place to hide and bivouac for the nighttime. Of course, the place wasn't exactly closed, but I had to do with what I had.
Tonight would be quite chaotic. Better prepare.