Chapter 37: The Raid Plan

It was the early morning on Tuesday and me and Lila had stayed on the beach all through the night.

After the emotional clash we had, we spent most of the morning going over the wide range of information Lila had. 

The information Lila gave me could be split into three categories. Truths, concealed information and mixed Information. 

Truths were just straight facts without falsehood from what we could tell anyway. 

This included, that Dominous Hood did have forces on every planet, they had an influence on multiple people in power on Earth which would make any attempt to report them to be noticed, and that Dominous Hood had a wide collection of Prophets and Diviners which they used frequently to try and get advantage on any situation.

Concealed information was the things that either Lila or I felt something were kept away from her, and mixed was what seemed to be true but definitely contained some misdirects or lies within.

Lila knew of ten portals in Aras–the state we were currently in–which could teleport her to the Hood’s nearby base. She didn’t know where it was besides the fact it was on a small nearby moon. However, it was likely there were more than ten portals in Aras as she was told she wasn’t allowed to mention these locations to anyone else in Dominous Hood, which was weird if there were only ten in Aras.

She received a lot of information like that. Where she wasn’t allowed to tell it even to her standard teammates. This was probably done in an extreme effort to control who had access to what information.

How do they even manage all that?

She knew about the plan to steal the Staff of Clear Midnight Moons from Nina but didn’t know any additional details besides the fact it was going to occur on the first day of the festival. 

She also received a lot of mixed information about how she would get a promotion and the internal structure of the organisation. She knew there were low, mid-low, mid, and high positions, but the information she was told about them didn’t feel right. 

It felt too open? From what she was told true mid and high position members were the top levels and they had big group meetings about what to do next. Which just didn’t seem right for an organisation that controlled information so strictly. 

I could be wrong when I thought that, but it was better to question this information than trust it completely.

The only thing that was a 100% lie from what we could discover was the inciting incident of declaring themselves not involved in the ship attack five years ago. But that could also be mixed depending if NextEdge or their sister company really had something to do with it.

“Is that everything?” I asked, sitting by Lila’s side.

“I think?” Lila muttered, she found it hard to remember everything so she progressed from the beginning of her interactions to the current day. 

“That’s good.” I patted her back, “Good job, and thank you for everything.”

“I did nothing… but cry a lot and try to hurt you.”

I replied, “Yes on the first thing, and honestly no on the second.” 

“Thanks.” Lila rolled her eyes at my comment.

In a purposely vain attempt, I tried cheering her up, “But you have gotten a little strong.”

“You just said my attempt to attack you barely could even be considered trying to hurt you.”

“And?” I laughed, “That’s still a good job.”

“Again, thanks.” 

“What Vocation do you even have anyway?” I asked, “You never told me after you chose it, saying it would be a surprise until we met in person.”

Lila blushed for a moment, “Umm! I wanted to keep that a secret.”

“Your Vocation? I understand.” It was common practice to not tell others about your Vocation, usually just the category of it. However, it was only common practice for strangers or those in non-professional environments. Of course, you could lie like I did, still saying I’m a [Fire Mage]. 

“No not that! My Vocation is [Lightning Hand]... it was something I kept secret even from my boss. I just told everyone I was a [Lightning Mage]. It was the one lesson I kept from my parents’ teaching, I did nearly reveal it just in an attempt to spite them, but Rosa would always say ‘Make sure you listen to the 1% of good advice they have and don’t forget it’.”

(“ An Adjusted Vocation it seems ”)

What? 

(“ Oh, yes, your civilization calls it upgrading or a divergence ”)

I thought that only really happens in high levels or really lucky individuals? 

(“ …It seems to have happened pretty early for her, she probably changed Vocations at least once, which tends to make Basic Adjustments happen more frequently ”)

Using the information gained from Espr I asked, “So did it change into that?”

Lila exhaled, “Correct guess. I… did change my Vocation a few times but after a while, I settled on [Lightning Mage], but somehow I got a small storage skill then soon after that, the option just appeared in front of me. Do you wish to change to [Lightning Hand], haa… I was so confused if my contacts were hacked or not.”

The morning sun was rising high, so we both knew for the time being it was time to go our separate ways. 

We stood side by side and Lila reached my eye height.

“Now, will we speak again soon Lila?” I warmly looked down at her.

“Yes… Aunty…” She moved back in for one more hug.

We stayed like that for a moment before Lila stepped out and asked, “But what should I do now?”

“Nothing strange?” I replied, “From what you told me you shouldn’t have any more missions correct?”

“Yes, not until the staff is taken from Nina.”

“Then don’t worry too much, just keep acting like normal but after that…”

Lila continued my thoughts, “I need to disappear.” Her face darkened.

“Yes… I’m not sure if quitting in your position is going to work.” There were a few things Lila could do, but none were particularly good, “We don’t know how they will deal with someone in your position trying to leave, and so you either have the choice to go into hiding–preferably believed to be dead–or further your infiltration.”

Lila sighed, “I don’t think the latter will go well.”

“Yeah, same.” I didn’t know how deep or complex the Dominous Hood organisation was, but they would be bound to have a way to ensure loyalty. Whether that was with truth tests or other methods.

Finally, however, we split left to go home. 

----------------------------------------

I walked slowly back to the hotel, all while thinking about the crazy night I just had.

(“ You happy that’s done? ”)

Espr asked. 

Yes… but holy stars I have a lot to deal with.

(“ Not really. Only three things have been added to your list. Help Lila go into hiding, stop Nina’s staff from being stolen and attack the nearby Hood’s base. ”)

Andddd three things are still a lot. 

Faking Lila’s death shouldn’t be too hard. If an opportunity comes which makes it easier then I needed to tell Lila to take it. The fighting and defending… now that could be difficult but I had no way of knowing how easy or hard each would be. 

I will probably need Lila’s help to get through one of the portals, but that is also giving her away as a leak. Which could be dangerous even if they think she’s dead.

While thinking my thoughts allowed in my head, Espoiramissa decided to help. 

(“ You don’t have to worry about that, I’ll deal with the portal when it comes to it, you just keep your little friend nice and safe ”)

You’ve been way too nice of late. 

(“ And you’ve been overly suspicious of late ”)

Espoiramissa sighed all the way from its high male tone of voice to a low female’s.

(“ I’m here to help you. You know what I want, and I’m completely sure I will get it. Therefore there is no issue with me helping you ”)

I decided to not argue and accepted the help. Well thanks, how long will it take you to hijack the portal? 

(“ Instantly ”)

Okay, that was one thing sorted. Out of the portals, there was one slightly outside of Newcastle I would use, it wasn’t the closest one but it was the most hidden. 

These portals had a few issues and advantages compared to other portals I used. From what I learned from Lila, they had to be connected first, which only would happen on Saturday–the day of the festival. They required a mana signature input from the user–which I could get around now thanks to Espr–and they didn’t require any mana to use but had a limited number of five uses a day.

(“ From what I understood, your plan is pretty much to raid their base the moment the festival happens ”)

“Pretty much,” I answered, nearing the entrance of the hotel. Was it the best plan? Absolutely not, but it was my current plan. If I could, I would love to contact reinforcement… but I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t even know where Hood's base was. Either way, it was something I had to deal with.

I walked through the door and got jumped by–“Sister!” Mella, who wheeled out. “You weren’t back before I was awake!” 

“I know, I know.” 

“You owe me…” She puffed up her cheeks.

“First, that was a discussion we had about a completely different day, and I never promised anything.” 

“I know…” Mella smiled, “Welcome back.”

“Thanks.”

For the time being, I decided to enjoy the time I had with my family.