Triiffic-Soul: Can I Be In Control?-Chapter 138 – Scope Out

Chapter 138 – Scope Out

While Luna did know the area. It had been over ten years since their death, and going in blind and relying purely on memory was going to get them nowhere. Luna’s memory was to support them, not lead them.

It was the early morning, as Anlesa had already acquired the additional supplies needed for their supplies.

[These clothes are too much…] Syrus wasn’t happy as Luna put on a priest outfit. It was due to the style of the clothes. Syrus didn’t enjoy wearing long dresses. Short skirts or pants worked for her, but anything that created the potential for tripping was an annoyance. And the female priest's uniform had a very long skirt.

[You should see the nun's uniform.] (Luna)

[How is that different from the female priest?] (Syrus)

[Many more layers.] Luna didn’t elaborate.

With the uniform on, Luna requested that Eva change their hair to be longer to match the standard length and changed the colour to a dark brown. The reason for the slight appearance shift was to switch up their look enough. While extremely unlikely, they didn’t want anyone they walked past earlier to recognise them in the priest outfit, and if they looked different when they had to escape or quickly change, Eva could switch back to the brown-haired girl disguise.

[So… how are we scoping out the area?] (Eva)

[First, we have to sneak into the church’s district. That actually should be easy, as while the wall looks intimidating, there are many exits and entrances, and the security is light at each.] (Luna)

[I am assuming it is not so easy that we can just walk in…] (Eva)

[You are likely correct. While the guards will let people they know pass without issue, if they don’t know you, then you are required to present your token.] (Luna)

[Where can we get such a token?] (Syrus)

[Steal or craft one.] (Luna)

[Are they the only options?] (Syrus)

[Only realistic ones, but both come with issues. The former brings about risk, while the latter can take time to craft a good enough one.] (Luna)

[Only the former is reasonable.] (Syrus)

[Yes… but if we can get inside without one, I can take us to the building where they store such tokens.] (Luna)

[Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of getting a token to get in?] (Eva)

[Yes, but leaving is harder than entering. And with getting in, if we time it right, we might be able to take a step through.] (Luna)

Luna looked out of the building they were hiding in. It was an abandoned building; there were a few in the city like this due to hazardous materials used in the construction. Once that knowledge was discovered, the kingdom issued a decree to abandon such buildings and destroy them at future opportunities. The toxin was from the exotic wood used; when wet during the rainy season, it would drip a toxic sap that quickly turned into vapour and damaged the lungs of residents. Luna remembered studying the topic, and the longest time any person could live in such a building was ten years.

The fact the buildings were still standing fifteen years after the discovery was made was a massive concern, but it was a slight blessing for Anlesa. As it gave them another level of secrecy.

[How much harder is it?] (Syrus)

[Hehe…] Luna let out a small internal chuckle, thinking about the situation. [For you, it likely wouldn’t be too hard. For the average person, a different story. While I said there were many entrances and exits, leaving does require a specific exit pass that has to be returned at the day's end. There is only one way on top of the walls, and they curve inwards, so it is basically impossible to climb up the wall forcefully in an attempt to escape. There are some other minor stipulations. The one rule which doesn’t affect us personally, but might come around when we break out the children, is that children aren’t allowed to leave even with a token, unless they have a guardian with them.]

Luna remembered her multiple escape attempts. She tried many options, but none succeeded. She got punished many times for me, but she was able to deflect a good portion of them to be lesser, as she used excuses of exploring places rather than escaping. This mostly worked, as she never tried the same escape more than once, as once was enough to indicate to her that she couldn’t use it to permanently leave.

[...] Eva spent a moment thinking about what Luna said. [Yeah, Syrus could probably break out.]

[What do you two think of me as?] (Syrus)

[Syrus.] (Luna)

[Syrus.] (Eva)

[That… doesn’t answer my question?] (Syrus)

The trio wrapped up their conversation and proceeded with the plan. The reason why Luna was up so early was that she knew many people would be in prayer at this time of day.

Moving quickly, Luna quickly took notes of the gates, looking for one that held the opportunity. Finally, she reached one where the guards were sitting down the side, praying to the sky. She relied on Syrus to move them past without making a sound, which made Eva nervous as hell.

Thankfully, with solid steps, Syrus made it through. One of the guards opened its eyes and looked towards the entrance but saw no one leaving and made no additional note.

[That was easy.] (Syrus)

[My heart…] (Eva)

[Our heart is fine. Thank you for that, Syrus.] (Luna)

[Are you sure leaving isn’t just going to be as easy?] (Syrus)

[Do you wish to wait twenty-four hours to test that theory?] (Luna)

[Not particularly.] (Syrus)

[Then, likely not.] (Luna)

Luna needed one entrance pair of guards that were both praying, which was not common, as usually at least one stayed standing and at least appeared they wouldn’t cause a fuss if they saw a priest near the entrance on the church’s side. That last part was pure subjectivity on Luna’s end, but she wanted to believe she knew enough about what kind of people worked as guards. She even recognised a few from when she was a saint.

Luna walked through the segmented-off part of the city. She immediately went for the token bay and had Eva snatch a token with her metal wire during this small distraction window. Prayer only lasted for twenty minutes, and she wanted to make every second count while there were fewer people.

She moved to the buildings where she thought the kids might be and peeked through the cracks to see if they were inside. As well, she examined the changes made to the area since she was last here, in her last life. There were a few new buildings, and a couple of pavements had been redone, but it was mostly the same. The one big chance she noticed was the creation of a second paladin barracks on the south end.

Eventually, in the far-off corner, in part of the segment that Luna lovely referred to as the holding bay. Where children who were in their younger years were kept as an additional area of constraint. There was a building in the far back, and through a peek in the crack, they found some of their targets.