[If I knew the amount of security that each decoy had, I would be able to tell which was the decoy, but from the quality of security employed for the commission, no offense, it is most likely the real thing.
Hiring you guys is to confuse the enemy and make you look unattractive, but if you are facing a mad man, then it would have an opposite effect.] The more the system spoke the more Blake understood how much mess they had gotten themselves into by accepting the commission.
"I am seriously considering hiring adventurer party to rescue us if things went wrong, but even if that was possible those available are not strong enough for the job." Blake helplessly sighed.
"Too much bad news, please tell me that you have a solution?" Blake asked.
[Not that it's is a solution, but if a considerable amount of luck is on your side it would be a success.
These are the measures you have to put in place…]
…
The next day, after they had made sure they had purchased everything they will need from the association store, they went to the preparation room they used the previous day.
"Ms. Susan please prepare the package, while we run through the plan one last time..." Taliesin said to the blonde receptionist.
After close to 20 minutes of going through different processes, Susan returned and informed Taliesin about everything being ready.
"Alright, let's proceed to the carriage." Taliesin stood up from the couch and lead the way to the carriage he had arranged.
'Scan every member of the mission including the driver and the carriage.' Immediately they reached the carriage, Blake began releasing series of commands to the system.
[Scanning…
All members of the order of chaos adventurer party are free from any form of tracking devices and the same goes for the driver.
As for the hirer, he has quite a lot of equipment on him and even a few artifacts, but none of them include a tracking device.
For the carriage, it is a forgemastered carriage that has a lot of arrays, including defensive arrays for even the driver and horses who are the most exposed… wait a minute there is something wrong here…] The system was forced to stop its report when it sensed something strange about the carriage.
'Is it a tracking device?' Blake asked as he made his way into the carriage.
[I think I know what's going on here. When you were outside I sensed suspicious energy from the carriage, but now you are in and the carriage's arrays are no longer blocking it, the energy signature is now clear.
The carriage doesn't have any tracking device planted on it, but the problem is the package itself. The good news is that it doesn't have any tracking device on it, but the grave news is that it is the tracking device.]
'How the f*ck is that good news?! Forget it, explain what you mean by the package being the tracking device.' Blake felt like cursing the system who could joke about such a serious matter, but he held back himself and focused on the task at hand.
[The content of the wooden box with arrays engraved on it, emits a special energy signature that can be easily picked up by those who have the artifacts required to do so.
With this, there is a very high possibility that this isn't a decoy, but we can only hope that you aren't against a strong mad man.]
'Who knew my first party mission would be so difficult and complicated. We can only prepare for the worst.' Blake gave out a helpless sigh. 'When we begin moving, scan the environment and inform me of any suspicious activity.'
Knock! Knock!
Seeing that everyone was seated, Taliesin knocked on the wall of the carriage signaling the carriage driver to move.
'Even if the decoys don't work, I should be able to solo the small unit they will send our way.' Taliesin thought as the carriage made its way out of the adventurer's association gates.
Unknown to both Blake and the adventurer's association branch of Calton city, the unknown person who Taliesin was working for was the one who had hired most of the adventurer parties to act as the decoys and Taliesin had acted perfectly.
Although the adventurer's association was located at the edge of the central region, the amount of time needed to move into the middle region of the city was quite substantial.
(AN: Check chapter 7 in case you have forgotten the layout of Calton city, but for those lazy. The central region for nobles, mid-region for mid-class citizens, and outer region for slums, factories, and farmlands.)
Immediately, they made their way into the mid-region, the spies in charge of gathering the information quickly relayed the information to their pursuers.
It was 30 minutes later that the system sensed a particular mana signature that had been tailing them from a safe distance.
"We are being followed..."
Blake's statement made everyone on the carriage sit up and look out the windows and that included Taliesin, but none of them saw anything suspicious.
Not taking any chances, Taliesin activated one of the carriage's arrays and a translucent orb appeared at the center, displaying a holographic projection of everything on the street.
"That one right there…" Blake pointed at the 7th carriage behind them.
"From that far?" Taliesin asked in disbelief. "I don't believe you, how are you so sure?"
"Although it might be hard to believe I have a hunch." Even Blake wasn't convinced by the answer talk more of Taliesin, but the problem was that he couldn't talk about the system to anyone that wasn't Brian and Castiel.
"Alright, if you don't believe me why don't you keep the detection array on and monitor that carriage." Blake proposed.
"Alright." Although it wasn't convincing Taliesin had no reason to deny, because he couldn't take chances even if it was a hunch.