The task of going to Negal fell to Arsh, Bera, and Walter. At the train station, they were greeted by a man named Jones. He was a man in his early thirties, of average height, with brown hair and a beard that covered almost his entire face. When they shook hands, Arsh could feel the rough calluses on the man's palms. From what Bera had told him on the way there, Jones was actually a gardener.
Although he had a siuni, he was one of those who preferred to live as quietly as possible. But whenever necessary, he—and a small group of people like him trying to maintain peaceful lives in Negal—would lend their support to the FFSD.
Negal was generally a place where locals lived alongside wealthy families escaping the sweltering summer heat of Tirsirt. While most locals made a living through vineyards and agriculture, some worked in the vineyards that these wealthy people had bought as a hobby to produce their own wine.
Now that the weather had begun to cool and the grape harvest season had passed, Negal had grown quieter. Aside from the locals, most people had already left the small town.
On the way to their lodgings, Jones began to brief them on the information he had gathered. He had spent the last week scouting General Debrez's estate. The farmhouse was located just outside the center of Negal. Since this was General Debrez's hometown, his farmhouse—unlike those built later—wasn't close to the main road, it was in the middle of the vineyards. There were soldiers on guard around the clock both at the manor and in the vineyards, making it difficult to approach.
"So we basically have no information right now? Are there no soldiers with siunis among them? Or any information about the layout of the manor?" Walter asked.
Jones let out a small laugh.
"I gathered the information we need. Don't worry. We just need a plan to get inside."
When they arrived at the place where they would be staying, three other members of Jones's team were already waiting for them. After a brief round of introductions, they wasted no time and began planning how to infiltrate General Debrez's house.
...
Unlike other people from Tirsit, General Debrez's family had not left Negal this year, even though the season was over. Most people had returned to Tirsirt a month ago. Instead of attending school, the General's three children were being homeschooled. Except for the children, Debrez's mother, and his wife, there were ten servants living in the house right now.
The responsibility for protection belonged to the soldiers. Since the season had ended, the number of workers in the vineyards was very small, and even they could only enter after passing through checkpoints. Soldiers patrolled the area around the gardens. However, it was not difficult to get past the barbed wire fences and enter the vineyards.
Inside the garden, it was also possible to avoid the patrols as long as they didn't move in groups; the vineyards themselves offered good cover. With Jones's siuni allowing him to control plants, this part of the mission would be relatively easy.
The real challenge was getting inside the farmhouse under such heavy security.
"The best way to get into the house is the front door," Bera said.
"The front door? Are you sure?" Rosa asked, surprised. She was a woman in her thirties who ran a bakery in town.
"I've broken into places like this before. They usually place the stronger guards and anyone with siunis at the back entrances and along the patrol routes. An intruder rarely uses the front door. Of course, I'm not saying the guards at the front are completely powerless. After all, we don't know the exact abilities of the people here, or whether they're just ordinary soldiers," Bera explained.
"Actually, he's right. The back entrance of the building is very well-guarded," Jones said. "At the front entrance, there are only two soldiers on guard, with four-man patrols passing in front of the house every now and then. But let's consider other options anyway."
He then pulled out a piece of paper and laid it on the table in the center of the room. On it was a rough sketch of the house's floor plan.
"Even though I don't know much about the inside of the building, I can give you an idea about the general layout," he said.
"This is the front entrance. From here, the house splits into three wings. The third wing is where the housekeepers and cooks is staying. There is an entrance there too, but security is tight in that area as well. The patrols seem to monitor the staff quarters especially closely. However, in this wing, there's a section leading to the kitchen and the laundry room. The staff who work late or wake up early sometimes go there to smoke. Most of the time the window there is open. Perhaps we might have a chance to slip inside from there," he added, pointing somewhere in his sketch.
"As far as I can tell, the studies and libraries are in the first wing. I noticed that during the day, only the children and their tutors go to this side of the house. In the second wing, there are bedrooms, guest rooms, and living areas... As I said, these are the things I observed from the outside. I am not sure what you will see once you go inside, and I don't have any idea where the things you are looking for will be."
"That's quite good. We can work with this plan," Bera said.
"Alright, then who is going inside? And who will stay outside?" Rose asked.
"Walter and Arsh will move together; they are responsible for finding the documents. I think it would work well if Ms. Gilda accompanied me. As I understand it, you have mind control abilities. I have experience working with someone who has a similar power. If the two of us head inside, we can buy time for Walter and Arsh if necessary," Bera said.
"That works for me. I can numb my targets for a while—you already know that," said the woman named Gilda. She said she was a nurse at the small local clinic. Although her ability was similar to Herman's, she couldn't take full control of her targets; she could only make them numb and unresponsive.
"Rose, Matt, and I will wait for you outside. In case of any unexpected situation, we'll make your escape easier. Our siunis are better suited for that anyway," Jones said, gesturing toward the other person in the room.
The plan was simple, and as long as they were careful, it didn't seem like there would be much trouble. Even if someone with unexpected abilities appeared among the soldiers, they had enough numbers to handle it. Jones was confident they could deal with the outside patrols if something went wrong. In that scenario, the heaviest burden would fall on Bera and Gilda.
"I'm not sure, but this plan looks too easy. Is it really that simple to get inside the General of this country? Even with his family here, the security feels kind of lousy for someone who is aware of the siunis," Walter said.
"You're right. But there must be people like us out there as well. Still, we're not easy opponents. If we get what we need, I believe escaping will be easy," Jones said, and the others nodded in agreement.
"And also, it's not like we have any other choice. This is the best plan we could come up with," Rose said this time.
"When should we make our move?" Bera asked.
"Not today. There's a storm coming tomorrow evening. It'll be easier to move then," Matt said, speaking for the first time.
No one objected. They focused on examining the drawings Jones had produced of the house's structure and discussing potential escape routes.