"Alright, Selesa, and one of you two, get ready to copy their appearances," I instructed, deactivating the barriers and adding, "Ragiu, re-activate your Lightning Sensory Field, just in case more show up."

"Hey, I told you to call me Sherla!"

​​

"Not happening."

As we reached the two paralyzed white-robes, I restrained their bodies using my wire, and then waited for the effects of the paralysis to wear off after activating two Copy scrolls against them.

As soon as it wore off...

"Who are you, what is the meaning of this!?" Exclaimed the woman furiously.

She looked to be in her mid-twenties, with longish dark red hair, brown eyes, and her build and height was fairly similar to Selesa. Except that she had some pretty big boobs.

"I'm da one asking de questions 'ere," I replied in a Mafia-boss voice.

...what? I've always wanted to say that!

"Ooh, nice," Remarked Selesa, flashing me a thumbs up.

"Anyway. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. You could tell us what we want to know, and we'll let you go unharmed. You could resist, and we'll torture the information out of you. If that doesn't work, we'll kill you...slowly and painfully. See, we're reasonable, giving you the freedom of choice and all," I informed her, as I entered Soul-Eater Mode and ran my claws just under her fingernails.

She flinched as my eyes changed, along with my fangs and claws growing out.

"Wh-what are y-you?" She trembled in fear, her voice shaking slightly.

Hm, looks like she valued her life, unlike the suicide bombing spies found in Silvland, as well as the one I encountered in the Rustlands. Perfect. What about the man? He had been pretty quiet all this time.

"Like I said, I'm the one asking the questions here. Let's start off simple, shall we...your name, which Tier you're a part of, and what your role is," I stated, getting straight to the point.

She looked confused, with an expression that said 'that's it?'.

"Er, I am Retya Posmer, of the Lapdog Tier. I am an assistant to the Research Tier, and am tasked with gathering ingredients from time to time."

She wasn't lying, good. Although...

"How cooperative, so much so that it's kinda boring," I sighed, retracting my claws a bit and adding, "Are you an assistant to any one person in particular? What are the names of the people who you work most closely with? And how do you act around them?"

She still didn't seem to be able to figure out why I was asking such seemingly trivial questions, and looked even more confused.

"Do not answer, ma'am, they must be up to something- gaaaghhh!!" The man began to urge her, sensing that something was wrong.

I interrupted him by ripping off a fingernail using my claws, cracking it into pieces, and then slowly jamming and twisting those shard-like pieces back into his finger, as he let out a cry of agony.

"Well...I'm waiting," I said to the woman, who was shaking with fear, tears of terror forming in her eyes.

I was having a hard time holding back...I wanted to slowly tear them apart bit by bit and elicit their tortured cries of pain, but...I should try to resist those urges as much as possible.

"I-I work directly under a man named Dr Balat Guyen of the Research Tier as his assistant, and I work above those of the Pawn Tier, I am allowed to command them during resource gathering assignments such as this one. I am acquainted with some from the Lapdog Tier, but I am not particularly close with them."

"Alright, any close, personal relationships? And how's your demeanor around this Balat Guyen guy? And what about around pawns?"

"I am respectful around Dr Guyen, and I suppose I am rather commanding around the pawns. I do not understand what you are after...are you all from Silvland? What is your objective- aghhhhh, my eye!" She screamed, as I interrupted her by swiping my index finger across her left eye, extending my claw as I did, slashing it.

"I already told you, I'm the one asking the questions here."

"Woah, you're seriously brutal, dude," Said Selesa, though she didn't appear to be afraid.

If anything, she looked intrigued.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, ask her anything else you might need to know, since you'll be the one taking over her appearance, I'll question the other one now."

"Sure!" She responded eagerly, squatting in front of Retya and thinking of what to ask.

I moved on to the man, who glared at me.

"Alright, same questions. Just summarize yourself, I guess," I stated bluntly, extending my claws threateningly.

"Tch, go to hell! The Empire saved me from a life in the Goldway slums, I will never betray- agghhhh!" He screamed, as I slowly twisted and poked one of my claws through a fingernail, pierced through it and bursting out of his finger, "You've still got eight fingernails left...and then there's your toenails...let's not forget your eyes. Oh, and then there's your finger segments and toes too. See, I can keep this up all day...but the question is, can you?"

He flinched as I stared coldly into his eyes, his expression a mix of fear and pain. I began to move on to another fingernail, but stopped as he started speaking, desperate to avoid the pain.

His name was Wane Pexende, a member of the Pawn Tier, and someone who kept to himself and wasn't close with anyone in particular. Basically, he flew under the radar.

These two sure had spilled the beans pretty damn easily, huh.

"Hey, what's your Elemental Magic?" Selesa asked the woman.

Oh, right...that was pretty important too.

"I use Wind Magic, why?"

"Like my friend over here said, we're the ones asking the questions h-!"

"Yeah, no...we're not friends," I cut her off.

"You're such a cum-gurgling weasel!"

I ignored her and continued interrogating the guy, finding out that he had Water Magic. Neither of them had any Anima mutations, so that didn't really matter. We asked them anyway, just to be safe, finding out that the woman had a ladybug Anima and the man had a lizard Anima. We also asked them other stuff like where their living quarters were and whatnot...the more thorough we were, the better we'd be able to play our roles, and the less likely we were to attract suspicion.

Soon enough, we had all the information we needed in order for two of us to be able to successfully take their places. But before that...

"One more thing...who made this?" I inquired, holding up her gun.

Upon closer inspection, it was built exactly like a pistol, just with different materials than what I was used to in my old life. While I had never been the biggest fan of using guns, it was kinda nice to hold one again.

"Our highest ranked member of the Retribution Tier spends a lot of time in the Research Tier...he designed this weapon."

I took the gun apart, it was made up of the same components that a gun in my old world, and was assembled and disassembled in the same way too. There was one thing different though...the inside of the barrel was lined with strips of some kind of paper...it felt a bit familiar...

"What's this inside it?"

"Strips of the material used to make Spell Scrolls...each strip has a command line, it enhances the projectile using the user's Mana."

I got her to further clarify that point, and figured out how it works. So, that's why the bullets were so fast and powerful. I reassembled the gun and pointed it at a tree, running my Mama through it before pulling the trigger...a bullet crackling with electricity shot out, shooting through the tree.

"How are you so adept at using this weapon? Have you used it before?" Misen inquired curiously.

Crap, maybe I should have fumbled a bit or something.

"Nope, I'm just good at puzzles, and this thing is kinda built like one. Plus, we already saw her use in on those Phoenixes."

More to the point though, that bullet had shot out a lot differently to when she fired it. Interesting.

"Oh, I get it...depending on the user's Elemental Magic, the bullet is enhanced differently. Hey, tell me the names and ranks of the Retribution Tier members. So far, we know the number four Hacte Routh and number six Rion Xester."

She looked hesitant, before answering as I extended out my claws.

"Y-yes. Number five is named Kuua Quels, number three is named Presde Delou, two is named Azeria Folix, and number one...I can't remember his real name because it's rarely used, he usually goes by Sicario."

"That's a strange sounding name. Hey, is she lyin- woah, what's up with you?" Misen began, before exclaiming in surprise as he saw my shocked expression.

Sicario...no way, it couldn't be him...i-it's probably j-just a coincidence, let's not get too caught up in hypotheticals.

Back to the current situation. Alright, should we try and get more information out of them? No, I think that should do. Time to get down to business...

"Alright, Selesa and Les, these two best match you two, namely in the Elemental Magic department, but they're more or less the right height and build too. Time to transform," I remarked, handing them the corresponding Paste scrolls to the two Copy scrolls I'd used.

They nodded and took the scrolls, activating them.

"Damn it, why won't you call me Sherla!? Well, whatever, time to do this thing. Ooh, this is so exciting!" Selesa grinned giddily.

.

.

.

"Wh-what is this?" The woman stuttered in shock, as Selesa took on her appearance.

The man wordlessly stared in disbelief at Les, who was taking on his appearance. He was in his early-thirties, was a bit on the tall side, well-built, had short black hair and black eyes, and a dark brown complexion.

For our group, Misen and I were about the same height, Les was an inch or two taller, and Selesa was an inch or two shorter.

"I-I see, all those questions...now I understand," The woman muttered, a deflated look on her face.

She had realized that she was going to be replaced by an imposter, and that meant that she wasn't getting out of this alive.

"I know I said I'd let you go if you cooperated...yeah, I lied. But because you were so helpful, I'll give you a quick death," I smirked, biting into her neck and draining her life force before she could react, adding after I sucked her dry, "Man, I always feel so refreshed after that!"

I drove my claws into the man's neck as I let the woman's lifeless body slump to the ground. I can't afford to make a mess and get their robes bloody. I then returned to my normal state with a sigh, standing up and turning to the other two.

"Alright, now take their robes, equipment, weapons and any other personal belongings on them, and leave your own stuff behind- what are you doing?" I snapped irritably at Selesa, who was shifting and jiggling her boobs.

"This woman has got some pretty big titties, yo...it's kinda tight, my armor feels like it's about to burst...aah, much better!" She sighed in relief, loosening the straps around her armor.

"...just go do the thing," I sighed in exasperation, nodding to the two corpses, "Also, change into their clothes, unless they're wearing something similar to what you're wearing."

The two of them took off the robes, and then looked over what they were wearing underneath. It was some pretty basic, cheap leather armor, which meant that they most definitely had to change out of their higher quality armor.

Side note, not gonna lie, it was pretty weird seeing them like this, with unfamiliar appearances.

Selesa dragged the woman's body behind a row of bushes with a look of disappointment after we insisted that she couldn't change in front of us. She came out after she finished changing and showed off a belt with a bunch of loaded magazines strapped to it.

"Here, take the gun. Make sure not to overuse it though," I handed it to her.

Les had also finished changing. They both had found a card on each of the corpses, with the name and Tier of the owner on it. Guess that'll serve as proof of identification when we head in through the gates of The Empire.

We then tied their belongings to the corpses and used two Store scrolls to hide the evidence, before destroying the used Copy scrolls and the two Store scrolls. We had buried the Extract scrolls along with the teleportation scrolls and the scroll that'd return us to our normal appearances, as well a few other personal belongings that we didn't want to risk losing.

Anyway, they could use the corresponding buried Extract scrolls when we go back to get their stuff back. Selesa was especially relieved since she'd be able to get her bladed gloves back. Alright, time to continue heading forward.

"We'll take their cart. Ragiu and I will sit at the back with the invisibility and stealth barriers around us. You two focus on getting into character. Do you remember the names of the two you're posing as?"

"Yeah, mine's Wane Pexende," Responded Les affirmatively.

"And mine's Retya Posmer! Side note, this chick has, or technically, had, some pretty massive jugs. And it feels really weird that my tail is gone!"

"Yeah, no one gives a fuck. Go up and drive the cart," I replied, before activating the invisibility and soundproof barriers over Misen and myself at the back of the cart.

"Interesting, it appears as though the invisibility barrier does not shimmer when being moved on something, it only shimmers when the user itself moves too fast," Observed Misen, noticing that the invisibility barrier was doing its job without shimmering, even though we were moving at a fairly high speed right now.

Now, then, it's time to get focused. It was only a matter of time now, before the business end of this infiltration mission begins...

...

"Please, can I?"

"No, you shouldn't waste any bulle-."

"Pleeeaaaasse?"

"No."

"Ahhhhh, you're such a pube-eating pile of pig shit!"

It was nighttime now, and we had stopped in a small grove of trees to rest up for the night. Selesa had wanted to try out the gun, but I figured it was best to play it safe and not waste the bullets...and then she started begging.

"Just go to sleep, we'll reach The Empire any time tomorrow, we need to be well rested before the infiltration begins," I instructed, perching myself up on a thick branch.

"Yeah, okay...but first, can I just fire one bullet? What's the harm, look at how many loaded magazines I'm carrying, one bullet isn't going to hurt!"

This girl is so infuriating...

"Just let her do it so that she'll shut up already!" Groaned Misen, rubbing his temples with an irrate sigh.

I hated to let her win by whining, but at this rate, she wasn't going to give up, not for a while anyway...

"...fine. In that case, we might as well all give it a go, just so we're familiar with it in case we need to use one after we infiltrate The Empire. Just one shot each though," I reluctantly relented.

"Yayy!" Cheered Selesa reluctantly, jumping up and down, her boobs bouncing like crazy.

Not gonna lie, her stolen appearance was a bit disconcerting to get used to. Same with Les too.

She went first, aiming the gun at a tree, running her Mana through it and firing. The recoil shifted her trajectory upwards, as the bullet blasted out enhanced by wind, piercing through the top part of the tree.

"Wooo, that was awesome! Can I go again, pl-?"

"No, you can't. My turn," I interrupted, snatching it away from her.

"Hey, no fair, you already fired once earlier-."

"Just shut up for once, Selesa," I sighed, carving a small X onto a tree and backed away about fifty meters from it, aimed, ran my Mana through it and fired.

The bullet burst forward enhanced by lightning, it wasn't as fast as the bullet enhanced by wind was. I see, so the effectiveness of the bullet depends on the Elemental Magic type. The bullets shot into the tree, but didn't pierce through it like when Selesa fired.

True, she'd been closer to it when she fired, but there was definitely more speed and penetrative power behind the bullet she fired. I walked closer to see if I hit my mark. Hm, looks like the bullet went through about two centimeters above the center of the X.

Well, it has been a few years since I last fired a gun, and I rarely ever used pistols, whenever I had to use guns on my old missions, it was generally sniper rifles.

I then handed the gun to Les, who aimed and fired after running his Mana through it. It was even less effective than my shot, but his accuracy was a lot better than his sister's.

The magazine was empty, so we took it out and reloaded the gun with a loaded one.

Misen went last, his shot was equally as effective as mine in terms of speed and power, and his aim was similar to Les's in terms of accuracy.

"This is quite an effective weapon, it appears to be a lot more damaging than a bow or crossbow would be," He remarked, handing it back to me after firing.

Yeah, and it would be extremely problematic if The Empire had mass-produced these. And that name they mentioned, Sicario...

It was definitely someone who had retained their old memories, that word literally meant 'hired killer' in Italian, and there was a reason why I was familiar with it...even though I don't speak Italian...

Well, there's no point speculating, guess I'll find out after I get there.

Not long afterwards, we all went to sleep, looking to get as much rest as possible. Tomorrow, we'd be making our way into the lion's den. The hard part of this mission would soon begin...

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