I can see that these fake bandits are starting to move. Everyone is busy preparing to fight even though they haven't gotten any info on how strong the enemies are, and how many people they will fight.
They just prepared all seventy people to kill their target. Whether the enemy has a hundred people, or just one person, these fake bandits prepared everyone to kill all of their enemies.
I have told Candy about what she will do.
There are two possible options for the fake bandits. Either to have some people guard her, or taking her along so they can use her as hostage in case their enemies this time is related to her or not.
Well, there's one more option. Which is to ignore Candy and make everyone attack without leaving anyone behind to guard her. If that's their choice, then that would be great.
Unfortunately, it seems like the fake bandit leader choose to bring her with him.
The only good thing about this is that he alone move behind the main force while guarding Candy.
The cage is being pulled by a horse and he's pulling the reins.
He doesn't notice that right behind the cage he's pulling, I'm following him. Candy positioned her body so that he won't notice me following. And since I can see with my Divine Vision that everyone is advancing, and we're behind them, I whispered to Candy the change in plan.
I will attack him and put the Magic Restriction Collar around his neck. That way, he can't do anything other than shouting for help from his allies. But that won't be a problem if I knocked him out and stuffed his mouth with cloth.
Since we still have time before the right moment where the fake bandits will have fewer chance to escape, I told Candy to gain any kind of information from the fake bandit leader.
"Hey! Who are you and why did you do this?" Candy asked the fake bandit leader.
"Hmm? You can call me Grant. As for why we do this kind of thing, it's because we are paid handsomely for this."
"Don't act like a bandit! I know that you are far too organized to be a bandit! Tell me the truth!"
"Well, we are indeed paid handsomely. As for the truth, why would I tell you about it? Maybe I'll tell you if you strip naked here."
"Hell no!"
Hearing Candy refused his proposal, I said to Candy in whisper.
"You can strip naked to get the truth. It's easy since no one other than him and I will see you."
"You think I will do it?!"
"Actually, please don't. If you change your mind too quickly, he will be suspicious instead. You getting strip naked is just what I wish for."
"Then I won't do it!"
Good thing that Grant can't hear any word we said.
"Why is he move slowly? Won't it give a chance for Wendy and your friends to escape?"
"I think he's just being careful since it's dark. Continue asking him questions. Although we can interrogate him later, asking him now might get a different answer. Probably even the truth. Just say that since you're going to die anyway, it won't be a problem if he leaked a secret or two."
"You're right. I'll try."
Candy tried to ask Grant again.
"Just tell me the truth. I'm going to die anyway," said Candy.
"Why are you going to die?" asked Grant.
"Umm…" Candy sneak a glance at me asking for help.
Why are you asking me? Are you really a secret agent? Make some lies!
I whispered again to her.
"Just say that even if he brought you to his leader, you will only say that you're a hunter teaching newbies. Then if there's no chance to escape, you will bite your tongue and suicide before he turns you into tools for men's satisfaction! Just improvise!"
Candy said the same thing to Grant.
"Even if you brought me to your leader for questions, I can only say that I'm a hunter teaching newbies. If there's no chance to escape, I'll just commit suicide before you turn me into a tool to satisfy your men."
"Then just go and kill yourself. There's no other worth for you other than being potential hostage here."
Seeing his reaction, Candy glanced at me again.
This woman is suck in asking question. Seriously, how could she be a secret agent? I'll ask Ms. Wendy later.
"For now, just keep looking at him. I'll imitate your voice and I'll be the one asking question. You just need to move your mouth according to my word in case he's looking behind."
She nodded after hearing what I said.
Now I'm adjusting my voice with air element so we could have a similar voice.
"I'm curious. I know that I have the appearance that will make most men fall for me, but instead of having your men doing what they want to me, you choose to put me in a cage which is the safest place for me at the moment. Why?"
After asking that question, Candy glared at me.
What I said was the truth so she shouldn't get angry.
"Hah! You're so confident in your look, huh? I'll tell you this. All of us, other than the first wave who are the real bandits, only have one woman in our mind. She's the greatest woman we've ever seen. She's the most beautiful, smartest, and the woman we all respected the most. You are nothing to her!"
Hearing Grant praising a woman to that point, it even makes Candy a little angry. But Grant continued.
"We did it for her! We don't care about Evil God or whatnot! We joined the cult only because of her! She's like an angel! She's the most important person in our lives! If she told us to die, we'll die! If she told us to kill, we'll kill! If she died, we all will follow her to the afterlife!"
He's a fanatic. That's what both Candy and I understood.
But more importantly, it seems like he's from the cult. More like, he's in the cult because of this woman he's worshipping.
If he doesn't care about everything else other than that woman like he says, it means that the one who gave him the order to kill mages is her.
Then I continued asking using Candy's voice.
"Does that mean she's the one who give you the order? Do you know the reason why?"
"Why should I care? If she told me to swim in lava, I will do it! If she told me to bury myself alive, I will do it! So what if she told me to kill mages on the verge of breakthrough? I don't need a reason. I'll do everything for her."
"I bet she doesn't even remember your name."
"Huhu… unlike the others, this Grant has the privilege to be remembered by Lady Celestine! I'm special to be remembered by Lady Celestine!"
Let's ignore his fanatic tendency and collect the important information.
So, the one who gave the order to attack is this Lady Celestine. And everyone here, at least the fake bandits, are her worshippers, her fans.
Once she's mentioned, Grant would praise her nonstop.
At least I found his weakness. Should I stop pretending and just knock him out right now? We need to prepare for the battle. If Grant is gone, this group of fake bandits will no longer have their leader.
But there's one thing I'm concerned about.
I have tapped the buckle of my belt many times, and Sonia hasn't come yet!
Are they having some trouble over there?
I'm too far from the shack even with my Divine Vision I can't see the others.
I can still see the shack, but I can't see the girls. Are they inside? Or have they decided to escape? I'm worried.
But if something happened, Sonia would come to my side.
Since she hasn't appeared in front of me yet, I think they are not in any danger at the moment. But they needed Sonia's help with something.
So I'll try to waste time by having a chat with Grant. But seems like Grant no longer has any intention to speak anymore.
He won't answer anything I said anymore. Even when I used Candy's voice and said "I'll strip naked for you if you forget about that Lady Celestine," Grant never said any words.
But I ended up being glared by Candy. If not for the cage, she would have hit me.
Then, good news come!
Sonia finally appear after a while not answering my call.
She came with a good news coming from Kayla's side!
Kayla is getting smarter and smarter again! I really love this part of her.
After listening to Sonia, I used Divine Vision again. This time, I'm not looking at the shack. But I'm looking at the ground near the shack.
There is a hole right in front of the shack!
This hole was made by Kayla and Angela using their earth element magic. Looks like Angela managed to breakthrough just fine.
And I also can see that they are digging another hole that they will cover so they can have a place to hide.
Hearing this plan, we have a chance to not let everyone on the enemy's side alive. So I just knocked Grant unconscious since we no longer needed to ask him questions for now.
"Those girls are keep improving again and again. I'm truly glad to be able to meet them in this life."