Now that we're done with the planning, we need to swiftly start the operation.

This time around, all of us will be acting together. Seventeen S.D members, Adam, Isabella, Emy, Liana, and me. If you ask where are the members who previously operated here since a few years ago went, they all came back to our country. Well, the ones who actually did the rescues directly, at least, not the intelligence team.

They're all members belonging to Isabella's squad, we decided to sent them back for three main reasons:

Firstly, they're not as efficient as our current team when it comes to operations like this.

Secondly, we wanted to train them to use firearms as well, and doing it here with so much people is not very ideal, to say the least.

And finally, they kinda needed a vacation.

Isabella is an exception, because she is stronger and more experienced than most of the other members, she will still be a huge help.

She still primarily use magic, but she also got some basic instructions for using guns recently, so there's no particular problem if she decides to use them either.

Anyway, this time we have quite a number of half-truck, 6, to be exact. Considering the number of people we need to rescue that we got from the guy, I don't even know his name, really.

Fortunately, after all the planning, it was well passed midnight, so our journey going outside the capital went pretty smoothly.

Now, we need to cover quite a distance before reaching the Forbes's territory. It would take around 12 hours or so, continuously driving at 60km/h.

Might as well get some sleep.

It's time to cuddle with my lovers, this is bliss.

*****

William and Christina are now sitting at a table, together with Duke Spencer and Archbishop Henry. The location is a mansion of Duke Spencer in the capital.

Needless to say, all four of them are very tired. Mainly because it's 4 in the morning, they have been running around gathering people for this operation.

Roping Archbishop Henry in wasn't that hard, the church absolutely despise slavery, they would do everything in their power to help. The council of the church's capital branch deemed that William and Duke Spencer are trustworthy enough, given their history of fighting against crimes like this. So they immediately dispatched 20 paladins, each in their Advance level, that's almost half of their force for this operation.

Duke Spencer didn't even need to be persuaded, he was planning to do the exact same thing for a while now, so obviously he would join. He provided 10 half-trucks and 3 vans, as well as 25 seasoned soldiers in the Advance range level.

The main objective of this operation is to find concrete evidence that could be used to bring Duke Forbes's crime to light. And that evidence would be the slaves inside his estate.

With this operation, not only they can reduce the influence of Duke Forbes, a strong ally of the current crown prince, but it will give the a more definitive cause for the church to support William's faction.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Before, the church heavily criticized the imperial family's decision to wage war against the late Kaspia, and they have been supporting William as the heir for a while now. With this, they can even further solidify their position in his faction.

Regardless, they are ready to face even Duke Forbes, their consciences won't allow this to go any further.

After finalizing their plan, they started to get into their vehicles, ready to depart.

On the way out, Christina encountered a familiar orange cat, it was Anastasia. She had been waiting there because earlier in the day Christina told her to come to this mansion if she really wanted to go.

A genius in divine magic, a devout follower of the goddess, they welcomed her with open arms.

And so, their journey, too, started.

*****

Driving through a massive grassland to the west, we finally arrived at the territory after more than half a day later.

Having 6 half-trucks driving in a group would be very conspicuous, so we had to split up and then regroup near the estate.

But first, we had to fill our stomach, the operation wouldn't start until midnight, and it's only 3 in the afternoon.

So we each sent out one of the members to buy food and drinks, and then started to drive to the estate.

Parking around 200m from the estate, we again, used illusion magic to make us invisible, then we sent 5 members to infiltrate the building with extreme precautions.

After an hour, we got the confirmation that the slaves were indeed inside a basement under the building, what the hell with all these basements for slaves?

Anyway, they had also confirmed the location of the Duke's bedroom, it's the room in the middle of the fourth floor, so now I'm flying around with a member of the squad, who can use illusion magic to make us invisible.

The goal is to find a building I can use for sniping while our team get into their positions. It would need to be sufficiently tall, within 300m preferably, and I could actually see the bedroom from there.

After a while, I found one that matches the requirements. Within 300m of the estate, no obstructions, and 5 stories tall, this one is good enough.

So I fly to their terrace, using the space between the water tanks to create a comfy sniping space, and then I take out the case with the Hecate.

It feels like a long time since I've use this one, although I literally shot it like half a month ago.

With the S.D member, a young female elf with a ton of scars by appearance, looking at me curiously, I take out the blanket and spread it out on the ground.

Now both of us are sitting on the blanket, I open the case and take out the Hecate, stabilize it with the bipod at the front and the monopod below the stock.

I then take out the bullet box, pulling out 7 rounds of super AP and put them in the magazine. Then I pull out 5 more spare mag I've prepared, and started to load all of the bullets in, and finally, lining up all 6 mags on the right side of the gun, the bullet box on the left, in case I need more.

I lay down, take control of the scope and try to aim at the bedroom.

Yup, very clear, this is pretty good.

''Please go and tell them that we have found a location for sniping.'' I said.

''Understood, Your Highness.''

Now we only need to wait, let's eat something in the meanwhile.

*****

It was already sunset when Christina and William arrived at the Forbes's territory. Fortunately, they deployed the same tactic as Sylvia's group: Illusion magic and traveling separately. So they didn't get any suspicion from the people.

Now, the time is near midnight, all the members are already in their positions, ready to raid the estate. Earlier, some of their members who are adept at stealth has confirmed the existence of slaves inside the building.

Even on the surface level, they found maids with clear sighs of abuse, namely bruises and fresh wounds, working with souless faces, it was very obvious.

This time around, William, Duke Spencer, as well as Archbishop Henry will be the ones who give out commands, mainly because they're not strong enough to participate in the battle, and an army of this scale, with two teams who have no prior working experience with each other, they certainly do need some pointers.

When the tension is the highest, everybody was about to charge in, only waiting for the command, a faint hissing sound can be heard in the air.

Following that, something very small moving insanely fast, faster than anything they're seen, pierced the window of Duke Forbes's bedroom, leaving behind a trail of blue. And almost immediately after, a loud screaming noise escaped out of the building.

From then on, chaos ensued.