Chapter 113 - Ploy (3)

"This is bad… I knew that something this troublesome was bound to happen when I heard of that operation," Anna said. "We need to find something and prove our innocence."

Billy wondered if just writing what he just heard and sending it to Pierre or Jean would be enough to gain their trust. It would be a lot less troublesome if they could confirm that they were on their side before acting. The story seemed too convenient for them… from some people's perspectives, telling them that an ally in their territory was working with the enemy to make the state fall seemed like one hell of a diversion and excuse to avoid the punishment for their actions… Although only Billy ran wild and caused problems…

Acting without thinking again won't help. While the group could hide in there for a few days, they were bound to run out of water and food. Invading the house of the count and forcing him to tell the truth when Jean appears as an option. Still, after what Billy did, the defenses of place will be as troublesome as they can be.

"I can help you," a female voice echoed in one of the cells.

"I am sure you can," Billy laughed without even looking at her.

"The count has underlings in the most important places, like in the entrance and exits of the city and on the messenger's post," the voice echoed again. "You won't leave this place and send any messages without alerting his men."

"Tell me something that I don't know," Billy said.

"You can use the bandit guild to help you with that," the woman said.

"I am sure that working with bandits will surely make our cause much easier," Billy said.

"They are called that because that is what the count decided to call them," the woman said. "We are just a bunch of people that antagonize the count after the many problems he caused to us."

Billy began to think about what he heard… that story of her seemed too good to be true, but he didn't recall seeing any jail in the other towns and cities. So, criminals weren't exactly common in that state.

"What are your crimes?" Billy asked and then turned to face the woman.

The woman was skin and bones, and one could tell by how dirty she was that she had been there for a while. Although she looked worse than Kate when she was sick, Billy still could see a fire in her green eyes. It was rare to find people with green eyes outside his tribe, so he wondered if they had the same ancestor… Nevertheless, the woman seemed to be in her twenties and had long straight black hair.

"Hah, my crimes?" The woman laughed. "Apparently, my family refused to pay taxes to the count."

"Apparently?" Billy frowned.

"That was what he and the other lapdogs of the count made people think," The woman said. "Ask him the truth."

"You heard her spit it out," Billy said.

".... Her family owned a prosperous farm that grew a lot in the last few years," the guard explained. "Instead of a small portion in taxes, the count decided to take everything by using that as an excuse."

That was something similar that Billy had read in a comic book back on Earth. A certain king was waging war against some countries, and he needed more tribute to keep his army ongoing. So, he devised a plan to fool a certain family and take their whole farm.

"What do you think, grandma?" Billy asked. "You are the leader of this expedition. It is up to you."

"... I can't see how we can convince the people of this state by working with those they think that they are bandits," Anna said, still trying to recover from the surprising, scary method of interrogation of her grandkid. "Still, since the guard confirmed this, I suppose we can believe that she is on our side. However, instead of sending a message to Pierre or the lord, we should inform our allies."

"I suppose that is for the best," Billy said and then messed with the walls near the iron bars of the woman's cell. "I suppose we are going to work together for a while… so, don't try anything funny. I will keep a close watch on you. What is your name?"

Billy was thinking that there was a small chance that the woman was someone that is working for the count, but it would be hard to imagine that someone would go as far as to look like that. Besides, the count probably didn't imagine that such a scenario where the targets would hide inside the prison would take place.

"My name is Louise… can you please free those people as well? Their situation is similar to mine," the woman said.

Billy looked toward his grandmother, and she nodded. It would be better to be nice to them in order to make them think that they were true allies… at least for the time being. Besides, Billy couldn't imagine them doing anything. They looked pretty wary of him and his magic. They didn't know that he had too little left, though.

In any case, those people looked like they could collapse at any moment, so Anna helped them eat the little food that they found in the building. The guards didn't eat there, so it couldn't be helped…

Anna also looked after their wounds and cleaned their bodies. In the meantime, Billy used Meditation to recover as much mana as possible. After the preparations had been made, Billy searched around for an area around them where the guards weren't passing through that much, and when he opened an exit and helped everyone leave with his Earth magic before sealing the hole. It was past midnight, but the guards still were searching for them across the city.. It was only natural since no one saw them leaving the city.