**The Day Before**
Two guards stand at one of the gates, standing proudly under the midday sun. One of them looks at the ID cards of three other guards before him, while the other watches them through name-reading glasses.
"If you say your name is Rayan?"
One of the other guards asks.
"Yes, sir!"
He glances at Rayan's ID card while scratching his beard.
"Alright, you may pass."
Rayan and the other two guards accompanying him cross through the gate, walking without uttering a word. After they've moved a somewhat distant distance away, one of them removes his blue hat.
"Phew! I thought they were going to catch us."
The other guard turns toward him and says:
"You fool! Why did you take off your hat now? Someone might see you!"
The other man quickly realizes his mistake and puts his hat back on.
"Oh, sorry! It was just too hot."
Guard Rayan sighs, placing his hand on his forehead:
"Just let's finish this quickly."
The three of them proceed quietly toward a room. Upon entering, the same person removes his helmet again.
"Alright, there's no one here. I was dying from the heat!"
The other guard sighs and removes his helmet as well:
"I won't lie, the heat here is unbearable."
Finally, Rayan removes his helmet too:
"As I said, just make this quick!"
As soon as he takes off his helmet, his facial features become visible. It was Khalid, disguised as Rayan.
Khalid turns to Seth and says:
"I have a question: What was that glasses the guard wore earlier?"
Seth replies:
"Those were name-reading glasses. They detect the chips embedded in armor and specially designed clothes to display a person's name when looked at. Criminals are given clothes with chips programmed specifically for each of them."
Khalid places his hand under his chin and says:
"Oh, I see..."
"You didn't understand anything, right?"
"No, I did understand. Anyway, we need to hurry because we don't have time. In half an hour, the guard shift changes, and the guards will come to this room."
Each of George, Seth, and Khalid turns toward a large screen mounted on the wall.
Seth steps forward and starts pressing the keyboard buttons on the computer, while George, who was near the door, focuses on listening for anyone approaching.
"It's good that Haro and Maro hacked the cameras, otherwise we would've been discovered."
Khalid says:
"Invite them for apple juice later, but now focus on listening."
The large man remains silent, concentrating on any nearby sounds.
Khalid approaches Seth and asks:
"In your opinion, how much more time will you need?"
Seth presses the keys rapidly while replying:
"About twenty to twenty-five minutes. Is that enough?"
Khalid smiles and pats Seth on the back:
"More than enough. I'm counting on you!"
Seth gives a faint smile and returns to his serious work.
After about a quarter of an hour, George hears a sound from outside—a man approaching the room.
"Hey! Stop! Someone is coming!"
Seth quickly presses several keys, then he and Khalid move back to the entrance in guard positions, swiftly putting their helmets on.
The door opens, and a formidable-looking man enters—his expression cold, short black hair, crimson eyes, wearing formal attire with a chess castle emblem on his chest.
Michael briefly glances at each of the guards standing beside him:
"Who are these?"
A man behind him steps forward and says:
"Oh, don't worry, these are just guards protecting the archive room."
"Oh... Aren't guards supposed to be stationed outside?"
The man hesitates and replies:
"Actually, this room has multiple entry points such as ventilation openings or windows. Guarding only one entrance would be ineffective, and guarding all would be difficult."
The formidable man rubs his chin with his hand and says:
"This room's design is poor. I'll prepare a report about this place."
He turns toward them, his tone serious, his gaze sharp:
"Why haven't I received a greeting yet?"
Saying it like that makes everyone shiver. Khalid swallows hard and says with difficulty:
"Apologies, sir, for not showing you respect—it was my negligence!"
Michael calmly steps toward Khalid, extends his hand, and says:
"It's good to see honorable soldiers who have some manners. My name is Michael. A pleasure to meet you."
Khalid glances at Michael's hand, then extends his own:
"It is an honor to meet you!"
The other two hold themselves together, breathing heavily:
"We are honored to meet you as well!"
Michael nods slightly toward them. He turns to the man accompanying him and says:
"Come, proceed with what you were doing."
The man approaches the computer Seth had been on earlier. Khalid whispers tensely to Seth:
"Hey, will they discover us?"
"Don't worry, I've already hidden everything I was working on. They won't find anything."
The man sits on the chair and starts pressing the keys. After about three minutes, he says to the deputy judge:
"Oh, here is prisoner Neer's data. He is currently in the deepest floor of this prison—the third floor—"
Upon hearing this, the three freeze.
George whispers anxiously:
"Why are they looking for Neir?"
Khalid sweats, though it isn't visible under his helmet. He composes himself and says:
"I don't know, but this is dangerous. We need to find out what this man wants from Neir immediately."
Khalid thinks for a moment. After much hesitation, he addresses Deputy Judge Holl:
"Pardon me if this seems disrespectful or offensive, but may I ask a question? Is the person you're searching for involved in any terrorist activities, and you're seeking information from him?"
Michael remains silent without answering. The man near Michael notices his silence and turns his head toward Khalid, shouting:
"Ah, you foolish soldier!! How dare someone like you question one of the five pieces of the Casadilri government?!!"
Michael places his hand on the man's chest and says to Khalid:
"If my answer is yes, what would that benefit you?"
Khalid remains silent for a few seconds before replying:
"I have a unique method of extracting information from people..."
The two remain face to face in silence. The man shouts again:
"This is nonsense!! Pay no attention to these simple soldiers; they just want some attention from those above them---"
The man turns toward Michael, convinced he'd agree, but contrary to his expectation, Michael's eyes are sharp:
"Don't you know it's impolite to speak that way about someone in front of them? How shameful!"
The man freezes in place after hearing this, deciding to remain silent.
"Continue."
Khalid remains silent for several seconds, then says:
"I apologize, but I can't demonstrate my special skills because they are more complex than you might expect. I don't mean to mock or anything like that, I simply struggle to explain..."
Michael remains silent without saying anything. After several seconds of silence, Khalid says:
"Well, you are interesting, but unfortunately, I'm not here because of interrogation or the like... You could say he's famous, and I want to see him, but allow me to say I'll submit a request to transfer you to my district."
Everyone in the room freezes, unable to find anything to say. Is he serious?
The man asks in panic, stuttering:
"B-but sir, he's just a guard, he hasn't even risen to be a soldier yet!"
Michael remains silent for a few seconds before saying:
"Yes, it is indeed strange. I can feel his strong aura. He's easily stronger than you, so simply, I want him to come to my district and be assigned there as a pawn."
Everyone is stunned into silence, even Khalid knows what it means to be assigned as a pawn to one of the deputy judges. Each deputy has five pawns, and upon the deputy's death or retirement, one of these pawns automatically becomes the new deputy.
"You know, I'm surprised that brute hasn't discovered a gem like you."
Michael extends his hand again to shake and asks:
"What is your name?"
Khalid has no words, but after a brief tension, he extends his hand and shakes it:
"I am Rayan, it's an honor to serve under you, sir!!"
At his words, a strange silence fills the air—not like before, but a silence signaling danger.
In the midst of this calm atmosphere, Michael says:
"Why did you lie about your name?"
What? How did he know he was lying?
Khalid steps back, trembling from the atmosphere, but Michael's hand tightly grips his, preventing him from pulling away:
"W-what do you mean? My name is Rayan, ask the man behind you, let him wear the glasses to see my name."
In a tense situation, the man picks up the glasses with his trembling hands and puts them on. He sees Rayan's name and image on Khalid.
"Yes, it is him... But to be more certain, have him remove his hat."
Michael releases Khalid's wrist and says with a serious expression:
"Remove your hat now, or turn to ashes!!"
Khalid swallows hard, slowly raises his hands toward his head, grasps the hat, and lifts it slowly. Before completely removing it, he suddenly screams, and the large man lunges at Michael.
The large man embraces Michael from behind and begins squeezing his legs tightly:
"Hurry, escape, there's no time!"
Khalid remains shocked.
Seth immediately grabs Khalid's hand, dragging him who hasn't yet grasped the current situation, and they both retreat toward the window.
Before jumping out the window, Seth and Khalid notice Michael removing his glove with his mouth because his other hand is pressed by the large man.
He raises his hand and places it on the large man's back, and suddenly George explodes on the spot!
Seth and Khalid widen their eyes, unable to utter a word. The explosion wasn't strong enough to harm Michael who was clinging to him, but... George's body... completely vanished, turned to ash.
While Seth stops, trying to comprehend what happened, Khalid jumps out the window holding Seth.
With calm, composed steps, Michael moves toward the window, seeing the two falling and says:
"Hurry and inform the guards to receive them there."
The other man was also shocked by the events, taking seconds to process Michael's words, but quickly leaves the room to inform them.
Michael faces George's ashes:
"Unfortunately, that young man seemed special; it would've been nice if he had surrendered peacefully."
On the other side, as the two fall, Khalid pulls a vial from his sheath and inserts it into the wall while holding Seth.
They begin their descent. Upon reaching the ground, Seth falls to his knees and removes his hat, his eyes trembling:
"W-what was that?"
Khalid also removes his hat, not knowing what it was himself, he decides to remain silent, but the impact is evident—his knees, hands, his whole body shaking at that moment.
Suddenly, their thoughts are interrupted by a voice from the earpieces they wore:
"Hey, what happened? I heard everything, but I couldn't hear anything else, also... George's earpiece signal cut off, what happened?"
Yuna asks with a tone of tension and anxiety. The two remain silent, not deciding yet what to say about what they saw.
Khalid replies with a trembling voice:
"Nothing happened... They caught George, that's all..."
Seth turns toward Khalid, raising his eyebrows, and before he can object, Khalid silences him.
Khalid continues:
"Anyway, we found out Neer's location, now it's your turn to go in."
Seth interrupts:
"But we haven't opened the back doors for you yet?"
Khalid points his finger behind Neer if they were to fall near the room responsible for the doors.
Seth turns, surprised:
"What? The door room? But... Ah right, that was part of the plan, I forgot."
Yuna says:
"Alright, Sani and I are currently near the door. As soon as you open it slightly, we'll enter and wear a criminal's uniform, replacing the chip with ours. We're ready."
As she finishes speaking, the sound of approaching guards grows near.
Upon the guards' arrival, they find no trace of the two. The two men quickly head toward the door room and press a button labeled "Rear Door Open/Close."
Khalid presses it briefly until the door slightly lifts upwards.
"Alright, thank you both. Now we'll enter."
After finishing her words, Khalid says as if completing his task:
"There's one thing you should worry about: there's a person named Michael, he wears a chess castle emblem on his attire. Upon meeting him, either flee or surrender immediately. Now our part is done, the rest is up to you two."
Khalid sits on the ground exhausted, and Seth sits beside him.
"You know they'll come here, right?"
Seth replies:
"Yes... but it's okay, it's good working with you, café owner."