Captain, it seems no one is following us." Said Mathew as they crossed the final checkpoint of the capital's border.

They as one group were planning to travel far away from the capital and settle in one of the minor cities or towns and work there as normal people.

They thought back to what John said 2 weeks ago "I need all of you to die within the next few days time."

They were at first shocked at what he said, but they were willing to listen to what he had left to say, "Right now no one in the empire will attempt to kill me or hurt me for the competition, as doing so will cause a backlash from the people, caused by the trios. Fearing this they won't hurt me.

However, there is one way to hurt me without touching a single hair on my body and that is you guys.

I am sure within 2 weeks maximum; the emperor or Steven will start sending their assassins after you guys. Before that, we need to find a way to keep you all safe. And the best way to do that is by killing you off from the records." I said

Flint understood what I was saying" So fake our deaths?"

"Precisely, after you guys are declared dead I want you guys to leave the capital to anywhere far away from the capital, no matter what happens to me. You must stay out of your profession and live as ordinary people for at least 5 years." I explained to them

"I understand, but how do you plan to proceed with this." Asked Seban

"We can't take you all out at once, as it will be suspicious that 7 rank 5 magi, veteran mercenaries weren't able to stop some kind of assassination attempt, while I somehow survived. Therefore, it has to be done part by part. Each of you has to die in 3 groups. The first group consisting of Jemma and Mathew. If the healer is dead first, along with the scout, then there is no way they will be suspicious if the group gets killed on by one, as we have lost someone to heal the group and someone to foresee an attack.

Next I need a massive part of the group gone leaving only Donna for the last. This is so that it will seem as if the 4 of you died by trying to protect me while Donna took me away from the danger.

Lastly I would need Donna to die, when she goes off to investigate their murder."

They nodded as they listened to John. David suddenly chirped in "But how do we convince them that we are dead?"

"Leave that to me. I can do that. I need you Donna to do a favour for me. You need to go and find out at least 38 people who are involved in some kind of criminal activities and has a family to report if they are gone missing for more than a day. Also make sure at least 15 of those missing people are female, I want this done by today itself."

Donna nodded, although this was a hard job, and she didn't know why John needed it, she could do this if she extended her network and used up all her favours.

"David are you able to create at least 5 Rank 4 explosion crystal?"

"I should be able to, but it will take at least 1 day." Replied David

"Great here is the plan now, listen carefully as I won't repeat it and you shouldn't be talking about this plan or discussing it from now on." Everyone perked up their ears as they listened to John carefully.

"I want the first group to die in the rank 4 explosion we create. These people are to replace their body with the body parts of people we will soon kill as soon as Donna brings back the info."

Everyone suddenly understood why Donna was asked to find some people, but they were still confused about why he needed 38 people.

"But how do we carry the body parts without alerting the agents watching us?" Flint asked

"Simple, we hide it there, and during the explosion, we will replace the hidden body parts to wherever the killed people are supposed to be."

Everyone nodded as they understood that part, but Flint still shook his head as he asked, "But how do the people who were seemingly killed escape the scene of the crime without the agents noticing it?"

"The agents who are watching us now are in 2 different factions: 1 of them is here to watch all my movement and report it to their masters, the second group is here to protect me, so that I can still cook for them or for the trio of commandment nobles.

When we kill of the first group make sure I am harmed from the explosion, but not to a large degree. This will cause all their attention for a short moment to focus towards me, as they will think the attack was targeted towards me.

As 1 of you carry me to safety, this will cause the protection agents to prioritise my safety from the unexpected ambush.

At this time the rest of you use spells that could deal damage and at the same time cloud anyone's vision. This will let the first group escape, while making the spying agents to think the rest of you are fighting or holding back the enemies, and due to sensing the failure of the attack on me or sensing backup, the used the smoke/ cover from the spell to escape."

Everyone nodded as the first stage of their plan seemed flawless.

"For the second attack we will use stored body parts kept in my storage room in the restaurant to replace your bodies. But this time I want you guys to place the explosion crystal in my storage, kitchen and the customer area. This will cause any recording devices in there to be beyond repair if they wanted to see what happened.

Due to the intensity of the explosion and trying to get me to safety the rest of the agents won't arrive to the scene. Along with the smoke and debris caused by the explosion you can use it as a cover to escape.

From this moment onwards I will be placed in high security, as they will start to think who ever is trying to kill me is adamant about it and will use any methods to achieve it.

This will cause all the attention to be placed on me.

Donna will use the excuse of trying to find some information on the attacks, to go to the location of the first attack where a third attack will be done on her. However, there will still be some people monitoring you, but you should be able to easily evade their detection in the crowds right?"

"If it is just me I should be able to make them lose their tracks for few minutes." Donna replied

"That is fine. This time the body parts for Donna has to be bought there by the rest of you. You will replace the body parts in the explosion and escape with her.

The security at the gates wouldn't be that tight as the emperor wouldn't be bothered about my killers for the next 2 to 3 hours. But after that due to the pressure from my supporters he will tighten the security. That should be more enough time for you to leave the capital.

Once you leave the capital make sure to get as far away as possible in the shortest time. After that try to remain as low key as possible because I will do something here that will cause agents to start tailing every single rank 4 and 5 magi users."

They nodded as they understood whatever John was planning it will give them a chance to escape and make sure they remain as dead. John then carried on explaining to them in detail about his plans.

The rest of the group was excited as it has been 15 years since they last left the capital. Only 2 people were silent and downcast in the group. 1 of them was Seban.

"You don't seemed to be excited Seban?" Flint asked him

"Although I know he can take care of himself, I am worried about him Flint." Seban replied as he looked ahead.

"You know I have a theory, but it was confirmed as soon as he made the plan to kill us off." Flint started to say something which caused everyone to focus their attention on him.

Noticing the attention, he soon garnered, he said "We are just going to be dead weights to him Seban. He works much better when he is alone.

Think about it, why hasn't he been doing anything for the past 3 months since we joined him. He has made no moves to solidify his position as an heir in the court or anything.

When we were there it wasn't us protecting him, but it was the other way round."

"Are you saying we are so weak that we need the help from John to survive?" Asked Rebecca angrily at Flint, who undermined all of them.

"No, on the contrary, I think we are very strong, but the game John is playing is in a different league. You guys should be able to understand that right, from the time we spent in the palace?" Including Rebecca, they all thought of the monsters in Rank 6 who they have witnessed many times in the palace.

"But that just puts him in danger even more Flint." Said a shocked Mathew.

"If he was able to get the whole court to their knees on his own, then that proves he works much better alone guys. He doesn't need protection that causes him distraction in his plans Seban, but plans without any mistakes." Replied Flint calmly

They all nodded as they understood what Flint said. Seban seemed much better after hearing Flint.

"Thanks, Flint."

"Only stating the facts captain.

That leaves the question, why are you distracted as well, Donna? I thought you were upset about the safety of John along with the captain, since you came back. What is going on?" Asked Flint as he looked at the unusually quiet Donna who was always cheerful and talkative.