Chapter 195 Expansion and Stability?
After explaining his plans to two of his men, the two soldiers from the Mazzanti family quickly left Vicente to spread the information around the headquarters.
If Vicente were to leave in a week at the most, all the Acolytes and those who could reach that level in the next few days would have to prepare to be ready in seven days at the most.
After that, those who had reached the next level would probably have to hunt for pentagrams on their own, which wasn't that interesting, considering that they would have a better chance of getting something better if they were with Rory and Vicente!
Those who were already Acolytes would just have to prepare for the journey, while the Senior Apprentices who were about to be promoted would have to hurry to move up a level!
As Vicente's headquarters became more lively after his breakthrough, he left to meet some of his contacts.
...
Earlier in the day, Vicente had gone public with his Cesar identity, revealing to several of his associates that he was now an Acolyte.
That morning and early afternoon, he had met with some merchants interested in joining his territory, with whom he had signed 9 more agreements for the accession of new territories under his protection.
With these new contracts, he would receive 10 gold coins from each as a monthly payment for protection, a much higher amount than the one charged to River and Zander's tavern.
However, Vicente was already planning to update his territory's security fee for each of the more than 20 establishments he currently had under his command.
Knowing that no one would complain at the moment, he took the opportunity to finally make a profit from these establishments, even disregarding the belongings of bandits or troublesome customers that his men might take.
After that, he returned to the local mercenary guild, where he didn't hesitate to hire four more men for his party, thinking ahead to the next few days when he would leave Millfall.
Alpine Woodpecker Forest was about eight days' ride from Millfall. So Vicente figured he would be out of town for 20 to 30 days once they left in a week.
When he and the core of his group would be away from the city, he would need people to continue his family's operations in Millfall.
In addition to the support of the Scarlet Syndicate, he also needed people to work for him.
Thus, in addition to some men who would be arriving from Martell Village in the next few days, Vicente would have these 4 new mercenaries the next day, bringing his group's numbers up to 60 men.
With that in mind, knowing that 12 men between Junior and Senior Apprentice level would be coming to Millfall from the village, he finished his day's business and returned to his organization's headquarters.
On his way back to his headquarters, Vicente didn't notice anyone following him, as had been the case a few days ago when he showed up in town and on his previous movements.
After his action against the assassins who had tried to kill him in front of Marcus Symons, Vicente had scared off most of those who had been watching him earlier.
Still, he preferred not to risk too much outside his headquarters, as some assassins might still be interested in his head.
'Time to take care of the Irwin family robbery...' As he entered his estate, he thought to himself. This was the last thing he wanted to do before his group left for the Alpine Woodpecker Forest.
But as he entered his building, one of Vicente's men was already waiting for him with a message from someone.
Upon receiving it, Vicente immediately saw Shelby Staples' signature and wasn't surprised.
'Congratulations on the magic step forward, Vicente. This is an important progress in our plans...' He started to read it as he walked to his office, seeing that such a woman was watching him.
'I guess it's time for you to go in search of a new pentagram, right? Take your time, but don't forget we must talk when you return. With your advance, we can begin my plans to bring chaos to the nobles of this city and accomplish some of our goals.
Anyway, don't worry about your group. In your absence, I'll try to keep an eye on your operations and help your men if necessary. The same goes for Nina. I can't visit her because of some problems, but I'll watch her.
With love, your best ally.'
He finished reading, seeing how available Shelby had become.
Sigh!
'If you weren't so slippery, Shelby, I'd trust you as much as I trust Rory.' Vice closed his eyes as he sat in his office, thinking how nice it would be to have someone else he could trust and who could solve problems like Shelby.
But that woman was capable of betraying her own family, using questionable methods to get close to him, threatening and blackmailing. He didn't want someone like her!
He wanted someone like Nova on his side. However, this beauty was part of the army and was unlikely to give up her dreams and become a criminal.
"Things are really difficult..." He bitterly laughed as he realized the one he wanted would hardly stand by him if she knew who he was.
Burning Shelby's message, Vicente soon read all the letters from his Fuller family business partners that had been waiting for him for a few days.
Rory and other members of the group could handle the affairs of the Mazzanti family. But the Fuller family affairs could only be handled by Vicente. So even when he was working as Cesar, Vicente always received messages from his Fuller family men.
When he quickly read that his representatives were working as expected, he took another worry off his shoulders.
The village was entirely under his control, and the number of men approaching his group to become his employees there was steadily increasing. Moreover, his company's business with the village merchants was growing as he had expected, given the low prices they charged compared to other competitors in the province.
Satisfied with the state of his public affairs, Vicente finally looked at the report that Rory had recently sent, which spoke of the Irwin family's circumstances!
Reading it, it wouldn't be long before he began to update some of his plans regarding the robbery of this family.
But even with the changes, his plans to raid the Irwin mansion later this week hadn't changed!
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