Chapter 389 Respect Between Rivals?
After Vicente's words, Layla no longer argued with him and quickly left the Mazzanti estate.
There was really no way for her group to save Jasmine now. Even if they did nothing, they would still be in danger. Doing anything now would be very risky.
Jasmine's father was terrible, but if they tried to act now, their chances of dying wouldn't be much less than if that Sovereign found out what they were involved in.
If she were going to die anyway, even she would prefer it to happen later, preferring to annoy that Sovereign than to move against The Faceless Ones now.
But she was sad and worried about Jasmine because not only did she have a responsibility to protect that woman, but she was also very close to Nun Barber.
When Vicente and Rory were alone in the office on the top floor of the Mazzanti mansion, the young redhead looked at his friend and commented on what they had just talked about.
"Vice, you're not ignoring the fact that these soldiers from the capital are coming here because of you, are you? I agree they'll give us some security from The Faceless Ones acting in Millfall. Still, these soldiers are coming to deal with you."
Vicente laughed bitterly. "I'm not ignoring that... But it won't be easy for them to find out that I killed part of those four Commanders."
"I don't know, man. What if there's someone with a very surreal ability in this group of soldiers? I have a feeling that these 'protectors' could quickly become our enemies." Rory commented in a pessimistic tone. "The way we are unlucky... Sigh, have you thought about the possibility of being cursed, Vice? We really do have a lot of problems practically 100% of the time."
Vicente heard that and laughed bitterly again because that was indeed the case.
'Rory is really smart.' He thought as he remembered the item Julian had given him that was now in his spatial ring.
'Yeah, I've been thinking about that. Maybe I'm cursed. But maybe it's just bad luck. Anyway, as much trouble as we're in, we're still alive."
"For now... But that could soon change with all these powerful people against us." Rory commented as he picked up a glass of water from the table in front of him.
"Don't be so pessimistic. I still have plans." Vicente said to his friend.
"In fact, I want you to help me. We're going to try to pit these soldiers from the capital against the damned members of The Faceless Ones faction."
Rory narrowed his eyes. "What exactly do you have in mind?"
"I was at The Vile Altar, where three of the four Commanders died... But so did the members of The Faceless Ones faction. As much as they were focused on fighting me and the Ironcrest Awakening Temple members, we can use their presence to our advantage."
"Oh?" Rory's worried look changed as he thought more carefully about what Vicente had in mind.
Vicente said. "Start gathering clues and information about the fact that members of The Faceless Ones were in Millfall before the Commanders died. Let's make the army waste some of their time investigating our enemies. It'll scare the bastards from Ironcrest while giving us time to deal with future problems."
"Okay."
"Ah, take the opportunity to involve the Congregation of Revelation's investigators in all of this. If the soldiers from the capital turn against us, it'll be interesting to have a way to threaten them."
...
After Vicente and Rory separated, Don Mazzanti gave his men orders to distribute some of the resources he had collected the night before.
The Symons family had a safe with many valuable items, items that were divided equally between Vicente and Shelby's groups.
Vicente would use his merchants to sell this family's items on the black market. But others, such as consumables, he wanted the most
compatible soldiers of his family to use them to strengthen themselves.
As for the coins, the family hadn't earned much in coins the night before. But what Vicente had obtained from the Scarlet Syndicate and the enemy spatial rings he had collected, he left in the safe at home for his men to use with the family's professionals.
After giving his orders, he left for his master's estate, where he had just arrived.
Seeing Vicente again, Benson sighed, seeing his student with new eyes after all that had happened that night.
"I can hardly believe that Viscount Symons has fallen... That was your doing, right?" Benson asked as he made Vicente sit down on a chair in the forge on his estate.
"Hmm, I was lucky. I used the Seal of Spirits on him when he was weakened."
"Oh? That item? But wasn't it purchased by Shelby? Don't tell me you stole it from her?" Benson asked.
Vicente laughed when he heard this. "Not at all. Miss Staples is my ally, master."
"So that's it... Tsk, these nobles are really hard to read." Benson muttered as he sat down across from Vicente. "Unfortunately, we didn't get the damn stone. If we had it, our efforts would have been much easier."
"That rock? Does the blacksmith Henry Woodward still have it? Hasn't anyone tried to take it from him?" Vicente asked.
"That fellow is not easy," Benson explained to his student. "Henry is just a Low-level Mage like me. But his influence in the province is great. The biggest local blacksmith is his disciple, but not only that, that old man has several disciples in the province who have reached the 3rd stage.
Because of his influence, even High-level Mages might move to avenge him if someone dared to act against him. So it's not just anyone who would dare act against him."
"I didn't know he was that influential," Vicente said in surprise. "Why is someone like him still in Millfall?"
Benson looked into his student's eyes and said. "Who says he's still in Millfall? He came here decades ago. He's not from this area. He made his way through the province's largest city, Saltstar City.
Rumor has it that he gave up some of his old ambitions after losing his wife decades ago. Since then, he has focused on developing his forging skills away from the limelight, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
He has lived in Millfall ever since, helping to develop the local forge and teaching new talents."
Vicente saw a lot of respect in Benson's words and look and found it curious. "You seem to respect him. That doesn't fit with the rumors of your rivalry with him."
Benson laughed. "Just because we are rivals and have our differences doesn't mean I have to hate him or not be able to respect things about him. My differences with Henry are only in the area of forging. But I respect him very much as a person."
Vicente looked at his master differently, seeing that this world could have people who respected each other even though they were rivals, even considering the brutality of this world.
"I see... Why don't you try to make a deal with him? It's a pretty big rock. If we can negotiate 10% of it, it would be perfect for us, and he wouldn't lose much." Vicente suggested.
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