"Not exactly. I want to be part of a group where I have the autonomy to do whatever I want. Of course, I know I would have to give something to pay for that freedom.

But that payment would be limited, and besides that, I wouldn't have any obligation to that group. I have my own interests, and I don't want to delay them or give them up just to fulfill other people's goals.

So I don't know if it would be good for me to join your family. Maybe seeing me as an outside consultant would make more sense." Casey explained, looking thoughtfully at Vicente.

Casey had seen a bit of the cruel side of this world. He had his own problems to deal with, and that's why he had no clan ties at the moment, even though he worked for nobles.

But don't make the mistake of thinking he looked kindly on nobility. Like Shelby, he had his grudges, and the only difference between him and her was that he thought there could be innocence, or even virtue, even among the rotten nobility.

But without the same level of support that Shelby had, he had to dryly swallow what he thought about some of his clients and sell his services to all sorts of people.

Still, Casey had never given up his freedom and opportunities.

Even if Vicente were like him, he wouldn't give it up to join this young man's family.

"An outside consultant, huh?" Vice murmured, watching the movement of Casey's heart with his skill. 'He's not lying.'

"I see no problem with an outside consultant. But what would be the cost of a consultant of your level?"

Casey wanted financial support for his freedom, perhaps even military support. Only then could he achieve the freedom to only act when he wanted to.

Casey was pleased to see that Vicente quickly understood what he wanted and said. "In exchange for one service per month, which can accumulate over the year but would expire at the end of the year, I would like to receive 100 gold coins per month while I am at the 2nd stage."

This was an extremely high amount to earn per month at the 2nd stage!

One hundred coins weren't very impressive for an Acolyte, but this number of recurring coins could make a big difference!

To give you an idea of how valuable this was, if Vice promised Casey such a thing, this level 4 man could reach the 3rd stage in less than a year if he decided to use all his coins to buy artificial resources.

Of course, such an action would have its problems, and it would not be so easy to do, even if one had the coins. But it would still be possible if Vice agreed to it.

Looking at this figure from another angle, Casey could comfortably support 40 families of up to 6 people per month with those coins!

Vicente knew how high Casey's salary was and opened his mouth. "Impossible. I can't afford that."

Casey laughed and said. "I know that. How much could you pay me per month? I'll try to keep working with my clients for now, but that might jeopardize your plans sooner or later. I don't know what my clients will ask of me, but considering how important you've become, there will certainly be people who will target you."

"100 coins is too much. I can agree to pay 70 gold coins per month if I have the capacity. But for now, I can pay you 25 coins a month, but you must be at my disposal for a monthly mission.

For now, I don't mind if these missions expire like you said. But I won't accept it once I pay you the full monthly amount. That's too good a salary for your commitment to me to be reset once a year." Vicente tried to negotiate.

"How about 80 coins? And if you do not use the missions, we can drop the issue of them expiring after a year. But only 2 missions per year can be accumulated for future use." Casey made a counter-proposal.

Casey wanted the best deal possible, so he couldn't agree to owe Vice something every month that might accumulate to the point that he could become a slave to the Mazzanti family at some point in the future.

Vicente thought about it and felt that this was not a bad thing. He could still give missions to Casey once a month and accumulate two mission rights annually.

At the same time, although Casey's ability wasn't the kind you'd need all the time, it was ridiculously powerful and good to have on your side.

He had to have this person on his side!

The cost of having it would be paying that high fee even if he didn't need Casey's services!

"All right, we can do what you say," Vicente said as he showed Casey one of his hands and shook the man's right hand.

Casey looked at Vicente in surprise, not expecting this guy to accept such a deal so easily.

'Is this good enough for you?' Casey looked at Vicente silently.

He valued himself but wouldn't accept such a deal if he were on Vicente's side.

But little did Casey know that Cesar Mazzanti, the real Cesar, Vicente's former Don, paid dozens of people on Earth every month just to have them on his side for when he needed them.

The list of people who worked for that man was long. It included politicians, lawyers, doctors, police officers, and magistrates - in short, a mafia boss had to have a lot of relevant people on his side.

Vicente had learned from the real Cesar and knew how important it was to have people who worked for him and weren't just mercenaries.

For him, it would be worth it to have Casey if no one else could hire the services of this man!

That was the price of exclusivity and having someone with such brutal talent on one's side, one who could grow a lot in the future, by the way!

So he soon signed a Magic Agreement with Casey, formalizing his future relationship with this outside consultant to the Mazzanti family.

But before they could finish their business, a young girl appeared in the kitchen and saw them standing there.

"Big brother? Who's that?"