After trying Vicente's guns for a few minutes, all three merchants and their partners in that forest felt the power of having firearms in their hands.

Having a gun in your hand was something that gave you power, courage, and a feeling that was hard to describe.

This was stronger on Earth, where there were no 'superhumans,' no magic. But even in this world where magic existed and could make a difference in people's lives, guns still had their unique shine.

When holding one of these items, those men felt more powerful.

This was not the same as having good pentagrams, a unique power coming from a Magic Gem, or even a high-level artifact. But with these weapons, they could spend less of their energy and still cause great damage to unarmed opponents.

For now, it would make the most difference in the hands of young Apprentices. However, if Vice really developed these for Acolytes, the difference for them would become significant.

All these businessmen knew the importance of investing in things for the future. After returning these weapons to Vicente, they were much more confident in his strategy.

Even the man who had had one of those guns pointed at his head had forgotten what had happened.

"What do we do now?" One of the three merchants asked Vice.

Rory saw Vicente looking at him and explained instead of his friend, "Now we will divide our people among your groups. From now on, hire fewer mercenaries and take our men with you on trips.

They will be with our weapons and will participate in your guard. In addition, we will give each of you a revolver."

As Rory spoke, one young man opened a briefcase, revealing several identical silver revolvers.

Vicente then said. "We will give each of you a revolver as a gift for partnering with us. But to get more and also get the ammunition, we will have to make deals on that."

Those men picked up their guns as they smiled, agreeing that they would have to pay for these little beauties.

"How much does a gun like that cost?" One of the three asked.

"The cheapest model costs 4 gold coins for the gun and 2 bronze coins per unit of ammunition," Vicente said before pointing towards a rifle. "That one over there is the most expensive one we have, and each costs 25 gold coins and 10 bronze coins for the bullet."

Upon hearing his words, the three merchants naturally found the figures absurd.

They made 50 to 100 gold coins a year, rarely more than that.

A single weapon like that could take a lot of their funds!

But this was the price Vicente thought was fair.

He was not in it for charity. He intends to have a significant profit margin on such a business.

He had no intention of arming those who were not part of his group. As he would sell few of these weapons, he intended to get all his profit from his allies.

"It's a bit salty..." The person who asked the price said in a low voice, putting the idea of arming his whole family aside.

Vicente smiled. "Very well, let's split up. From now on, you should go about your business and avoid contacting us.

We will meet once every three months, but never simultaneously. Each month I will only be able to meet with one of you.

In the meantime, make it appear that my men now work for you and no longer for me."

They all agreed, and soon the three merchants left back to Martell Village with two new members in their groups.

Seeing these people leaving, Vicente, Rory, and the other four remaining men stayed behind in this forest for a while longer.

"Will they be all right?" Rory asked, knowing the dangers of this world were too many for low-level young men like these men of theirs.

Vicente then said. "Maybe. I taught them how to use each of these weapons and how to behave. So their chances are not low. But it's out of my control now.

In any case, they will still have help from mercenaries, so I believe our business with these merchants will not be harmed."

"And now, what will we do?" Rory asked as his men stored their weapons in boxes.

"We will take the business of the fools who chose to stay out of our society." Vicente said as his eyes narrowed.

...

After returning to the village hours later, Vicente and his people parted ways as he headed to his family's home.

Upon arriving there, he promptly met with a beautiful young woman who was 1.6 meters tall, with a slender body and sensual curves for a young man in the prime of life, as was the case with Vicente.

She was dressed in a beautiful black and white maid's outfit while bouncing her body as she cleaned the living room furniture.

When she heard Vicente coming, she was not startled and looked at him with a smile.

"Vicente, have you finished your work today?" This blonde, blue-eyed woman asked in her sweet, soft voice.

This was Eve Ostell, a 16-year-old woman Vicente met a few months ago.

This girl had been introduced to Vice by his friend, as her sister worked in Rory's mother's brothel. She was soon to join this place, but before this happened, young Fuller had presented her with the opportunity to work for him.

Since then, she had been working as a maid in the Fuller residence, taking care of Nina and the meals of the two orphaned siblings.

Vicente liked Eve's manner and had been watching her for the past few weeks, slowly letting her take care of more Nina-related things.

He was Nina's brother, but this girl needed a woman not only as an example but to take care of things that a man could not.

At the same time, Vice had many things on his mind, dangerous plans that would one day have to take Nina away from him.

Thinking about this moment, he was testing Eve to see if he could trust her.

"Hmm, for the moment, yes... But problems can arise at any time." Vicente commented to her as he sat on one of the couches in his living room.

As she looked at him more seriously, imagining the things he was involved in at only 12 years old, suddenly the door of that house opened, and Nina came screaming in.

"Big brother! Aunt Eve!" Nina appeared in that room, much happier now that she was studying at the Academy of Stars and had been learning many things.

Other children normally excluded Nina because of her hearing situation. Still, she was solid and, after learning sign language, was learning lip reading from a teacher hired by her brother.

As she mastered new communication skills, she became more confident and happier with her time at the academy.

She also loved Eve and no longer thought about her and Vice's terrible situation daily.

Seeing his sister smiling, Vicente smiled sincerely. Seeing his sister well was one of the few things besides the progress of his plans that made him happy.

That way, they would soon have dinner and talk a little about their day with Nina.