467 Current Situation After some time alone with Eve, Vicente told her what he had to say about his trip, telling her about the new problems they might have after his weeks away. On the other hand, she told him about the local events, most of which were related to Snow Claw's escape and the fall of The Faceless Ones faction.

In other words, the local events during his absence were all about him!

If it had been possible to remove Vicente from reality during those days, then Millfall would have had complete peace during such a period. But that wasn't possible, and practically all the local issues involved him.

"So the soldiers from the capital are more lost than I thought..." Vicente was relieved because what worried him the most were the problems with the royal forces.

With Layla and Jasmine working for him in the local temple, he knew the chances of problems with the Congregation of Revelations were slim. The problem was the army.

But it seemed that the soldiers were in so much trouble that they were unconsciously helping him by completing investigations that could hurt him even without definitive answers.

As for the situation created by Shelby, Vicente wasn't surprised. He hadn't expected his ally to kill so many of her own family, but he had expected her to act to take control of Millfall's House Staples.

Eve disagreed with Vicente and asked. "Is that what worries you the most? Aren't you angry about what Shelby did?"

"Shelby used us, which is not pleasant. But from the beginning, our relationship was based on the benefits we could give each other. So it doesn't bother me. There's no way that incident could have hurt us. In fact, I think it helped us more than you realize, Eve." He said thoughtfully.

"What are you talking about?"

"Isn't it good that it's drawing attention to other things instead of the local powers keeping an eye on us?"

"Oh? Do you think this has taken the focus of powerful forces away from us?" She considered the possibility.

"Yes, possibly. Not all of them, but enough to ease our situation. In any case, it's for the best. Now we have a reliable aristocratic family to deal with." Vicente smiled because, with Shelby, he could make deals that weren't possible with other nobles.

"I understand," Eve murmured as she sighed. "I just feel sorry for the boy. What will happen when he grows up?" She asked about Levi, the youngest brother and the only survivor of that family besides Shelby.

Vicente said. "She will do something to undermine him and continue to control the family. She'll probably get her brother to impregnate someone she trusts. When the child is born, she'll get rid of Levi or permanently incapacitate him..."

11:39

That was cruel, but it was the only thing Shelby could do to stay in power in the Staples family. Women couldn't inherit families in the Seidel Kingdom, so Levi would naturally suffer the consequences of being the only surviving male child in that house.

"This is so wrong... Even though she's our ally, I think she should fall from her position." Eve commented to Vicente, not liking the methods Shelby was likely to use in the future.

"Not yet. She now has the chance to obtain the title of Viscount. It's crucial for us that she succeeds." Vicente commented. "But let's not be too quick to judge her. Time can surprise us, Eve. Let's give her a chance. After all, Shelby loves children. Maybe she's not as cruel as I think she is."

"I hope so."

"What about Jasmine and Layla? Have you heard from them?" He asked.

Eve answered him. "Yes, they both returned to town a few days ago. Jasmine has been in the local temple since her return. She's in seclusion to advance to the 3rd stage. As for Layla, she left a week ago to hunt her third pentagram. We shouldn't hear from her until the end of the month."

"What about Casey?"

"We haven't heard from him. He's still chasing his pentagram."

Vicente narrowed his eyes. Pentagram hunting could really take a while. But Casey had been out of Millfall since the last auction. Vice himself had gone ahead, rescued Jasmine, escaped from Long Bay Correctional Facility, and even gotten his third pentagram in the meantime. But the man was still gone, with no news.

"This is strange. I want the family to pay attention to his situation. If he doesn't contact us for another month, we'll assume something has happened". He said, a little worried.

"Okay. I'll advise the family..." She got up from where she was, but in the middle of it, she remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot. Benson King left town in your absence. There seemed to be a problem with one of his students, and he went to Saltstar City. He left the keys to his house with me before he left town. He told me to give them to you." She handed Vicente a set of keys. "According to him, everything is ready for you to continue the armor project. He said not to wait for him as he might be delayed on his journey." Vicente took the keys to the property with a strange expression. 'A problem with a student? What could it be?'

Benson wasn't the type to leave his property casually. For something to make him leave Millfall, it had to be a problem of colossal proportions!

'I'll check it out at the association in the next few days...' He thought as he put the bunch of keys into his spatial ring.

With that decided, he would soon return to the Mazzanti estate with Cesar's identity without attracting unnecessary attention in the city.

...

"Vicente, congratulations on your breakthrough!" Rory said as he stood face to face with his friend, feeling this guy's Mid-level Mage cultivation along with several men from the Mazzanti family.

Besides Rory, there were more than 30 men on their knees around the Mazzanti mansion's entrance hall, all feeling great awe as they saw and felt the power of their leader's three pentagrams.

The newest men trembled with excitement, unable to believe Vicente's ridiculous set of pentagrams.

Vicente stopped showing off his powers to his men and smiled as he looked at the strongest under his command. "This is only the beginning, my friends. Now that Millfall is under our control, we will raise our level by advancing through the province.

For now, we are few and weak. But in a year or two, much will change. Some of you were just Apprentices a few months ago, but now you are level 2, 3, and 4 Acolytes. If you continue to work hard, it won't be impossible to reach the 3rd stage. In the future, you'll command your own troops!"

Those men's eyes lit up at the idea, feeling more confident and ready.

Vicente looked at Rory and said. "The next Mage in the family will be you. Strive to raise your level from now on. With me in town and our current peace, this will be your chance."

"I won't be left behind much longer." Rory smiled as he shook his friend's hand.