Chapter 33: Taking Control of Operations

After Vicente's words, Jesse stood with his mouth open, not believing that a brat who didn't even have facial hair was telling him off.

"Vicente, Mr. Andrew won't accept this! You'll be sorry if you continue down this path." He said in his final attempt to maintain his position.

Working for Andrew was very comfortable and convenient for him.

Jesse was paid well and rarely had to travel, as Andrew liked to do business personally with his suppliers and customers.

Losing this position would put him in a difficult situation where he would either have to start his own business or work for someone who would not give him the same opportunities Andrew had given him.

So he had to insist on changing this child's mind.

"I'm willing to take the risk," Vice said before standing up and opening the door. "Thank you for your services all these years. But from now on, I will take over your duties."

Vicente no longer looked into the eyes of that man while he had his sister in his arms, looking at the situation without understanding.

Jesse angrily looked at Vicente, but after a moment of silence, he stomped his feet hard and walked out of there as he grabbed his things.

"Have a good time! I hope you don't come looking for me ashamed!"

Vicente ignored this man's sharp words soon after leaving that office and watching Jesse leave.

When this man could no longer be seen around, he looked at the people in the surrounding area looking strangely at where Jesse had left, he said aloud.

"Jesse is no longer part of this group. From now on, you will be under my administration. So any questions you have come to me." He said, looking at the many surprised faces in the surroundings.

But these people already expected Vicente to become more involved with them as he grew older, so nobody suspected anything for the time being.

After hearing a few things from the workers in the area, Vicente would spend some time on this property to familiarize himself with some documents he still needed to go through.

He knew most of his father's agreements and the activities these people were currently doing. After all, he had been leading them on Andrew's behalf directly from Saltstar City for months.

They were following agreements that Vicente himself had created, so there wasn't much for him to catch up on.

After a few hours there, he left aware of the essentials and went to lunch with his sister at a local tavern.

...

While Vicente went on with his plans, Jesse searched for the guards who had protected the Fuller family on the trip to Saltstar City.

'Let's see what happened! It's very strange that brat is taking me out of my position!' Jesse thought to himself as he looked at one of the most important buildings in this village.

Martell Village had no nobles present, but several noble families of the kingdom owned the surroundings of this place, so there was a pors of the Duke family there.

There were no descendants of the Duke or any powerful people in this place. But some guards from the Duke's family were there to support the people behind the families with properties nearby.

Several farmers and workers from Barons' families lived in Martell Village to care for their bosses' lands.

The Duke's family post was there to maintain a small local guard to protect the village and maintain the kingdom's bureaucratic services.

These workers and subordinates needed to record their activities to ensure the belongings and agreements of their leaders.

Precisely because there was such a place in the village, people who sold their services, mercenaries, usually displayed their advertisements in buildings like this one.

Sometimes mercenaries would even stay near these Duke's family posts since people able to hire their services usually passed by there frequently.

Thinking about how Soren should be there, Jesse quickly approached this building on the opposite side of the Academy of Stars.

'Maybe Mister Andrew doesn't have the same intentions as this brat! If that is the case, I will do something!' He thought as he entered that place.

Entering what appeared to be a large hall, where there were several counters on one side of the building and stairs and many doors on the outskirts, he went to a part where there were several places to sit.

Some armed men were there talking in groups, while the wall behind them contained several murals where one could leave their announcement.

Jesse looked around for those two but unfortunately did not see them.

"Hey, have you seen Soren and Wesley?" He asked a group of mercenaries.

There weren't many mercenaries in this village. Less than 20 worked locally.

So of the 12 mercenaries there, they all knew those two.

"I haven't seen them recently." A man who had just returned from a job said that.

But then, another person caught Jesse's attention. "Soren and Wesley went to Millfall this morning."

"Millfall?"

That was the nearest town to Martell Village, just over 100 kilometers away.

'Damn it! Did those two leave the village so quickly?' Jesse contorted his face, not liking this at all.

'I'll wait for them to return to see what happened to give that brat Vicente such confidence!'

...

Later that same day... nw stries at n/vel/b/i/n(.)co

The evening came, and Vice was finishing eating his dinner with his sister.

Just as he was getting ready to take a shower, Rory appeared at his door.

Pa! Pa!

"Vicente, it's me." He said, not loud enough to disturb the neighbors but drawing his friend's attention in that big house.

Hearing this, Vicente hurried down the stairs and soon opened the door.

Looking out into the darkened street, he saw Rory and five young men.

All of them had Magic Gems on their foreheads, all red and in the three most common forms.

Vicente readily identified these young men as the relatives of the prostitutes in Rory's mother's brothel.

"Is that the staff you said you would get for me?" He asked before Rory nodded in agreement.

"Those are..."

Rory immediately introduced the young people, who were supposed to be between 15 and 18 years old.

They were all interested in the job opportunity that Rory had promised, and because they were ordinary people, they did not put in arrogant positions when dealing with these two 11-year-old boys.

Each of them greeted Vicente before entering the house to talk to him.

"All right, what Rory told you was not a lie. I want to hire you to work on my family's property." Vicente said, looking thoughtfully at these young men.

"What I want from you is nothing complicated. Just learn the job that I will make you work for the next few weeks.

I will make you work in pairs with some old workers, and when you are confident enough to do what they do, I will double your pay."

With these words, Vicente won over each of these young men who were already interested in the amounts promised by Rory.

With the possibility of going from zero to, in a few weeks, earning double what they thought they could earn, they all felt more determined about work for Vicente.

Chapter end