Anderson clenched his fists in frustration as he glared at Vaan. His eyes were full of rage, however, there was a hint of helplessness in those eyes as well. It didn't matter how angry he was, it didn't matter if he was an Intermediate Mage and it didn't matter if he was the Head of a Magic Family, in front of this 21-year-old boy, he was helpless.
He had no option but to sacrifice his daughter for the sake of his family and even then, his Family still wasn't free from this man's clutches.
"Good job."
Vaan nodded in satisfaction as he got the signed contract.
Then, he turned towards Seraphina and, "Follow me,"
"W-Where are you taking her?"
Before Vaan and Seraphina could leave, Anderson couldn't help but question.
"I didn't know I had to report my actions to you. Since when did you become the Head of the Vesta Family?"
"…" Anderson turned silent and lowered his head, his body trembling.
Seeing him like that, Vaan decided to stop bullying these people. As fun as it was, Seraphina was now one of his subordinates. Even though he holds her on edge since the fate of her family is in his hands.
Her working for him because she was threatened to and her working for him because she wants to get in his good books were two different things.
Vaan had ensured that Seraphina wouldn't betray him anymore, now what he wanted was her to be loyal to him.
Vaan needed to instill this feeling into her mind that her working for him was actually a good thing. He needed to make her think that serving him was the only way she could achieve her goals, and the more satisfied he was, the better benefits she would receive.
He had no need to antagonize Seraphina any further than he already had, now that he had shown her what he was capable of, it was time to win her over.
And the first step to that would be to control the urge to bully her and her father, even though it was fun.
"I have things to do that require her help."
Vaan spoke up, answering Anderson's question.
"You can follow us if you want. I don't mind."
"Huh…?"
Anderson was taken aback, however, before thinking too much, he quickly jumped at the opportunity and nodded,
"Then I will be doing that."
Vaan nodded, then, he turned around, leaving the room. The Father and Daughter followed.
Soon, Vaan appeared at the entrance of the Stormweaver House, the guards who were guarding could be seen trembling.
None of them had a good history with Vaan.
And seeing him standing right in front of them with that overpowering pressure, not to mention how both the Family Head and his daughter were standing behind him with their heads low, made Vaan even more intimidating than he already was.
"Come out," Vaan ordered with a solemn look on his face. Both Seraphina and Anderson frowned, soon, however, their eyes widened in absolute horror as two men and one woman appeared in front of him.
"Young Master Vaan." The woman who was standing in the middle greeted Vaan.
Her tone was respectful, however, she did not bow her head, she did not need to.
She was Eliza Vesta, an Advance Mage who had nothing at the beginning, but just her Magic Talent pushed her to the heights rarely anyone could reach, and later settled in the Vesta Family with Vesta as her last name.
Eliza only answered to Astra, anyone other than the Family Head, even if it was Draven or Risia, Eliza was allowed to treat them as an equal.
Seeing three beings appearing out of thin air, Seraphina, Anderson and the Stormweaver Family guards widened their eyes in horror.
This Spell could only used by the Vesta Family Mages, many strong magic families, even the Families from outside the Vesta City had tried to copy this spell and create their own version of it, however, none of them succeeded.
Mages using this spell was a sign that they were one of the Vesta Family's Core Mages, a force that even the Vesta Family does not take lightly.
The fact that mages of their caliber appeared here in response to Vaan's call shows just how much Astra Elysia Vesta values her son.
This was a clear act of favoritism!
Vaan shouldn't be allowed to have mages like them at his beck and call!
Of course, Vaan didn't care about what Seraphina and Anderson were thinking, he just glanced at Eliza and,
"The Dreamweave is inside."
"!!!"
Seraphina's eyes widened in horror.
She couldn't understand. She surrendered, didn't she? She did exactly what Vaan ordered her to do, then why was he reporting her to the Vesta Family Mages!?
Seraphina panicked, Anderson wasn't in any better position either. Rather, because of his meek personality, he was even more terrified than his daughter.
But then,
"I instructed Seraphina Stormweaver to work undercover and gain a comprehensive understanding of the entire organization that sells the Dreamweave Drug. You can ask her any questions you have regarding this matter, and she will provide you with answers. This approach will enable you to penetrate the core of the organization and capture all its members without any unnecessary delays."
Vaan spoke up as he glanced at Seraphina,
"Right, Seraphina? You can answer Lady Eliza's questions, correct?"
"H-Huh? O-Of course, I h-have noted almost everything there is related to them, those people call themselves Phantom World, the leaders aren't exactly strong, however, they are cunning. Their biggest weapon is Dreamweave, however, knowing full well about the Vesta Family's strict rules against the use of Dreamweave, they do not sell the Dreamweave openly.
Their main targets are children from the noble Magic Families, they aim to raise their influence by having these noble children addicted to the drug and when those children rise to power, Phantom World wishes to use their influence to gain strength and base in the Vesta City. Targeting common people and weak noble families, slowly raising their influence even further before taking over the entire Vesta City.
Their base is in the extreme Southwest of Vesta City and is around 2,500 km away from here, they also have some temporary bases around here that are more accessible, however, if we wish to take down Phantom World, we need to start with their Main Base.
I do not know all the details, however, I do know that those people have created quite a strong information network, so the moment the information about one of their bases being discovered by the Vesta Family is known to them, they would all disappear without a trace.
If Lady Eliza wishes, I could take you to their main base, I have been there once, so I know exactly where it is."
Seraphina replied, quickly taking over the chance Vaan gave her.
Seeing that, Vaan nodded in satisfaction, this was the reason he didn't want to kill this woman, Seraphina was a capable individual, and killing her just like that would be a pity. She does have some flaws, but, who doesn't?
Not to mention Seraphina had a lot of room to grow even further, now Vaan may not be a great leader, but he did have an eye for useful people.
"What do you say, Lady Eliza? She would be quite useful in this operation, wouldn't she?" Vaan spoke as he glanced at Eliza.
Eliza glanced at him and then, she replied,
"I trust action, Young Master Vaan, not empty words." Her tone was cold.
Vaan narrowed his eyes.
He had this feeling before, however, Eliza didn't seem to like him.
Eliza, however, didn't care about what he was thinking and continued,
"And I feel like I could reach their base much more quickly than getting her help. If we follow what she suggests, we might give some of them a chance to run away, which would later prove to be problematic, I would prefer if we could deal with all this in one fell swoop."
If it was anyone other than Eliza, Vaan would have retorted with, 'If you were so great, this Organization wouldn't have made it as far as they had.'
However, in front of this woman,
He couldn't do it. She was his mother's trusted subordinate after all, even though she didn't seem to like him, Vaan couldn't be rude to her.
Not to mention this woman could actually do what she said. She could simply travel from one base to the other, capturing everyone there, reading their memories to find out how they exchange information, seal that information network, and within one day, using the Teleportation Portal that connects all the Major parts of the City with each other, she could get to the Head of the Phantom World within a day.
The Vesta Mages were that capable.
Honestly, the only reason this organization made it this far was because they were fools.
They were foolish enough to dare try something like this inside the Vesta City, the Vesta Guards may have been unable to catch them, but the reason behind it wasn't because they were useless or that the organization was too cunning,
It was because the Vesta guards were careless.
And it wasn't their fault either, who in their right mind would think that some fools would try to sell Dreamweave in the Vesta City?
It was no different than suicide.
Yes, the 'Phantom World' organization was simply lucky.
Their luck, however, had now run out.
"Lady Eliza is obviously much more experienced than us in matters like these, and I'm fully aware that she's fully capable of handling everything on her own, and likely much more effectively. However, if I may, I'd like to be a bit selfish and request to come with you. I see this as a great opportunity to learn from someone as knowledgeable as Lady Eliza, and I wouldn't want to miss it."
Seraphina bowed her head as she requested.
