Three days later...
After the previous situation in Millfall, a lot happened in the town due to the investigation regarding the robbery of the Irwin estate.
After the initial investigation, the Irwin family discovered they had lost virtually all of their wealth in the estate's vault!
That wasn't all the Irwin family had, as the Baron had a fair amount in his spatial ring, while his children and wives also had valuable items with them. However, the family had lost more than 60% of the savings they had accumulated over the past few decades.
Due to the magnitude of the robbery, the survivors of House Irwin were naturally furious and had already started spreading rumors throughout the city that their family might not be the only noble house to suffer such a thing.
If nothing was done, other families might suffer as well!
As a result, all the noble houses with property in the city were on alert and participated in the investigation and search for the culprits.
But since that day, no one has been arrested. In addition to some of the dead who had perished in the incident, some survivors who had been seen leaving the estate were missing.
With clues to follow, the Irwin family, the other noble houses, and even the army had been working around Millfall for the past few days, doing what they could to seek justice.
This had, of course, affected the lives of the people of Millfall, and even the local academies had been disrupted.
Curfews had been posted every night shortly after dusk, and people were keeping an eye on the underworld's business, waiting for individuals to make unusual purchases or sell specific items.
Many people were scared and avoided doing business these days, and even the Scarlet Syndicate felt such consequences.
In the midst of all this, however, no one bothered the Mazzanti family, who, after the previous soldier's visit, were not connected to the incident that night.
Meanwhile, Vicente was still in town, preparing for his group's trip to the Alpine Woodpecker Forest.
After spending the last two days training the men sent by the Scarlet Syndicate to make a model firearm, Vicente had finally completed his local duties and would be leaving Millfall tonight!
...
At the Mazzanti family estate...
At this moment, Vicente was facing a group of 28 soldiers of his family, all of them Acolytes.
After the last few days, this family's group had grown with the reinforcements from Martell Village, reaching its highest level since its creation, now with 78 men.
Of these 78 people, most of whom were men, half of the group were Apprentices, and the other half were Acolytes, or Generals comparable to low and mid-level Acolytes.
Generals were people who may or may not have Magic Gems but who followed the path of body art and used mana to strengthen their bodies when using martial arts.
This was a relatively simple path compared to that of a magician. As such, it had many more limitations regarding how far one could go. But for low-level places like this area of Scott Province, it wasn't a problem.
Generals between levels 4 and 8 were comparable to Acolytes between levels 1 and 5 regarding combat ability.
Vicente wasn't unaware of their potential in places like Millfall, so there were a dozen of them in his group, not counting the mercenaries who worked for them outside.
With the recent increase in the number of Mazzanti family men and the resources gained from robbing the Irwin family, some things had changed in the group's power configuration.
With 78 members, of which 62 were warrior magicians and 16 were Generals, the group now consisted of 10 Junior Apprentices, 8 Intermediate Apprentices, 16 Senior Apprentices, 26 level 1 Acolytes, and 2 level 2 men, plus, of course, the Generals between levels 4 and 6.
Of these men, Vicente couldn't take all 28 Acolytes in the group on the hunt for Magic Pentagrams, even if they had all reached a point where they needed to go in search of these magical essences.
The Mazzanti family had a territory to maintain and even expand!
With that in mind, Vicente would leave 10 Acolytes and all of the group's Generals in this city to keep things in order and continue his group's current projects.
In front of him were all the Acolytes of the Mazzanti family, those he intended to take with him on this trip, and the men he intended to leave in charge of the group in his and Rory's absence.
Seeing these men with smiles on their faces, Vicente quickly called out the names of 10 of them, all level 1 Acolytes, most of them newly promoted individuals.
As these 10 men smiled and the other 18 looked at them, Vicente said. "Those I've just called will stay in Millfall to take care of our operations. The rest of you will accompany Rory and me on the journey we're beginning tonight."
The 18 men smiled in satisfaction at these words, while the 10 individuals sighed, realizing they had been given false hope.
But they wouldn't be left behind for long.
"Those of you who are staying, once our group returns, I will select some men to help you hunt for your pentagrams in the surrounding area." He said, easing the situation for those who would stay behind.
"Anyway, be careful for the days I'll be gone. Don't do anything exaggerated, and if you have to bow to powerful nobles or magicians, do it without much question.
Just write down everything relevant. When my group returns, we'll deal with any problems."
With that, the people there soon dispersed, with those who were leaving going to organize their things for the journey while the others returned to their posts.
A few minutes after the meeting with Vicente, a red-haired masked man entered the mansion and went straight to Vicente.
"Ready to go?" Vicente looked at Rory and saw that although this man had not yet reached level 1 of the Acolyte stage, he was at the peak of the Senior Apprentice level.
At the rate he was going, Rory would certainly reach level 1 before the group entered the Alpine Woodpecker Forest!
Rory smiled at his friend, looking forward to the start of this journey that could completely change his group's situation in Millfall.
"Yeah. When do we leave? I'm ready to leave this 'quiet' town." The red-haired young man took off his mask, smiling eagerly for this moment.
Vicente was also eager to get stronger and said. "At dusk."
"Good! Only a few hours are left, so I'll meditate until then."
When Vicente saw his friend go to the underground training room, he didn't disturb Rory, leaving him to talk about some relevant things after they left the city.
A long carriage ride awaited them!
