As Liam's eyes lit up and he spoke of the wonders of the herb Vicente had collected, the black-haired young man smiled, seeing he had successfully captured the alchemist's interest.
"Would you like to join my family, Liam Young? I'll give you this herb to use as you wish, but you'll be my family's exclusive alchemist, and you won't be able to do any side business.
Of course, I'll pay you a good salary and cover all the expenses for you to advance as an alchemist. But you must be free to work for me." Vicente made his proposal, taking some of Liam's attention away from the item in the spatial ring.
Liam clenched his fists, feeling he had much to gain by accepting this tempting offer.
However, he wasn't stupid enough to accept such a deal without getting some guarantees first.
He could gain a lot from this herb. But the chances that he would die from it were not small!
"Vicente Fuller, this herb is precious. As much as I'm tempted to accept your offer and use it right away, I'm afraid I'll die if I do it carelessly." Liam said as he handed the ring back to Vice.
He looked seriously into Vicente's eyes. "The moment I remove the Cavern Galangal from your ring, all the Mages in Millfall, especially all the 3rd-stage alchemists, will notice its medicinal scent. Then I'll be dead in less than 10 minutes.
What will you do to prevent that from happening? Not only will I need protection to remove this herb from your spatial ring, I'll need protection while I absorb its pentagram, and not only that, I'll need to stay hidden for weeks.
Its medicinal fragrance is too strong for someone of my level to get rid of in a short time. So, my body would be marked by it after I absorb its pentagram and try to use it to make pills and potions.
If I'm not protected, I will be killed, and our agreement will be worthless."
Vicente nodded in agreement when he heard all this.
That was what would happen if they were careless!
"If you join my family, I'll guarantee your protection while you absorb its pentagram. I have a Mage on my side who will guard the place where you will hide for a short time.
In addition, I have plans to lure the greatest local dangers away from Millfall while you absorb its pentagram." He said, planning to lead the warrior Mages out of town as bait.
After realizing the local Mage warriors, the army soldiers, were after him, Vicente had already formulated a plan.
While Liam, under Bart's protection, would absorb the pentagram of the 3rd-stage herb at the Mazzanti family headquarters, he would lead the strongest in Millfall at the moment away.
That would leave only non-warrior Mages in town, who wouldn't be able to enter the Mazzanti mansion with Bart guarding it.
Vicente's only concern was Viscount Symons. If this nobleman went after him with the kingdom's soldiers, Liam would probably have no problem. But if he stayed behind, things would be more complicated.
As for the dangers of using himself as bait, Vicente didn't have much of a choice. Keeping the herb with him wouldn't solve his situation and would only increase the dangers as time passed.
'Since you want my head, I'll play you against each other.' Vicente clenched one of his hands, thinking of the 3rd-stage soldiers in town and the Mages Kohen would probably bring to town in the next few days to deal with him.
"Do you have a Mage on your side?" Liam opened his eyes wider, not expecting Vicente to have so much influence.
In the Seidel Kingdom, only those who were able to influence Mages could be considered relevant.
For Vicente to be able to do that at his age was something quite impressive and promising.
'If that's true, he can suppress my needs as an alchemist.' Liam thought silently, tempted to take a chance.
"Yes, I have someone like that. Anyway, if you accept the deal I'm offering, we'll do everything we can to make sure you're as safe as possible. I also promise you that we won't act until you are sure about our actions." Vicente assured him.
"Well, I'm willing to join you if that's true," Liam replied to Vicente. "Do you have the papers for the contract?"
Vicente smiled and nodded as he picked up the material to make a Magic Agreement with Liam.
The terms of this agreement were simple, and they both agreed on all the important points. So, in less than 10 minutes, they had written their versions of the agreement between them, leaving their marks on both versions of their contracts.
Afterwards, Vicente said. "Well done, Liam, welcome to the Mazzanti family."
Hearing that, Liam was surprised, but he didn't find it so strange considering how impressive Vicente's offer was.
"Not for nothing." He said as he smiled and picked up the mask Vicente had thrown in his direction. "The Mage who's going to protect me is that basilisk?"
Even Liam had heard the local rumors of Cesar Mazzanti's triumphant return from The Rocky Gorge!
"Yes, it should be enough to deal with the non-warrior Mages of the city... Anyway, you'll have to go to my estate to settle this matter. When can you do that?"
"I'm ready right now. I just have to gather my things here." Liam said, eager to plan what they would do next.
Vicente smiled. "Good. Then give me two days. I'll plan some things related to our plan regarding your herb, and then I'll meet you at my family's headquarters to work out the details of the operation."
Vicente left Liam's estate and headed to his house to meet Nina and Eve.
Before arriving at Liam's estate, he had been informed by one of his men from House Fuller that Shelby wanted to meet him later at one of her friend's estates. So he wouldn't look for her now since it was too early and Shelby's preparations weren't finished yet.
'It's time for me to relax with my family...' Vice sighed at the sight of his house as he pulled up in front of the property where Nina lived.
'After I've sorted out my situation with those pesky magicians, I'll try to spend more time with Nina. I think I'll be able to follow her last year at the academy before I have to deal with Lauren's kidnappers.' He thought as he realized how little time he had spent with his little sister lately.
Aware that he would have to become much stronger to deal with Lauren's kidnappers, he knew that he would have to prepare himself for months, maybe even more than a year or two, before he could finally go after his older sister. In the meantime, he wanted to be more present for his little sister!
