Eve smiled and said. "Nova is fine. We saw her here last night. During your time away, she's been coming here practically every day except for a few times.
She became a High-level Mage weeks ago and was recently promoted within the army headquarters in Saltstar City. She may take over the leadership of that post in the near future. So she's doing very well and has rarely left the city during this time."
"That's good." Vicente smiled in satisfaction.
Eve continued. "Aside from her, almost everyone in our family has improved their strength in the months you've been gone. The big exception is Bart because he's already at the peak of the 3rd stage, and it would be difficult for him to advance without the help of special resources just by being in the province. He also has a lot of issues to deal with on behalf of our family, so he's always busy.
But if we give him a few months off and send him to a stronger area of the kingdom along with some of our members, he could become a Sovereign Beast in the future.
But aside from him, the family currently has 11 High-level Mages, including Rory, 32 Mid-level Mages, and 85 Low-level Mages. The rest of the family is at level 5 of the 2nd stage." She finished updating the family's strengths.
Many external members of the family were between the 2nd and 3rd stages. But these numbers were only relevant for him to know that such people could maintain their businesses in the province. Their strength was of no direct use to the Fuller family.
Only in an emergency would Vicente use outside men to work alongside his trusted employees.
"The family is getting strong." Rory smiled at Vicente. "We have more Mages in our family than the army in the province."
Some of the Mages in the family were professionals, like Lukas, the blacksmith in Millfall who was selling the Mazzanti family's firearms.
He had revolutionized the province by following Vicente's orders to sell firearms, and it had become commonplace to see such weapons in every city in the territory.
Because of the actions of Luke, who knew how to manufacture a variety of firearms and ammunition, the Fuller family was free to use their most advanced weapons without attracting unnecessary attention from the army. The same was true for the Fuller family's subordinate forces, who also used the best equipment against their opponents.
With so many people using the Mazzanti family's weapons, no one talked about Cesar or the possibility that there were still people from his family in this world. Nowadays, whenever his name is mentioned, it is in reference to the revolutionary who brought firearms to the continent, not the man who invaded a prison...
Weapons were like an element of justice in this unjust world. They didn't give anyone supreme powers, but they 'balanced' the fights between more and less talented magicians.
The weaker ones quickly adapted to them, and nowadays, there was an absurd demand for the weapons produced by Lukas's group in Millfall.
Lukas was now a Low-level Mage, so his production capabilities were very different from when Vicente lived in Millfall, which is why the popularization of the weapons had worked.
Vicente heard a little bit about the professionals in his group, about Lukas' situation in Millfall, and also about Shelby, who was also growing in influence and power.
According to rumors, Shelby was already preparing to seek the position of Count for her younger brother and to increase her position once again.
Livia and Nicolas from Dryhaven helped her with their contacts. At the same time, they all used Vicente's support to grow faster than their rivals.
Then Nina told her brother, "My master said he wants to see you as soon as you get back, brother. He said he wants to talk to you about Cesar."
Newton still didn't know that Vicente and Cesar were the same person.
But after so long of this man helping the family, teaching Nina, and being in close contact with them, Rory couldn't help but consider adding Newton to their group.
"You should talk to him and explain everything. Honestly, it won't make any difference. He'd never talk to the authorities about it, and even if he were the kind of person who would do it, he'd be doing himself a lot of harm if he did. He would be an accomplice if he betrayed us, so I don't see any danger in you revealing the truth to him."
Nina nodded positively. "He'll realize that even if you don't say anything, brother. When the news of this beast gets out, he'll connect the dots and come to the truth himself."
Vicente nodded affirmatively to both of them. "I was planning to do that. I just couldn't risk anything before revealing the truth. But now that I'm back in the city, this is a good chance for me to talk to him about it."
Eve added. "You should also seek out your master, Benson King. He's currently in the Blacksmiths' Association building, working on improving his skills. After becoming a High-level Mage, he's been studying hard to be able to make our robot armor."
"I wanted to see him too." Vicente agreed. "I bought a lot of materials on this trip. Some of them are with me, and a larger part will arrive in the city in a few weeks.
When that happens, we'll be able to mass-produce our robot armor so that more family members will have powers similar to mine."
Rory and Eve were eager to hear this, knowing that Vicente's current powers were much greater than the old armor he had left behind before he left.
If he really could do what he said, the group could take over the province and move on to the rest of the kingdom in no time!
Maybe they would already be in control of the Seidel Kingdom before Nina awakens her powers!
Vicente's goal wasn't to take over the official forces or fight against the king. But he wanted to be the strongest force in the territory and dominate a large part of it. That way, he could have strong men at his side and resources to help him achieve his goals.
He sighed at their silence and looked at Nina. "We will resume our work together after you finish your first year at the Royal Academy."
"My term ends in a few weeks, brother," Nina said, eager to learn from her older brother again.
"Hmm, we'll do that when your term is over. For now, I will focus on solving this and other problems, so I won't have much time for our conversation. Anyway, I have some resources I will leave with Eve, and you should consume them once a week.
There's enough here for six months, and I got it practically for free, so don't hesitate to use it up." He handed Eve a spatial ring. "This will help you improve your situation for your eventual awakening, Nina."
She knew that she was suffering from the after-effects of the incident years ago when her mother had died, which threatened her awakening. Nina easily accepted Vicente's recommendation since she desperately wanted to have magical powers.
"Okay, I'll do it." She said as she finished eating and gave her brother a kiss before leaving for the academy with Eve and some guards.
