When he stopped in the metal box in the house's chimney, Vicente almost stopped breathing, keeping as much of his body still as possible to avoid attracting attention.
After 5 minutes there, he realized that no one had found him, but he decided to stay still for a while to make sure his enemies wouldn't notice him.
This robbery aimed to harm the family that had dared to act against his group. But if he were caught or seen stealing, he would have several problems.
As long as no one had proof of what he had done there, Vicente could not be publicly implicated by the royal forces. But if he was seen leaving this place, he would be immediately recognized as a criminal and could soon have a bounty on his head.
Criminals in the Seidel Kingdom had bounties on their heads, and occasionally, fights between bounty hunters or even other criminals interested in those bounties would make news in the kingdom.
At the same time, the royal forces would publicly pursue people with bounties on their heads, which could greatly hinder his operations.
'I will stay here until dawn. By then, this family's group will have lowered their guard over this place, and I can leave unnoticed.' He thought as he settled into the metal box.
...
Meanwhile, Rory's group had already left the area around the Peters' residence, having split up and scattered to different parts of the city.
Their plan was simple. Attack the area around the Peters family, create a scene to justify the resources Vicente would steal, while he would have space to take what he wanted and leave.
It was not in their plans to fight the people of the Peters family, so after the attack, everyone fled the area without looking back.
Amidst this, the men of the small Peters family did not pursue the fleeing opponents, worried about their fallen defenses and the possibility of further attacks.
In a society where one had to protect one's wealth, it was not so easy to have their home attacked like this!
Everyone in Brody's house was on alert, surrounding the place as the security perimeter of his property was destroyed.
"Shit! Who dares?" Jax shouted loudly as the mana around him glowed brightly.
"Could it be the same ones behind Brody?" The young man's mother raised the possibility, causing her brothers to furrow their brows in concern.
It was not impossible!
In this place, people used fire to put out the fire, and revenge was the most common thing one could see in a world where people could have a lot of individual power.
"If it's them, I'll kill every last one of this bunch of scumbags!" Jax yelled, saliva flying from his mouth.
"Brother, let's wait until things calm down and go to that place. Let's get Brody back and take out this little group!" Jax's younger brother suggested as he scanned the area for enemies.
Their group would scour the area for the next hour, noting no enemies nearby.
After establishing a security perimeter, Jax would soon head out with some of the family's subordinates to Vicente's group headquarters.
Only the women and a few servants would remain in that residence, while Vicente would remain in his place, quietly waiting for the best time to leave without attracting attention.
...
Two hours after the attack on the Peters family began, a good part of Vicente's group had returned to the Fuller family's headquarters.
It was there that they began to worry about Vicente's situation.
"Rory, what do we do? What if the enemy has captured the boss?" One of the young men most uncomfortable with Vicente's delay asked worriedly.
In the entrance hall of this residence, which was very similar to the entrance of an ordinary guild, with several tables and places to sit and talk around the entrance, almost all of the men of this group were there now.
Rory had a worried look on his face, but he knew his friend better than anyone else there.
"Guys, let's wait until dawn before we worry. Right now, he might be hiding to avoid trouble. So let's not get desperate."
One of the men stood up and snarled. "Rory, why did we go against this family? Just for those brothers who own a tavern? Why risk ourselves for so little?"
Rory clenched his fists when he heard such nonsense. "Are you an idiot?" He shouted in the man's direction, unable to believe that something as basic as this could be questioned by his men.
"Does anyone else here still not understand why we are acting today?" He asked, causing everyone to stare at him in silence, some annoyed because they also thought like that man.
Rory said disappointedly. "Idiots... We didn't act tonight for the sake of two of our clients. We acted for the sake of the Fuller family, for the sake of our territory!
Every facility under our protection is an extension of the Fuller family's territory! What would happen if we did not do our best to ensure the safety of our own domain?"
Some frowned and opened their mouths as they realized the true motivation behind these actions.
This was no simple revenge by Vicente on behalf of his injured men nor to protect their clients. This was their group shouting to various local business owners like River and Zander that they would defend their territory and that there were advantages to being under their protection!
Even if no one knew about the Peters' robbery after today, as long as Zander's place was more secure, they would be able to draw the attention of other establishments in the area they were in!
Explaining this to his people, Rory managed to get some of them to understand what they were doing until a shout came from outside the building.
"Motherfuckers, give me back my nephew, or I'll destroy this place!" Jax's voice reached the ears of the people from the Fuller family, causing them to quickly put aside their previous concerns and worry about an enemy attack.
"Damn it!" Rory muttered before ordering his men. "Position yourselves. Shoot anyone who crosses the security perimeter!"
With that, the people there ran to their positions while Rory went to a balcony on the second floor of the building.
When he got there, he saw Jax's group already surrounding the building.
Rory wore a mask, but he could see Jax and this person's men very well.
"If you come closer than 10 meters around this property, we will kill your nephew!" He said in a thicker tone, using mana to change his voice.
"Brat, don't think you can threaten me. I surrounded this place and will not allow you to leave until my nephew is released!" Jax said, knowing he had to be careful as Brody's life was worth a lot.
"Were you the ones who attacked my property earlier?" Jax's brother asked, trying to extract a confession.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Were you attacked? Tsk, that's too bad, but judging by how arrogant you are, there must be many suspects behind this, right?" Rory moved away from the responsibility of this from his group, knowing Vicente's plans.
