36 First Murder 

"How did you manage that?" One of the men who had accompanied Rory asked, his voice filled with astonishment as he saw Vicente with Peter in tow.

The entire sequence of events had unfolded in a matter of minutes. In less than 5 minutes, Vicente had broken in and left Jesse's property!

As much as there were no defenses in the house and Jesse's wife was not a powerful magician, someone with magical abilities could notice disturbances in the mana in their surroundings with relative ease. Hence, Vicente's swift actions had left the onlookers in awe.

Vicente smiled confidently and replied, "Let's move first. If you guys are interested, I can teach you some of these tricks later."

Vicente's control over mana was not particularly high, but he had developed the ability to control it by using it for numerous purposes, including combining such a thing with his earthling skills.

Since he was a little boy, Vicente had trained not only in the martial arts of this world but had also trained even more to hone skills that he had memories of from Earth. These included fighting forms and different ways of acting.

The equipment he had used earlier was something he had crafted by himself. His stealth technique relied on a breathing and movement technique developed by the assassins from the Mazzanti family.

By combining these skills with mana manipulation, he could move without disturbing the free mana in the air while containing his strength within his body. That way, he could enter such a house as easily as a harmless insect could!

"Are you really going to teach us to do that?" One of those men inquired, enthusiasm sparkling in his eyes as they made their escape from the scene.

"Hmm, but you will have to earn it first. At most, I will teach you the basics. To learn everything, you must earn merit by proving your worth."

Rory ignored that and posed a more immediate concern, "Where are we going now?"

"We are heading back to my father's estate. Jesse will come looking for us there." Vicente responded 

"How will we act against him?" One of those two asked, curious to learn what strategy Vicente had used.

He had a Magic Gem but still had no idea how to break into an estate without drawing any attention.

If he learned this, his chances would be much greater!

"First, let's..." Vicente immediately shared his plan along with his group.

...

Thirty minutes later...

"Jesse, there is something wrong with this boy. He's taking too long in the bathroom," Peter's mother remarked after she had finished putting the food on the table and yet could hear the noise of the shower on the second floor.

Jesse turned his gaze in the direction of the armchair he was sitting in and frowned. "Kid. Finish your shower now!" he called out impatiently as he stood up.

However, just as he walked to the bathroom on the second floor, this Intermediate Apprentice soon realized something was wrong because he found no one in the bathroom.

'Uh? Where is this boy?' He went to the bedroom but didn't find his son there either.

"Lexi! Peter is not here! Look for him downstairs!" Jesse raised his voice, his tone slightly changed to his growing apprehension.

His son had never disappeared like this before. As such, he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive about the situation.

Lexi was startled by this news and promptly started looking for Peter.

After two minutes of thorough searching, the two realized he was nowhere in the house and went to the bedroom, where his clean clothes remained on the bed, untouched.

"Damn it! Someone took our son!" Jesse growled, turning red with anger, and immediately thought of Vicente. "It must be that fucking brat!"

He had been trying to take Andrew's son's business but had been encountering trouble doing so since the little imp had cleverly redone several contracts.

But by talking to some of Vicente's suppliers about this young man's lie, Jesse was confident of soiling his reputation by spreading some false information and eventually getting those suppliers!

Because he was already acting against Vicente, he was suspicious this young man was behind his son's abduction!

As he furiously stormed down the stairs, intending to head to the Fuller residence, his wife cried out, "Jesse, there's a letter here!"

"What?" He looked up, squinting at the note in his wife's hands.

"It says that if we want to see our son again, you have to go to Andrew's warehouse!" He felt a tight in her chest.

"Jesse, what's going on? Why would someone act against our son and ask for you to go to Andrew's warehouse?" She inquired, tears streaming from her eyes, her voice trembling with anguish.

"Tsk! You stay here. I'll take care of this," those were the last words she heard from Jesse before he left without turning back.

'Damned Vicente! I'll make you pay for this!' Jesse's mana violently pulsed as he bolted from the scene, his speed exceeding 25 kilometers per hour.

...

Moments later, Jesse arrived at his old workplace, where the surrounding was rather dark due to the lack of nearby lighting.

"Brat Vicente, come out from wherever you are hiding!" He shouted as he slowly walked towards the main building, his fists firmly clenched, glowing due to the concentrated mana.

"Jesse, you thought you could act against me and get away with it," Vicente's voice echoed from the top of one of the silos in the surrounding area, drawing Jesse's attention from the source.

Jesse peered upwards and could barely make out Vicente's figure there because of the night's darkness.

"Where is my son, Vicente? He has nothing to do with our troubles!"

"Oh? I beg to differ," Vicente responded in a serious tone. "By acting against my business, you acted against my family. Isn't it fair that I respond the same to you?"

"Brat, don't cross the line, or I will kill you and that girl!" Jesse threatened as he walked toward Vicente.

However, since he couldn't see Nina or his son anywhere, he was being cautious.

"Jesse, you are a fool. I gave you a chance to live with your family. Unfortunately, you were greedy and tried to steal my business. Now I have to punish you." Vicente stated, lying on top of the silo while looking at Jesse through something that looked like a special binocular-like driver.

But that item only had one opening to look through and was attached to something else.

Vicente had his hands around a strange item, where one of his index fingers made contact with a trigger.

"Punish me? How? Tell me how a brat like you plans to punish me?" Jesse scoffed aloud, laughing at the audacity of Vicente's words.

"Vicente, hand over Peter to me now. If you don't, I will kill you, even if it means that I will have to risk my son's life."

"I expected nothing less from you. A vermin indeed."

"Tsk! Quit playing games with me, brat!"

"This is the end, Jesse. When you go to the next world, try not to be such a treacherous, unscrupulous worm."

With these words, Vicente squeezed the trigger, causing the specialized device in front of him to move backward abruptly while it emitted a glow from one of its metallic parts.

Then, a deafening loud noise erupted from that rifle, breaking toward Jesse's head.

Simultaneously, the two men who were positioned on the outskirts of the property heard the signal they were waiting for and fired their weapons in Jesse's direction as well.

Jesse still maintained an angry expression when he suddenly fell to his knees, a five centimeters-deep hole visible in his skull.

Blood stained his shirt red in two places on his abdomen, and then he collapsed face-first to the ground, already dead!