33 Taking Control of Operations
After Vicente's words, Jesse stood up with his mouth agape, not being able to believe that a brat who hadn't even got his facial hair was dismissing him.
"Vicente, Mister Andrew won't accept this! You'll be sorry if you continue down this path," Jesse warned, making his final attempt to hold onto his position.
Working for Andrew had been very comfortable and convenient for him.
Jesse was paid an attractive salary and rarely had to travel since Andrew preferred handling the business in person with his suppliers and customers.
Losing this position would leave Jesse in a difficult situation, where he would have to either start his own business or work for someone who wouldn't offer him the same opportunities that Andrew used to give him.
Consequently, he felt compelled to convince Vicente to change his mind.
"I'm willing to take that risk," Vice stated firmly before standing up and opening the door. "I appreciate your services for all these years. But from now on, I will take over your responsibilities."
Vicente no longer looked into the eyes of this man while holding his sister in his arms, who watched the situation without understanding.
Jesse glared at Vicente with anger, but after a moment of silence, he stomped his feet hard onto the floor and walked out of there after gathering all of his belongings, grumbling as he left.
"Have a good time! I hope you don't come back looking for me in shame!"
Vicente ignored Jesse's sharp words during this man's departure.
After Jesse could no longer be seen there, Vicente turned to the people in the surrounding area who were looking strangely in the direction where Jesse had left and addressed aloud.
"Jesse is no longer part of this group. From now on, you will be under my administration. If you have any questions, you can come to me," he announced, addressing the many surprised faces gathered in the surrounding area.
Nevertheless, these people already anticipated Vicente would become more involved with them as he grew older, so his proclamation didn't raise any suspicions from them for the time being.
After hearing a few things from the workers on the premises, Vicente spent some time at the property to familiarize himself with some documents he still needed to go through.
He was already familiar with most of his father's agreements and the activities these people were currently doing. After all, he had been leading them on behalf of Andrew directly from Saltstar City for several months.
They were executing agreements that Vicente himself had formulated, so there wasn't much for him to catch up on.
After spending a few hours there, he felt confident in the essentials and departed with his sister to the local tavern to have lunch.
...
While Vicente went on with his plans, Jesse embarked on a quest to find the guards who had accompanied the Fuller family during their journey to Saltstar City.
'Let's see what has happened! It's very strange that this brat is taking me out of my position!' Jesse wondered to himself as he headed towards one of the most important buildings in the village.
Martell Village had no residing nobles, but several noble families of the kingdom owned the properties in the vicinity, so there was a post of the Duke family there as well.
While there were no descendants of the Duke or any other influential people in this place, some guards from the Duke's family were responsible for supporting the people who worked for the families who had their properties nearby.
Several farmers and other workers belonging to the Barons' families lived in Martell Village and were tasked to take care of their bosses' lands.
The Duke's family post was there to maintain a small local guard for protecting the village and overseeing the kingdom's bureaucratic services.
These workers and subordinates needed to record their activities to ensure the belongings and agreements of their leaders.
Precisely, this place served as a hub where people in the village sold their services, and mercenaries who sought employment opportunities also displayed their advertisements in buildings like this.
Sometimes, mercenaries would even stay near these Duke's family posts since people able to hire their services usually passed by there frequently.
Thinking that Soren should also be there, just like how he usually would, Jesse quickly approached this building that was located on the opposite side of the Academy of Stars.
'Maybe Mister Andrew doesn't have the same intentions as that brat! If that is the case, I will have to do something!' Jesse thought to himself as he entered that building.
Upon entering, he found himself in what appeared to be a large hall with several counters on one side of the building, and there were stairs and many doors along the edges. Jesse proceeded to a part where there were several seats where some armed men were engaged in group conversations. The wall behind them displayed several murals where one could post their announcements.
Jesse looked around for the ones whom he had come for but unfortunately did not find them.
He then inquired with a group of mercenaries about Soren and Wesley, hoping to find them there.
"Hey, have you seen Soren and Wesley?" he asked.
There weren't many mercenaries in the village. Less than 20 worked locally.
Of the 12 mercenaries there, they would clearly be aware of those two.
"I haven't seen them lately," replied one mercenary who had just returned from an assignment.
However, another person's response caught Jesse's attention. "Soren and Wesley left for Millfall this morning."
"Millfall?"
Millfall was the closest town to Martell Village, just over 100 kilometers away.
'Damn it! Did those two leave the village so quickly?' Jesse's face contorted, not liking this situation at all.
'I'll wait for them to return to get to the bottom of what had happened to give that brat such unwavering confidence!'
...
Later that same day...
The evening fell, and Vice had just finished eating dinner with his sister.
Just as he was getting ready to take a shower, Rory showed up at his door.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Vicente, it's me," Rory announced, speaking in a hushed tone to avoid disturbing the neighbors but enough to draw his friend's attention.
Upon hearing Rory's voice, Vicente hurried down the stairs and quickly opened the door.
Peering out into the darkened street, he noticed Rory and five young men.
All these young men had Magic Gems on their foreheads, displaying the three most common forms, all in red.
Vicente readily recognized these young men as the relatives of the women who worked in Rory's mother's brothel.
"Is this the staff you said you would get for me?" Vicente asked Rory, who nodded in agreement.
"Those are..."
Rory proceeded to introduce the young men, who were supposed to be between 15 and 18 years old.
As ordinary folks, they were all interested in the job opportunity that Rory had promised.
They did not adopt a condescending attitude when dealing with these two 11-year-old boys. Each of them greeted Vicente before entering the house to converse with him.
"Alright, what Rory told you was not a lie. I want to hire you to work on my family's property," Vicente explained, scrutinizing these young men thoughtfully.
"What I expect from you is nothing complicated. You will learn the job that I will assign you over for the next few weeks.
I will make you work in pairs with some experienced workers, and once you are confident enough that you are capable of doing what they do, I will double your wages."
With these words, Vicente managed to win over each of these young men who had already been enticed by the generous wages Rory had mentioned.
With the prospect of potentially going from nearly zero to earning double what they had expected they could earn, all of them felt even more determined to work for Vicente.
