32 Time for Renewal 

"How do we start? What should we do to get back at those bastards?" Rory settled back into his seat, looking at Vicente with an anxious expression.

"First, we don't rush to think much about it. We haven't even awakened our magical powers yet, so let's proceed cautiously. Currently, the most important thing is establishing connections and protecting what we already have," Vicente said, rearranging the cutlery and dishes in front of him for Rory to understand his point more easily.

"At the moment, I need to ensure that my father's business continues under my stewardship. Few people know of his death, but eventually, news about it will spread. If I'm unprepared, I will risk losing everything he has left behind by that time.

His men may betray me, and his partners may back out of deals with me, thinking I am not good enough to generate profits for them or send them their resource requirements.

Therefore, before that happens, I need to accomplish two things." He indicated with his fingers. "First, I must replace my father's men with those I can trust. Second, I need to establish new partnerships without relying on my father's name.

Once I have built my own name, I will no longer have the risk of losing what he created."

"That makes sense," Rory nodded.

He didn't hail from the family of a merchant. However, his mother did sell certain services...

Being her son, he had learned a few things about managing resources, when to replace personnel, and the significance of customers and suppliers.

"I can assist you in recruiting some reliable people. Some of the sisters who work with my mother have brothers who are a little older than us and are unemployed. If we give them a chance, we can gather about 5 or 6 of them without much trouble.

Their loyalty will also be guaranteed since their elder sisters work for my mother," Rory suggested.

His mother may not have been unfair to them, but those who worked for her had to stay within certain boundaries, and the risk under these girls was not zero.

They and their families knew well that they needed to be cautious and loyal, or they could suffer heavy consequences!

Vicente was well aware of how Rory's mother's business operated and nodded in agreement with him. "That will be of great help."

"What about those other plans you mentioned?" Rory inquired, thinking about the seemingly absurd ideas which Vicente had told him.

Vicente glanced at Nina and noticed the little girl had already finished eating.

He answered as he looked at his little sister. "We will have to wait. First, we will secure our network, and then we have to approach a Baron at least.

We will gather information, and once we awaken our magical powers, we will start to plan this. Until then, thinking about this kind of action will only result in danger for us.

However, as much as we won't be able to do anything, it doesn't mean we will stand still."

"Oh?"

Vicente then continued to elaborate, "Among the men we will hire, we will need people capable of fighting. When we have enough of them, we can engage in the activities within the underworld and compete for space with criminal organizations."

"That will be interesting." Rory chuckled while Nina observed their conversation with rapt attention, not understanding anything but could tell that it must be quite important.

Vicente then stood up and once again took Nina in his arms. "I have to go take care of some business. Can you handle these people for me?"

"Hmm, I'll do that right away. I'll drop by your place tonight with the results," Rory agreed as he stood up and escorted Vice and Nina to the door.

"That's good."

"But man, what are we going to do about Nina?" Rory expressed concern. "As merchants, we will have to travel out of the village... Do you plan to take her with us on every trip?"

"In that regard, I intend to find someone reliable to watch after her. But I will need to get to know that person well, so we will have to deal with Nina being at our side for the next few months."

"Won't that be dangerous?"

Vicente looked at Nina and explained, "No. I will avoid traveling during that period. Besides, it would be more risky to leave her with someone whom we can't trust and who wouldn't do everything in their power to protect her."

"That makes sense."

The two said their goodbyes and went their separate directions in the village.

...

While Rory set out to locate the relatives of his mother's 'WORKERS,' Vice headed back to his father's warehouse, which was located at one end of the village.

After a half-hour walk, he reached where several silos, a large barn, and a corral were situated on this property that belonged to his family.

Approximately a dozen men were busy working around, with some tending to the horses and others fixing the wagons at their disposal.

As Vicente arrived with Nina, the people there, who had already been informed about their situation earlier by Jesse, didn't find it strange that Vicente had appeared there.

Vicente greeted some of his old acquaintances as he made his way to Jesse's office, where he intended to start addressing the restructuring of the establishment.

"Vicente, I didn't expect you to be here so soon..." Jesse emerged from his office when he noticed this boy simply walk in.

"Hmm, I have some pressing business matters to attend to, so I want to get started with it immediately," Vicente started as he looked at Jesse and entered the office.

"Urgent business? What's that all about? I can take care of that for you. You should focus on caring for little Nina, and I'll take care of the rest," Jesse suggested, indicating for Vicente to go and take care of child matters while leaving the rest to him.

"I'm afraid the situation would be tricky for you to handle the things on my behalf, Jesse," Vicente replied with a smile. "My father has entrusted me not only with the responsibilities for overseeing the business. He also wants me to start leading his business on his behalf. As you may already know, my father wishes me to replace him once I become an adult."

"Hmm." Jesse nodded as he tried to understand what this was all about.

However, he could say nothing against Vicente's words, for Andrew had indeed indicated such intention before.

As much as he had reservations about taking orders from a child, who, yes, was talented nonetheless, was still a child, he had little choice in the matter.

Vice continued, "Since I will be replacing him, I wish to implement some changes to make our operations more compatible with my profile. Therefore, a change in personnel will be necessary."

"Do you perhaps plan to hire new workers? I can assist you with that," Jesse offered with a smile.

"Yes, but it's not only that," Vice looked into Jesse's eyes, speaking as an equal. "Unlike my father, I am capable of running this establishment by myself. While I am grateful for the contributions you have made to date, I'm afraid we'll have to go our separate ways."

"What?" Jesse stood up after being taken aback as he realized he was being fired. 

He couldn't believe that kid was sending him away just like that!

He had been working for Andrew longer than Vicente had been alive!

How was it that he was the first to be fired during a staff renewal?

"Vicente, I don't understand. Is Mister Andrew dissatisfied with my performance? Why am I being fired?" Jesse inquired with a hint of frustration in his tone.

However, as a person with lower talent, this man would never dare to hurt Vicente.

The one who paid the wages of all those men in the surrounding area was Andrew, so if he were to do something he shouldn't, he could be brutally beaten!

And Vicente clearly knew this, which was also precisely why he chose not to fire these people before terminating Jesse from work.

First, he had to remove the biggest problem, which was the person who knew the most about his father's dealings!

"You've got it wrong, Jesse. That's not my father. That's me. I will be running this place from now on, so your services are no longer required," Vicente clarified.