After leaving the Baron's office, Vicente again followed in the footsteps of Butler Mason while walking alongside his guard.
As he strolled through that magnificent property, Vice couldn't help but look at the surroundings again, typical for any curious child who would enter such an opulent residence.
However, what was in Vicente's mind were anything but childish thoughts.
'In a place like this, there must be an abundance of jewelry and gold bars...' he glanced in the direction through which he had noticed a group of women walking.
Jewelry and gold bars were universally recognized as reserves of wealth, whether on Earth or in Polaris Realm.
One would never have their social and financial position 100% secured, so diversifying their financial assets would always be necessary.
A nobleman could lose their title or even be pursued by a powerful enemy. Since even financially well-positioned people had no way to ensure they wouldn't face any problems, they needed ways in order to move their wealth around.
If there were circumstances when one had to flee, it would be challenging to use property and warranties that must be sold through legal means.
Coins, although convenient, could easily become problematic to carry above a certain amount because even though there were magical storage items in this world, normally, even such high-level items had limited volumes.
Hence, there was a demand for high-value items such as gold bars on Earth and jewelry in Polaris Realm, which could be easily transported in case of an emergency.
Vicente was privy to this because of what he had learned from his father and experienced in his own family.
Whenever Andrew had savings above a particular threshold, he sought to buy jewelry, precious stones, and similar items that could easily be taken on in the event of unforeseen escape.
Knowing this, Vicente readily thought that a place as opulent as this must hold countless riches in jewelry, not only for women but for men as well.
With his background as a former bandit, he couldn't ignore such an opportunity.
'In the future, I need to approach other Baron's or anyone with access to their residences,' he contemplated. 'For the moment, I might not be able to do anything, but the earnings from a theft of property like this could significantly aid me in the future.'
"Young Vicente, I hope your sisters' have improved from their conditions," the butler kindly remarked as they reached the estate's exit and said goodbye to this boy.
"Thank you for your kind words, Butler Mason. I hope to return with the Baron's grain in a few weeks."
"Hmmm."
...
After Vicente's previous encounter with the first Baron he had seen, weeks passed, and the time for Lauren's Awakening was approaching fast!
Tomorrow, she would celebrate her 14th birthday, so today marked the eve of her magical Awakening – the most important moment in the life of magicians in this world.
After living as a blind person for months, Lauren had acclimated herself to some of her heightened senses and gotten used to her life's darkness.
In the last few weeks, she learned about Nina's ongoing treatment, a process that was supposed to yield promising results in the future but which, for the moment, had not changed the little girl's condition much.
On the other hand, her brother had been working increasingly, making the agreements he should have and had already fulfilled some of them.
Vicente had been spending a lot of time dealing with Andrew's responsibilities during these months, taking care of the family's economy a little more and easing the burden on his father's shoulders considerably.
Perhaps this was also why Andrew had sunk even deeper into his new normal, intensified his drinking habits, and practically stopped leaving his room for days.
In the past month, he had not left his room even once, and his daughters and son didn't see or hear him for days.
Only Vicente knew how his old man was doing. However, intervening or altering what was happening was beyond his control.
On the one hand, he had too many responsibilities to deal with. On the other, even though he was mature and with possibilities, he couldn't presume to boss his father around.
At the end of the day, Andrew was still an adult, and Vicente was still a child!
And so, on the eve of Lauren's Awakening, things for the Fuller family didn't seem to have improved much since the tragedy that occurred a few months ago.
...
At dusk that day, Vicente returned to the apartment in the resort where his family was still staying and settled onto a sofa, allowing his body to relax.
He had just returned after fulfilling his responsibilities, having participated in a delivery earlier and subsequently converting a portion of the earnings into valuable items.
His father wasn't a nobleman with land to farm. Instead, he worked as an item dealer.
Not every noble had the ability to negotiate or have good contacts. Therefore, merchants like them existed to mediate between the producers and consumers, whether they were family leaders or ordinary kingdom citizens.
Consequently, only a tiny fraction of the amount collected by Vicente actually belonged to his father.
But for the share that did belong to him, Vicente had readily saved what he deemed necessary to cover short-term expenses and used the surplus to purchase precious items whenever possible.
He didn't know what might happen tomorrow, but he was clear about the risk of carrying coins around. So whenever he could, Vice bought high-value-added items that he and his sisters could easily carry.
Today, he had done this once again and purchased a type of crystal akin to the diamonds on Earth.
After spending almost the entire day on his feet, Vicente settled on the sofa, closing his eyes and releasing a sigh.
From his vantage point, he could hear Nina, who was playing with some dolls in their room, and Lauren walking toward him.
He opened his eyes and turned to his sister, who, at the moment, looked much more like an adult than a child.
While her breasts were not prominent, their fullness was enough for one to easily notice them. On the other hand, Lauren's most striking attributes from a man's point of view were her shapely legs and relatively broad hips.
Vicente saw her and sighed again, knowing he would soon have trouble with her potential suitors.
Even as a blind woman, her physical attributes were bound to attract the attention of many admirers!
At the same time, her face resembled their mother's, Kate, with soft white skin and pink, plump lips that were difficult to ignore.
"Vice, are you back? How was your day?" She inquired as she slowly walked towards her brother, with the same apathetic look as always.
Ever since losing her sight and her mother, she had rarely smiled and almost always had the same expression on her face.
Vicente looked into Lauren's closed eyes and replied, "Hmm, same as always. Nothing out of the ordinary... I earned a few more coins for the family."
"That's good," Lauren responded, her voice not indicating any signs of satisfaction.
"What about our Father?" Vicente inquired as he gazed in the direction of his old man's room.
Lauren's head drooped as she murmured, "He must be in his room. I didn't hear anyone leaving."
"Sigh... Will he go with us tomorrow?" He asked, thinking it would hurt his sister even more if Andrew didn't accompany them.
However, Lauren wasn't worried about that.
"Don't worry, Vice. We will be leaving very soon. I believe he will come with us tomorrow," she assured before turning around and heading back to her room.
Vicente directed his gaze at the door to his father's room and then walked towards it after a brief pause.