Surveying the property, which was a bit smaller than his current house in Martell Village, Vicente wondered what Nina would think of the place and couldn't help but smile as he considered that the 30 gold coins were worth this house.
His savings were enough to pay for it and another one that would serve as their family headquarters for him, Rory, and the rest of his armed men.
Rory examined the two-story house, constructed partially from stone and partially from wood, feeling that it was conveniently located for accommodating Nina and Eve.
"In a year or two, Nina will be able to go to the academy on her own," he commented to Vicente, a sentiment shared by all of the group, who saw yet another reason for their boss' choice.
'From here, we can station someone in the attic, granting them a direct view to the local academy...' Andrew's former employee, who was not a part of this group, mused as he looked at the top of that house. 'That could be used for us to protect Nina and do other things.'
Another young member of that group turned his gaze toward the direction of the academy and muttered in a low voice. "We will have a vantage point for observing some routes taken by the young nobles... It will be an excellent place for surveillance."
The other guards in Vicente's group agreed, figuring that, while their boss wouldn't employ this place for dangerous operations, there was no harm in placing an observer there.
Over the past few months, all of them had learned numerous things from Vicente, allowing them to put the abilities they had learned into practice without even making an effort.
The idea of planning actions on behalf of the family was taking root in their minds, and when analyzing a location like this, they couldn't help but notice the possibilities.
Vicente ignored his men's comments and said, "Let's head back to that broker's house. I want to finalize this deal right away."
"What about the other property, boss?" One of the young men who had participated in Jesse's murder queried.
"We'll visit Aaron after this and decide after our meeting."
With that settled, they set off back to the house they had visited earlier, situated on a commercial street in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
...
After a few hours, Vicente and Rory left the broker's property, both sporting smiles.
They had successfully sealed the first of their purchases in this city, securing the property they had been previously examining.
While it would take a few more days for the deal to be finalized and the property to pass into Vicente's name officially, all of that would be done in no more than ten days, after which he could take possession of the property.
Although Vicente planned to bring some of the furniture from his home in Martell Village, he was well aware that he would still have to go shopping in Millfall in the next few days.
Nonetheless, that was the least of his concerns at the moment. After they had finished dealing with this problem, the group made way for The Broken Vial, the magic item store Rory's mother recommended for them to visit.
This store was located in the central part of town, not much away from where they had done their recent business.
In a matter of a few minutes, the group was already in front of their desired location!
...
After getting off their carriage, Vicente and Rory did not hesitate to enter the magic item store where Aaron was said to be working.
Upon entering, they found a place that resembled more like a small Earth market, with a variety of items scattered across the shelves all around.
The store wasn't particularly spacious, featuring only four aisles, which were separated by shelves, with a sizable counter at the back of the store and two payment booths near the entrance.
At the moment, there was one person attending one of the counters, with another four people in the store, either customers or employees.
Everyone there had Magic Gems on their foreheads, some having common ones, while others were of a more unusual variety.
Vicente and Rory then approached the middle-aged woman stationed at the payment counter, as one of them inquired, "Hello, could you tell me if anyone here is named Aaron Wilson?"
The middle-aged woman whom Rory inquired about glanced at them and responded, "Go to the back of the store, and you will find him there."
Rory thanked, and soon, he and Vicente were standing next to the counter at the back of the store, where a person was organizing potions on the shelf behind the counter.
Within this store, there were numerous vials scattered around. From what Vice had noticed, some were simpler, containing liquids such as blood from magical beasts, special water, and, in short, solutions of all kinds. But there were also vials that contained pills and magic elixirs, which were meant for direct consumption.
Other than that, there were numerous other types of items around, like plants and herbs and some strange instruments, whose function neither Vice nor Rory were aware of.
In any case, these items contained a lot of mana, and both understood that several of these artifacts were special and different from any ordinary artifacts.
Artifacts were classified into two types in Polaris Realm—those that possessed mana and those that didn't.
There were items, no matter what their origin, which could absorb and store mana within themselves and could be used in infinite ways by magicians. The possibilities of such artifacts would depend on the will and imagination of the one using them.
However, items that could not hold mana naturally had less significance to magicians. Nonetheless, they also had their purposes for many things in this society.
"Are you Aaron?" Rory asked the man who was working with the elixirs in that part of the store.
The individual shook his head in the negative and pointed to the side, indicating for them to wait for the person in question to come to them.
A minute later, a tall, slender man with a mustache and black hair tinged with some gray appeared in front of them.
This man was dressed in a black robe and had a curious look as he looked at these two youths.
"Are you two looking for me?" He inquired with a discreet smile gracing the corner of his lips.
Vicente stepped forward and introduced themselves, "Senior Aaron, this one next to me is Rory, and I am Vicente. We're here on Sweet Cheeks' recommendation. She mentioned the senior would assist us."
"Sweet Cheeks?" Aaron's eyes narrowed as he glanced at the young red-haired young man standing next to Vicente.
'Is that her son?' Aaron recalled the woman who had helped him settle in this city years ago.
At the time, Rory's mother was still working as a prostitute. Still, her position was far from simple, which was why she had managed to amass enough wealth so that she no longer had to do the things she had done for almost 50 years!
Rory's mother wasn't that young!
As a 2nd-stage magician, her life expectancy exceeded 200 years. At 81 years of age, she appeared like a mature woman and not like an elderly, contrary to what Vicente would have assumed if he had asked her age.
Remembering his debt, Aaron suggested, "Come with me. We'll discuss the matters in my office."