Three months passed quickly as Vicente's group continued to develop.
After the previous negotiation, Damian had agreed to join Vice's group, along with two other merchants from Martell Village.
Consequently, Vice formally established his local merchant society, which had come into effect a few days ago.
After days of waiting, the three merchants associated with the Fuller family had been called by Vicente earlier this morning. Right now, they were in the Crow Woods with this boy and some of his men.
When the sun shone down in this region, it illuminated the blue sky above the forest, transforming this usually dark place into a much more friendly place.
Some small animals took advantage of the day to escape from their burrows, while others rested in the cover of the foliage.
Amidst the sparse vegetation of the area, Vicente stood next to Rory and ten of his trusted men.
In the months following Jesse's death, Vicente and Rory had expanded their group, recruiting more trusted people to their side. They trained some of the workers from the Fuller family warehouse to become skilled shooters.
When they arrived, the three merchants and their trusted men quickly gazed at Vicente's group with curiosity, eager to see what these low-level magicians had for them.
Damian scrutinized those two men and observed their rapid growth each day as they got closer to their biological maturity.
Magicians underwent vertiginously growth between the ages of 12 and 14. During this maturation period, they would shed their childish features behind and reach adult appearances within a matter of a few months.
Today, Vicente and Rory were 1.76 and 1.83 meters tall, respectively. Both weighed between 70 and 75 kilograms, and one could even see the hairs that were growing on parts of their faces.
Considering how they were dressed in formal and well-tailored clothes, both of them appeared even more mature than their real age would suggest.
Vicente smiled and addressed them. "My associates, all of you have already promised to keep whatever information we share here confidential, so it is time to introduce you to my armed group.
These ten men here will serve as the guards that you will use during your travels from now on. With them, the safety of your resources will be guaranteed."
"Are you serious?"
"That's a joke!" One of the merchants muttered as he turned away dismissively.
Vicente paid no mind to this man's comment and merely signaled for one of those men to demonstrate.
Upon noticing their leader's signal, one of the ten men drew out the pistol from his waistband and aimed it toward that disinterested merchant with his back turned toward them.
The others in the vicinity were surprised by the peculiar-looking thing and assumed it to be some kind of weapon.
As they raised their brows, the merchant seemed to have sensed something pointed at him and turned around. "What's that supposed to be? Are you trying to scare me with a toy, Vicente? A mere toy won't–"
Vicente's man then changed the direction where his pistol was aimed and then pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Everyone in the woods could hear a thundering gunshot and a swift flash coming from that gun. Then, something shot out of its cylinder at great speed.
That projectile passed by the side of that merchant's left cheek, making him feel as if something had narrowly missed his head.
In the next instant, the bullet struck the trunk of a tree behind the merchant.
When this happened, and the bullet hit it, the impact from the bullet shattered a large section of the trunk of that tree, which was almost 60 centimeters in diameter.
A part of that trunk, which was 1.9 meters above the ground, was totally destroyed, causing the tree to sway, leaning in the direction from where the bullet lodged in its trunk.
Seeing the devastating effect caused by that weapon, the merchant's face lost its color as he felt an indescribable chill course through his body.
He realized that if the projectile had hit him, he could have died!
The others in the vicinity also grasped the significance of this and readily understood the power that small weapon in the hands of one of Vicente's men wielded.
A murmur of acknowledgment swept through the group as they contemplated the weapon's tremendous power.
Vice grinned when he saw this and continued. "This is my firearm! Even a simple Junior Apprentice armed with the simplest of these weapons can take down a Senior Apprentice who has their defenses up.
If they act against an unwary and inattentive opponent, even seriously injuring an Acolyte is not out of their possibilities!"
"Is that really possible?"
"If that's true, then if Acolytes use those weapons..."
Gulp!
"For the moment, we can't make that happen. We need 2nd-stage blacksmiths, and we don't have any…Yet. So, this is currently not feasible. However, we can work on creating weapons compatible with Acolytes in the future." Vicente said, assuring these men.
"But, Vicente, how does that work? How did you acquire such magnificent items?" Damian inquired, understanding how Vicente planned to lower their costs.
Vicente maintained his enigmatic smile but did not reveal it.
While Polaris Realm possessed weapons that would enhance the power of their users, there was nothing that came close to Vicente's firearms.
However, it wasn't as if he hadn't intentionally developed these firearms and was unsure of how they worked. All Vicente wanted when planning his weapons was to have valuable items to be used against low-level people.
Even the ordinary weapons on Earth could kill animals that weighed hundreds of kilograms, so he thought they might have a positive effect for the beginning of his journey in Polaris Realm.
But the weapons he had assembled here differed from the ones on Earth and could inflict more damage.
Vicente responded. "Don't concern yourself about the 'HOW.' I will try to develop these weapons so that individuals of your level can use them in the future. But for now, I believe this will be enough for us to commence our strategies."
The group immediately consented to this plan, but soon, one of the merchants raised a crucial question. "But Vicente, how do we deal with these men? The royal family forbids group formations like the one you have organized here."
According to the Seidel's royal laws, ordinary people are allowed to have a maximum of 3 magicians or warriors working as guards. Exceeding that, any such groups would be considered unauthorized military organizations and would be targeted by the forces of the kingdom.
Nobles can have more men on their side depending on their rank. However, for ordinary people, the limit set is really low.
Vicente already had ten armed men, which could pose a threat to the lives of some relatives of nobles or low-level royalty.
Vice was well aware of the difficulties of publicly maintaining a personal guard within the kingdom. He then explained. "These are merely farmers and merchants...
Until they draw their weapons, these men won't be regarded as warriors.
Furthermore, our society will naturally be of the secret type. So, in public, some of these men will appear to work for you and have no apparent relation to each other."
"Oh?" The merchants nodded in understanding.
Rory chimed in. "No one but us needs to know about our arrangements. We are merely merchants who meet from time to time to have business discussions — nothing out of the ordinary.
No one needs to be aware of our associates and collaborative efforts."
With those words, the men from Vicente's group, along with those merchants, shared knowing smiles.
Everyone there knew the local rules might pose certain limitations on them in many ways. Still, there were ways for them to act discreetly to achieve their objectives without running into big risks.
Vicente then signaled to two of those men. "Here, we have some weapons for you to test. Please give them a try, but ensure that you don't use more mana than my men could use at their respective levels."