When Vicente met Rory later that day, he immediately heard something from his friend that he hadn’t expected that morning.
“We finished studying the contents of the books we stole from Defiant Tyranny,” Rory said in a low voice as he walked beside Vicente, dressed in a large black coat.
Vicente was also wearing a coat over his suit, his hands in his pockets as he watched the movement of the central Millfall. “What have you found out?” He asked, but without showing much interest on his face.
Rory said. “Of the three books you stole, one is an accounting book. It contains information about Defiant Tyranny’s operations, its projects, where its currency comes from, and where it goes.”
Accounting in organizations large and small was not just for tax time on Earth. Even in the blue world, records of operations were kept before groups even thought about paying taxes.
In Polaris Realm, one did not have to pay taxes on business operations. The only taxes in many states, such as the Seidel Kingdom, were taxes on property and government services. But even then, groups like the Defiant Tyranny kept records of their actions so that their leaders could keep track of their own actions.
How did they know that their own members or other individuals were not robbing them? The only way to know was to keep a record of their operations.
The register in question recorded much of Defiant Tyranny’s operations over the past 5 years!
Upon hearing that they had it in hand, Vice could not keep his lips from curling into a bow on his face.
“This is fantastic.” He muttered.
With the countable book, he and his group could track their enemies’ operations and not only disrupt their business but also rob them!
For example, from the catalog in question, Vicente’s group could know what Defiant Tyranny’s main sources of income were and where most of the coins were going.
Not only would they be able to reach the big names in that group, but they would also know how to hurt those opponents most effectively.
They could also use this data to find useful information about business opportunities in Millfall.
Every action had a reaction. If coins were leaving one place for another, people would be willing to pay to change that reality, as well as those interested in spending less on certain operations.
With that in mind, Vicente and Rory naturally understood the immense value of that book.
“But that’s not all,” Rory said. “In the second of the three books, we find pertinent information about local nobles and rich men.
Boy, there’s a lot of compromising stuff in those books.”
“Oh?”
Like on Earth, one of the best ways to get things done in the Polaris Realm was to threaten to destroy the image of public figures.
Even if these nobles and wealthy people had a lot of power, they all had someone to fear!
High-level people, opportunistic nobles, and last but not least, royalty!
“This is music to my ears.” Vicente laughed as he thanked Defiant Tyranny for doing him the dirty work.
As criminals, it was only natural that they had to keep track of the compromising things of their partners and allies!
How could they stay in power if they didn’t have things to use against their partners?
Vice asked. “Is there any other positive information for us?”
“The third book also had some strange information. It had no data from our enemies nor from people involved with that faction in Millfall. The book talks about something in the area of Alpine Woodpecker Forest.”
“Alpine Woodpecker Forest?” Vicente frowned. That was a forested area near Ironcrest, the second-largest city in Scott Province.
“Yeah, we don’t really understand what this book is for. It looks like a manual on how to get to a particular area of this forest. I can’t tell the value of it, but given the shape of the book and the ancient inscriptions in it, I feel like it’s like a treasure map.
But I can’t tell if it leads to something valuable or to unnecessary danger.” Rory finished talking about these findings.
The Alpine Woodpecker Forest was a vast area, over 15,000 square kilometers, where a race of magical beasts ruled.
It was not easy to enter or leave this area without getting hurt. Still, there were many stories about this region all over the province, things that tied Ironcrest’s success to this forest.
Ironcrest was founded 300 years ago and quickly became one of the province’s largest cities, even without access to the sea, which was important for any city.
But even though it was only the second largest city in the province, it didn’t lose much to Saltstar City, and in fact, it was much better than the other city in one thing. The forging art!
Rumor had it that the best 3rd-stage blacksmiths came from Ironcrest, and the rarest resources for 3rd-stage blacksmiths could only be found in this city in Scott Province.
Knowing this, Vicente kept the Alpine Woodpecker Forest book in his mind.
“Hmm, let’s check this information in the future.” He said to Rory. “For now, let’s stick to what’s within our reach and what we can understand.”
“What are you planning?” 𝘯𝑜𝘷𝑙．𝑐𝘰𝘮
“The Defiant Tyranny is clearly not going to stand by while we grow and act against them. I believe by now they must be threatening some of the people they have evidence of compromising acts against.” Vicente said with a serious expression. “Then let’s counterattack!
Send some of our men to visit some of the names in the second book. Show them what Defiant Tyranny is up to and turn them against this faction.
Meanwhile, have some of our men give me the details of what’s in the first book, especially the main coin streams of that faction. I will act to hurt them a little more.”
With these words, Vice watched Rory leave and make his way to where he planned to meet one of the mercenaries he had hired earlier.
The mercenaries had signed magical agreements with him, promising not to talk about his identity. They already knew who Vicente was, so they could find him without him having to disguise himself or risk alerting the assassins who would surely be lurking around.
But these men were not so happy to have been chosen by a fellow villager. On the contrary, after they had signed their agreements with Vicente, they had all been quite angry when they found out about the bounty of 200 gold coins on their chief’s head.
If they had thought about Vicente’s previous proposal for one day, they could have kept those coins by acting against him!
Unfortunately, they were now allies and could only follow what they had promised Vice.
When Vicente saw one of these unfortunate men at the local mercenary guild, the meeting place they had arranged for each other, he ignored the serious look on Wesley’s face and sat down across from him.
Wesley and his partner were still shocked at how far Vicente had come in such a short time after the Fuller family tragedy. Even though they were a little sad about the mistake they had made in agreeing to follow Vice, they felt strange about the young man.
To them, Vicente was still the young man who had lost his father, mother, and sister in a matter of weeks. Even though he was so strong and influential, they still felt sorry for him.
With this mixed feeling, the man sighed as he looked at the black-haired young man in front of him. “How is little Nina?” He asked before talking about serious matters.
“Good. She recently started at a local academy. Anyway, tell me about your observations.” Vicente was direct with his words.
These mercenaries did not act directly with his men but rather kept an eye on the movements of the Defiant Tyranny, but also of the army, which Vicente considered corrupt and acting against him.
Wesley then said. “Well, some of Defiant Tyranny’s high-ranking men are indeed getting involved with members of the royal army. Recently, a level 4 Acolyte met with the number two of the local rank of the royal forces.
My companions and I feel that they are trying to influence the army to move against you, Vice.”
“As expected…”
“Also, some of the other factions in Millfall have been meeting with the leaders of the Defiant Tyranny,” Wesley said solemnly. “Soren saw some nobles and even an envoy of the Viscount meeting with number three of our enemies, Vicente. I’m afraid we’re going to be in big trouble soon.”
Vicente heard this, and as his face grew darker, he thought it made sense.
As much as Defiant Tyranny had been a competitor to some of these local factions in the past, their downfall was of no interest to anyone but the Scarlet Syndicate. As the largest competitor to this other local underworld group, they could not fall, or Millfall’s stability would be destroyed.
Nobles would lose an ally capable of doing things they could not, while others might be forced to act against their own interests to avoid punishment.
If the Defiant Tyranny fell, many operations would be hindered, and there would be a risk that the Scarlet Syndicate would take over all of Millfall, which was of no interest to anyone but that group.
Understanding this, Vicente sighed and said. “I will communicate with the Scarlet Syndicate to see if I can use the strength of that group to buy us some time. But don’t worry. I already have plans against Defiant Tyranny’s movements.”