A Premature Celebration
The clash between criminal organizations erupted inside the humanities building of Hevilly Academy. While Eddie Sanchez was engaged in a fierce shootout with the police in the western part of the city and citizen protests raged across the streets, the media had no intention of missing this massive story.
Surprisingly, some newspapers that had long competed fiercely for readership maintained large crews of professional thugs. Even though the Academy’s security had already been tightened due to the earlier gunfight, there was no stopping the rough waves of armband-wearing gangsters from each press outlet.
“Officer, what the hell are you doing? Why aren’t you stopping them!”
“Ahem, hmm.”
The police dispatched to the scene simply stood by, overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The press could feel in their bones that they held the initiative.
“....”
When the administrator, who was to deliver the Academy’s official statement on the incident, appeared, the frenzy only grew worse.
“Administrator! Is the professor who died in this incident indeed Amadeo Bottari?”
“Y-yes, well….”
The administrator stammered, surrounded by a mob that was half reporter, half thug. The man who had once roared like a lion when commanding his subordinates now cowered like a frightened mouse.
“Last week, didn’t the Academy announce that its drug distribution network had collapsed?”
One journalist brought up the predawn arrests that had taken place after the death of Godfather Vito Fellini—thirty people detained inside the Academy and seven who had fled. Most of those arrested had been Elena Fellini’s subordinates.
“Th-there seems to be some misunderstanding! This matter has absolutely nothing to do with that!”
When the administrator refused to give the answers they wanted, the reporters pressed him harder. Shouts flew from every direction, and the thugs began issuing open threats.
Gulp.
The administrator swallowed hard and spoke again.
“This incident is believed to be the work of criminal organizations from the city outskirts.”
“Who exactly are they?!”
“Does this have nothing to do with the Fellini Family or the Russo Family?”
The administrator explained that the organizations on the city outskirts were primarily composed of reptilian beastmen.
“It appears there was a conflict between them and the Russo Family.”
A loud murmur rippled through the journalists.
“Then what about the dead Professor Bottari!”
“The professor was simply an unfortunate bystander caught up in the affair. A shootout broke out between the Russo Family and the outskirts organizations. The professor was attempting to ensure the safety of his students when he was killed.”
“Administrator! I heard the professor’s body was found with numerous gunshot wounds… How could someone caught in a shootout get hit by that many bullets?”
“Exactly!”
The administrator desperately tried to smooth over the incident with a hastily constructed narrative, while the reporters were determined to extract sensational headlines at any cost. The collision between the two sides eventually turned violent.
“Drag them all out!”
The administrator responded to the relentless barrage of questions by mobilizing Academy staff. The reporters, refusing to back down, deployed their own thugs in resistance, but this time the police did not side with them.
“Enough! Stand down immediately!”
“Damn it, shit!”
The police had no desire to let the situation escalate any further. Their tolerance for the media’s pressure ended at not blocking entry to the Academy. In the end, several thugs were arrested on the spot, the reporters scattered, and the heat of violence finally cooled.
“Hoo….”
The administrator let out a sigh of relief as he watched them leave. The Fellini Family had not yet fully retaken control of the Academy, so he had been unable to respond properly. But that was no longer the case. With Professor Bottari—the only one who had openly rebelled against them—now gone, the Academy could return to how it was meant to be.
*
Meanwhile, at the Rufus Carlton Hotel, which had essentially become the Fellini Family’s headquarters, a lively celebration was underway to mark the reclamation of the Academy.
“....”
Since the entire hotel restaurant had been reserved, there were no other guests. At the head of the massive table sat me, along with my two wives—Elena and Felicia. Naturally, Elena, the boss, occupied the center seat, with me beside her and Felicia next to me. Following us were Consigliere Anthony Salmo, Armo who was in charge of the boss’s security, and finally the wolves—Giovanni, Sarina, Carso—and the other Fellini Family caporegimes.
Vanella and Lumini, along with Gullyman boss Samia Zakaya and the four caporegimes managing the districts around Greenbug, filled out the rest. Scattered throughout the spacious restaurant were organization members standing guard, just in case.
“Alright, now that everyone’s here, let’s start with a toast.”
When Elena rose from her seat, everyone followed suit. The moment Felicia stood, she leaned her body—previously resting against her chair—against mine and wrapped her tail around my waist.
“....”
Flames practically shot from Elena’s eyes at the sight.
“Everyone, raise your glasses.”
I quickly changed the mood so Elena could focus on the toast again. Everyone gathered near the table lifted glasses filled with liquids of every color. Various liquors showed off their beauty according to personal preference, and one person’s glass even contained plain water instead of alcohol. Come to think of it, even in the world I came from, there were people who toasted with water because they didn’t drink.
“The border zone between Greenbug and the Marinelli Family, plus the Academy. Not a bad haul.”
“And now that Bottari is gone, we can resume our original business at the Academy.”
I chimed in the moment Elena finished speaking. She nodded in approval.
“Starting this week, we’ll retake the Academy and release the drugs. We have plenty of stock.”
After the devastating loss of Father’s death, these successive victories couldn’t erase the enormous sense of grief, but it was still a solid start. With this momentum, we could deal with all five—no, all four—families. We had already clashed with the Russo Family that Bottari had dragged in during the struggle for the Academy.
“Boss, who will you assign to manage the Academy? Or do you intend to handle it personally?”
Vanella asked Elena before the toast. Having served as a caporegime since her father’s generation, she had every right to speak.
“I’m giving it to Luke. Now, let’s toast!”
“Cheers!”
Elena’s sudden declaration that she would entrust the Academy to me caught me off guard. But the following toast made everyone at the table swallow whatever they wanted to say and simply down the contents of their glasses.
“Haa.”
A refreshing sound escaped me as the liquor slid down my throat. Once the toast ended, the noisy chatter resumed.
“Elena, are you really okay with this?”
“There’s no reason it wouldn’t be. Though I’ll have to manage the ports myself.”
It was obvious. The Academy couldn’t serve as headquarters. At the same time, the Fellini Family’s territory consisted only of the ports and the Academy; it would be strange if I managed both.
“Then Luke and Elena won’t be able to stay together?”
“....”
Felicia struck straight at the sore spot.
“Not necessarily. The Academy isn’t exactly a safe place either, so managing it from the hotel is more than enough.”
“Really?”
“Felicia.”
No one could match her skill at gently needling Elena. But there was no need for that on such a good day. When I intervened, Felicia stopped speaking to Elena entirely.
In this way, though their methods differed, both wives ultimately respected me.
“Now that I think about it, we still haven’t heard directly from Luke.”
“...About what?”
“Who you’ll be spending tonight with.”
Elena opened the subject, and Felicia delivered the main point. I knew it was coming….
“Do I really have to choose just one?”
“....”
“What? What are you saying?”
When I chose to charge straight through instead, their reactions were quite a sight. Felicia silently showed a hint of disappointment, but Elena clearly wanted to hear the answer from my own mouth.
“So you’re saying you won’t choose either of us?”
“No, it’s the opposite, Elena.”
It wasn’t that I was choosing neither. It was closer to choosing both. Naturally, neither Elena nor Felicia could accept it right away, yet neither could claim they hadn’t been chosen.
“Luke, are you really doing this?”
Elena protested that she had even yielded the Academy, but when I took her hand, she stopped talking and simply began to feel my touch.
“You don’t want to hurt Elena by choosing me, right?”
“What?”
I thought I had calmed Elena down, but Felicia poked at her again.
Meanwhile, the wolves and Armo were watching the three of us with great interest.
“...It looks like the young lady and Felicia have gotten more used to each other than I expected.”
“That’s because you didn’t see what happened when the boss wasn’t around, Giovanni.”
“Yes. Carso is correct.”
Carso and Armo immediately responded to Giovanni’s comment. I had left the two of them at the hotel just in case, and sure enough, when they learned I had suddenly left for the Academy, they had blamed each other and gotten into a physical fight. Of course, since Giovanni had been at the Academy and Sarina in Greenbug, they had no way of knowing.
“What? For real?”
“The young lady tried to shove Felicia’s tail into her mouth again.”
I knew Felicia’s tail had been injured, but I hadn’t known exactly how the wound had occurred. While Felicia had been attacking Elena’s ears, Elena had gone after her tail, and everything after that had unfolded exactly as Carso described.
“....”
Regardless, Sarina sat there with a thoroughly displeased expression. In her eyes, both of my women fell far short of the mark.
“What is it?”
In the middle of it all, a wolf entered the restaurant and whispered something into Giovanni’s ear.
“...Wait. I’ll head down myself.”
The relaxed look in Giovanni’s eyes—softened by good liquor and fine food—sharpened in an instant.
“Boss.”
Giovanni stood and informed me of the situation unfolding below the hotel.
*
The death of the mayor and the godfather. The chaos that followed was unfolding in directions no one had anticipated. One of those was the protests breaking out all over the city. Long-accumulated grievances among the citizens had finally exploded with the deaths of the powerful. The problem was that the furious protesters had now reached the port. The organization members and dockworkers were confronting them, but some kind of action was needed.
“....”
Elena and I exchanged glances after listening to Giovanni.
“Young lady, Boss. I will handle this.”
“Do that.”
Without even waiting for Elena’s reply, I gave Giovanni permission. With Giovanni and the wolves joining in, a mere protest would pose no real threat.
“Idiotic bastards.”
“Yeah, they’re idiots alright, but those idiots have turned the whole city into a mess.”
Felicia answered Elena’s remark.
In a way, their actions presented us with an opportunity. A decline in public order naturally led to more opportunities for crime. But if those fools touched us, the story would change.
Meanwhile, Sarina and Vanella moved out along with Giovanni. Elena and I started to say something but ultimately let it go. At the very least, it seemed wise to leave the protesters with one clear lesson.