Reorganizing the Organization

River West, South Woodlawn, and North Woodlawn.

Starting from the Academy, the influence of our family had begun to spread across the entire eastern half of the city.

Though Sarina and Lumini's push into North Woodlawn hadn't officially begun yet.

At this point, I was growing tired of sifting through the mountain of documents Giovanni had handed over—so many that they filled an entire briefcase.

When I brought up the topic of district allocation to Elena, she readily agreed.

"First... we should start by deciding on Vincent Lumini, right?"

"...."

Felicia didn't know much about our family. Of course, through our ongoing intimate relationship, she had picked up a few things.

But the family back then and the family now were completely different.

"Once North Woodlawn is cleaned up, it would be good to hand the northern section over to Lumini."

"Then what about the northern port area Lumini currently controls?"

"How about giving it to Armo?"

Armo, the Godfather's former head of security. While he hadn't been able to prevent the Godfather's death, he had earned great merit by safely evacuating Elena, the Godfather's only biological child.

The reason we avoided mentioning his surname... was because Armo was a wolf.

"Armo? I'd rather keep him close by my side if possible."

"The northern port isn't that far from this hotel. He could still serve as your aide during normal times without issue."

From head of the Godfather's security to a Caporegime in charge of an entire district.

In one sense, it could be seen as a promotion, but the roles felt entirely different, so I worried whether Armo could handle it. Still, the reason I wanted to place him in the northern port was because of that district's strategic importance.

It would allow us to keep Lumini in check, and it was the first line of defense against any attacks targeting other parts of the port.

"And while we're at it, how about promoting the other wolves to Caporegimes as well?"

"The other wolves? Carso? Or Sarina?"

"All of them."

Sarina would take the southern part of North Woodlawn, below Lumini.

Giovanni would handle the western part of South Woodlawn, southwest of the Academy.

Carso would control the southern port, south of the Fellini Family's headquarters.

Since Sarina was already scheduled to help Lumini clean up North Woodlawn, that position suited her perfectly.

This arrangement would put Sarina to Lumini's south and Armo to his east—meaning if anything went wrong, Lumini could be suppressed in an instant.

"Wolves might struggle to manage regular members, though."

"That may be true. But both we and they have no choice but to work hard if we don't want to fall behind the times. What else can we do?"

We weren't in a position to keep the wolves solely as a personal elite force.

Financially, thanks to Hagen's support, we had more money than we knew what to do with. But in terms of raw combat power, the situation wasn't great.

Even if we absorbed members from the existing organizations as we expanded into new territories... we couldn't immediately promote those whose skills and loyalty hadn't been proven into full Made Men.

Classifying them as Associates was the perfect solution. The other five families were probably doing the same.

"And besides Carlo Echelloti up north from the Gullyman territory, I'd like you to pick one more suitable subordinate of yours."

"...Fabio. Other than Fabio Carini, I don't have anyone under me with that much experience right now."

The Echelloti I mentioned was Carlo Echelloti. After splitting Greenbug with the Gullyman gang, we'd assigned the surrounding area to one of Elena's subordinates—and that man was Echelloti.

"Assuming we give Carini a district, where do you think would be best?"

"How about the northern part of River West?"

If there was one place that needed someone whose loyalty had been proven, it was there. Especially since it contained two crucial bridges leading to the city's central and northeastern districts.

Elena and I continued discussing the district allocations while marking up a convenient map.

"Luke, aren't you being a bit too wary of Lumini?"

According to what we'd just decided, Sarina would be positioned south of Lumini, Armo to his east, and Carini to his west.

It was so obvious that even Felicia could see it plainly, but there were more than enough reasons to justify it.

Lumini's forces had been far better preserved than expected, and unlike the madman Vanella—whose loyalty was at least proven—Lumini was an unpredictable man.

As for Vanella, assigning him the central part of River West seemed sufficient. The southwestern part of South Woodlawn near the Academy, which had originally been his territory, was now slated for Giovanni.

"And one more thing. Let's decide on Salmo's district while we're at it."

Our family's Consigliere. As the organization's third-in-command, there was no harm in giving him a district as well.

"Putting Salmo in River West seems a bit far, though."

"Then how about the area between Armo and you?"

When I marked the appropriate spot on the map, Elena agreed that it looked good.

If we roughly reflected everything Elena and I had decided so far onto the map, it looked something like this.

"Luke, River West looks too empty."

"Don't we lack anyone suitable to assign right now?"

Picking from the members directly under me was tricky. Most of them had extensive experience in the Academy and port areas, so sending them to other regions felt awkward.

Of course, saying that made me feel like I was contradicting what I'd said earlier.

"For now, let's temporarily leave it with Carini and Vanella and think about it slowly."

"Still, this is moving faster than I expected."

"Hah, of course it's faster than you predicted."

Elena spoke as if there was no way Felicia could have anticipated every move she and I would make.

Meanwhile, something Felicia had said suddenly gave me an idea.

"Felicia, are you interested?"

"...What?"

Elena reacted as if she had no idea what I was talking about. Because I was asking whether Felicia had any interest in becoming a Caporegime for our family.

"Luke, I'm sorry, but I don't think that's possible. Just taking care of our family members is already enough of a headache."

"...."

Elena ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seemed inwardly relieved that Felicia had turned down my suggestion.

"Then there's nothing we can do about it."

"Besides, wouldn't that make me Elena's subordinate? If it were as your wife, maybe, but that feels wrong."

"Who said I'd make you my subordinate?"

"Who said I'd become anyone's subordinate?"

"There they go again. Both of you."

Neither of them was usually like this, but whenever they were together, they turned childish and petty. I knew I was the cause, but at times like this, I needed to step in.

*

While I was busy keeping my two wives in check.

In a restaurant in North Woodlawn, Sarina and the other wolves were in the middle of a meal.

They had already finished subduing the southern part of North Woodlawn and were filling their stomachs properly before advancing into the central and other areas.

"What are you doing? It's fine, eat quickly."

"...Yes, Sister."

Sarina spoke to the wolf trainees, who were mechanical, dry, and—to put it bluntly—utterly blunt and expressionless.

The Fangs under Sarina had undergone the same training as these trainees, but after living in the underworld for a long time, they had gained at least some semblance of humanity.

In contrast, although their training wasn't fully complete, the wolf trainees still couldn't shake off their distinct wolfish nature.

"There are quite a few who are injured or have strange looks in their eyes."

"Well, that's to be expected. We handled all of central and northern River West ourselves."

One of the wolves under Sarina nodded while continuing to eat.

"Then it can't be helped. Pull out anyone who's not in good condition."

"Sister, that will increase the burden on us and the others."

"Don't whine over something this small. And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we need to clean up as much as possible before that Lumini guy can show off."

"But they'll probably handle their part just fine on their own."

The wolves under Sarina thought she was worrying too much.

After all, Lumini and his subordinates didn't seem so weak that they couldn't fulfill their roles without them.

"That's exactly why it's a problem. We can't give them any chance to shine in the first place."

"Huh?"

Of course, that wasn't exactly what Sarina meant.

She simply didn't want to give Lumini and his men any room to make a name for themselves. The same went for Vanella.

"There's no benefit to letting Lumini expand his influence. If we handle it, all the credit goes straight to Luke."

"I didn't realize you thought that deeply about these things."

"Right? I thought you were just doing it because you wanted to fight."

The surrounding wolves all reacted the same way.

They knew she wasn't just a simple battle maniac, but they hadn't expected her to think this strategically about internal family matters.

"These bastards."

Meanwhile, the Fellini Family wasn't the only one busy.

Among the five families in western Hevilly, the Sanchez Family, Carmen Family, and Dragovich Family were also having extremely hectic days.

This was all because of what Eddie Sanchez, the Boss of the Sanchez Family, had done.

He and Darius Lusso had named Rita Carmen as the Godfather's killer, and Rita Carmen had denied it.

Then the Fellini Family had poured oil on the fire.

Carso—a wolf of the same Golem race as Sanchez—had delivered the Fellini Family's official stance.

What the Fellini Family wanted was Rita Carmen's head, just as Sanchez ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had said, and her death was an essential condition for coexistence between the five families and the Fellini Family.

"See! I told you I was right!"

As soon as the Fellini Family made their position public, Sanchez used it as justification to accelerate his war against Rita Carmen and her family.

With the situation like this, even the Dragovich Family—who had been opposing Sanchez alongside the Carmen Family—began to pull back.

The reason they grew passive in the war against Sanchez was partly due to the Fellini Family's declaration, but the truth that Vito Marinelli had been faking his incapacitation also played a significant role. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Of course, those outside of Dragovich and Marinelli wouldn't know about that part.

In the midst of all this, one of Sanchez's fellow Golems visited him again.

"So, what's the matter this time? If it's about Carmen, I'm already doing my best to catch that woman."

"My elder brother has something he wishes to say directly to the five families."

"A wolf speaking directly?"

Eddie Sanchez showed considerable interest in Carso's words. At the very least, it seemed like they were the ones reaching out first.

"Yes. Of course, our position from last time remains unchanged."

"Good. Then I'll summon the bosses of the other families."

And so it was decided that the bosses of the four families—excluding Rita Carmen—would gather.

None of them, except Sanchez, knew that the small wolf, Luke Fellini, would be attending that meeting.