Caporegime's Song (3)
In the northern section of North Woodlawn, Lumini’s territory was sliding into utter bedlam.
Summoned by urgent reports from his men, Lumini had raced from his residence to his stronghold, only to be met with the news that entire blocks of his district had become raging infernos.
“Boss, what do we do?”
“...Round up every single one of the boys! Wake them all—no exceptions—and get them here now!”
Lumini’s subordinates began to assemble. Even as they gathered, a pack of vampires continued hurling bombs across his territory.
Leading the vampire squad was Belcastro Granada. Unusually for his kind, he had originally been a dwarf. Every nation in this world strictly forbade vampires from turning others, yet rule-breakers always existed. Granada himself had never asked for this existence. But the Lusso Family boss, determined to recruit the renowned explosives expert, had resorted to utterly coercive methods—kidnapping, imprisonment, and finally the forced transformation. Exactly the sort of thing the fiery-tempered Darius Lusso would do.
BOOM—!
A blinding flash ripped across the night, followed by an earth-shaking roar. All of it courtesy of the handmade bombs Granada had crafted with meticulous care using improvised explosive devices.
“Good! Next! Where’s next?!”
“Boss, southwest!”
After confirming the blast with the rest of the vampires, Granada immediately moved on to the following target. They had already leveled more than ten locations, yet accuracy was impossible to guarantee. Striking specific targets on such a pitch-black night was no simple task. The fact that they had managed so many detonations in such a short window was due entirely to the veteran skill of Granada and his crew.
“Boss, there—under the big sign!”
“Good! Prep it immediately!”
Granada and his men landed near the objective and carried out their grim choreography. To bring a building down cleanly, you had to strike its foundation with absolute precision. The entire operation took less than ten minutes.
“Fall back! Detonating!”
Another brilliant flash and deafening blast tore through the darkness. But this time, the vampires surrounding Granada began to drop from the sky.
“What the hell?!”
The vampires belatedly climbed in altitude and speed. Granada, smaller than the others with proportionally smaller wings—a remnant of his dwarven frame—compensated with the stubborn tenacity his kind was famous for. His wingbeats were faster, more frequent. He pulled away from the target quicker than anyone and tried to read the situation.
“Boss!”
The vampire who had shouted the warning plummeted suddenly.
“Goddammit! Scatter!”
One thing was certain: whether they were Lumini’s own men or Fellini Family wolves, the counterattack had begun. The vampires withdrew as swiftly as they had arrived. Fellini snipers harried them relentlessly from extreme range, but they could not eliminate them all.
“They’ve all pulled back across the bridge. Pursue?”
“No. Tell everyone to hold position for now.”
The snipers belonged to two separate units: wolves from Sarina’s crew in North Woodlawn South, and wolves under Armo from Port North. Sarina herself had not come, but Armo had appeared at Lumini’s base even in the dead of night.
“Lumini, what’s the situation?”
“...Casualties are lighter than expected.”
Lumini’s expression was grim. For more than ten buildings destroyed, the death toll was surprisingly low. It was the middle of the night, after all, and many of the structures had no connection to him whatsoever.
“Thanks to you, we’ve bought ourselves some breathing room.”
Lumini offered Armo his sincere gratitude. Without the assistance of Armo and Sarina’s wolves, the chaos would have been far worse.
“Are the other districts safe?”
“It appears River West North has also been hit.”
“....”
Fabio Carini’s territory. Unlike Lumini’s district, which only had a single bridge heading north, Carini’s held two bridges—one to the north and one to the middle sectors. In a situation this dire, worrying about others was a luxury, yet Lumini could only hope the damage there wasn’t catastrophic.
But events refused to follow Lumini’s hopes.
News of the midnight assault on Lumini’s territory had barely spread before reports arrived that Carini’s district was under attack as well. Unlike the relatively small raid on Lumini, this was a full-scale offensive—dozens of vehicles pouring across the bridge.
“Elena, I’ll go.”
“...All right.”
Elena let me leave despite the clear worry in her eyes. From the current flow of events, the strike on Lumini had obviously been a feint to draw attention. The massive assault on Carini’s territory was the true main effort. Felicia was sleeping soundly; no need to wake her.
I left the hotel at once, climbed into an armored car, and headed for the Academy. There I linked up with the wolves under my direct command—Cambara and Gulliman.
“Big brother, we’re fully prepared.”
“Good. Move out immediately.”
We also rendezvoused with Giovanni, who controlled South Woodlawn West, and his wolves. With this much firepower, there was no fear of coming up short.
I could only pray we weren’t already too late.
By the time we reached River West North, dawn was breaking.
“...Doesn’t look like much happened?”
“You don’t think Carini’s already been taken out, do you?”
“No way.”
Giovanni reacted as though the very idea disgusted him. The report had clearly stated dozens of vehicles had crossed the bridge into Carini’s territory.
“Big brother, that building over there looks like the gym.”
“Yeah.”
Carini’s headquarters was indeed the gymnasium. It was also the very place where an undercover cop—who also happened to be a junkie—had caught him red-handed, leading to his brief arrest.
The convoy of cars halted in front of the gym. The full force I had brought deployed at once.
“Underboss!”
Carini could hardly have missed our arrival.
“What’s the situation?!”
“....”
“Didn’t you hear the boss? He asked for the situation.”
Giovanni, standing beside me, pressed the silent Carini.
“It would be better if you saw it yourself.”
“Hm?”
Flanked by Giovanni and Cambara, I followed Carini into the gymnasium.
The faces inside belonged to Carini and his men—familiar. But there were others I had never seen before. Dark Elves, the same race as Rita Carmen. And among them, the woman radiating the strongest presence: Rita’s sister, the operative my father had once dispatched to the Lusso Family to keep Darius Lusso in check.
Viola Carmen stood directly before me.
“Hello, Mr. Fellini. I assume you already know my name?”
“Of course. Viola Carmen. What the hell are you doing here?”
“What more needs to be said? I have returned to the Fellini Family’s embrace.”
Unlike her sister, Viola was brutally direct. From the beginning she had been the caporegime my father planted inside the Lusso Family to monitor and restrain Darius. But with my father gone and open hostility between the families now undeniable—
I had assumed the attack on Lumini’s territory was merely a diversion. In truth, Viola had not been part of the Lusso Family’s main force at all. While both families focused their eyes elsewhere, she had seized the moment, gathered every one of her people, and executed a full-scale breakout.
Carini showed me the long line of vehicles first. Several large trucks suggested they had brought more than just personnel.
I reported the situation to Elena immediately.
“....”
“Elena, I know it sounds insane, but it’s true.”
When she remained silent, I spoke again.
“It could be a feigned defection.”
“Yes, it could. For now I’ll keep watching her myself.”
There had been no battle, yet the substantial force I had brought still proved useful. That much was undeniable. Viola continued to maintain that she had simply fled the Lusso Family and returned home. She also volunteered every piece of intelligence she had gathered while embedded with them.
Her final disposition would be decided this afternoon when she met with Elena. Until the boss and underboss reached a verdict, Carini and Giovanni would bear responsibility for keeping Viola and her people under strict surveillance.
Cambara and I returned to the Rufus Carlton Hotel by way of the Academy.
*
Meanwhile, the Lusso Family had finally realized what Viola Carmen had done—but far too late. She had already crossed into Fellini territory with her entire retinue and a considerable amount of assets.
Darius Lusso flew into a rage. Flames once again engulfed his head, forcing everyone nearby to retreat from the scorching heat.
“Brother, what’s done is done.”
In such a state, the only person who could speak to him was his own sibling.
“What’s done is done? You’re telling me to just sit on my hands?!”
“The vultures are already circling her old territory. The Poison Snakes keep sniffing at our backs.”
Damar Lusso, Darius’s brother and consigliere, spoke with cold realism. The Lusso Family was in no condition to wage total war against the Fellini Family. Their inability to intervene in western Hevilly was irrelevant. But an all-out conflict with the Fellini Family in the eastern districts was something else entirely. Both sides would bleed, yet the Lusso Family could not survive the hemorrhage.
Instead of answering, Darius violently yanked the curtains from the window. Damar flinched at the sudden sunlight but hid his reaction well.
“This has the wolves’ stench all over it.”
“That remains to be seen. What we know for certain is that the little wolf and the little spider have joined forces. A truly dangerous combination has been born.”
“I’m in just as much danger.”
Damar shrugged. His position remained unchanged. The provocation led by Granada should have ended the dispute with the Fellini Family right there. It should have ended.
Darius offered no reply.
Left alone, the Lusso Family boss was suddenly surrounded by the shrill ringing of a telephone. He answered.
"...Yes. Did she make it safely into the Academy?"
"Yes. We should be able to finish the job shortly."
The call was brief. Caution was never a vice. The voice on the other end belonged to the killer Darius Lusso had dispatched to the Academy to eliminate the little wolf.