The New Generation (2)
An hour after the little wolf’s visit.
In the same location, Sanchez and Dom Solomon met.
Sanchez was in the middle of a meal by the time Solomon arrived, his short legs working busily to reach the table.
After sending back the food the waiter had brought during his earlier meeting with the wolf, he had remained hungry the whole time.
Besides the table where the two bosses sat, members of both families occupied the other tables throughout the restaurant.
“Mr. Sanchez, what did you call me here for?”
“...I knew both you and your father quite well.”
“Ah, yes. I heard the two of you were friends.”
The sudden mention of his father brought a complicated expression to Solomon’s face.
“Friends? I was never friends with that piece of trash.”
Sanchez’s expression changed in an instant, his reaction surprisingly fierce. He hadn’t summoned Solomon to exchange pleasantries.
“That bastard never knew how to follow the rules!”
“Haha.”
Solomon’s father had been a caporegime dispatched by Godfather Vito Fellini to monitor and restrain Eddie Sanchez.
It was only natural for Sanchez to show this level of hostility toward him. Solomon knew that well, so he simply laughed it off.
“Still, he remained loyal to you until the end. He wasn’t the kind of man who would die so easily.”
There were two Domenico Solomons. In the Sanchez Family, the father was usually called Big Dom, and the son was called Little Dom.
“Yeah. The guy was caught with his pants around his ankles in a car, a woman’s face buried between his legs. Quite the sight.”
“...My mother is still heartbroken over that incident.”
What the two were referring to was the circumstances of Big Dom’s death.
Coincidentally, Big Dom had been murdered while in the middle of an affair in his car. It could have been on Sanchez’s orders, or it could have been the husband of the woman he was sleeping with.
“Don’t dig up old wounds for yourself or your mother. Just behave yourself.”
“....”
“Do you know what kind of man your father was? He thought he was smarter and better than the bosses. As far as I’m concerned, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
“Please don’t forget that I am now a boss as well.”
Little Dom reacted as if he had reached his limit. But it was Sanchez who grew angry at that response.
“What the hell did you do to that she-wolf? Are you so eager to start a war with the wolves? Huh?!”
“No. On the contrary, I’m trying to prevent one.”
“Either way, don’t touch the wolf or the she-wolf. If you do, you’ll end up just like your father. Got it?”
“What I’m trying to do isn’t war. It’s business.”
“Solomon, not just me—every other boss feels the same way. Understand?”
Of course, among the bosses Sanchez mentioned, Darius Lusso was the exception. He was the only one among the five families in direct opposition to the Fellini Family.
“I hope you don’t misunderstand. I simply had a conversation with Mrs. Fellini.”
“Did you not hear what I said?”
Sanchez’s face inched forward, his voice growing louder.
“No, no. I heard you loud and clear.”
Solomon practically jumped out of his chair.
“I’ll be taking my leave now. And just so you know… I am not my father.”
Even as he hurriedly left, he made sure to get the last word in. The moment Solomon exited, the Solomon Family members rose from their seats as well.
“....”
Sanchez watched them disappear, then continued eating.
*
The moment the two bosses’ meeting ended at the restaurant in the western part of the city.
I had arrived at the top floor of the Rufus Carlton Hotel and was speaking with Elena.
Of course, the location was Felicia’s suite. After all, today was the day I was supposed to spend with her, not Elena.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m saying it wouldn’t be so bad to accept his proposal.”
“...Are you serious?”
To even consider the proposal of someone who had acted so rudely. For a moment, curses nearly spilled from my mouth, but I barely held them back.
“....”
If I thought about it a little more calmly, Elena’s reaction was exactly what one would expect from the boss of a family.
Yeah. It was easier on my mind to think of it that way.
“And while I’m at it, I’ll say this now—I’m fine.”
“With what?”
“My feelings aren’t hurt at all.”
“Oh my. Did that man actually catch your fancy?”
It was Felicia who reacted in my place. Naturally, she interpreted Elena’s words in the worst possible way.
“No. If anything, he seems more suited to you than me.”
“Wait. Elena, what do you mean by that?”
While Elena shot back at Felicia, I asked again.
“Exactly what I said. I didn’t feel even the slightest threat from him. You probably wouldn’t either.”
“No, I know you’re strong, but this is a completely different issue.”
“Luke, you’ll understand once you meet him too.”
...Was she seriously telling me to go meet that guy? By now, Sanchez had probably already given him a warning.
“No. If he comes looking for me, that’s one thing. But I have no reason to go looking for him.”
Elena didn’t give up, but I used the upcoming war with the Lusso Family as an excuse to slip away.
“...Wait, Luke!”
The one who ended up losing out was Felicia. It was supposed to be our day together, yet I had run off to the academy to avoid Elena.
A few days later.
I continued preparing for the upcoming war at the academy.
After several days, the caporegimes who would head north with me had made smooth progress in their preparations.
“Sarina, any unusual movements on their side yet?”
“No. But they seem pretty tense now that we’re starting to gather.”
“Could they have set up a trap?”
“Hey, it’s their territory. Of course they’d have something like that.”
Sarina responded to Cambarra’s question as if it were obvious.
To her, Cambarra probably looked like too much of a coward, but there was no harm in being cautious.
“First, we’ll quickly take control of the northeast, then strike the Lusso bastards’ territory.”
“We’re not attacking the Lusso guys right away?”
“That part’s for Giovanni to handle.”
Giovanni, Viola Carmen, and Fabio Carini. The forces led by these three caporegimes were scheduled to launch a direct assault on the Lusso Family’s territory.
“Ah, so we’ll be dealing with the small fry in the meantime.”
“Small fry are still small fry in their own way. And we can’t let our guard down either. We’ll finish as quickly as possible and join up with Giovanni’s side.”
Simply put, Giovanni’s group would handle the first strike, while we would secure the forward base.
The northeastern part of the city sat between the Fellini Family’s territory and the Lusso Family’s territory. More importantly, it was currently a chaotic battleground where multiple factions were fighting for control.
“Still, taking the entire northeast is going to take some time, isn’t it?”
“Obviously we’ll only take what we need.”
A forward base was more than enough. This war wasn’t about erasing the Lusso Family from the map and claiming the entire northern part of the city.
It was closer to paying them back for the attack they launched on Lumini and for sending a killer after me.
On the other hand, Elena’s side was moving to seize the central part of the city. If possible, we could finish the war with the Lusso Family and then go help her.
As various thoughts crossed my mind,
the phone in the union office suddenly rang loudly. Cambarra quickly picked it up.
“Yes, this is the Hevilly Academy Faculty Union Office.”
After the standard greeting, Cambarra suddenly approached me.
“Boss, the boss of the Solomon Family says he wants to meet with you.”
“...That bastard?”
“He’s got some nerve. Should we just kill him while we have the chance?”
“No. Hold on.”
Sarina’s suggestion was tempting, but I couldn’t kill one of the five family bosses so easily.
“He says he’ll be waiting for you at an abandoned junkyard in the central district.”
“No, that bastard should be the one coming to us. Why is he telling Luke to come?”
“....”
I quietly stood up and headed to the location Cambarra had mentioned.
*
A single armored car that had appeared in the central district arrived at an abandoned junkyard that essentially served as a stronghold for the Solomon Family.
“Ugh, it’s so damn noisy.”
“Well, it is a junkyard.”
Even before getting out of the car, Sarina reacted sensitively to the surrounding noise, while Cambarra simply said it couldn’t be helped since it was a junkyard.
I, on the other hand, got out of the car last.
“These bastards are sitting pretty right in the middle of the central district.”
🏛 Current Controller: Solomon Family (Little Dom)
⚔ Status: Disputed Zone
📍 Key Industry: Scrap Metal & Towing
💀 Threat Level: Moderate
If I were to mark it on a map, it would look something like this.
Sanchez had clearly said the five families would stay out of the central district, yet he never once mentioned the Solomon Family that had split off from him.
And now he had even recognized the Solomon Family as one of the five families.
Thanks to that, Elena and I could pressure the Solomon Family by citing that agreement, but there was no way they would quietly abandon their territory and leave.
“Oh! You’ve arrived already!”
The moment we appeared, a man emerged from among the junkyard workers.
But…
I finally understood why Elena had said that to me.
I was already short for an elf, yet the being that appeared before me was only about half my height.
“What the hell? Is that a hamster?”
“To be precise, he’s a hamster beastman.”
The one answering Sarina looked exactly like a giant hamster walking on two legs.
“Before we start talking, there’s one thing I want to get out of the way.”
I demanded that he never again commit the same rudeness toward the boss of the Fellini Family. Dom Solomon moved his short arms and short legs around as he answered.
“I sincerely apologize for that. I promise it will never happen again.”
He immediately said exactly what I wanted to hear.
Still, there was one thing I didn’t understand.
The Dom Solomon I knew was supposed to be an elf. I wondered if there had been some kind of mix-up.
“Then allow me to introduce myself properly. Hello. I am Domenico Solomon.”
From Solomon’s introduction, I decided he must be the son of the Dom Solomon I knew.
For now, I took the hand he offered and shook it.
“Thank you for coming all this way. Please, come inside.”
The three of us followed the tiny hamster somewhere. When my gaze wandered across the junkyard, Solomon turned his head and spoke.
“Feel free to look around. All kinds of vehicles from across Hevilly come here.”
“It’s still just a junkyard though, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. We dismantle them here and sell the parts to countries all over the world. We also quickly take orders when new car models are released.”
“Yeah, I know how a junkyard operates.”
After all, we had someone on our side who specialized in the junkyard business.
“Did Madman Varnella tell you?”
The Richard Varnella that Solomon mentioned was exactly that guy. He used a junkyard as his base and had made a fortune in the scrap business.
“Ah, by the way, do you like espresso?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Really? That’s a relief.”
Was there even an elf who disliked espresso?
I had seen elves who hated the World Tree, but I doubted there was a single elf who would turn down espresso.
The moment we entered Solomon’s office following him, he offered us seats around a large table.
Soon after, Solomon’s subordinates brought out espresso for us.
“Thanks. You can leave now.”
Solomon waved his hands around as he spoke.
I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to think this in this situation… but every one of his actions was rather cute.
Solomon drank the espresso in front of him first, and Sarina, Cambarra, and I each took a sip, savoring the taste.
“I attended the Godfather’s funeral. Do you remember?”
“No.”
If I had seen a hamster beastman at my father’s funeral, I would definitely remember. Solomon had that striking an appearance.
“None of the other old bosses from the five families even showed up at the funeral.”
“The Marinelli Family sent the boss’s eldest daughter.”
“Ah, I see.”
Cambarra chimed in to confirm the facts.
“Anyway, I am different from those old men. The Godfather… and you, Luke Fellini, are legends.”
“Well, thanks for the kind words.”
“No, I truly mean it. The things the Godfather accomplished were incredible, but… I also think his personal character was truly remarkable.”
“What do you mean?”
“...You can’t choose your parents in this life, can you?”
A dark shadow suddenly fell over the hamster’s face.
“While living as a killer for the five families, he still raised you and Mrs. Fellini. In contrast, my father was a violent drunkard.”
“....”
Big Dom Solomon did have a nasty personality. I had heard it directly from my father, so it must have been true.
“He never loved me or my mother… He even pinned the crimes he committed on me. Ah, he really was something else.”
I wasn’t sure if “something else” was the right way to put it, but in a sense, it was certainly true.
“I’m still suffering because of my father, but I suppose that’s just life.”
Meanwhile, Cambarra looked deeply sympathetic to Solomon’s story, while Sarina wore an expression that said she was wondering when this tiresome tale would end.
“How about we get to the main topic?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. Meeting the Godfather’s son in person made me ramble.”
Solomon immediately moved on to the main subject.
He made the same proposal he had given Elena, along with one more thing.
It concerned the issue of central district ownership that had existed between the five families and the Fellini Family.
“Mr. Sanchez screwed both of us over beautifully.”
“Yeah, he did.”
Eddie Sanchez had given the current territory to the Solomon Family while recognizing our claim to the central district. In the world I came from, Britain often pulled stunts like this—telling two different parties two different things to create conflict.
“To be honest, Mr. Sanchez probably wants the two of us to fight each other.”
“If it’s war, we’re always ready.”
“No, I don’t want to fight the Godfather’s children. My father was loyal to the Godfather. Why wouldn’t I be?”
I had tried to show a bit of bravado, but Solomon looked horrified.
After that, Solomon said he would not expand his territory in the central district any further. In exchange for recognizing his current holdings, he offered fifteen percent of the scrap metal business.
“And five percent is payment for the drug supply?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
I conveyed my position to Solomon.
I couldn’t decide something like this unilaterally. I needed to discuss it thoroughly with the boss, Elena. Solomon said he would wait for good news.
With that, we left the hamster’s nest and headed back to the academy.