Make Our Family Great Again – Chapter 96

We arrived at the restaurant of the Lupus Carlton Hotel.

Carso kept trying to tell us something, but I prioritized eating over that.

I couldn’t help but smile, realizing he seemed to have adapted well to the role of underboss.

“Hey, brother. I actually have something to tell you…”

“First, choose what you want to eat.”

My two wives and I sat at the same table, while Carso was alone at the table right next to us.

“….”

Carso gave up trying to persuade me and chose an appropriate menu item.

“I’ll have curry and ratatouille.”

“Felicita, I hope you remember this is the Tyrennia Restaurant.”

“Oh, I just picked something from the menu!”

Felicita said, opening the menu for Elena. To be honest, her teasing of Elena was kind of adorable… but Elena probably didn’t think so.

“I’ll have caprese and pane.”

Following Felicita, Veronica decided on her menu.

“I’m getting chicken, pepperoni calzone, and steak.”

“Elena, isn’t that a bit too much food?”

“I barely ate anything at the party, so it’s fine. Better than ordering that odd dish like you.”

“…Pig.”

“What?!”

Felicita looked momentarily taken aback, but then came back with a comeback.

Elena seemed greatly flustered by that one short word, as if she was about to do something to Felicita.

“Elena, Felicita. Can you stop fighting while eating? Try to be more like Veronica.”

“….”

I intervened before things escalated further. Meanwhile, the good example mentioned, Veronica, was hiding her face behind the menu.

It was cute how shy she was.

It’d be great if she could fix whatever she was planning to do to me.

“I’ll have meatballs and cream pasta. And steak and roast beef too.”

Even if I had drunk quite a bit, I couldn’t just fill up with alcohol.

None of my companions were surprised or reacted negatively to my order. It was only natural since they were already used to such scenes.

After the waiter took our orders, Carso didn’t miss the opportunity.

“Brother, ladies.”

“Yeah, go ahead and tell us what’s up.”

“The suppression in the northeast is completely over. Viola has also contacted us saying she’s nearly finished dealing with the remnants of the Palmas Family.”

“Good news.”

“Yes, now you both need to decide who will manage the territory of the Palmas Family.”

The appointment of a new caporegime.

Since it was an area that used to belong to another family, there were certainly risks involved. But suddenly, a suitable candidate popped into my mind.

“Elena, what about Michael?”

“Michael?”

Michael, the guy whose lover happens to be a female professor at the Academy—the wolf in disguise.

Moreover, he was one of the individuals who led the attack against the Palmas Family this time. While Viola, Giovanni, and Sarina also contributed significantly, they were already caporegimes.

Sure, there was an option to give them another territory, but… that seemed premature.

Plus, entrusting it to the Alini Family or Dwarf Gang was out of the question.

“Yeah, Michael seems appropriate.”

I instructed Carso to limit Michael’s territory to the eastern part of the Palmas Family’s area.

“Do you have anyone in mind for the west?”

“No, but it’s better to leave options open.”

“If not, we could just give the whole thing to Michael.”

“Understood.”

“Carso, but is that all you have to say to Luke and Elena?”

“….”

“That’s it? Deciding caporegimes is a pretty important matter.”

“True, but it feels a bit lacking.”

That was certainly true.

I wondered if Carso really needed to report directly to us about appointing a new caporegime.

“…Yes, actually, there’s one more tidbit.”

Carso seemed to have picked up on Felicita’s keen sense just perfectly.

“They say something happened in Viola Carmen’s territory.”

“What happened?”

“The Vipers. To be precise, those who broke away from the Vipers have escaped and entered Viola Carmen’s territory.”

“…Is that so?”

As soon as I heard Carso’s words, both Elena and I had something to say to Carso.

About the snake people who had been hiding under the elephant’s belly at the extravagant party held by the Russo Family.

“….”

“Carso, I don’t think it’s that serious.”

“The Vipers may be targeting you and the lady.”

“No, that seems uncertain.”

I couldn’t elaborate on all the circumstances from that time.

But at least from my perspective, it didn’t feel like they had been targeting me.

Their true target was likely Darius Russo, or one of the high-ranking members of the Russo Family.

“Still, you and the lady are the Godfather and Godmother. Doing something like that at a party you both attended…”

“Luke, Carso has a point.”

“Yes, I agree.”

Felicita and Veronica supported Carso’s opinion.

The Vipers sending an assassin to a gathering where the Russo Family and Felini Family were celebrating warranted a fitting response.

“Of course, if that snake person was up to something from the start, then it’s a different matter.”

“What?”

“As I said, the Russo Family has enough motivation for that, right?”

“That’s true.”

By supplying the drugs we brought in from Tyrennia, the Russo Family had definitely benefited.

Still, it was best for the Russo Family to maintain a temporal advantage against the Vipers.

What Felicita said was that the Russo Family might have staged a deception to draw us into their circumstances… to rectify their own situation.

“Feli, but right now we only have circumstantial evidence, not proof.”

“Yeah. No solid proof.”

“And judging by Damar’s reaction, it definitely didn’t seem like an act.”

“I think so too.”

Elena immediately agreed with my statement, although her reasoning was a bit different from mine.

While I rode the elephant on the first floor of the mansion, Felicita and Veronica watched me, and Elena had been observing alongside Darius Russo from the second floor.

“That Russo guy’s reaction didn’t seem staged at all.”

*

Our views on this matter were essentially not different from Felicita’s.

It was all just circumstantial evidence.

There was plenty of suspicion but no proof. In this state, nothing was certain.

“Carso, for now, contact the Alini Family and Dwarf Gang. After some reorganization, tell them to assist the Russo Family in attacking the Vipers.”

“Understood.”

Carso nodded in response to Elena’s directive, but then his gaze shifted toward me.

His body language signaled he was inquiring about my stance, which I nodded to.

“That should be just right.”

A suitable response to what had happened to us. Plus, from a façade perspective, it made sense too.

Since the Alini Family and Dwarf Gang were already prominent figures in the war against the Palmas Family.

Of course, they hadn’t really accomplished much relative to their roles, but they’d be suitable to send to assist the Russo Family.

“So? Where have the Vipers that drifted into Viola’s territory ended up?”

“They’re at Viola’s stronghold.”

It seems once Viola discovered them, she took them to her base for confinement.

Rather than decide their treatment herself, they were waiting for directives from me and Elena through the underboss, Carso.

“Elena, I’ll handle this matter.”

“Uh?”

“It’s already fairly late today, so I’ll go personally to Viola’s territory tomorrow.”

“….”

This time Carso shifted his gaze toward Elena.

Just like earlier, he was silently questioning her intentions.

“Okay. But don’t forget to be cautious.”

Elena said that while reminding me that today had already been quite dangerous, with the snake person hiding within the belly of the elephant I rode.

Well, I didn’t think that was entirely my fault.

Above all, I was the one who first detected the snake person, thanks to the overly alert status window.

With Carso having conveyed all that needed to be said to me and Elena, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Carso, now focus on the meal.”

“Yes….”

“Brother, I have something to say too.”

Veronica stood up for a moment and walked over to Elena and me. Then, she spoke loud enough for both of us to hear.

“Something happened at the Academy.”

“What happened?”

“One of the Academy students died… and that student happened to be one of the brokers.”

“….”

What kind of situation was this?

While Veronica was relaying her serious news, the dishes began to arrive.

“Any idea who could be behind it?”

“No, I don’t know yet.”

Of course, Veronica mentioned that she and Kambara would continue their investigation.

“Alright. I’ll leave the Academy matter to you and Kambara.”

Nothing was changing. I was heading to Viola’s stronghold while leaving the Academy affairs to the two of them.

Meanwhile, dishes that had previously arrived started showing up at the table.

“….”

“Luke, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing. The calzone just looks really tasty.”

I think they said it was chicken and pepperoni calzone.

Calzone is like a Tyrennia-style dumpling. Of course, it’s not real dumplings; it’s better described as a pizza-like feeling.

It meant “large sock” in Tyrennia.

To be honest, not only Elena’s calzone looked good, but Felicita’s curry and Veronica’s pane looked quite delicious as well.

“Luke, want some?”

“If you offer, I’d love to.”

It seemed I had been a bit too obvious about it. Considering that Felicita was the first to offer me a taste.