Alex Leonhart’s Appearance.
Due to his racial trait of being a slime, his movement was facilitated by a specially designed walker, which allowed him to take on the shape of a square jelly cube. His arrival, sitting there prominently, was quite striking.
“Godfather, I’m not interrupting an important discussion, am I?”
As soon as Elder Leonhart looked at us in the office, Carso hastily cleared the maps off the desk, while Kambara assisted him.
Sarina and I naturally pointed at the two of them and got up from our seats.
“No, I was just starting to think the Elder might be arriving soon.”
“Then he’s just right on time!”
Elder Leonhart didn’t pay any mind to the maps on the desk as he responded to me.
“…I thought you were dead long ago. You’re still hanging around?”
“You still seem as cheeky as always.”
In response to Sarina’s comment, the Elder replied suitably. Excluding Kambara, the rest of us in this room were already familiar with one another.
“I called the Elder here. Kambara, step outside for a moment.”
“Yes.”
Kambara, having finished assisting Carso, swiftly exited the office.
This office belonged to the Vice Chairman of the union, but it seemed the actual owner had left.
“I thought I could have a private conversation with the Godfather,” I commented.
“Don’t be too hasty. Carso is already the Underboss.”
Carso was officially our Felini Family’s fourth Underboss. I was the first and third, while Elena was the second, of course.
“…Then that’s a different story.”
“What, why are you looking at me?”
With my words, Elder Leonhart now turned his gaze towards Sarina, as if questioning her presence here.
Of course, Sarina wasn’t the type to step aside that easily.
“Sarina is also a Caporegime.”
“Hmm, I guess there’s no helping it then. Formally, the ranks do match.”
Sarina was a Caporegime of our Family, while Elder Leonhart was a high-ranking official of the Carmen Family.
In ordinary circumstances, their ranks wouldn’t compare, but since he was a high-ranking official, it was a different story. Moreover, it had that Caporegime vibe coming from the Carmen Family.
“Godfather, could you tell me why you summoned me to the cradle of education?”
He poetically described the Academy and immediately proposed to get to the main point.
“Alright, we aren’t exactly in a position to be exchanging pleasantries.”
The others all nodded in agreement with my statement.
Elder Leonhart had been hopping around the Marinelli Family, Sanchez Family, and Carmen Family. The common trait of these three Families was that they were all enemies of our Felini Family.
While slimes are a hassle to kill, aside from their racial traits, that Elder was a pretty tricky opponent.
“First, let me share some good news.”
“Is there any bad news?”
Upon his question, I nodded. One piece of good news. One piece of bad news. That was how I planned to report to him.
He then expressed a wish to hear the bad news first, but I refused.
“High-ranking officials of the Carmen Family will be treated like regular members. They’ll also be selecting a new Underboss and Consigliere from among them.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
Elder Leonhart rubbed his hands together, seemingly intrigued by my words.
Though calling them hands was a stretch since they were more like elongated blobs from his jelly cube body.
“Alright then, let’s hear the bad news too. The Underboss is McBratney, and the Consigliere is Iktomi.”
“…Then why did you call me?”
“Elder, you need to hear the whole story.”
Carso said this as he calmed down the Elder’s reaction.
“Honestly, I thought my brother could handle this better than that pair.”
“You’re overestimating me. You’re underestimating the other two.”
“That might be true. But I know McBratney well.”
As for Iktomi, the spider-human… well, frankly, I didn’t know much about him. But I figured we could handle him if we had Veronica and Paula around.
“Anyway, Elder, how about playing it safe and swimming in a bigger pond?”
“When you say a bigger pond, what do you mean?”
“I mean the Felini Family.”
“….”
At my words, the three others, excluding me, jumped slightly, looking as exaggerated as a comic strip.
“Godfather, what are you planning to do with this old man?”
“I’m on board with this.”
“What?!”
Elder Leonhart immediately accepted. It was Sarina who seemed more confused.
“What? You’re not even thinking about it?”
“While the Carmen Family is nice, it can’t compare to the Felini Family.”
“With your experience, it’d make sense to appoint you as a Caporegime.”
“Godfather.”
At Carso’s words, I raised a hand to stop his comment.
“I brought this up first, and since the Elder agrees, I’d love to proceed right away, but I can’t.”
“Is there some kind of problem?”
“Our Family currently has two Bosses, you see.”
“You’re talking about the Godmother, right? Understood.”
Elder Leonhart seemed to grasp the meaning of my words. I could only reach a concrete conclusion after discussing it with Elena.
“I’ll let you know soon.”
He maneuvered his walker back and forth as he moved.
Then, before leaving the Vice Chairman’s office, he tilted the walker to a precarious angle and bowed his head to me as he exited.
“Brother, are you really okay with this?”
“Of course. It’s not like I could find anywhere for that old man anyway.”
“I do have a place in mind. The southern area of Granada is still vacant.”
“….”
“I can’t just hand over that wide area entirely to Granada. It’s perfect for that Elder.”
Carso seemed to mull over my words.
“Brother, while that’s true, that area is kind of important. Depending on the situation, there’s a high chance of border tensions with the black gang and Marinelli.”
“Yeah, I get that too. If it’s not that important of an area, the Elder wouldn’t buy it. And we can’t just entrust important areas to just anyone.”
“That makes sense. I’ll support Luke’s opinion.”
Just as Elder Leonhart exited, Sarina called my name again. Meanwhile, Carso wiped his forehead with a worried expression.
“Carso, do you remember what I instructed earlier?”
“Yes, including telling the Russo Family and whether I should inform Lady Veronica about Elder Leonhart.”
“Yeah, do that. I need to head back to the Mansion right away.”
“Yes, understood.”
*
“Are you leaving already?”
“I still need to talk to the Elder, and I have a lot to discuss with Elena. Unless you want to come along, Sarina.”
“No, I’m good. Though I might have gotten into a bit of trouble.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Perhaps some time had passed, as Sarina seemed a little less intoxicated.
“I’m talking about keeping an eye on Lady Veronica. Since she gave me the task, my subordinates are already overseeing it, but if she becomes the Boss of the Carmen Family… I feel like it might get a bit tricky.”
“With the intelligence of the Carmen Family, it’ll be less about you surveilling them than the other way around.”
Spoke Carso.
“Exactly. That’s what I’m saying.”
“Can’t be helped. What matters is that instead of keeping an eye on Veronica, we can leverage her information network from the Carmen Family.”
Carso and Sarina both nodded at my words.
“Oh, and don’t forget about the armored car.”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Carso said this, something he’d forgot to mention earlier, and then started jotting down everything I instructed in his notebook.
I finally waved goodbye to the two of them and left the office.
Afterward, I didn’t resist having the wolves and personnel from my squad stay with me, stationed at the Academy.
As I fully exited the Academy grounds and hopped into the armored car, the waiting driver asked.
“Brother, where to now?”
“To the Mansion.”
It was essentially quitting time.
Of course, it was a bit early to call it a day, but it was time to meet Elena and Felicita.
‘Ah, maybe it’s not quitting time after all?’
Since I promised to return to Veronica, it might not be a complete clock-out.
As the armored car headed from the eastern part of the city with the Academy to the central part, I found myself unconsciously noticing the machine gun in the back.
Probably because Solomon had been fiddling with it constantly. Unsurprisingly, it fell upon me to organize the disheveled machine gun.
“Brother, we have arrived.”
“…Already?”
Thanks to that, I had only organized the machine gun by the time we reached the destination. The vehicle didn’t stop at the gate but entered the mansion before stopping.
“Brother.”
This time, the members guarding the mansion opened the car door instead of the contractors.
“Elena and Felicita are inside, right?”
“Yes, both of them are there.”
I wondered if they were fighting again. But after hearing more, it seemed Elena was on the second floor of the main building while Felicita was in the annex.
“Is that so?”
So I headed to the annex where Felicita was.
It wasn’t because I preferred Felicita over Elena; I planned to bring her along to see Elena.
This mansion had more than one annex. The annex where Felicita was located was where some of the pets she raised at the hotel were kept.
“Feli?”
As I entered the annex, I called for Felicita.
By the way, the inside of the annex felt remarkably like a breeding facility. There were all kinds of animals trapped in cages, from birdcages to iron bars.
“….”
While I was wandering around the annex, suddenly my head felt heavy.
“Heb, you rascal.”
The culprit was Heb, the huge silkworm moth. I caught him and lifted him with both hands. Heb struggled to escape my grip, but his strength proved insufficient.
“Feli?”
“Uh?!”
After calling her twice, Felicita’s voice finally responded.
“What are you focusing on so hard?”
“Luke, you came at just the right time.”
Looking completely different from her usual stylish and neat attire, Felicita was dressed in something resembling work overalls, which was quite unfamiliar.
Yet, despite such clothing, Felicita’s beauty remained intact. Her somewhat tousled golden hair and still dazzling blue eyes had not lost their charm.
“Want to try it?”
“Sure, why not?”
What she offered me was a golden raspberry. In reality, it looked a lot more like a blackberry to me.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I popped the fruit she handed me into my mouth.
“Wait, where did this fruit come from?”
After finishing it, I realized how strange it was for me to ask.
Meanwhile, Felicita pointed to a small deer near the iron bars.
“I got it from that pudu over there.”
I wondered if it was right to say ‘got it’ from an animal.
However, Felicita wasn’t mistaken. It was adorned with flower petals and fruits on its forehead, so small and cute that someone might mistake it for a baby deer.
“What? The thing I just ate came from that creature’s head?”
“Well, at least it wasn’t bad, right?”
That’s true, but… it felt rather weird.
“Well, nothing bad can happen, right?”
“No way. Why would I feed you something like that?”
“Then, I’m relieved.”
I felt a tad guilty for dragging her away from her animals, but I intended to take her out of the annex.
“Is there something urgent then?”
“…It’s not that urgent. I just thought you’d want to come along.”
“Alright then, I guess I have no choice.”
It began with me taking Felicita out, but when we exited the annex, it felt more like she was tugging me along.
We then headed toward Elena on the second floor of the main building together.
There were quite a few things to discuss, such as Veronica becoming the Boss of the Carmen Family and the Elder Leonhart joining as a Caporegime.
