Make Our Family Great Again – Chapter 15

A conflict between crime organizations unfolded at the Academy Humanities Building.

In the western part of the city, Eddie Sanchez was engaged in a shootout with the police, while citizens protested in various streets.

The media was eager not to miss this big news.

Surprisingly, some newspapers with a long history of fierce customer retention competitions had brought in a number of thugs who were specialists in violence.

The Academy was already on high alert due to the gunfire, but the rough waves of thugs brandishing armbands from various newspapers were an unstoppable force.

“Officer, what are you doing just standing there?!”

“Ahem, um…”

The police on the scene were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. The media felt assured that they had the upper hand in the situation.

“….”

The momentum intensified when the administrator in charge of announcing the Academy’s official stance appeared in response to the incident.

“Administrator! Was the deceased Professor Amadeo Botari really the one who died?!”

“Yes, um…”

The administrator stuttered as he was surrounded by reporters who were half-thugs.

He was like a lion when commanding his subordinates but now acted like a terrified mouse.

“Didn’t the Academy announce last week that their drug supply network had collapsed?”

One reporter mentioned that after the death of Godfather Vito Felini, 30 people were arrested during raids at the Academy, and 7 managed to escape.

Most of those arrested were under the command of Elena Felini.

“W-wait, there seems to be a misunderstanding! This incident has nothing to do with that.”

The reporters pressured the administrator heavily when he didn’t provide the answers they wanted. Shouts and threats from thugs began to reverberate around.

Swallowing hard, the administrator nervously opened his mouth again.

“This incident is believed to be the work of a crime organization from the outskirts of the city.”

“What kind of people are they?!”

“Are the Felini Family and Russo Family not involved?!”

The administrator explained that the criminal organization from the outskirts was primarily composed of reptilian humanoids.

“It’s believed there was a clash between them and the Russo Family.”

A huge commotion erupted among the reporters.

“Then what about the deceased Professor Botari!”

“The professor was merely unfortunate to get caught up in this. A shootout occurred between the Russo Family and the crime organization from the outskirts, and he died while trying to ensure the safety of his students.”

“Administrator! Reports say the deceased professor had numerous gunshot wounds… How could someone get shot that many times in a shootout?”

“Right!”

The administrator was trying to cover up the incident with a carefully crafted scenario.

The reporters were determined to get some juicy headlines.

The conflict between the two groups eventually escalated into violence.

“Get them all out!”

The administrator continued to respond to the relentless questioning of the reporters, mobilizing Academy staff for this task.

The reporters, not backing down, called in their thugs to resist, but this time the police did not side with them.

“Stop! Back off!”

“Damn it!”

The police didn’t want this situation escalating any further. Limiting media access was the extent of their intervention.

In the end, a few thugs were arrested at the scene, and the violence cooled as the reporters fled.

“Phew…”

The administrator sighed in relief as he watched the scene unfold.

The Felini Family had not yet reclaimed the Academy, so there was no way to respond adequately to this incident.

But that wasn’t the case anymore.

With the one person who had stood up to them, Professor Botari, gone, the Academy could once again return to its expected state.

*

Meanwhile, the Lupus Carlton Hotel, practically the headquarters of the Felini Family.

A celebration of their reclaiming the Academy was underway.

“….”

We had rented out the entire restaurant in the hotel, leaving no other guests around.

At the head of the enormous table sat me and my two wives—Elena and Felicita. Of course, the Boss, Elena, was in the center, with me beside her and Felicita next to me.

Seated next were Consigliere Anthony Salmo and Armo, responsible for the security of the boss.

Finally, Giovanni, Sarina, Carso, and various Caporegimes of the Felini Family settled in.

There were four Caporegimes in total, including Vanella, Lumini, Samia Zakaya of Gollymen, and the Caporegime managing the Greenbug area.

Throughout the spacious restaurant, some members of the organization stood guard, just in case.

“Alright, it looks like everyone’s here, so let’s do a toast.”

As Elena stood, everyone quickly followed suit.

Felicita, who was next to me, leaned against me and wrapped her tail around my waist as she stood.

“….”

Elena’s eyes were ablaze at the sight.

“Raise your glasses, everyone.”

I helped shift the atmosphere so Elena could refocus on the toast.

Those gathered around the table raised their glasses high, each containing various colorful liquids, showcasing individual tastes, and someone even had water instead of alcohol.

Now that I think about it, there were people in my world who didn’t drink and raised a toast with water instead.

“We’ve made some good gains—the border area with Greenbug and the Marinelli Family, and the Academy too. Not bad at all.”

“With Botari gone, we should be able to resume our original operations at the Academy.”

As soon as Elena finished speaking, I chimed in. She nodded as if in agreement.

“We’ll take control of the Academy starting this week and push out the drugs. We have enough supplies in stock.”

A string of victories followed the tremendous loss of my father’s death.

I can’t say I’ve entirely overcome the great sense of loss, but it was a decent starting point. With this momentum, we would deal with the Five Families—or rather, all four of the families.

We already clashed with the Russo Family, which Botari had pulled in, in the process of taking control of the Academy.

“Boss, who will you assign to the Academy? Or, are you thinking of overseeing it yourself?”

Vanella asked Elena right before the toast. As a Caporegime active since my father’s time, he had plenty of qualifications.

“I’m going to assign Luke. Now, let’s toast!”

“Toasts rang through the air.”

Elena’s words about assigning the Academy to me were unexpected.

But thanks to the continuing toast, everyone gathered swallowed their words and knocked back the liquid in their glasses.

“Hah.”

A refreshing sound escaped as the alcohol slid down my throat.

Once the toasts were through, chatter resumed.

“Elena, are you really okay with this?”

“No problem at all. I’ll just need to manage the port myself.”

Naturally, I couldn’t make the Academy our base. But then again, it’d be strange if the territory of the Felini Family was only the port and the Academy, and I managed both.

“Then, Luke and Elena can’t be together?”

“….”

Felicita bluntly hit the sore spot.

“No, there’s no rule saying that. The Academy isn’t a safe place anyway; I can manage it from the hotel.”

“Really?”

“Felicita.”

No one could match Elena when it came to skillfully prodding someone. But there was no need for that on a day like today.

As I intervened, Felicita chose not to say anything more to Elena.

Thus, both of my wives, though they had different styles, respected me nonetheless.

“Speaking of which, I haven’t heard directly from Luke yet.”

“…About what?”

“Who he’ll be with today.”

Elena opened the conversation, and Felicita got straight to the point. I had a feeling this would come up…

“Do I really have to pick one of you?”

“….”

“What? What are you talking about?”

But as I boldly chose to face it head-on, the reactions from both of them were quite the spectacle.

Felicita silently showed her disappointment, but it was clear Elena wanted to hear my answer directly.

“So, you’re saying you won’t pick either?”

“No, it’s the opposite, Elena.”

I wasn’t declining to choose either. I was leaning toward choosing both.

Naturally, both Elena and Felicita did not accept this, but they also didn’t want to feel left out.

“Luke, are you really doing this?”

Elena questioned, asking if I could act like this after she had already yielded the Academy. But as I held her hand, she stopped talking and simply began to feel my touch.

“You wouldn’t want to hurt Elena by picking me.”

“What?”

I thought I had calmed Elena down, but Felicita struck again.

Meanwhile, the Wolves and Armo watched us closely.

“…It seems the lady and Felicita have adapted more than I expected.”

“No, that’s just Giovanni; you haven’t seen what it’s like without a brother.”

“Yes. Carso is right.”

Carso and Armo reacted immediately to Giovanni’s words.

Luke left the two behind in the hotel just in case and, sure enough, when the two realized he had suddenly left for the Academy, they tossed around blame and ended up in a scuffle.

Of course, Giovanni was at the Academy, and Sarina was around Greenbug, so they had no idea what was happening.

“What? Really?”

“The lady was trying to sneak another bite of Felicita’s tail.”

Luke knew that Felicita had a scratch on her tail, but he didn’t know how it had happened.

While Felicita targeted Elena’s ears, Elena worked on her tail, and whatever happened next went just as Carso said.

“….”

Regardless, Sarina wore a displeased expression.

By her standards, Luke’s two wives didn’t meet the mark.

“What’s up?”

In the meantime, a wolf walked into the restaurant and whispered something into Giovanni’s ear.

“…Wait. I’ll go down.”

Giovanni, who had been enjoying good food and drink, suddenly had a different look in his eyes.

“Brother.”

Giovanni stood up and mentioned the incident that had occurred below the hotel to Luke.

*

The deaths of the Mayor and the Godfather.

The ensuing chaos was taking unexpected turns in various directions.

One of them was the protests breaking out all over the city. The accumulated grievances of the citizens exploded with the deaths of the authority figures.

The problem was that the angry protesters had made their way to the port.

Members of the port organization and stevedores were clashing with them, but some action was required.

“….”

Elena and I exchanged glances after hearing Giovanni’s words.

“Lady, brother. I’ll go.”

“Do that.”

Without waiting for Elena’s reply, I granted Giovanni permission. With him and the Wolves joining, the protesters shouldn’t pose much of a problem.

“Stupid fools.”

“Yeah, they’re certainly foolish, but it’s their foolishness that has the whole city in chaos.”

Felicita replied to Elena’s comment.

In a way, their actions presented an opportunity for us. A decrease in law and order can lead to various criminal possibilities.

But if they touch us, that changes everything.

Meanwhile, Sarina moved along with Giovanni, and Vanella followed as well. Elena and I opened our mouths to say something but then decided against it.

It seemed wise to leave at least one lesson for the protesters.