The bounty on Mikhail Dragovich and the necessity for a new tool for the Five Families.
Darius Russo presented two agendas right after the issue regarding the Viper Training Facility was resolved.
“…Oh, I had other things to share with the other bosses.”
As I said this, I fiddled with a small box I received from Kazin at the graveyard in the northern part of the city.
Inside the box were two werewolves. Not just any werewolves, but the severed fingers of the Dragovich Family’s caporegimes.
“What’s in that box?”
Darius Russo was the first to react to the box.
“It’d be faster to see it for yourself.”
Vito Marinelli had his men retrieve the box after a moment.
The box passed from my hands to a Marinelli Family associate before making its way to the other bosses, and even before it returned to Elena and me, it revealed who the fingers belonged to.
“The owners of the fingers are Mikhail Tyudorovich and Andrei Rukin.”
“….”
“Some people may know who they are, while others might not.”
Elena spoke up since the reaction was more subdued than expected, which allowed me to naturally steer the conversation back on track.
“They are werewolves who’ve followed Dragovich for a long time. It goes without saying that both are caporegimes.”
“I can’t tell just by looking at the fingers.”
Little Dom chimed in with perfect timing.
“Right, they could just have had their fingers cut off. But the ones who gave us these fingers came from Tyrenia.”
Assassins from Tyrenia.
It might not have been a large group, just about twenty, but they were extremely reliable. They had already taken care of two caporegimes from the Dragovich Family.
“…Have they already started hunting werewolves?”
“They’re quicker than I thought. Their skills seem to be as good as ever, though.”
Darius and Vito responded immediately.
“Don’t confuse things unnecessarily. It’s more accurate to say the werewolf hunt.”
However, Veronica seemed to be discomforted by Darius’s words. Well, many people probably think of werewolves as not being much of a concern.
“Anyway, what I want to convey is quite simple. It would be wise to issue a bounty, even for the friends from Tyrenia.”
I didn’t delve into the reasons for it.
If a massive bounty is placed on Mikhail Dragovich’s head, it was certain that those with a bit of skill from the underworld would all head for him.
The Dragovichs would be on high alert if things turned out that way.
However, it wouldn’t be bad for the Tyrenian assassins to operate. Their activities would likely be considered the work of independent hitmen or bounty hunters.
And ultimately… it wouldn’t change the fact that targeting Mikhail Dragovich would become more challenging.
In other words, it would increase the probability of Elena and me avenging our father.
“Godfather, it may provoke them unnecessarily.”
“That’s true, but they might mistake them for mere opportunists targeting the bounty.”
Just as I was lost in thought, Little Dom and Veronica began discussing the pros and cons of the bounty I was already aware of.
“Solomon. What’s there to provoke? We’re already at war with them.”
As Veronica and I naturally leaned toward being in favor of the bounty, Vito Marinelli joined in.
Given that the bounty idea was his, it was only natural.
Little Dom didn’t seem too pleased with the current flow, but Darius just observed the situation.
The discussion reached a conclusion here.
As the chair of the committee, I initiated the voting process.
“In favor.”
“I’m in favor as well.”
Both Veronica and I spoke up.
Soon, Vito Marinelli added his consent, and eventually, Elena voiced her agreement too.
With the tide already turned, Darius approved as well.
“….”
Now, Solomon, seeing the situation unfold, changed his stance and agreed as well.
Typically, in committee meetings, even the bosses who initially express dissent often end up changing their minds, resulting in unanimous decisions by the end.
“How much bounty are we thinking of placing?”
Veronica asked Vito Marinelli.
“It would be best to include Dragovich for sure, as well as his subordinates.”
What returned was his non-answer.
“What was the bounty on the public enemies?”
“I believe the highest was around ten thousand pounds.”
I mentioned notable figures that could serve as references, and at the right moment, Solomon informed us about the bounty on the number one public enemy.
‘Ten thousand pounds… seems a bit stingy, doesn’t it?’
Public enemies were those deemed highly dangerous by the federal government for causing significant harm to communities on a national level. Typically, those who engaged boldly in organized crime, bank robberies, or serial killings would become public enemies.
Take Eddie Sanchez, for instance, who was detained right after the Borges hearing—he was a public enemy.
Oh, but we didn’t even need to go that far; we had a public enemy among us too.
Bier Salmo.
Once known as “The Mafia’s Lawyer,” he was not only my father’s consigliere but also the father of Consigliere Tony Salmo currently.
Mr. Salmo had taken over various tasks on behalf of my father but had also been involved behind the scenes of numerous crimes. Thus, it was only natural the federal government would keep a close watch on him.
“Then, how about we set the bounty on Dragovich’s head at one hundred thousand pounds?”
“Is that amount personally proposed by the Godfather and Godmother?”
If the Five Families were collectively issuing the bounty, it would make sense for the amount to be evenly divided among them.
But one hundred thousand pounds… it wasn’t a small sum, yet splitting this amount among all five families seemed a bit beneath our dignity.
“Elena, I think this level of expenditure should be fine. What do you think?”
“….”
It appeared Elena shared my opinion. Without the slightest hesitation, she nodded.
“Let’s have the Felini family shoulder a hundred thousand.”
“Then Marinelli will add another hundred thousand on top of that.”
“?”
Suddenly, our Felini Family went from bearing the entire burden to being a shared one.
“I, Solomon, will also put a hundred thousand pounds on the table.”
In a competitive mood, Little Dom joined the pooled bounty effort. Veronica and Darius each added another hundred thousand pounds.
Both the Solomon and Carmen Families were close to the Dragovich Family, so it made sense, but it was somewhat surprising that the Russo Family, despite being relatively less significant in this issue, would willingly contribute a hundred thousand pounds too.
A total of five hundred thousand pounds.
That’s fifty times the bounty placed on the number one public enemy, the bank robber.
“With this, our Five Families shouldn’t lose face.”
“How about we also determine bounties for those below Dragovich?”
Vito Marinelli proposed a comprehensive bounty across the family hierarchy, including Dragovich’s underboss, consigliere, and caporegimes.
As a result, the underbosses and consiglières would each have bounties of one hundred thousand pounds, while caporegimes would range from ten to thirty thousand pounds.
*
The next agenda was about new tools for the Five Families to replace the Vipers, Spiders, and Wolves.
“It just so happens we have a few individuals in preparation on our side.”
“Is that so?”
“I’ll reveal all of them to you soon. It’s still in a stage where showing them off might be awkward.”
Vito Marinelli spoke with a wicked smile as he downed a sip of blue liquid from a glass that had been there since who knows when.
Watching him, something popped into my mind first.
“Felicita. Please tell me that isn’t Blue Eyes?”
“Well, I’ve never heard of anyone diluting that with water before.”
Felicita responded with uncertainty, appearing equally unsure of my statement.
“Wait a second. Doesn’t that mean we can just postpone this agenda for now?”
“Maybe our families might have some good ideas too.”
“Well, at least we don’t have any that stand out.”
We did have organizations like the “Wolves,” made up of orphans with exceptional qualities who transform into werewolves, and the “Gollymen” faction, consisting of crocodile and shark men.
There were potential groups to serve the Five Families, but none of us intended to share them with all five families.
“Our Spiders aren’t quite up to the mark either.”
Veronica voiced a similar concern.
Of course, the Carmen Family had to focus on stabilizing after one revolt and internal cleansing, which was a different situation from the Felini Family.
“How about a group made up of Golems?”
“Hey, young one. Just because they’re rock solid doesn’t mean they can serve any purpose.”
“Well, what about Golems bitten by vampires?”
Little Dom began spouting nonsense in response to Vito Marinelli.
Vampire Golems? No, wait… there are also vampire Dwarves like Granada; who’s to say there couldn’t be vampire Golems?
“….”
A few bosses, including myself, naturally turned to Darius. He seemed extremely displeased at our gazes.
“Stop with the nonsense. Those Golems wouldn’t be able to fly anyway.”
“Ugh. That’s a disappointment.”
Indeed. While I didn’t show it, I thought a Vampire Golem might not be such a bad idea.
From that point on, Little Dom tossed out several ideas, but none of them seemed credible.
“Then let’s end today’s meeting here for now.”
The discussion regarding the two agendas proposed by Vito Marinelli concluded, and I promptly declared the meeting adjourned.
“….”
The first person to leave was Darius Russo.
He seemed eager to take care of the Viper Training Facility. Meanwhile, Veronica and Paula left the meeting room right after Darius.
It looked like Veronica wanted to speak with me and Felicita personally.
“Godfather.”
“Hmm?”
“Wasn’t the idea of a Vampire Golem a bit good?”
“Ahem.”
Turning my head, I silently raised my thumb up.
“See?! I knew it was good!”
Little Dom’s eyes widened in excitement as he approached me, but Elena stopped him before he could get too close.
“Little Dom. Cut out the nonsense. When are you going to take your family away?”
“Ah, I was hoping they’d stay at your mansion just a little longer, if that’s alright?”
Elena questioned Little Dom, wondering if it was a matter of the area still needing to be organized or if there was some other reason.
“Things aren’t fully settled yet, but well… we’ll be fighting Dragovich soon, you see.”
Right. My mansion in the city center would indeed be a safe place.
“Then let it be. With the Tyrenians in play and now that we’ve placed the bounty, they should react soon.”
“Thank you, Godfather. Godmother.”
Meanwhile, while we were talking to Little Dom, Vito Marinelli had already gotten down from his large chair and was giving instructions to Manfredi and Lia before exiting the meeting room.
“Brother-in-law, and Godmother. I have something to show you.”
“Manfredi, am I included in this too?”
“….”
Manfredi reluctantly nodded when his sister interrupted.
“Lia will guide you.”
“Alright, everyone follow along.”
Dragon Hill Hotel.
We left the domain of the Marinelli Family and headed somewhere else. Our armored car followed behind the one Lia was in.
“….”
“Feli, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, really.”
For reasons unknown, Felicita’s expression seemed to darken as we made our way to our destination.
“Brother, I think we’ve arrived.”
“Right.”
Just like the driver Warren said, the car Lia was in came to a stop. We only got out of the armored car after she exited.
“Where is this?”
“Just follow me for now.”
Lia hurriedly answered Elena’s inquiry.
The building looked somewhat like a hospital at first glance, but definitely not an ordinary one.
“Right down to the basement, huh?”
“Yes, brother-in-law.”
Lia blinked her violet eyes, swaying her tail as she responded.
Basement level two.
After stepping out of the elevator, we moved inside the building, greeted by those who welcomed Lia.
The atmosphere and scent were much closer to black than white.
“Okay, we’ve arrived. Do you see that over there?”
“…What is that?”
I couldn’t help but be astonished, just like Elena, as I took in the sight before me.
There stood something resembling either a machine or a metal humanoid, enormous and likely over three meters tall.
In its abdomen, instead of the bodily parts that should be there, it was submerged in a green liquid, resembling pickles…
Little Dom?!
“No way, what the hell is he doing here…?”
“Huh?”
Oh, never mind. For a moment, I thought the being encased in what looked like some giant armor might have been Little Dom’s son.
While it bore some resemblance, it was an entirely different creature.
“…No, I must’ve been mistaken.”
“Geez, I thought it was something important.”
But right now, that wasn’t the critical issue.
