Make Our Family Great Again – Chapter 163

I tried to catch Lumini but ended up getting caught by Sarina instead.

[Even if you’re bitten by a tiger, as long as you keep your wits about you, you’ll survive.]

“….”

Yeah, that’s exactly what I need to hear right now. Except the one biting me isn’t a tiger but a damn wolf.

“Godfather, aren’t you being a bit harsh?”

Who’s she trying to provoke?

Sarina led me to a corner table in the Banquet Hall and then casually gauged my reaction.

“No, if you have complaints, you should just voice them. No need to do this.”

“Complaints? What complaints?”

“Aren’t you unhappy about the new territory?”

“…Me?”

Sarina raised her hands in disbelief. Seeing her palms wide open as if to indicate she had no complaints made her continue speaking.

“I have no complaints at all. If anything, I’ve gotten closer to Luke.”

“Isn’t it rather that you’ve drifted further apart?”

“Well, you’re not around the Academy that much anyway.”

That’s true enough.

Although the Academy was formally in my territory, the real administrator was Kambara.

By the way, Sarina’s title had subtly changed.

There were other Caporegimes around, but it was probably considering that she and I were tucked away in a corner.

“So why did you grab me then?”

“Just wanted to talk.”

“We could do that later.”

“I don’t want to.”

“….”

I glanced momentarily at Elena and Felicita. They had finished their chat with Vanella and were starting to move. It looked like Elena was heading towards Lumini.

“Guess there’s no helping it.”

I had planned to talk to Lumini as well. But thanks to Sarina, it seemed like it was Elena’s turn now. From Lumini’s perspective, it might’ve been better to chat with me.

“But really, do you have no complaints?”

“Oh, I do have one.”

“What is it?”

“…Isn’t it a bit early for Kambara?”

Ha, I wondered what Sarina’s sole complaint could be. It wasn’t even about Kambara taking over her territory, but rather Kambara becoming a Caporegime.

Not to mention, he was now in charge of two territories, essentially running things at the Academy.

“I heard him whining a bit earlier.”

“In front of his brother?”

When Sarina asked, I naturally glanced at the Zakaya brothers. They were deep in conversation about various issues, likely continuing the chat from earlier.

“Kambara was shocked too. Well, for now, I think it’s best to just observe.”

“I mean, Viola, I had no idea that woman would let Kambara take on two territories.”

“Then who did you expect?”

“Me or Giovanni. Carso or Armo are both built like tanks—there were plenty of candidates.”

“The number of territories isn’t everything.”

“…That’s true, but still.”

Just because someone had more territories didn’t mean they were stronger. The important thing was the money that could be pulled from those territories.

Take the Underboss, Carso, and Giovanni’s territories, for instance. Both divided the Port in half, and their areas were quite sizeable.

Compared to that, Viola’s two territories were somewhat lacking in profitability.

While they were strategically positioned to keep the Russo Family in check and monitor the other Caporegimes in the Northeast…

“Oh, and one more thing.”

“You just said you had one!”

“I didn’t mean complaints; I was just curious this time.”

“What are you curious about?”

“Whose idea was my new territory?”

Huh?

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, was it Luke’s idea or yours?”

“Oh, I see. I was just wondering what it seemed like.”

It wasn’t like there was specifically anyone’s idea to claim.

Of course, I was the one who brought it up first. Elena agreed it wouldn’t be bad, and we made arrangements for Sarina’s territory.

“I may have brought it up first.”

“…Then that’s fine.”

Sarina quickly turned her head away.

She seemed to smile as if she got the answer she wanted, but was she shy or something, hiding her face with her hands?

“AAAH!”

“What was that?!”

*

A shrill scream echoed through the Banquet Hall. As I directed a sharp gaze toward the source of the scream, a familiar face came into view—Little Dom.

He was being held by two wolves at the entrance to the Banquet Hall, flailing his short little legs around in the air.

“AAAH! I’m sorry! I was wrong!”

“….”

The two wolves looked towards Armo.

Keeping a suitable distance from the other Caporegimes, Armo was focused on guarding Elena and me, but upon catching the wolves’ gaze, he turned to look at me instead.

I gestured to Armo to bring Little Dom over to me.

Armo approached the two wolves, took Little Dom in his arms, and brought him to me.

“….”

When he was caught by the wolves, Little Dom at least had some form of a reaction, but now that he was cradled in Armo’s arms, he was completely still.

“Hey, kid. How did you end up here?”

“Hello, Godfather.”

Before Armo could even put Little Dom down, we started a conversation.

‘This little one’s got good manners.’

Instead of answering my question, he greeted me first. Armo finally let him down and returned to his position.

“Luke, who is this kid?”

“Who do you think?”

“Come on, stop messing with me and just tell me.”

Sarina started pressing for answers, but I lifted him up into my arms.

“Ugh.”

Once perched on my lap, Little Dom squirmed around. He sniffed the air as he touched his face with both hands.

“Still can’t figure it out?”

“….”

“You look just like Little Dom.”

“Oh, but isn’t that a stretch?”

As Sarina realized the answer, she let out a delayed sigh, complaining.

“It’s more strange that you couldn’t guess by looking at this face.”

“…Sigh.”

Sarina seemed to want to say more but ended up holding back.

“Godfather.”

“What?”

Little Dom, still in my arms, was eyeing the food laid out on the table.

“Go ahead and eat as much as you want.”

“Really?”

“Of course! I never lie about food.”

“….”

When I answered with a serious expression, Sarina tried hard not to laugh. The snickering sounds were gradually escaping, but I felt no shame and stood tall.

After all, there’s no way a grandchild would turn down the meal carefully cooked by their grandmother.

I promptly filleted a dish of oxtail stew, which I had intended for myself, and it wasn’t like I couldn’t share it with this cute little guy.

“This is quite amazing, isn’t it?”

“What is?”

“You sharing food with someone else?”

“No, that’s not it.”

It seemed I was too hasty in jumping to conclusions. Sarina waved her hands, pointing at Little Dom as she responded.

“While the fur’s all fluffy and fine, this little guy is naked.”

“Excuse me?”

Little Dom said this with his mouth full of meat.

His speed in eating the meat was astonishingly faster than how I was filleting it off the bone.

“Guess hamster-humans are like that when they’re young.”

“….”

Sarina didn’t have anything to retort.

“Could I join in between you guys?”

“Felicita, when did you arrive?”

“Did you two really not notice me coming closer while you were busy with whatever you were talking about?”

“Hah, it was three of us, not just two.”

Sarina firmly rebutted Felicita’s words. I displayed Little Dom feasting on my lap for Felicita to see.

“Hello!”

“Hey there, little one.”

Felicita responded with a bright smile to Little Dom’s greeting.

A little kid who’s polite and lively—what a combination that’s hard not to adore.

“Where’s Elena?”

“Over there.”

Felicita replied with a hint of discontent when I looked for Elena before checking with her.

“….”

Sarina’s face darkened as she too moved over towards Elena.

“Hey, who said you could go first?”

“Oh, isn’t that a part of my freedom?”

Elena spoke to Felicita as if they were rivals against each other, and Felicita replied with the same tone.

“Hey, it’s all good, finish your food.”

“Sure!”

“Why is this little guy here?”

“You saw him get caught by the wolves earlier.”

“True, but I didn’t expect him to be here.”

Elena seemed genuinely surprised as she answered.

“What’s the big deal? He’s just adorable.”

By now, Felicita had started to pet Little Dom’s head with her long tail.

“Could you maybe keep that fancy tail of yours away from the kid?”

Now, Elena and Felicita were starting to bicker over Little Dom.

Regardless, he was focused solely on eating the meat I had cut for him. It seemed like I’d given him quite a sizable portion, but instead of piling up, it vanished in the blink of an eye.

Seeing him eat made me reminiscent of my own childhood.

“Elena, how’s it looking with Vanella and Lumini?”

“All good. No issues at all.”

“…Are you sure not because you made it that way?”

“There’s barely any difference, right?”

Just as Felicita added a comment, Elena responded with indifference.

“Vanella may be fine, but Lumini seemed to have a fair share of complaints.”

“It was all stuff that didn’t seem like complaints. He talked about his group members’ residences and how changes to the territories happen too often.”

While those admittedly seemed like genuine grievances, Elena answered as if they were trivialities.

From what I could gather, the former could be argued considering there are cases where members and their territories don’t align, and the latter was dodged by emphasizing the importance of the new area Lumini had received.

While that latter point held some truth, the first was undeniably real.

It wasn’t that common for members to live in their designated territories.

At least, if they lived in a different territory, they could lay low during emergencies, and it was easier to separate the underworld from regular life.

“Elena, regarding Lumini, that’s acceptable but how about Vanella?”

“Vanella’s the same as before. Do you know what his biggest complaint was?”

“That it’s become harder for him to meet his nun girlfriend?”

“…Exactly.”

As I guessed it on the first try, Elena seemed to think it was absurd as well. Felicita and Sarina shared the same bemused expression.

“Luke, how about you? What’s your side like?”

“Nothing much.”

Of course, I wouldn’t settle for saying it was totally uneventful.

I relayed what the Zakaya brothers, Viola Carmen, and finally Sarina said, clearly summarizing what they had mentioned to my two wives.

“Sarina.”

“…Yes, Godmother.”

“I’ll make sure your opinions are given due consideration later.”

It sounded as if I was bowing deeply and receiving their gratitude, through Sarina’s peculiar expression as she listened to me relay her words to Elena right in front of her.

“Thank you.”

Of course, an unavoidable hierarchy existed between Elena and Sarina.

While Sarina genuinely thanked Elena, I sensed a peculiar atmosphere at the entrance of the banquet hall.

One of the wolves approached where we were sitting.

‘What’s going on?’

“Godfather.”

“Sarina, just hold on to him for a moment.”

“Me?”

Sarina protested, but naturally, she took Little Dom back.

“What’s the matter?”

“It seems Dragovich has been hit.”

“…Really?”

That’s an unexpected tidbit of news.

I thought this was the best spice to add to the banquet.