Make Our Family Great Again – Chapter 34

Fabio Carini and the drug-dealing cop were arrested in the act.

Naturally, the people in the gym and Carini’s underlings protested.

“Damn it…”

But Carini made sure no one dared to mouth off at the police. If they messed up, they could end up getting charged with obstruction of justice.

That would just do the police a favor.

The officers who barged in on the scene, under the orders of the Caporegime, were stuck in a position where they couldn’t do anything in front of the Mafia, seizing their boss.

And this news was immediately relayed to me and Elena.

“…Luke, contact Salmo first.”

“Got it.”

Elena and I quickly reached out to the family’s Consigliere.

Anthony Salmo arrived at the hotel where we were staying as soon as he got our message.

“Miss, Mr. Luke.”

“Oh, you’re here. You heard the situation, right?”

As soon as Salmo entered the room, he took off his hat and carefully placed it on his lap.

Then he scanned me, Elena, and Felicita in turn.

“How does it look? Do you think it’ll be okay?”

When I asked, following Elena’s lead about the situation, Salmo wiped his face.

“Yes, but with the arrest in the act…”

He looked extremely troubled.

“What the hell were those guys next to Carini doing?”

“Elena, if they had acted, they would’ve been arrested for obstruction of justice too.”

“True, but…”

Obstruction of justice.

That’s a charge that didn’t exist in my country. The closest thing would probably be interference with official duties?

“But there’s a way to solve this.”

“What’s that?”

“Since it’s an arrest in the act, they haven’t issued a warrant yet. We should act before the judge issues it.”

In other words, how fast Salmo and his crew could move was key here.

“For now, I plan to make the police who arrested Carini change their testimony.”

“…How?”

“I’ll dig into their weaknesses. I can take hostages from their families while they’re not at home, or investigate their shady dealings.”

“Do we need to bring people for this?”

We confirmed the method. Then I asked Salmo one last time.

“Yes, my guys should be enough.”

“Got it. Salmo, get started now.”

“Yes, Miss.”

With Salmo’s response, Elena nodded in approval. Then Salmo promptly stood up.

We watched from the top floor of the hotel as Salmo got into the car he arrived in and headed somewhere.

“I hope nothing goes wrong…”

“Why? Is Carini that loose-lipped?”

“No, it’s not like that. It’s just… he can be a bit rough around the edges. You know how boxers can be.”

“Hmm.”

I hoped Elena’s worries were unfounded.

So, I decided to head towards the Academy’s Union Office.

Elena and Felicita kindly saw me off as I got into the armored car… at least in front of me.

“Brother, should we head straight to the Academy?”

“No, let’s go a bit further north from the Academy.”

“Eh?”

“I want to stop by Carini’s turf and reassure his underlings.”

“Oh, got it.”

I relayed everything the driver needed to know. Since the driver was one of my Wolves, he didn’t ask any further questions and drove past the Academy toward north River West.

“Brother, we’ve arrived.”

As soon as the driver announced our arrival, the wolf in the passenger seat hurriedly got out of the car and opened the back door for me.

“…”

The gym where Carini had been arrested.

I headed inside with the wolf from the passenger seat.

The gym members were already focused on their workouts, but I could see worry etched on their faces, big and small.

“Under Boss!”

Some of Carini’s men, who knew my face, rushed over.

“I’m sorry. Your brother said not to let anyone move, so we…”

“It’s fine. Carini made a good call.”

If Carini hadn’t given that command, his subordinates might have been arrested one after another.

“Your brother’s situation will be handled by the Consigliere.”

“Is it Mr. Salmo?”

“Yeah, to be exact, it’s Mr. Salmo’s son.”

Since Anthony Salmo hadn’t been Consigliere for long, I added that clarification to avoid confusion.

“Ah, I see.”

“Yeah, so don’t worry, everyone. And from now on, be more careful with your drug deals. Got it?”

“Yes, understood.”

I resolved to handle the broker named Gabriele, whom the drug cop mentioned, immediately.

I thought it would be better to give Carini’s underlings something to do instead of telling them not to worry and just sit around.

At least while they focused on that, they wouldn’t have room for stray thoughts.

“Don’t worry, I can help you from the Academy anytime.”

I felt that would be enough to reassure Carini’s subordinates. I received their send-off and headed back toward the Academy’s Union Office.

As soon as I arrived at my office, Sarina and Kambara warmly greeted me.

“Brother.”

“Luke, welcome back.”

“What’s with Sarina being here, Kambara aside?”

“Why?”

“I mean, don’t you have your own turf?”

“I’m sure they’ll manage fine without me. And besides, as Luke said, everyone’s taking a break for a while anyway, so it’s fine.”

“…Is that so?”

*

For lunch, I decided to eat with the other members at the student cafeteria inside the Academy.

“Luke, we really don’t need to eat here.”

“It’s important to blend in naturally, you know.”

Besides, the student cafeteria here in this Academy was pretty decent.

I guess it’s because it’s prestigious? Of course, the city’s situation wasn’t great and the students looked genuinely worried too.

But… in a way, since the Felini Family’s forces were stationed here, it made the Academy one of the safest places in this city.

“Brother, I think our blending in has failed.”

“Some of that’s on you, Kambara.”

There were even folks stealing glances at Sarina, who was dressed in a simple black suit with her short black hair.

But honestly, it was hard not to pay attention to a crocodile man eating in the student cafeteria, right?

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for? How were you supposed to know you’d be born that way?”

“Sarina, your words sound harsher.”

“…”

If I kept going, I felt like Kambara might choke on his food.

But watching Kambara eat was like watching a nature documentary in itself.

His crocodile teeth weren’t really suited for chewing food… Kambara just shoved food in his mouth and swallowed it whole.

“Looks like he’s swallowing without even chewing.”

Sarina chimed in while watching him eat. It seemed Kambara started to care about our gazes. He quickly jumped into explanation.

“Oh, it’s because we have a separate sandbag above our stomachs.”

“Sandbag?”

“We call it a pouch where we swallow stones to store them. So, even if I eat like this, the stones up top will mash the food for me.”

“…Oh.”

Hearing this directly from a crocodile felt a bit strange.

“Luke, come on, eat.”

I realized I hadn’t eaten much while watching Kambara.

“Right, I should.”

“If there’s too much, I can eat it for you.”

“No, that’s not necessary.”

Sarina looked a bit disappointed, but I wasn’t that small of an eater.

Compared to the food I had while training to become a Wolf under my father, this was practically a banquet. Thank goodness Elena hadn’t gone through that training.

“Oh, and what should we do about Carini?”

Sarina asked in a hushed voice, sensing the conversation was important. Even though I thought there was no need, considering all the chatter around.

“It’s fine. I stopped by before I came to the office.”

“Really?”

Fortunately, there weren’t many people around us, but just in case, I spoke quietly.

I told her what I had said to Carini’s subordinates and what I had instructed them.

“That broker might’ve set a trap from the start.”

“Or not. Maybe the cop just messed up.”

But there was definitely a fault on the broker’s part for sending a client who turned out to be that dumb. Birds of a feather flock together.

We decided to avoid discussing anything too significant in a public setting like this.

Luckily, the meal concluded, so we returned to the Union Office.

“Luke, today was supposed to be your day with the Miss, right?”

“Yeah, since it’s Monday.”

“…”

Sarina seemed quite interested in that detail.

Since it wasn’t a great topic to stretch out, I immediately asked Kambara about Gollymen’s movements or Sarina about Lumini.

“Oh, actually, your brother has been bad-mouthing Eccelotti a lot.”

“Eccelotti?”

Carlo Eccelotti.

He was also from Elena’s crew and had risen to Caporegime like Carini.

It felt like the Gollymen had taken the northeastern part of Greenbug while Eccelotti controlled the surrounding areas.

Normally, those whose territories were close together didn’t get along well. Various clashes and differences existed.

“Yes, it seems they keep picking fights over there.”

I wondered if Elena and I needed to intervene in this conflict, but hearing Kambara, Eccelotti’s behavior seemed rather brazen as well.

At times like this, I thought it’d suffice to discreetly give Elena a hint without having to step in myself. After all, Elena would know how valuable Gollymen’s power could be for us.

In a situation where we were short on forces, it would be a significant loss if Gollymen drifted away from us over such ridiculous reasons.

*

After work in the office, when I returned to the hotel, I immediately shared the news with Elena.

“Eccelotti?”

“That was something Kambara said. I can’t judge based on just one side…”

“Alright, I’ll look into it.”

As soon as Elena finished responding, she suddenly hugged me tight.

“…”

“Why? Is it that you don’t like this?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just… we have a pretty significant size difference.”

Sometimes, it felt like I was truly Elena’s cuddly toy.

When I honestly expressed that feeling, Elena said that was exactly what made it nice.

Thanks to being like an affectionate toy for her, I never found a dull moment, but inwardly, I was worried about how things with Carini would unfold.

Then came the next day, and I received a call from Salmo while in Felicita’s Room.

“Mr. Luke, it’s done.”

“Good. So, there shouldn’t be any more problems, right?”

“Yes, the police who arrested Carini will change their report regarding the arrest situation.”

If that happens, it’ll make it difficult for the judge to issue a warrant. And we’ll take that chance to pressure the police station controlling the northern part of River West once more.

I could have directly stepped in, but I decided to leave this matter to Salmo.

Salmo and another lawyer immediately headed to a police station located to the north of River West.

“What brings you here?”

As soon as Anthony Salmo entered the police station, he replied to the officer who asked him.

“We came regarding Mr. Fabio Carini’s case. I’m Anthony Salmo, and this is Frank Shindon. We’re both lawyers.”

“Yes, we’re Mr. Carini’s temporary legal representatives.”

As soon as Salmo spoke, Shindon reacted immediately. But the police stared at the two lawyers for a moment before simply replying.

“Leave.”

“Sorry, but that’s not possible. Mr. Carini has the right to appoint a lawyer.”

“But he hasn’t been charged yet.”

“If you keep him for over two hours, he can appoint a lawyer. According to the Hebili City Penal Code, that is.”

Salmo added to his remarks, citing the basis for his claim as he countered the policeman’s questions.

With the two lawyers pressing them, the police began to look somewhat serious. Eventually, one of the police station heads personally showed up.

“What’s going on?”

Salmo and Shindon continued to pressure the police with their legal prowess.

Demanding Mr. Fabio Carini’s release before they could encounter any legal issues.

With the police’s reversal of their report on Carini’s arrest, it made the issuance of the warrant not go smoothly as it was, so receiving external pressure was driving them mad.

“Alright. Let’s take him.”

The inspectors had no choice but to let the lawyers have their way.

Salmo and Shindon took Carini, who was in the basement of the police station. The drug addict cop locked up elsewhere was not their concern.

“…Thank you.”

As soon as Carini was let out of the police station with the help of his two lawyers, he expressed his gratitude.

But Salmo shifted the credit elsewhere.

“Thank the Boss and the Under Boss. Oh, and that broker named Gabriele. I’m sure your men took care of him.”

“That’s a relief…”

The night air of the city was quite cold.

“Phew…”

But what’s so bad about being cold? He had just regained his freedom.

As Carini spread his arms wide to relish that freedom, Salmo and Shindon waited for a moment.

Meanwhile, while the three were in that situation…

Lumini from North Woodron was going absolutely mad.

The vampires had suddenly begun detonating bombs all over his territory in the dead of night.