The day after the orphanage sponsorship meeting happened to be Sunday, a day I was supposed to share with Elena and Felicita.
Of course, I got up early and made my way to a restaurant near the hotel.
Now, the port was no longer under my management. But since it was the territory of my beloved wolves, Giovanni and Carso, I felt the need to show my face there occasionally.
Ding―!
As I stepped into the restaurant, the refreshing sound of the doorbell followed.
The restaurant was bustling with people from the very morning. It was clear the stevedores from the docks and nearby workers were there.
It wasn’t too surprising that their gazes immediately fixated on me.
“Good morning.”
“Mr. Felini, what can I get you? Coffee?”
“I didn’t come here for a meal. Yeah, coffee would be good.”
“Understood. Please wait a moment.”
The owner moved with surprising speed for his age.
While waiting for my coffee, I headed to a nearby table. There was a fresh morning newspaper that had just come out.
“….”
What do we have here?
It seemed Rita Carmen was moving in our favor.
There were two movements from the Carmen Family towards the Sanchez Family.
One involved a caporegime from the Sanchez Family being killed at a brothel… and the other was Gata Melata, the second-in-command of the family, getting shot.
‘He’s a golem, so he probably didn’t die.’
For a golem to die from a gunshot, you’d have to use something like the bullets used for bear hunting. So in that sense, killing Eddie Sanchez was trickier than I initially thought.
Although my interest in Granada wasn’t directed at the Sanchez and his golems, it turned out to be a beneficial choice in the end.
Ding―!
Someone stepped into the restaurant.
Instinctively curious about the sound, I looked up to see an elderly elf. Coincidentally, it was a familiar face.
“Luke!”
“Tony, did you catch any fish?”
He recognized me first and greeted me warmly. It seemed he had just come back from fishing, holding a small crate and a fishing rod.
“Yeah, surprisingly good haul.”
“That’s a relief.”
“I wish life were this easy too. Here, take this.”
“Oh, no. That’s okay.”
I tried to refuse the fish Tony was offering.
But he insisted, presenting wrapped fish that looked fresh as if ready to give them to someone.
“…I definitely just came for coffee. But now I’m getting free fish.”
“This is nothing. Mr. Luke, I’m still grateful for the job you gave my grandson.”
“That’s nothing to thank me for. It’s natural to repaid what we’ve received from your family.”
That’s right. This seemingly simple old fisherman was a part of our family.
Not just any part, but Tony was a fishing buddy of my father, and his son met his end at the hands of cops after refusing to become a snitch.
“Really, thank you, Mr. Luke.”
I grasped his hand, and we exchanged a hearty handshake.
“Mr. Felini, should I grill this fish?”
“Oh, I would appreciate that.”
The fish Tony gave me was quickly moved from his hands to the kitchen by the restaurant owner.
Soon, the enticing sound of the fish grilling on the kitchen griddle began to waft through the air, albeit slightly drowned out by the noisy chatter of the patrons.
“Coffee’s ready. The fish will be grilled soon.”
“Thanks.”
I decided to trust the restaurant owner with the fish. For now, I would just sip my coffee and enjoy a leisurely morning.
Since the Carmen Family had poked the Sanchez Family, I’d expect them to start striking back.
In truth, the war between the two families was more like a ceasefire… Thanks to who? The ever generous Hector Carmen. Of course, I wasn’t about to forgive him for what he did to Elena.
It was definitely disappointing that I couldn’t deal with him personally.
“Mr. Felini, here you go.”
“I could eat this right now.”
With not much coffee left, I quickly gulped it down and took the deliciously grilled fish with me as I left the restaurant.
I made my way back into the hotel, taking the elevator up to the top floor.
Seeing Elena and Felicita approach from different rooms was quite a sight. Like puppies running to greet their owner upon returning home.
“What’s with the fish?”
“It’s from Tony.”
“Oh.”
“…Who’s Tony?”
“He’s one of our family’s associates.”
I only mentioned what was necessary and then took my two wives into Elena’s room.
With freshly grilled fish in hand, Elena decided to call the hotel’s kitchen to inform them that we’d be having breakfast in the room instead today.
I felt a bit bad for the restaurant staff who would have prepared our meal.
“Elena, what do you think? Looks delicious, right?”
“Yeah, it does. But… honestly, the night before looked tastier.”
“…Elena, don’t send me back to bed right after I got back.”
I was slightly taken aback by her sudden suggestive comment. Of course, if I said it didn’t excite me, that would be a lie.
“Is there really a need to go back to then? Last night was probably even better.”
Felicita wasn’t one to sit idly by while Elena and I shared a moment.
“Hey, you stay out of this.”
“No way!”
“….”
Of course, Elena wasn’t one to back down either, as they both started to bicker without giving an inch.
“Anyway, I’m the older sister here, right?”
“Pff, older sister, please.”
Elena snorted at Felicita’s words. Both of my wives were younger than I was, but out of the three of us, Elena was the youngest.
While the two were squabbling back and forth, hotel staff arrived with breakfast to go along with our freshly grilled fish. The order had been made by Elena, but we didn’t really care what we chose to eat.
Elena had ordered what she knew I liked after all.
“Luke, are you sure that’ll be enough?”
“Luke can eat pretty much anything.”
I had chosen a plate of tomato spaghetti topped with mouthwatering meatballs, but it seemed to Felicita that wasn’t enough.
“Yeah, he can eat anything. That’s just how it is living as a wolf.”
The only thing I could hold against my father was that he had deprived me of proper nutrition during my growing years.
Of course, it wasn’t intentionally; it just happened when you raised someone to be a wolf.
“I can see how this goes. Elena, you. Aren’t you being a bit careless about your husband?”
“Quit talking back and just eat.”
I was minding my own business, twirling spaghetti, when Elena and Felicita were back at it.
I warned them before reaching for the grilled fish.
“Elena, Felicita. Stop that and eat.”
“This girl keeps picking fights.”
“Don’t you think it’s you who’s the problem?”
“If this keeps up, I’m spending next Sunday alone.”
“….”
“….”
*
The effect of the words I had spoken was stronger than I expected.
Elena and Felicita were unusually quiet, to a degree that would seem unfathomable on a normal day. In fact, it was so quiet that I began to feel uncomfortable.
They evidently didn’t want to spend Sunday without me.
“Ah, Felicita, by the way, have you heard anything from Veronica?”
“…Not yet. With the bomb you and Elena dropped, it’s probably noisy over there.”
Felicita mentioned the occurrences surrounding Veronica, while Elena and I shared what happened concerning Hector Carmen’s death, which reignited the war between the families.
“Forget her. She refused even after you talked to her. There’s nothing more to it.”
“Right, you can easily give up like that.”
“…What does that mean?”
“Ahem, cough.”
Noticing a brewing argument again, I cleared my throat to get their attention.
“Anyway, if anything comes up, I’ll let you know immediately.”
“….”
I felt a bit uneasy about Elena’s silence.
I casually brought up how Little Dom had expanded Solomon Family’s territory further south.
“Oh, right. Well, we both agreed to it.”
“Still, it’s a relief Little Dom stands between us and the Sanchez Family.”
“It feels less like a buffer zone and more like a meat shield.”
“That’s the same thing.”
“No, not really.”
As Felicita replied, Elena chimed in to critique, and they began bickering again.
I couldn’t keep stopping them forever, but they were truly opposites. I wondered what kind of chaos would unfold if Veronica joined in with them.
Meanwhile, Veronica and her comrades were in a more serious situation than we had anticipated.
Hector Carmen.
His death was a painful loss among Veronica and her allies, despite him holding some influence.
“….”
However, what troubled Veronica even more was the way his death had begun to unsettle the others.
At least Rita Carmen was preoccupied with her retaliation against the Sanchez Family so it was a somewhat comforting disaster.
Yet some of the comrades, to avoid suspicion, were responding to their mother’s intentions by becoming more actively engaged in the war against the Sanchez Family.
Some were even seemingly more relaxed about the war situation than Veronica was.
Of course, even in this situation, Veronica maintained her composure, doing her best to display a calm response. Keeping a poker face was crucial.
“Administrator, we have a guest.”
“A guest? Who?”
Veronica was mentally preparing herself to be cold if it was Felicita coming to see her again.
After all, she was… pregnant with the child of her beloved older brother. Taking on more risks was not favorable for anyone.
“It’s Miss Paula.”
“….”
The visitor was someone else.
Paula Carmen.
The eldest daughter of Rita Carmen… the heir to the Carmen Family.
Once, she had been Veronica’s strongest rival, but now, that was no longer an issue.
Veronica had barely any connection with Hector Carmen. Her relationship with Paula Carmen went without saying. Once rivals, their relationship had become irrelevant post-Veronica’s decline.
“Administrator?”
“Let her in.”
Though I wasn’t particularly keen on it, there was no other choice but to meet her.
