The Inferesse Family’s situation wasn’t so bad that it couldn’t be recovered. Still, there would be a lot for me to deal with. There wasn’t a single second for me to rest.

First, a lengthy statement was sent out with evidence that the family head had replaced. Second, an announcement was made to all of the family’s current alliances, requesting a meeting. Third, all of the family’s existing resources were distributed to provide support to the families of those who died in the latest attack, to cover Inferesse’s own repair costs, and much more.

Dealing with all of this and more took three days. For three days, I worked non-stop, without even sleeping properly, dealing with problems.

Just…

“Haaah…”

I stretched with a deep breath. I leaned back in my chair in the office that now belonged to me and looked up at the ceiling.

Alex… hadn’t shown up.

The day after I woke up in the hospital, I sent Sith to find him, but he hadn’t found anything. On the fourth day, yesterday, when things had calmed down a bit, I asked him to look around again, but he couldn’t do a thorough search because of the dangers he had to avoid.

Now we’re entering the fifth day. There’s still not a single trace of Alex.

Even though I trust him, I can’t help but worry.

Stephen is a very competent assistant, extremely helpful, but that’s precisely the problem. He won’t cause any trouble while I’m busy recovering the family, but as time passes and I start putting the main plan into action, he will definitely notice certain things.

I’d prefer Alex to be here instead of him.

I need to find him quickly.

~knock! ~knock!

I paused. Turning my eyes from the ceiling to the front, I straightened up with a sigh.

“Come.”

The office door opened slowly. Stephen entered respectfully, closed the door, and approached my desk. His expression was calm as always.

“Sir, your meeting is in two hours. You need to start getting ready.”

Ah, right… That meeting between allies.

I pushed the files on my desk aside and closed the screens.

“All right.”

I almost forgot…

“Let’s get ready then.”

I picked up my cane and got up from my desk, but paused before starting to walk.

“You got the eye patch I wanted, right?”

Stephen nodded obediently, pulled a black thing out of his pocket, and handed it to me.

It was an eye patch that covered only my left eye, similar to the ones pirates wear.

“Nice.”

*******

The preparation phase didn’t take very long. Of course, it wasn’t excessively short either.

I don’t know why, but the attendants who were helping me with my attire couldn’t decide which of the few suits, which weren’t very different from each other, was more appropriate. If it were up to me, I would have chosen one long ago, but since appearance is important in such matters, I didn’t say anything.

After the suit, I had some quite light makeup applied, just to even out my complexion, and it was time to set off.

Although this ‘meeting’ largely concerned me as the leader of the Inferesse Family, it was held in the territory of another family that was in a more stable situation, not at the Inferesse Family mansion. So after getting into my car, the journey began.

It wasn’t a lengthy drive. Twenty minutes would be enough to reach our destination. So, during it, I thought about things while also watching the scenery outside.

I felt quite strange while looking outside because I had covered my left eye. My field of vision was narrower than I had expected, but it wasn’t something I couldn’t get used to.

Other than that… the city was quite calm. Really, looking at it this way, it didn’t give off the vibe of a ‘crime city’ at all. Those involved in illegal activities weren’t doing them openly, in plain sight.

There was a strange kind of respect between people.

But deep down, it was different. Out of sight, whether it was drug dealing, human trafficking, or worse… it was all happening even as of now, while I was going to a metting toward these ‘mafia families’.

I turned my eyes to the buildings visible in the distance. Thanks to the hours I spent playing the game, I knew exactly where Saligia’s headquarters were here. I could even walk there if I wanted to.

But it wasn’t time yet. After all, I had a lot of things to prepare. When the time came, I would take that step and finish my business here.

With that, I took my eyes off the outside and focused my thoughts on the meeting ahead of me. I could guess more or less what would happen, but it wouldn’t hurt to do a little planning beforehand.

And so, time continued to pass. Those twenty minutes flew by, and just as I was gathering my thoughts, we arrived at our destination.

The Planar Family’s mansion, where the meeting was to take place, wasn’t particularly large. Every detail made it clear that this family was lower in the hierarchy than the Inferesse Family.

Although… in the current situation, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that they were superior to us.

In fact, there was even a possibility that I would be excluded from this alliance, which consisted of all the allies of the Inferesse Family. Actually, that was the point of the meeting.

Even though I was the one who sent the meeting request, someone else would have done it soon enough. I took the initiative because I preferred whatever was going to happen to happen quickly.

How ‘qualified’ is Philip Inferesse’s son, who has taken his place? Is the Inferesse Family still worth supporting? Or would it make more sense to expel them and take their resources?

This meeting will seek answers to questions like these. That’s why it’s quite important.

We stood in front of a single-story building in the Planar Family’s territory, which was quite large for a simple ‘meeting’ place, even if it wasn’t the main building.

In front of me were a few more cars that looked like they had been here before, all of them looking like luxury, late-model cars…

They had arrived before me, huh. Even though the meeting was still half an hour away.

It seems that people here have a better understanding of time responsibilities… or it could be something like tradition. There are a lot of strange mafia traditions here.

Of course, they might also want to use this against me, claiming that I ‘came late’ or something… It would be ridiculous, but I should expect such dirty tricks.

I got out of the car with Stephen. Then, accompanied by Stephen and the Planar Family’s employees, I entered the single-story building.

Due to mafia rules or traditions, whichever they were, no one else had come with me except Stephen and the driver, as required. While I was thinking that the same must apply to other families, we approached the single door connected to the building’s entrance.

The door automatically opened backward, revealing the single room of this large building.

Except for the thickness of the walls protecting the building from the outside, this room occupied almost the entire building. There were windows showing the outside, of course, but I hadn’t seen many windows from the outside; it was probably for privacy.

The room was well-lit. I could see every corner in minute detail. But it wasn’t trying too hard to impress; it was overly simple. It was an extremely ordinary room with a large table in the middle that had seven chairs.

The real issue was who was sitting at that large table and who was about to sit there.

Three people had arrived before me. The first, logically, was the head of the Planar family. He was a man in his fifties with short, greenish hair and eyes of the same color. Despite his age, he was almost as well-built as Harrison Reross, who had died at the hands of Tom Bluelet. His name was Parker Planar.

The second person, sitting one chair to Parker Planar’s right, was a woman. She was beautiful, with brown hair falling over her shoulders and eyes that were a shade of red that almost looked pink. Compared to the others, who were dressed in suits as befits movie mafias, she was wearing a black dress. She must have been in her thirties. Her name was Frensa Dasim.

The third and final person was a very young man sitting right next to Frensa Dasim. So much so that… when I saw him, I couldn’t help but frown.

Eighteen…? Maybe nineteen.

I quickly searched my memory. His appearance, hair and eye color, and most importantly, the family crest on his jacket…

Ah, the heir to the Nomar Family.

Why did he come instead of the family head? Considering the importance of why we were meeting here, it could even be considered a somewhat disrespectful move.

Interesting.

Without focusing too much on him, I slowly made my way to my seat at the table. Throughout this brief process, the eyes of the three people opposite me never left me. After all, they were here to see me, to gauge my worth. They were carefully observing my every move, even the way I walked.

After everyone took their seats, the meeting began quite quickly, even though there were still about twenty minutes until the scheduled time.

The first to speak was Parker Planar, the head of the Planar Family, who was both the owner of the venue and arguably the most powerful person in the alliance.

“I thank everyone attending the nineteenth meeting of our alliance of seven families.”

Being someone who understood the importance of alliances and connections in his position, he was quite respectful. However, like everyone else at the table, his eyes immediately shifted to the person who had taken the place of the head of the Nomar Family.

“Simon Nomar, is there a reason you are here in place of your family head?”

Simon answered the question respectfully and politely, though he did not break the slight smile on his face.

“The family head is currently outside the country and is in a situation where it is impossible for him to come here. Therefore, as his sole heir, I had to attend on his behalf.”

Parker Planar sighed softly. He didn’t seem that pleased with the situation, but he chose not to press the matter and looked away from Simon. He then continued, briefly looking at everyone in turn.

“The reason we are holding the nineteenth meeting of our alliance is, as you all know, the unfortunate event that befell the Inferesse Family.”

His eyes were on me when he said ‘Inferesse Family’.

“And to decide how this unfortunate event will affect us.”

Although he kept his eyes on everyone else for only a moment, when it was my turn, he didn’t even blink.

“The Inferesse Family constituted a significant, if not the largest, part of our alliance’s strength. However, with the current situation, that has changed.”

His gaze sharpened; his focus was entirely on me along with everyone else.

“Following the Reross’ attack, they lost both their family head and a large portion of their military strength, as well as nearly eighty percent of their financial capabilities.”

It was as if… they had already decided to expel the family from the alliance before coming here.

Just like I had expected.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep