Chapter 28
Was it the sight of their comrades dying in front of them without any resistance?
As one or two began to surrender, dropping their weapons, others followed suit.
Eventually, the last man standing was the leader of the group.
“All the others have surrendered, are you sure you want to continue?”
He glared at me without lowering the weapon in his hand but I can already see the laser points of the snipers aiming at him.
“If I surrender here, I don’t know what kind of retribution I’ll face from the Organization. Rather, I must leave behind evidence that I resisted to the end.”
“For……such a paltry reason?”
“What?”
I waved my hand in the air and the red dots aimed at him disappeared.
“If that’s the case, then don’t worry and surrender.”
I turn around and give him the answer to his problem.
“Corleone has no intention of sparing a dog with teeth.”
A moment later, I hear the clattering of the metal and the sound of the other members of the organization wrapping him up.
The mission was easier than I thought so I called Parnello work phone, which I’d gotten before the mission to debrief.
[Looks like you finished earlier than I thought]
Parnello’s gentle voice answers the phone.
“We’ve got them all in custody. I’m going to turn them over to the branch near Incheon Harbor.”
[Yes, thank you for your trouble, I guess you can come to Don’s office as soon as you get back home]
“To my father’s office? At this hour?”
[Yes, because Don has something to tell you]
“I’ll come……right away.”
[I’ll be waiting]
I end the call and turn around to see the rest of the team standing around to hear the debriefing.
“I have to meet the Don, so I’ll have to go first. Will you be able to make it to the Incheon branch?”
“Yes, we’ve got all of them in power restraint cuffs, no problem.”
“Please.”
I slap him on the shoulder a couple of times, then slide into the sedan I’ve been traveling in.
It’s very late, so there’s no traffic.
“Master, are you hurt?”
Han Seo-joon asks cautiously as he glances at me in the rearview mirror.
Since I left for the mission late at night, Han Seo-joon, my personal assistant, has also been working until this hour.
“They weren’t as stupid as I thought they would be, but you’re having a hard time with me working so late.”
“No, I’m getting paid a lot of money to do this.”
Han Seo-joon laughs and tries to lighten the mood, and I smile back.
“I’m glad you said that.”
Arriving home not long after, I take a quick shower before heading straight to my father’s study.
“Welcome home, Master.”
As if expecting me, Parnello stood in front of my father’s study.
“The Don is waiting for you inside.”
I bow my head slightly toward him and knock.
“Father, it is Eugene.”
[Come in]
I feel nervous when I enter my father’s office, as I always have.
Even with [Trait: Hitman], I can’t believe I’m this nervous. I always wonder what kind of monster Vito Corleone is.
“You’re home sooner than I thought.”
He flicks the cigar he’s been smoking into the ashtray when he sees me enter.
“Yeah, the guys I went with were pretty good, so we were able to get it done faster than I thought.”
“Haha! You think I didn’t hear the debriefing, and from the looks of it, it’s safe to say you’ve practically taken care of everything.”
He received the report already and was pleased with it.
“Yeah, the last Blunt Family case and this one too turned out better than I expected, and now I’m not sure what to give you.”
“You’re too kind. This is a family affair, so who am I to ask for a prize?”
“Hot damn, I didn’t know that greedy kid would grow up to be this big. Yes, yes, then…… that’s right. Parnello!”
Parnello opens the door at my father’s call and steps inside.
“You called for me, Don.”
“I think Eugene ought to be taught something about management, not just physical training; what do you think?”
……Management?
“I think he is already well prepared to learn the workings of the organization, Don, and you are right to do as you wish.”
“Hahaha! If you say so, I suppose you’re not wrong, then……. That’s right, I’ll put Eugene in charge of the Triad. Parnello, will you stand by his side and help him?”
“At Don’s word, sir.”
“Good. Then I’ll tell everyone at tomorrow’s meeting that I’ve entrusted Eugene with this task. Other than that, I’m not sure what else I can do…… Hmm. I’ll leave it at that.”
With that, he pulls out a cell phone from his desk drawer and starts dialing somewhere.
“It’s me, and I’m sure you know why I’m calling.”
I was wondering who he was calling.
“It’s the boss of the triad that tried to sneak into the Incheon port today.”
Parnello informed me in a quiet voice who my father was calling.
“I won’t make it long. Two hours. You have two hours to bring the party before me by any means necessary. If they’re not here in two hours, I’ll do it myself.”
My father’s voice sounded very stern and weighty, unlike the voice that had just praised me.
Silently listening to the voice on the other end of the phone, he said, “I’ll wait.” Then he hung up.
“He’s coming. Parnello, you will prepare a table for Eugene and the others to negotiate. I’ll stay here and see how Eugene handles the negotiations.”
“I’ll do as you say, Don.”
“And Eugene, if you handle this well……I’ll put an agenda item on tomorrow’s meeting about whether we should promote you to an Executive. You’ll do well, won’t you?”
The reward for being Corleone heir apparent and for the success of the last two cases was something that no ordinary member of the organization could ever dream of.
“I will try to live up to father expectations.”
“Okay, I’ll look forward to it. By the way, I’ll give you this……since you won’t get much sleep if you finish all your work today.”
With that, like a grandfather handing candy to his grandson, father casually hands me something he pulled out of his pocket.
“Since you’ve been having a hard time lately, I thought it would be fitting for you to eat it.”
“Is this……?”
“It’s an anti-fatigue potion made in a famous place. No matter how busy you are with family affairs, you shouldn’t let your studies suffer, so drink this.”
A glass bottle was placed in my hand.
If I remember correctly, it was definitely the Alchemist’s Workshop’s Fatigue Recovery Potion, which appeared in the game as a potion to reduce fatigue.
In the game, it was something that could only be consumed after you had completed a level, so it must be quite valuable here as well.
I smiled gratefully and took the potion from him, swallowing it in one gulp.
“Thank you for thinking of me, father.”
“Haha! It’s a recovery potion at best. Very well, then, stay here until the boys arrive. This father…… has his son to take care of things, so you can keep an eye on him for a while.”
Originally, this was supposed to be my father’s job, but this time he wanted to leave it to me and take a break.
After all, he’s the ‘Don’ behind many of the Corleone organizations, so this break is very much deserved.
“Well, then, let’s head out.”
“Yes. Have fun, Eugene.”
He waves at me and leans back in his chair.
I bow to him and walk out of the room, letting out a sigh to release the tension I’ve been holding in.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I thought you’d grown up a lot lately, but you’re still nervous around the Don.”
Parnello flashes me a kindly smile as he watches me sigh.
“The Don said they’d be here in two hours so why don’t you get some rest?”
“……I will, but, Parnello, I have a question for you.”
“If it is something I know, I will do my best to answer.”
With that, I nodded to Parnello and asked him the question I had just asked.
“If these men were going to come all the way to Korea with a single call from my father, why on earth did they even think to sneak in without Corleone?”
“Oh, you mean that?”
Parnello says, reaching to stroke his beard at my question.
“Sometimes there are those guys, the delusional ones who think, ‘If we resist desperately enough, we can wound Corleone.’ But they end up ending those delusions by facing reality.”
“Hmm?”
“Typical of……Well, think of what you’ve accomplished today.”
What happened today?
An elite group of twenty people, carefully selected by an organization, lost contact upon arrival at port and were captured alive all because of a single Corleone Hitman.
“……That might explain something.”
“It does, doesn’t it? That alone will eventually scare them off and send them into another delusion: if it’s ‘that’ Corleone, won’t they show mercy? And then they fall into another delusion: what if they get a call from Don under those circumstances? They’ll just come and see.”
Corleone doesn’t let dogs that have bared their teeth at them live.
Parnello chuckles, muttering what everyone knows is true about Corleone.
“So maybe that’s why me and Don are both so worried and excited about what you’re going to do, and I think Don is using this to see if you have what it takes to be an Executive.”
As far as my father and Parnello are concerned, I’m deciding the fate of hundreds of people.
If I become an officer of the Executive, I will be faced with situations like this again and again.
But maybe my father and Parnello still saw me as a child.
“Then it’s a good thing.”
“What?”
Parnello tilts his head at my words.
“After all, it’s just a matter of making the right choice, isn’t it? Well, then the answer is simple: ……I’m a Corleone, after all.”
I’ve played this game countless times before so this is nothing.
I can probably claim to have more experience so I just have to trust my judgment and my choices, as I always have.
I promise to show my father and the organization that I’m worthy of succeeding him.
Parnello looks at me and smiles wryly.
“Yes, the Don was right to worry. You are a Corleone, after all.”
Parnello turned to me and bowed.
“Well, then, I’ll let you know as soon as our guests arrive. In the meantime you should get some rest.”
“……Please.”
I guess I’m not sleeping tonight.
