Chapter 29
[Master, you have guests.]
As I sat in my room organizing the information, there was a knock at the door and Parnello announced the arrival of the Chinese triad.
“I’ll be right out.”
I tell Parnello, then stand up and walk over to the full-length mirror in the room.
I adjust my impeccable black suit, crisp white shirt, necktie, and tie, creating an impeccably clean appearance.
This is his first appearance in front of an organization outside of Corleone, so it’s important to be extra careful and not appear shallow.
I open the door and look at Parnello standing in front of me.
“Parnello, is it okay if I go as I am?”
I ask Parnello, who is the best in Corleone when it comes to grooming, and spin around in place.
Parnello looks at me thoughtfully, and then nods with satisfaction.
“Very well, sir, you are the most gentlemanly man in Corleone.”
“I’m embarrassed to hear you say……that.”
“It’s true, but so what?”
If Parnello says so, then so be it.
Then all that’s left is to show what I’m capable of in front of everyone.
“Let’s go.”
“I’ll accompany you.”
It was time to take care of my first official outside job since becoming a member of the Corleone.
* * *
Lately, I’ve been given another reason to live.
I am the hound of Corleone and the closest person to Don……..
If someone else had told me, I would have told them to stop playing around. However, I have another blessing in my life: Don’s son, Master Corleone, who has recently been trained as a successor, Eugene Han Corleone.
Currently, he and I were on our way to greet a group of Triad members from China.
We had no fear of the Triad’s presence in Asia, a continent across the ocean but they tried to smuggle themselves into our territory.
By all accounts, the Master handled the situation very well, but regardless, they must pay for their crimes and this meeting was not just any meeting, but the first meeting he ever had with another organization.
I vow to serve him to the best of my ability, as Don has entrusted him to me.
“This is it, Master.”
The meeting room in the annex next to the main house is visible to Don in his study thanks to the CCTV cameras installed everywhere.
“An annex.”
After a quick glance at the surroundings, he walks in, and as he does the people waiting for him bow to him.
“Enough greetings. Are they in there?”
“Yes, Master.”
After hearing their confirmation, he enters the room first.
The smell of blood is faint at the tip of his nose and at the back of the room, he sees a blindfolded and gagged man and a silent man sitting at a table.
“That’s him.”
The leader of the Triad and the man who had bared his teeth at Corleone.
If I had my way, I’d slit his throat right now, but Master is the one who makes the decision.
For now, I could only stand still behind him.
“……And you?”
The man jumps up from his seat when he sees Master and me. His expression hardened when he saw our faces.
Did he really think that Mr. Don himself would come to the meeting?
“The rightful heir to the Corleone family, Eugene Han Corleone.”
I inform him of his position, as if to make sure he knows who I’m talking about, then he makes an ‘ah’ sound and bows his head.
“My name is Zhao Xiao, I’m the head of a branch of the Red Dragon Society, an organization of shippers operating in China. It’s an honor to meet you.”
He pretends to be polite, but he doesn’t bother to remove the hat from his head.
It’s clear that he’s looking down on Master for coming, instead of the Don. But Master doesn’t even bother to greet him, instead walking straight to the head of the table and taking a seat.
“Let’s get down to business, Triad.”
He doesn’t seem to be intimidated at all by the presence of someone from another organization, even the head of the organization’s branch, and takes the initiative.
He looked so relaxed that it was hard to tell he was a beginner.
“……Please.”
He sits down, raising his head in response to master’s words.
“The first thing I want to ask is, what is that?”
As he said this, master looked over at the bloodied man in the corner.
“Alas, he is the mastermind of this incident. He told me he was laundering money behind my back, but he got into trouble and did this, so I brought him here to apologize.”
As he says this, he slams his hand down on the head of the man kneeling next to him.
The blindfolded and gagged man can only squirm and gasp for air and judging by the blood on his gag, his tongue has been cut out.
In other words, he was being used as a pruner.
The real culprit must be that Chinese guy over there putting on a serious act.
“Master, it seems like───”
I opened my mouth with that thought but the master stood up from his seat, extending his hand to me.
“Interesting. You mean this guy is the mastermind?”
“Well, yes.”
Surprised by the sudden behavior, the master nonchalantly removes the blindfold to examine the man’s face.
“Hmm. I see.”
“……What do you mean?”
“If you’re from China, you should know at least a little bit about Guanshang.”
“You mean Guan……?”
“Yes, Guanshang. I’ve always been curious about all sorts of things, so I studied it for a while, and from what I’ve learned…… this guy isn’t the kind of person who would do something like that.”
With that, the master puts the blindfold back on his eyes, causing the triad representative to stand up in confusion.
“What do you mean, you can tell just by looking at his face, isn’t that ridiculous, he’s definitely the culprit!”
“Right, it’s ridiculous, then why are you putting a puppet with its tongue cut out in front of me and assuming he’s the culprit? Do you think Corleone is that stupid?”
He kicks the guy’s chair out from under him.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Shut up. I’m barely holding back the urge to slit your throat right now. Parnello, if he pulls any stunts, I want you to cut his Achilles heel and ligaments.”
“I will, master.”
“Parnello, the Hound of Corleone……!”
I was worried for nothing.
Master walked over to the dazed man on the ground and sat down in front of him.
“Yes, you should have acted like that the first time you saw me, you’re finally getting it.”
“You don’t think I’m going to let you get away with this, I have my own men in this annex!”
He yells back, backing away as if in a last ditch effort.
“Ha.”
But Master snorts at his words.
“Funny? Yes! Even if our organization is nothing compared to Corleone, if we’re willing to fight to the death – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -”
“I apologize, master. It looks like he was trying to touch you.”
I throw the knife towards his right ligament and sever it.
The mood Master wants to create now is fear, an overwhelming fear.
“Well done, Parnello.”
“Ha ha…… ha ha……. What the hell is this……!”
When he realizes that his life is “really” in danger, he starts being respectful again and master nods in approval.
“Surely you didn’t mean to end this by handing over a puppet like that. How much authority do you have from your boss?”
“I’m my boss’s delegate!”
“If you’re your boss’s delegate, you must have brought quite a bit of money……with you. What’s the most you’ve got?”
“A billion credits…….”
The guy answered while strengthening his muscles with magic to stop the bleeding on his right arm but in response master shakes his head.
“Ten billion.”
“Ten billion!? There’s no way I have such a ridiculous amount of money! Even if there was, the boss wouldn’t be able to-──”
“Yeah, it’s ridiculous, isn’t it? Parnello, left leg.”
“Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
I throw the knife at him, this time grazing his left leg. This would cripple him for life unless he received proper medical attention.
“Trying to sneak into Corleone territory was a fool’s errand, but your people tried it. I’ll say it again.”
Master shuffled over and slowly turned to face him, his expression unchanging as he continued to press down on the wound.
“Cuck, cck, cck, cck!”
“Ten billion.”
” We’ll prepare, we’ll prepare!”
“Be specific.”
I walk over to the sobbing man, reach into his pocket, and shove his phone into his hand.
“Right now.”
“Gee, what do you mean right now…….”
“Parnello, right hand too──”
“I will, I will!”
Just before my name is called, the kid begins to furiously tap his phone.
Master is clearly watching the scene from the side so he showed me a palm signal behind his back so that the triad representative couldn’t see it but before I could comprehend the meaning of the signal, the representative said.
“This damned Corleone is……”
The guy with the phone tries to grab Master as if to hold him hostage, but instead, he falls backwards, his face crushed by Master’s knee.
It’s a great example of what I taught him, to always keep his eyes on the enemy and never relax, and I can’t help but smile at the sight.
“There are no second chances. If you want to live, deal with it now.”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
As if intimidated by master who anticipates everything, the man who has completely given up on everything starts to move hard again.
After watching him for a while, master nodded in satisfaction, grabbed his phone, and stood up.
This was something that would tell us if he really had the qualities of a boss and if he was ready to succeed Corleone.
“What are you doing……?”
“Unlike you, Corleone values the bonds and promises made between people.”
Ignoring the red-eyed man master walked toward the exit.
“But it’s a different story with a son of a bitch who doesn’t even know what a promise is.”
“Eh, damn it, damn it──”
“Parnello, I’ll leave the cleanup to you.”
With that Master casually walked out of the room.
“……As you wish.”
Well, I guess I was worried for nothing.
