Filed to story: A Bullied Boy Died: A Mafia King Woke Up In His Body
Mason suddenly pulled out an arctech pistol, aiming it right at Kitana. Her training instinctively kicked in, with her trying to draw her pistol as well. However, her pistol was missing.
“Recognize this?” Mason motioned with his head to the pistol, which was clearly nicked from her.
“The truth is you’re a young, naïve, half-baked inquisitor who was sent here to die. Do you know why they don’t have to assassinate you? Because based on your current attitude, you would have died in less than a day on the streets of Raktor. You can’t even defend yourself or keep your pistol secured-what hope do you have against the gangs?” Mason berated her. “If I kill you right now, it would be a mercy.”
The sound of the arctech pistol’s safety being clicked frightened Kitana; her heart pounded as she stared at the barrel aimed at her forehead. Mason’s hand suddenly jerked, causing her to flinch instinctively. Opening her eyes slowly, she saw that Mason had tossed the pistol on the floor instead.
“Your safety was off,” Mason remarked as he sat back down on the sofa. “Look. I will do everything in my power to keep you alive for the duration of this operation. Once this is over, you can return to your zealous, holier-than-thou solo crusade and kill yourself for all I care. At least it’ll be off my record. Follow me, and I’ll train you to survive. Do we have a deal?”
Kitana nodded. “What are we going to do about protecting the factories? We don’t have enough bodies to cover all of them.”
“I heard there are a few organizations around this sector that specialize in protection; let’s knock down some doors tomorrow with a bit of lethal force, maybe talk with Sebastian. For now, get some rest.”
The two of them were shown to their quarters, a luxurious studio apartment. Kitana checked the room before closing the curtains, ensuring no one was spying on her.
She nearly couldn’t stop grinning as she checked her statistics again.
I was right to choose Raktor-I’m going to surpass my siblings within a year. With this much EXP running around the streets, who can stop me now?
Seductive Serpent
A few days after…
Damian settled into the chair gingerly, reveling in the soft, smooth texture of the velvet. “Look at me, Keith! I’m the king now. King of the District!”
“You’d better get out of that chair before Kyle comes back.” Keith sighed as he continued pouring over financial reports and inventory lists.
“What? Can’t the underboss relax a little? I’ve been in this gang for so many years-I think my back deserves a bit of velvet.”
“We’re not out of the woods yet. We still owe a debt to the Crimson Swords-they are coming to collect the interest soon. If you really were the underboss, you’d get off your ass and check for opportunities!” Keith shot back, obviously stressed.
“Relax. As long as Kyle is at the helm, we’ll be fine.” Damian’s faith in Kyle was obviously at an all-time high due to the success against the Red Lions. At the start, he was simply watching and not fully committed as of yet. Being the underboss of a small gang was significant to him, but not as much as one would expect when the gang was only thirty members strong. But being the underboss of a gang that had taken down the Left Paw of the Red Lion? That was different.
“I’m flattered by the belief placed in me. Nonetheless, I believe that is my chair.”
Damian shot right out of the chair, quickly stepping out of the way as Kyle walked in. Keith also stood up, but Kyle waved at them to stand down. “No time for decorum. We have issues to discuss. We have yet to nail down exactly how to expand our operations. Let’s focus on that.”
Each of them took a seat, with Damian and Keith sitting opposite Kyle around the office table.
“As of now, we only have two businesses under our wing-a pub and a brothel. Which-“
“You mean the Lusty Arcian?” Keith interjected.
“Yes.” Kyle could have sworn they had an obsession with saying the name but chose to ignore it. “Which is far from enough to generate the profits necessary to pay off the Crimson Swords. We have less than three months to clear the debts, and due to the Alchemists’ Guild’s restrictions, our potion contracts are severely limited.”
Kyle didn’t really see a way around the restrictions. Sure, he could ignore the ban, but only if he had enough power and connections. Defeating a subset of the Red Lions was far from becoming dominant enough to ignore such rules, so until then, he would have to play ball with Haui.
“We can look for other avenues,” Damian pointed out. “Now that we have a reputation, we can begin to spread our influence throughout the district. Perhaps even begin some additional protection rackets as well.”
“No protection rackets for now. Such an extortive method would only serve to turn the current populace against us. We must position the Seven Snakes as a force for good overall, something integral to the survival of the district. The moment the locals perceive that there are more cons to having us around than benefits, that is the moment we fall.” Kyle elaborated.
Perhaps that is why I fell as well in my last life.
Damian scratched his head, not sure of what else to suggest. Protection rackets had been his main job under Ulon and their primary source of income, so he was lost on what to do next.
“What we need to do is a bit of market research,” Kyle continued. “The potions are one good example of us being able to enter the market, but it is limited and hampered by a strong guild. That very limitation allows the price to be far higher than its cost, so products like that are desirable.”
Keith caught on quickly. “So basically anything that is prohibited under the Sanctum of Yual, correct?”
“Exactly. Any leads?” Kyle deferred to Damian and Keith, who were obviously more knowledgeable about the local area.
Keith offered another suggestion. “How about guns? We could try to break into the weapons market.”