Chapter 10 - Wake Up As Mafia Boss

1st of January, the Year 1811 A.D., it was the month of change, hope and field of joyful day for normal people d.e.s.i.r.ed for peace, whilst a chaotic p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e and pleasant ruthless day of improving and cultivating their vision to conquer their d.e.s.i.r.es such as fame, infamous achievements, and domination into reality for all the high ranking and born-mafia leaders in each estate of the country who celebrated the new year those reasons. It was part of the winter season but for some strange event, it didn't cover the whole island with snow for almost five years after the battle between Godfather's army and Archnemesis hired mercenaries.

The time was exactly around 4:57:45 pm on his wristwatch. Hermes walked beside the two firm figures, Justin on his right and the chief on his left, that made remained his casual noble and merchant facade to avoid causing trouble.

The place had the same theme of medieval Italy during the renaissance period but with the modern presence of uncrowded and peaceful stroll that was normally seen in the present country. There were few people around, but much more dressed in normal peasant outfit like the old world.

They arrived in the place, crowded by several civilians who others were waiting for their names to be called and some of them were looking for an available job at the bulletin board hanging on the right. Hermes noticed that the ease-of-doing-business and workplace were undeniably worse than his world. Due to countless criminal assault, lack of security and low private and public investment that made some of the citizens living here planned or realized to work abroad. Of course, it was not that kind of overseas job where people would oblige to work to other countries without complying to the requirements, but it was only limited to Italian sector were only provided by each estate residing the whole island of Italia. The young Don pitied his people and prayed that someday they would find the best of their day.

He had been noticed the strange pressure inside the building, and sensing the unwelcomed gaze of the people inside. From their perspective and outright appearance of how they looked at them, Justin replied with an unsought gaze, as his redemption. The young Don quickly hit his waist with an elbow to prevent him from causing trouble. The chief moved forward and turned his gaze at the civilians. In one clap, everyone except the Village Hall receptionist looked away, like no figures appeared on their sight within the place.

A short brown hair with a flower clip around her left bangs, a cap resembled the flight attendant usually wore and a violet scarf around her neck smiled at them. She was the receptionist graciously waved her hands, like a generic but beautiful clerk in every office. But her clothes had the same design as the secretary of a normal company.

"Good Afternoon," she lowered her head, with both of grasped hands on her skirt before them, "Welcome to Neue Fiona Village Hall, my name is Ilona, the receptionist of this place and the sole secretary of the head of this village." As the three men approached closer to her table, her seductive looks made Hermes think she's a dangerous person to deal with. Her attention remained at the chief, like a tiger watching her favorite food. And she continued, "Oooh… my, chief, it is rare to see you bringing some guests unless they are important. What made you lend your time to stroll them by yourself? You don't even lend your time together with me last night, you know." Her eyes, half-open, looked at the young Don and Justin with a delightful smile, but threatening gaze.

"Ilona, "Chief Zamor raised his eyebrows and replied her with half-smile. "W-We could talk it privately later. Oh, uh, yes, like what you stated earlier, these people behind me are very important figures. So, kindly assist them with their request."

"Oh," She paused for a second with her mouth covered with her fingers, and said with apologetic face, ".. my apologies, where are my manners? *cough* Welcome new guests and friends of our beloved Chief, hopefully, you won't commit such mischief. What kind of service can I lend to you?" asked Ilona, raised her head after her greet, waiting for their response.

"Greetings, madam. I'm Aljen the merchant of the Cimeria Southern Desert and this is my butler, Justin. We request for immediate registration to carry a certain card befitting to us as a valid guest in this place. No need to be wary and worry about us as we'll pay the exact amount," replied the young Don, with a regal manner which mistakenly presumed by the receptionist that he was a son of a businessman with a high degree of education. But looking at his weird attire and the black mask covering his entire face, she believed he might be a dangerous man with a low fashion sense. He added with a smile, "A tourist card for both of us in short notice."

"Mister... You're stra - ?" she felt something to the young Don and almost spout the word 'strange'. She wanted to reply but she was interrupted by his hand. "Aljen," said Hermes, giving off a noble presence towards the receptionist. "Please, kindly call me Aljen, madam." Her eyes couldn't see his face behind the black mask, but she was worried that she might offend the guest for her manner if she kept this way. "I, I, I see." Ilona was afraid that he read her thoughts that he's a little bit weird for someone proclaiming himself as a merchant. Furthermore, she didn't like his sense of fashion and strange behavior. She didn't know the reason but her feminine sense was telling her not to trust this guy and accepted his request. So, she sarcastically smiled, "My apologies, sir. But you're request is a little broad and lack of enough information. Have you learned about our law in this place and the requirements needed to be filled up before you asked for it? Hermes nodded and replied, "Yep, I already know it from the beginning." He didn't lie about it. He was part of the developers who created the game, anyway. But only the basic law and few rules were prescribed inside his knowledge and not every article was still intact on his mind.

"Oh, but that's convenient. I don't need to give you a two hours session about our law in this country." She saw that he and his companion were empty-handed, carried nothing but their clothes so she figured out another way to reject his request in a decent way. "But sir, do you have a passport or any kind of valid government I.D. to become your permanent proof for your identities? A simple doc.u.ment to show as a valid verification in this nation and other countries. If not, unfortunately, we won't let you qualified to be called as a tourist. No ID, no evidence, then no entry." Ilona explained with her index waving from right to left twice. Her fair-skinned hand dragged down the board behind her. "This is the method we often used. It shows the list of information of proper procedure of getting the valid ID, license, citizenship, and other kinds of stuff," Ilona added. She was confident that he'll give up. But she sensed his determination to solve it. "Oh, I see your point. Legal doc.u.ments will prove our identity for a good reason." Hermes showed her some confidence and firm gesture. And he added, "But some of our doc.u.ments went missing on our voyage and the others were left behind in the hotel we rented. Do you have any kind of legal means to help us to gain access from this village?"

"Apparently not." She shook her head with pity. "But I'll tell you something about our basic rules of this village. First, Thou shall not kill anyone in here. Thou shall steal and covet your thy neighbors and last, thou shall not conduct anything suspicious action related to Mafia. Fail to comply and obey these three rules will result in instant execution. Or if you're lucky, you'll be honorably deported from this place with free of charges and considered as outsiders as per se," Ilona retorted, sarcastically.

'This girl... she's not a typical receptionist, huh. Even she doesn't show it, frankly, she's a little bit hostile to us. And she's sarcastic. She's trying to lure us out from this place by using those words. Did we do something to make her mad? Damn, what should we do? The law of this place is too strict like Singapore in my past life. I blame that junior of mine of adding this kind of setting, of course. Everything must be in proper order and must obediently follow the rules and regulations regardless of who might you be.' Hermes muttered, turning his gaze to his servant when he noticed his hostility. He raised his hand to stop his action before something bad to happen for both parties. 'Please, don't make it hard for us to enter this place. This is our chance to infiltrate the place without taking innocent lives.'

As Justin read his mind, he sighed and agreed. But his perspective to his boss was different. He thought he was telling him this message: 'Don't kill them. I'll be the one who'll murder this fool. She's annoying, I know but don't worry, I got this.'

The tension got deepen between the receptionist and the two guests. This leads to the chief to make a move before she decided to call it off and denied their tourist access. It was his fault from the beginning because he didn't invite her to their house to celebrate the occasion.

"Ilona, please be mindful. Just give them what they want," Chief Zamor moved forward and hold her hands. His arm picked two folded papers with a seal of the Camelia family and gave it to her. She took it, removed the seal and read the doc.u.ment. She, surprised, raised her eyebrows after reading it. "These papers? Could it be.... the official residences illegal magical tool [Cuncon]? "She tilted her head with half-eyes open." Are you sure, Chief? This is beyond our law?" She pushed it forward to him, but her hands were held by the chief. Her cheeks turned red and she averted her eyes after. "Just sign it up, please." Chief Zamor insisted it, closing their distance to each other. Their eyes met and some strange feeling felt by her heart. The magical tool [Cuncon] ]was only used as an alternative method to get a formal registration to such place inside a huge nation. Only a few people had knowledge know how to use it and hiding it as their last resort if something didn't go in their way. It was a tool that often used by illegal immigrants to enter their target countries without taking the long registration and interview with any government immigration offices promptly. By paying a large sum of money to get their papers transformed into a citizen card by corrupt government officers. As the receptionist and also part of a government management advisory, she had the skill to unleash the magic residing to the two papers she was holding. But it was a forbidden tool and couldn't be regarded as a legal measure for their reputation would get tainted. Imprisonment of at least ten years and a penalty of 600,000 luzers to be paid on cash were the punishment if caught by authorities. Like in his previous world, it was like a hacking tool used primarily by anonymous hackers and the Mexican cartels that transported illegal immigrants in the US borders and created permanent legal doc.u.ments for their clients. Furthermore, the forbidden tool was regarded as powerful item that could destroy and manipulate the national statistics related to the population census of each government.

Just one little push she would take the bite and Chief Zamor would win her heart. He said, "Listen up, these two lads of mine saved my twins. Do you even want these two saviors to be deported? You see, they are both merchants from another nation. If we did something bad to them, just how much benefits will be lost after it? Think first, Ilona. This young man has promised me that he'll invest his money in our village. One of this part will develop the place into the finest town. Or with luck, this village will become a city-state of the whole island. The first of its kind in the West of Scily. Moreover, this is also one of the great opportunities to boost tourism, as well." She looked at the young Don and he gave her a nod confirming his promise about it. "But… But... It's against our law and regulations." She, petrified, held the hand of the chief. And she said, "I don't want to use my power for this kind of illegal method. The manager will scold me and the worst, it'll be taxed to my salary. Do you want me to violate what states in our policy? Chief Zamor, do you understand the cost of this action. This is the first time you commit this kind of crime."

"What?" Her eyes opened wide with her mouth covered by her hands. His reply made her surprised. "Chief, you're the Village Chief, the head of this place. You're the one who'd better know the consequences of this illegal act. If we violate it, what do you think the others would do next? They'll be going to sue you for this? Do you know what would happen if this crime leaked out from outside? They would revolt also." She murmured as she looked at the papers.

"Madam," Hermes raised his hand to catch their attention, "May I ask for a reason for not giving us the right to have a simple tourist card."

"Umm, uh, eh." She hesitated to speak and fidgeting her gaze down to the table and the young Don. To which he began concluding something behind it: she had a deep secret and her life would be in danger if she revealed it. So, he spoke, "A'ight, you don't need to tell it if you don't want to." He interrupted her again before she opened her mouth. "We'll leave then. Thanks for the kindness, Chief. It is a waste of time for not giving us a chance to prove ourselves as a common merchant. I ain't going to push ourselves for this kind of treatment."

"Wait, hold up. Ilona, please. I'm beggin' you." the chief ramped his left hand on the table. He lowered his voice after the civilians heard the sound. "Please... consider these proposals for the future sake of our village."

"But, but, " She sighed and gave in, "Alright, fine. I'll do it. But I wish there's an equal price for my service." Her eyes turned gaze to the chief that made him laughed heartily. And he warmly smiled, "I told you, don't worry about it. The price will be a kind of special treatment. I permit you to live with us for the meantime. I can guarantee you a special room in our home and I bet you'll enjoy the best of time with us for the whole week. What do you think, give or take?"

'Wait, isn't that bribery? Hey, hey, hey, you two must realize we also hear your conversation. Chief Zamor, she wouldn't convince that easy, y' know. Normal people would never allow themselves to take such simple and cheap bribe. Unless she likes you. Or she has an abnormal fetish, sir.' Hermes thought when he eavesdropped their conversation.

However, her mood had changed. She quietly giggled, while looking at the picture of the twins underneath her table. Her eyes gazed with petrifying smile at Chief Zamor, quickly picked up the pen on her c.h.e.s.t pocket and signed the papers. Then, she cast a magic on the two papers of the chief gave to her and their eyes twinkled as the papers shone for a few seconds. The light caught the attention of the people inside but immediately looked away after she gave them a cold and terrifying gaze. Sending them a warning that if you kept watching they were going to get killed by her.

Hermes screamed in surprised on his mind by her sudden change. His eyes caught her attention. She smiled at him, but it only gave him a cold sweat. He noted himself not to make an enemy of woman like her after witnessing it.

"Sir. Aljen and his companion, please come closer. " The young Don and his servant moved to the table after. She directly gave away the papers to their hands and warmy smiled, "Please sign these doc.u.ments. You must make sure to fill up all the contents correctly without biased information. The payment of the papers cost of 5 Luzers, but because it was honestly paid by our dearest and my beloved chief, you don't need to worry about the payments."

The way of their registration was easy but illegal, however. And something troubled his mind a little bit this time.

'Damn, what should I name then?' Hermes murmured.

"I finish to fill out the magical tool, I mean, the application paper, what should I do next, Ma'am?" Justin asked, showing the papers to Miss Ilona.

'Huh? Justin, you're done? But I'm not done yet!' When Justin sensed Hermes stared at him, he thumbed up with a radiant smile. His butler thought the young Don praised for his quick signing up the application paper.

"You must put your sign in the part of Signature over Printed Name then used your thumb by magical ink of truth in this box." She pointed at the blank pages. Justin conceitedly replied, "Oooh, that's it, huh. It is easy like I'm killin' such small fries that attackin' us during the night." With no idea what he meant, Ilona and Chief Zamor exchanged a glance and laughed instead.

Suddenly, the paper lighted up in blue flames and it turned into a small ID card.

"Congratulations, Mr. Justin. Your name is now transmitted and added to the list of this island. I welcome you as part of our beloved tourist. Have a nice stroll and enjoy your vacation full of excitement and high expectation." Ilona smiled at him making him feel disgusted.

"Aljen, what's taking you so long. Do you have any problems?" Chief Zamor worried about the young Don who hadn't filled up his name on the paper. "I can lend you a hand and tell you what you need to learn." He took a peek at his paper but the young Don quickly folded it. "Aaah, no need. " He turned his gaze after the chief moved closer once again, but he gently pushed him away further. He replied, " Y' don't need to worry about me. Just give me some space, sir."

"Boss," Justin moved closer, "If you're afraid of leaking your true identity, I'll take the chance of killin' all of these people." Hermes, surprised, smiled at him with a cold sweat after his butler whispered it to his ears. Now, his problem added more fuel to his mind. He quickly replied with a calm tone, "No, please restrain yourself. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm fine. Just reviewing my paper if I fill up all of it… correctly."

'What the heck, girl?' He clenched his teeth after hearing it. 'You don't have to tell me that. I know it that's why I'm scared to write my name here. That's why I'm taking too long to fill it up. If I put my name Hermes Archnemesis, it would lead me to my death flag so quick. Everyone in this village hates me so much. Hence, I can't even write it here. And if I write my name in my previous world, can it be acceptable? Crap, what should I do? What should I do? Damn it, Stump G. You're making my life harder than I expected.'

"Oh, whatever. May my luck be with me!" The young Don wrote in the paper his first name, Aljen. He showed it to her and he followed what she said. And after a few minutes, the paper burned in flames and the color became dark purple as it burning rapidly the paper after his thumb marked the last blank part.

Everyone, including the civilians nearby were surprised at what they witnessed. Hermes didn't expect that his card burned in a different color. This was the first time in his knowledge that it colored out too different from the original. There are two reasons behind that he thought about. It could be that it was a fake magical tool given by the chief and the other one, the violet flames could possibly a new kind of bug added in the flow of this world by his nemesis, Stump G. He assumed he was laughing after he learned about his situation. He must be messing him around for his own fun.

"Ms. Ilona, there's somethin' wrong about my card, " The young Don showed it to her. Ilona, surprised, tilted her head while her index finger covered her mouth with confusion. "That's strange. This is our first time to see a violet card and the username left blank. What could it be… Umm, we can replace it by repeating the same thing once again if you wish, Mr. Aljen. Don't worry, I have a spare."

'Crap, no more.' His eyebrows raised and waved his hand with refusal gesture.

"Oh boy, I guess we don't need to let Mr. Aljen replace his ID. The card showed his status as a tourist like his butler too. So, we don't need to repeat the process." Chief Zamor said, interrupting her offer.

"... Eh? Umm... I guess so. Maybe, it is convenient to do, Chief. But according to our policy…. umm... " She sighed, "I can just ask the manager about this after the break. Well then, I know you already hear this but please don't feel bad about it. " She stretched her arms open wide and smiled, "Welcome to our Neue Fiona, Mr. Aljen. Hope you enjoy your visit and stay in this village. If you have anything to ask, just ask us and we will surely take care of it as soon as we can." Ilona lowered her head, and raised her head after. "Of course, the next time we meet, there's a few exchanges of the equivalent price for our service."

"Thank you very much, Madam," The young Don and Justin said in unison. They lowered their heads before they left the place. Ilona lowered her head, thereof, and waved her hands with a warm smile to their departure.

'Woah, that was close... That offer gave me a goosebump. I don't want to do it again. If I redo the process, I don't even know what would be the color of the flames. I'm definitely going to screw in that time.' Hermes smiled with a sigh, while walking behind the chief.

"Don't worry. We can handle ourselves. You may return to your home or visit your companions in their room in the hospital. I mean clinic. Thank you very much for your help this time around. Don't worry, we'll meet again." Hermes said his regards, while Justin lowered his head for his gratitude. "We'll visit you, I promise." They lowered their heads and went in the opposite direction. "Wait, Mr. Aljen and Mr. Justin!" Chief Zamor stopped them before they got away. "Here, take this then." Chief Zamor gave a small platinum emblem. It had a symbol of the white wolf in the middle surrounded by seven claws in a different direction. "What is this?" The young Don scanned the emblem asked as he inspected the seal. "That thing will help you to easily get through to any place in this village. The emblem will regard you as a special person and the important people of our household. Well, its another gift of mine. Please accept it as my honorary friends of mine. I won't push myself too far... I just worried somethin' will happen in the future so please use this as your primary weapon if you encounter some trouble."

"Oooh, that's great." Hermes smiled and hide the emblem behind his c.h.e.s.t pocket. "So, does this mean I should be honored to know that I'm now highly regarded as one of the trusted acquaintance of the head of this village, huh. Thanks."

"Hoho, you should be, Mr. Aljen. Oh if you don't have any place to stay in, just don't be shy to go to our place again. Our house is always open for you lads." Chief Zamor said as he patted his shoulder. But the young Don replied with a sad tone, "Sorry, sir, but we planned to return to our place after this." This words made the chief saddened but kept his face upfront. "Oh, then, maybe next time. See ya around."

The chief had left them in the street and the two exchanged a glance. Justin spoke first, "Boss, should we head out now? " He picked out the map on his pocket and showed it to his master. "We should check this place then."

Hermes looked at the mark he pointed and thought about something strange related to it. "That mark... that place is not safe according to the chief though. That's district 5, right?" His butler nodded. "As expected to Don Hermes, you know about the place, huh."

"Justin, postpone the investigation in that location temporarily. Let's focus first the four districts within this place as I have a bad feeling right now. Reading the atmosphere and how the people acts made me realize that somethin' happening behind our back. Voltaire, a great poet, once said that life is a thickly sown with thorns. I know no other remedy than to pass rapidly over them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes the greater is their power to harm us." Justin turned his gaze at his master. "What does it meant, sir?" Hermes sighed, "It means that they are hiding something that we shouldn't dwell in further. The more we push ourselves onto them will result for us to be troubled in the future. Justin, lend me your hand as we unfold the secrets lies within this territory. I want to find out what's going on in my territory, "said Hermes, with a terrifying gaze but showing firm and noble aura. His butler, Justin, grinned and put his hand on his c.h.e.s.t. "Yes, sir. As you wish. I'm happy to oblige."