CH 20

“Such humble words! That’s right. Strictly speaking, it was a tribute.”

He gently placed his hand on Sylvano’s blade that was pressed close to his neck, but gave up on removing the cutlery due to the old man’s firm eyes.

Sylvano glared at Guillermo, who couldn’t forget the smile he showed Blanche, as if to tear him to death.

Sylvano, who was never vigilant, gave strength to his stomach and shouted.

“Hey! Felice!”

At that voice, Felice, who had just come up from the basement, hurriedly crossed the hallway and ran into the drawing room.

“Yes. Consilieri. You called for me?”

“Why is this b*st*rd in our family house?”

“That is…”

Before Felice could explain, Guillermo exclaimed vigorously.

“My name is Guillermo! I became the boss of the Campano family at the young age of 19 and will become Blanche’s right-hand man from today!”

Felice added, tearing him apart.

“He wants to join our family and Blanche.”

“Hey! Get it right! We are people who will only follow Blanche!”

Felice corrected Guillermo’s protest.

“He tried to take Blanche to his family, but he was rejected.”

Guillermo rolled his orange eyes that resembled the sunset. But Illia’s gun was still aimed at him.

“Guillermo. It’s the first time I’ve heard of that name, including the Campano family.”

Felice said tremblingly.

“You don’t know them? They’re the ones who steal courteously from the Stoke Kingdom.”

Illia’s gun was lowered.

“Are you a mushroom smuggler?”

Blanche tilted her head.

“Mushrooms? Smuggling?”

Illia nodded.

“Yes. They’re the ones who smuggled and sold wild pine mushrooms. The export of pine mushrooms from Stoke Kingdom is prohibited.”

Indeed, Guillermo was a man with a morality stat of 320. Guillermo, who had just been busy flirting, protested.

“Don’t look down on me! After all, I’m much richer than you!”

Once again, Felice’s correction followed.

“That’s a lie. The guys live in a hut. I heard it all from his subordinates when we moved the apples.”

“Hey!”

It was a belated protest. Whether he was relieved or not, Sylvano clicked his tongue and pulled the knife away from Guillermo’s neck.

Erasing the pathetic look he had in his eyes, Sylvano looked at Blanche warmly.

“Blanche~ Didn’t I tell you to take good care of the house? That also meant not letting outsiders inside!”

She calmly shook her head.

“I thought of him as a cat because I have to borrow the cats’ paws during the busy season. If it weren’t for their gang, the five of us would have had to move so many fruits and vegetables.”

Around that time, Giulio, who chewed an apple tightly and swallowed it, smiled brightly.

“Cats are cute.”

Pu ha ha! Except for Blanche and Guillermo, everyone burst out laughing. Even Illia laughed, so what more can they say?

At the ridicule that surrounded him, Guillermo blushed in embarrassment to the tips of his ears. He mumbled as he made excuses.

“You guys are already monopolizing the distribution of useful things, so I can only touch the pine mushrooms.”

As if to scare a child, Sylvano threatened.

“Ah? Do you have anything to say, pine mushroom?”

Even the youngest Giulio watched the fight between the two with excitement. Illia’s cold eyes pierced Blanche from the front.

“So Blanche, you killed Amerigo?”

“Yes. I won.”

“That story. I want to hear it in detail.”

Thus, Blanche told them everything, starting from when Guillermo’s gang attacked the family house.

Even the Miele family, who lost the boss to overwhelming power, offered her the position of the boss. Up to that point, Sylvano was afraid that she would leave the family now, his worried expression was evident.

Sylvano’s insinuating voice was very polite.

“So, 『Your Majesty』. Are you going to the Miele family now?”

“No.”

In response to the satisfactory answer, Sylvano clenched his fists and swung them in the air.

“Oh, of course! 『Your Majesty』! From the beginning, I believed in the friendship of 『Your Majesty』!”

Their friendship was only on the third day, and there was no need to go back to the past when Sylvano tried to attack her.

Blanche and Sylvano himself knew that he was trash.

Suddenly, Guillermo cried out as if he was begging for his throat to be cut off.

“Blanche! No matter how much I think about it, this shouldn’t be it! Miss Blanche is too good to be just a part of the Giotto family!”

Sylvano swung his butterfly knife threateningly into the air.

“This punk is just babbling anything with his mouth? Your organization has no history!”

“Ha! Is your 100-year history that great? What’s the point when your boss is a foreigner!”

Digitalis wasn’t a lawless city to begin with. The reason why this city could be extraterritorial was because of its geographical location, it had been colonized by numerous Kingdoms and Empires.

The inhabitants of Digitalis realized that they had been colonized for more than 200 years.

The ruling class was unjust. When colonists and natives fight, only the colonists suffer. Even if an argument arises because of the fault of the natives.

Because of this, people naturally began to distrust public authorities.

At the same time, it was almost like a law that they had to protect their family themselves . Even if they had to borrow the power of a criminal organization.

As such, the crime rate of Digitalis increased day by day, and soon, all the kingdoms began to be reluctant to touch this city.

A lawless city. Digitalis.

A city where all public officials, including security guards, were found dead on the streets overnight.

Digitalis was a city full of mad terrorists who constantly threw homemade b*mbs at the royal palaces on the mainland for interfering with illegal businesses.

In the end, Digitalis remained the only free and lawless city in the Western continent.

Because of this, as time passed, criminals from various kingdoms naturally flocked into the city, but the racial discrimination still remained.

Of course, Illia couldn’t stand this blatant insult. In fact, although the strength of the Giotto family had weakened recently, ever since Ricardo was born, no one has brought up Illia being a foreigner.

If you did, your neck flew off your neck.

At one time, Illia was a strong candidate for 『His Majesty』.

Although he had no interest in the throne of Digitalis.

Eventually, the surroundings became quiet.

Everyone’s eyes focused on Illia.

He gazed at Guillermo, his blue eyes gleaming wildly.

“You. Do you want to play with me now?”

“That, that…”

Guillermo involuntarily stuttered and swallowed in the brutal atmosphere. And he glanced at Blanche, as if asking for help.

Did she notice his request for rescue?

Blanche sighed heavily. Guillermo hurriedly ran in front of Blanche. And asked her as if nothing had just happened.

“Blanche! Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”

“No. It’s just been noisy since earlier.”

“Well. That old man’s voice is indeed a little squeaky.”

“What?!”

“What.”

Unlike his fear of Illia, he was not scared of Sylvano. No, he couldn’t afford to be afraid. He might get killed if he looked weak.

Sylvano growled at Guillermo, whose jaw tightened.

“Open your ears and listen to me, mushroom b*st*rd. I’m only 62 next year! It’s still in full swing!”

“That’s the point, look at you getting angry…”

Blanche’s green eyes moved busily as Guillermo clicked his tongue.

That was because the text popping up from the bottom of the field of view was noisy.

[system/  Your fame is rising.]

[system/  Your fame is rising.]

[system/  Your fame is rising.]

[system/  Your fame is rising.]

Blanche checked the status window.

[Blanche Marquette LV 199

Age 17 / Female

Stamina 446/446

Magic 405 (White Sand Bracelet effect applied)

Fame 110

Morality Error

Stress 0 (White Sand Bracelet effect applied)

Remaining stat points: 0]

Not even a day had passed, yet her fame had risen by 100.

Of course, compared to Amerigo’s Fame which was at 789, it was a very low number. However, seeing that the system continued to print messages that her reputation continued to rise, it was clear that her Fame would increase in the future.

Apparently, today’s battle was quite impressive to the city’s criminals.

As Sylvano and Guillermo’s quarrels ensued, Illia turned his attention to Blanche.

“So Blanche. What do you plan to do next?”

Everyone paid attention to her bland reply.

Blanche replied.

“I told you. I rejected the Miele family’s offer. So I will continue to be a member of the Giotto family.”

“Are you going to be Ricardo’s subordinate?”

“Yes.”

As she nodded, Guillermo tilted his head.

“Ricardo? Who is that?”

Sylvano clicked her tongue, clearly showing that he didn’t like Guillermo even a little.

“Stop making a fuss. It’s the name of Illia’s first son.”

“Is Ricardo that strong?”

Sylvano smacked his lips.

“I wish he was that strong too.”

There were thorns in those words, and the Giotto family felt the pain. Silence sank like a heavy stone that had been thrown into a lake.

Of course, Blanche was a great powerhouse to have. However, the Gioto family, including Illia, were not naive enough to be pleased in covering up this fact.

Blanche, a new member of the gang, was stronger than the boss.

Moreover, she even seized the throne of Digitalis in one day.

One way or another, it would be a burden for Illia to have her under his control.

Sylvano thought that Blanche would rather have wished to marry Ricardo. That way, the boss and her would be able to keep peace under the guise of a ‘family’.

What’s more, if that were to happen, no outside bugs would be able to tempt Blanche and overthrow the Giotto family.

It was a bittersweet fact, but the fate of the Giotto family now rests on Blanche’s mood.

Sylvano cleared his throat as if it was hard to get his words out.

“Oh, Blanche. Ricardo…”

“It’s fine. You don’t have to tell me. I know where Ricardo is now.”

“Huh? How?!”

Sylvano was startled, Giulio muttered cautiously.

“I told her. The fact that brother is in the hands of Count Juan.”

Two months and 15 days ago.

In order to continue the war against the Scusa family, Illia gave Ricardo a mission. The mission was to collect the principal and interest from Don Juan who had borrowed money from Illia ten years ago, and had now prospered as a loan shark.

Given Don Juan’s current reputation  and power, it was a mission that would never be successful. However, as the fate of the organization depended on it, Ricardo had no choice but to leave for the Lupinus Kingdom alone.

Till now, Ricardo had not returned. Because of this, the Giotto family did not even know whether Ricardo was alive or dead.

Blanche even mentioned what she had heard from Giulio.

“I heard you put up a prize money? And if Ricardo was rescued by a member of the gang you will promote them one rank higher. And if someone outside the family came to rescue Ricardo, they would be accepted as a full member.”

“…….”