Hermes emphasized his position in this world. The shocking news that the villagers loathed his character and the fact that the former owner of his body terrorized his territory for fun burdened him too much. The villagers weren't programmed to get so distant from their master, and the former Hermes wasn't that stupid to do that to his people. Therefore, it's very strange that these events happened.
'What did you do, Stump G?' Hermes said, lips retracted.
The young Don determined to change his fate, adapt, and survive as long as possible. There's a lot of things he wanted to do in this world that he failed to achieve from his former world.
Since he wasn't educated about common sense here of the new world, he had no other choice but to go back to the basics. He must be informed about the new update and current situation within this island, and he must prioritize to make his body strong enough against the odd. Knowledge was power, and people with brains would live a long life, according to Hermes himself.
Thankfully, there's a place nearby where he could gather a good source of information, and it was none other than the favorite place of the former holder - the Don's office.
This captivated his heart because this office had been designed by the Aljen himself.
His excitement was put to a halt when his butler appeared in the blink of an eye, and it made him jolt from surprise.
"Good morning, my Don." Justin lowered his head and pressed a hand on his chest in respect.
His eyes had a big circle under it. Not only that he's producing a depressing aura like a dried fish lost its way from its path.
'What happened to him? Nevermind, I need to focus on my objective.'
"That was a pretty cool ability. Justin. I... I didn't sense your presence at all. I was planning to ― oh," Hermes flinched, lips pursed.
His butler inadvertently interrupted him when he opened the door with an emotionless face.
"Boss, you may enter now," Justin said.
His face showed his sadness and agony within, but Hermes commented that he looked like someone that had lost his purpose in life. He had no idea why he was like this, but he decided to leave him be.
He replied, "Uh, umm, uh, that's nice. Thank you, Justin." Hermes stepped inside while avoiding eye contact with his butler.
"You're welcome, boss," said Justin. His upper body bent down in ninety-degrees before him, and he closed the door after the young Don entered the room.
The Don's office resembled the place of the meeting room of a big corporation, small but a good place for high-class people. In the middle, there was one single-seat black leather-made chair in the middle, exclusively for the boss only, a rectangular wooden window with a hanging red silk-made curtain, and an ironwood-made huge table with a four-column drawer, also for the exclusive use of the boss. Then, there's the picture of Hermes hanging on the wall, and a small vase without a plant beside his table.
Next, there's the wide rectangular transparent glass table in the center, inclusively use for customers and special guests. From each side of this glass table, it was surrounded by two four seated long-black leather-made sofas and one single cotton-made chair for someone with high authority.
The present and past administration showed an intuitive and excellent choice in terms of design and functional importance in the organization. There great taste in choosing the best furniture and fixtures had been undeniable glarifying.
Bookshelves, full of books, located at the left corner beside the huge Gothic painting was also there. His eyes glistered in happiness when he finally saw it personally, and his heart pumped so fast, like a passenger in the roller coaster could feel from the high speed of the train.
Hermes praised himself for creating this marvelous place and the boss who values the importance of the quality of their place.
His butler quickly moved to his side and assisted him.
Two hours and thirty-four minutes later, Hermes had already read the four books on the table related to geography, history, magic, and confidential data of his criminal organization. This what he gathered from his bookshelves earlier that showed some interesting information.
For unknown reasons, his body shivered in cold. He checked the window if it was open, but it wasn't. Then, he checked the door next, but it was close and there's a zero chance for the wind to pass through. With this, he realized that the cold atmosphere must be from his servant.
Hermes was apathetic about his problem, so he won't ask why.
The year was 1811, the era of Victoria and the last age of colonization. Luzer was the primary currency of Italia.
According to the information he summed up earlier, his whole family and other relatives died under unknown circumstances five years ago. His fortune gradually increased as he took over all of their assets and equities by himself. The young Don rose up from power despite the criticism of the Mafia Council and the Feminist movements.
He heaved out a sigh and proceeded to fold for the next page. He came across some surprising information. Some contents had various unveiling events that shouldn't happen in the first place such as the fifth district of his territory was occupied by a group of bandits, the increase of immigrants coming from Naples in the village, the pirates of Malta controlled the Southern part of the island, the alliance between Venetian and Venice against Sardinia, and the economic crisis within the Romue that forced the Pope to sign a separation of the Church and the State. Before he read the last part of the paragraph regarding the fall of the dungeon to the hands of his rival family, his butler excused himself and ask for permission to ask a question.
Hermes glared at him with displeasure. He closed the book and turned his sight at his servant.
"Boss, pardon for my manner. I've somethin' to ask you," asked Justin, politely waited for his permission. "I don't know what do you want, but you are forgiven. Go on, proceed," Hermes permitted, rested his hands, clasped together, on the books.
"Boss, " Justin hesitated a little bit and heaved a sigh, " It's regarding your plan. You told me that you wanted to live a normal life, but doing that would put the family in danger. Living as a normal teenager will be one of the steps for our organization to get disbanded by the council though. Tell me, are you aware of this?" he sniffled. The young Don's eyes turned sharp, left eyebrows raised up. "Of course, I know," Hermes confirmed.
"The family business which feared within the island of Scily will no longer exist, sir. Please don't do something that could hinder your growth. Remember, you're one of the most talented and notable cunning men that became the Don at age of 10. You're a prodigy and the only man who could deal with those sons of bitches. I'm very confused right now. Please, tell me. What are you really planning?" Justin begged.
Hermes wanted to lie and made an excuse, but he knew that this butler could see it through, so he changed his mind.
He couldn't divulge the main reason because of his anxiety and fear. His main goal was to survive and prevent himself to face his death before the Second Holy Mafia War.
According to his analysis, he would fail to lead this organization, it was a waste of time to dedicate his life to protect his territory, and since he's the only survivor, wouldn't it be a wise idea to let the others take over? He knew he's not compatible with the job and aware of his weaknesses.
Time was priceless, and it was his duty to secure his future. Everything was changing according to your choices.
"You know what. I think it's a good idea to let it happen. Time to say goodbye to our criminal life... for good." Hermes declared, smiling. "But, I ain't planning to disband our business. Only the illegal activities will perish, okay. Not all of it, got it?" he clarified.
Justin cried inside, lips downturned.
"Tt-then, boss? Do you mind telling it what are the illegal activities should we get remove from our organization?" asked Justin, holding his tears. "I 'll tell y' everythin' after I'm done here. I'll write it down in this paper, okay. Take it easy, will ya," Hermes said.
"A'ight, how about you use your [Agenda] to patrol the place while I'm doing this one? This time stop buggin' me. I'm doing my assignment," the young Don suggested. "Assignment?" Justin got surprised. "You don't even attend a school in this divided country, though. And, this is my first time to see you so interested in those books," he added.
Hermes turned at him, lips curled.
"Who do you think I am anyway?" he asked, "You're the slacker king of your peers, sir. Honestly, all of the business is taken care of by me alone while you're watching your collections inside the treasure room. In short, y' don't even like to do some work at all, but, but now, you're showing a sign of interest in education and business problem," Justin explained, grieving.
'Isn't that good for your master to study than to slack off? Why are you crying for that good news?' Hermes's wrinkling face looked at his servant.
He placed a hand on his forehead and sighed. "Just do it, already," he commanded with an apathetic tone.
"A, a, as you wish, my Don," Justin followed.
He closed his eyes and cast the spell, [Agenda].
The place finally became quiet and the young Don could finally focus on his studies.
Hermes formed a long-term plan for the future. He wrote four to five pages until his pen ran out of ink.
One of the important things he needed to prioritize was the issue in the village.
He must wash away all of his bad records in his territory by befriending them, built a business for their future, and upgraded it quickly into a huge city so he could sell it at a high price. He had one year to finish this plan.
Evildoing, one of the main reasons for the other bosses from other states declared war against their opponents. The more unfair, cunning, and greedy he was, the more chance for the poor lad to become a target of their fun. Cruelness, inequality, and injustice attracted the most powerful clans to contain them, to show who was the most vicious among them all, and they won't bother to steal his properties and usurp his status in no time if he got defeated.
Not only that, the problem here was, the bosses might suspect him of an economic grabber. The people who reached the top ten spot would be envied and won't let a newcomer reach its goal. Becoming an economic powerhouse was very dangerous and it would only increase his death flag. He prayed that these greedy and corrupted people won't laid their eyes at him.
Obviously, Hermes wanted to avoid it at all costs. He's afraid to see his head hanging on the torch, rotten in flesh.
He wiped his face and heaved an exhausting sigh. If all of his plans went south, he would hire the pirates to help him escape. "All problems had solutions", he said.
"First, I need to allocate my properties to ensure I could live a quiet life. I guess all of my cash earned from illegal activities will be transferred to the stock exchange of Amerigo. Hmm, how about I only take a small portion to build a business outside Italia? Oh, yes. I'm a genius. My illegal assets will be placed as collateral in the Italia Bank at Romue and with my influence, rich people would definitely buy them in the auction with a high price, not lower than a billion luzers. Great, I won't get bankrupt from building my businesses around the world because the bank would be obliged to pay me every month. Brilliant, it's a great plan. Once I'm done here and hailed in the west, I will use my knowledge from the original world to rebuild my empire that no one hasn't seen before. But first and foremost, I'll invest this money to aid my village. That'll help them to sustain their needs, remove the curtail from their place, and preserve more goods for a better future. It'll improve their livelihood, create jobs, and develop the village to become an attainable place on the island. I'm a hundred percent sure that this will succeed. I'm sorry Justin, I need to keep it to myself. Maybe, I could use the mercs as an excuse and diversion to my plan. Well, legal activities sound fun," he declared.
"Boss, the area is secured for now. There are no hostile intruders near to your mansion," Justin said.
"Good, I will then commence my plan to disband these illegal activities now." Hermes grinned at ease. His decision made his butler unhappy about it.
"Is... Is that what you want?" Justin questioned. "Huh? Of course, so shut up. Don't ruin the mood," Hermes got annoyed, eyebrows raised up
Justin's body stunned like someone stabbed his heart with a lightning rod.
"I will take my leave. May I excuse myself?" asked Justin. "Oh, sure," Hermes replied.
"Thank you, sir, " Justin excused himself. His hand, covered with gloves, opened the door and exited.
Hermes looked at the ceiling for a minute. He closed his eyes while picturing his past life he could still remember for a short period.
He yawned while stretching his arms upward, and stood up from his chair to relax his waist. Then, he returned the books, one by one, to their former location and decided to unwind his mind outside thereof.
"Y' finally here~" a strange female voice spoke, but the young Don ignored it.
A shadow engulfed his whole body before his hand grabbed the doorknob.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself surrounded by black miasma, and the set of the place changed from his room to a beautiful flower garden.
He, surprised, saw a beautiful young blonde girl with violet eyes, fair skin, and pink lips. She wore a beautiful white summer outfit and on her feet covered by wooden slippers. The young Don blinked his eyes several times when he realized she was looking at him with a seductive gaze. He wanted to talk with her, however, there was a young dark-haired teenager who had an armored and ancient suit approached her from the distance. The man resembled his character's face but much older than him.
His eyes dropped some tears, blurring his vision for no apparent reason. He had no girlfriend since birth, but it was strange for him to feel jealous. It's absurd.
He had no recollection of who they were. These people had never made an appearance in the game. The young Don noticed that the beautiful woman was glaring at him once again. He got terrified when he realized she's advertently inviting him to come whilst the handsome man kissed her neck when they embraced each other. He concluded this woman was a dangerous slut.
Did she want me to join them? That was really disgusting - His thoughts.
He would marry one woman rather than become a part of her harem instead. He was thinking it was just an illusion earlier, but the woman made him believed it was real. The girl kept calling him while she's carried like a princess, and then, her suitor's mouth touched her lips.
His heart downcasted, like a flower wilted from the dry season. And for unknown reasons, he returned to his room.
'Wait, what was that? To whom memories are these?' Hermes knelt down as he suffered from severe dizziness and hallucination. He then wiped his tears and slapped his face in order to return his consciousness.
"What the hell was that about? Who's that bitch anyway? Damn it, I don't want to meet that woman. She might be a minor character but it is possible that she can kill me. Is it precognition? No, that's impossible. That's just an illusion. Based on their outfit, it has the same design as the old Empire that we created from the game, but that fallen Empire has already ceased to exist before the game started. What's the connection between me and those people? Gaah, I don't care anymore. I'll leave it be!" He gulped some air so deep and exhaled it. He stood up and stepped away from the area for awhile.
"I guess I need to move now. That might be the starting point to commence my plan."
When he arrived in the main hall, someone was making a noise outside in front of the main door. He heard the familiar voice coming out from the other side. He then proceeded to discover who's the person's identity was.
He opened it with open arms and stepped forward. His eyes turned annoyed as he witnessing some embarrassing moment. In front of him, a man with black hair, around twenty years of age, wore a butler suit with black trousers, white gloves, and a sword in his left waist was waving a big wooden board - 'Stop the Disbandment of illegal activities. No to Liberalism and Moralism! More violence! More Brutality! Return to Reality!'
Hermes placed a hand on his forehead and sighed when he read the words written on the wooden board.
"Rally, rally, rally. Stop the Disbandment. Stop the Goodness in your heart! More violence! More Brutality! Return my Boss! Rally, rally, rally. Bring back the Injustice! Injustice for everyone!" Justin explicitly demanded. This time, he's wearing a white headband, raising his voice to express his opinion.
"What the heck are you doing, Justin?" Hermes asked, covering his eyes with his hand in disbelief.
"Isn't it obvious? Boss, I'm just standing here to express my protest. I'm expressing my own disagreement with your idea of disbanding the entire organization in a democratic way." Justin exulted, pumping his fist in the air in delight.
"What? Haven't we discussed it already? A'ight," he clapped his hands twice and raised his hand onward, asking for the wooden board to be handed over to him, "Give me that. Kindly stop this madness, stupid. Whatever you do, it is useless," he declared.
"Nonsense! I refuse that kind of treatment. That's not the right response for this moment, boss. You must be more impertinent, scold me and threatened my life," Justin protested.
Hermes was petrified. His body shivered in disgust and fear at this butler.
'Is this guy for real?' he asked.
"You need to say this to me, 'Stop bullshitting me, you goddamn butler. You're just a maggot who was just adopted by my parents. So stop your fucking protest right now. Give that wooden board or I will smash it into your head to lighten it up. Give me that. You hear me you maggot!' - somethin' like that, boss!" Justin said, wiping his tears.
Hermes' eyes turned blank. His intention to seize his wooden board went downhill. He wanted to escape from this crazy butler before he got corrupted.
'This guy… is an idiot. A total stupid hardcore idiot.' He thought.
"Boss, please return to the former pathetic self. End this madness. End your New Year resolution. You must stop this madness. Once the illegal activities are gone, our clan will be mocked by the public. That's really unfair. Don't you ever realized, I stayed with you because I saw darkness in your heart when we first met. A dark force I had never seen in other people. Also, you told me.... you wanted to become the next Godfather of Italia when you were nine years old. The world's most powerful, influential, and feared among the bosses. Don't you see this photo," he showed a photo of his childhood with his gesture of raising his right hand above the sky, "this photo showed how you were so determined to spread violence around the world during your revolt against your parents. The raising salute you showed to me will be the main salute of your army. I always keep this as a memento, you know. This cute little pub is you and you must be ambitious and greedy again. Anyways, I still have some more things like this in my room even if you try to tear this apart," he said.
"What?" Hermes looked disgusted when he heard that.
"As the Head Butler of Archnemesis family and also the Consigliere, I must correct you right now before it's too late," he added.
"Where and when the fuck did you take that photo? That's embarrassing. Destroy that photo right now!" he felt embarrassed when he saw himself wearing a black suit raising like a Nazi salute. If this was a movie, the viewer would censor his salute.
"Boss, that's that. The word 'fuck'. There, you must say that all the time. Don't worry, I will keep all my collections of your evil records till my death." Justin's eyes spark when he heard that.
Hermes clenched his teeth and closed his fist tightly. His body bent in an offensive position. His veins popped out from his forehead, lips curled.
"W, Why you? What the heck was wrong with you, you dirty-minded maggot?" Hermes punched him, a direct hit to his face. "That's the correct answer, My Do― goowah," Justin complimented, his last word.
Despite the painful impact, Justin's smile didn't disappear while his body flying away for a short period and fell down in the bushes of grass behind him thereafter.
"Enough. Stop bullshitting me, Justin! I'll go back to my room and change. Prepare the car after you heal your injury," Hermes commanded, looking down on him.
"There… there you have it. You must look down on the others, Boss. That's one of the qualities of being a Boss," Justin praised.
Hermes was infuriated once again, but instead of hitting him again, he decided to leave him to his place.
"But boss," Justin stopped him. "What?" asked Hermes, his feet halt, turning his half-sided face at him.
"Where are we going again?" Justin queried, rubbing his injured cheeks. "I'll tell you later. Do what I told you to do and don't even ask it again. Got it," Hermes demanded, walking away from his butler.
The butler's eyes sparked and covered his mouth in amazement. The unfair and harsh treatment of the young Don made him excited, feeling his body was going to explode in joy.
"I know you haven't changed. I know it," he grinned, lips upturned.