"Extra! Extra!" a boy hollered early in the morning.
Caesar was already awake at this point, relaxed and refreshed for a new day. He heard a slight knock on his door and opened it up.
A boy, aged 7, looked up at Caesar with a smile and introduced himself.
"For just 20 Parou a week, you can have the hottest news right at your doorstep!"
Caesar saw bundles of unsold newspapers in his bike parked right in front of his porch. This boy was quick on the uptake, seeing that Caesar had just moved in yesterday.
"Here," Caesar said as he gave the kid 100 Parou in coins.
The kid, surprised to see Caesar pay for 5 weeks in advance, quickly took out a newspaper and gave it to Caesar. "Thank you, sir! I will deliver your newspaper every morning before you even wake up. Just check your porch every morning."
Caesar nodded and watched the boy get up on his bike and roll around the street. He could still hear the boy's shout as he unfurled the paper and examined the news for today.
{Killings in Trough Street}
{3 people dead and 5 more are injured when a rampage occured in the busiest club in the city located in Trough street. Officials are still investigating what led to this disaster, but they deemed them to be nothing more than drunk accidents.}
{However, reliable interviews from people who witnessed the scene pointed towards gang related violence; specifically, the Capo Gang.}
{In other news….}
Caesar smiled as he saw this headline. There seemed to be more chaos in the club after he left, which made matters worse. For people who knew about the underground dealings in gangs, it was easy to see that the Capo gang had internal problems.
The Capo gang tried their hardest to bury the news by paying the officials to report that it was nothing more than drunkards who caused the scene.
But this was the Daily San Morino. This was one of the most trusted and popular newspaper companies in this town. Everyone deemed them to be righteous and to report the truth of the matter.
They can't be bought off by the Capo gang, that was why the newspaper company decided to interview people who were actually in the scene to know what really happened.
This was brave of them. In this industry, everyone knew that going against one of the biggest gangs in the town would lead to more chaos and violence. Their company would definitely be subject to attacks.
But Caesar didn't care about that. He only cared about the Capo gang, and with no news of Zaturn dying, it seemed like everything was going as he planned.
"Mommy, can we have our own carriage? I'm always late because I have to wait in line!" a boy said.
Caesar looked to the side and saw his neighbors. A housewife was hanging by the door with a newspaper in her hand. She fixed her son's tie in his uniform.
And with the newspaper in her hand, she smacked the boy's head.
"Ow!"
"That's why I told you to wake up earlier. And do you think just anyone can buy their own carriage? That's a whole horse you have to take care of! Only the really, really rich can afford those." the woman reprimanded her son.
Their family was middle class, and they could be considered wealthy enough to have electricity and water in their homes. The son also looked like he was enrolled in a private school.
At this point, the housewife saw Caesar looking at them. Being courteous new neighbors, she gave him a polite nod. They still don't know much about each other.
It was good manners to give a gift to their new neighbor, but she didn't have the time. And she felt like this young man had a mysterious background, so she was a bit hesitant to meet him.
"Hello," Caesar greeted them.
"Good morning," she said with a halfhearted tone.
The boy also gave him a small nod, but quickly ignored him. It was at this point that they heard the sound of a horse's foot clacking in the distance.
The housewife and her son were confused as to why a carriage was here. Carriages don't usually come here in the street as this was a residential area. And the carriage stop was a few streets away.
"Good morning, sir Caesar. I have come to pick you up." Silas stopped the carriage in front of Caesar's house and greeted him.
He wore new clothes and a top hat that he just bought with the money he got from Caesar. He wanted to look presentable for his new employer.
Caesar's neighbors were shocked to hear that he had his own carriage and driver. The son was simply amazed, but the woman more than shocked.
She knew more about the financial cost of owning a carriage than anyone. First of all, buying a horse was a tremendous cost, not to mention the maintenance they had to buy like food and medicine.
Then, you also have to train your horse so that they don't cause a scene in a crowded street. There was also the construction of the carriage and the wage of your driver. And since the town was pretty small, carriages don't have to travel much.
It was more economical to commute everyday than to buy their own carriage. But there were still some people who did that, and that was the ultra rich. They buy a carriage just because they don't want to share it with others.
Did that mean that this young man was a part of the ultra rich?
That question was left in her mind as Caesar disappeared into the distance with the carriage.
"Mommy, I want to be like him."
"Only if you go to school diligently," she replied. They both didn't know that Caesar didn't go to school to achieve this. He didn't even take 3 days to amass this kind of money.
—-------------------
"Oh, make a detour to Trough Street," Caesar said inside the carriage.
"Yes, sir," replied Silas as he quickly turned the horse towards a new destination.
Silas navigated through his usual route to Trough street, but he realized something different. Usually, he would see his colleagues entering this route frequently, worsening traffic.
But not only did he not see any carriage, he did not even see many people walking around. It looked like a ghost town.
"Stop here," Caesar commanded.
The horse stopped its trot, and skidded in the brick road. Just in the front, Caesar saw a glimpse of the club owned by the Capo gang from his window.
There wasn't anyone around. The club even had a sign that said: 'Closed Temporarily'.
Caesar smiled. The Capo gang was now in a period of complete closed-off state. They were now laying low without doing anything to avenge their beaten up comrade, Zaturn. At least not right now.
See, if Zaturn had died, the Capo gang would immediately wage war on everyone until they find out who was responsible for it. This would involve several gang deaths and even more civilian casualty.
This would escalate until other gangs or the police would have to intervene. And that would be the worst case scenario for Caesar right now.
But thankfully, Zaturn was still alive, albeit barely. He was still probably standing right now with bandages covering his head. They would undoubtedly plan for revenge, but they wouldn't act recklessly.
"One more detour, and we'll go to Boban's mansion."
And so they went. After another detour, Silas continued their travels all the way to the outskirts of town, where a large mansion was located. Silas saw many armed guards inside, and immediately felt intimidated. This was the first time he traveled here.
But for Caesar, he had been here before. Why? Because this place was owned by one of his very first victims, Boban. That pig was tricked by Caesar into giving him free Joy ingredients every week, or else his mansion and all the money inside it would be blown to smithereens.
Caesar saw that there were more added guards patrolling the area. But did he really think that would prevent Caesar from entering?
Caesar ordered the carriage to go into the gate. But Silas was stopped as soon as the horse walked near the metal gate. Two men with full shining armor walked towards the carriage's window.
"I'm sorry, but you have to leave," said one of the guards.
Caesar didn't recognize him nor did he recognize Caesar. He was one of the new recruits who didn't see how Caesar was able to make Boban pee his pants.
But one of the guards who approached him quickly recognized Caesar. The other guard was surprised to see his senior's eyes go wide as soon as he saw Caesar.
"You can go in, sir!" the guard said as he bowed to Caesar.
The other guard was still confused, but his senior forced his head to bow down to Caesar. Then, his senior quickly opened the gate and let the carriage inside.
"Senior, who is he?"
The man gulped. "The devil."