"So... where did you get that strong, Grey?" asked a man while carrying a sack full of sand.
"Yeah. I'd never expect a kid like you to be that strong."
"I had a really good teacher growing up, and I spent more than two years training..." I commented while carrying some really heavy metallic object. My mind flashed with images of Trudeia training me in the principles of the Body Strengthening techniques.
One of the men working next to me chuckled loudly. "If three years is all it takes to be as strong as Garcia, then I should start training my martial arts!" He dropped a bundle of sacks to the ground and feinted a kick forward.
This caused the other guys to laugh along and mock him.
"I mean... if you're willing to go months without eating, have every single one of your bones broken, be dropped into boiling water and resist there for a week straight, and other stuff... yeah, try it. Everyone can do it," I explained, giving him genuine advice in case he really wanted to get himself into Body Strengthening techniques.
However.
"Uhh... no... forget it."
I heard the sound of disappointment in their voices as they returned to doing their job. They picked up their things and slowly kept doing what they had to do. I continued going as normal, as these situations that might be uncomfortable to some don't really affect me mentally at all.
"You really had to go through that...?" A young man walked up to me, having difficulty catching up due to the wheelbarrow he had to transport.
"Mm-hm." I nodded along while slowing my pace so that he could walk next to me. "It wasn't a pleasant experience, but I'm glad I went through it now that I have the results to show for it."
"It sounds like you experienced hell."
"It's a close second," I joked.
"Uhh... now I understand why so many look like a completely different person before they join the army compared to how they end up looking after that..."
"If they kept at it, they wouldn't end up looking like that. But it's understandable—they didn't want to go through the training process; they were forced to go through it. And now the whole thought of Body Strengthening can trigger trauma responses."
"G-Grey... can I ask something?"
I silently nodded my head.
"You... are you a part of a family?" Then he flinched and fumbled with his arms. "I-I didn't mean anything bad... I just... you know... someone with your strength wouldn't be here doing hard work on a construction site."
"I'm not from Gtomika, so I'm not related to any mafia business."
"Oh! You've come to live here? From where?"
"I'm only stopping here for my own reasons. I need money to continue on my journey, and in a couple of days we have a Blood Moon, and I don't want to be outside of a city when that happens."
"O-oh... I see."
"Actually, I do have some business with a mafia family. I only need some names and locations. Stuff happened, you know how it is."
"Yeah, I know...."
"There's this family, the... Three Diabolic something. You know them?"
At first, the Berus man looked at me with a confused expression, trying to match the skeleton of a name I'd given him. "Diabolic...? Three...?"
"Yeah, my friend has been having trouble with them recently. I just want to give them a little scare and a warning—nothing too complicated."
"Th-the only f-family I know of that fits is the Three Headed Demonic Fronts," he stuttered out while visibly shaking his entire body and beginning to sweat rivers from his forehead.
"That name..." I felt a shiver run down my spine at the mention of it—not because it instilled fear in me, but because it was such a weird name that didn't fit a mafia. "They're probably a bunch of new punks wanting to make a name for themselves, right?"
"G-Grey... That family is one of the top families around here. It is a side branch of the Book of Demons family, focused on the general management of the city. They're the rulers of Djchuri!"
"Such a specific role!" I commented, astonished at the description I was given.
"Don't act like it's nothing, please! The Book of Demons is one of the six big mafia families that hold the highest positions in the country. They're the top of the top, and the Three Headed Demonic Fronts is one of their biggest branches!"
"Why do you look not at all worried!?" He snapped at me, his whole body tensing up. "They're not people you can just 'scare off' and hope nothing happens afterward. They can get so many smaller families on your ass in seconds."
"I'm not particularly worried about it," I commented in a monotone tone while inhaling air, readying myself to lift more objects and put them on the wheelbarrow. "I know I can do something about the problem my friend's having and leave without much issue."
He looked at me with a mixture of defeated and incredulous expression on his face. His shoulders looked like they had lost all their strength, and his open mouth could let as many flies enter as they pleased. "You're crazy..."
I just hummed in acknowledgment. "Maybe. Most definitely."
"You..." He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, but I paid him little attention since I needed to keep working.
"While I'd like some info on them, I understand if you don't tell me anything."
In the end, anything he does is good. If he shuts up and stays away from this, he won't get involved in things that could put his life at risk. If he tells me something useful, no one will know he told me anything, since I am not one to snitch. And if he doesn't help me and snitches on me, that's also good, as the family will now be actively searching for me.
"Grey!" He yelled out in a desperate tone. "M-my sister... she was a good girl, excellent in her studies, and even better at making friends... she especially liked spending time with her friends at this one café..." His head was faced down toward the floor, his voice cracking with every sentence.
"She was killed by the Three Headed Demonic Fronts family. They killed her... not because she was targeted... but because of something that was out of her control. She died because of a mistake—she was at the wrong place at the wrong time! They arrived at the café with gun users and mages and shot the whole place up because it was affiliated with another family!"
His loud voice echoed through the entire construction site, which fell silent as everyone else stopped what they were doing to glance over at us. I felt the heavy stares of the other workers, who pretended to stay busy while listening.
"I am so tired of this—everyone is! Mafia families that control the whole kingdom and promote all these criminal gangs in order to grow their strength... I hate it... everyone hates the state of the kingdom..."
He stopped for a second, taking a heavy and long breath.
"Grey... you're strong, right? You can do things us normal people can't, right? You can fight against them, right?" He lifted his face to look at me with a pleading and pained expression.
"I'm stronger than the average person, but I am by no means that strong." I dropped the wheelbarrow. "The world is a big place, and there will always be someone stronger out there. Even this mafia family definitely has people stronger than me."
"Then... not even someone as strong as you can change anything?" He asked in disappointment while lowering his head.
"It doesn't matter whether I can or not. I have to try. Because just like you hate the current state of this kingdom, I also despise many things in this world," I finally said, slowly walking toward the Berus man.
"What was your sister's name?" I asked, resting a hand on his shoulder once I was right in front of him.
"She... her name was Patrixia..."
"Then I'll make sure to punch them in the face for her." With that, I let go of his shoulder and walked back to the wheelbarrow.
"Grey..." The man behind me cut himself off before he could articulate another word. "Am I really weak?"
"I don't care about that, and it doesn't really matter. Strength isn't the only principle that dictates how life goes. If you think of yourself as weak because you failed to act against the unfair system you grew up with, then you are weak. But you kept living despite how bad things were. You still remember your sister, and you still have that fire of vengeance within you—and that is where your strength shines and outweighs your weakness."
With those words leaving my mouth, he and the whole place stayed in eerie silence. I was expecting the place to dismiss this not-so-secret conversation and go back to work.
"Grey!" The loud voice of the Berus man echoed all around. "Please... deal with those undesirables. Kick their asses and dismantle that whole family. Avenge my sister, and the many others who suffered because of them."
"The Three Headed Demonic Fronts have their men everywhere, even in hospitals. They deliberately medicated my mother with the wrong medicine because they asked for impossible payments from my whole family," another worker chimed in.
"Those bastards were the ones who started the whole neighborhood protection scam. My father used to be protected by another, more respectable family. But ever since they were absorbed by the Three Headed Demonic Fronts, everything's gone to shit," Garcia spoke up and tapped the Berus man's back while walking past him.
"They control every company around these parts," the man in a suit—the boss of all these construction workers—spoke up. "Even this building is just a farce. It may be a big mall under construction to everyone else, but they want to make a secret room to torture their opposition. I wouldn't be surprised if those bastards under the Book of Demons' wing made us all disappear to keep that secret room hidden."
"You old rat! You only want them to fall because you want your affiliated family to thrive after their fall!" One of the workers yelled out in a playful, teasing tone.
"And what if I do? At least my affiliated family is part of the good ones that care for the people!"
At the Roedor's angry answer, they all laughed.
What followed was them writing down various details about the Three Headed Demonic Fronts family on a piece of paper—information that could be useful.