Now that I finally have important information on the Three Headed Demonic Fronts mafia, I can focus on hands-on investigation.
As long as I keep these tips and advice on the paper, I'll have a good time dealing with them. Of course, I also have to plan a day in which I should strike them and finish them up for good, without a chance for them to reorganize and come back.
The information on the paper gives me key clues to follow. For example, now I know that the name of the family alludes to the alliance of three different families that joined together under a single name.
These three heads of the three families control and reign over the whole mafia as equals. The three leaders are:
Ghon Lasez, The Head of Fire, an Ulf man that is in charge of managing the money within the family, and dealing with most treaties the families gets involved with. In general, he seems to be a relatively nice guy to hang around with, albeit he loses his temperament really easy. He's the one who started the whole forced guardians scam in the whole city.
Joe Luciano, The Head of Poison, this Kisune man is the deadliest of the three. An expert in assassinations and fighting against multiple enemies. It's rumored that he can use magic, although no one outside of his family truly knows, since he leaves no witnesses alive after fighting, not even allies. He's the most active at night and if anyone has the misfortune of running into him, they'll get roped into his murder spree.
Gaspar Capricho, The Head of Light, is a Berus man who manages the family from within. Little is known about him other than he is in charge of training every new member of the family. The most he was seen was in an old interview on TV years ago.
Their main building is no secret either, being the most important place in the city of Djchuri. It is the very same place where the important political figures reunite—the city hall.
From what I could see looking at the building from the distance, its got various guards that are preparing barricades, people carrying crates full of food into the main building, and various mafiosos sitting around in close restaurants with caution, people standing with their money out next to the discharging trucks in hopes of buying rations for the end of the month.
"That's right..." I muttered to myself while looking at the building from the roof of another building.
In three days, on the thirty-first, the last day of the month, is the Blood Moon. A monthly event where the moon transforms, growing in size and turning into a deep red that emits a glow of the same color that paints the whole night sky. Under this blood-red veil, monsters become stronger and even more aggressive, causing the destruction of a lot of cities in a single night.
"No wonder they're stocking up on resources. Every Blood Moon, any city runs the risk of being overrun and destroyed by monsters" I whispered to myself as the cold night sky hit my skin and scales.
It hasn't been a long time since I finished my work day, with a promise to come back tomorrow to keep on working and earn my pay.
"Defenses don't seem all that great though" I said while looking around onto various parts of the city.
You'd expect security to be at an all-time high this late into the month, guards constantly patrolling and making preparations for that one night. Yet, it is the complete opposite, most guards and, in the case of this city due to the abundance of mafia families, mafiosos that could offer to protect the city are all on the city hall preparing barricades and watchspots.
Is Djchuri the kind of city that leaves its people to fend for themselves on Blood Moon nights? That could be a possibility—cities that do that aren't rare by any means, although the most common way is to care for the average Joe while letting the homeless and poorest ones die without a care. Especially in a city where most people are criminals supported by the system this city runs by, I have no doubts in my mind that the city could handle a small-to-medium Blood Moon monster raid.
I also got some info on the regular members. Apparently, the Three Headed Demonic Fronts mafia is mostly a numbers group where the strength of individual members is overall weak, but they make up for it in numbers. When another family could have in power with a single high-level martial artist, mage, or gunslinger, this family has the equivalent of that in ten to fifteen thugs—who most don't even have any skills—that overpower others in gang fights.
Ten on one... a fight against a whole group is never fair. But, of course, the stronger someone is, the more numbers they will need.
I dropped down from the building I was on—using Body Strengthening techniques to mitigate the damage from a high fall—and I made my way back to the house Manjaro got for Titiana and me.
"I wonder if Titiana finished her training" I commented.
"Wait..." I tensed up and stopped on the spot. "She left me a note for me to know where she might be, while I left nothing telling her where I could be"
She's going to get mad at me for not leaving any kind of message that I'd most definitely be back late.
Maybe... she hasn't yet returned from her training session yet. I know magic training is really time-heavy, especially on the early stages when the body isn't used to irregular changes in the mana from within.
Once I stood in front of the entrance to the house, my body froze and I immediately clenched my fist, ready to start a fight at any moment.
"Who are you and what happened to her?" I asked in a threatening voice while pointing at the Aries man standing in front of the door alongside a clearly injured Titiana.
"I'm her teacher. I was asked by a friend to teach magic usage to this girl" The man with goat horns on top of his face spoke loud in a condescending tone.
"Was that part of the training? Her being on the ground, clearly hurt?" I asked while pointing at the Vogel girl sitting down, leaning into the door.
Her breathing was clearly weak and fast, as if she was dying of freezing. She was covered with a kind of mantle and precarious bandages on open wounds.
"It is important for her to go through this if she wants to get in the world of magic."
"Is her safety assured? I won't forgive you if it isn't."
"She won't die. That's all I can promise you now."
We both looked at each other with a hateful expression, our fingers rigid and ready to attack at any second. We challenged each other with our eyes.
He was the first one to move, raising up his arm and pointing his open palm at me. In a fraction of a second, a blue magical circle formed in front of his hand. Erratic and disperse lines came out of the insides of the circle, drawing a pattern with white light.
Body Strengthening technique: Heightened Senses.
Body Strengthening technique: Arm Muscles—Burst.
Body Strengthening technique: Sharp Claws.
I wasn't going to stay behind in this sudden attack exchange between the mage and me. With quick, explosive, and precise movements I lowered my upper body and reached out to pierce the concrete ground beneath me, grabbing a fistful of hard material to throw.
With a quick snap of my arm, treating it as if it were a whip, I threw the ammunition I just picked directly at his arm.
The small shards of concrete flew directly toward his hand and right side of his chest. The stones pierced his skin and blood gushed out of it. "Guh!" He groaned in pain, yet he stood still, with his magical circle still there, ready for the spell to come out at any second.
Then, a second, smaller circle formed in front of the first one. This one also quickly drawing a pattern inside of itself at rapid pace.
I was about to make a second move—run toward him so I could attack him directly—where it didn't matter if I got hit by his spell. I know I can take quite a beating, so I will be able to tough it out in the end.
But, as I was planning to run toward him, I fell to my knees.
"Aghk!" I exhaled as I felt my lungs be stripped of their air.
My body felt a stinging shock all over it in just a fraction of a second. My fists, legs, and muscles shook, and I couldn't move a single muscle.
His spell circle vanished. The mage had cast his spell in a single instant and I was too slow to react to it.
"A barbarian who relies on simple muscle caused me this much damage!" He complained while his arm fell limply to his side.
Of course he'd be like that. Those who have any amount of magical training are always pricks—assholes who think they're so much better than everyone else.
"I'm impressed you're still up. Anyone else would've fallen unconscious. Maybe that's why he trusts you so much, horned Reptilia." He smirked.
"The girl will be fine. She has the potential to learn magic, even if her veins are smaller than someone would like. I'll come for her tomorrow, make sure she's ready for another training session."
With that, he took advantage of the fact that I was completely paralyzed to walk away. His bloodied arm leaving a trail of blood droplets that slowly fell to the ground.
My gaze shifted toward the Vogel girl.
I forced myself to stand up despite my muscles not wanting to cooperate with me. I carried her, and took her inside for a well-deserved rest.