The Federated States of Corwyn, New Raven City, Spring, 1883
New Raven, a city that located in the Northeast of the Federation, right along the eastern coast whose sea is connected to the vast ocean. Many industrialists see this city as land to be claimed for themselves, turning it into one of the largest industrial cities on the Federation's map.
This city has also become a gathering place for those seeking an opportunity to change their lives. It serves as a stopping point for immigrants determined to build a new life after crossing the ocean from distant continents. Some only wish to stay temporarily, to earn money for their lives back home, but many of them eventually decide to remain in the country instead.
Moreover, this was no accident. It was part of the Federation's grand international branding, something they proudly called "The Corwyn Promise."
Over the past few decades, the wave of immigrants arriving in the Federation has grown larger. These immigrants come from many nations that are indeed facing hardship. However, the most noticeable are the immigrants from the Kingdom of Thalissia, a realm that has only recently unified. Yet, that very unification has become a calamity for its people in the south, especially under its heavy taxation.
With the uncontrollable waves of Thalissian immigrants, the government became overwhelmed in dealing with the situation, and in the end, it turned into one of neglected problems. As a result, many Thalissian immigrants eventually agreed to build their own neighborhoods.
Because of that, Thalissian quarters began to emerge throughout the city of New Raven. These neighborhoods, of course, became slum districts marked by high levels of crime each month.
One example is a neighborhood called Velmont, located within the Dronxe District, a district situated in the northern part of the city. Velmont itself is filled with Thalissian immigrants, more specifically those from the region of Korena, one of the provinces in the southern part of the Kingdom of Thalissia.
Th neighborhood itself also contains many small shops of various kinds that still carry the strong culture of their homeland, such as restaurants serving traditional Thalissian cuisine for those who wish to ease their homesickness, or Thalissian coffee shops intended for those who have not adapted to the coffee in Corwyn.
Korellis's Pork Store is one of those establishments, located in the commercial section of the Velmont neighborhood. The shop occupies a fairly strategic position along a busy street crowded with pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages passing back and forth. Its walls are painted in imitation of the flag of the Kingdom of Thalissia, with its distinctive combination of green and yellow, making the store stand out strikingly among the surrounding shops.
The owner of this store is old Mr. Alfred Korelli, a heavyset man with a thick mustache, who at this very moment is standing in front of the counter, nervous, with cold sweat forming on his forehead as he watches three shabbily dressed men intently focused on something, counting several banknotes.
Unable to bear the suffocating silence, Alfred asks, "I-Is the money correct? I've counted it at least five times already, hehe."
Upon hearing the mutter, one of the men standing in the middle stops counting the money that on his hands. With a flat stare directed at Alfred, he says, "Do you not see that I'm concentrating on counting? Do you want me to gouge your eyes out with the pen in front of you?"
Upon hearing that threat, Alfred decided to keep his mouth tightly shut so as not to offend the thugs in his store. For the time being, he remained silent, occasionally tending to customers who came in.
Not long after, the sound of rustling banknotes stopped, indicating that they had finished counting the money.
"All right, the numbers is correct," said the man who had been counting. "Keep it coming, Alfred."
Hearing that, Alfred let out a breath of relief. "I understand, Mr. Donny."
The man named Donny responded with only a slight nod. With the money still in his hand, he turned around and walks toward the store's exit, his two companions following behind him.
The doorbell rang as the three young men finally stepped out of the shop. Alfred watched them through the store window to make sure they were truly gone.
The tension finally left Alfred's body once the three of them disappeared from his sight. He spits onto the floor and began muttering curses. "Damn leeches, all they do is squeeze us honest workers dry."
"Alfred! Stop!" A woman, who was also Alfred's wife, approached him in warning.
"What? It's true. They're the ones ruining the image of us Thalissians. What are the police even doing? Where is the promise of a good life in this country?" Alfred complained as he rearranged the money inside his cash register.
"That's enough! Don't let those Black Dagger men hear your complaints!"
"Yeah, yeah, shut your fucking mouth, woman."
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With their hands tucked into their pockets, the three young men is walking along the uneven streets, pushing through the winter wind that seemed capable of piercing anyone who passed through it. They moved past clusters of pedestrians, avoiding passing horse-drawn carriages and the horse droppings left behind on the road.
Gas lamps flickered weakly against the early dusk, their yellow glow barely cutting through the coal-stained fog that drifted in from the harbor. The scent of saltwater mixed with smoke from factory chimneys that loomed over the district like iron giants. Around them, the city murmured in many tongues—dockworkers shouting in foreign accents, vendors calling out in narrow alleys, and the distant clang of steel from the shipyards echoing through the frozen air.
Their formation had now shifted. Donny, who had previously walked in the middle, was now moved on the right. On the far left was a man who appeared older than the others, his name was Nino. Meanwhile, occupying the center position and the youngest among them was the man often called by some folks Nucky. Though he appeared to be the youngest, his presence within the group felt heavier than the rest.
The three men eventually decided to postpone their walk and stopped in front of a clothing store, as if they intended to take care of something first.
Donny slipped his right hand into his left pocket, pulls out a bundle of cash, and hands it to Nucky. "All right, this is what we collected on our rounds."
Without hesitation, Nucky takes it and tucks the money away into his pocket. "But isn't there still one left on the list? Retail Couple?"
Donny slapped his forehead. "Ah, right. I forgot about them."
"Don't ever forget again. Collection is collection, no matter how small it is," Nucky said with a sigh.
"You're right. My bad."
"I don't know. Once again, I doubt they'll be able to pay," said Nino, who was watching his two colleagues is talking, and finally decided to join in. "It's clear that their location isn't strategic, and they don't have enough customers. Shouldn't we give them a compromise?"
Hearing this, Donny immediately frowns and says, "what do you mean by compromise? If we soften our stance for them, the others will follow suit!"
"They're already broke! There's nothing we can take from them!"
"That's their problem, not ours!"
Seeing his two colleagues arguing in broad daylight in the middle of the road, Nucky immediately raised both palms, a gesture for them to stop arguing.
"Stop your mumbling, you two," Nucky ordered calmly to ease the tense atmosphere.
Hearing Nucky's attempt to mediate, Donny and Nino finally stopped hurling words at each other, although expressions of annoyance were still evident on their faces.
After the atmosphere finally thawed, Nucky revealed something on his mind, "There is always a way out of trouble, isn't that a famous saying from our homeland, you two forget that?"
"But how? Kill 'em?" Donny asked Nucky.
The situation froze for a moment after Donny's blunt question. Annoyed, Nucky slaps Donny's head repeatedly but still restrained himself, "Watch your fuckin' mouth! Who said anything about killin', huh? Who said that?"
Donny is trying to avoid the slaps, "Alright, alright, I understand, goddamit! It's fucking hurt!"
Hearing that Donny had finally realized he had said something wrong, Nucky finally removes his hand from Donny's head. Nino, who saw this, could only laugh, while Donny is trying fix his messy hair from what Nucky had done earlier.
"But my question is still standing, how?" Donny asked again.
"I don't know! Maybe give the husband a goddamn job to pay his debt," Nucky replied irritably. "Besides, it's better to pay them a visit first. Instead of chatting on, we don't have all day."
Hearing this, the group finally came to the same conclusion. They began to move away from the front of the clothing store and started walking towards the southeast part of the commercial area in Velmont.