My Second Life as a Mafia Tyrant

Chapter 10: Drug Party

　Alois never touches his own merchandise.

　But the low-level dealers are different. They sell drugs to others so they can buy drugs for themselves. Drug dealers are drug addicts, too.

　These drug addicts throw parties. Drug parties.

　After using gateway drugs—like the dregs of Snow White that Alois sells—they drink, dance, sing, and make a huge racket.

Alois knows all about these kinds of parties. Over the past ten years, he’s seen even the drug cartel bosses engage in such foolish behavior. Of course, the drug cartel bosses don’t use petty drugs like the dregs of Snow White. They use dangerous, refined drugs that get them higher.

Alois hated those kinds of parties.

Alois didn’t like drugs in the first place. Even though he held a high-ranking position in a drug cartel, he didn’t think highly of the drugs he dealt in.

Drugs corrupt people. He had seen sharp-minded executives in the past get their hands on the product and go to the dogs. Drugs erode the brain. They corrupt the mind. They lead people to ruin. That’s why Alois liked intelligent women like Maverick, who didn’t resort to drugs so easily and could find other pleasures.

But Elke had turned to drugs.

Even so, Alois still harbored mixed feelings toward Elke.

“How have you been lately?”

“Uh, yeah. Things are going well so far.”

　Alois had heard from the professors that Elke’s grades hadn’t slipped.

Alois wondered if Elke had really started using drugs.

It wasn’t impossible that it was just a one-time thing out of curiosity. But drugs are dangerous precisely because they’re addictive. The danger lies in thinking it’s just a one-time thing, then thinking, “Just one more time,” and gradually being dragged into the quagmire of drugs.

　And then, seeking even more of a thrill, you turn to even more dangerous drugs.

“What kind of medicine does Elke specifically want to develop?”

“Since my father died of lung cancer, I want to develop an anticancer drug. Current anticancer drugs have severe side effects, and their effectiveness isn’t even certain. Yet the number of people dying from cancer just keeps rising. Due to changes in lifestyle and the emergence of new chemicals, the number of cancer patients continues to grow. I want to do something about that.”

“I see. It’s admirable of you to do this for your father.”

“Is it?”

Alois hates his father. He hates Heinrich for dragging him into the drug business. If he could develop a drug that would kill Heinrich while making it look like a natural death, he’d gladly help with the development.

But at least Heinrich won’t die of natural causes. Alois knows that. Heinrich will die in an accident. That is, if people keep dying as fate dictates.

“By the way, do you know Snow White?”

“Sure. We covered it in the anesthesiology lecture, didn’t we?”

“I don’t mean it like that. You know what I mean, right?”

Alois wonders if Elke ended up trying Snow White after all.

　Deep down, Alois felt a conflicted mix of emotions: on one hand, he wanted to support Elke in fulfilling her dream of developing anticancer drugs at a pharmaceutical company; on the other, he wanted her to try Snow White and ruin her life. This was the very definition of a love-hate relationship.

“...Yeah. I tried it once after someone recommended it. Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

“I won’t. Just once?”

“Just once.”

　Just once. Would it really end there? The cheap, low-grade Snow White that Alois dealt in was affordable. If she wanted to, a rich girl like her could easily do it again. And then she’d get hooked, unable to function without the thrill of Snow White.

“There’s a party coming up. Want to come?”

“A party? What kind of party?”

“Just a fun get-together with some like-minded friends. Don’t you like parties?”

“Not at all. Thanks for asking. When is the party?”

“Tomorrow at 8 p.m. I’ll show you the way, so shall we meet at the main gate of the university?”

“Okay.”

Alois didn’t invite Elke to the party out of goodwill.

He’s testing her. To see if she’ll be destroyed by drugs, or if she won’t.

　When a catastrophic disaster occurs that seems to prove God’s absence, don’t the clergy all say in unison, “God is testing us”? “He is testing whether we can face adversity,” they say.

Well then, let Alois test her too.

Can Elke truly endure adversity? Can she resist temptation?

Yes, right there at the drug party.

　It’s a drug party that’s being held. Of course, on the surface, it’s just a party. Alois rents out a nightclub, gathers students, and throws a wild party. And he sells drugs.

A party can bring in new customers, and it’s a way to show the dealers who the boss is. However, Alois only wants to demonstrate his authority to the dealers; he wants the ordinary students to think he’s just one of the partygoers.

　In the world of the drug trade, standing out has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that it allows you to demonstrate your power to dealers and other cartel bosses. When drug cartel bosses drive flashy sports cars, wear gold jewelry, and lavishly throw money around, it’s a show of force meant to prove just how much money they have.

　The downside is that it attracts the attention of law enforcement. The more extravagantly one spends and flaunts their power, the more law enforcement views that person as a threat. This is because having money implies that one also possesses the means to use violence. Furthermore, there is no doubt that the source of that money is large-scale drug trafficking.

There is one thing Alois has learned from Heinrich.

　He stands out when he needs to, and keeps a low profile when he shouldn’t. Heinrich does not squander his fortune to flaunt his wealth, nor does he wear gold jewelry. Yet, he possesses enough money to bribe every law enforcement agency in the “Federation,” and when he entertains drug cartel executives, only the finest goods are served.

The rest of his wealth is used for investments.

　Money that has been laundered and “cleaned” is used for real estate and stock investments. Wealth begets more wealth, and the Wolf Cartel empire flourishes.

Alois follows Heinrich’s example and makes a point of not standing out in places where he shouldn’t. The only people who know that Alois was the one who rented out the nightclub for this party are the dealers at the university.

Alois operates in the shadows.