My Second Life as a Mafia Tyrant

Chapter 3: Family Business

“No matter what happens to you, you must succeed me. If you don’t, you’ll be putting yourself in danger. I don’t want that to happen.”

Alois thought to himself, If that’s the case, why didn’t I just stay out of the drug business from the start?

He might lose his car, his motorcycle, and his chance to study abroad—but at least he’d survive. Is there really anything more important than life?

“You will become my business partner and learn how the drug trade works. By doing so, you will become a worthy successor to this empire in the future.”

Alois pondered how he could possibly refuse this offer under the circumstances.

Heinrich was trying to make his son bear the sins of his father. That was wrong. But Alois had already taken on that burden.

　Even if Alois flatly refused, he would still be targeted after Heinrich’s death. Alois knew all too well what kind of people got involved in the drug trade.

Hopeless junkies who’d steal from their own suppliers. Ambitious schemers who wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice even their own families for power and wealth. Violent sadists who took pleasure in inflicting violence under the guise of turf wars.

Every single one of them was insane. There isn’t a single sane person among them. For ten years, Alois has negotiated with, fought against, killed, deceived, and betrayed such people.

Is he going to go through that all over again?

By the end, even Alois himself wasn’t sure if he was still sane. Money and violence always go hand in hand; they are what build power. Without power, you’ll be devoured, killed, and cast aside like a stray dog.

　If there’s no turning back…

“I understand. I’ll help you with your work, Father. But please let me continue my studies.”

“That’s fine. However, you’ll be attending a university in the ‘Federation.’”

“I don’t mind.”

If there’s no turning back, then he’ll seize absolute power, cast the rest of humanity aside like stray dogs, and simply survive.

　If it means survival, I’ll make a deal with the devil himself.

Alois made that decision.

“First, let me explain the current state of the drug business.”

Heinrich said this as he spread out what appeared to be investigative files.

“We control the entire western region of the ‘Federation.’ The Wolf Cartel is our empire. We also control the border with the ‘National Union’ in the west. As I’m sure you know, we sell drugs to the people of the ‘National Union.’ The ‘National Union’ is overflowing with wealth. It’s a lucrative market.”

Yes, every cartel sells drugs to the ‘National Union.’ The ‘National Union’ is indeed overflowing with wealth—far more so than this ‘Federation.’

　That’s why it has value as a market.

Just as other countries sell cars, motorcycles, and electronics to the “National Union,” the “Federation’s” drug cartels also treat the “National Union” as a market. It’s as if the only thing we can export from this “Federation” to the “National Union” is drugs.

“And then there’s the Schwarz Cartel. It controls the center of the “Federation.” The only exception is the capital. The capital is under our control. Without connections in the capital, you become a target of investigation and a fugitive. We must always keep the capital on our side and maintain control over the police and the military.”

Alois recalls that there are many corrupt police officers and military personnel in this “Federation.”

Alois knows there are police officers and soldiers who abandon their duties as public servants for money and kill innocent citizens for their own selfish gain. And if he kept the police and military on his side, he could avoid investigation. Or so it should have been.

Alois also knew that, from this point on, those corrupt police officers and military personnel would betray him and attack the Wolf Cartel alongside Felix, an investigator from the “National Union”’s Drug Enforcement Agency.

Alois didn’t understand why they had betrayed him. Had they switched sides to a rival cartel? It was unlikely they had suddenly been struck by a sense of justice. The police and military of the “Federation” were that corrupt.

“Just look at this,” Alois thought. “The federal prosecutors are the big shots in the drug business.”

“Finally, the Kuste Cartel. This one controls the eastern part of the ‘Federation.’ It was originally part of our Wolf Cartel, but since their overseas operations were successful, we granted them independence. They also cultivate plants used as raw materials for drugs on the Southwest Continent.”

Alois knows.

He knows that a proxy war between the capitalist and communist blocs is raging on the Southwest Continent, and that everyone—from the military regime aligned with the capitalist bloc to the communist guerrillas resisting it with force—is equally involved in producing and refining drug raw materials, and selling them overseas to entities like the “National Union.” And that the Kuste Cartel’s overseas operations consist of smuggling those manufactured drugs.

It means that both the capitalist and communist camps are a bunch of bastards.

“Right now, the Wolf Cartel is the face of the operation. It coordinates all the cartels. That’s why it’s so massive. But listen. Even though we go by the name ‘Cartel,’ we’re not a united front. There are idiots who belong to the Wolf Cartel but do business in the territories of the Schwarz Cartel or the Kuste Cartel. That could easily become a source of conflict.”

“I suppose we’ll just have to kill them.”

When Alois said that, Heinrich’s eyes widened in surprise once again.

“Don’t you have any qualms about killing?”

“Of course I do. I used to be an honest guy. I wasn’t deep in the drug business like my dad, nor did I lead a gang. I was just a student in the pharmacy department.”

That’s a lie.

Alois has killed many people. Rivals, their families, innocent civilians, clergymen, student activists, teachers, journalists. Alois’s hands are stained red. Or so they should be.

But the Alois of ten years ago was not like that.

He was a young man so pure he couldn’t even conceive of murder.

Alois’s blood-soaked decade of experience had been eating away at that pure young man, trying to drag him back into the circus of slaughter.

“Hmm. But it’s not wise to make such a snap decision. Sure, killing him would avoid conflict with the other cartels. But we’re the ones running the drug business. If we’re too concerned with what the other cartels think, they’ll look down on us. We’ll make him pay, but we have to make it clear that we didn’t cave to pressure from the other cartels.”

I see. So Heinrich is afraid of the other cartels, Alois thought.

　In his ten years of experience, there had never been a time when he hadn’t clashed with other cartels. Especially after Heinrich’s death, conflicts had erupted constantly.

But Alois had little intention of avoiding conflict. War isn’t something you choose to wage. It’s something you’re dragged into whether you like it or not. No matter how much Alois sought peace and harmony, the ambitious leaders of other cartels would surely ruin it.

　So, if that’s the case, why not skillfully manipulate the cartels and steer the conflict into a form that works to his advantage?

Alois’s memories from the past ten years whisper this to him. Kill before you are killed, they say. And get the job done without getting your hands dirty.