You don't even want to call me godfather

"Syracuse believes in friendship, and the Cascade family is no exception," Koshe sighed. He took out a checkbook from the desk drawer, opened it, and wrote a number on it. "My father once taught me that friendship is everything, more important than talent, more important than the government, and as important as family. So my help to you now is just to help a friend."

He tore off the check and handed it to Vina.

"...I don't know how to repay this help," Vina took the check and looked at the number on it which was much more than 5000 pounds. She said, "We in the Glasgow Gang can't do much, but if...you need some thugs who can play, we will definitely help."

"Actually, there is no need for conflict in Syracuse today. I have been maintaining the peace," Koshei smiled and said, "But... if there ever comes a day when I need you..."

Koshe didn't say anything else. His expression was a little gloomy, as if he was thinking of something bad.

He looked like he was enduring something, with thin beads of cold sweat oozing from his forehead.

"No, it's okay." He lowered his head slightly. After a long time, he raised his head and returned to his previous appearance. He stood up and extended a hand to Vina. "Then, the Cascade family welcomes all friends. I hope you will have a happy life in Syracuse in the future."

"Although we probably won't stay in one place for too long, but... maybe we'll have to stay here for a while, Godfather Cascade."

Vina also stretched out her hand and shook it with Koshei.

She originally thought that Koshe, the godfather as he was called, would be a very difficult or even inhuman guy.

But now it seems that he is a pretty good guy.

"Loft, take Vina to the charity foundation to cash the check first," Koshe picked up the cup and drank the almost cold coffee, then picked up the cane leaning against the table, "I'll take a break and go out for a walk."

"Yes, Godfather."

Loft obeyed the order. He helped Vina, who was still a little unsteady due to the effect of the medicine, and took her out of the study and the mansion.

Hearing the sound of the door closing, Koshei quickly squatted down, opened the drawer, and found a bottle of medicine inside.

The name of the medicine was clearly written on the bottle: Chlorpromazine.

He poured out a few pills and swallowed them hastily with saliva, not caring about the appropriate dosage.

Beads of sweat continued to ooze out of his forehead, and the splitting headache made him tightly grasp his cane and the corner of the table.

After an unknown amount of time, he gradually stabilized.

"What's the matter with you, Koshe?"

Koshei had just wiped the beads of sweat that were running down his cheeks to his chin when he heard Iris' voice.

She looked up and saw Iris sitting in the corner, looking at her with great clarity.

"Iris…when did you wake up?"

Koshe was startled and hurriedly tried to hide the medicine bottle on the table.

"I've been awake since I came here," Iris left the folding bed. She stood up and walked quickly to Koshei. Despite Koshei's resistance, she took the medicine bottle and said, "Tell me what this is."

For some reason, Iris' attitude was very tough, and Koshe had never seen her like this before.

But because of this, he also knew how angry Iris would be if he concealed his physical condition.

"I felt something was wrong the moment you mistook me for Destiny," Iris was educated and knew the name on the bottle of medicine. She held the bottle, "How bad is your mental state now, Koshe?"

"I……"

"Tell me, what happened to your body when you were talking to that woman just now, Koshei," Iris stared at Koshei and asked, "Tell me, what did you see?"

Chapter 11 Beauty is a Trouble

I don’t know if it was Koshe’s illusion.

He found that ever since he sent Anjie away, Iris seemed to have become the woman with whom he had the most interactions.

Although this was necessary, since Destiny's death, Iris was undoubtedly the most suitable person to lead the Wolf Hunters. Even Red had no complaints about her becoming the head of the Wolf Hunters.

In other aspects, Iris said that her "mother", Lisa's biological mother, seemed to have some intersections with politics when she was in the East Country, and she also learned some of it when she was undergoing studies.

Although not much, it is definitely more exposure to politics than Koshei. After all, what Koshei has been learning is more about human relations than politics.

So Koshe needed a "military advisor" who could give him advice and suggestions, and Iris naturally became the candidate.

But now, after Anjie left, the irises seemed to be taking over.

Or to put it bluntly, there is even a tendency of the sparrow taking over the dove's nest.

Koshe realized this himself, but he saw too much of Destiny in Iris, and for some reason, he couldn't say no to her.

Even now, when Iris held the bottle of medicine and scolded him for not telling her the truth about his physical and mental condition, Koshei did not feel the slightest anger in his heart.

"I'm sorry, Iris..." Koshei's eyes were a little evasive, hoping that his apology would be useful. "I really shouldn't have hidden something from you, but... now the affairs of state are the top priority, and I can't drag anyone down because of personal reasons."

"But have you ever thought about yourself?" But obviously, Iris would not be fooled by this excuse that Koshe had used countless times. She kept arguing, "You are now the leader of Syracuse, the godfather, and the father of the country. How much can you bear alone?"

"No... I'm fine, Iris, I'm fine." Koshe wiped his face with his palm, as if trying to cheer himself up. "Things like this will get better after a while. Many things can be diluted by time. Loft said so."

"But I don't want you to leave everything to time, Koshei," Iris shook her head. It's not that she doesn't know Koshei, but she can't understand him. "Think about it, how much hope have you placed on time, and what has time given you in return?"

"Boom!"

Koshei stood up suddenly, holding his cane and knocking on the floor a little harder.

He knew that what Iris was referring to was undoubtedly the matter between his father and Destiny, as well as his current condition of frequent hallucinations.

"Everything should be done in moderation, Iris." Koshe was obviously a little offended. He frowned slightly, his expression serious, completely losing his previous weakness. "I know you are thinking about me. I have always believed in you, but I also hope that you can trust me a little more."

Iris was speechless. She opened her lips slightly, but in the end she just bit them lightly and slammed the medicine bottle on the table as if she was angry.

"Alright, I don't care about you anymore, just do whatever you want," Iris snorted coldly, turned around and was about to leave, "You insist on being stubborn, and I can't persuade you, so there's nothing more to say."

"Where are you going?"

Looking at Iris's angry back as she left, Koshe asked subconsciously.

"… Go back to the orphanage to take care of Lisa. Don't forget what you said before. Go visit her when you're ready."

Iris left, in a bad temper.

Koshe had to admit that Iris was indeed the most humane of all the wolf hunters, almost comparable to Destiny.

But perhaps it was precisely because of this that he felt that the two were so similar, even Hong had never given him this feeling.

"Ugh……"

Koshe sighed deeply, shook his head secretly, and left the study with his cane in hand.

Over this period of time, with the arrival of Hong and Ω, there are fewer and fewer signs that Destiny once lived here.

Standing at the door, looking at the empty mansion, Koshe's eyes were dimmed.

After a long time, he walked out of the mansion and closed the door.

Koshei walked along the street, his walking stick sinking into the snow on the road and then pulling out, making a crunching sound.

"what……"

At a street corner, Koshe stopped. He stood at the intersection, looked at the gray sky, and exhaled a puff of mist.

Winter is not over yet.

"Cha-"

He struck a match and lit a cigarette for himself. A breeze blew by, mixed with a few snowflakes, passing by his eyes.

It was at this moment that Koshe saw a man and a woman opposite him, talking and laughing as they walked on the road.

They looked like a couple, holding each other's arms, which reminded Koshe of Anjie. Once upon a time, they were as loving as this.

But unfortunately, things don't always go as planned.

Suddenly, the woman in the couple seemed to have discovered something. She laughed and took the man's hand and walked into an alley.

Koshe was no wooden man, and he certainly knew what would happen in the alley next, but he just smoked with interest and watched the loving and bold couple walk into the alley.

After a long time, when he finished smoking the cigarette in his hand, he threw the cigarette butt into the snow and stepped on it to put it out.

He was about to leave when the woman came out of the alley alone.

She seemed satisfied and even licked the corner of her mouth, but she walked around and saw Koshe standing not far away. She smiled at him maliciously and then trotted out of his sight.

Koshei suddenly felt something was wrong. He clenched his cane, crossed the road and walked to the alley.

There was no sense of human life, and the man who had just followed the woman into the alley had not come out yet.

A bad feeling arose in Koshe's heart. He carefully pulled out his gun in advance, loaded the bullet, and slowly walked into the dimly lit alley.

It didn't have the expected smell, but this made him feel something was wrong. He walked along the wall, going deeper and deeper.

It was very strange here. Even in the alleys where there was rarely any light, it shouldn't be so dark. Even with Koshe's eyesight as good as night vision, he couldn't see anything clearly here.

After a moment, he felt as if he was tripped by something. He stopped, squatted down, and tried to check what was under his feet.

But when he looked at it so closely, what he saw made his breathing quicken.

It was a person, no, to be more precise, a corpse.

A... dried corpse.

Judging from his clothes, he seemed to be the man who had entered the alley earlier, but in just a few minutes, he had become a corpse, and his death was horrific.

Koshe held his breath and tentatively reached out his hand to check if the man was still breathing.

"Nice to see you again, Koshe."

Just when Koshe was concentrating, a familiar yet very unfamiliar female voice suddenly came from his ears.

Chapter 12 Idhela

"Nice to meet you again, Koshe~"

"Crack-bang!"

Without further ado, Koshei, who was on high alert, turned around without hesitation and fired a shot in the direction where the sound came from.

But there was no one there. Only the bullet that had just been fired was embedded in the wall, still emitting a wisp of smoke.

Koshe stood up in disbelief, leaning against the wall, and looked around vigilantly, but did not see any human figures. For a moment, he even wondered if he was hallucinating again.

"Oh, you're so alert~"

A charming female voice, this time the source of the sound seemed to be closer to Koshei, almost as if it was right next to his ear.

But there is no doubt that Koshei still could not find out the other party's whereabouts, and this style of hearing the voice but not seeing the person, for some reason, made Koshei think of Msisha.

But the next moment, his thoughts were interrupted.

Because two slender arms suddenly stretched out from the wall he was leaning against, and before he could dodge, they tightly strangled his neck.

"Uh--"

The back of Koshe's head hit the wall due to the sudden pull, and he cried out in pain, but the fighting awareness he had cultivated since childhood made him immediately give up the cane and gun in his hands, and instead pulled out the dagger hanging on the inside of his coat, intending to stab the dagger into the two arms.

However, the other party obviously would not let him do that. More arms followed, restraining his knife-holding hands and his legs.

He was tied tightly to the wall.

These arms seemed to have strange power, and no matter how he struggled, he could not shake them at all.

"Who... are you... and what do you want to do..."

With his neck strangled, Koshei uttered a few words with some difficulty.

"You humans seem to care a lot about names, just like the man on the ground. When I brought him in, I really wanted you to see his expression," a woman's face slowly appeared from the wall. It was the woman who had just left. He put the face close to Koshe's ear and said in a seductive voice, "However, compared to that unattractive guy, I am more interested in you, Koshe Cascade~"

The woman stuck out her tongue, and with a playful smile, she brushed the tip of her tongue over Koshe's ear, teasing it, and then sucked his earlobe.

"From the first time I learned of your existence, I was curious about what was so special about you that made Msisha willing to establish a contract with you," it seemed that this action did not hinder the woman's whispering. Just like Msisha, her voice seemed to be spoken directly in Koshe's mind, "I am curious, what does someone like you taste like~"

"! You bastard..."

Koshe was shocked. He realized that this woman was the same as Msisha, but no matter how he resisted, he could not break free from this woman's restraints.

"Give up struggling. With Msisha's status, there is no way you can defeat me~"

The woman left Koshe's ear, smiled maliciously, slowly opened her mouth, revealing her sharp teeth.

Then, she bit Koshe's neck fiercely, her sharp teeth piercing into Koshe's flesh.