act21side

Woooah, this dress looks absolutely stunning!

You'n say that again. Sora's gonna look mighty fine in it.

If someone told me about this earlier, I would've signed up myself!

No way, no how. Ya don't know the first thing about actin'.

I can just act like I always do.

And there ain't no roles for a Sankta in Siracusa neither!

Says who? I heard that there was a Sankta with Signora Sicilia—

Huh?

Signorina Sally, our boss is inviting you over for dinner.

Um... But...

She's on her way to rehearsal right now. Vaffanculo.

And our boss wants to have a word with Signorina Sally here. Being a little late won't make a difference, will it?

I, I'll go get the director...

The director? I might've carried water for him in the past, but these days...

Um, please don't...

The hell are you playin' nice with them for?

You should feel honored that our boss wants to see you. If you don't wanna get messed up, behave yourself and come with us.

Wait, the boss didn't say we could—

You still don't understand what the boss was gettin' at? We were all scared of the Bellones before.

But now that they are out of the picture, and the bigwigs are about to shuffle the deck again, we'll never get a better chance!

Huh, you're right. Let's go, brothers, time to clean the streets of these eyesores!

Tch... Protect Signorina Sally!

The heck's happenin', Exu— Huh? Where'd she go?

She already rushed out. Let's back her up!

Urgh...

Heh, and you call yourself a bodyguard?

Ahh... *sobs*...

Right this way, signorina.

I, I know...

Huh? You people are—

Who the hell are you?!

Catch me if you can.

Tch, get her!

Don't mess with us!

Let's split!

Your name's Sally, right? You okay?

You...

Do you know what you've done?!

You didn't save me at all, you're just making things worse! They're not going to let this go!

So how'd you plan to get out of that mess?

...By gritting my teeth.

Huh? But they were gonna hurt you.

I... can deal with injuries.

Did you really think they were going to kidnap me? They're just trying to cause trouble.

Shouldn't you at least call for help when stuff like this happens?

What's the point? Nobody's going to intervene in a struggle between famiglie.

What about that Judge Lavinia lady? She seemed like a pretty decent person to me.

She's... indeed a very good judge, but there's nothing she can do in these situations.

Besides, even if I never made it out of this park, how many people would know that I disappeared because of the conflict between those mafiosi?

So... you're just going to put up with it?

How else are we supposed to live our lives? This is how it's always been.

Find a place to hide, wait until the dust settles, and then follow the victorious side out. That's all I can do.

But... why does it have to be like that?

Ugh, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to blame you, but to be honest, this is the first time in my life I've ever known what it feels like to be protected.

That famiglia isn't even particularly influential. The director should be able to help me smooth things over.

But just as a friendly word of advice, if you plan to stay alive in Siracusa, please try to avoid doing that kind of stuff in the future.

Especially considering what's about to happen.

What's about to happen?

Have you not seen the news at all? Carracci, Ministro dei Lavori Pubblici, is dead.

Yeah, saw that. Assassinated, looks like?

I feel so bad for him.

Since you all seem nice enough, I'll tell you a little more about him.

I have to deal with mafiosi pretty regularly, so I've heard a thing or two from them.

The person who murdered him hasn't been found yet, and the young master of Famiglia Bellone was also attacked at the same time.

Huh? Bellone?!

That's right. The Bellones were poised to stand head and shoulders above the other famiglie, but it seems like someone's been plotting against them for a while now.

Many famiglie that had previously given up are now starting to move again, little by little.

Did you hear any of them mention the name Texas?

Texas? There's not a single person in Siracusa who doesn't know that name.

But usually in the context of 'the last Texas' or something along those lines...

Really?!

You're a strange one, you know that? It's obviously all made-up. How could there possibly be a Texas still alive out there?

But... Alright, you have a point.

In any case, you should already know that our troupe has some connections to Famiglia Bellone, through the director.

Just as those people were saying, in the past everyone wanted to get on his good side. But now...

You all saw what happened.

Do all of Siracusa's famiglie go around doing whatever the hell they want like that?

...Remember what I'm about to tell you.

If you want to survive in Siracusa, you either need to join a famiglia, or stay as far away from them as possible.

Then... you need to delude yourself into believing that as long as you stay away from them, you won't get sucked into any trouble.

Alright, I should head back to the theater now.

Right.

Aaaaaaaahhhh—!

What now?!

S-Someone's been tied up over here!

Assuming nothin' outta the ordinary happened, someone ought to have found the poor fella by now.

I don't get it, man. Why go through all that trouble keeping him alive, just to let him go? What's so special about that guy anyway?

What it proves is, that shady bartender wanted him to be found.

As for why... it's usually a trap.

Tch, what a sinister fella.

You say that now, but if he ends up winning, you're gonna be calling him a genius.

Dipshit.

Hah.

What's so funny?

I just remembered how we used to argue like this back when we were kids.

Never would've imagined that after all these years, after all of life's twists and turns, the two of us'd still be out here, fightin' for our lives.

That's fate for you. Never know where it's gonna take you.

Heh. Ain't that the truth.

Who could've known something like that would happen in Lungmen?

And that after all that, we'd still come back to Siracusa.