Inside the Fuller family residence in Martell Village, the sounds of laughter and congratulations wafted from the surroundings while the smell of snacks reached much of the second floor of the house.
There, several friends of the Fuller family were celebrating the birth of Nina, Vice, and Lauren’s younger sister. 𝒷𝒹ℴ𝓿𝓁.𝓬𝓸𝓂
While the adults were chatting and laughing, the women watching the newest member of this family, Vice, and his friends were together in his room.
“Now you’re going to have a new sister… What a headache. If Nina actually were a boy, it would be so much easier for all of us.” Ian commented, very well-dressed in a suit, as people with money in this society usually dressed on festive occasions.
Some even adopted the style permanently, looking very much like people who could easily be seen in storybooks about Earth’s 19th and 20th centuries.
Vice liked this since he followed such a style as a mobster before his rebirth in this world.
He was also dressed this way, but with a set of black clothes, his favorite color.
On the other hand, Rory was wearing more colorful clothes than his mother had chosen.
Rory slapped one of Ian’s arms and said. “Don’t be an idiot. Being a girl or a boy, she is Vice’s sister, and we should be happy.”
“Tsk! You say that because you have no siblings. If you knew the pain of sharing your stuff with sisters, you’d know what I’m talking about.” Ian commented.
“I wish I had brothers, you bastard!”
Vice smiled at his friends, understanding both sides. “Nina was born healthy, and my mother is okay. That’s all that matters…
But thanks for the words. Anyway, what are you guys planning? Tomorrow we start a new year at the academy.”
The two boys in Vice’s room, one sitting on a wooden chair in this young Fuller’s study place and the other on his bed, looked at their friend and smiled.
“Let’s get revenge on those damned students of class 2!” The two agreed on that point.
Throughout their first year at the Academy of Stars, they interacted with their class 1 classmates and those from the older classes.
Rare had been the occasions when this happened, but they still suffered with their older classmates.
Aside from a few fights in which they had come out losers, they had suffered fisticuffs and losses over the past year in front of some older classmates.
Luckily Vice was well-versed in his fighting skills, and their defeats were not so humiliating.
But even though Vice had put his Earth combat experience to good use in this place, his body size and weight disadvantage to his opponents was hard to overcome. So even he had suffered a little.
Because of this experience, the three had trained hard during their vacation, with Vice occasionally fighting with them.
In the last few days, they hadn’t seen each other, given a brief trip that two of their three families had taken. However, upon meeting again, they all confirmed they were still training and committed to their revenge.
Vice then said. “Very well, let’s not look for trouble with them for the moment. But we’ll put them in their place once they bother us again!”
Vicente had not yet started his family with the mafia customs. He was too young and needed to develop his physical skills and his friendship with these two.
At the same time, not just any friendship could stand living in the old mafia ways, so he was also still watching Ian and Rory.
But Vice had been slowly talking about honor, loyalty, and brotherhood with these two things he had learned in the Mazzanti family.
A member of the Mafia had to be reliable, loyal to the Don and the family rules, have honor, and be willing to act for their comrades!
Unlike common criminals, Mafia members had a code to follow!
The two agreed, just before Lauren stopped at her brother’s bedroom door, getting his attention. “Vice, bring your friends downstairs. Dad and Mom are waiting for us.”
“Hmm, we’ll be right there, big sister!”
Vice then led the way, returning to the lower level of this house where besides them, the only children were Lauren and two friends the same age as her, 9.
…
The next day…
While Nina was at home under Kate’s care, all the other residents of the Fuller estate left.
Andrew went to settle his business locally, something he routinely did, dealing with his warehouse and the farmers who sold him the produce he traded out of this village.
He spent most of his time locally, but every few weeks, he would make short trips around the province, selling local things and then buying others to resell in this village.
But even in the rush of his business, this man had time to take care of his family, teaching his profession to Vice, and watch as Lauren grew up.
From now on, he would also have Nina to watch over and educate!
As such, he went on with his local routine with a smile on his face, generated mainly by his daughter’s birth but also because he genuinely loved his profession.
Meanwhile, Lauren was already on her way to the academy with her friends, not as eager as her brother for the beginning of another academy year.
She was already 9, so this would be her last year at the academy. However, as someone who would be in her 5th year studying there, she was not as excited about going to another day of school.
She quietly made her way to the academy while her brother had already arrived, and his friends soon joined him, smiling.
“Another year together!” Ian patted Vice and Rory’s hands, looking forward to this new year of study.
In the previous year, they had learned many things besides having suffered a little from some of the older students. But there was still much for them to discover about their world, magic, and even their language.
As children still discovering many things, they were excited!
So they rushed to class 2, where they would study from now on.
But halfway there, they passed in front of a group of students from class 3, the ones they had had problems with the year before.
“Well, well, well, look if it isn’t the three stooges!” One of the young boys, a little taller than the three and a few pounds over his ideal weight, said as he pointed in their direction.
“Last year, they said they would beat us this year… So what? Did you prepare well, goofballs?” Another young boy, blond and tall, said, looking at these three with an air of superiority.
Two more boys were part of this group and stood up from where they were to support their leaders.
Vice then stepped forward and said. “Derek, you better not provoke us… As strong as you were last year, don’t think the situation is the same.”
Darek, the leader of this little group, ignored Vice, with whom he had already suffered a bit, despite his advantage in size and age. “Rory, you better watch out… You don’t want everyone to find out your secret.”
After saying that, he turned his back and led his group away, leaving Ian and Vice looking at Rory, who was pale at those words.
“Rory?” Ian asked, but soon after that, their friend ran away without saying anything.
