Chapter 144 Chapter 144 Maybe it’s because you happen not to be that…
The relationship between Giotto and Spedo became delicate from then on.
Not only for the newly created outside advisors, but also for the Vongola's decision to scale back its forces. Despite being in charge of the assassination squad proposed by Spedo, Elio still sided with Giotto on the issue of scaling back. After all, it was ultimately because of Vittorio Emanuele II's displeasure with their army.
Even Garibaldi, who had voluntarily surrendered his military command, was arrested and imprisoned several times. Would the King have appreciated the presence of such a large, armed force on his own soil? If the Vongola hadn't truly possessed an armed force, the King might have arrested them too! Therefore, to avoid the Vongola's attack, the Vongola led by example, calling on its allied families to disband their armies and go underground, while also being the first to reduce its own combat personnel.
Spedo was not happy about this.
Elio almost suspected that he was planning a rebellion. However, due to Spedo's arrogant words at the last meeting about manipulating the king, Elio did not dare to speak out this suspicion; after all, he might really want to rebel!
Had Elena not constantly maneuvered between Spedo and Giotto, jokingly smoothing over the subtle tension between the chief and his subordinate, once a close friend, they would likely have fallen out long ago. Elio greatly admired this woman's courage and resolve. She steered her fiancé like a wild horse; with a gentle pull of the reins, Spedo, deeply in love with her, would tactfully lower his voice, soften his tone, and force a smile back into his face.
However, this was not the only reason why Elio admired her.
Elena and Maria had met at the celebration banquet in 1861. The sight of Maria in trousers, naturally captivating, this noblewoman, known for her love of riding clothes, sparked a wave of excitement, grabbing her and chatting her up. Had Maria not remembered to consult Elio, Elena would have likely already inducted herself into the Assassin Order!
"Don't develop Vongola members into our members." Elio refused sternly.
But this didn't affect Elena and Maria's personal relationship at all. Taking time off from her Assassin duties, Maria would often teach Elena how to draw a knife, how to draw a gun, and how to fight. Occasionally, Maria would excitedly talk to Elio about how talented Elena was!
"Like Alice de la Serre!" Maria praised her. "I can't imagine if she were an assassin..."
"Or a Templar?" Elio interjected.
Maria glared at him, a rare expression of dissatisfaction. Perhaps feeling she couldn't continue the conversation with Elio, she picked up the letter, turned around, and left, leaving Elio with a rare, angry look.
Elio, who was left behind, was also unusually bewildered, and finally he could only throw his hands helplessly at the air. On this point, Spedo occasionally sympathized with him.
"I asked her to spend less time with Maria and more time with her fiancé," Spedo complained to Elio. "Guess what she said?"
"What did she say?" Elio asked cooperatively.
"'I'm sure you have other things to do with your time, dear,'" Spedo said, imitating Elena's tone. "'Why don't you try to fight Giotto like you did the day before yesterday?'"
Elio couldn't help but burst out laughing. Spedo pretended to be angry, "You're still laughing! Can you control Maria?!"
"I can't control her!" Elio quickly denied. "I'm not God."
Spedo was dumbfounded by the utterly awful joke. Elio chuckled as he poured him more wine. "It's awful?"
"It's terrible," Spedo nodded. He downed the entire glass, then waved his empty glass at Elio, signaling for another. Elio poured him another, and Spedo, seemingly a little drunk, asked him, "Just because you're no longer their leader, do the Assassins no longer respect you?"
"I've never been their leader," Elio said, taking a sip himself. "Don't you understand the concept of 'mentor'?"
"Oh? I'd like to ask for your guidance, former assassin mentor." Spedo stood up shakily and saluted exaggeratedly.
"I can't deny that the Assassin's 'Mentor' centuries ago symbolized supreme authority," Elio waved his hand. "He was like a 'father' and leader to everyone. But you have to understand what an Assassin is, Spedo. That's why the Assassins quickly killed him because he strayed from their ideals."
Sitting down again, Spedo frowned in confusion. "Just because he's everyone's 'father' and leader?"
"No," Elio said, "because he was corrupted by power and became a Templar. He encountered power and was seduced by it, wanting to use it to rule the Assassins, to completely control people's minds; and that is the last thing the Assassins can allow. Freedom, you understand? We must have freedom, or we will not be who we are!"
"But if you can be in power, who would want to go back to the bottom?" Spedo pointed out. "If you can control the fate of others, who would want to allow their own fate to be controlled by others? If you can be the one to set order, if you can drive the entire world forward and write history yourself, who would want to remain unknown?"
Elio said nothing, his eyes narrowed. His expression looked drunk, yet also inscrutable. Spedo waited a moment, but when Elio didn't respond, he belatedly realized that this guy had recently erased himself from history, choosing to fall from the pinnacle of power back to the bottom of society.
"I can't argue with you," Spedo muttered. "By the time you realize that only power and weapons can protect what you want to protect, it will be too late!"
Elio chuckled softly, and he and Spedo clinked their glasses one last time.
No one would believe it, but there was a certain "friendship" between Elio and Spedo. In fact, every single member of the Vongola had a friendship with every other member—any pair you picked. They had fought side by side, laughed heartily, shed tears together, bled together, roared on the battlefield together, and cursed the enemy together; whether they wanted to admit it or not, they were close friends.
Even Arnold, who had a bad relationship with Spedo at first, had fought side by side with him on the battlefield in Prussia. They had even leaned against each other when they were exhausted and encouraged each other with sarcasm.
However, it was Arnold, upon discovering Spedo's actions, who, without hesitation, revealed the intelligence to Giotto. At the next regular meeting, Giotto politely asked about the matter—Elliot, still lost in thought, pondering what to have for lunch—and Spedo's high-sounding defense, claiming he was only collaborating with the London Black Society, not the Templars, brought Elio to his senses, realizing what they were discussing.
"London Black State?" Elio interjected. "The Knights Templar? What are you talking about?"
"It's obvious that someone has been sniffing around in my tracks, but they haven't figured out what I'm doing." Spedo crossed his legs, even putting his gleaming leather boots on the table. He glared at Arnold arrogantly from behind the table, then spread his hands innocently. "Why would I cooperate with the Templars? Don't I know that they are the beasts in human form that our dear Elio hates the most? Don't worry, I'm only working with the London Black Gang! How is that different from our Mafia?"
"So what does this have to do with the Templars?" Elio insisted.
Spedo pondered for a moment. "Perhaps it's because Mr. Ross was entrusted by the Templars to manage the streets of London? It's not my fault that he's so capable at his job."
"What Ross?" Elio said in a deep voice. "What Ross, Spedo?"
Spedo was startled. But after careful consideration, he concluded that Elio, who had already left the Assassin Brotherhood, shouldn't be so familiar with the situation in England, the neighboring country. He shrugged and replied casually, "Maxwell Ross, a theater owner who loves art. What's the matter? Do you know him?"
Elio was practically amused by him. When he laughed, not only Spedo, but also Giotto, who had been watching Elio's expression, raised an eyebrow in surprise. Then Elio rolled up his sleeves, neatly removed the hidden blade, and threw it on the table.
Giotto hesitated. He pretended not to guess what Elio was about to do, leaning back and considerately making room for Elio. Sure enough, as Spedo watched with suspicion, Elio pushed his chair back, leaped onto the table with a palm, and charged straight at Spedo. Before Spedo could react—he had probably long since forgotten the linear thinking of an Assassin—Elio was in front of Spedo, grabbed him by the collar, and punched him in the face.
There was an uproar in the conference room, and everyone was shocked.
"A theater owner who loves art?" Elio grabbed Spedo's collar and sneered at him, "Maxwell Ross? How could I not know him! That madman who advocates freedom and violence! If you want to drag Vongola into this, go ahead, but you'd better understand one thing, Spedo!"
Spedo took the punch, but he didn't get angry. He just smiled with blood on his face, "What do you want to find out?"
"He's a dying man," Elio whispered. "In just the past two years!"
"I didn't know you could predict things!"
Giotto coughed from a distance.
"He will die at the hands of the Assassins," Elio said, smiling as if he hadn't heard. "And after that, the London Templars will soon be completely destroyed. You should reconsider this."
Elena knocked on the table, “Mr. Smith, can you please let go of my fiancé?”
Having said all, Elio relentlessly let go of Spedo. "I'm sorry."
But everyone knew the apology wasn't addressed to Spedo. Elio slid down from the table, circled around, and returned to his seat. Giotto pushed his Hidden Blade toward him, signaling with his eyes.
Elio apologized, then turned and told everyone, "I don't agree with working with Maxwell Ross in London. He's unpredictable and volatile—even though he might look like a Templar, I swear I have no personal objections to working with him. He's a madman who advocates extreme freedom. To satisfy his own perverted pleasure, he's even capable of bringing blood-spattered dramas to life, laughing heartily in the face of blazing flames and needlessly lost lives."
As he spoke, Spedo was slowly re-dressing, gracefully wiping the blood from his face, his venomous eyes fixed on Elio's profile.
"You mean he's a sociopath?" Knuckle frowned and crossed himself.
"He's a homosexual who eats everything." Elio glanced at the priest. As expected, Nakel was startled and made the sign of the cross again.
"Excuse me," Spedo interrupted slowly, "you said it wasn't personal, didn't you, Elio?"
Elio looked at him with a look of animal alertness.
"Does this mean you don't know Maxwell Ross personally," Spedo said, "and aren't here to slander his reputation out of personal vendetta?"
Elio buttoned his Hidden Blade with an expressionless face.
"Yes, or no?" Spedo said sternly.
Giotto smelled a strong smell of gunpowder, opened his pocket watch, and pretended to check the time. "Damon, I think..."
Spedo interrupted him. "This is very important, I. If Elio didn't have some unspeakable personal relationship with him, how could he know so much about Ross? Even I, his partner, didn't know he was gay!"
Even Gatlin could tell that Spedo was slandering Elio's reputation. He frowned and was about to say something when Elio, who was sitting across from him, laughed and said something startling, "Maybe it's because you weren't the partner he forcibly kissed?"
Giotto's eyes widened. It was hard to tell if the look he gave Elio was one of shock or something else. Spedo was speechless: He'd just been throwing mud at Elio, but who'd have thought this guy would actually admit it? Admitting would have been fine, but to mentally attack a straight man with a loving fiancée like this?!
Under their mixed gazes, Elio smiled slightly, casually supporting his chin with his hand and rubbing his thumb across his lower lip. "You don't want to suffer the same... 'experience', do you, Spedo?"
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The author has something to say: Oreo: You want to play dirty, right?
Spedo: (Runs out of the meeting room crying) (No
ps Oreo didn't see Maxwell Ross at all, he was Monspedo
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