Chapter 43: [December]

After the lingering cold rain in Winst finally subsided, the coldest month of December arrived.

The first major event in Winst in December was the official establishment of the Prohibition Bureau.

Although the prohibition agents had achieved no success whatsoever in their initial operation against Ethan and had even suffered heavy casualties, it did not prevent them from holding a lavish establishment ceremony.

Not only were the city's key figures present, but major newspaper offices also focused all their camera flashes on them.

Naturally, the front-page headlines of the following day were reserved for them.

Moreover, they soon produced decent results.

This was, of course, thanks to tips from public-spirited citizens, as well as the utterly incompetent operational methods and complete lack of vigilance among Ethan's peers.

Quite a few small-scale operations were easily swept away, and several underground speakeasies were rounded up in one fell swoop.

In fact, this actually helped Ethan and his associates by reducing the number of competitors, causing the price of moonshine to double once again in a short period of time.

As for Ethan's business, the Poletta family remained largely unaffected.

For one thing, Ethan operated with extreme caution; both the production and distribution of the liquor took place in secluded areas of his own territory or on private property.

For another, the clash in the rain had left the prohibition agents with lingering fears.

Clearly, until they thoroughly figured out Ethan's background and made sufficient preparations, they would not strike at him for the time being.

Other families, however, were indeed affected.

Take the Morich family, for instance.

Haska, the head of the Morich family, was essentially a playboy who managed his family affairs with extreme negligence.

Otherwise, the gap between his family and the others would not have widened so drastically in recent years, to the point where the Poletta family almost managed to get a finger into his family's brothel business.

In this bootlegging enterprise, they didn't have to do anything except take the liquor and sell it—yet they almost managed to mess up such a simple task.

Haska had brazenly put the liquor up for sale right inside his brothels, as if he were afraid no one would notice.

The ultimate result was that three of his family's brothels were sealed and shut down.

Then there was the Evans family.

Lewis was an extremely vindictive person; since he could not touch Ethan for the time being, he naturally would not let go of George, who had chopped off one of his hands.

The Evans family became the primary target of focused suppression.

Trouble arose at two of the major hotels under their banner, leaving them in a state of chaos.

Aside from the vigorous prohibition movement, there was another matter Ethan had not anticipated.

Or rather, he had anticipated it, but not to such an exaggerated degree.

That was how his Winst typewriter had become the hottest commodity, with people everywhere begging to buy one from him.

Mainly because after the battle in the rain, the fearsome reputation of the Winst typewriter had spread far and wide. Big Zola was completely infatuated; upon returning, he would boast to everyone about how terrifying the Winst typewriter was—sweeping through like a storm clearing fallen leaves and leaving the prohibition agents utterly unable to fight back.

Such rumors quickly made their way back to Winst. People combined them with various pieces of gossip, such as how Lewis had brought ten men, and aside from him, the other nine had more bullet holes in their bodies than the sum of all their fingers and toes, which firmly solidified the legendary status of the Winst typewriter.

Even Sandro called Ethan as a joke, saying he wanted to buy a batch of guns from him.

Of course, Ethan refused to sell.

For a short time, he would keep such a powerful weapon strictly under his own control.

How much money could selling guns even make?

Unless one day he could completely control this type of firearm—for instance, making them ineffective against the Poletta family, or manufacturing even more powerful weaponry.

Only then would be the day for them to circulate.

However, spreading his reputation did have its benefits: he discovered that the script representing his authority over firearms had grown thicker and heavier.

In other words, the spread of his reputation could indeed strengthen his authority.

On this sunny day, Ethan planned to go to school.

Ever since his enrollment, he had been so busy with affairs that he hadn't attended a single day of classes.

Winst University had not threatened to expel him, but Dean El had made a phone call, politely suggesting that he should at least show up for a day or two each semester.

Since Ethan happened to be free today, he prepared to go, taking the opportunity to see Gustav as well. It was about time to put the study of ancient languages on his agenda.

After all, one must not put the cart before the horse; the immense power of the 'Name of the True God' was what mattered most.

Everything else existed merely to serve that end.

After dressing and grooming his hair, Anya came in to report: "Young Master, Haska from the Morich family is here to see you."

Hearing this, Ethan smiled.

It seemed Haska still hadn't resolved the issue of his sealed brothels.

He had come to beg for his help.

During the battle in the rain, when Lewis had come to search the premises and was called away by a single phone call, John Holt had exerted a tremendous amount of effort.

Therefore, afterwards, when Ethan received his payout from fat man Sindle, he gave his share exclusively to John Holt as a token of gratitude.

The two had gone out for a meal and chatted quite happily, though John Holt had politely declined Ethan's probing attempt to meet his powerful backer.

Even so, John Holt felt indebted after taking someone's favor and mentioned that if there were any official matters to handle in the future, Ethan could always come to him.

This was a favor Ethan could indeed grant to help Haska.

"Let him wait for me in the parlor."

Five minutes later, Ethan met Haska in the parlor.

Haska was as dapper as ever—clean-dressed, dashing, with absolute not a single stray hair or wrinkle on his face, to the point where it was difficult to tell his age. As long as he didn't open his mouth or act, he could