"Stop!"

Yiernoshi spun around.

"Mun?"

"Hold it, Don. From here on, I'll take charge of things."

Surely enough, there stood Mun on the rooftop of another low building, Alene, Rachel, and Marian behind her.

"The Inchiosto* Tigre** Mun,"growled Don.

(*Italian for 'ink'; **Italian for 'tiger'.)

"You! What are you doing here!"

Chip raised her transformed sword.

Mun raised an eyebrow.

"Don. Is one of your minions planning to lift up a sword against me, the outside advisor?"

Chip scowled.

"Don't stick in your comments now, Mun! You're the wuss who can do nothing but run around!"

"What?"

Rachel stepped forward, cannon at the ready.

Mun put out a hand.

"Wait, Rachel."

She turned to face Chip.

"I wasn't running. I was waiting for an answer from the Thirteenth. I was questioning the ways you guys do stuff, and with the Thirteenth's approval. So, I sent messages to the Thirteenth with some significant questions."

She held up two scrolls.

"And an order, which I presume is his reply, has just arrived."

Yiernoshi shook her head.

"I don't get it! What's going on?"

"An outside advisor."

"Huh?"

Sam continued her explanation.

"That's Mun's job in the Carbonara. Besides being the boss of an allied family, she is also the outside advisor. She is not involved during regular times, but in a state of emergency, she has the authority of the number 2 figure, after the boss. Furthermore, the outside advisor has the authority to give the half Carbonara rings to the heir. For the boss and the outside advisor to choose different heirs isn't something that happens too often."

Alene jumped off the roof, landing neatly next to Yiernoshi.

"Lord Yiernoshi, these are direct orders from the Thirteenth."

Yiernoshi opened the letter. At the top, a flame was blazing.

"The Dying Will Flame?"

Behind Don, a girl wearing a white shirt and black shorts spoke up.

"That's the Thirteenth's stamp of Dying Will Flame. No mistake, it's a real order."

Yiernoshi scanned the letter.

"Wah! It's all in Italian, so I can't read it..."

Alene took the letter.

"Translated, this is what it basically says."

"Until now, I believed that the daughter of my stepson's cousin, Yiernoshi Lai, was the one worthy to be the next heir, and so I comlied to that. However, I have decided to select a more worthy heir. Namely, my niece, Don. However, some are not satisfied with the change. Currently, Mun, the outside advisor, refused the offer to give Don the rings. However, I don't intend to have a useless battle between my own family members. So, to satisfy everyone, let us start the traditional Carbonara Battle."

Alene cleared her throat.

"Basically it means that..."

"Those who wield the same type of ring will fight in a one-on-one battle," Mun completed.
-----
"A one-on-one battle?"

"Yeah. It's also written to wait for further instructions."

"Further instructions?

"Thank you for waiting."

Two ladies leapt from building to building, landing on a low rooftop not far from where Mun was standing. They wore identical cropped jackets, face masks, and had pink hair. One wore a loose dress, while the other wore a blouse and tights.

"In this scramble battle for the rings, we will serve as judges. We are the Ossobucco organization, serving directly under the Thirteenth. Please consider our decisions for the scramble battle as the Thirteenth's decision."

"Because the boss and the outside advisor have chosen different people, they distributed the rings to different people. There are the 7 people led by Don, who were chosen by the Thirteenth, and the 7 people led by Yiernoshi, chosen by Mun. In this battle, the one who is truly worthy to wield the ring will prove it with their lives. The location is the school, at midnight. Further details will be given later. We shall await you at 11pm at the school tomorrow. Goodbye."

With that, they left.
-----
The next morning, two figures stood on the rooftop. One had a tie, the other, a book. Both were panting heavily, covered in blood.

"I beat you in a serious battle. Keep up your part of the deal. You must join Yiernoshi's family."

"Whatever. As long as I can book those herbivores dead."