The Shadow Tycoon
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 124: The Mayor Finds Another Path
Late at night, the Mayor had just finished another round of social obligations.
Slightly drunk, he sat in the back seat of his car, gazing out at the brightly colored city.
Contrary to the way novels described men in power, he felt neither boundless ambition nor heroic grandeur.
In fact, he barely had any grand thoughts at all.
All he felt was that this was a problem.
A gigantic problem.
The sky had gone completely dark by now, much like the city’s current situation, smothered beneath a blanket of despair.
People often assumed that mayors had it better than state legislators or city assemblymen. At least mayors possessed real power instead of participating in a collective vote that produced collective authority.
Only mayors themselves understood the truth.
When everything was going well, being mayor was certainly enjoyable.
But under circumstances like these, even the most capable mayor in the world would struggle to perform well.
Some things simply could not be changed by human effort.
A steadily declining economy was one of them.
Every day he watched unemployment rise.
Every day he saw jobless drifters wandering the streets in search of work.
Every day he watched the city’s deficits grow larger.
The result was always the same: a crushing sense of helplessness and exhaustion.
The car rolled to a stop.
The slight shift in momentum made his stomach lurch.
He patted his cheeks, stepped out of the vehicle, and declined the driver’s offer of support.
Back at home, he dropped heavily onto the sofa and let out a long breath.
A maid brought him a glass of ice water.
He took a deep drink, washing away some of the haze of alcohol.
Then he casually asked, “Has Ferraler come back yet?”
Ferraler and several other aides lived in the same community as the Mayor.
In fact, Ferraler lived in the house directly next door.
No matter when the Mayor needed something, they could be at his side almost immediately.
The maid nodded.
“I saw Mr. Ferraler’s car return a little after seven.”
“Send him over. I’ll be in the study.”
The Mayor drained the rest of the ice water.
Feeling somewhat refreshed, he pushed himself to his feet and walked into the study with weary steps.
He sat in his chair waiting for Ferraler, lost in thought.
Somewhere along the way, exhaustion overtook him.
When he came back to himself, Ferraler was already standing before him.
“When did you get here?”
The Mayor pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of his eyes. He wasn’t sure whether he’d accumulated any sleep in them. Maintaining appearances mattered.
Ferraler waited until the Mayor had finished straightening himself before answering.
“A little while ago. You seemed to be resting, so I didn’t want to disturb you.”
The Mayor smiled weakly, then sighed.
“I met with Neo tonight. His attitude was ... ambiguous.”
Recently, a rumor had been circulating throughout Sabine City.
It claimed that Neo, president of Ristowan, had been actively making contact with members of the Federation Conservative Party.
In several private gatherings, he had openly praised some of the Conservative Party’s policies from recent years, arguing that those policies had put the Baler Federation ahead of other nations.
In this country, almost anything could be blurred.
Gender.
Loyalty and betrayal.
Love and hate.
Political allegiance was the one thing that couldn’t.
Neo could tell people that he and the Mayor had fallen out while simultaneously insisting that he remained committed to Progressive Party principles. If he did that, then the matter would remain a personal dispute between him and the Mayor.
But now his rhetoric was beginning to shift on a fundamental level.
The Mayor needed to determine whether Neo was merely applying pressure or genuinely considering a change of allegiance.
Unfortunately, he had learned nothing.
Neo had avoided the topic every time it surfaced.
That avoidance itself provided a preliminary answer.
He was still choosing.
And he was waiting to see which party offered the better price.
Damn businessmen.
Damn capitalists.
Directly and indirectly, tens of thousands of people worked for Ristowan.
If Ristowan announced that it was leaving Sabine City and relocating to a Conservative Party stronghold, it would become the greatest failure of the Mayor’s entire administration.
Even worse, if that move created only ten or twenty thousand additional unemployed workers, Sabine City would immediately descend into hell.
Combined with the rumors Neo had deliberately released, every citizen would blame the Mayor.
They would say he had driven Neo away.
They would say he had cost them their jobs and their livelihoods.
The anger of the public would be enough to end his political career.
Neo clearly intended to force him to bow his head.
Yet President Neo had overlooked one important fact.
The collapse of Biddle had not been achieved by Ristowan alone.
Many people had contributed to it.
Among them were several economic powers comparable in size to Ristowan itself.
Why would those people willingly allow the fattest piece of the carcass to be swallowed by the Ristowan Group?
Even if the Mayor agreed, mayors from other cities, legislators, and even governors would oppose such an arrangement.
That reality had turned the entire matter into a deadlock.
Was there really no way to change it?
Not exactly.
Neo undoubtedly understood all of this.
His objective was simple.
He wanted the Mayor to fight for the maximum possible benefits on Ristowan’s behalf.
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