Family Feud and the Meddlers (2)
"What exactly are you plotting this time? If it were anything else, fine, but family matters—you should at least have told me before making a move."
Theo Midas fixed me with a grave expression and fired off that line the moment he saw my face. I could only stare at him in disbelief.
"I didn't do anything."
"Is this some plan I'm not supposed to know about?"
"I'm telling you, it wasn't me, you idiot!"
After roughly ten minutes of protesting my innocence, Theo finally dropped his suspicions. He looked extremely on edge. Not because he was worried about the head of the family, of course. Even though he always addressed Bern with proper respect—calling him "Lord Head"—I already knew he didn't actually like the man. And why would he? Bern had never been the sort of father who earned his children's respect.
While Fiore and I were busy at the academy, Theo and Bern Midas had been locked in a fierce battle of schemes and political maneuvering within the merchant group. The tide was slowly turning in Theo's favor. The rumor that the princess would elevate me to imperial nobility and grant me a barony and territory was already widespread, and everyone who mattered knew that Theo and I were on the same side. With the imperial princess backing us, Bern's only remaining option had been to bring the new royal family into his camp—but even that path had been cut off thanks to the Frelia Magnus power-consolidation plan. In other words, if we simply dragged things out, victory was already guaranteed. Then Bern vanished.
Whether Bern Midas's disappearance was a gain or a loss was honestly about fifty-fifty. The longer he stayed missing, the faster Theo could seize control of the Midas Merchant Group. But it also meant we'd have to deal with all sorts of unpleasant rumors that wouldn't have existed otherwise. Kin-slaying. Unfilial conduct.
"The rumors are already spreading inside the group."
"That I got rid of the head, something like that?"
"More precisely, that you and I did it together. Why are you trying to exclude yourself?"
Why should I be included? What had I even done for the merchant group?
"What about the search?"
"Already underway. But we haven't found any credible leads."
"This is a headache."
Theo and I began listing possible scenarios.
"Could the head be making some kind of move himself?"
"I've considered that, but honestly, there's nothing for him to gain by doing this. He's already struggling to keep up with us while actively running the group. If he disappears without a word, his subordinates will be left completely exposed."
As Theo said, vanishing like this hurt us, but it hurt Bern Midas himself far more. Unless he was aiming for one massive strike that would make all the minor damage irrelevant, what kind of brilliant move could Bern possibly have at this point?
"What if he's simply given up in despair…?"
"That ruthless bastard? Unlikely."
"Yeah, you're right."
In the end, there was only one plausible conclusion: outside interference. Whether Bern had voluntarily brought someone in or had been forced to cooperate, someone was trying to prolong a fight that was already ending.
"Good grief. We blocked the new royal family, so now who knows where these weirdos are crawling out from. So, what are you going to do? There are a bunch of sheep wandering around with no idea where to go now that they've lost their shepherd."
"For now, we'll observe the situation. Moving too hastily will only lend credence to the rumors."
"Mm, that's true."
Honestly, in an era where wine carriages and terraces were becoming commonplace, baseless rumors shouldn't have mattered much. But at a time when we were finally trying to shed the merchant group's image as ruthless profiteers, we couldn't afford unnecessary labels. So the plan was to assess the situation first, then act. That was Theo's conclusion, and I had no strong objections. After all, when it came to merchant group affairs, Theo was the expert—unlike the academy, where I had to handle everything myself.
But there was one person who disagreed.
"No. I think now is the time to move."
Fiore, who had been wearing a dark expression ever since hearing about Bern's disappearance, finally spoke up. Theo looked troubled at his younger sister's opposition.
"Fiore, if we openly profit from the head's disappearance, people will definitely use it against us. At the moment the merchant group's leadership changes, we might expose a weakness to outsiders."
"No. It's precisely to avoid exposing any weakness. We can't give the other side an opening."
Other side? Opening? Theo and I both turned to Fiore. She continued with absolute certainty.
"I don't believe this disappearance was the head's own decision. Rather, I think it's the work of 'someone' trying to use him by force."
"Why?"
"Because even if they pull off a dramatic reversal this way, the credit won't belong to the head himself."
Theo and I had been viewing this as a power struggle—a strategic battle between factions. We'd considered Bern Midas and his mysterious collaborator as a single team and thought about what benefits that team could gain. But Fiore focused on Bern Midas as an individual.
"The reason the head opposed you two in the first place was because he feared losing control within the merchant group. Even if the Midas Merchant Group itself grew larger, he saw no value in it if it meant being dragged along as your subordinate. That's why he refused to negotiate and chose to fight. Would someone like that really choose to borrow the power of an outside force we can't even predict in order to win?"
"That's… true."
A man who fought to avoid having his authority stolen and becoming a puppet wouldn't willingly become someone else's puppet. Especially not if it risked handing over the entire merchant group he'd built his whole life.
Theo's gaze shifted to Fiore—not the eyes of an older brother looking at his sister, but the cool, calculating eyes of a merchant evaluating a plan.
"So assuming this disappearance happened against the head's will, why should we take the risk of moving?"
"Because even if outsiders try to use the head as a card, it means nothing if his influence inside the group has already vanished. Conversely, if Theo moves quickly to seize the merchant group, the other side will have no choice but to act before that process is complete. Otherwise, they won't get to play the card they've been holding."
"Forcing them to move instead of reacting to their movements, huh."
Theo looked deep in thought. Understandable—we were just throwing out ideas; he was the one who actually had to act. Meanwhile, listening to Fiore had sparked a thought in my own mind. Those people who had tried to swallow the Midas Merchant Group whole by seducing that Xavier guy or whatever his name was. They'd failed before, but what if they were trying again now that an opportunity had appeared? It was just a hunch, but it made more sense to suspect people we'd already clashed with than to assume complete strangers had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. If those people really were behind this, then this incident might be far bigger than we'd thought.
All those bearing the name of Midas, gather.
I shall appoint a new head and master of the merchant group.
In the end, Theo accepted Fiore's proposal, and a great storm swept through the Midas Merchant Group once more. Bern Midas's loyalists were veteran merchants who had built the group from the ground up, but when it came to merchant ability, Theo was no less capable. More importantly, without Bern Midas as their central figure and command tower, there was a limit to what they could accomplish. Branch managers and heirs across the regions who judged that the tide had already turned began pledging allegiance to Theo one by one. By the time Theo had swallowed roughly seventy percent of the merchant group—
"All those bearing the name of Midas, gather. I shall appoint a new head and master of the merchant group."
A letter written in Bern Midas's handwriting, who had supposedly gone missing, was scattered throughout the entire merchant group. Those who had been loudly claiming that Theo and I had killed Bern and seized the group fell silent, but honestly, none of us were pleased. It reeked of suspicion no matter how you looked at it.
"It's a trap, isn't it?"
"But we can't not go."
The head had effectively declared surrender and summoned his children. If the heir who was supposed to accept that surrender got scared and stayed away, how ridiculous would that look? And the place Bern Midas had chosen to gather the clan was a village in southern Spero that housed a magic stone mine. In a sense, it was the very place where the Midas family had begun, making it all the more symbolic.
To prepare for any eventuality, Theo hired a large number of fighters. Ligret, Fiore, and I would be going with him as well.
Well then. What exactly is going to come out of this? I just hope we won't need to use our insurance.