How to Spend a Holiday (4)
The moment a plan is set, you move immediately. That’s the rule. After confirming the damned family head’s current location through Dorf, we took the magic train and moved quickly. Soon enough, we arrived at the villa where he was supposedly staying.
“Wow, he really lives like a king, huh?”
I couldn’t help but mutter it. The mansion was so ostentatious it demanded the comment. Tall walls. A vast garden inside. Beyond the intricately twisted iron gate, the scale of the building was grander than most noble estates. If you looked closely, it even had what looked like a tower attached to it.
Ligret tilted her head.
“They called it a villa, but it looks fancier than the main house.”
Fiore answered.
“Unlike the main house, this estate and the surrounding land aren’t officially registered under the Midas name. The owner is listed under the name of a fairly old noble family, and that’s what the neighbors believe as well.”
“What’s the point of that?”
I said, “Because there are people who get uncomfortable when a commoner lives more luxuriously than nobles. No matter how cold-blooded Bern Midas is, or how far he’ll go for profit, he’s not stupid enough to take a loss when there’s no need.”
Right now in the Spero Kingdom, there was a sharp divide between the new royal family that had been installed after becoming a vassal state of the Barhart Empire and their supporters, and those who still longed for the old kingdom. They were called the New Royalists and the Old Royalists respectively.
The reason the Midas family’s founder, Noden Midas, was able to amass such enormous wealth was because he had reported the existence of a magic stone mine that the Old Royalist faction had been hiding to the New Royalists. Because of that, the Midas family became mortal enemies to the Old Royalist nobles—people they’d gladly tear apart. On the other hand, the New Royalists didn’t have a bad impression of them at all. After all, they’d been the ones to reveal a source of money that even the New Royalists hadn’t known about. It was only natural they’d feel grateful to Noden Midas rather than resent him.
Unlike my father, who had lived a modestly wealthy life while trying not to stand out too much, Bern Midas had aggressively expanded his business. Even so, he never openly opposed the New Royalists. Instead, he squeezed money out of the Old Royalists and the commoners. In a way, he was biting their rival faction for them, so the New Royalists tacitly tolerated Bern Midas’s actions. Bern, for his part, at least pretended to show them respect to a certain degree—things like not building a mansion larger than those of nobles with real power, or limiting the size of his carriages. That sort of thing.
Actually, I hadn’t known any of this in my previous life. I only learned it after working under Bern and handling various tasks for him. I’d just assumed he was a greedy, vicious upstart who cackled, “Money is everything! History and status mean nothing in front of money!”
As we approached the mansion’s main gate, the gatekeepers moved to intercept us.
“Excuse me. Could you please show something to prove your identity and state your purpose for visiting?”
“Chrome Midas and Fiore Midas. Escort, Ligret. We’re here to see the family head.”
Although I had handed real authority over to Theo, I was still nominally the owner of the Armatia Estate branch. I showed them the metal plaque that proved my position as branch manager.
This was a continent where things like ID cards or driver’s licenses didn’t exist yet, and we weren’t high enough nobles to have our own exclusive crests. The empire had begun distributing something like identification tags, but other countries hadn’t. So it wasn’t uncommon for people to create their own proof of identity as needed.
The gatekeeper examined the metal plaque carefully, then bowed politely.
“Good day to you, Lord Chrome Midas. I must ask the family head’s opinion, so please wait a moment.”
He whispered something to one of his colleagues, who then picked up what looked like a speaking tube installed near the gate and began talking into it. Damn. They’d embedded a communication magic tool instead of a doorbell. This place really was swimming in money.
After the conversation ended, the man shook his head. The gatekeeper spoke again.
“I’m sorry, Lord Chrome Midas. The family head is currently in poor health, so we ask that you visit again another time.”
“When would that be?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know.”
“If the family head is seriously ill, shouldn’t his son be by his side?”
“I’m sorry. We were explicitly told not to let anyone in.”
Aha. So that’s how it is. His health just happens to be very bad right now. Well then, I guess there’s nothing we can do.
“So the damn family head decides to play it this way.”
His sense of timing really is terrifyingly sharp.
I patted Ligret on the shoulder and said, “Don’t kill him.”
Ligret replied, “I’ll try.”
Fiore added, “As long as it’s not instant death, I can handle it somehow. Don’t worry too much.”
The gatekeepers must have sensed something ominous. They all immediately went on high alert, but it was already too late.
“Please wait! What are you—”
The gatekeeper trying to stop us never finished his sentence. Ligret had pulled out a wooden club about a meter long. It had a thin handle that smoothly connected to a thick head. She swung it with full force, sending him flying.
The gatekeeper’s body soared through the air and slammed into the iron gate. The gate couldn’t withstand the impact and collapsed backward with a crash.
A wooden club favored by the legendary warrior Vibros during the Age of Stars. Vibros was a master of blunt weapons. Not only was he skilled at striking enemies with the weapon in his hand, but he was also renowned for his ability to deflect incoming projectiles. While its destructive power is not particularly high, it is extremely useful for knocking things far away.
“I hope one day this technique can be used for something other than fighting.”
— Vibros —
While the gatekeepers were still stunned by the power of the wooden club—famous among Planetarium players in my previous life as a baseball bat—I, Ligret, and Fiore dashed through the broken gate.
“Catch them! Intruders!”
“Stop them! The family head is in danger!”
Shouts rang out from every direction, and a loud alarm-like sound filled the entire mansion. Hmm. If this fails, cleaning up the aftermath is going to be a real headache.
Rattle. Thud!
After crossing the wide garden and reaching the front of the mansion, we saw a crude iron gate had descended in front of what had been an elegant wooden door, completely blocking the way.
Without hesitation, I pulled a Flame Crystal from Thoth's Bag and threw it.
BOOM!
The moment the mid-tier spell engraved on the magic stone was released, the iron gate exploded. We didn’t hesitate to leap through the hole it left behind.
In the hallway beyond stood several burly men in neat suits. They clearly hadn’t expected us to blow the door open; they wore bewildered expressions. I hurled a pouch filled with paralyzing powder over their heads. Ligret threw a spear that pierced the pouch mid-air, showering them with its contents.
The burly men couldn’t even put up a proper fight. They clutched their throats and collapsed. Ligret and I held our breath as we had often done before entering the academy, waiting for the powder to settle. But at that moment, pure white light burst from Fiore’s hand and wrapped around our bodies.
“You don’t have to worry about the poison!”
Ohh, a healer. No wonder she’s treated like nobility.
With nothing left to hold us back, we began tearing through the mansion. Ligret knocked people down, I poisoned them, and Fiore supported us with magic shields. Occasionally, when Ligret failed to control her strength and left enemies in bad shape, Fiore would give them emergency treatment.
“Wait, why the hell are there so many fighters in one mansion?! This looks more like a dungeon with a boss mob than a damn villa!”
Ligret said as she kicked aside another guard blocking our path.
“He must think his own neck could be cut at any moment.”
Fiore added, “Even so, this number of people and their equipment level is strange! Maybe he’s been investigating and preparing for the recent clan murder incidents?”
Ah, so he knew something weird was going on but decided to secure his own safety first? Talk about thorough survival instincts. At this point, I’m genuinely curious how the original Greedy Prodigal managed to subdue him during his boyhood.
Anyway, there weren’t many places left to—
“Gah!”
“Kyaa!”
Completely caught off guard by the unexpected blow, I was knocked backward. Fiore, who had been behind me, was caught in the momentum and rolled across the floor. Almost at the same instant, a silver flash shot from beyond the mirror in the hallway, grazing the exact spot we had just been standing.
With shattered mirror fragments scattering everywhere, the attacker realized his ambush had failed. He tried to charge at me again, but Ligret stepped in front of him. Clicking his tongue, the attacker retreated.
Only then did I realize the blow from earlier had been Ligret kicking me out of the way.
“…Hmph. You have quite the excellent guard. What a shame.”
A languid yet cold voice. The man had an ordinary yet somehow eerie face. Beside him stood the attacker, positioned respectfully like a servant. I twisted my lips into a smirk.
“You said you were feeling unwell, but you look surprisingly healthy, Family Head.”
“And you, it seems, have finally thrown away even the bare minimum of courtesy. Foolish son of mine.”
There stood Bern Midas, along with the maid I had encountered on the day I awakened my memories of my previous life.