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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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Among the many citizens of the Kingdom of Sphero, very few held a favorable view of the Midas family.
Fifty years ago, during the Great War where the four kingdoms fiercely vied for continental dominance, the Kingdom of Sphero was defeated by the Kingdom of Barhardt.
With the exception of some women and children, the royal family perished.
The young king of Barhardt married one of the surviving Sphero royal women to one of his relatives, establishing him as the new king of Sphero.
Thus, the Kingdom of Sphero, boasting a long and proud history, was reduced to a mere vassal state of the Kingdom of Barhardt, or rather, the now Barhardt Empire.
The proud nobles of Sphero resented the imperial invaders and the royal family which was essentially seized by them, but not all citizens shared their sentiment.
Noden, the founder of the Midas family’s resurgence, was one such example.
Noden, who at the time was a commoner with neither significant wealth nor status, one day discovered a new mineral vein while prospecting.
A law enacted after the new royal family took power stipulated that prospectors who discovered and reported such veins to the nation would be granted 5% of the profits from the developed mine.
However, this law was rarely enforced.
Unlike the days of the old royal family, where ownership of a mine was fully granted to the lord of the corresponding territory, under the new royal family’s rule, 30% of the mine’s profits had to be paid as taxes.
Recognizing the prospector’s share on top of this significantly reduced the lord’s income.
Concerned that the lord, who already had a poor reputation, would not provide proper compensation, Noden reported the vein’s existence not to the lord, but to an official dispatched by the new royal family to inspect the territory.
This caused a considerable stir.
The scale of the discovered vein was unprecedentedly massive, and the fact that it contained magic stones, valued even higher than most precious metals, further fueled the controversy.
More importantly, it came to light that the lord of the territory and several anti-royalist nobles had been aware of the magic stone vein’s existence early on during the mine’s development but had concealed it from the new royal family.
The new king of Sphero was enraged, and the families involved were utterly ruined.
This incident instantly made Noden wealthier than most nobles and earned him the surname Midas, bestowed upon him by the king.
However, it simultaneously marked him as an enemy to many Sphero nobles.
Aware of the resentment directed towards him, Noden Midas refrained from excessive extravagance, contenting himself with a comfortable life lived as discreetly as possible.
However, his son, Bern Midas, viewed his father’s cautiousness as cowardice and held it in contempt.
Unlike his father, who merely hoarded most of the wealth, Bern used it as capital to venture into commerce.
After establishing his business, he expanded into moneylending and aggressively accumulated wealth.
However, Bern’s excessively ruthless and vicious business practices repelled many, and people criticized his family as nouveau riche, devoid of any class.
This reputation extended to Bern’s children.
“…Wow, considered traitors who sided with the Empire by the nobles, and criticized as unscrupulous merchants by the commoners. All that’s missing is a good-for-nothing heir, and they’d be the perfect villains obstructing the protagonist.”
Or perhaps the conditions were already met.
Among Bern Midas’s many children, several were shadowed by unsavory rumors, though not to the same extent as their father.
Shaking my head, I looked at the mirror placed in the corner of the room.
Blond hair that evoked a sense of frivolity rather than nobility or elegance.
A young boy with a small frame, wearing a sneer that didn’t quite fit him, stared back at me from the mirror.
Chrom Midas.
The name given to me in this second life after my death in a traffic accident in my previous one.
It was also the name of the character I had created using the “Greedy Prodigal” template in the game “Planetarium.”
“Why this of all things? Why not the ‘Nameless War Ghost’ or the ‘Heir of Red and Blue Blood’? It would have been easier to handle a template I’d already cleared than one I was just starting.”
Even though I grumbled and complained, deep down I knew I was being ungrateful.
I had been given a second chance at life in the form of reincarnation after my previous one ended abruptly and unfortunately.
That alone was more than enough good fortune.
And to be reborn into a wealthy family in a fantasy world with a rigid class system and blatant disregard for human rights, where I didn’t have to worry about my next meal… well, that was something.
“And the starting point is pretty early, too.”
While it varied slightly depending on the template, players typically gained control of their characters around the age of 15.
Events before that were presented like a movie, showcasing background settings and a few characteristic episodes from childhood, with no player interaction possible.
But my current physical age was 13.
Moreover, I recalled not just the partial information a player would normally receive, but everyday details as well.
Judging by the lingering impressions of why I had acted in certain ways, it seemed more accurate to say that I had reincarnated as Chrom Midas and lived his life up to this point, only now becoming aware of my past life, rather than simply possessing his body.
As I pondered what to do next, I heard a knock and a young woman’s voice.
―Master Chrom. May I come in?
I hesitated for a moment before replying.
“Come in.”
“Excuse me.”
A maid with bluish-silver bobbed hair entered the room.
Bern Midas, the current head of the family and my father in this life, was quite the womanizer, and the maids working in the mansion were all remarkably beautiful.
If it weren’t for my memories of frequently seeing her as Chrom, interacting with her might have been a bit awkward.
“Master Chrom. The Lord is calling for you.”
“That ol… Father is?”
I almost slipped up, but the maid, whose name I didn’t even know, remained impassive, either oblivious or indifferent.
“I’m not feeling well right now. Can you tell him I’ll see him later?”
“I was ordered to bring you to him immediately.”
“No, but…”
“I was ordered to bring you to him immediately, Master Chrom.”
So resolute.
Even a seasoned warrior wouldn’t cut me down so swiftly.
Realizing it was futile to argue, I reluctantly followed her.
Well, it couldn’t be anything too serious, right?
A surprisingly normal-looking middle-aged man.
That was my first impression of Bern Midas.
He wasn’t obese, as one might expect from the term “greedy nouveau riche,” nor was he adorned with excessive jewelry.
However, his prominent cheekbones and upturned eyes gave him a fierce look, and his sharp gaze had a way of getting under one’s skin.
Like now, for instance.
“You will accompany me on my next ‘business’ trip.”
He stated his business the moment he saw me, without so much as a formal greeting.
“I’ll assign a subordinate to you. Observe what he does and learn. You’ll have to do it yourself soon enough, so it’s best to familiarize yourself with it.”
That was it.
There was nothing about what I would specifically be doing, whether I was capable of it, or what my opinion on the matter was.
Just do as you’re told. A unilateral declaration.
The meeting ended abruptly, and as I was practically shooed out the door, the same cold maid from before greeted me.
“I will escort you to Master Dorf. Please follow me.”
“…Um, am I actually Father’s biological son?”
At my question, the doll-like, indifferent expression on the maid’s face shifted subtly for the first time.
It was a look that said, ‘What on earth is this boy talking about?’
“Yes. You are the youngest of the three siblings born between the Lord and his legal wife, Lady Roselia.”
That’s a relief.
With you and that man’s cold demeanor, I thought I might have been some picked-up stray, contrary to the setting I knew.
By the way…
“Then, do you know about any other siblings born to other mothers besides mine? I don’t remember ever meeting them.”
“I apologize, but I cannot disclose that information.”
“Why not?”
“I cannot disclose the reason either.”
“…”
The maid’s attitude reminded me of the childhood episodes of the “Greedy Prodigal” that I had seen as a short film within the game.
「His (Her) childhood was steeped in blood and desire.」
「The ‘Greedy Prodigal’s’ birth mother was poisoned shortly after giving birth, and he (she) was subjected to countless assassination attempts from a young age.」
「Even blood relatives could not be trusted and were often the greatest threat to his (her) life.」
「The Lord did not intervene in these conflicts and tacitly permitted them as long as his wives and their children did not harm the family.」
Those few lines succinctly summarized what I was about to face.
「-Thus, the ‘Greedy Prodigal’ killed all those who raised a blade against him (her) and seized the position of heir.」
It seemed the death flags had already been raised from the very beginning.
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