章 280: What Money Can’t Buy (4)
A few days later. Vikir once again visited Demian's mansion wearing the mask of the Night Hound.
"I'm glad we seem to be working together on something."
This time, Dolores was with him.
Vikir planned to seek Damian's cooperation and introduce Dolores at the same time.
Demian's mansion was still heavily guarded, but as he'd been told, there were areas that were unguarded.
Vikir took that route with Dolores.
After passing through several gates, they came to a high wall.
Dolores stood in front of the high fence, wondering what to do.
"Come here."
"...What!?"
Vikir picked Dolores up and scaled the fence in a flash.
…Chuck!
Landing on the courtyard, Vikir set Dolores down beside him.
"Uh... Has it already passed?"
"?"
"Oh, no, that's nonsense!"
Dolores covered her reddened ears with her hair and clapped her hands like it was nothing.
Then.
"The garden might be a bit boring to enjoy a date."
A muffled voice came from across the garden.
Where Vikir and Dolores turned, Demian stood.
"Since you officiated at my daughter's wedding, I am willing to officiate at yours."
"Your bullshit has increased."
"Hahaha-is it?"
Dolores was surprised to see Vikir and Demian chatting so casually.
When she had visited him for the second round of the University League, he had been very depressed and nervous, as well as incredibly reticent.
She couldn't believe how much his personality had changed.
'By the way, is ... officiating, Night Hound? I mean, didn't Director Demian's daughter die in a car accident in the first place?'
To officiate at someone's wedding is to become their godfather, a very important ceremony for nobles.
What happened between Night Hound and Director Demian?
How did they become so close?
But Vikir did not bother to explain the past to Dolores.
"This is an ally who will help me with this."
"Pleased to meet you, Saintess of the Quovadis. We've met before, haven't we?"
At Vikir's introduction, Demian extended his hand to Dolores.
Dolores shook her hand and returned the gesture politely.
"It is an honor to meet you again, Demian, Director of the Money Manufacturing Bureau."
"If I had known we would be in the same boat like this, I would have seen it better then, hahaha-"
Seeing Damian's smiling face, Dolores had to gasp once more.
She'd never realized he was capable of smiling so wide.
Then. Vikir cut straight to the chase.
"I will kill Bartholomeo, the patriarch of the Bourgeois Family."
Dolores paused, meeting Demian's eyes.
But at the mention of killing the head of his own family, his own brother, Demian didn't bat an eye.
On the contrary.
"Yes. I already prepared a place for you."
He accepted it as a matter of course.
Demian proceeded to tell his story.
"I used a few of the family's henchmen to spread the word about the Oracle Investment Fund to Patriarch. He was very interested, to say the least, at the prospect of a young genius with a talent for investing."
"So. Did you get him?"
"Yes."
Demian nodded in response to Vikir's question.
Then he explained to Dolores, whose eyes were wide with confusion.
"About the dinner date."
"Oh."
"Mark my words. Dinner is the perfect time to assassinate my brother."
Dolores cocked her head at Demian's newfound devotion.
"But why dinner? Why not other opportunities, such as when you are outside the family home, or in bed?"
"That is due to a peculiar habit my brother has."
Demian explained.
"Whenever he has a meeting or a meal with someone from the outside he always brings them into the vault of his house. And at all other times, he keeps a group of highly trained private soldiers at his side."
"In the vault?"
"Yes. The vault."
Dolores scratched her head.
Sure, the vault might be big, but how big could it be to let outsiders in?
But Demian's next words made Dolores' jaw drop.
"The vault is shaped like a cube, over a hundred meters across, long, wide, and high, and its walls are lined with mithril and orharkon, so it's impossible to pry it open with any kind of force, and it's layered with dozens or hundreds of layers of teleportation control magic, so it's impossible to escape with magic. Of course, who designed and built it is a mystery."
Iron Fortress. It's more like an impenetrable citadel than a vault.
"Within its vaults, gold, jewelry, money, art, and all sorts of treasures are stored in mountains and mountains of treasure. The invited guests will dine for two hours in the midst of these gold and silver treasures."
"Why dine in such a place?"
"Because so many of the people who come to visit my brother are clueless fools, who want to show off their wealth in a grandiose way, and perhaps to kill their spirit beforehand."
"Forgive me if I seem to be asking a lot of questions, but is there any reason why... mealtime is two hours long?"
"Because once the vault is closed, it won't open for two hours, no matter what. The reason it's set to two hours is because when the vault was first built, the knights of Ironblooded Baskerville were the ones who tested it."
Vikir looked interested at Demian's words.
"The Knights of Baskerville?"
"Yes. My brother borrowed the Knights of Baskerville to test the safety of the vault and tried to destroy it."
Demian stroked his chin, remembering the past.
"Those were the Pitbull Knights, I think?"
Vikir knows the Pitbull Knights well. He'd used them once before, when he'd raided an illegal slave auction.
An order dedicated to dogfighting, led by one of the Seven Counts, Boston Terrier.
They are the embodiment of strength and determination, and once they are on their feet, they must bite their opponents to death.
Demian tells an anecdote about them.
"That's when the entire Knights of the Pit Bulls came in and attacked the walls of the vault, and the walls were breached in two hours."
What this means is that it was able to block the attacks from hundred of Graduator without stopping for two hours.
If the vault is as strong as that, then security is assured, and we can eat in peace knowing that we are absolutely safe from outside threats.
Dolores said briefly.
"Put another way... that means that once we succeed in meeting the Bourgeois patriarch inside the vault, we can run amok without outside intervention for at least two hours."
"That's right, because those on the outside can't see or hear what's going on inside."
"Wouldn't he be worried about being assassinated before he could get inside the vault? That seems like a reasonable concern."
"Oddly enough, I've never heard him worry about that."
Vikir, next to Damien, chimed in.
"That's because he's a demon with absolute power."
"...What, a demon?"
Demian scratched his head as if he had never heard of it before.
Dolores, meanwhile, was frantically scribbling notes.
"Free time in the vault is two hours. When you go inside, you will see a mountain of treasures such as gold, currency, jewelry, and works of art. The strength of the outer wall is almost indestructible...."
In the meantime, Vikir's mind was elsewhere.
'It has become almost certain that the patriarch of the Bourgeois family is No. 6.'
Vikir was convinced, based on the research Cindiwendy had recently sent back to him.
Sixth corpse. A demon working with the ninth corpse, Dantalian, to consume both the Quovadis and the Bourgeois.
Vikir thought back to the past, to the Age of Destruction.
Morale boosted by the dazzling displays of their heroes, the Human Alliance had advanced across the ruined Imperial Capital.
And they saw.
'The most beautiful being among those cast out from heaven.'
He faced the great heroes of humanity with his seemingly innate bravery, strong and powerful dignity, courage, and spirit.
However, the tactics he showed in the actual battle were cowardly, clumsy, cunning, and cruel.
His appearance was also terrible.
A thunderbolt of fire spewing from the eyes, eye glow billowing out like smoke from the world's largest beacon fire, and breath laden with a disgusting stench.
Its mouth cracked open like the cracks of an arctic ice wall, and its horns and wings spread out to either side, large enough to cover the entire battlefield.
'...I struggled with his tactics in the Legion vs. Legion battle. If he gathers strength over time, he can be a real nuisance, and we need to get rid of him as soon as possible.'
I could see why the Sixth had chosen the Bourgeois.
He must be using the money to buy an army.
A huge army of people who had unwittingly become followers of the demon.
Then. Demian asked.
"Do you think it's possible to assassinate my brother in less than two hours? He's not just a man with a lot of money, or else the previous head of the Iron-Blooded family would want him as his adopted son."
Which meant that Hugo's father had coveted the current Patriarch of the Bourgeois's talents.
Vikir stroked his chin.
'Then that means his physical qualities are almost as good as Hugo's.'
Much time had passed since then, and now a demon controlled the body.
After some thought, Vikir nodded.
"It's going to be tight, but it's doable. If you help me with one thing outside the vault."
"Me? Outside the vault?"
Demian shrugged.
He might be a Graduator-level prosecutor, but he wouldn't be much help in a fight.
In the first place, there was a high possibility that he wouldn't even be able to go into the vault since he was only making dinner and then leaving.
Moreover, what are they supposed to do outside of the vault, where outside intervention is completely impossible?
To a bewildered-looking Demian and Dolores.
Sigh.
Vikir pushed aside a sheet of paper with his plan.
"This is the end of the Bourgeois."
And.
Realizing what Vikir was trying to do outside the vault, Demian and Dolores spoke at the same time in disbelief.
"This isn't about the Bourgeois...."
"…The entire empire will come to an end?"
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