The Villain's Story

Chapter 931: Midas.

Maxwell sat upon his ‘luxurious’ in a somewhat laidback manner, his legs propped up on his table, and a slight flush present on his face. In his left hand was a cup of blood red wine, and in his right, a Cuban cigar.

One of the finest in the world. It had a creamy, rich flavor, it was earthy, sweet, and also contained a spice that would announce itself once on the palate. There were quite a few on the floor. Maxwell took another puff and relaxed once more.

His tired eyes stared at the ceiling; it was unknown what he was thinking about. Perhaps he was just relishing the taste of fine wine and the best cigar, or perhaps he was thinking about the mountain of work he had to do, or something else.

Maxwell was a bit special; he had a great poker face. Even if drunk, he hardly let his thoughts run rampant on his visage. He would always have an air of control, a calm air that told everyone he was still in control. No matter how much he indulged himself, or how tired his eyes appeared to be.

He would always be calm, a trait developed in his traumatic childhood. Even in the most dire of situations, he would somehow always be able to think clearly. Maxwell emptied his cup of wine, throwing it on the ground.

His shadow leapt from the ground, caught the glass cup, and lightly whacked Maxwell’s head with it, before putting it on the table. Maxwell scratched his head and muttered in a weak voice.

“Thanks.”

It was at that moment that Alan entered the room, his nose twitched, not from disgust, but rather pleasure. The scent in Maxwell’s office was sublime, the scent of the finest cigar! Alan was about to ask for one when he saw the empty box on the table.

He sighed in dismay and sat down on the couch, waiting for Maxwell to look at him. He wanted the man to get out of his drunken state, whether by his own will or by Alan casting a spell on him.

Eventually, as time passed, He shrugged his shoulders, and his mana began to stir. But before he could cast anything, Maxwell’s shadow leapt up and slapped him on the face, forcing him to look in Alan’s direction.

Alan almost burst out laughing, but barely managed to contain himself. However, his shadow was unable to contain itself. You could see it on the floor, smacking its knee and laughing out loud in whatever realm of shadows it existed in.

Maxwell rolled his eyes, took another puff of his cigar, and asked with a flushed voice.

“What?”

He turned his head to the ceiling once more, waiting for Alan to talk. He wondered what the man had to say to him… Was he going to ask for money for some things? That shouldn’t be the case; he should still have all his cards on him.

So what else would it be? Some dating advice? That had happened once… and Maxwell thought he did a good job at it… But he was unsure now. However, it was nothing he expected.

Alan talked about the conference, telling Maxwell every single detail. Maxwell didn’t pay much heed to it until he heard his father’s name mentioned. In an instant, all the lethargy disappeared, and Maxwell snapped back into attention. He lowered his feet from the table, rubbed his eyes, and focused on Alan.

The flush on his face had disappeared, replaced by a most serious expression. Alan frowned when he saw this, wondering how a man could change so quickly. He set it aside and continued to recount his experience.

Mainly with Daniel Parker, about how both of them had seen each other’s information, and the ‘danger’ he had felt. He was extremely curious about the danger and what exactly Daniel had seen about him.

Not knowing about it caused him to worry. It was like an itch he couldn’t scratch by himself. It made him uneasy.

Maxwell silently listened to it all before explaining.

“You already know of his unique skill, [Midas’s Rules of Exchange], at least, the basics of it.”

Alan nodded, and Maxwell continued.

“His unique skill is capable of giving value to everything a person possesses, and then comparing it to the value possessed by another person. There are various categories, such as combat, knowledge, wisdom, and literal wealth. Midas’s Rules of Exchanges can drag you into what seems like a domain expansion, where he can set the category.

If whatever you possess has less value than he has, you begin to turn into gold. The Greater the Difference, the faster the transmutation. Because of this, he spent his entire life acquiring as much wealth as he could and as much knowledge as he could. Anything the skill considers to be of value, it is added to his strength. Although he rarely uses this part of his Unique Skill. It could be said that this is its most powerful feature.”

“…”

Alan was speechless. He rubbed his chin in frustration, realizing his mistake. He had just given away information about the fragment of Kizmal, and perhaps even the resurrection spell. He had opened his mouth and paid the price.

It explained why Daniel was the only one who didn’t consider his story to be strange or crazy, it was because his skill was silently recognizing the value of it and adding it to his strength… It explained why he was so calm, excited even. He was so eager to learn of it…

Alan didn’t go into much detail, so he wondered what exactly the value of his ‘knowledge’ was, and what Daniel had gained from it. He sighed in defeat and waited for Maxwell to continue.

“As for what he saw about you, Midas most likely evaluated you as a whole and placed a price on you. I don’t know what it is, but considering it was you, it was probably the biggest number Daniel had ever seen.”

“Makes sense…”

Alan mumbled to himself, thinking about his value. He not only had a Dragon Heart, but a Winter Heart as well. He was also a Frost Dragon and had a lot of treasures in his body, including but not limited to the jewels in his Domain, as well as his Soul Sea, and other things.

The only thing he excluded was the Panoply of Death and his own Unique skill, [Dominatus]. Alan was skeptical whether it could actually detect it. The Panoply was connected to Ariel, a Primordial Being. It was basically a part of her, and if Midas could actually detect it… The value shown would be immeasurable.

It would literally be a number that had never been seen as money, maybe even one no human being had ever dreamed of having. Alan wasn’t sure about the value of his Unique Skill, but he was sure that [Midas] hadn’t detected [Dominatus], if it had, there would surely have been some reaction.

[Dominatus] wasn’t nice to anything that provoked it in the slightest; even taking a simple peek would have triggered the skill to do something at the very least.

“But then again, this presents us with an opportunity…”

Maxwell rubbed his hands together, looking at Alan with a strange gaze. Alan couldn’t explain it and inquired.

“What?”

“His unique skill, as powerful as it is, has its drawbacks. I like to believe every Unique skill has them, but I don’t have much experience with them, so I can’t say… Alan, do you know of the legend of King Midas of Phrygia?”

Alan shook his head. He didn’t know who this King Midas was; he had never really paid attention to history classes at Shield, or any class, in particular.

A beaming smile appeared on Maxwell’s face as he poured himself another cup of wine and began to recite the legend of King Midas.

“Midas was the king of Phrygia, an ancient kingdom in what is now Turkey, or the Capitol. He was described as a man of immense wealth even before the golden touch, a king who lived in luxury, surrounded by rose gardens of legendary beauty. He was not a cruel man, not a villain in the traditional sense. He was simply a man whose love of gold exceeded his wisdom. A man whose hunger for it was… endless, so to say.”

Alan turned his head, confused as to where this was going. Was [Midas’s Rules of Exchange] a Unique skill that originated from Earth? If so, that would be interesting. Had it ever appeared before in the hands of someone other than Daniel? Was King Midas who gave the Unique skill it’s name?

Maxwell laughed inwardly, downing his cup of wine. His expression became even more lively, as he propped his legs up on the table once more, reciting the story of the famous Golden Touch.

“Midas was a man gifted with the Golden Touch, the ability to turn whatever he touched with his hands into gold…”