We searched for Tarot for half an hour. I was already sinfully beginning to think that he was drunk and sleeping off somewhere inside the house. Not, well, in fact, the territory on which the reception is held, of course, is large, but not so much as to look for a person on it for as much as half an hour. You can easily hide here, you'll find a horseradish later, but he doesn't need it, he should be somewhere among people who don't go to different corners right now.
As a result, it turned out that they do. We found Taro taxiing around the corner of the building and talking to a tall, personable man. Approaching the bulk of the guests, they bowed and dispersed each in their own direction. That's when we picked him up.
— Where have you been?! — my companion attacked him. — Don't you think that disappearing from the field of view of your boss is too much?
—Akemi," I said accusingly. After all, this is my man, and only I can push him. In my presence, anyway.
"I'm sorry," she said. — But, damn, half an hour!
"So there were reasons for that," I said soothingly. — Come on, legless drunk, we're leaving. — Another exaggeration on my part. Despite the fact that the Tarot's subtlety was noticeable to the naked eye, he held himself like a staunch tin soldier. — Who was it at least? I nodded at the man Taro was talking to.
— Akechi Yudsuki, boss. The head of the Akechi clan.
— They seem to be engaged in tea. What do they care about Shidotemoru?
"It doesn't matter what they do, boss. We can arrange such an advertising campaign for them on the network that everyone gasps. And most importantly, from this, in addition to money, we will also get fame and reputation. Aristocrats in general, as I have noticed, neglect advertising. Which, of course, is strange, but it helps us.
— Well, yes, advertising. I hadn't thought of that. Okay, let's go already. In the car, the Tarot seemed to have been let out of the air. At that moment it became clear that he had actually drunk a lot, but things required him to be in good shape, and he held on. And then the door slammed behind him, like a signal about the end of the working day, pulled the rod out of him, and he spread out on the seat.
— Was he tortured there, or what? Rymov asked, squinting at this body.
"I don't know if you believe me," I replied, glancing at Taro from behind the seats. — Hey, legless, do you understand me? How many fingers?
— I'm not bzogy.
— "Bznogy"? Well, if that's the case, it's fine. Come on, Vasek, drive to my new mansion. — I gave a piece of paper with the address to both my drivers. I hope they understood, because I don't. Addresses are just as tight in this Japan as they are in mine. It is not surprising that you have to draw plans to get to this or that place.
— A new mansion? Akemi asked. — No, I don't mind looking at it, but why now?
— Because there is time. And if so, why not? We'll throw off this half-corpse there, at the same time we'll look around.
We arrived at the mansion in the evening. Taro had overslept for a while, but he was still stormy when he got out of the car. I gave my hand to Akemi, helping her out, and looked at the gate to which we drove up. Considering the length of the stone fence, the mansion should be rather big.
— S-funny. What do you say?
— I want to sleep, — said Taro.
— I don't know what the house itself is, but you got a big territory. It's like a balm for my soul. As soon as Chesue didn't have a heart attack at that party?
— when I realized that I had won, I thought about it myself, — I grinned. — Okay, what are we standing for, let's go.
Pressing the button of the intercom located to the right of the gate, he began to wait for an answer.
—All right, let's go," Akemi quipped. "And if there's no one there at all?"
"I don't think so," I said, although I wasn't sure myself.
—I'm listening," came from the speaker two minutes later.
— Is Sakurai Shinji bothering you, could you open the gate?
— Of course, Sakurai-san, I'm on my way.
And after a few minutes, the two-meter gate opened without a single creak, and a sturdy old man in a gray kimono appeared in front of us.
— Good evening, Sakurai-san. Allow me to introduce myself—Yoshioka Minoru," he bowed. "Welcome home, sir.
Amazing. For a moment, I really felt like I had returned home after many years of studying abroad.
- hm. Well, Yoshioka-san, let me introduce my friends. Nakata Akemi, — a nod towards the woman, — I ask you to love and favor. Nemoto Taro," I looked at the guy, "is a legless drunk.
"I'm not... no—no," he said anyway.
— Something like that. And anyway, let's finally see... what has changed during my absence," I joked. To which Yoshioka, even for a second, but still hung up.
"Please," the old man bowed, waving his hand in the direction of the house.
The house, or rather its main building, was a huge square with a small courtyard inside. The mansion itself was made in the same style as that of Koyama outside the city, only without a lake with islands. Well, in general, less, of course. The so—called mansions were absent, but the sleeping palace, the servants' quarters, pavilions and galleries were all present. But again on a smaller scale. Against the background of the old style, a completely modern garage stood out, located somewhere in the backyard of the territory.
In general, even though Chesue had dragged everything out of here, except, funnily enough, the tracking system, I liked it here. Well, I was thrilled. After all, it all belongs to me now. Cool, damn it. For such a thing, you can really bury it. Why, I would have buried it myself.
— Unfortunately, Chesue-san ordered to take out all household items, — Yoshioka pursed his lips, showing another empty room. — I tried to save at least tables and futons, but the order was more than clear. All the staff of the mansion were servants of the family, so, as you can see, they left with their master. I recommend hiring new people as soon as possible, my family simply cannot physically monitor the entire territory.
— By the way, yes, Yoshioka-san, can you explain how it happened that, judging by your words, you stayed when everyone left?
"My family has been working here for three hundred years," the old man explained with a sigh. — Regardless of who the owner is. You are already the fourth owner of the mansion, whom I hope we will serve. Unfortunately, as proof of our loyalty, I can only offer you accounting and other papers for all three hundred years of our work.
Holy shit! They give it to me. Okay now, but keep a paper record three hundred years ago and, most importantly, keep it? And after all, this is not some official structure, but only though hereditary, but servants… Not a damn thing, damn it, again.
— H-ha. Surprised. I'll definitely take a look. Uh... where's the Tarot?
— My son put him to bed in one of the guest rooms.
— Timely. And how imperceptibly… M-yes. Can you tell me where Akemi is at the same time?
"Ms. Nakata stayed in the security room. I think she was interested in the security system.
I'm completely relaxed.
— Let's talk about ... — I automatically looked around for a chair or a pillow to sit down, but, as expected, I found nothing... — Problems. What do you need to—" I looked around again. — In short, what do you need?
"In short, money and permission to hire servants," the old man did not wander. — I was already going to buy the most necessary things myself, but my family's money is not enough for things worthy of this place. But I can't hire servants without your permission.
— Do you have a big family, by the way?
— There are four of us here now. Me and my son and our wives. The grandson and granddaughter live in the dormitory of the university where they study. After graduation, they will return, but the granddaughter... sooner or later she will get married and go to a new family. I also have a daughter, but she has been married for many years. But one of her sons wants to follow in the family footsteps. But again after university. It is so accepted in our family that only those who have received higher education can work here. Actually, I was the first to graduate and as the head of the family established such a rule. And I think this is true. It is also optional, but VERY desirable for men to have the rank of a Warrior. There is always a chance that burglars will... er... break into the house.
Heh, "robbers". From another kind, yeah.
— Of course... any other wishes?
— It is necessary to change the security systems. But so far my family doesn't have the trust to do it themselves.
I like him. No, honestly.
— Yes, it is necessary to change it. I've already thought about it. And also over security in general. I do not promise real professionals, but I will allocate people soon.
— I would also like to clarify one thing. Mm... recently people came here to hang new coats of arms, and, as I understand it, these lands have been leased for... several decades..." he said carefully. — It was explained to me that even so you remain the owner of the mansion, but how likely is that?..
— Don't worry, Yoshioka-san, the land is leased to my company. And there I am, despite my age, still a king and a god," I grinned.
"That's very good, Sakurai-san. Thank you for calming the old man down and bringing clarity," he bowed to me. I think I'm really glad.
— Well, that's great. Today I will talk to my financier... although dictate your phone number, he will contact you, and you will figure out for yourself how much, what and where.
— Whatever you say, Sakurai-san.
— Don't worry, MY financier doesn't suffer from greed, so you won't have any problems with him.
Akemi was found in the same place where we left her. She was sitting in the guard's chair and reading something from one of the monitors.
"Everything's been cleaned up," she said, turning to us. — Nothing interesting.
After thinking about it, we decided to spend the night in the mansion and not drag ourselves home across the city. And while Yoshioka's son was running to the nearest store where he could buy futons, his father and Akemi and I went to look at the three-hundred-year-old accounting.
During the time that Tadao, aka Yoshioka Jr., was absent, we managed to briefly familiarize ourselves with the papers. Actually, there was very little interesting there, as expected. In fact, it was not the reports themselves that were of interest, but the crumbs of history that we were able to extract from them.