You Have to Leave the House to Make Money

The dark elves placed their agents throughout the empire.

Gathering intelligence from every corner. Recruiting promising talent before anyone else could.

No matter what happened, they maneuvered to make it work in the dark elves’ favor.

Operating in the shadows by any means necessary.

And ruling over those shadow-dwelling elves was the Queen of Assassins.

She had been my third wife.

That name, dropping out of nowhere.

“…Ugh.”

A groan slipped out. Goosebumps broke out across my entire body.

Was this how a husband felt when — the one weekend his wife took the kids to her parents — he had cracked open a beer and sat down to play games, only to hear the doorbell ring?

“Ah… right…”

When I thought about it, it made perfect sense.

A hundred years had passed since Emperor Sirik Karakas died, and the empresses were each governing their divided territories.

Which meant my wives were all very much alive and very much watching.

“No. This can’t be happening…”

I had reincarnated as Rigen less than a month ago.

I hadn’t even gotten to the relaxing part yet — I was still just building up my body.

But if someone figured out that I had reincarnated?

My entire plan — living quietly, enjoying my leisure, doing absolutely nothing — would collapse entirely.

“…No. Absolutely not.”

“Pardon?”

Heinkel, completely in the dark.

“…”

Should I just kill him?

If I silenced him, the dark elves wouldn’t know anything.

The thought flashed through my mind for a moment — I dismissed it immediately.

Getting rid of Heinkel would only attract more attention.

I needed to keep him alive and keep his mouth shut.

I suppressed the agitation and spoke calmly.

“House Librata already has elven patronage.”

“They’re not exactly providing serious support, are they? They sent one envoy, collected some goodwill credit, and left it at that. We dark elves would offer capital, intelligence, a full range of—”

“If that’s the proposal, take it to the count first.”

I drew the line clearly.

“Elves and dark elves are bitter enemies. If I — the youngest son of Librata — accepted dark elf patronage behind everyone’s backs, that would cause problems fast.”

“Of course, I wasn’t suggesting we do it openly…”

Heinkel chose his words carefully.

“I want to invest in Rigen Librata as an individual.”

“Not interested. And if you report anything about me to your superiors, I will personally tell the count that this offer was made.”

If it came out that the dark elves had made a secret approach to House Librata — a house already claimed by the elves — it would escalate into a serious incident.

Which was exactly why Heinkel had kept this so quiet.

Heinkel sighed.

“That would put me in a very awkward position for having made an ill-considered proposal.”

“Yes. It was ill-considered.”

Money and intelligence, offered freely.

At first glance, it sounded sweet.

But nothing in this world was free.

I knew the dark elves well.

The reliability of notarizing a contract and seeing it through at the cost of their own lives — that was the face they showed. But underneath it, they ran spies, waged information campaigns, and carried out assassinations without a second thought.

If I accepted this offer?

I would be handed intelligence by a dark elf spy embedded in House Librata — and in exchange, I would receive demand after demand in return.

When I drew the line, Heinkel gave a wry smile.

“My apologies. You are a dragon biding its time — clearly there are circumstances at play that I didn’t account for.”

“Right. Now then… I need to go collect the money. Tomorrow I go to Marquis Burzak, hand Dominic back, and get the thirty million won. After that, we’re done.”

“Of course, as the notary I will ensure the contract is properly fulfilled. But I would very much like to remain on good terms going forward.”

“I don’t do secret friendships with grown men.”

My flat refusal made Heinkel burst out laughing.

“Haha — then shall I introduce you to a beautiful dark elf woman?”

“You’re going to get yourself killed…”

If the Queen of Assassins ever heard about that, she would deal with Heinkel personally.

I said it as a genuine warning. He took it as a joke.

Once the laughter settled, Heinkel bowed his head.

“Congratulations once more on your victory today. The dormant dragon’s remarkable rise and fearless conduct were deeply impressive. Though the timing isn’t right now, I will long for the day we might stand together.”

The courtesy was so impeccable I had nothing to say to it.

Heinkel raised his head and grinned.

“Enough of the complicated talk. Let’s focus on getting the money tomorrow. Extracting it from Marquis Burzak won’t be a simple matter — the man is greedy but skittish.”

“Right. You can go.”

“Yes. Until tomorrow.”

Heinkel left, and I let out a long breath.

“A dark elf agent…”

The twelve-house race for the throne.

The other races were each officially supporting one of the twelve houses.

That was what they showed on the surface.

But offers like the one Heinkel had just made — covert support offered in secret — were probably common too.

“Librata being investigated seems coincidental, but…”

The dark elves’ Queen of Assassins.

Cold, but with fire underneath.

A comrade who had bled beside me fighting the Seven Sin God. She had described her own people as cunning, then turned around and convinced me that the Millennial Empire needed exactly that kind of shadow.

Cold in public, but when it was just the two of us—

“Hm. I want to see her and I don’t, all at once.”

Technically, legally speaking, there was nothing wrong on my end.

The moment Sirik Karakas died, every marriage had ended.

To love each other until death do us part?

Death came and parted us. We’re done.

“…That argument might not go over well.”

I shook my head.

Set that aside for now.

I hadn’t even been living in this body for a full month yet.

I just wanted to rest in peace.

Even if a wife who’d taken the kids to her parents’ house announced she was coming back tomorrow — I still wanted to enjoy this moment of drinking beer in the living room while it lasted.

“Haaaah…”

I cleared my head and refocused.

Time to assess how much my psychic abilities had grown.

The spot where I was sitting on the bed lifted slightly.

I had levitated my own body with telekinesis.

“Good… hmm.”

Telekinesis had distinct stages.

Moving objects — the first.

Applying force to specific parts of my own body — the second.

Lifting my entire body like this — the third.

Entering a state of momentary weightlessness.

My body hovered faintly above the bed.

Veins stood out along my neck and face. My breath shortened.

“Hmm… ngh…”

The difficulty was high and the visible use seemed limited — but in my hands, it was something else entirely.

Complete control of my posture and momentum during combat. Full management of inertia.

For the Telekinetic Fist to reach its true potential, this was essential.

Thud.

Ten seconds and I couldn’t hold it. My body dropped back onto the bed.

I broke into a cold sweat and took a moment to recover.

“Ah, still a long way to go with this one.”

Sustaining the weightless state demanded enormous mental strength and control.

Still far off.

“Haaaah…”

I exhaled slowly and waited for my mental reserves to replenish.

“Physical conditioning I can build up with steady training. Psychic abilities I can grow by absorbing here and there. The real problem is magic.”

I gathered magic to my fingertips.

Red to orange, orange shifting into yellow.

Third rank. For my age, a staggering achievement.

If it became known, I’d have people calling me a prodigy before the week was out.

“The issue is that’s only impressive by human standards. And to grow my magic further, I need to fight.”

The only way to strengthen magic was to go through real combat and survive it.

Mana potions worked too, but the efficiency was terrible.

“I’m going to have to do some fighting eventually. Better to get it done now and avoid trouble later.”

Karakas was a harsh world.

Races with clashing values — and blades came out at the drop of a hat.

Even today, if I had been weaker — if I hadn’t trained from the moment I reincarnated — things could have gone badly.

“I don’t need to get back to where I was as emperor. I just need to recover enough that no one takes liberties — not humans, not the other races either. And while I’m at it, earn some money. The question is how… and as it happens, there’s an opening right in front of me.”

I could have Heinkel collect the thirty million won from Dominic’s duel on my behalf.

But I was planning to go in person.

“There are still some loose ends in this situation that haven’t been sorted out…”

There were people who wanted to have Librata thrown out of the twelve houses?

Marquis Burzak’s side would have the leads.

“A scheme like that needs funding. If I take it all for myself, I won’t have to worry about money for a good while.”

Taking money from people with dirty hands was the cleanest approach.

No complications afterward. Large amounts.

“One big score and I can live easy!”

Evening.

Marquis Burzak’s estate.

A man in finely dressed attire paced restlessly around the room.

The lord of this estate — Marquis Burzak.

“Word should have come by now. This is…”

“Burzak, you keep pacing back and forth — it’s making my head spin. Sit down.”

A man with broad shoulders issued the instruction.

His casual tone with Burzak was only possible because he, too, was a marquis.

Marquis Crocell.

The head of the family to which Rigen’s fiancée belonged.

Burzak turned to him with an anxious look.

“Aren’t you worried at all?”

“You said your son was reasonably skilled with a sword, didn’t you? And he had a dark elf escort with him. The other party — Rigen — is supposed to be some fool without a single drop of magic. I can’t see what there is to worry about.”

“…But we might have stirred up the elves. Librata itself isn’t much, but there’s an elf living on their grounds!”

Human nobles lorded over commoners like god, but they didn’t handle the other races carelessly.

Beastmen were manageable enough, but elves and celestials were a different matter entirely.

They worked to maintain cordial relationships wherever possible.

The other races’ approval was needed to be crowned as the second emperor, and their warriors were far more formidable than any human knight.

“The Alakas mountain range in this area is elf-controlled territory to begin with, isn’t……”

At that, Crocell turned a sharp look on him.

“Are you saying that sincerely? A nobleman of the empire acknowledging that elves rule this land?”

“W-well, it’s the truth, isn’t it? Until the second emperor is chosen, the elves do govern here. If anything goes wrong, we have no choice but to watch how they react.”

Burzak held his ground.

The two marquises’ eyes met.

Crocell backed down first.

“My apologies. I spoke carelessly about something I don’t fully understand.”

“…No. I was the one speaking out of turn.”

The awkwardness lingered. Burzak changed the subject.

“I don’t doubt Heinkel’s ability, but he won’t exactly have warm feelings toward elves either. I should have just sent one of our own family’s knights as escort.”

“Using a butcher’s cleaver to kill a chicken — worried you’ve overdone it?”

“Yes. I’m afraid we might have caused unnecessary trouble instead.”

“Ha, trouble would suit us just fine. If you’re going to have ambitions, stop being so timid about it.”

Marquis Crocell smiled.

“What you want is obvious enough. Get rid of Librata — that upstart family — and take their place among the twelve houses. That’s all there is to it. And what are the twelve houses, really? What possible justification is there for insisting the second emperor has to come from within that group?”

“W-what a dangerous thing to say. That’s the dying wish of Emperor Sirik Karakas himself. If someone overheard……”

“Let them hear. What are we lacking, you or I? We have money. We have power. And yet because we were never admitted to those twelve houses, we’ve always been treated as second-rate!”

Crack.

The wine glass in Crocell’s hand shattered.

“I will not live like this anymore. I refuse to live like this!”

“…”

Burzak gave a slow nod.

Here in the north of the Millennial Empire, near the Alakas mountain range, Marquis Burzak wanted for nothing.

The elves governed the region, true — but they rarely meddled in human affairs.

The surrounding minor nobles bent over backward to stay on his good side.

Yet House Librata, simply for being one of the twelve houses, made a habit of pushing back against him.

He was confident he could crush them in a direct confrontation, but Librata had the elves behind them.

So he had swallowed his resentment and endured — until Crocell brought him a plan, and he accepted it.

“Crocell — what do you intend to do after the engagement with Librata is broken?”

“Everything is already prepared.”

Burzak asked nothing further.

Marquis in name they both were, but the difference in their standing was clear.

Burzak was tucked away in a northern border province. Crocell had connections running deep into the central nobility.

His political acumen and intelligence were exceptional.

For all those reasons, Burzak privately deferred to Marquis Crocell by a margin.

Burzak said carefully,

“If Librata does get removed from the twelve houses — the vacant seat…”

“We’ve discussed this already, haven’t we? Your family takes the spot, and ours are joined through marriage. Simple.”

“…”

“What, having second thoughts about trusting me? But if you and I come to blows over this, we’ll just be handing the advantage to some other house. And you know I have no love for the elves.”

Crocell said it with feeling.

“I despise elves. If I can spit in their faces, a seat among the twelve houses is a price worth paying.”

“…Understood.”

Burzak nodded.

Crocell smiled with satisfaction.

“Feeling better now? Then let’s raise a glass to House Librata’s downfall.”

They say it has always been the father-in-law who stands in the way of a son-in-law’s future.

Usually the son-in-law comes off worse.

But not this time.

Rigen Librata.

The man who, in a previous life, had been married eight times.

A man who had faced eight fathers-in-law was coming for them.