Chapter 51: Eclipse

By the time evening came, the house was lively again.

"We’re back!" Lily’s voice rang through the front hall.

Reinhard looked up from the couch as Maki came in first with an armful of bags, followed by Yuna with several more, and then Lily, staggering under two enormous bags that were clearly heavier than she had expected.

Reinhard raised an eyebrow. "Did you three buy the entire store?"

Lily dropped her bags with a heavy thud. "Almost."

"We needed more than we expected," Maki said.

"We also bought clothes," Yuna added.

"Lily bought clothes," Maki corrected.

"Everyone bought clothes," Lily protested. "I was just the only one who admitted it."

Reinhard stood. "Good. Because I have something for all of you."

Lily’s head snapped toward him. "Food?"

"No."

"Money?"

"Not exactly."

"Then what?"

"You’ll see."

A few minutes later, Reinhard came back downstairs carrying a large white bag and set it on the coffee table, and nobody questioned where it had come from. "These," he said, "are some things I picked up at the auction."

Lily’s eyes lit up. "You bought more things?"

"I may have gotten a little carried away."

Maki narrowed her eyes. "How much did you spend?"

Reinhard smiled. "Let’s not worry about that yet."

"Reinhard."

"Later." He reached into the bag. "Yuna. This is for you."

He handed her a small pouch holding several softly glowing leaves, and Yuna turned it over in her hands. "What are these?"

"Enlightenment Leaves. They’re supposed to help you understand your Gnosis."

Her expression changed immediately, and Reinhard pulled out another item. "And this is a Mana Fruit."

Yuna held it carefully. "What does it do?"

"Three years of mana."

Yuna froze. "Three years?"

"You should be able to use it to increase your reserves."

She looked from the fruit to Reinhard. "Are you sure?"

"Of course." He set another item beside it. "And a Mana Storage Ring. You can store mana inside it and pull it back out whenever you need it."

Yuna stared at the three items, then at him. "You really bought all of this for us?"

"I found them at the auction."

"You say that like you walked past a shop and picked them off a shelf."

"It was something like that."

Lily snorted. "You probably bullied everyone at the auction again."

"Only financially."

Yuna laughed softly and held the items against her chest. "Thank you."

"You’re welcome." Reinhard reached into the bag again. "Lily."

She sat up straight. "What did you get me?"

He held up a ring. "This. A Healing Ring. It heals injuries very quickly."

Lily’s face lit up. "That’s actually really useful."

"Especially for someone reckless."

Her smile disappeared. "I’m not reckless."

Reinhard stared at her, and Lily stared back, and the silence stretched until she crossed her arms. "...Okay. Maybe a little."

"That’s why I got it for you."

"Hey!"

The room erupted in laughter, and Lily puffed out her cheeks. "You’re all annoying."

Reinhard patted her head. "Just try not to need it too often."

She shoved his hand away. "I’ll decide when I need it."

"That’s exactly what worries me."

Maki chuckled, and Reinhard turned to her. "And Maki." He pulled out his phone. "Check your account."

Maki blinked. "My account?"

"Yes."

She took out her phone, and a few seconds later, her whole expression froze. "What..."

"I transferred seven million to you."

[$10,175,000 → 7,000,000]

[Remaining Balance: $3,175,000.]

The room went silent. Lily’s mouth fell open, Yuna blinked, and even Emily stared at him.

Maki slowly looked up. "Seven million?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Because you’re the one who actually runs this house," Reinhard said, gesturing around the living room. "If it needs something, you’re the one we all go to." He smiled. "So now you have a budget."

"You can’t just give me seven million dollars."

"I just did."

"Reinhard."

"Use it for the house. Or for yourself," he said with a dismissive wave. "I’m not checking the receipts."

Maki stared at him for several seconds, then looked at her phone again, and finally, she sighed. "I don’t even know what to say."

"You could start with thank you."

Maki rolled her eyes. "Thank you."

"You’re welcome." Reinhard reached into the bag again. "And these are for the same department." He handed her a stack of talismans. "Repair Talismans. Each one can fix one damaged object."

Maki’s eyes lit up at once. "I like these."

"I thought you might."

She looked toward the backyard. "Then I can finally fix the lawn."

"And the shed."

"And the patio."

Reinhard nodded. "All three."

Maki looked at him. "All three were you."

"I’m aware."

Lily laughed. "You really like house stuff, Maki."

Maki glanced at her. "Someone has to."

Reinhard reached into the bag one last time. "And there’s one more round." He emptied the rest onto the table, and a collection of rings clattered across the surface. "Everyone gets two."

Lily picked one up. "These?"

"Enhanced Barrier Rings," Reinhard said. "They can take ten hits now instead of one, and they recover in about an hour."

Lily nodded appreciatively. "And the other ones?"

"Returning Rings." He pointed at them. "You set a location, and if something goes wrong, the ring brings you back there." He handed a pair to each of them. "We’re setting the return point to the house."

Finally, he took Emily’s pair and carefully slid the rings onto her fingers.

Lily looked down at her hands. "I’m starting to look like I’m engaged to a jeweler."

"You’ll look safe."

Emily looked at the rings on her fingers, then up at Reinhard, and that same quiet, measuring expression came back. She clearly didn’t believe he had simply found all of this at an auction. But she didn’t question him, and she didn’t take the rings off.

Reinhard smiled. "There’s one more thing." Everyone looked at him, and his expression turned more serious. "The ability I use to share pain has gotten stronger. I can link more than one person now."

Lily’s eyes went wide, and then she grinned. "So we can share it with you now."

Reinhard nodded. "Yeah." He looked around the room. "Since you all made it extremely clear I’m not allowed to do that alone anymore."

"You’re damn right," Lily said, crossing her arms. "We’re a family, so we get through things together." She pointed at him. "And anyone who tries to carry everything alone gets beaten up and scolded."

Reinhard laughed. "You’re planning to beat me up?"

"Of course," she scoffed. "The only reason you got a pass last time was because you were half dead from taking all her pain." She jabbed a finger at him. "If we’d found out any later, you’d have gotten it."

Yuna giggled. "She’s right. We used to beat up Emily for doing the same thing."

Maki chuckled. "Those were the days."

Emily’s face turned bright red. "D-Don’t bring that up!"

The room burst into laughter.

"And you were all being unreasonable back then!" Emily protested.

Reinhard turned to her. "You used to do this too?"

Emily looked away. "...Maybe."

"She was terrible," Lily said.

"I was not!"

"You absolutely were!"

Emily puffed out her cheeks, and Reinhard laughed. For a while, the house was filled with nothing but their voices. There were no organizations, no conspiracies, and no enemies, only family.

...

A little later, Reinhard and Maki carried the Barrier Ward upstairs toward the roof.

Maki looked at the device. "Where should it go?"

"Right there," Reinhard said, pointing through the window at the center of the roof.

Maki looked around for a ladder, and before she could find one, Reinhard simply picked her up. She went rigid. "Reinhard?"

"Hold on."

He bent his knees and jumped through the open window, and Maki’s eyes went wide as they shot into the air and landed lightly on the roof.

She stared at him. "You could have warned me."

"I did."

"When?"

"I said hold on."

Maki closed her eyes. "You’re impossible."

She crouched and set the Barrier Ward in the center of the roof, and the device began to glow. A pale blue field spread across the property, and for a moment, the whole house and yard shimmered beneath a faint dome before the light faded away.

Maki stared. "It’s invisible."

"Yep."

"Good."

Reinhard smiled and picked her up again.

"At least warn me this time."

"No promises," he said, and jumped.

...

Downstairs, Reinhard looked at Yuna. "Want to test it?"

Yuna smiled. "Sure."

They walked into the yard until they reached the edge of the barrier. "Ready?"

"Ready."

They both drew back their fists and punched.

BOOM!

The impact shook the lawn, and the barrier didn’t move at all. Reinhard’s eyes went wide, and Yuna stared at the invisible wall, and then they looked at each other and grinned and punched again.

BOOM.

Nothing.

"Again?" Yuna asked.

"Obviously."

BOOM. BOOM.

"STOP HITTING IT!" Maki’s voice came from the patio. "It has limits! You’ve already used four of them!"

Reinhard and Yuna lowered their fists and looked at each other.

"It probably recharges," Reinhard said.

Maki stared. "Probably?"

They walked back toward the house looking only slightly guilty, and Lily came running out to meet them. "We felt it!"

Reinhard blinked. "Felt what?"

"The bunny went off!"

"The bunny?"

"The wooden bunny on the patio!" Lily pointed at it. "The second you guys hit the barrier, it started glowing and buzzing." She grinned. "And Emily made a very undignified noise."

"I did not," Emily called from the doorway.

"You squeaked!"

"That was a reasonable reaction to an alarm," Emily said, crossing her arms. "The only problem is that it doesn’t tell us how strong the attack was."

Maki nodded. "But the fact that it stopped both of them is enough to earn my respect."

Emily looked up at the roof, her expression turning thoughtful. "A ward like that is usually only owned by top companies." She paused. "Or a medium-sized family."

Reinhard raised an eyebrow. "That expensive?"

Emily nodded. "The strongest defensive wards can cost close to a billion."

Lily’s mouth fell open. "A billion?" She looked at the house. "And we have one?"

"This one seems close to that tier."

Everyone slowly turned toward Reinhard, and Lily narrowed her eyes. "Reinhard... just how much money did you blow at that auction?"

"Twenty-two million."

Lily nearly tripped. "Twenty-two million?!"

Maki’s lips twitched. "So the seven million you sent me was what was left?"

"Most of it."

Emily looked at him. "A billion-credit ward." She paused. "Out of twenty-two million."

"I got a very good deal."

Emily stared at him, and that same quiet, measuring look came back. She clearly knew he wasn’t telling her everything, but this time, she simply smiled.

Lily stared at Reinhard. "I don’t even know how I feel right now."

Reinhard reached over and ruffled her hair. "Maybe you should announce how lucky you are to have such a rich brother."

She shoved his hand away. "More like how annoyed I am at how arrogant he is!"

Everyone laughed.

Yuna held up the Mana Fruit. "All right. I’m going to eat this and see if I can break through with my Gnosis."

"I’m going to fix the lawn," Maki said. "Then the shed, and then the patio."

Lily looked toward the kitchen. "I’ll make dinner." She smiled. "With what we bought, I can make pasta."

They all scattered into different parts of the house, and Reinhard stayed where he was for a moment. Then he looked at Emily, who was already looking at him, and she giggled, and he smiled.

For a moment, Reinhard simply watched his family move through the evening. This was what he wanted. Not just a stronger wife, and not just more money. A home. A family. Something worth protecting.

...

The next morning, Reinhard went back to Aurileus City. He had barely gone a few blocks when a familiar voice stopped him.

"Reinhard."

He turned. Lucien stood beside a lamppost holding a cup of coffee, looking exactly as calm as he had in Marvello.

Reinhard’s lips twitched. "Lucien."

Lucien smiled. "Heading to Eclipse?"

Reinhard blinked. "How did you..."

"Because I’m the one who told them to contact you." Reinhard stared at him, and Lucien took another sip of coffee. "Come along," he said, turning to walk. "We have a great deal to discuss."

Reinhard watched him for a moment, then sighed. "Of course it was you." He followed.

A short walk later, the building came into view, and Reinhard noticed how enormous it was from the start. Above the massive doors was a single word.

ECLIPSE.

Reinhard studied the building.

Dark glass covered most of its exterior but what caught his attention was how clean it looked. Unlike some of the buildings in Marvello that had his fellow millionaires spending millions like nothing.

He raised an eyebrow. "You weren’t exaggerating."

Lucien smiled. "I rarely do."

"That’s debatable," Reinhard said, glancing at him. "You paid me five million to look into a mirror."

Lucien laughed as the doors opened, and Reinhard stepped inside.