The introduction of the new summons was going smoothly until Morgan le Fay turned her head and finally noticed the blonde woman standing next to her. Her eyes narrowed into cold, sapphire slits.

  "Well, well... if it isn't my idiot sister, the 'Lioness' who lost her kingdom," Morgan sneered, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

  Artoria didn't even flinch, though a visible tick mark appeared on her forehead. She gripped her lance, Rhongomyniad, a little tighter. "And if it isn't the 'Bookworm' who spends too much time in dark towers. I see your personality is still as delightful as a swamp, Morgan."

  The air between them crackled with enough magical static to make the hair on Venelana's arms stand up.

  "Rein..." Misla whispered, leaning closer to him. "Are you sure they are on our side? They look like they're about to level the mansion."

  Reinhardt just sighed, watching the two sisters bicker. "They're sisters, Misla. This is just their version of 'bonding.' It's normal... mostly."

  "Bonding with this trash?!" Morgan and Artoria snapped in perfect unison, pointing at each other.

  "Don't copy me!" Artoria barked.

  "You're the one copying me, you redundant King!" Morgan fired back.

  As the two sisters descended into a full-blown verbal war, Scáthach just shook her head and stepped closer to Reinhardt. "They never change," she murmured, her red eyes scanning the perimeter. "Master, someone is approaching. Rapidly."

  Reinhardt's playful expression vanished. His heightened senses, boosted by the Phoenix Source, felt the cold, arrogant mana of the Old Satan Faction approaching. They were likely checking on the massive heat signature he had released with Ryujin Jakka.

  "Girls, hide your auras. Now," Reinhardt commanded.

  The change was instantaneous. The bickering stopped, and all three summons vanished their presence so perfectly they seemed like ordinary humans. Venelana and Misla, sensing the shift, also suppressed their magic.

  A group of three messengers wearing the crest of the Lucifuge and Leviathan branches landed on the edge of the training grounds. They looked around with suspicious eyes, sniffing the air for the scent of the Bael Destruction power.

  "The surge came from here," one of them hissed, his eyes landing on the scorched earth. "But there's nothing. Only the brat and some women."

  "It must have been a residual flare from Astarion's death," the other replied, looking at Reinhardt with pure disdain. "Look at him—just a pathetic boy playing in the dirt. A false alarm. Let's go."

  They stayed for an hour, scouring the grounds and poking their noses into the mansion's wards. Reinhardt stood there the whole time, his face a mask of bored indifference, even as his heart burned with the urge to unsheathe his blade and turn them into grease spots.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  Finally, the messengers took flight and disappeared toward the horizon.

  Reinhardt let out a long, cold breath. "False alarm, huh? Let them think that. It'll be the last mistake they ever make."

  He turned back to his group. Morgan was already looking back at Artoria with a smirk, and Scáthach was looking at Reinhardt with an approving nod.

  "They are arrogant," Scáthach said. "That is a weakness we will exploit."

  [SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

  [Quest: The Hidden Lion]

  Status: Successful. The Old Satan Faction remains unaware of your true power.

  Reward: 5,000,000 Devil Coins.

  Current Balance: 165,000,000 Devil Coins

  After the messengers vanished into the horizon, the group retreated into the mansion. Reinhardt headed straight for the bath to wash off the soot and sweat of the morning, leaving the others in the main lounge.

  The peace was short-lived. Even without an audience, Morgan and Artoria's bickering echoed through the halls.

  "Step aside, you gluttonous pig! You're blocking the hallway with that oversized toothpick you call a lance!" Morgan snapped.

  "Watch your tongue, you miserable bookworm! At least I use my strength to fight, rather than hiding behind dusty scrolls and spite!" Artoria shot back.

  The Liquid Gold Strategy

  While the sisters fought, Reinhardt sat in the steaming water, focusing on his Phoenix Source Bloodline. He realized that his tears were no longer the standard medicine of the Phenex Clan. They were concentrated essence—primordial and terrifyingly potent.

  Standard Phenex tears were rare; the clan only released about 100 drops a year to maintain a strict monopoly and prevent the bloodline's "source" from drying up. It was a strategy his mother, Seraphina, had mastered before her passing.

  Reinhardt experimented, discovering that a single drop of his tears was so dense it could be diluted into 50 standard-grade drops without losing effectiveness. He carefully extracted 10 drops, diluting them into 500 high-grade drops.

  Stepping out of the bath and dressing, he found Venelana in the study.

  "Lana, I need you to check the current market for Phenex tears. What's the temperature of the trade right now?"

  Venelana, still a master of social and business circles from her time as the Duchess Gremory, made a few quick calls to her old contacts. "Rein, the market is currently in a drought. The main clan has tightened the supply even further. Demand is at an all-time high."

  Reinhardt handed her a small, glowing vial. "Sell 100 of these drops, Lana. But don't sell them at the standard rate. Double the market price."

  Venelana's eyes widened, but she saw the predatory glint in his blue eyes and nodded. She used her private, untraceable channels—connections the Gremorys didn't even know she kept—to move the product.

  The Market Shock

  In just two days, the Underworld's black market and high-end pharmacies were in an uproar. A secret shipment of 100 drops had hit the shelves and vanished instantly, despite the astronomical price tag.

  The Phenex Clan elders were furious. They knew every drop they produced was accounted for. To see 100 drops appear out of nowhere was a direct threat to their monopoly.

  "Who is doing this?" the Clan Head demanded in the Phenex Council chambers. "Investigate every rogue branch! Find the source of these tears!"

  Meanwhile, back at the mansion, Reinhardt checked his System balance. The 100 drops had brought in a staggering 600,000,000 Devil Coins, bolstered by his Golden Rule (EX) luck.

  "Keep the remaining 400 drops aside for now, Lana," Reinhardt said, watching the notification on his screen. "We don't want to crash the market yet. We just want to bleed it."

  [SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

  [Current Balance: 765,000,000 Devil Coins]

  [Note: You are now wealthier than several minor Devil Houses combined.]

  Reinhardt leaned back in his chair, a cold smile on his face. He had the power of a God-Slayer in his garden and the wealth of a King in his pocket. The Old Satan Faction wouldn't even know what hit them.