Delayed for Four Lifetimes: I Awaken by Investing in My Crippled Wife

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Riven might have sounded like a complete schizophrenic talking about made-up scenarios and pure nonsense, but he was not telling any lies.

"What do you mean?" Elisa wondered, her voice filled with quiet concern. "Are you just saying a really bad joke right now?"

"No," he answered firmly. "Humanity has only been declining despite all the new research about hunter gear, mana batteries, and everything else, right? This is happening because the largest families are taking over the world’s resources, the gates, everything that should rightfully belong to the entire population. It’s ridiculous that they’re privatizing such things when nobody should ever own them in the first place."

He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

"Call it a hunch, or maybe it’s my Authorities trying to tell me something," he continued. "But I have a terrible feeling... nightmares of a future that has not come yet. I’ll stop my family. I have to."

"..." Elisa nodded silently. She still did not completely believe him, but the seriousness in his voice made it hard to dismiss everything as a joke. "Well... that’s a lot to take in all at once..."

"U-Um..." Daniela muttered quietly from the side. "Did you say... thirty-five million?"

"Yeah," Riven nodded without hesitation. "They’re all yours. I could never have obtained so many dropped items without your Luck or your Skills, Daniela. I have such low luck that I probably would have obtained, at most, one single dropped item through everything we went through together."

"I-I see..." she muttered, letting out a long, shaky sigh. "What does this even mean? I... I’m no longer poor? Just like that?!"

"I suppose so," Elisa said gently. "Why don’t you move here to live with us? Or you could take the adjacent house. It’s still vacant. I own it. I can sell it to you for a cheap price."

"T-That giant manor?!" Daniela turned and looked through the large window in disbelief. "It’s yours, miss?!"

"I am the real estate owner of this entire street and a bit farther beyond," Elisa sighed. "It’s what I inherited from my family, which is honestly just pennies in comparison to what they truly own. The Frostbane Family is the only one comparable to the Claymore Family in terms of pure monetary value. We also... own a lot of gates and wild zones. While the Claymore Family made its fortune through hunter technology, the Frostbane Family was already powerful through real estate, property ownership, and more."

"I-I see..." Daniela felt completely overwhelmed. Even though both of them were considered discarded black sheep by their own powerful families, before a normal person like her they were still overwhelming presences. They treated large quantities of money, massive properties, and exclusive resources as if it was all nothing more than cheap change. "I-I suppose... I’ll take the deal... Um. How much would that cost?"

"Probably... if I cut the price down? Five grand?" Elisa asked thoughtfully.

"F-Five hundred thousand?" Daniela asked, her eyes widening.

"What? No, baby. Five million," Elisa smiled warmly, genuinely believing she was being very generous.

"GAH?!"

Daniela’s entire concept of money began to rapidly fall apart as she heard these exorbitant amounts spoken so casually.

"Still, she’s only a child. Is she even allowed to own property and make these kinds of big purchases without a legal guardian?" Elisa asked, turning toward Riven.

"No, most likely not. That’s exactly why I’m holding onto the money for now," Riven answered. "Haaa... okay, fine. Let’s do this. We’ll adopt her."

"A-Adopt?" Daniela’s eyes immediately sparkled with a mix of hope and disbelief. "E-Eh?"

"Wait, that’s...!" Elisa was clearly shocked by the sudden suggestion, but she also felt deep sympathy for the girl and her little brother. "Hm... At least this way they can move money around with our help? I suppose it’s... I guess there’s no helping it. I honestly don’t want her living on her own again."

"Me neither," Riven nodded firmly. "Daniela, what do you think?"

"T-That’s...! Um..." Daniela’s cheeks flushed red. "W-Why would you want to adopt me? I... we only just met yesterday... I..."

"That’s right. We’re being too hasty, huh?" Riven admitted with a small sigh. "Never mind then. I guess I could just give you the money in physical cash instead?" He wondered aloud. "Still, I do genuinely feel that you’re a good girl, and I wouldn’t mind raising you. If you accepted becoming part of my guild, then you’re already my family now."

"..."

Daniela suddenly began crying out of nowhere as those words reached her.

Both Elisa and Riven panicked at the sudden tears.

"Oh my, see what you did?" Elisa sighed while giving Riven a sideways look. "You’re always so hasty, Riven. You need to take things easier."

"...I really can’t," Riven sighed quietly, knowing deep down that he only had three years left. He had to hurry with everything. "But we can leave this conversation for later. There’s no problem with that."

"No, it’s just... I’m a little flattered... I-I didn’t think... I would ever get this lucky, haha..." Daniela chuckled weakly through her tears. "B-But maybe that high luck of mine... finally changed my life for real."

"..."

"..."

"I-I thought that when mom died... that my luck didn’t work anymore..." she cried even harder. "I dropped out of school and worked hard every single day... I was abused and... insulted by so many people... but I never gave up... so that’s... that’s why I..."

Riven and Elisa both felt deep sorrow for her. Without another word they moved closer and hugged the girl tightly together. Elisa had only just met her, yet she already felt like she did not want to let the girl go.

"It’s okay," Elisa said softly. "You can take everything as slowly as you need. Don’t mind him and his rushed ideas."

"No... I... I would gladly... I want to live here..." Daniela cried into their shoulders. "I’m sorry... I’m being so selfish..."

"It’s fine," Riven said gently. "You can live here if that’s truly what you want. I don’t mind at all. I just feared my wife’s wrath more than anything."

"It’s fine," Elisa shrugged with a small smile. "I’ve been getting a little bored of living with just the two of us so— Huh? Wait, what is that?!"

She suddenly pointed toward the far side of the living room. A little black pup was wandering around after stepping down from the couch. Its fur was so pure black that at first she had thought it was just a dark pillow or some discarded piece of clothing.

"Warf!"

The little pup ran straight toward them with its tail wagging furiously and its tongue hanging out happily.

"A puppy?!" Elisa gasped in pure surprise. "Riven! When did you get a puppy...?!"

It seemed that Elisa’s life was only going to continue getting crazier and crazier with Riven around.

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