Reborn as the Head of the Stolen Magic Family

Chapter 1

Kwaaaang-!!

A deafening explosion shook the world as flames erupted from the second-floor balcony of the grand mansion.

The site of the explosion was none other than the study of Edmund von Kirhausen, the head of the Kirhausen family.

Startled by the sudden incident, the mansion’s servants, still in their nightclothes, rushed toward the ruined study.

Kwaaaang-!

Just as Harrison, the butler leading the charge, neared the study, a second explosion rang out from the same spot.

“Master….”

“Lord!!!”

“Oh, my Lord!!!”

As if there was no need to confirm the fate of the room’s occupant, the study, engulfed in flames, soon collapsed in ruins.

On July 30, Bernhard Calendar Year 123.

Edmund von Kirhausen, the head of the Kirhausen family, the most prestigious magical lineage in the Luxorin Empire, passed away.

It was the moment when his dazzling, magnificent 70-year life met a horrific end.

***

I had a sweet dream.

The day I first met my wife, Meredith.

The day I held my first child, Damian, in my arms.

The day a monument was erected in the great plaza of Ratmol to honor the Kirhausen family’s achievements.

Happy and glorious moments flashed through my mind like a montage.

‘I really lived diligently, didn’t I?’

Edmund von Kirhausen, a genius magician and a natural-born businessman.

From the illegitimate son of a minor magical family in the outskirts to becoming the greatest magician of the empire, commanding an era.

My life was embroidered with nothing but splendid moments.

My unconventional ideas and refusal to conform always sparked conflict, but the results were always spectacular successes.

Edmund, the most controversial figure in magical history and, at the same time, the greatest magician.

As a magician, a businessman, and a politician, my life at the pinnacle was considered a legend.

‘Is God praising me for living so diligently? Showing me such a long montage?’

Still, I wished He’d delay my transition to the next life a bit.

My last life was fun, but it was quite exhausting.

I needed a break. The next life should be less taxing…

“Oi, you punk.”

Maybe reborn as a rich family’s cat…

“Get up, you bastard!”

A cat… huh?

“Get up, you filthy beggar!”

Filthy beggar?

“This guy, really!”

Thwack-!

“Argh!”

With a dull impact to my head, I fell to the floor.

At the same time, my right arm scraped against the ground.

The consecutive pain forced my eyes open.

And then.

“…?”

As my blurry vision gradually cleared, what came into view was…

Flour… covered… shoes…?

In front of me, sprawled on the ground, stood a burly baker holding a long loaf of bread.

‘…A baker? Not a reaper or an angel?’

For a moment, my thoughts tangled in confusion.

A baker standing before me when I should be in the afterlife.

And the pain in my head and right arm felt all too vivid.

“….”

Judging by the furious glare on his face, the blow to my head just now seemed to be this baker’s doing.

“Hey, you filthy beggar! Didn’t I warn you what’d happen if you stole desserts one more time?”

“…Wha?”

The baker’s absurd words drew a foolish reaction from me, unbecoming of my age.

Stole desserts?

Me?

I stood up from the floor, facing the still-fuming baker.

Whether this was hell, heaven, or some gateway judging my good and bad deeds.

Whatever it was, I had to clear up the misunderstanding.

But…

‘Goodness… what a massive fellow.’

Even standing upright, my eye level barely reached his shoulders.

“Look here, good sir.”

“What? Good sir?”

“There seems to be a misunderstanding, so please calm down and hear me out first…”

Thwack-!

“This guy’s finally lost it! Not only stealing but now talking back?!”

The baker swung the loaf of bread again.

Then, grabbing me by the collar, he prepared to strike in earnest.

As the world spun once more, I glared at the baker with wide eyes.

Gripping the thick hand clutching my collar, I raised my voice.

“You insolent brute! How dare a grown man treat an old man so roughly…!”

But.

“…!!”

I stopped mid-sentence.

‘This… this is my hand…?’

Too small to be the hand of a 70-year-old… too firm… and covered in grime…

And my voice…

I realized my voice was absurdly young and clear.

A smaller frame.

Firm skin.

A clear voice.

No matter how I thought about it, this was the body of a child.

“You! How old do I look to you?!”

“This guy still hasn’t come to his senses! Why are you acting like some old geezer?!”

“So even to you, I don’t look like an old man?!”

“Ha! This kid’s really asking for it today. Oh, dear ‘sir,’ how old are you this year? Almost time to leave that orphanage, isn’t it?”

“Orphanage? You’re saying I’m in an orphanage? That I’m an orphan?!”

“What, a few hits and you forgot you’re an orphan? Fine, since you brought it up, let’s head to Delphonso Orphanage, where you live. I’ll make sure you pay for your crimes today, even if I have to settle it with the director!”

The baker grabbed me—no, the boy whose body my soul now inhabited—by the collar and dragged me toward a place called Delphonso Orphanage.

As I was hauled along, I muttered in disbelief.

“No… way…”

Only then did I realize the bizarre truth of what had happened to me.

Good heavens… reincarnation.

This had to be a dream. It had to be.

‘How could I be reincarnated as a beggar orphan?!’

Edmund von Kirhausen, once a genius magician and a noble tycoon.

My second life began with a bread club and a collar grab.

***

“Phew…”

While the baker spoke with the director of Delphonso Orphanage, I started to calmly piece together the situation.

First, the name of the body I’d reincarnated into was Eddie Summerson.

Age: 14.

An orphan.

And a kleptomaniac…

‘Ugh! This is just too much.’

My hand scratched furiously at the memo, filled with frustration. No matter how I thought about it, this wasn’t right.

‘If God’s listening, He’d better brace Himself. This is just not fair!’

Perhaps because I was already adapting to this energetic boy’s body, even my thoughts were becoming less refined.

“Sigh…”

Another sigh, too many to count.

I took a deep breath to calm myself and continued writing down the next piece of information.

I, Edmund von Kirhausen, died in an explosion. Thirty years later, it’s now Bernhard Calendar Year 153.

And… for some reason, people avoid mentioning the Kirhausen family.

That was all the information I’d gathered in this short time.

Aside from being reincarnated in a young body, it was all bad news.

“Ugh… damn it…”

A sigh escaped me as my vision darkened.

‘At least this is somewhat intact.’

With that thought, I felt the mana stirring within my body.

Responding to my will, the mana materialized as a small golden orb above my palm.

Commonly called a nux.

The basic form of mana manipulation, the number of nuxes a magician could produce depended on their skill.

“Twelve…”

Truthfully, when I first manifested the nuxes, I couldn’t help but be surprised.

I hadn’t expected a beggar orphan to have any magical talent.

But.

Soul, Ability, Body.

The mysteries of high-level magic resided in the realm of the soul, etched into one’s very spirit.

Surely, my soul from my previous life had successfully settled into this boy’s body.

The result was the twelve nuxes floating before my eyes.

That’s what I believed.

Well, whatever the case.

‘The maximum number of nuxes this 14-year-old body can produce is twelve.’

Compared to my prime, it was pitiful, but it wasn’t a bad number.

As I sighed heavily to myself, a loud noise interrupted.

Bang-!

“I’m only holding back one more time for the director’s sake!”

“Thank you. I’ll make sure to discipline him.”

“You, kid, if you get caught one more time, you’re done for!”

The baker stormed out of the director’s office, throwing me a final warning before leaving the orphanage.

I glared in the direction he’d gone, my temple still throbbing from the bread’s impact.

Watching me, Director Delphonso gestured for me to come into his office.

“Eddie… can’t you stay out of trouble for even a day? You’re 14 now. You’ll have to leave next year, and I’m worried about how you’ll…”

“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again. But, Director, I have a lot of questions right now.”

Truthfully, I hadn’t done anything to be sorry for, but now wasn’t the time to listen to lectures.

“How do I get to the Kirhausen mansion from here?”

“The Kirhausen mansion…? Why there…?”

“I’ll explain later. For now, just tell me how to get to the nearest mansion in Grainsville…”

“Mansions? There’s only one Kirhausen mansion…”

“…What?!”

“Huh?”

The shocking response and my sudden informal tone.

The director and I stared at each other, wide-eyed in surprise.

“N-no, what do you mean there’s only one?! Besides the main estate, there should be at least four other mansions used for training wards…!”

“What are you talking about? Are you referring to the mansions the Kirhausen family built long ago to train talents?”

“Yes, exactly!”

Finally, someone who understood me!

I let out a huge sigh of relief at the director’s response.

But.

“What do you mean? Those were sold off long ago and have new owners. As soon as the current head inherited the family, I heard they disposed of all the mansions except the main estate.”

“What?!”

“Huh?!”

“N-no… you’re saying they sold them all? All four?!”

“Why are you acting like this is news? It happened decades ago… Though, people did regret it. It was a great opportunity for commoner children to learn magic, which only noble heirs could usually afford, with room and board provided.”

“Oh…”

My words caught in my throat.

A short sigh escaped my lips.

The magical training schools for wards were the pride of the Kirhausen family.

Commoner children with exceptional magical talent but no opportunities due to their humble origins.

I had taken great pride in providing them with lodging and teaching them magic.

Yet, they sold all those mansions. And the next head of the family, no less.

Why would Damian do such a thing?

No matter how I tried to understand, it made no sense.

My proud son, who understood and strove to uphold my will better than anyone, why would he…?

‘I need to meet the head.’

With that thought, I pressed my eyes shut tightly.

I couldn’t make sense of this without meeting Damian and hearing the full story.

Just as I steeled myself to ask for the location of the Kirhausen main estate, the director, lost in thought, continued with a sigh.

“If only Sir Damian hadn’t passed so tragically… those schools might still be thriving.”

‘…What?’

“I found it quite regrettable. After Sir Damian’s son went missing and the family passed to the direct line, it seems Lord Edmund’s legacy couldn’t be upheld.”

“…!”

The blood drained from my face in an instant.

A chilling aura emanated from my blazing eyes, and the air grew heavy.

The director flinched, trembling without realizing it.

“Say that again.”

Unable to believe what I’d just heard, I asked the director again.

“What happened to Damian… to the family…?”

***

“….”

At the location the frightened director had given me, I stood before an overgrown grave, staring at the names etched on the tombstone.

“Damian von Kirhausen… Maureen Kirhausen…”

My voice was low as I recited the names of my deceased son and daughter-in-law.

No wails, no roars—only dry eyes gazing at the grave.

“….”

I stood there for a long time.

Then, I reached out and gently stroked the tombstone.

Swish.

Crackle- Snap-

The chipped and cracked tombstone became as good as new, and the overgrown weeds around it were instantly cut away.

Looking at the now-pristine grave of my son and his wife, I closed my eyes tightly.

“Haa…”

My trembling breath carried the quiver of my throat.

‘To dare bury my son and daughter-in-law in a place like this and neglect it.’

A public cemetery plot.

A place where anyone with enough money could be buried, where Damian and Maureen’s remains lay without distinction.

Grit. The sound of my teeth grinding echoed.

The heir and his wife of the great magical Kirhausen family didn’t belong in such a place.

A moderately fancy large tombstone.

A caretaker hired to clear weeds every few months, yet even that was neglected, leaving the grave a mess.

I recalled what Director Delphonso had told me about my son and his wife’s deaths.

‘Just a few months after Lord Edmund passed, Sir Damian and Lady Maureen were brutally murdered. They say it was the work of unknown assassins… and it seems the culprits still haven’t been caught.’

The date on the tombstone read ‘Bernhard Calendar Year 123, December 31.’

Damian and Maureen were killed just five months after my death.

The mysterious explosion that killed me.

The mysterious assassins who killed Damian and Maureen shortly after.

And my grandson Noah, missing.

Pfft.

A hollow chuckle escaped my lips.

But contrary to the faint laugh, my eyes burned with murderous rage.

That rage was directed at the direct bloodline who seized the family the moment Damian died.

‘I was naive. So focused on building the family that I didn’t see my half-brother sharpening a knife behind my back.’

Lived diligently?

A life of splendid moments?

Exhausting but fun?

It all became meaningless.

I wanted to go back to the moment I made that self-assessment and sew my mouth shut, so deep was my regret.

What was the point of building so much and passing it to my child?

It was all stolen by those worth less than strangers!

The great magician Edmund von Kirhausen had, in the end, achieved nothing.

But—

“But it’s not over yet.”

As my immense rage slowly subsided, the golden glint in my eyes faded.

Regaining my composure, I pressed my forehead against the tombstone and thought.

Normally, it would’ve ended with everything taken away.

But for some reason, I was given a second life.

I couldn’t erase the fact of my loss, but I could take back what was lost.

Thus, the great magician Edmund von Kirhausen resolved to rise again, as I did in my youth.

“Don’t worry, Damian, Maureen. Your father will chew them up.”

I quietly vowed, apologizing to my son and his wife.

Those who did this to you.

Those who stole what was rightfully yours—I won’t let them go.

I’ll correct my mistakes, late as it is, and rebuild the family.

‘The culprits who corrupted the greatest magical family in the Luxorin Empire, the Kirhausen family, will pay the price.’

Step, step.

Leaving my son and his wife’s grave behind, I moved forward.

In my tightly clenched fist, only the cold touch of the tombstone remained.