Reborn As Noble

Garius’s footsteps echoed faintly as he continued walking, but his voice grew sharper, cutting through the heavy silence.

”Because if I don’t...” he said quietly, ”this world is going to collapse.”

He stopped again, fists tightening at his sides.

”You’ve read all the reports. Every single one of you.”

Alf, Erinnette, and Hesbeirn stayed silent, but their expressions hardened. They had read them all. Every gruesome page.

”Look at the Halfling Kingdom,” Garius continued, voice low and bitter. ”Look at the Human Kingdom now. What do you see?”

”Decay,” Hesbeirn muttered.

”Exactly,” Garius said. ”Outside the Armand Region, Beastkin Country, Elven Kingdom, and Demon Territory—everything has fallen into ruin.”

He turned to face them all with unwavering eyes.

”It’s good we decided to purge the miasma first. If we hadn’t... if we hadn’t sent Marcellus and Cedric to help Javier, spreading the purification core and sealing the flow in the Beastkin, Elven, and Demon lands—then what would’ve happened?”

No one answered.

Because they already understood.

”Yes, my lord,” Alf finally said. ”We’ve seen it.”

Garius nodded slowly.

”Poverty is just the surface,” he said. ”The soil has become blackened and brittle. No crops grow. Even if they do, they twist. The rain burns the leaves. The rivers stink with corrupted mana. Every farmer now fears their own fields.”

Erinnette added quietly, ”And the monsters that once balanced nature—those adventurers used to hunt for survival or coin, they’re no longer natural.”

”No,” Garius agreed. ”They’re no longer monsters. They’re abominations now. Their cores have mutated. Their instincts twisted. They no longer run from humans, they seek them out, driven by rage, hunger, and something worse.”

”Hunger,” Hesbeirn echoed. ”Not just for food... but for mana. For life.”

Garius’s voice lowered to a near growl.

”Mothers feeding poisoned water to their children. Villages burning just to stop the spread of miasma. Whole towns waking up to find every beast in their forest—standing at the edge... watching. Waiting.”

He turned away, disgusted.

”This... is the world Edmund created.”

He exhaled slowly, his hands trembling once before calming.

”And if we don’t stop him now... there won’t be a world left for Javier to save.”

Garius continued walking, the distant wind brushing against his cloak.

”There’s a reason I sent Javier,” he said, without turning to face them.

Alf narrowed his eyes. ”Because he’s the youngest?”

”No,” Garius replied. ”Because he’s the fastest.”

Erinnette tilted her head. ”But Master Marcellus and Master Cedric are more experienced on the field. With all due respect, wouldn’t they have been the safer option?”

”They would’ve done better,” Garius admitted without hesitation. ”In terms of raw power, coordination, leadership, yes, they’re superior. They could handle multiple zones. Hold the line. Inspire troops.”

He paused.

”But they’re not him.”

He finally turned his head slightly, his gaze sharp with meaning.

”Javier has what they don’t. Ingenuity. Mobility. Adaptability. He doesn’t follow battlefield standards, he rewrites them.”

Alf nodded slightly. ”He purifies the land... in ways no one else ever thought of.”

Garius continued, ”The tools he developed, relay towers, mana drones, the purification spreader, sky eye systems... I didn’t even predict how fast he could implement them. And unlike Marcellus or Cedric, Javier hides his full strength. No one knows how far he can reach, not even Edmund.”

He stopped walking altogether, folding his arms behind his back.

”If I sent Marcellus or Cedric, they’d purify the zones. They’d secure the regions. But it would take months before we stabilized a continent.”

He turned to face his advisors.

”Javier? With his methods?”

He took a slow breath.

”Weeks.”

No one said anything.

Because it was true.

”And that’s what we need right now,” Garius concluded. ”Speed. Silence. Precision. Let the enemy think he’s just a playful noble brat riding a bird.”

A faint smile touched his lips.

”And when they realize the truth—it’ll be far too late.”

Garius’s voice remained calm, but each word carried the weight of calculated certainty.

”Not only that...” he glanced at Alf and Erinnette beside him. ”If I assigned both Marcellus and Cedric directly into enemy territory to purify the zones...”

He paused.

”What do you think would happen?”

Alf answered immediately, ”Losses. Death. Escalation.”

Garius nodded once.

”Exactly. They’d need a full army just to make progress—troops to purify, troops to guard the purifiers, and more to defend against the enemy. Knowing Edmund, or more specifically, his celestial. He wouldn’t let them step into corrupted land. Not even if our goal was only to purify and leave.”

He exhaled sharply. ”That’s why sending Javier was the only option.”

Erinnette crossed her arms, nodding.

”He doesn’t need a single one of our troops. Not even escorts. No risk of casualties. And those ’knights’ of his, they’re not just soldiers. They’re an unstoppable army.”

Garius’s lips curved upward faintly, a flicker of amusement and pride in his eyes.

”His puppet knights don’t tire. Don’t bleed. Don’t die. And for some reason, they keep getting stronger every time I see them. He’s more than capable of stalling, overwhelming, or outright destroying enemy forces while purifying zones on his own.”

Alf chuckled, then asked, ”So, my lord... how many ’troops’ does Young Master Javier have now?”

Garius blinked, then smiled with a faint sigh. ”Last time I saw him, just before he rushed to the Elven Kingdom, thinking his beloved maid had left him forever?”

He paused briefly.

”He had nearly as many troops as we do in total.”

”Wait, that many?” Alf’s eyes widened. ”Where the hell did he even get the materials?”

”Ah...” Garius scratched his chin with a dry smile. ”We have two official mines in the Armand region. Both were discovered by him, by the way. But here’s the twist, he secretly found a third mine. A hidden one. Thought he could hide it from me.”

Erinnette raised an eyebrow. ”And you let him?”

”I knew from the start,” Garius said plainly. ”I just let him think I didn’t. I’ve been monitoring it for a while.”

Alf blinked. ”So... he’s mining it?”

Garius nodded. ”Yes. His puppets are running a full mining operation nonstop. The ore gets stored in specialized boxes... and those boxes connect directly to his magic storage. So he never has to touch a thing.”

”...He built an entire autonomous supply chain?” Alf muttered in disbelief.

”Of course,” Garius sighed. ”That brat isn’t just building puppets. He’s building a self-sustaining army. And right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already surpassed our elite division in number.”

Erinnette smirked. ”I take it back. That’s not a brat. That’s a tyrant in training.”

Alf chuckled darkly. ”Or a one-man war machine.”

Garius turned back to them, serious once more.

”And yet... despite all that, he still kisses his maid good morning like a love-struck fool.”

( End Of Chapter )