Reborn As Noble

The remaining monsters charged from all directions, their massive bodies crashing through the underbrush, their roars shaking the forest. Aelius smiled, adjusting his coat at the neck with a calm, refined motion.

”Well... time is more valuable than gold. And I’m sure by now Father has already left the area, so we can hang out again~”

He raised one hand toward the air and snapped his fingers. A golden abacus materialized in his palm, its beads gleaming with a soft, ethereal light. He slipped on a pair of elegant glasses, nudging them up with a practiced motion before his fingers began moving across the abacus with blinding speed, counting and calculating with fluid precision.

His fingers moved faster and faster, the beads clicking in a rhythmic, musical pattern. Finally, he snapped the last calculation, a confident smirk spreading across his lips.

”Compound Interest~”

A massive golden aura erupted around him, manifesting into ethereal images of ancient scales, towering ledgers, and swirling streams of gold coins. The air shimmered with power as the aura condensed, each monster that had struck him earlier now marked with a glowing golden sigil.

The sigils pulsed, and with a single, graceful gesture from Aelius, the monsters froze. Their bodies began to dissolve into streams of golden light particles, rising into the air like countless fireflies before vanishing entirely.

Where each monster had stood, a few gold coin dropped to the ground, clinking softly as it landed. The total valuation of every monster, converted into pure gold.

Aelius adjusted his glasses, his smirk never fading. ”Every attack they made only increased the interest they owed. And now... they’ve paid in full.”

The golden aura faded, leaving only Aelius standing with a cool, composed pose, both hands slipped into his pockets. He turned his head, giving all three of them a confident side-eye before speaking calmly.

”So... this is how I fight. And these are just a few of my skills. Everything in this world has value, and I’ve learned to calculate, measure, and exploit that value to my advantage. Whether it’s gold, resources, or even the strength of my enemies, everything can be converted into something useful.”

He slowly pulled one hand out of his pocket, using two fingers to touch his forehead before swiping his hair back with a flourish.

”So~ What do you all think? My skill is the coolest, right~?”

Marcellus, Cedric, and Javier glanced at him in silence.

”Hmm?” Aelius tilted his head, confused by their lack of response.

Marcellus exhaled, his face turned to the side. Cedric shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. Javier slapped his forehead with his palm.

Aelius blinked, his confusion growing. ”What’s wrong?”

Marcellus tilted his head up, rolling his eyes before letting out a long sigh. ”What a waste...”

”Yeah, agree,” Cedric muttered.

Javier crossed his arms, letting out another weary exhale. ”Man... that move was cool. The power is super. The aura is gold, which is perfect for the Armand family. But... it’s too much of a waste.”

Aelius’s brow twitched. ”W... waste?”

”Yeah.” Javier smirked, crossing his arms. ”You need a gold coin to launch your skill. Not just that, you’re using mana to control the flow of power, and on top of that, you’re literally throwing money at the enemy. That’s like paying someone to let you punch them.”

”Yep~” Marcellus chimed in with a teasing grin. ”The cooldown is fast, the casting is super fast, and nothing seems lacking. Overall, that should be a ten out of ten, but minus nine for wasting a gold coin just to activate a skill.”

”Not only that~” Cedric grinned before walking over to where the monsters had vanished, bending down to pick up the gold coins they’d dropped. He held one up, inspecting it. ”If you killed them cleanly with a sword, the skin alone, after drying, could fetch a gold coin if the damage is minimal. Not to mention the meat, the eyeballs, the nails, and every other part of it is worth a lot~. And those balls?”

He held up a gold coin with a cheeky grin. ”They’d fetch a good price as an aphrodisiac for men’s stamina. Nobles pay a fortune for those.”

Aelius gritted his teeth, forcing a strained smile as his eyebrow twitched. He watched Marcellus and Cedric casually scooping up the gold coins and pocketing them into their pouches.

”You all talk about waste... but in the end, you’re looting everything anyway.”

”Chi chi chi~” Marcellus gave a smug look, wiggling his finger. ”This isn’t looting. This is... ’proper resource redistribution.’ We’re making sure these coins don’t get lost in the forest, where they’d be useless to anyone. Think of it as a public service~”

”Yes~” Cedric finished picking up the last coin, pulling the pouch strap tight before tucking it inside his coat. ”We’re not ’stealing’ or ’looting.’ We’re just... ’securing the assets’ before some random adventurer stumbles upon them and claims them for themselves. It’s called being responsible~”

Aelius let out a long exhale before narrowing his eyes at them with a suspicious look. ”Responsible my ass. Ugh! You two are even more annoying than that brat.” He pointed toward Javier, who was using a stick to poke the first monster’s body part while scribbling notes in his notebook.

Javier paused his writing, narrowing his eyes at Aelius. ”What? I’m just writing down information about this monster~”

”Yeah, right. Writing~” Aelius crossed his arms, his voice dripping with sarcasm. ”When our library already has detailed records on every monster races in this world. You’re probably just sketching its anatomy to add to your ’collection’ of weird research notes.”

Just as Javier was about to say something, a shout echoed from a distance.

”How dare you all leave me facing Father alone! You all should have told me Father was around!”

Javier grinned mischievously before channeling his mana and leaping toward Buddy, who was relaxing with the other pekko. Buddy stood up in a rush.

”Cuquawked?”

Javier cupped his hands around his mouth, enhancing his voice with mana before shouting. ”It was Marcellus, Cedric, and Aelius’s idea!”

Buddy let out a cheeky squawk, like a seagull’s laugh, before turning and bolting into the forest.

”W... what? It was Cedric!” Marcellus laughed while running and leaping onto his pekko, landing smoothly on its back before his pekko bolted after Javier’s.

”Oi! It wasn’t me! It was Aelius~!” Cedric whistled sharply, and his pekko dashed toward him in a flash. Cedric climbed on, and they took off, leaving Aelius alone.

”Ugh! You all are so annoying!!!” Aelius hissed before his pekko smugly walked over and stopped in front of him. Aelius leaped forward, landing on its back, and his pekko dashed the moment Heres appeared on top of his own pekko, chasing after them.

( End Of Chapter )