Reborn As Noble - Chapter 511

Chapter 511: Ghosts of War ( 511 )
Not long after passing the border,

Javier spotted the first signs of civilization, or rather, what was left of it.

A small dwarven town.

Half of it lay in ruins/

Smoke no longer rose from the wreckage,

Javier slowed Buddy down, narrowing his eyes.

Around the broken central square,

dozens of Halfling soldiers patrolled the area in tight formation.

Light armor, small builds.

They had fortified the ruin.

Turned it into a checkpoint.

Javier smirked, casually guiding Buddy toward the edge of the occupied town.

As soon as he stepped into view.

“Halt!!”

a sharp voice shouted.

One of the Halfling guards raised his hand, stepping forward with a drawn spear.

“What business does a human have here?!

This area is captured by the Halfling Kingdom!

You are not authorized! Move back immediately!”

Another guard pointed excitedly from a broken rooftop.

“Oi!!

There’s a human here!

Alone!

With a weird big bird!”

Javier kept a lazy expression as Buddy stopped just a few paces away from the Halfling checkpoint.

He raised one hand casually and said,

“Ah… nothing.

I’m just passing by.”

The lead Halfling sneered.

“Move back to where you came from, you shitty human!!

There’s no room for you here!”

Another soldier leaned against a broken wall, smirking.

“Yeah…

Or we’ll kill you right here.

Not like you matter.”

Javier slowly tilted his head.

“Hmm?

With this many…?”

He glanced around lazily at the scattered dozen Halflings surrounding the ruins.

“You think this is enough?”

There was a pause.

Then some laughter.

Another guard jeered from above.

“Huh? Who does this lone human think he is?”

One more leaned toward the horn set up at the edge of the watchtower.

“Let’s alarm the others.

Get more troops here.

Let’s kill this arrogant bastard together.”

They all started to move.

Smirking.

Confident.

Ready to surround him.

One of the Halfling soldiers couldn’t wait anymore.

With a sharp yell, he unsheathed his sword and charged straight toward Javier and Buddy.

The others cheered behind him.

Buddy moved.

A slight tilt of his body.

One powerful sidestep.

The blade swung through nothing but air.

The Halfling stumbled forward, confused for half a second, before realizing his attack didn’t even graze the bird.

Cuquawked!!

Buddy let out a short mocking cry, as if asking, “That’s it?”

Javier, still seated comfortably in the saddle, let out a small chuckle.

“Heh…

Buddy… we didn’t come here to attack, right?”

Cuquawked!!

( Right. )

Javier raised one hand lazily, resting his fingers near the handle of his sword.

“But what happens if they all start it first…?”

The Halfling who missed the attack gritted his teeth.

“Huh!!? This human should die!!”

he shouted, spinning around.

“Sound the horn!

Archers — shoot him!

Kill him now!!”

Several Halflings scrambled toward the horn tower, others drawing crossbows and bows, already lining up a shot.

Javier smirked, his tone calm but sharp.

“Alright…

You asked for it.”

Javier tapped Buddy’s side gently with his heel.

“Buddy…

You go enjoy sightseeing or scratch the ground over thereeeeee…

I want to enjoy this first, okay?”

Cuquawked!!

Buddy flapped his wings once, then turned away with a happy stomp, wandering toward a broken cart and casually pecking the dirt like none of this had anything to do with him.

Javier stayed standing for a moment longer, watching the Halflings scramble with growing panic.

“Now…

Where are we?

Hmm…?”

He tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing as several archers drew their bows, and the horn signal was just seconds from sounding.

The halfling commander pointed directly at him.

“Kill him now!!”

The Halfling archers released their arrows all at once.

A full volley cut through the air, dozens of sharp bolts aimed straight at Javier.

But, The arrows struck solid shields.

Massive, silver-blue walls of armor suddenly lined the battlefield.

Over 1,000 puppet knights, all clad in mithril,

had appeared like ghosts surrounding the ruined town in an instant.

Several stood in a perfect circle around Javier, shields raised in flawless formation.

Not a single arrow reached him.

He stood calmly behind their wall of steel…

…and yawned.

“Well…

You all attacked first, right?”

Javier muttered, rubbing the corner of his eye like he’d just woken up from a nap.

The Halfling commander’s face twisted in horror.

“W-What the hell is this—?!”

Javier finally stepped forward between two shielding puppets, his cloak fluttering in the wind.

His voice was soft.

But the command was absolute.

“Knights.

Command:

Kill them all.”

The puppet knights moved instantly.

No roar.

No warning.

Just a cold, silent march of death.

The ground trembled as hundreds of armored feet advanced.

The air was filled with the harsh clash of steel and the whistle of enchanted bolts.

Swords slashed cleanly. Magic crossbows fired without pause.

And the only sound from the other side, were the screams of Halfling soldiers.

They tried to fight back.

They really did.

Swords raised.

Bows drawn.

But they never got the chance.

Before a single counterattack could land, they were cut down,

shot,

launched into the air like broken dolls.

The mithril puppet knights moved with no hesitation.

Their formation never broke.

One squad cleaved through the eastern flank.

Another volley of bolts tore through archers trying to retreat.

The ground ran dark with dust and blood.

Javier just stood there.

Unmoved.

Unimpressed.

He tilted his head slightly, watching with half-lidded eyes.

“Hmm…

Perhaps I should summon more…?”

He paused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Then waved it off with a shrug.

“Nah.

No need for more…

Not for weaklings like this.

Especially when they attacked first.”

His voice was calm.

And behind him, his knights continued their silent, merciless work.

After the last scream faded into silence,

Javier casually reached into the inner pocket of his cloak.

He pulled out a small mana stopwatch, flicked it open, and glanced at the glowing numbers.

“Hmm…

Less than ten minutes.”

He closed it with a soft click, slipping it back in.

Then he finally looked around.

The battlefield was silent.

Weapons lay scattered across the ground, dropped by the now-lifeless Halfling soldiers.

His mithril puppet knights stood silently, weapons lowered, awaiting their next command like statues of death.

Javier exhaled slowly and let his gaze sweep across the ruined town.

The remains of war.

Collapsed buildings.

Burned-out homes.

Old bloodstains on stone walls, too dry to be from today.

He saw no movement.

No sound of survivors.

“The remains of war…”

he muttered, eyes scanning every alley, every ruined house.

This wasn’t part of the mission.

But something tugged at him.

He still didn’t know, if there were any dwarf survivors left in this place.

“…Or if I’m too late.”

He narrowed his eyes.

Time to find out.

( End Of Chapter )