I Refused To Be Reincarnated

"The boy, not Morgane?" Asked Alexander, frowning in confusion.

"Getting the girl is a plus, but my priority is the boy. I'll put you in contact with Nathan soon. In the meantime, prepare your troops to support him," Gabriel responded before knocking on the table, adding, "You can leave for now."

With twitching brows, the duo left the Ashford mansion, entered their carriage, and returned to their dukedom.

On the way, Reynard said, annoyance filling his voice, "I can't believe he puts conditions for two adepts to join his faction!"

"Well, he doesn't really need us with so many summoned under his control. He would have learned how valuable they were eventually, even without us," replied Alexander, holding the bridge of his nose. "I'm more intrigued by that mysterious boy," he added, wondering who he was.

According to their uncle, he was a criminal who abused his daughter's trust. Yet, as the royal strategist, he knew Gabriel lied, feeling his explanation contained too many inconsistencies.

'Does he perceive him as a threat?' He pondered, his brain racing to piece the scarce information he had together. 'The boy is a native Bellorian citizen. He must have immense talent. At least enough to sway both uncle and Eleanor. Nathan is most likely involved.' He resumed, his eyes closed in focus.

A brief moment later, he snapped them open, his hands trembling. "The boy has arcanist potential," he said, looking Reynard in the eyes before adding. "He can heal nephew's crippled circuits and might return to the kingdom in the future to take revenge."

Thanks to his years of experience managing the kingdom's military, those were the most plausible deductions he came up with. If they proved correct, they would have new options to choose from.

"So, what? We only have to help Nath capture him. I don't really care who he is," shrugged Reynard dismissively.

"Say, cousin," Alexander started, his eyes piercing into his cousin's and his voice solemn. "Do you think the next king must be from our family?"

Stunned by the question, Reynard fell momentarily silent to ponder the question. Their family ruled Belloria since its founding, so dissociating them was a novel concept to him.

Considering their proud history and the importance of blood lineage, he responded, "Yes. Without Bellor's blood to reign, Belloria wouldn't be the same nation."

A tense silence followed his declaration as Alexander fell into deep thoughts. 'I'll act as a spectator and judge the situation by myself,' he planned, unwilling to put his trust in their scheming uncle.

Truthfully, he wouldn't have tried to join the man at all if not for Reynard's insistence. Even if Gabriel didn't sit on the throne, he would control it behind the scenes, causing the rampant corruption and citizen's despair to continue. After all, Gabriel had been Thorian's advisor during his junior years. Thus, that uncle was principally responsible for the country's state in his eyes.

As the carriage sped down the road, he pondered on their diverging opinions, wondering if he could turn the boy into an ally before it was too late.

***

A few hours later, the boy in question stood before the mountain's underground lake, its brilliant water reflected in his dim eyes. With a sigh, he rose from his meditation, his mind as serene as nature.

"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow," he muttered, remembering his sutra's teachings and his big brother's advice. Uncontrolled anger would only hurt his friends. Thus, he took this emotion's control seriously, knowing that patience was key.

"His soul is stable. The problem comes from his mana circuits," Nova said, noticing his movements. "I believe he'll wake up shortly, but we can't let him use mana for a while," she added, worry veiling her face.

What if Adam insisted on resuming their travel? With how determined he could be, she didn't know how they'd stop him without using force.

"He cares about health the most. He won't abuse his without reason," responded Julius, his eyes fixed on the tunnel. Then, he carried his brother and retraced his stepq with determination, wanting to see how deep they were.

Counting the distance using his feet as measurement, his eyes gradually widened until he reached the cave's collapsed entrance, where the horses' rotting carcasses lay.

'Around two kilometers and a half!' He screamed inwardly, his eyes trembling in disbelief. Despite his low expertise, he learned in the college that digging a mountain's tunnel this deep would require years, if not over a decade, of hard work using machinery! Even employing magic could barely shorten the process to a year, depending on the rock's hardness.

Well, not if adepts and arcanists were involved.

'How did he do it in four days?!' he pondered, warmth filling his heart as he eyed his big brother's ethereal's frame. Without his struggle and their lucky find of an underground lake, he and Morgane would have died of thirst.

Upon reaching this thought, he giggled, "Big bro told me he could become the luckiest man if he wanted to a few days ago. Hahaha."

Then, he returned to Nova and the brooding Morgane before dipping his feet in the water. His eyes turning grave, he mused about their situation.

With water, they could survive for a period. But now food would become a problem. With no time to smoke the meat after leaving the forest and no wood to do it for the horses, everything they carried showed signs of rotting.

Gazing at Morgane, he thought, 'I can hold without food for a month. However, I doubt she'll last over two weeks since she is not a cultivator.'

At her young age, the body required a lot of nutrients to ensure its working and growth, contrary to an adult's. That's why he estimated two weeks to be her limit.

Finally, he mused about the mountain. His big brother selected this one because its opposite slope bordered a river. Using the tunnel to bridge the distance unnoticed, he wanted to lose their pursuers by navigating the current to hasten their travel to the north.

"I hope the river flows in the ocean," he muttered, unwilling to despair while patiently waiting for Adam to wake up.