Now that Noel had gone, it was time for Anna to step up her game.
The first place she visited was none other than the Moon Temple. And the one who accompanied her this time was Roel.
"Is it ready?"
"The adjustment is not really that hard, but we haven't done a lot of tests, only some speculations. But I can say for sure that it's pretty effective."
"Good." Anna nodded with a serious expression as she saw the Moon Temple that was currently built. She saw Aurelia on the outside, so Anna asked, "Do you know where the saintess is? There is something that I want to show, which probably interests her."
"She is…" Aurelia turned around, wanting to point at the saintess's location. However, the saintess herself suddenly came out as if she had heard Anna's voice. "I am here. What do you want to show me?"
"…" Anna was speechless after seeing her eagerness. She said, "There is something that I want to show you."
"Hoho? I'm looking forward to it. Aurelia, let's go!" Since she couldn't see personally, she would have to rely on Aurelia to report on everything.
All four of them were heading to the south of the city.
"What is it that you want to show me?" Layla asked, feeling weird that they had gone out of the city.
"There is… a box carriage?" Aurelia furrowed her eyebrows. The wagon itself was long, but unlike the usual carriages that were covered with big cloth on top, the wooden wagon was fully extended to the top.
"A box?" Layla spread her spiritual energy to sense this new thing. "This is… it's very long and big. You can actually fit more than thirty people inside. Can this thing even move?"
"This is our new project." Anna smirked. "Roel."
"Yes." Roel nodded and stepped forward as he began his explanation. "This might be a normal wagon, but it can function like a carriage depending on how we adjust it.
"In front of you right now is a cargo wagon. The purpose is the same as the normal one, but unlike the usual wagon, it can carry two and a half times more than a normal one. And because we don't need a horse to do it, this will be a lot more efficient to transport the items."
"What? Two and a half times?" Aurelia gasped.
"A normal one can carry about one ton to avoid overstraining the horse. Are you sure you are able to do that?" Aurelia frowned.
"I apologize. I was talking about the volume earlier. Since this wagon has been equipped with the Floating Rune, it could actually withstand about ten tonnes without overstraining the runes."
"Ten tones…" Aurelia dropped to her butt. The Moon Temple had always been troubled with logistics. First of all, the carriage was good, but it couldn't contain a lot of stuff. So, they needed a lot of carriages.
And sometimes, they had to distribute their weight carefully, which made the wagon less full.
But with this invention, they could easily fill it to the brim and still move faster than a normal one.
However, Roel didn't stop here.
"We haven't finished all the adjustment projects. There is also a chance to change them depending on their purposes like transporting a lot of people, medical facilities, and a lot of other things.
"And this is just speculation, but if we carefully adjust it, we can actually attach them to each other. Instead of letting the wagons have both the Enhance Forward Rune and the Floating Rune, we can just make the cargo wagons only have the Floating Rune. Meanwhile, we will add the pulling cargo that has been equipped with more Enhance Forward Rune than the original design. This way, both of them can be optimized.
"We haven't done the exact calculation, but we believe that once this project is completed, we can actually bring more than a hundred tonnes in a single trip at the cost of two or three pulling wagons."
"A hundred tonnes? That's… that's…" Aurelia was completely scared. If they could actually do that, the logistics in the kingdom would change drastically. Even on their expedition, they would have no way to transport all that much.
If they could have that level of logistics, the Moon Temple would become an even more terrifying organization. It was to the point where the rumor connecting the Moon Temple with sadness disappeared.
That was right. They were associated with sadness because they couldn't save more people. That was simply because they didn't have the means to transport that amount of supply.
But this invention would change everything for them.
The saintess, on the other hand, noticed that this invention would benefit the Ardagan family much more than them. The Ardagan family could use this invention to create a logistic empire.
"I once heard a saying in the past. Amateurs talk strategy; professionals talk logistics," said the saintess while walking toward Anna. She held Anna's hands, saying, "The Moon Temple doesn't need the carriage in the agreement anymore. Please tell me how to procure this thing."
Roel was a bit overwhelmed by the reaction of the saintess. He never thought that the saintess would be begging for this invention.
As expected, both the lord and the lady were not ordinary, he thought.
Anna said, "Unfortunately, we don't have any intention of selling this for the time being. However, we are planning to create a highway that connects everything in Lounstein… and probably reaching the outside too."
"!!!" Layla finally understood their ambition. It was clear that they would be using this to gain political advantage over the nearby lords. The Muivell Kingdom would be trouble, but what if Noel took advantage to build a highway to the Demon Territory and turn to the Greenwood Kingdom? There was no way the Greenwood Kingdom would reject this idea.
And they could take advantage of that highway to connect with another headquarters of the Moon Temple.
Only by utilizing this could their Moon Temple become much stronger than this. There would be more donations, and they could save more people. The people from the Moon Temple would be happy and more powerful elites would join them.
"What do you want me to do?" Layla asked, not beating around the bush anymore.
"This is nothing but a prototype. I'm thinking about testing it in Laivaen City. Do you want to watch the effectiveness?" Anna smiled.
Layla pondered for a few minutes. It was impossible for Anna to ask her to simply watch the carriage.
In other words, her plan must be something else. Although she couldn't see the entire plan, it was clear that Anna had to be in Laivaen City. And she had to go there.
While she was at it, she had to show her the Moon Temple's sincerity. In other words, she might want to test this thing to send the materials for the Moon Temple's headquarters here.
Layla couldn't help but ask, "The Lord's idea?"
"The invention was my idea, but he suggested the rest."
Layla let out a long sigh. There was no way Noel's plan was so simple. By accepting this deal, it would put her at a lot of risk.
Seeing Layla's hesitation, Anna knew that she only needed a single more push. "Actually, we are also planning to develop a ship that can travel in the air. And of course, it is going to be huge."
Layla instantly made her stance. "I am honored to work together with the Lord of Lounstein. May I know when we depart?"
"In two weeks."
"I understand." Layla nodded with a serious expression. She turned to Aurelia. "You are to supervise the entire project and remain here. I will be going to Laivaen City."
"Saintess?" Aurelia knew that this type of transport would benefit them a lot, but she actually saw the desperation in Layla's expression.
"I am going to be busy from now on. I have to write a lot of things to those old geezers in the main headquarters. If they disagree, I think it's better for them to retire."
"…" Aurelia smiled wryly. No one could be compared to Saintess Layla in the Moon Temple. Her insight was much better than theirs, so if Layla thought this was something they had to get, they had to use all their forces to get it. "I understand. I'll take care of the project."
"Mhmm…" Layla then turned to Anna. "I apologize, Lady Anna. I have to return to my residence first. If you have anything you'd like me to know, please don't hesitate to send a message."
With Anna's nod, Layla immediately headed back with Aurelia following her.
Anna had finally passed the first stage. There were still a few things to do before going to Laivean City. At least, she had to arrive before the crown prince.
Harley had also made sure to pay attention to the movement of the royal family so that they wouldn't be able to infiltrate the main city.
"2 weeks should be enough time, right?" Anna asked.
"I will definitely complete it within two weeks, please rest assured."
"Alright. Tell everyone to begin the second phase."
"Understood." Roel politely bowed to her before leaving her side.
Alone, Anna clenched her hands into fists while muttering, "This will be the start of the wealth empire. If anyone dares to pick a fight with us, I won't hesitate to eliminate them. Wait a minute… Now that I think about it, shouldn't I ask Layla to make a marriage certificate from the Moon Temple? She is going to be the one leading the marriage ceremony, so this will bring a lot more legitimacy to our plan."
