Noel immediately headed to the previous junction where he was separated with Anna.
Surprisingly, Anna had been waiting for him as if she was camping there just to wait for him.
"You've been waiting here this whole time?" Noel asked while stopping his horse.
"I have finished my mission in a day, so yeah." Anna nodded, confirming it.
"I see." Noel nodded. Compared to her, he was taking his time to talk with Jasmine. However, he wasn't late, so he didn't say much about it.
"Anyway, are we going to start completing the other four missions?"
"Yeah. We're going to raise our pace from now on."
"Sounds good to me." Anna asked, "Let me take another look at the map."
Noel didn't know what she was planning, but he still took out the map of their journey.
"The four missions are like this and the Body Strengthening Liquid is in this area."
"Yeah, it's close to the border, so we might need to face stronger demons."
"Indeed. Though, take a look at this village. This is the farthest village we can go, so how about staying here for a day?"
"To rest?" Noel tilted his head in confusion. Whenever they traveled together, they never had a need to rest their bodies in a village or a town. So, this suggestion came out of nowhere.
"No, I'm talking about the Demon Crystals. I think it's good to have you become a Spirit Wielder before we go to this place since we might face Advanced Level Demons or an even stronger demon…"
"Ah!" Noel finally understood what she meant. Anna was just worried that she had to take care of him when they had to fight those demons. Of course, Noel didn't reject the idea. "That's a good idea. I won't be a burden anyway."
"Burden, what…" Anna felt like Noel misunderstood her. She was simply worried about his well-being, not about him becoming a burden.
"Anyway, are you planning to give me all the Demon Crystals? I don't think we can get enough Demon Crystals to make me reach Spirit Wielder if we share it."
Anna thought about giving it away without any care, but she remembered the case in the Earldom, where she almost lost to Noel. Noel also would feel suspicious if she didn't receive anything because it would make him look like he owed her greatly.
That was why Anna nodded and said, "Sure. I don't mind that if it means we can go there safely. Though, make sure you pay me back."
"That's easy. We can hunt some demons after obtaining the liquid." Noel nodded. "Alright. Let's go with that plan."
Noel and Anna reached an agreement as they began to move to their next destination.
In the next two weeks, Noel and Anna were entering several places to exterminate the demons.
Whenever they reached a village, Noel would learn something new from their village while Anna was standing next to Noel to absorb his knowledge and action.
At the same time, they also did their job splendidly. They also had to eliminate many Mid Level Demons, in which turned out to be commanded by an Advanced Level Demon in their last mission.
This would be a huge problem for anyone since they had no power to defeat an Advanced Level Demon.
But Anna and Noel were different. When the Advanced Level Demon attacked them, this pair actually bullied the demon by beating it black and blue.
It was a pitiful sight because the Advanced Level Demon looked like it was about to cry right before its death.
In the end, they accomplished all their missions perfectly and there was no one stopping them to do whatever they wanted after this. They were already eligible to become a full-fledged knight after all.
It took another three days for Noel and Anna to reach the furthest village before reaching the border.
The village wasn't that big, considering they had to be prepared to be attacked by the demons. It would be easier for them to leave if they had a small number after all.
This place was often used for the knights to patrol the area as well, so the village looked a bit better compared to what they had seen.
Although the population was less than fifty people, they were still young or middle-aged people. They were still strong enough to run with all their strength.
When Noel and Anna reached the village, one of the villagers welcomed them.
The middle-aged man was wearing an armor as if he was in charge of the village's protection.
"Welcome to Aurel Village. May I know the purpose of your visit?" The middle-aged man asked.
"We're from the Demon Banner Army. We're here to rest in this village before going forward." Noel showed the badge and stated their purpose vaguely.
After seeing the badge, the middle-aged man nodded and said, "Welcome to Aurel Village. I hope that you've got a pleasant stay in this village. Although I'll be doing my best to protect the village, I can't assure everyone's safety."
"Is there something wrong?" Noel furrowed his eyebrows since the guard shouldn't be saying something like this.
"Well…" The middle-aged man scratched the back of his head. "I don't know either. It's just the demon's activity has been increasing lately…"
Noel thought for a moment as if he was trying to figure out anything. Meanwhile, Anna asked, "You should have an inn, right?"
"Yes. There is a small inn in the village. You can go to the center of the village and turn left to find the inn. It's usually used to host knights, so its quality shouldn't be too bad."
"Alright." Noel was the one who answered him this time. It seemed he didn't find enough clue to ask something from the guard, so he just entered the village nonchalantly. "Let's go."
Anna nodded and followed him while observing the village's situation. It didn't seem that bad for a village that had the highest risk to be attacked by a demon. She could see some destructions here and there, but it was just the aftermath. All the essential stuff for a village had been repaired.
Though, Anna felt something bad this time and approached Noel. "Do you have time?"
"Let's talk in your room." Noel seemed to have sensed something wrong too and replied with a low voice.
"Alright."
