The soldiers on the wall couldn't help but drop their jaws to the ground. They thought that they would have to fight hard against all these demons, but the scene before them was completely beyond their imagination.
"What?"
"Sixty to seventy demons have just died?"
"How do they find the monsters easily?"
"Those grasses are pretty tall, aren't they?"
Even the captain, who led the soldiers, was frozen in his place. All of a sudden, someone climbed on top of the wall and said, "That's the lord of Lounstein and his wife, Noel Ardagan and Anna Stargaze!"
"Who are you?!" The captain was alarmed, but soon processed that name. He had heard about a new lord that would govern this territory, but he thought that it would be hard because this place was dangerous and the town hadn't been built yet.
To think that the lord and his wife would come to this place not long after arriving at their new territory, it felt like they were trying to ask for their help if not for the fact that they eliminated all the demons easily.
The captain regained his composure soon and hurriedly ordered his subordinates. "Open the gate!"
Just like that, Noel and Anna easily entered the city. They didn't bother gouging out the demon crystals, thinking it could be treated as a gift to the city.
The captain bowed his head and introduced himself. "I'm the captain of the city garrison, Hansen. Thank you for helping us, Lord Earl."
Noel glanced at the city's condition, which turned out to be more awful than he originally thought. The demons must have passed the gaps between the wall and caused a lot of destruction.
There were a lot of crushed buildings and those who remained standing were definitely damaged. When he looked deeper into the city, it didn't seem to be that good either. While most of the building remained intact, the living conditions were harsh.
A lot of the people seemed to have lost hope. Even the soldiers' conditions reflected the current situation. While they didn't seem to be malnourished, they were clearly showing signs of dehydration.
The problem wouldn't be food, but the water.
After getting enough information, Noel skipped all the pleasantries and asked, "Where is the mayor of this city? Does he know about all the problems the city has?"
"Y-yes, Sir! The mayor is in the middle of the city. Let me guide you." Captain Hansen extended his hand, asking Noel to follow him.
"Grandell. Bring your men and survey the city. Report to me about everything you can find later."
"Understood." Grandell acknowledged the order and signaled his men to begin.
"Should I look around as well?" Anna asked.
"No. You're going with me for now. Didn't you ask me to teach you about this kind of stuff? It will be a perfect opportunity."
"Alright then."
Captain Hansen brought Noel and Anna to the heart of the city. As expected, the people were staring at them as if they were a rare animal. But more importantly, their gaze seemed to have lost a lot of hope.
The lord of the territory had visited them, so they should gain a bit of hope, but the fact that they didn't react that much showed how worse the living condition was.
Even Noel might not be able to handle everything right away.
It didn't take too long to reach the city's mansion. However, he doubted that this place could be called a mansion. While it was a typical two-story building, it wasn't that wide. At best, it looked like three small houses aligned together.
"In that case, I'd like to ask you to wait—" Hansen was stopped by a single wave of Noel's hand as the latter demanded, "No. Let's go directly to the mayor's office. He should be in the office, right?"
"Y-yes." Hansen didn't know the previous question was a test. If the mayor wasn't in his office, trying to deal with this situation, he would be unfit as a mayor.
As soon as they reached the office, they could find a thin man in his forties.
"Hansen? Who are they?" The mayor furrowed his eyebrows, not recognizing Noel and Anna despite their reputation.
"They are the lord and the mistress of Lounstein."
"!!!" Obviously, the mayor had heard about the new governor. Once Hansen introduced them, he instantly remembered all the information and greeted them. "Lord Noel Ardagan, Miss Anna Stargaze. I'm honored to have your presence here."
"You can skip the pleasantries. I'm here to fix some problems in the city, so I need you to tell me everything."
"Everything?" The mayor scratched the back of his head, looking hesitant.
"What's wrong? Are you trying to hide something from me?" Noel squinted his eyes, pressuring him.
"No, Sir. It's just that… there are too many problems that I don't know where to start." The mayor shook his head helplessly. "I'm too useless, Sir. Please punish me."
"That's enough. Give me the major problems first." Noel turned to the captain and said, "You too. Tell me everything from your perspective."
"In that case…" The mayor gave a gesture to ask Noel to sit on his seat before bringing a few documents. "There are a total of five major problems the city is currently facing. The first two are the most urgent."
Noel skimmed the documents the mayor presented while Anna read a few other documents.
"The water and the demon activity, huh…" Noel frowned.
"Yes, Sir." The mayor nodded with a sad face.
"Are you still bringing the water from the river? And why does this town not have any water well? You should have the fund, right?" Noel asked.
"That's actually the problem, Sir. We do have water well. In fact, they say that the water underneath this city has a quite large quantity to the point we won't be able to drain it all for hundreds of years since it's connected to the river."
"Then…" Noel frowned. "What's the problem?"
"The problem is that while it has a large quantity of water, it won't go up. The well doesn't have enough pressure and it's also deeper than normal. We can't create such a deep well and try to use a bucket to bring it up."
Noel finally understood the problem. "So, the well has a small diameter, and despite the depth, it doesn't have a lot of pressure? Have you used a pump?"
"Yes. It's too deep even for the pump."
Noel thought for a moment before asking, "How about the demons?"
"Actually, this is related to the water problem. Because we have to fetch our water from the river, we have to send our team and bring back anything we can. But due to the increase of demon activity, a lot of people have lost their lives. We've been rationing our water for the past few days."
"The past few days?" Noel noticed something important.
"Yes. The increase in demon activity only began recently."
Noel turned to Anna, who seemed to have realized it as well. This problem must be created by someone. And the only people that had the ability to control demons was the Supreme Devil Organization.
It seemed that they had been trying to lure them out of the city, thinking the mayor would ask for help.
Noel pinched the bridge of his nose before asking Anna. "What do you think?"
"Should we just clear up the river? I can lead a team there." Anna suggested.
The captain's eyes lit up. He had witnessed Anna's strength, so if she truly helped them, they would definitely be able to clear the river and bring back a lot of water.
However, Noel actually shook his head as if he rejected the idea, which dampened the captain's hope again.
Noel said, "The main problem is the water. If there are no people going to the river, then it won't be a problem anymore. So, all we have to do is solve the water problem."
What Noel said wasn't wrong, but the mayor couldn't think of any way to solve it. And that was where the rune came in.
"Ah! You're going to use the runes?"
"Yeah." Noel nodded. "I can come up with a few arrangements, but I don't know if they are sustainable or not."
"Is that true? Can you really resolve the problem?" The mayor widened his eyes in shock. The problem had been plaguing the city ever since its creation, so he never thought that there would be someone who could solve the problem.
"I have to inspect the well and other things first before creating a plan. For the next few days, I can supply the water for the town, so it should give us more room to create a concrete plan."
"Thank you, Sir." The mayor couldn't contain his smile. It seemed that he was trustworthy and thought about the people first.
Noel asked, "What about other problems?"
"There are three more problems that have to be solved as soon as possible. They are the wall, the building, and the hygiene."
Noel thought for a moment while Anna asked, "If there's enough water, we can improve the hygiene slightly, right?"
"Yes, Miss. We don't even have enough to drink, let alone washing ourselves and other things. I'm afraid that even if you bring water from outside, they might get attacked by the demons."
"You don't have to worry about the water. And who has been profiting from the water this whole time?"
"That's…" The mayor hesitated. It seemed that the other party was also a noble or a merchant with that much influence.
"Just say it. I will take care of the rest."
"It's Lord Alba. His city is near the river and there are not a lot of demons over there. So, he brings us the water."
"And with a high price, right?" Noel squinted his eyes.
"What do you mean?" Anna was the one who asked.
"It's pretty simple. Water itself is not expensive. So, with the city's profit from the Demon Crystals, it should be able to buy a lot of water to the point it can somewhat solve the water problem. But because of the current condition, he must be increasing the price for all kinds of reasons."
"So, he takes advantage of this city's condition to jack up his price?" Anna looked annoyed as if she wanted to go there right away and beat him up.
"Yeah, basically." Noel turned to the mayor. "You don't have to purchase the water from him. Or do you have any contract with him?"
"Yes, Sir. We have been paying him every month and the contract lasts for another three months." The mayor nodded.
Noel thought for a moment. "Then, you don't have to pay him anymore."
"But if we breach the contract, we have to pay six times the number we agreed upon." The mayor panicked. Not everything could be solved with strength or reputation after all.
"No, you don't have to worry about that. Because of his city location, he shouldn't have the need to create water wells. It means his only source of water is the river. My city is planning to build a dam, so we'll be redirecting the river and filling it. It's not that we'll be breaking the contract, but he is the one who can't fulfill the agreement."
"Ah?!" Anna seemed to have found out another reason why Noel built a dam. It was truly a weapon.
"Of course, this city won't be able to utilize the river as well, but the water well should cover the problem if we succeed. Meanwhile, Count Alba has no choice but to start digging well. It will cost a lot of money and he also has to figure out how to fulfill the contract. If he dares not to pay for the contract breach, I'll personally make my move." Noel explained before turning to the mayor. "With that money as well as the money that you were supposed to use for water should be enough to improve the wall, right?"
"We definitely can repair the wall." The mayor assured him.
"For the building, we can only do it later, so just put up some emergency buildings with the remaining resources to make it look like we're trying to solve the problem. Once the city stabilizes, we will bring more resources for the construction. At the very least, it's still early summer, so we should have enough time."
"Understood, Sir." The mayor never thought that Noel would be able to solve the problems just by listening to them once. It seemed that Noel's reputation was well deserved. Lounstein finally had a good lord that could govern the territory well.
Noel stood up and said, "Alright. Let's inspect the wells first."
