"Move it that way!"
"Create a wall in this spot."
The blacksmith was presenting the blueprint while asking the professional to lead the people to build the design.
"How is it?" The blacksmith asked.
"It's simple, so we should be able to build it as quickly as possible with all these people."
"Good. I will report to the mayor about this before working on other things." The blacksmith nodded and walked away.
After Noel's arrival, the city had gradually stood up on their feet again. However, it didn't change the fact that only the water problem was going to be solved soon. They still had to face other problems.
That was why Noel and Anna discussed it again with the mayor.
"So, we're going to talk about the wall, the building, and the hygiene." Noel asked, "What do you have to say?"
"First of all, the wall has been standing there for almost five years. However, the current condition is too much for the wall to bear a huge wave of demons. We are lucky that only less than a hundred demons come at a time, but even then, it's quite perilous. We'll lose people and the wall will be damaged further." The mayor explained the problem in detail.
"While the long term solution has been discussed yesterday, we indeed have to repair the wall, especially the west one." Noel thought for a moment before asking Anna. "What do you think?"
"You told me earlier that you had sent the request to the main city and they would definitely bring it to us. However, it would be hard for them to send the funds here, don't you think? The Supreme Devil Organization might attack them midway and seize the fund." Anna raised another concern.
"You don't have to worry about that. Even though I say fund, it will come in the form of materials." Noel shook his head, implying that he had another idea.
"Materials? Ah, so you're sending people to buy the materials using that fund, so the materials will come to us from the opposite side?" Anna nodded in understanding. "In that case, we can use that material to repair the west wall. But they will realize it sooner or later and might intercept the material."
"Indeed. The only thing that won't be attacked is the thing coming from a different country." Noel nodded. "So, with that amount of material, the west wall can be repaired. Also, the money for employing more workers will come from the same direction."
"You're using that source of income?" Anna noticed that Noel planned to ask the brothel to give them money. In exchange, he would refund that money later.
"Yes. So, with that, what do you think we can do with runes to speed up the progress?" Noel asked.
Anna thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we use something to transport the items? Mayor, the work requires a lot of manpower, right? What are their jobs specifically?"
"I have to bring the professional to answer that question." The mayor didn't know about the details as he was the one who gave the order, not the one taking care of it.
"During my stay in the Demon Relief Squad, there are basically four kinds of tasks. The first one would be the one handling the placement to build a perfect wall. The second one would be the one procuring materials. The other two are the transporter and supervisor. Now that I think about it…" Noel fell silent as though he was on the verge of coming up with something.
Anna turned to the mayor and changed her question. "If we can automate them, do you think we can change those people to Demon Crystal? Instead of paying people for that job, we use the fund to buy Demon Crystal."
"That depends on the number of workers you're going to replace. If it's going to take only one or two people, then it won't cover the cost. And what kind of Demon Crystal do you plan to use? The Advanced Level again?" The mayor asked.
"No." Noel was the one who answered that question. "I think I've got an idea."
Anna smiled as though she had expected this.
"I'm thinking about creating a rune that can bring people up and down." Noel smirked, feeling confident about it. "Mayor. Bringing material to a certain height is hard, right?"
"I'm not an expert, but I do see that people have to carry the materials on their back and use the stairs. Or we could just bring them by using a pulley."
"Then, how about having someone… No, a platform that can move up and down? This way, the platform can carry humans or materials to a certain level. Then, if they need to go down, we can just bring them back down." Noel explained before asking for a pencil and a paper.
The platform was a circle and it contained two runes on it. After that he put down the materials or humans and created a diagram on how it worked.
"This is…" The mayor fell silent for a moment. "From my perspective, it would definitely be amazing to have."
"But will it be safe? I mean, how are normal people going to maintain their balance? And when are they going to stop?" Anna asked, seeing a few problems with the design.
"Now that I think about it…" When Noel thought about it, an image flashed in his mind. It was the image of the mysterious facility Noel visited in the Atracaeca Kingdom. That huge hole in the middle of the facility must be something like this. They created a skeleton to ensure its safety.
So, Noel changed the design a bit by creating the skeleton that stretched from the bottom to a certain level. He even turned the circle into a square and sealed its four corners with the beams.
"I think this will be it." Noel pointed at the four beams on each edge. "These beams will be the one stabilizing the platform when it is being pushed up by the rune. In fact, we could use the top platform to pull it up instead of pushing it down. And by making a slanted floor, we could make the center of gravity remain in the center."
"That's a good idea. It definitely stops the risk of getting swayed." Anna agreed with the idea. "But what about the ceiling? I mean, is it going to launch this guy or the materials into the air?"
"I have thought about it. The problem is the output of the rune. The water requires a lot of force to propel the water upward, but this one doesn't need such a force. In fact, it can't be that fast since the things inside it would carry the momentum. That's why I'm thinking about using the Low Level Demon Crystal!"
"Ah?!" Anna finally understood the concept. "So, that's how it is. The Low Level Demon Crystal won't be strong enough to launch this guy. And if we plant this structure to the ground, in addition to its weight, the platform wouldn't be able to push the entire structure, creating a certain ceiling. We can even create the platform to be like a cage so that even if they are swinging, they will still follow the same path."
"Exactly. I still need to test this, but I think the possibility exists. This is a structure that can only be used with a Low Level Demon Crystal. I don't know the efficiency, so we have to test it first." Noel nodded. "Mayor. Do you have some time to go out? I also need that professional to check the design."
"Understood." The mayor nodded furiously.
"In that case, I will go to the blacksmith to ask for the platform. I will leave the rest to you, Mayor." Noel rose from his seat and took his leave. But before he could open the door, someone actually knocked on the door.
When Noel opened it, it turned out to be the blacksmith he wanted to find.
"M-my lord!" The blacksmith panicked, thinking he had disturbed Noel.
But Noel actually grabbed him and said, "I need your help with something! Are you free?"
"I…I am free." The blacksmith nodded his head. He was just going to report the progress to the mayor, but Noel's matter took priority, considering he must have come up with another amazing invention.
The mayor nodded his head as if telling him there was nothing more important than Noel's matter and asked him to follow him.
"I understand, my lord. Do you need anything?" The blacksmith asked.
"I need to borrow a metal plate to test something. If it works, I might need you to create a cage with a slanted floor that leans to the center." Noel explained.
"We do have the metal plate in the workshop."
"Alright. Let's go!"
Without hesitation, Noel dragged him to the workshop as Anna followed Noel with a smile. Even though Noel always wanted a person to lead the research of rune applications, he was probably the only person who could do it. He was just too occupied with the matter regarding the territory that he didn't have enough time to do it personally.
As soon as they reached the workshop, the blacksmith took out a metal plate. But because it was just a random plate, it was a rectangle instead of a square. "This is the only thing we have."
"It's fine." Noel put the plate down outside the workshop. He pointed at the plate and looked at Anna first. "I think this size is enough, right?"
"Yes."
"Then, on the right, I will draw the Enhance Forward Rune facing up while I turn it the other way around on the left side. With this, depending on which one we power up, it can move up and down. But I'm worried that because of the nature of Spiritual Energy, the other rune will absorb a certain amount of energy that will cause the platform to be unstable."
"Can't it be solved by just putting the Energy Dispersion Rune in the middle? It will deflect the Spiritual Energy. And because it's still moving, the Spiritual Energy will remain on that level and not be picked up by the other rune."
"So, I need to connect the Gathering Rune to both the Enhance Forward Rune and Dispersion Rune… That's brilliant." Noel's eyes brightened as they finally found the perfect concept.
"What are you going to make, my lord?" The blacksmith asked, confused.
"Anna will tell you about it. I want to test the stability of this plate and see if it's possible for a normal person to use it or not," said Noel while stepping on the plate.
Anna agreed and watched Noel powering up the plate with the Enhance Forward Rune pointing upward.
Once he poured his energy, the plate started to rise.
"Woah!" Noel shifted his balance a bit. It felt like he was stepping on a platform that was standing on top of a pointy tip. If he lost his balance a bit, he would definitely fall down. "As expected, the supporting beams are needed."
As soon as Noel passed the tallest building, he looked around. It didn't really amaze him since he could just use his wings to do something like this, but he thought of another concept. What if they fought using this type of rune? Would people be able to fly?
That thought caused Noel to change the rune from Enhance Forward Rune to Floating Rune. This way, the plate didn't continue rising but float to a certain level.
"Anna. I'm going to test something for a bit." Noel shouted while creating another rune behind him. It turned out to be the Enhance Forward Rune.
He actually pushed the floating plate forward, causing him to speed up. However, he didn't count on the air friction, which caused him to slightly lean forward. It ultimately launched him first from all that momentum.
"Woooah!"
The blacksmith panicked, thinking Noel would go down. But he soon reappeared with his wings and returned to the plate. "That doesn't work. Maybe I should raise the front a bit to resist the air friction while balancing my momentum?"
As soon as he did it, the platform actually moved like a surfboard. He leaned his body to the side and it still continued forward. The air pressure hitting the plate was the one changing its direction.
"This actually work?" Noel couldn't believe it. He was actually 'flying' in the air without wings.
Anna couldn't help but drop her jaw. This was something she had never seen in her previous life. It seemed that Noel would definitely surpass the invention of his previous life.
"Noel! I want to try it too. It looks fun! You have your wings, so let me fly!"
"No way. I can't let you risk your life like this. This is extremely dangerous, so just wait there!"
Anna's eyebrows twitched. Despite mentioning the danger, his excitement was easily visible from the ground. He was surfing in the air and its movement was quite fast, which would definitely be something interesting to play with. That was why Anna said, "You might be able to make me believe it's dangerous if not for that grin! Stop grinning and change with me!"
