"How is your condition?" Noel asked Evan.
"I'm still fine. Thanks to the medicine, I think I can recover in just a day. How about you?"
"Hmm…" Noel checked his body once again and tried using his Force Control to speed up the progress of his recovery. Because the nerve had to be repaired, he tried to focus on creating those nerves and veins one at a time. He roughly calculated the amount of time needed and said, "Two or three days."
"That's good. I guess it's time to kill the spies." Evan nodded.
"There are a total of seven spies. You should ask Grandell about them." Noel explained.
"How do you know?" Evan frowned, expecting that they had to wait for the spies to release a bird or send a message in one way or another to identify them.
However, Noel had one thing that no one possessed: Affection Medal. Due to the Affection Medal, he could see their hearts as well as a brief description of their affection for him. This was another way for Noel to find the spies in his territory.
This was also another reason why Noel actually asked everyone to retrieve water from them.
He was scanning each person's affinity when they came. And every time he found one, he would ask Grandell to note them and investigate those people.
"That's my secret." Noel chuckled, not planning to expose this secret.
"Well…" Evan shrugged in understanding. "Alright then. After you recover from your injury, you will be sparring with me in the morning and I can do whatever I want after that."
"Yes. Sorry for having you take their anger."
"It's fine. This is a part of the agreement."
After making sure Noel was fine, Evan left the room with his medicine. Meanwhile, Noel's head turned to Khalid. "Thank you for coming here and helping us."
"It's not a problem. I am the Pillar of Medicine of the Ardagan Family, after all."
"Still, your medicine is extremely effective. Even if I don't do anything, I can recover just fine within one week from this kind of injury."
"That's obvious. I might not be a healer, who can perform miracle stuff that only spirits can do, but I am an alchemist who pursues the path of medicine. I have administered a drug to reduce the pain, but it will wear out in two to three hours, so brace for the pain.
"Besides, the previous civilization didn't have any magical abilities, so they helped their patients by using medicine and special treatment based on what was recorded."
"Got it. Are you going to the main city after this?" Noel asked.
"Maybe after you fully recover. But I'm not entirely sure because you are a reckless person. There is a chance that you will be injured like this, so I might have to remain by your side and go to the main city together." Khalid explained.
Noel nodded. "Still, I have told you previously that I will help you procure more medicine from the previous civilization. And if you think that there is a rune that can help you better or improve the tool you use, you may ask me about it. I will check whether it's possible or not."
Khalid's expression turned serious. "For me, I wish to create a miracle drug that will etch my name into history. I can see that happening with the Awakening Pill, but I won't stop there. I feel like I can achieve an even higher feat by following you, so I hope that you don't disappoint me."
"I will respect your wish. If you think that there is a better master out there, I won't stop you from going. However, I am confident that you will need me the most."
"We'll see about that." Khalid smiled. He examined Anna for a moment before saying, "She should be waking up soon. Please tell her that she has to use her Spiritual Energy to boost the recovery as quickly as possible to avoid leaving any scars. That applies to you too, my lord."
"Got it. Do we need to remain here until we are fully recovered?"
"Of course not." Khalid tossed two bottles of pills. The first bottle contained yellow-colored pills while the other had a cube-shaped pill. "The yellow pill can reduce the pain a bit. Eat one every six hours if the pain is unbearable. You can also move around your body as long as you don't make a big movement. The other pill is for boosting your recovery rate. This is much more potent than the one I gave to that old man, so you put it in a water glass first and let it dissolve before drinking it. One every twelve hours."
"Thank you."
"Since I'm done here, I'm going to look around the town. I'm curious about what kind of town you are planning to build here. Besides, it will give an idea of what kind of tool I can request from you in the future."
"Sure. Take your time." Noel nodded. Although it would be good to wait for Anna, he believed he should test the efficacy of this pill before letting her drink it.
Hence, Noel grabbed a glass on the side table and exchanged for a Water Bottle from the system.
As soon as the cube-shaped pill entered the water, it started releasing bubbles and turned the clear water into the same color as the pill.
After it dissolved completely, Noel tried to drink it bit by bit, noticing the change in the flow of his energy. It felt like the flow became much smoother.
The recovery process became much quicker, and that boost didn't come only from the energy, but also from the natural recovery of his body.
It was no wonder why Khalid said it was more potent. If he took this directly, the recovery rate would be so overwhelming that his body wouldn't be able to withstand the burden.
That was why Khalid diluted it with water first.
Noel hurriedly meditated, focusing on his recovery. Of course, he didn't fully enter the meditation state since he had to be aware when Anna woke up.
Fortunately, she woke up only an hour later.
"Noel?! Is everything done?" Anna asked weakly while trying to get up.
It took Noel a moment to return to his original state and reply to her, "Yeah. Khalid has applied some medicine and if we close the wound as quickly as possible, it shouldn't leave a scar. He has told us to take medicine to boost the recovery rate."
"I see." Anna didn't seem to be surprised.
"Do you know anything about Khalid? I feel like I haven't heard the full information about him from you."
"Well, Khalid was the best alchemist in the previous life. Do you remember when you gave me a bunch of medicine?"
"Yeah."
"Those are the medicines he needed to advance his research. There are a lot of pills he created that would greatly impact the kingdom such as the Awakening Pill, the Physical Boost Drug, and even an unknown pill that can boost the absorption rate of the Demon Crystals. It's not completed yet."
"We have seen Awakening Pills already."
"As for the Physical Boost Drug, I heard that it can reduce the pain, pump up the muscle, and make you slightly hyperactive for a period of time. Well, you should be able to see them in the near future."
"I see. I guess getting Khalid is like a treasure." Noel nodded with a smile. With this, his goal became a lot closer.
And he envisioned a future where a lot of famous people emerged from the Ardagan Family.
"I'm looking forward to such a future." Noel muttered before remembering that he had to prepare the medicine. He hurriedly poured a glass of water and tossed the pill inside. "Here you go. Drink this once it dissolves completely. I'm going to meditate again."
"Alright." Anna nodded. Although she wanted to say something, it could be done later. After all, she was still focused on the previous battle because Khalid and Evan weren't here.
Anna couldn't help but recall their battle. In the last exchange, Anna could sense the hidden potential that Noel had never traced in the previous life.
Even though she investigated Noel again and again, she didn't know all the experiences that Noel had. He might meet the Sword Arbiter, but she didn't think Noel was close enough to receive some lectures from him.
In addition, with the difference in swordsmanship experience, Noel would also get a different kind of answer. For her, she noticed that the potential he unleashed earlier was bigger than the one in his previous life.
'He is going to fuse swordsmanship, two elements, and rune into his fighting style. I don't know how he is going to do it, but he would be unparalleled if he managed to do it. Well, I also have knowledge about my previous life and I have been advancing differently. Not only can I find an unknown ability, I can also reach a whole new level compared to my previous life.' Anna thought.
She started getting excited. The future had changed due to her actions, but that didn't matter anymore. Because this time, they were much faster and more powerful. 'There is also a rebellion… I don't think there will be one in this life.'
…
While waiting for the medicine to dissolve, Anna continued thinking about a few things related to the battle.
However, her feeling was the exact opposite of what her former teacher experienced right now.
After seeing the battle, she knew that Noel and Anna had to die sooner or later. And the Supreme Devil Organization would be the first to claim his life.
Hence, Josephine returned to a house where she was supposed to meet the Third Prince.
The Third Prince had been waiting for her the whole time, but his expression was a bit too dark as if he were angry about something.
Josephine only reported about what she had seen, wanting to know about the Third Prince's plan.
But when the Third Prince heard Anna and Noel's condition along with the Sword Arbiter's, he became more furious.
He asked coldly, "Josephine. Did you just let them go?"
"Huh? I've told you that the Sword Arbiter didn't leave any gaps to be exploited." Josephine frowned, not understanding why the Third Prince acted like this.
"Really? How about destroying the things they have just built?"
"If I did that, the first person who would be suspected was me. You should know that."
"Then, how about the water supply they gave to the citizens?"
When the third question came, Josephine realized what the Third Prince was talking about. There was no one in this kingdom who could infiltrate as smoothly as her with that space ability. And if there was someone who could help them without anyone knowing, it would be her.
Noel had even covered everything so that no one could see what was happening inside.
To transport all that water inside without water element spirit, there was only one possibility. It was Josephine who helped them.
Josephine was Anna's teacher. She had been acting under the order of the Royal Family this whole time, but Anna looked like that at first until she revealed that she was on Noel's side.
There was no guarantee that Josephine actually faked her loyalty. She might use her student to show that she was loyal and she wasn't.
Josephine clenched her fists. "Are you suspecting me right now?"
"Who knows? In any case, you are not clear either. How about using the Spirit Seal so that I can trust you a bit?" The Third Prince squinted his eyes.
Josephine's body froze. On the one hand, it could clear up her name. On the other hand, the Third Prince might use that opportunity to ask for other questions related to the Royal Family or any other shady dealings she had. So, the moment she agreed to this, she would be stripped bare.
There was no way she would allow the Third Prince to gain an advantage over her.
"If you can't trust me, then you don't have to." Josephine replied coldly and used her ability to disappear from this place.
The Third Prince's face turned solemn. "It seems that I have to investigate her first."
