"Lord Earl!"
"Lord Earl!"
The people lowered their heads respectfully when they saw Noel going around the city again. However, his appearance was a mess.
His body was covered by bandages. In fact, he had to use a wheelchair to move around. His face was pale and it seemed that he was sweating a lot.
Even with that kind of condition, Noel waved his hand to the people with a big smile on his face. "I'm fine, everyone. You don't have to worry about me."
Grandell was pushing the wheelchair with a worried face. Even though he was one of the people who knew about their real plan, he was still uncomfortable to see his lord becoming this weak.
Obviously, the person who received the anger of the masses was none other than Duke Lorelei. For the rest of his life, he will be remembered as the enemy of Lounstein.
But this was also a part of the agreement. Duke Lorelei actually sacrificed his life so that Lounstein could flourish. This way, when he finally passed away in the future, his son could clear up his name while forming a good relationship with the Ardagan Family.
For the time being, the duke remained inside the mayor's mansion to avoid the people.
Cough!
Cough!
Noel suddenly coughed up blood.
"My lord!" Grandell panicked and suggested, "We should go back immediately. You are in an extremely bad state."
"This is fine. I don't want people to think that the lord of Lounstein is so weak that he can't handle a single fight. Besides, this city is going to be better. If I can push myself a bit, the city will be rebuilt much faster." Noel shook his head helplessly.
When the citizens heard those words, they couldn't help but tear up. Their lord pushed himself so much that those who were complaining about their condition felt ashamed.
They had heard that the lord was in critical condition yesterday. And yet, just a single day later, the Lord risked his life again to assure the people. He even planned to work in that condition.
"My lord! Please go back and rest. We'll definitely rebuild this city!"
"That's right. I will work myself to the bone so that the earl doesn't need to worry!"
The citizens started to speak up but those who dared actually kneeled in front of Noel. This was their lord. If the Lord went that far for them, they were prepared to lay down their lives for his cause.
Some more citizens kneeled down, asking the same thing. Seeing a lot of people falling to their knees, the rest of the citizens ended up following suit.
"My lord. We should return right away. You can punish me however you want, but all I wish is for you to take some rest. Besides, the future lady is also in critical condition. You have to be by her side."
"But… this city is the place we work together to rebuild. I believe that—" Before Noel finished, Grandell raised his voice.
"My lord. Let us take care of the rest. Please don't worry that we will work hard. Just… Please rest. You have given us hope, so we don't wish to see you die and lose all that hope."
"Lord Earl!" Some citizens also called Noel as if asking the same thing.
"I…" Noel had a pained look and coughed up a few more times, making everyone worried. "I understand. I will take a rest for today."
"Thank you, my lord." Grandell hurriedly pushed the wheelchair back, not wanting to expose Noel further than this.
As they looked at their lord's back, the people had a similar thought. If they worked so hard that there was nothing to be done anymore, their lord wouldn't need to do anything and just get some rest to recover from his condition. It was hard to find a good lord like him, so they didn't wish him to die.
"I'm going to work hard. No, even if I have to push myself a bit more, I'm going to complete the storage."
"That's right. The building I'm working for is said to need another two days to complete, but I'm going to complete it tonight!"
"Let's go back. We can't procrastinate."
"Yes. This is our city. We can't let the Lord do everything."
"Ooh!"
The people hurriedly went back. This was probably the first time ever since coming here that they had a desire to rebuild the city by themselves without relying on other people.
These people ended up telling the people around them about Noel's determination which spiked their morale even further.
Without anyone realizing it, Noel's name had spread across the entire city. They also sent a prayer for Anna, hoping for her great recovery.
Unbeknownst to everyone, there was another reason why Noel showed himself in front of the citizens. Since the Sword Arbiter had eliminated all the spies, it meant that the enemies would send other spies to take over sooner or later.
By that time, Noel would have left the city. In other words, they couldn't observe Noel personally. The only way to get information about Noel was through the citizens. As a result, the citizens only gave them false information—the only information that Noel gave the citizens.
The people behind them wouldn't know that Noel had long recovered. So, when they attacked, they would be surprised to find Noel fighting in his peak condition.
In the mayor's mansion, Anna watched everything with a smile. As expected of Noel, he definitely could gain the citizens' hearts.
"We will probably stay here for another few days to fully recover and train with the Sword Arbiter. After that, we will leave the city. Although we want to check the other villages, especially their conditions, I don't think it's possible anymore. The villages might give different information that will make it suspicious.
"Besides, the Third Prince is going to appear sooner or later. Whether he likes it or not, he will have to buy more time. No, wait a minute. The only way for the Third Prince to stall Noel is to send him away from this city and overwork him."
Anna had realized that the reason Noel said that they would be visiting the villages around this city was due to the Third Prince. However, if the Third Prince blatantly ordered Noel to do such a reckless thing, Noel would definitely not like it.
"In that case, the Third Prince is going to use a few things as bait. I wonder what he is planning to do…." Anna fell silent for a moment. Now that she had started getting accustomed to possibilities, she started connecting the clues to speculate on the outcome.
"If I'm not wrong, this city has become a vital point for Noel in my previous life. However, what about the villages around it?" Anna tried to recall what Noel did with the area around this place.
Unfortunately, she was too focused on Noel's main city, so she barely had any information. If only she had been smarter and investigated everything, she would have known a lot more than this.
Still, there was one thing that she recalled. "Now that I think about it, the way Noel governed his territory was to ensure that everything was connected. The current activities of the demons have blocked access to those villages."
Anna was dumbfounded. It felt like she had understood what it was, but she couldn't put it into words.
"How should I say this? Noel is connecting the villages to the city, but because of the method from Jasmine, the villages have become prosperous. In exchange for that prosperity, the villagers have the ability to seek out more things outside their villages. And their parents who have been around the villages are thankful to Noel! That's right!"
Anna gasped. "When the villagers are thankful, those who are roaming around the village become the bearers of information. If they are going to attack the city, they will approach the village first. So, if the villagers notice something weird, they will report it to the city. This way, there is an outer barrier that will protect the city. What Noel is planning to do is to create that barrier and surround the entire territory with villages, spreading that barrier."
It took her a moment, but she finally realized why it was hard to penetrate Noel's defense. Noel was always ready for the incoming attack because he raised the living standard of each village, allowing the villages to become his eyes.
When she figured it out, she wrote down everything. The current Noel must haven't thought about this, so she would be the one to give this information. She believed Noel could improve this concept further with more time in their current lives.
However, both Noel and Anna had one miscalculation. No, it was more like they never expected it because it never happened in their previous lives.
When Anna was about to meet Noel to tell him about her findings, Captain Hansen actually visited the mayor's mansion.
"My lord!" Hansen kneeled on one knee. Anna ended up hiding on the corner, wondering what Hansen was planning to say. She thought the Third Prince had appeared and wanted to meet Noel.
Noel remained calm because Hansen's affection was still extremely loyal. He asked, "What's wrong?"
"You have a visitor. I'm not sure whether to allow them to enter or not, but the soldiers are having a hard time because of their identity."
"Their identity? Who are they and what's their number?"
"There should be around sixty to seventy people. They seem to have brought a lot of carriages and we're still inspecting them now. However, their carriage carries the flag of the crescent moon."
"Crescent moon? Is there a noble family with that crest?" Noel pondered.
"They are not nobles. The one who is leading them is a young lady with a nun outfit. She claims to have met you and introduces herself as Saintess Layla."
Noel widened his eyes in shock. The moment he heard the name, he instantly remembered that person's identity.
Even Anna couldn't believe it. In the past, the Saintess was affected by the demon and fell into depravity. In their current lives, Noel and Anna have actually gone their way to save the Saintess of the Moon Temple.
That was right. In the past, Saintess Layla actually said, "You might lose the recognition of the people as well as their thanks, but you have gained the respect of our Moon Temple, especially me. If you need our help in the future, as long as your goal doesn't clash with the Moon Temple's purpose, we'll help you."
He even got a letter from her. It was the letter of introduction from the Saintess herself. And that letter could give Noel the best treatment from the Moon Temple. It even had the power to receive help from the Holy Knights of the Moon Temple.
Noel had never utilized this help because he had to go into hiding. Now that everything was clear and Noel could finally reveal himself again, the Saintess might think that this was a good opportunity to help him.
That was right. The reason for her coming here couldn't be more obvious.
When Noel found out their identities, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Hahahaha. To think that I would forget about this…"
"Is there something wrong?" Hansen asked while tilting his head in confusion.
"I have indeed helped them in the past. They are probably coming here to help us. I can guarantee their identity, so please bring them in, Captain Hansen." Noel gave him permission.
…
Outside the city, Layla was waiting patiently as though she had expected to see Noel forget about her.
She couldn't help but say, "I have told you that I will repay this debt, so I'm here. That's right. I have told them that if he and Miss Anna are going to get married, he should have called me since I will be the one giving them blessings."
