"I see. So, he is going to make his move. Even though the Moon Temple is going to get involved, it should be enough as long as he exerts his body excessively." The Third Prince heard the report from his subordinate and contemplated.
"Should we set up an ambush?"
"There's no need. I thought that he could become my sword, but it seems that the sword is trying to hurt its own master." The Third Prince crossed his arms. "The Supreme Devil Organization has set up the ambush. Even if it's not enough to kill him, it should be enough to cause him some injuries. This way, he won't be able to recover for a few months."
"Then, what should we do with the Sword Arbiter? It seems that his relationship with him is quite good."
"While the Sword Arbiter is an upright man, he is still a noble. He should understand the current politics and there's no way he would risk everything just to help him. For now, monitor the situation and make sure the Sword Arbiter doesn't leave the city. As for the Royal Family, I will be the one dealing with them."
"Understood." The messenger acknowledged the order and immediately excused himself.
In that instant, an old man appeared behind the Third Prince, saying, "The Supreme Devil Organization has become a bit too rampant. To think they dare to order your highness…"
"That's enough. For now, the Supreme Devil Organization is useful to us. You should know what will happen if Noel Ardagan is left alive. When he becomes a Spirit Transcendence, no one will be able to fight him anymore."
"The Marshall, the Commander and the Devil Saint might be able to contend with them, but the Commander had a favorable impression on Noel. So, there were only two of them that might be able to suppress Noel. But it would be a different case with Anna in the picture." The old man nodded in agreement.
"That's right. There is also the rune. To think that the rune can be applied to our daily lives, this is going to be huge. While he is not as good as his father as a merchant, he has a rune. The technology he produced alone is enough to make him the wealthiest."
"So, your highness is planning to get both him and his wealth?"
"Yes. He is a man who will surpass his father, so that should be enough to reinstate my position as the true owner of the throne. However, I have to find a way to control him and take everything before he grows too strong."
"So, after your highness gets the throne, you will eliminate him?"
"Of course. I don't plan on having someone I can't control by my side." The Third Prince thought for a moment. "Although it's a bit early, we'll begin the fourth phase."
"Understood." The old man received his order and immediately disappeared.
The Third Prince's expression became cold as he muttered, "This world shall be mine."
…
On the other hand, Noel was discussing his plan with the Sword Arbiter. While he couldn't fully trust the Sword Arbiter, he could still control his desire to gain the loyalty of Duke Lorelei for a few months.
Noel said, "Anna. You're going to join me later."
Anna looked at the map and pointed at the village south of their city. "I'm assuming that they are going to make clues from the supposed base to this village before going to the opposite side. This way, you will have to move so much that you end up getting some internal injuries, right?"
"Yeah. So, you should join me at that time."
"I understand." Anna nodded and turned to the Sword Arbiter. "But what will he do?"
Noel pointed at the window. "Of course. I'm pretty sure that if anyone wants to act, it's the best time. I'm pretty sure there will be people trying to steal the technology."
"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, no one can steal them. After all, I've got the dibs on it first." Duke Lorelei chuckled. "Besides, it's not like anyone can study it just by seeing it, no?"
"Well, I have created another layer to protect the rune to be copied. While it's made of unique technique, the rune can be copied. I know it's going to spread sooner or later, but I'm planning to monopolize it for the time being."
"Alright. You can leave this city to me." Duke Lorelei agreed with the arrangement. The duke noticed that both of them suddenly fell silent as though they were trying to think about something. But actually, they were waiting for the duke to leave.
Duke Lorelei could see that Noel had a different plan, so he shook his head helplessly and turned around. "It's time for this old man to walk around."
As soon as the Sword Arbiter left, Noel's expression turned grim. "I need you to send a letter to Dimitri. According to my estimate, it's going to last for five days. With the addition of our rest and the work in this city, we will reach the main city within seven days."
"Alright. That's when we open the migration, right?"
"Yeah."
"But what's the name of our city? I mean, it's hard to call it the main city this whole time."
"I have thought of the name, but I think it's better for the city to be completed first."
"Well, I just hope it won't be a bad name." Anna shrugged. "That's the place we're going to live in for the rest of our lives."
"Of course." Noel chuckled before looking at the map again. "During this expedition, what do you think is the problem?"
"Have you gotten the agreement from Layla?"
"Not yet. But I can convince her. She might bring a few knights as well. So, along with our soldiers, we should have about twenty elite knights and three Grandmasters."
Anna contemplated for a moment. "The purpose of this expedition is not to kill you. In fact, it's already impossible to kill you the moment Layla arrives. So, it means that they are going to cause you to unleash so much power that the backlash will worsen your injuries. And what about those two days and the fact that you don't want to leave your fiancee in this condition?"
"Hahaha. You should know why I chose two days, right?"
"Of course. In two days, we will be fully recovered, so they won't be able to worsen our injuries if there's no injury in the first place. For us, the only problem with this expedition is the logistics." Anna pointed at three places: the Supreme Devil Organization Base, the Previous Civilization Building, and the route back to the main city.
"Hoh? Interesting." Noel smiled. He wanted to use this chance to train Anna a bit more, but it seemed that she had grown pretty accustomed to thinking about the possibilities.
"First of all, once you reach the Supreme Devil Organization Base, they will definitely surround you with demons. The Moon Temple will help us, but it's not enough. To reach the base, we will have to make our way through numerous demons. So, it will be hard if we bring a cart of supplies with us, causing our supply to be limited.
"If you don't mind using Ardagan's space to provide the water, we can use the demon meat to eat. But if you don't plan to show it, it's better to reach the river and set up the camp there."
Noel nodded in agreement before answering, "It's the latter. The shop in the system is the only weapon to make the Void Arbiter look suspicious. So, I want to use this to sow discord between her and her backers."
"If that's the case, you should go to the river. And by the time you destroy their base, they will definitely stall you and release another clue leading to another village. The supply won't be a problem at this point, but they might use guerrilla warfare to injure you, like disguising themselves as a villager and suddenly stab you when you lower your guard."
"I have my way to solve that issue."
"In that case, we should move on to the expedition for this building. I believe the Supreme Devil Organization is planning to use the remaining demons that we failed to kill during the first expedition to fill up this place."
"Since you won't be by my side at that time, I'm planning to bring Howard with me. Besides, the Ardagan Family will have a lot more soldiers by then. So, I can do it in one way or another. It's also good for the soldiers to get some experience."
"If that's the case, the most serious problem would be the logistics. To reach the main city, you will have to pass this city and go through this route. It's hard to completely monitor the entire route, so if the enemies are blocking this route and attacking anyone that passes it, nothing will reach our city. Even with our current supply, we won't last long, especially during the construction."
Noel contemplated for a moment. "It's going to be hard to solve this issue, considering the Supreme Devil Organization can just use a few grandmasters to block the route."
"Yes. If our city is fully developed, we might not need to have anyone standing by over there and the city will still be fine. But right now, at least one Grandmaster should remain in this city. Should we bring the supply from the opposite site?"
"If we use the Greenwood Kingdom too much, they're going to start demanding ridiculous things from us." Noel rejected the idea.
"Then, how are you going to solve it? Most people underestimate the importance of logistics. If our city can't procure any materials, we won't be able to develop it. Unlike other cities, we're at the border, so we only have one route to reach the city."
Noel also knew that the other cities could be approached from all directions, so even if they wanted to block one route, they could use other routes.
That was why Noel had one more thing. This was probably the reason why he built the dam and created the water gate. It wasn't that he was trying to utilize the dam to get water, but he wanted to create a waterway to connect the two cities.
Unlike the usual road, he could reinforce the ship with a lot of soldiers as well as runes to increase its defensive capability. If he could bring at least a few hundred people on a single trip, the boat would definitely be worth it.
He pointed at the river and said, "The downstream has a high flow rate, which causes the boat to have a hard time going upstream. However, it will be different if we are the ones using it."
"Ah! Are you going to use the Enhance Forward Rune to push the boat?"
"Yeah. It's a faster way to reach the city and the safest way, so if there are other people that want to use it, we can let them pay a high fee to cover up some costs. And because the river flows across at least five territories, we can use it to open a business." Noel smirked.
The idea was brilliant. She never thought it would be possible to utilize the river that way. It seemed that Noel had decided that the first dam would be sloppy since he wanted to use it as a weapon, but the second dam would be an extremely sturdy one so that he could control this weapon.
And with the addition of the ship, he could force the other territories to cooperate with him.
However, there was one problem. "How are we going to make the boat? Although I don't want to say it, the boats in the Muivell Kingdom are rather bad in quality."
"Of course. That's why we're going to use another kingdom to make a boat for us. The Greenwood Kingdom has sent us a congratulatory gift, right? What about the other kingdoms?"
"The Atracaeca Kingdom has a bad relationship with us, but the Zaecuria Kingdom hasn't arrived because we are still blocking access to the main city… I see. You're going to use the Zaecuria Kingdom?" Anna gasped.
"Exactly. Zaecuria Kingdom is most advanced regarding ships due to the nature of their location. So, once they arrive, we'll establish a contract to create a ship. Well, I can give a few things to them so that they will be satisfied with the condition and send their craftsmen."
Anna was dumbfounded. She never thought about utilizing the river at all. As Noel said, reinforcing a ship to bring hundreds of people would be safer compared to patrolling the entire land route.
She thought logistics would be their biggest problem, but it turned out Noel already had a plan in mind to solve the issue completely.
However, there was one thing that she was curious about.
Anna asked, "Noel. I'm not sure if I should say this or not, but in our previous lives, I have never heard anything about you utilizing the water with a ship or something."
