When Noel opened his eyes, he noticed the sunlight lighting up the tent. After telling Anna about the possibility, they ended up in that position for a while. It was a bad memory for Anna, so she became a bit exhausted and fell asleep.
Now that he had woken up, he realized that Anna was still hugging him as if not wanting to let him go.
Even though they had been sleeping together, it wasn't like they touched each other very often. It was more like Noel being a bit more conservative due to the current situation.
Anna was extremely beautiful, so if he stepped a bit too far, he was afraid that he couldn't stop. It would become more convenient for one reason after another.
That was why he was slightly uncomfortable when they were like this. It was different from what he did last night since it was to comfort her while this one was filled with intimacy as if seducing him to take the next step.
Noel took a deep breath to calm his mind before removing Anna's hand gently and escaping outside.
Layla seemed to be the first to notice him as she gave a cheeky smile to tease Noel.
Noel rolled his eyes before searching for Grandell to get ready for departure. The sooner they complete it, the better. He could spend the rest of their time learning from the Sword Arbiter.
Anna, on the other hand, was pretty embarrassed. After meeting the original body's soul, she had sworn to become a bit more proactive in showing her affection. It was quite exciting and embarrassing at the same time, but in the end, she thought it wasn't that bad.
After packing their luggage, they began their next trip. According to Noel's prediction, they should be able to visit the remaining five villages within the next two days.
On the carriage, Noel asked something that he couldn't yesterday. "So, we're going to fight a demon army. It's like fighting a normal army, but with each soldier having complete obedience and disregard for their lives.
"Right now, I'm encountering six problems. I need your input." Noel looked at Anna as though asking about her experience in the previous life.
"If I can answer them, sure."
"So, the first problem will be about the corpses. The demons can stack on top of their dead comrades to climb the wall. I think there is one rune that I currently master that can fix the problem, but can you think of another rune?" Noel asked.
"Hmm. The bodies are going to be heavy, so you need firepower instead of constant movement. Are we thinking about the same rune?"
"I believe so."
"In that case, I think it's good to use that rune for the time being."
Noel and Anna didn't mention which rune since Layla was with them. It wasn't that they didn't trust Layla, the runes were still the Ardagan Family's secret, so it was better if they didn't mention it casually in front of other people. At least, they could slightly elevate the rune's worth in people's eyes.
"Then, the second problem will be regarding the flying beast. I'm thinking about creating the Ballista to shoot them down. Maybe I will reinforce them with runes, but the demons are smarter in the army because there is a demon giving an order. I'm afraid this is not enough."
Anna thought for a moment. "Why don't we create our own flying squads?"
"Flying squads?" Noel contemplated. Anna must be thinking about using the flying plate to soar into the sky. If they had some elites on that board, they could definitely fight the enemies in the sky. However, there were a lot of risks in this plan.
First of all, creating this squad would take time. Then, if one of them fell down, they had to have another thing that could save them from that height. In addition, fighting in the sky that way was more inflexible than having a pair of wings.
Still, Noel didn't dismiss the idea easily. He knew that this concept was useful, not only for defense but also for scouting. They could easily fly back and forth like a bird. If it was more advanced, there was a chance that this might be a new way to deliver a message instead of a bird. With people like them, instead of a small piece of paper attached to the bird, they could even bring their whole luggage with them.
This was why, if he carefully prepared them, there was a chance that they would be useful, whether on the battlefield or on a daily basis.
"I'll think about it. I'm not sure if it can be done for the incoming invasion, but I'll make some preparations." Noel nodded with a serious expression.
Layla, who had been listening to their conversation, couldn't help but think, 'Flying Squad? Like Aurelia? Flying ability is extremely rare and if ordinary people can use it, there will be a lot of benefits. It seems that runes are more versatile than I originally thought.'
Noel continued, "Then, the next problem would be the amphibians. Since we're about to create a canal to the river, some demons are bound to attack us from there. Even if we create a gate, they will definitely destroy it. Well, that part is still under construction, so for now, it's going to be defended by her barrier."
"I'm not very sure about this. I mean, if they're going to stay underwater, it's going to be troublesome since the water might restrict our firepower. We also want to build a new method of transport, right? We have to clear the water as much as possible."
"That's the problem. I need a method to kill the demons under the water."
"I don't think I can provide you with an answer for that one. I mean, we're going to fortify our city with a ditch and fill it with water, right?"
"Yeah."
"Why don't we just let the land demons step on them and fill that ditch? This way, they won't be able to take advantage of the water."
"That's possible, but it needs more fortification. I mean, right now, we won't have any ditches. Think about the first problem."
"Ah!" Anna nodded in understanding. If they created a ditch, the runes wouldn't be able to launch the demon corpses.
"Well, we can think about this problem later." Noel sighed. He didn't expect to get all the answers anyway.
Anna tried to recall what Noel used to fortify the waterway, but she didn't have much idea. In fact, the normal runes on the walls had been covered with the demon's hide so that no one could see the patterns. Even if they did, Noel had painted some other patterns so that they would have a hard time recognizing the runes.
There were some other fortifications, but she was never present when the organization attacked Noel. After all, there was no reason for her to openly join the organization to attack him.
"Then, the fourth problem is the ground. We will have a lot of demons appearing in our city through the ground. Maybe demons like ants, centipedes, or other animal-infested demons."
Anna asked, "Should we reinforce the ground?"
"I mean, how? The wall is already very expensive to build, if we add the floor, the cost is going to be enormous. Besides, we don't have a lot of time."
"Hardening runes?"
"It won't be enough to stop a Peak Level Demon. It will be bad if a Superior Demon is involved. Remember that worm demon?"
"Ah! That's indeed terrible. But we can't afford to have the city overrun by demons. Maybe using other runes?" Anna fell silent for a moment, remembering something. "That's right. I'm about to visit that place. There was a person who fought against a demon army, right?"
"!!!" Noel remembered that his ancestors had indeed fought the demon army. Unlike the Supreme Devil Organization, this army was led directly by a Demon King. If not for the fact that the Demon King managed to lure Alexander, the Ardagan Family wouldn't have fallen.
They managed to deduce that the place where Old Ru resided was their ancestral land. Noel indeed remembered a few ruined buildings even though most of them had been reduced to the ground. It seemed Anna would take this chance to find out how their ancestors reinforced the ground.
"I think that's a good idea. Please take a look at it… I'm not sure if it can be implemented or not, so I'll think about a secondary solution later."
"Yes." Anna nodded. "How about the fifth problem?"
"It's their behavior. They can easily sacrifice themselves or others as long as they can drag us down. This kind of fighting style will definitely put us at a disadvantage."
"I guess we need more rune-powered weapons. Ballistas might be useful for air defense, but we need more stuff to fight the majority of the demons. Since we'll be staying on top of the wall, this problem shouldn't be too much."
"So, play it safe?"
"Yeah. But didn't you say Douglas's blueprint had a better fortification than normal design?"
"That's true. I guess we will create more weapons to ensure our success. Roel will be busy from now on." Noel nodded in agreement.
"I believe he is comfortable with that. I mean, his eyes are always sparkling whenever he creates a new weapon, especially with the runes he has just learned."
"I can't deny it. In that case, let's talk about the last problem. At the end of the day, we have to be careful of their number. I wonder how many Superior Demons they are planning to bring this time… I'm not sure whether they will bring an Ancient Demon or not… Besides, the Devil Saints will definitely make their moves."
"Devil Saints, huh… Are we going to fight that monster?" Anna's eyebrows twitched.
"No. He would probably fight against the commanders so that the Demon Banner Army couldn't help us. But Qiel and Laufey will definitely come after us."
"You and Dimitri can take on Qiel and Laufey. I can probably join the fight if we want to kill them. But that only leaves Howard, Layla, and a paladin in the city. Howard is probably busy commanding our soldiers, so only two Grandmasters left."
"Yeah. They might even come with five Superior Demons this time with a few tens of thousands of demons, not to mention numerous Advanced Level Demons and Peak Level Demons. The only way to stop them is with our firepower that has been reinforced by runes."
"Do we need more people? I mean, I can ask for reinforcement from my father."
"That's what I want, but I think we should request your father to keep the Arbiters in check instead of reinforcing us."
"Fair enough. In that case, we should ask the other side."
"Are you talking about my mother's family or the Tower Association?"
"The Tower Association."
"Hmm… I guess I should sacrifice a bit to invite them. If only the city is fully developed, I don't need to worry about an invasion of this scale."
"Yeah. There should be a few elders from the association that we can move to, right?"
"I think. I will also ask the Demon Banner Army for reinforcement, but we can't expect much." Noel sighed. He had a headache thinking about all these six problems. And he had to handle other work as well.
Anna asked, "Still, what's the objective you want to achieve in this battle? Just defending our territory?"
"Of course not." Noel made the gesture of chopping his neck as if he wanted to kill someone. "A Devil Saint… if possible, Qiel. If they lose their brain, it's going to be hard for them to act rashly."
"I see. Well, we have to work hard on rune weapons. This is the only way for us to win against them."
"Yeah. We'll be using the rest of the time here to list out and if possible make some designs for the rune weapons."
Anna agreed.
Layla couldn't help but shake her head helplessly. She thought that she could help Noel defend the territory with her barrier. But it seemed that she had underestimated Noel's ambition.
She had to adjust her plans a little bit.
