"I want to learn more about Spirit Technique. You surely won't mind if I enter the fort's treasury, right?" Noel asked.
"Not holding back, huh? Great." Oscar smirked and said, "Fine. I allow you to enter the treasury. This Ancient Demon Tree is among the strongest, so I will feel bad for giving you some scraps. So, I'll allow you to take out two items from the treasury."
"Thank you, Commander. However, I do have one more request."
"I don't think I can take any of this back, but can you spare a bit of this tree, specifically this one." Noel pointed at the part that he had just cut.
"The Ancient Demon Tree is quite sturdy and durable despite being a tree… It's quite a good armor for someone like you."
The commander instantly saw through his intention. However, if one took another look at it, there was no way he didn't see it through, considering Noel had no other use to take this much of wood.
Noel didn't answer, so Oscar continued, "You can get it. But you need two things to turn it into a good armor."
"Two things?" Noel widened his eyes, not knowing what they were since Anna was the one suggesting the armor.
"You need the blacksmith and a priest, a high level one on top of that. I don't think any blacksmith of the fort can handle this material, so you should go to that place…"
"That place? In fact, who can handle this kind of item?"
"Master Blacksmith. However, you don't have the means, connection or even money to pay for a Master Blacksmith, so you should go to one certain Master Blacksmith. He won't take your money or anything as long as you bring a unique thing for him to work with."
"So, he'll make an armor for free because of this material."
"That's right. I'm going to pass the details later, but you should have no problem in doing that, right? I'm not going to help you in this."
"Yes. I'll do my best." Noel nodded.
"Then, the second one is the priest. Since you're a soldier of my Demon Banner Army, it's obvious you need to fight demons most of the time. Hence, you should get a priest to bless this armor. However, this one is not urgent, considering the basic armor alone is enough for the time being. Just remember about this."
"Yes. Thank you for the advice, Commander." Noel nodded with a serious expression.
"Alright. Leave everything here. I'll send this piece of wood to your room later. You should go back." Oscar then grabbed Noel's waist and jumped off the tree, landing smoothly on the surface.
Noel saw Anna in such a bad shape. The soldiers seemed to have treated her with first aid, bandaging all the wounds, but she was still in such a bad shape.
"Eric. Come here." The commander shouted, calling a person.
"Yes, Sir." A blond man hurriedly walked to him and stood still.
"Take them back to the fort. The rest will focus in dealing with the aftermath here with me."
"Yes, Sir." Eric acknowledged the order and immediately assigned the people.
Meanwhile, Noel walked to Anna. Her head, her two hands, and her left thigh was bandaged.
Eric came over and asked, "Can you walk?"
"I think I can." Anna tried to stand up but her body was staggering. A single flick was all it took for her body to fall down.
"Easy." Eric tried to grab her so that she didn't fall, but Noel had already squatted in front of her.
"Come. I'll carry you," said Noel with a cold tone. "I hate to do it, but he can protect us better this way."
"Noel…" Anna was surprised by this sudden twist of fate. This was the first time he saw Noel so kind to her.
"Hurry up." Noel clicked his tongue as he wanted to escape from this embarrassment. To think he would show mercy to his enemy, this was unthinkable before.
"Y-yes." Anna hurriedly took his offer and gently pressed her body against him before Noel lifted her up, carrying her on his back.
"Let's go then." Noel nodded to Eric as the signal that they were good to go.
"Mhm. Alright." Eric smiled while thinking, 'These two look cute together. He looks cold but he's so warm inside. Ah, he must be a person who can't be honest to his feelings. Well, I'll protect them from a bit farther away, so they can have more time together.'
Eric didn't know anything about their identities and relationship, so if Noel heard his thoughts, he might have the urge to swing his sword.
'Tsk. I hate owing someone… the Ancient Demon Tree and this one… I shall consider this as repaying the favor. Next time, I'm going to kill her for sure. No more hesitation.' Noel gritted his teeth but still walked away from the scene.
Meanwhile, Anna had no more energy to react. She simply rested her body on Noel's back.
She didn't know why but there was a warmth feeling in her heart.
'I had been a genius in my previous life. I didn't rely on anyone because they couldn't match up to me. Now that I think about it, the one who was with me the most was actually Noel. From all sorts of harassment to real fights, he was the only one who could keep up with me and actually motivate me to keep getting stronger. Though, for an entirely different reason.
'Even so, this is the first time I felt his back… Somehow, this makes me comfortable. It's tiring to rely on myself, bearing all that burden. Maybe if the execution didn't happen, there would be a chance for us to have another form of relationship.'
Anna thought as her consciousness became fuzzier. Her eyelids were heavy as she had a hard time fighting the sleepiness.
She couldn't help but imagine the life if the execution never happened and the misunderstanding never took place in the first place. She could see there was Noel who could actually share a portion of her burden, the burden that a genius needed to bear.
'Ah, if we didn't have any hatred between us, we might become a friend… a best friend… or even a lo—zzz…' She couldn't finish her thoughts as her consciousness faded away.