System vs Rebirth

A man stood behind a window while looking at the city from the second floor.

'I am Zephyr. I have been known as a good and trusted merchant, allowing me to climb my rank to the eighth most important merchant in this kingdom.

'However, there is a reason why I am able to achieve such a feat. I was originally an orphan and I had to live in a slum for a long time.

'I might have developed my instinct or sixth sense to detect danger. Because of that, I changed my life for the better and even sneaked around to learn things since I was young.

'I worked from a company at first and gradually made my own merchant group, which somehow turned into a big company. That's all because of the instinct that I've developed during my early life.

'I can sense whether people are bluffing or not. Even lies are not an exception. That's why I knew for a fact that the Marquis was not feeling threatened at all even when a big figure like President Matthew pressured him.

'I knew that the Marquis didn't really need us. Allowing us to join him was merely his way to soothe the unrest and give us an opportunity instead of monopolizing everything. If I left during the meeting, my company might be screwed.

'I wanted to leave with others, but I was too scared of the repercussions. That was why I couldn't move or even say anything.

'When there were only three merchants left in the room, it was there that I got the shock of my life. My instinct once again proved it to be correct. The deal was unimaginable.

'Just from the deal alone, we could get at least ten times if not fifteen times the amount we invested easily. That didn't calculate the amount we would get from future cooperation.

'It was no wonder why the Marquis wanted to remove all those hostile merchants. Their greed would definitely destroy the agreement. Well, as a merchant, I was indeed a bit greedy when seeing the amount, but more importantly, me and the other merchants were definitely scared of the Marquis.

'If he could give it to us, he could also take them away. So, there should be no one daring to have some thoughts… at least as long as the Marquis remained as sharp as before.

'If this plan worked, the four nobles would be destroyed economically. There wasn't even a need for territorial wars, and the Marquis wouldn't be blamed for abusing his 'strength' to suppress them. And no one could complain if he crushed them with money since the royal family had seized the wealth of the previous Ardagan family's wealth after all.

'If we ever got banned by those merchants, it didn't really matter. We could get the items from much further away with less cost and faster speed, not including the international logistics.

'Sometimes… my cowardice is… extremely frightening.' Zephyr closed his eyes. 'For now, I should take advantage of this wave and make sure to look good in front of the Lord. I bet the other two are also planning the same thing.'

The other two merchants had their own thoughts regarding their situations, but most of them were similar to what Zephyr had in mind. They were just bolder than him.

On the other side, Noel was sitting down on his office while looking at the documents.

"You're done?" Someone suddenly opened the door and playfully asked.

"You're back?!" Noel stood up in astonishment.

"I ran with all my strength." Anna smirked. "Did that manage to help you?"

"Definitely!" Noel hurriedly came to Anna and hugged her, expressing his thanks.

"It was quite surprising that you wanted to actually make a deal with those three lords."

"Well, Earl Haverlan had requested it, so I thought about using it as a deal. Earl Timberlain would be a good candidate as well and if I'm not wrong, his territory has been protected by the Blue Knight Army this whole time. I should thank your brother for this."

"Yes. It was easy because of my brother's name there." Anna nodded while looking down, feeling more indebted. Not only did he not feel offended by the fact that he got exiled, but he even set up all the groundwork for that meeting. It was probably because of him that Earl Timberlain sent a letter to their Ardagan family.

"Still, the most surprising one would be Countess Christina. It was hard to convince her when I tried to spread the runes. I didn't know why she decided to show her interest in working together again after telling me that she wanted to take care of her family."

Anna paused for a moment before rubbing her cheek. "I think that's because of the Third Princess."

"Huh?"

"Instead of the Third Princess, I think it's Duke Lorelei. But you should understand the connection."

"…" Noel fell into deep thought. 'Is the Third Princess starting to be serious in building her own faction? With the Duke taking care of the faction, she should be able to maintain her facade. She ends up convincing Countess Christina to go to my side.'

After a minute, Noel couldn't help but shake his head helplessly. "It seems that I have been rude to the Third Princess."

"You didn't know about this, so it was better to be vigilant. She should be able to understand you. But are you going to join her faction?"

"No." Noel shook his head. "I will remain true to my goal, but to achieve that, I have to take down the demons. Hence, I don't mind cooperation."

"Fair enough." Anna nodded. "But the problem would be the funds. You should know that building a road is going to be extremely costly."

"Don't worry. They are taken care of." Noel winked his eye slyly. Maxwell was the one taking care of the road leading to Countess Christina, Theressa took care of the Stargaze family and Earl Timberlain, and Zephyr handled the Earl Haverlan. So, Noel wasn't worried about the road building. It would all be connected to this new city he made as a hub.

"The Stargaze family will take care of the negotiations with the lords on the west. Duke Loreleill will probably help convince the other lords in the middle of the kingdom.

"As for Earl Haverlan, all the nobles between us and him were already on our side, so it should be fine."

What Noel didn't know was that when Duke Lorelei saw the train for the first time, he had always wanted to take advantage of it. However, he couldn't do it directly due to the political issue.

Hence, he would use his ally to get all the resources and bring them to his territory. And that ally was actually Countess Christina.

Yes, after the fall of the previous Ardagan family, Countess Christina had to rely on Duke Lorelei to avoid execution. Duke Lorelei obviously accepted it in favor of Noel's father.

While they were not in the same political party, Duke Lorelei was grateful that there had been a noble as generous as Count Ardagan in the past. If his father requested Duke Lorelei to help Countess Christina, he would definitely do it.

And Countess Christina actually showed unprecedented growth and gradually became closer to the Duke Lorelei. Their relationship changed from a favor to a pure friendship.

Duke Lorelei went back immediately after hearing Noel's warning, so it wouldn't be weird if he actually convinced Christina while he was at it. That resulted in Countess Christina sending the letter to Noel, which shocked him and allowed him to create this plan.

Though, Noel wasn't aware of any of this.

He simply took advantage of the situation to place his chess pieces.

"It will still take at least three months to complete the first stage of the city. I'm not sure about the progress, but half of the road should be done by that time. And we can start the operation for a moment and get more money to invest in the road. Other lords will definitely join us if they see the effectiveness of those few example territories.

"By that time, we can sit back for a bit while waiting for the winter. In fact, we can focus on subjugating the demons while honing our skills once more, trying to reach the Spirit Transcendence Stage as quickly as possible.

"We have promised Andreas to visit the beast kingdom, and I plan to fulfill that promise as quickly as possible even if having Andreas here is beneficial for us."

Anna smiled. "It seems that you've gotten a good picture of what we will do in the next several months."

"If I can't do that, I'm unfit to be a Lord." Noel shook his head helplessly. "Besides, winter is around the corner. Realistically speaking, I don't think it's possible to pass the winters without a single death… but I will have to do my best to make sure that the people don't have to suffer."

"Mhmm… I know you could do it. I will do my best to make it happen as well, so let's work hard together." Anna closed her eyes. She couldn't help but remember how she took so many lives in her previous life. However, in this life, she wanted to use her hands to put a smile on people's faces with Noel by her side.

She soon shook her head, knowing that this was just the beginning. She shouldn't be satisfied with only this.

As if noticing the change in Anna's expression that lasted for a second, Noel raised his finger. "Ah! There is one more thing we need to do now that you're back."

"What's that?" Anna tilted her head in confusion.

"Our marriage ceremony will be held in just a month from now, right? The venue is almost complete, so let's take a look."