System vs Rebirth

"How is it, Dimitri?" Noel asked, presenting a part of the leg that he had cut earlier.

"This…" Dimitri sucked a cold breath while raising his head. The leg part stretched for more than thirty meters and reached almost twenty meters high. It also looked thick. "To think that there was a monster of this size… the leg alone would definitely shock everyone."

"Mhmm…" Noel scratched the back of his head, feeling a bit troubled.

"Is there something wrong, Master?" Dimitri frowned.

Noel glanced at Anna, who had a wry smile on her face. He replied, "Well, this is only… what? A fourth or a third of the entire leg?"

"I'm not sure. But it's definitely not a half." Anna nodded, confirming it.

"…" Dimitri's face turned pale. He had heard that the spider was big, but he didn't think it was this big. He couldn't imagine the size of the demon. "Please excuse me for a bit."

Dimitri jumped into the air, finding the spider's body scattered around the area. Noel and Anna had dismembered the body, but Dimitri could still imagine the size when Noel faced this spider.

He thought he shouldn't worry about Noel anymore, but this was simply reckless, especially when the last recorded battle against an Ancient Demon was led by a Spirit Transcendence expert and had more than two thousand casualties.

"…" Dimitri landed on the ground while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"No need to worry about us, Dimitri. Look!" Noel pointed at himself and Anna. "We are not injured whatsoever. See?"

"Indeed. Noel alone was enough to handle the Spirit Transcendence." Anna definitely wouldn't tell anyone how Noel died during their first encounter. If Dimitri heard about it, he might do everything he could to stop Noel from going out anymore, especially for the sea expedition that he was planning to have soon.

"Besides, do you think we can transport this back to the city? It's going to take a long time, right?" Noel tried to shift the topic.

Dimitri looked at him for a moment before ultimately answering, "Yes, Master. We can indeed transport it to the city. It's bigger than expected, but there shouldn't be a lot of problems.

"However, looking at the size, it will probably take months to transport all these. After all, moving the parts to the airship alone will require a lot of manpower and time. And we have to send the airship as well.

"Considering the importance of the materials, I'm afraid that I need at least a Spirit Grandmaster to oversee either this place or the transport."

Noel thought for a moment. "In that case, call Old Jade to help you with the transfer. Inform him of all the necessary information if needed."

"Understood. However, since it will take a long time, the meat won't be usable."

"No. We don't need the meat. You must have seen some destruction where there is nothing but soil on a straight line. That's caused by the spider's poison. I don't know if the spider's meat is coated with poison or not, but I surely don't want to take any risks." Noel shook his head.

Dimitri nodded. "If that's the case, I'll have to remove the meat from the material before transporting it. This will reduce the weight a lot." Dimitri glanced at the leg. "According to Roel, the Spider's legs are usually hard after becoming a demon. They're more suitable for hard objects such as rune technology or vehicles.

"On the other hand, the body might be softer, but they're still quite solid and durable. With the addition of a few materials, armor can be made. They will be durable and thin, which is perfect to hide underneath clothes."

"I'll let the experts do their job." Noel waved his hand, telling Dimitri to just follow the instructions from Roel for this one.

"And about Roel's acquaintance…"

"Have you sent someone to invite him?"

"Harley is working on it."

"That's good then. What about the merchants?" Noel asked.

"They've begun their operations. While the city is not built yet, it's already possible for operation. The merchants are planning to use their operations as a way to advertise this city, gradually turning it into a trade city."

"That should be good enough for now. We have enough trains, right?"

"The trains are easier to build, but Tristan and Livia are struggling to draw the runes."

"Well, I won't be back for a while, so that's also a problem. If that's the case, tell them to do it. Whoever succeeds will learn about Rune Body from me. This will sure fire them up."

"Understood." Dimitri acknowledged the orders.

"Is there anything else you need to report? I and Anna will go to the next destination after this."

"There are three matters that you need to know. The first matter is about the city's condition. Thanks to the rune and all the new convenient tools, we have managed to liven up the city even during the winter. There is currently not a single death recorded in our city. However, there is a problem."

"A problem?" Noel frowned. "Sickness?"

"No. It's about the water pipe. Douglas has buried the water pipes quite deep, so they will naturally get heated by the earth, but it's going to become a problem if the winter is long."

"There's a chance that the water will freeze, huh? And it doesn't seem to be the underground pipe alone." Noel rubbed his chin.

"!!!" Dimitri looked surprised but soon nodded. "Yes. There are also pipes for the houses. For now, there should be no problem, but it's a matter of concern for the sustainability of the city."

"Got it. I'll try to solve it after some time."

"In that case, the second matter is regarding the royal family. They have been extremely quiet. While a lot of action is ceased during the winter, they're too quiet after losing four nobles and getting a hit to their reputation. Harley is afraid that they're planning something big."

"We definitely can't ignore them. However, we don't know what they're planning to do as well." Noel closed his eyes for a moment. "Try to find out about their strength. See if there is a sudden emergence of a Spirit Transcendence expert in their rank."

"What? Is such a thing possible? I mean, Spirit Transcendence Rank is not that easy to create." Dimitri frowned, feeling something was amiss.

"I'm not very sure either. However, because we're like this, there's a chance that they will strengthen their cooperation with the Supreme Devil Organization to create new powerful fighters." Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

"U-Understood. I'll relay that information to Harley."

"What about the third problem?" Noel nodded while asking.

"The third matter is the road. We have scouted the area around and I believe that we have more people than we originally thought… They're very secretive."

"Mhmm…" Noel's expression turned cold. "The royal family? No, the royal family already knows that they can't mess up. In that case… a merchant?"

"A merchant?" Dimitri tilted his head in confusion.

"Yeah. Maybe a certain merchant is planning to take revenge on me, using those secret elites as bandits to sabotage the train."

"That's…" Dimitri turned serious, knowing what it really meant. "Should I assassinate him, Master?"

"For the time being, just send one or two Rune Magicians and dress them like normal soldiers that protect the train to defeat them. Capture those people and get information from them. After that, Howard and his soldiers will sweep in. Since he's giving a precious chance for our soldiers to experience combat, we should thank him instead." Noel smirked. "Tell the three merchants to take advantage of it to crush him. Once he has nothing left, it'll be your time, Dimitri."

"Understood."