Chapter 927: Negotiation

Noel and Anna were sitting on their beds as though they were still too hurt to move around. Meanwhile, a beautiful woman wearing a white robe with a crescent moon crest on her chest and her signature blindfold stood in front of them.

Despite seeing them injured, she actually greeted her with a calm tone as though she wasn't worried about them. "Since I've promised back then that I will drop the honorific after you become a noble, then I can be more comfortable with you. Hello, Noel and Anna."

Noel nodded. "Unfortunately, I can't greet you formally because of my current condition."

There were only Noel, Anna, Evan, Khalid, and Layla in the room. Evan was just trying to protect these two kids while trying to learn about the relationship between Noel and Anna.

Evan thought, 'The Moon Temple is a large influence. They remain neutral most of the time, so it's surprising that these two actually know her. When did they meet? It seems that I still underestimate these two kids. Their connection might be far bigger than my wildest imagination.'

Seeing that Noel didn't say anything about the others inside this room, Layla actually said, "Is that so? Even though you are well enough to run and jump around?"

"..." Noel scratched the back of his head. It seemed that Layla had realized his current condition.

"I have told you in the past, right? I don't regret losing my eyesight because in exchange, all my other senses are heightened. Your breath doesn't sound like you are in critical condition... Though, I can't see if you're covered in bandages or not." Layla confidently smiled as though she had seen through Noel.

"Haha. I guess I can't fool you." Noel chuckled. He was impressed by Layla's sense. In the past, Layla was only a peak Spirit Master. But because she had exhausted most of his power to protect the city, she couldn't release her full power during that fight.

And this time, it seemed that she had become even stronger. While Noel was confident that he could defeat Layla, it wouldn't be an easy fight due to the nature of her ability.

Layla said, "It seems that you don't need our healers, so I guess I have come in vain."

"While it's good to reminisce about the past, I think we should move on to the matter in question first."

"If you say so." Layla nodded in agreement. "The reason for coming here is to repay you for your help back then. As I said earlier, you've gained my respect for what you did back then, so in exchange, I will be setting up the Moon Temple here. If possible, in your main city as well."

"!!!" Evan was the most shocked person here. He thought, 'If the Moon Temple set up their branch here, it would mean that at least fifty temple knights would be stationed here. There should be a few Spirit Masters and Spirit Wielders. While they can't be used to fight against other influences, they will definitely help if the city is attacked by demons.

'I am here to help the city, but if the Moon Temple takes over, it will mean that there is a chance that Noel will replace me. Still, why would the Saintess go all the way here just to set up the branch? Normally, it would be just an officer coming here.

'And there should be one or two priests with healing abilities standing by in the village. It seems that aside from repaying Noel, the Saintess is trying to witness the transformation of runes.'

Evan knew all the benefits that came from the Moon Temple setting up their branch here. While the temple was also aiming for something, the benefits far outweigh it.

Noel smiled with a wry smile. "I don't mind if you want to set up a temple here, but I can't give you permission for the main city yet."

"I see." Layla understood Noel's circumstances. It seemed that the main city was more amazing than she originally thought. And Noel obviously wanted to hide his trump card as much as possible.

"Before that, I would like to know the reason for you to suddenly come here. This is not a mere repayment, right?"

Layla hesitated for a moment. "Of course. I'm not going to use my temple influence to force you. Instead, I'm giving a proposal that will benefit the temple and the Ardagan Family."

"Oh? Please elaborate."

"I am trying to believe in the future potential of the Ardagan Family. If you give us permission, we would like to construct a third headquarter of our Moon Temple in your territory!"

"Headquarter?!" Evan dropped his jaw to the ground. The Moon Temple might be disliked because it was known as the temple of sadness. It was because they built their temple in a place where there were a lot of battles and people lost their hope.

However, the Moon Temple was actually a god-sent opportunity for a lord. After all, they could receive help to fight the demons. Even more so when they constructed a headquarters.

Evan recounted the information about the Moon Temple's second headquarters. 'In the past, Earl Escanor had headquarters in his territory. As a result, he can focus on expanding his territory because the Moon Temple Headquarters are supplying knights to protect the territory from a demon. In other words, he can mobilize all his force for the expansion.

'In addition, the headquarters have a lot of healers. In other words, if the soldiers are injured, he can simply ask them to be healed by the temple. Due to his contribution, the Earl has become a Duke now.

'So, the Moon Temple is proposing that, in exchange for taking a look at the runes, they will be helping Noel expand his territory. And this was actually a perfect opportunity because Noel's territory was at the edge of the kingdom, meaning he could expand his territory outward.'

Noel looked down for a moment, contemplating. If this was someone else, they might agree to it without hesitation. However, Noel wondered if the runes were more important than the temple or not.

He even glanced at Anna, who was considering the same thing.

"I'm grateful that you think highly of me, but I don't think I can grant you that permission." Noel shook his head helplessly.

That rejection amused Layla and dumbfounded Evan.

"May I know the reason?" Layla asked, not expecting such an answer.

Noel actually glanced at the side, specifically at Khalid as if telling him to speak up.

Khalid smiled confidently. "That's because he has me. Your Moon Temple is extraordinary, but I can do the job of several priests if I want it."

"Mhm?" Layla tried to recall the voice of this person, but no one came into her mind, so she asked, "May I know who you are?"

"Khalid."

"Khalid..." Layla tried to recall this name. Since Khalid was so confident, he shouldn't be an unknown person, so it narrowed down the potential people. It was then that reality struck her. "May I know if you are the former Royal Alchemist Khalid Mahmud?"

"It is I."

Layla finally understood why Noel had the liberty to reject her. Khalid could handle the task of the priests and Noel could use runes to kill the demons.

From what she heard from the observation of her subordinate, it seemed that the Runes were more important than the Moon Temple.

On the one hand, Noel's potential couldn't be missed. On the other hand, it would be hard to convince Noel. The more desperate she was, the easier it was for Noel to reject her.

Still, it didn't mean that Layla was planning to give up.

"If that's the case, what if I offer myself?"

"Huh?!" Anna was the first one to react with an annoyed expression. It was an instant rejection for her.

"Oh my, I apologize. I should have worded it better." Layla hurriedly corrected herself. "What if I remain in your city and take care of it personally?"

Noel was astonished. Layla's worth was much different from other offers. Her ability was simple and powerful. It allowed her to put up a barrier to surround the city, repelling all kinds of demons. Having her inside the city could allow him to create a barrier on a few walls while concentrating his army on one wall.

And it became even more important when Noel thought about his main city. The only wall that would be erected in the first attack was the north wall, so having her cover the rest would prove extremely beneficial.

In fact, for Noel's territory, Layla was worth more than the entire headquarters.

It was simply not an offer he could reject.

Anna furrowed her eyebrows, feeling something was not right. "I don't think that's all. You're going to offer another condition, right? Someone like you should have known about your true worth."

Layla smiled. "Of course. The first condition is that I will remain in your city for only three years. In fact, by that time, your territory won't need me anymore."

"And the other conditions?"

"Of course, it's to build the temple headquarters. And I would like to build it as soon as possible since I'm curious about the future."

Noel scratched the back of his head. "You're making this hard for me."

"If you hadn't helped me back then, I might have been controlled by a demon. So, I don't think it's hard for you."

Evan was glaring at Noel as if telling him to accept the offer. Khalid didn't think much of the headquarters, but he indeed felt threatened by Layla.

Anna was too focused on the fact that the temple came since it was much different from her previous life.

Noel sighed. "Alright. I can give you permission. However, I can only give you the quota for the second migration."

"Second migration?" Layla tilted her head in confusion.

"Yeah. We're currently bringing in the first batch of migrants. The second batch will come in a few months... basically the same time Duke Lorelei visited our main city."

"This..." Layla thought that her offer was enough to allow her to go to the main city right away.

But it seemed that Noel was more formidable than she thought. At the same time, she could understand that it would cause a problem if she entered first before Duke Lorelei, considering he was the first to be here.

However, Noel actually added another offer. "Though, I don't mind if you are going to visit my city alone."

On the one hand, this offer was unfair to Duke Lorelei. On the other hand, Noel had specified that she had to go alone.

Layla was blind, so she wouldn't be able to learn much even if she came, considering the rune required her eyesight to learn. In other words, she could only learn from what she heard. Of course, she could gather the information from normal citizens, but it was still very limited information.

Regardless, this was an opportunity. If she agreed, Noel would definitely ask her to help defend his city. While the information she could gather was limited, she could actually tell the people in the second batch migration about the runes. In fact, she might even be able to send a letter.

In a way or another, it wasn't really upsetting for Evan.

Layla put her hand on her cheek as though she were contemplating it carefully.

After about three minutes, Layla replied, "I will agree to that condition. It seems that we will be meeting a lot in the future."

Noel gave a wry smile to Duke Lorelei. "I'm sorry, Duke. In exchange, I will increase the number you can purchase later."

Duke Lorelei was a bit disappointed, but he still agreed. This was better than nothing.

Now that the negotiation was over, Layla became a bit more playful by teasing Anna. "Please don't mind me, Anna. A Saintess needs to be pure until their death. So, no need to be jealous."

"I'm not jealous!" Anna clicked her tongue while looking away.