System vs Rebirth

"Can I buy this please?"

"How to order this one?"

"What is this?"

The city was filled with a lot of shocked faces, not only from the commoners but also from the nobles.

Of course, the commoners thought that everything in this city was expensive, and they couldn't afford it.

Meanwhile, the nobles were eager to make a purchase.

Tristan, accompanied by Roel's children, ended up holing inside the Runegard Company's headquarters, answering them one by one.

Not a single noble dared to act all mighty in front of Noel's student. After all, Tristan had gone around to complete the water storages for multiple nobles. A lot of them already knew her, and they were also afraid of Noel, especially since the Rune Academy had yet to open.

No one wanted to make a mess.

At the same time, Tristan had matured a little bit. With Balott and the twins helping him with the negotiation, they managed to gain a lot of new customers.

Meanwhile, Dimitri and Charlotte were busy ensuring the city was operating perfectly. Howard, Harley, and even the new division, Colice, did their best to maintain the security in this grand opening. They had to use force even against nobles, taking advantage of Noel's name to ensure a fair judgment.

Still, the busiest person in the city was none other than Khalid. Yes, he had to help the people who got heat stroke or simply passed out from excitement.

Even with the temple's help, he couldn't catch a break all the time. Then again, Khalid was happy since there were a lot of new medicines he could try after Howard brought his team to clean up several ancient ruins.

Anna and Noel had to receive the nobles that greeted them. In the end, they might be the rising nobles in the north, but they were also the strongest.

They knew that they would be crushed if they tried to fight Noel.

Noel had a lot of spirit grandmasters, and each one was quite famous among grandmasters. In addition to what happened to the four nobles that challenged Noel, there was simply no more opposition in the north.

"You are truly my grandson." Raincart laughed out loud.

"It's thanks to Grandfather." Noel smiled.

"I didn't do anything. All of this was due to your effort. Be proud of yourself, but don't become too complacent." Raincart patted Noel's shoulder.

"If Grandfather didn't shelter in the past, I would have died. If Grandfather didn't trust me, I probably couldn't have achieved all this." Noel shook his head, showing how much Raincart had impacted him just being an exceptional grandfather.

Raincart felt moved. "If you need any help, feel free to contact me. I'm quite free in my retirement anyway."

"Hahaha. Yes, Grandfather." Noel paused for a moment. "By the way, Grandfather… I want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Mhmm… I have never been taught how to be a good husband and a good father in the future. I don't know anything about this. On the one hand, I'd like to respect my wife as a good husband, but I end up betraying her as my friend and rival. On the other hand, it'll be the same if I do the opposite."

Raincart smiled and turned around. "Follow me."

Raincart brought him to a more peaceful area. He pointed at the grass while saying, "Do you know that your mother once got sick after eating grass in the garden?"

"Eating grass?"

"Yeah. My wife and I were tired after taking care of both our household and family. In addition, there was a huge problem that the city was facing, and I was pretty busy with my profession as the king's mentor. I ended up neglecting her, and your mother fell sick. No, that sickness was quite bad to the point where several doctors gave up.

"It was a wake-up call to me. On the one hand, I had been a good patriot for my country. I was also a good lord by trying my hardest to solve the huge trouble in the city.

"However, my wife broke down in tears once she found out about Leysha's condition. She told me that I had neglected the family.

"I snapped back, realizing what I had done this whole time. It was like the most powerful slap I received in my life. No pain could be compared to it.

"I did everything I could to save her. I still remembered that even though she managed to recover, she never forgave me for a long time.

"She ran away from home. By the time I found her, she was already with your father. Well, it was probably because your father was similar to me. He was a good lord, a good provider, a good husband, and a good father. He looked like he was busy, but he never neglected you.

"And only after giving birth to you that she finally came home after almost a decade. Do you know what she said back then?"

Noel shook his head.

"I hated you, but I now understand how hard it is to be good at everything. It's impossible to get everything as we always must sacrifice something for another. I sacrificed my family for my ambition. It was too late for me to realize I had to sacrifice my job for my family. You told me I'm a good grandfather, but I never am. I made mistakes and still make a lot of mistakes even now.

"All I know is that I'll probably still make mistakes. At the same time, I don't plan to turn a blind eye to that mistake. We make mistakes, we fix them, and we grow from them. This is what it means to have a relationship… a family. You can fall in love at first sight, but relationships can only be built one at a time.

"All I want to say is that… you do everything you think is best. If it doesn't work out, apologize and fix those mistakes. There is no sure way of building a family since every family is different."

Noel looked down, falling into deep thought.

Seeing that expression, Raincart added, "Your mother has forgiven me. That's why there is one thing clear for me. Your mother only forgives me because she is still alive. In other words, as long as you live on, you can still fix those mistakes."

After hearing that last advice, it felt like a knot in his heart had just loosened. He understood which path he should take. Noel muttered, "You shouldn't die for the family, You live for them… together with them."