Fun Territory Defense of the Easy-Going Lord

THE TWO MERCHANTS, BELL AND RANGO, GAWKED at the wall with eyes and mouths wide open. They had been discussing something with their guards— who were probably adventurers—before I called out to them.

“You appear to be merchants! I am the lord of this village, Van Nei Fertio. Good fellows, might I have your names and the names of your company? As for your guards, it would be splendid if I could get their titles and names as well.”

The merchants and adventurers exchanged glances and began to chat among themselves again. After a bit, the young merchant in the front spoke up.

“I-I’m Bell from the Mary Chamber of Commerce. This man here is my little brother, Rango. Our guard is Ayer, adventurer and leader of the B-rank party Silver Spears.”

Rango bowed his head, and the bald guy named Ayer held up his silver spear.

I looked at Ortho, who stood beside me. “Know them?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I’ve bumped into them at the guild pretty frequently, and we’ve even gone drinking together.”

Satisfied, I turned my gaze back on Bell. “You have permission to enter.

Welcome to my village!”

The villagers hurriedly lowered the bridge and opened the front doors. Keeping an eye on them, I quickly returned to the ground and made my way to the front doors. Bell and his entourage were driving their carriages with bewildered looks on their faces. I managed to meet them right as they entered the village.

The first person to greet them was Ronda. “We’ve been waiting. Thank you for coming,” he said while the rest of the villagers excitedly surrounded the carriages. It must’ve been a while since new goods had been delivered; they were clearly thrilled.

Bell seemed relieved that the village was in its usual state, as his stiff expression soon melted into a smile.

“Hiya! Sorry about all that. Let me reintroduce myself. I’m Van,” I said with a smile.

With a furrowed brow, Bell bowed deeply and met my gaze. “I’m Bell, and it’s a pleasure to meet you. By the way, I do hope I’m not being rude, but are you

House Fertio’s youngest, Lord Van?”

I tilted my head. “Yes. But how do you know me?” My house was certainly famous, but I didn’t consider myself to be of any repute.

“Well, it’s just that you’ve been the talk of the town, you see… People have been asking where the family genius went off to.”

I blinked rapidly at this reveal, my mouth clamped shut.

Bell

WHILE WE WERE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD in the carriage, I turned to my little brother, Rango. “Man, this is a drag… Edge Village is all the way out in the middle of nowhere. Even if we sell spices and necessities, we won’t make much.”

I was referring to a nameless village right near the border. We called it “Edge

Village.”

“And we’re not gonna be bringing anything back from Edge Village either. We’re gonna be in the red big-time.” Rango had sympathetic complaints of his own.

Usually we’d come out reasonably in the black. We sold our goods in the biggest city, then the second-biggest city, then went around to towns, then finally made our way back to the second city, then off to the first, then home. This was our typical route. Bringing high-class goods from the biggest city to the second-biggest was good business. Then, in the second city, we’d buy clothes, spices, and gems that would sell reasonably well in the next town. We’d stock up on a bunch of cheap spices there, buy up some cheap necessities, and then do the rounds. It took about a month to run this circuit.

At Edge Village, we could at most purchase lumber or monster hide. Neither of those made any money for us and transporting it all was a pain, so we turned down the offers every time. We only made a profit of five or six gold, so other merchants weren’t big fans. After all, half of our profits were taken by the company. And after having three gold taken from us, we also had to pay taxes to the marquis, so we brothers ended up with two or three gold at most.

If we used any money for ourselves, we were left with less than two gold. The remaining funds enabled us to purchase better goods to raise our profits for next time, repair the carriage, or take care of our horses. If we could save at least one gold per month, we were doing all right.

But this time around, our carriage was damaged and we had to pay for repairs, plus a week of living expenses and hiring fees for the adventurers. To make matters worse, the carriage had toppled over on its side, so a lot of our goods were damaged and couldn’t be sold anymore. All this had us deep in the red, and that was why we loaded up on stock. We were already screwed, so why not?

We purchased enough spices, booze, and daily necessities to fill two carriages. We intended to sell these on our usual route, and if we didn’t, we’d go so far as to take a shot in a town in the neighboring count’s territory.

Thus, we arrived at Edge Village awash with feelings of desperation. That was when we noticed how…different things were.

“Hey, is that Edge Village? It’s clearly way too big to be a village,” Ayer said, and I gave a noncommittal nod.

“Yeah… I agree.”

Ayer frowned at that, but what else could I have said? This village used to be filled with busted huts, significantly poorer-looking than the other settlements. In fact, it was such a sad little place that townspeople in similar locations used to deride it as “the village at the end of the world.”

So why was there a tall stone wall with three-story-high watchtowers on each side? I wasn’t sure what those were made of, but it clearly wasn’t wood or stone. And then sitting atop those towers were large ballistae lining the upper wall. The drawbridge was currently raised at the entrance, and it had a moat. A moat!

“Did we take a wrong turn?” Rango asked, but I had no answer. I could say with certainty that we hadn’t taken the wrong route, but I couldn’t guarantee that this was the right village.

Even as we reeled, the carriages rolled on to the end of the road.

There was in fact a moat, and it was quite deep. The wall seemed new yet incredibly sturdy. This whole place was like its own fortified city. Atop the walls were familiar-looking villagers standing guard with the large ballistae. Upon closer inspection, the ballistae in question were equipped with shields on the front.

That explains why their form is so original.

As we marveled at the defensive wall, someone called down to us.

Judging by the little lord’s voice, he was young; I would’ve been hard-pressed to identify him as a boy at first.

“Uh, hey, Bro…? Did they just say Van Nei Fertio?”

At Rango’s baffled voice, I whirled around. “You mean House Fertio’s fourth son? No way! There are all sorts of rumors about him.”

Ayer and the others nodded. “Our base of operations is in the largest city, so we’ve seen him a few times. That kid used to patrol the place all the time. He’s famous for constantly stopping to chat with folks.”

“I see.”

I’d heard tales like that before. Since we siblings only spent a week at most in the city, we had never seen the fourth son in the flesh. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that he really was a boy not even ten years old.

Obviously, all sorts of gossip circulated about the fourth son, especially

because of how often he came into the city. Word had it that he was a genius among geniuses. Just by asking merchants a few questions, he could understand the trade and offer accurate advice regarding how to increase sales or what type of products to sell. Even when he spoke to commoners, he was friendly and considerate in a way that was remarkable for his age. When a boy was about to be sold into slavery, the little lord had used his own money to save him, or so I’d heard.

Rumors tended to distort the truth about a person, so I always took them with a grain of salt. That said, when I heard the fourth son had left the city, I was curious. Apparently, he’d been sent off to this middle-of-nowhere village to be its lord. I couldn’t wrap my head around why, though.

Sure, genius children got bullied and pushed around—but Lord Van was expressly chased off to this podunk village. Yet, as far as I could tell, it was receiving quite a bit of aid. I had several theories as to why this was the case, but sitting here and guessing wasn’t going to get me anywhere.

I faced the little lord and introduced myself. “I-I’m Bell from the Mary

Chamber of Commerce. This man here is my little brother, Rango. Our guard is Ayer, adventurer and leader of the B-rank party Silver Spears.”

“You have permission to enter. Welcome to my village!”

We’d been permitted entry fairly quickly. The drawbridge was smoothly lowered, connecting the road to the village. The large front doors swung open, giving us a view of the village. It looked nothing like it did in my memories.

There were sturdy-looking houses neatly lining the main streets. I had no idea what they were made of, but they were a sight to behold. The ground was still dirt, but the village was so well constructed that I didn’t think anything of it. It wasn’t until I actually looked at the people approaching us that I realized we’d arrived at the correct destination.

“We’ve been waiting. Thank you for coming,” said Ronda, the village mayor.

The villagers swarmed our carriages. We only came by once a month, so the folks here welcomed our arrival. They were always so overjoyed at our presence that we made sure to drop by, even though we never made much money here.

While we said our hellos, Lord Van walked toward us. “Hiya! Sorry about all that. Let me reintroduce myself. I’m Van.”

I greeted him in return. After chatting with him a bit, I was certain that this child named Van truly was a genius, and it had nothing to do with his noble upbringing. The villagers confirmed my suspicions: the changes here were all thanks to Lord Van and his people. It was hard to believe, but they had nothing to gain by lying, and I could tell they were telling the truth.

According to the villagers, they were being attacked by a group of bandits when Lord Van and his people saved them. The boy and his entourage built a defensive wall around the village that was far stronger than the last, then went on to build new houses for them. On top of that, Lord Van designed the new ballistae and made them himself.

The rumors were all true—and because of that, I was overwhelmingly interested in this child.

“Think we can sell some armored lizard parts?”

In response to Lord Van’s question, I nodded. “But of course! You defeated armored lizards? That’s incredible! Those are powerful creatures—even adventurers hate having to contend with them!”

An entirely unexpected source of revenue! I never thought I’d get my hands on such a valuable resource in a place like this.

Rango and I happily joined hands. Here we thought we were in the red, but we’d apparently made a massive miscalculation.

Thank you, God!

Grinning ear to ear, my brother and I followed Lord Van to the materials storehouse. It was a large, two-story building tucked away just to the right of the entrance.

Did he design it to shield the materials from sunlight, wind, and rain?

Impressed, I entered the building—and what I saw took my breath away.

“Uh, ha ha… Surely you’re joking!” Rango said. “Don’t tell me you

encountered a group of twenty-or thirty-meter-tall armored lizards!”

What he said was the peak of absurdity, but the sight in front of us prevented me from calling him out.

As it so happened, the building wasn’t two stories; it was a single-story interior with an abnormally high ceiling. Inside, armored lizard hides were stacked so high that they almost reached the ceiling. There was also a mountain of claws, a mountain of fangs, a mountain of bones, and a mountain of magic cores piled up like stones.

Lord Van then turned to us with a smile. “Oh, when we killed these forty armored lizards, we also arrested thirty bandits. I was thinking of having you guys take them and the materials with you. What do you think? Ah, and we’d provide the transportation, of course.”

“W-wait, this is an absurd number… If I could have some time, maybe a month from now—no, less than that—I could get some help from the company.

Can you wait until then?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Lord Van said. “Would it be better if we all ate the meat, then?”

That was when I realized that there had to be enough armored lizard meat to match the quantity of parts I was looking at; perhaps ten to twenty tons. A village of one or two hundred people could never eat it all before it spoiled.

“Meat, you say? Um, if it’s all right with you, do you mind if I sell it to the town next door? It’d be a huge help if you cut me a bit of a deal too.”

Lord Van cocked a brow. “The next town over? Do they have the means to buy armored lizard meat?”

I could tell he didn’t mean this as an insult. He seemed genuinely curious. I forced out a smile and raised one of my palms.

“No, they don’t have much to speak of, actually. But since tax collection this year, they haven’t been able to stock anything, so they asked if I could procure some food for them…”

I was thinking about handing out the meat without charging the townspeople.

If we could make a huge profit off of the armored lizard materials later, we’d recover easily.

Lord Van studied my face, then shook his head. “As far as the meat goes, about half of it is bound to go bad. You can have it for free. I doubt you’d stand to profit much from that stuff anyway, y’know?” He grinned, and my breath caught in my throat.

“You have my gratitude. In exchange, I’ll pay handily for the bandits. Four large silvers apiece.”

That made for a total of twelve gold. To merchants, this was an absurd price. We stood to gain little from selling them off. If we brought them all the way back from the border, we’d have to sell each one for a single gold if we hoped to make any kind of profit.

Nobles could never understand this, but it was our way of showing sincerity.

In response, Lord Van nodded, smile widening. “Thanks a ton! And hey, if you’re willing to come back soon, I’ll make sure you don’t regret it. For example, we’ll have high-quality weapons and such waiting for you.”

I tilted my head. “Are you telling me that you have not only a talented designer and a skilled carpenter, but a blacksmith as well?”

I was stunned, but Lord Van grinned with glee, eyes crinkling.

It was an incredible sword.

Despite its decorative design, it possessed an intimidating air befitting a weapon. I didn’t know much about these kinds of things, but I could tell that even as a piece of art, it held tremendous value.

“What do you think? How much would it be worth?”

I handed the sword to Ayer, a real pro, who was transfixed by the weapon. He didn’t say a word until the adventurer named Ortho spoke to him.

“Here. This is a chunk of armored lizard hide.”

Ortho grinned and held the tough hide out to Ayer, who brought out his own blade and cut into the surface—but it only left a tiny line. This was surprising to me, but Ayer just nodded.

“This is indeed armored lizard hide. May I give this sword a try?” “Be my guest,” Lord Van replied in a relaxed tone.

Ayer looked skeptical, but he nonetheless brought the beautiful long sword up to the hide. He cut down, then pulled.

“What?! I-Impossible!”

His eyes bulged as he drew the sword back. When I looked to see what had happened, I found a fresh, clean cut in the hide.

“It felt like I was slicing poultry!”

“Crazy, right?” Ortho said with a smile. He pointed to the sword at his waist, which gave off a similar impression to the one Ayer had tested. “Made to order for five gold. I requested that the length and width make it easy to swing. Can you believe that? It’s made of iron too.”

“Five gold?! That’s way too cheap! I must buy one! Do they have spears?!” Ayer excitedly asked the smiling adventurer.

“I’d trust this blade with my life. If you’re gonna make an order, make sure you think about its form and weight in as detailed a way as possible,” Ortho said. “Just to be clear, you’re gonna get something far lighter and stronger than you imagine. And remember, if you’re gonna have it made for parrying as well, make sure that part’s not as sharp.”

Ayer’s gaze dropped as he stroked his chin. I watched him mutter to himself for a few moments. “I-I see… Being too sharp can be a problem…”

Casting a glance at Ayer, I said, “This is clearly an extraordinary weapon. I will gladly purchase it at the asking price. However, we have so much already that I won’t be able to bring it all back with me. I’m sorry, but—”

“Oh, you can come another day. No problem.”

“Thank you so much,” I told Ortho, dipping my head in gratitude.

And so we toured the village a bit and sold spices, alcohol, and necessities to Lord Van. I felt like we were the only ones profiting from the exchange, especially since we also wound up with the armored lizard meat and I got a personal short sword.

“You’re so lucky, Bro…”

I couldn’t be the only one with a sword, so I bought another for three gold. Rango gazed at his Van-made blade like a child who’d received a new toy.

He’s already eighteen, so I hope he takes it down a notch, I thought with a smile.

I roasted some armored lizard meat and took a bite, which gave me my umpteenth shock of the day.

At some point, this village had taken hold of me. I needed to give some serious thought to what we’d do in the future. Once I got home, I would need to speak to the president.

Our business might take off if we build a store here.

But first, we needed to have merchants regularly coming and going.

“I was thinking of negotiating with the president and getting a midsize caravan put together. What do you think, Rango?”

“Great idea. Or we could make two merchant teams of three carriages each and have them come here every two weeks.”

“Right, right… In that case, we could meet up at one of the villages or towns on the way.”

We both smiled as we discussed matters.

“Things are gonna get real busy from here on out.” “Yeah. I can’t wait.”

Van

WE ATE DINNER TOGETHER, BELL AND RANGO happily devouring the armored lizard meat. They asked me about things going forward, and I gave them a general idea of my plan for the village. They seemed extremely interested, which was a win in my book. They asked me whether I’d like them to continue making one major merchant visit each month or whether we should up it to twice a month. I told them the latter would be best.

I welcomed access to more spices and booze. Having good food meant that the villagers would be happy and energized, which would have a direct effect on engagement and productivity. However, when I asked the merchants to advertise our weapons, they gave me sullen looks. Apparently the brothers had been planning to monopolize my creations.

You are incredibly naive, my friends.

If they sold my weapons on the same old route, people would eventually connect them to the source. They would be better off advertising for us from the start, then figuring out a way to profit off greater sales numbers. When I told them as much, they latched on to the idea with wide eyes.

“How?!”

“Set up a shop in the village and sell them from here. It’d be possible if you hired a shop keeper or a monger.”

The two traded grins. In the end, it was determined that Bell would have a shop here in the village until things took shape. To celebrate, I built him a house for five gold. Now we wouldn’t have to negotiate with all kinds of merchants over and over again.

Quite frankly, both sides had something to gain from this. Bell and Rango would obtain a stable source of income and have their own store. I would save time, and we’d have our first store in the village. This was a big step.

Amid the friendly chatter, our business discussions came to an end.

The next morning, Rango said he’d be leaving with Ayer and the others, then got things ready to go. He made it sound like we were a married couple having a fight after the honeymoon period, but actually it was a totally positive business-related conversation.

Speed was key to maximizing profit. As such, Rango needed to go back to the company and convince them as quickly as possible so that they could acquire materials and extra hands. To sway them to our side, he was bringing a sword I’d made, some armored lizard hide, and magic cores. If things went well, Rango would be flanked by a full squad of merchants the next time he showed up here.

All smiles, Rango purchased a sword and departed with his entourage.

By the way, as part of my plan to deny responsibility for my achievements, I gave Rango a letter intended for Murcia. It had my seal on it, so I figured it’d be fine. Rango questioned why I would cover up my accomplishments until the very moment he left, so I just dodged him with some vague answers.

After seeing everyone off, I turned to Bell. “All right, time to whip you up a shop.”

“Er, right now?” he asked, surprised.

I motioned for him to come over. “I think it should face the main street,” I said, pointing. “It’d be best if the village entrance was close by, right?”

Bell, in turn, pointed to an open spot right near the entrance. “Over there seems like a good spot. The store is visible right from the village entrance, which would make it convenient.”

“Then we’ll set you up there. Next, we have to discuss the layout. The entrance would go here… How about having the counter in the front?”

“Uh, yeah. Right, as long as I can see the store from there. I’d also like to come up with a way to display our goods.”

“Hrm, then something more like a general goods store than a grocery store, eh? The vibes of an import shop might be good too. Instead of lining the store with all your products, having only a handful on display would help it seem more high-class. Want to try displaying swords and such on the wall? One for each type?”

“Huh? Um, y-yeah, sure. That might be good. But then I have to consider where my stock would go…”

“Let’s set you up with a basement. If I make you a two-story home, that should give you all the space you need.”

Our conversation continued smoothly, and we quickly put together the layout for his store. If he had any issues with the finished product, I could just fix what needed fixing. I’d happily do a single reconstruction for free. I called Esparda over since we were making a basement, but renovating the whole thing would probably be tough work.

With that in mind, I lined up the wood blocks—brought to the building site by Khamsin and Till—and solidified the vision in my mind. I sensed Bell watching in confusion, but I let him be. I focused my magic and altered the shape of the wood blocks.

“Huh?! What the…?!”

I ignored the surprised shout from behind and got to work.

First, I put up the columns. I would have Esparda use his earth magic to dig up the ground. As long as he made a good-sized hole for me, I’d be set. I made a floor, walls, and a ceiling, then joined everything to the pillars.

Next, I made the basement. The vast space was up before I even realized it. I ended up installing four thick pillars, but even with those present, there was plenty of space for storage. I left Bell behind as he wandered the basement with bloodshot eyes, then got to work making the first and second floors.

Since I’d spent so much time making homes for the villagers, my work on Bell’s store wrapped up fairly quickly. In total, I spent about an hour on the basement and maybe fifteen minutes on the first and second floors combined. Bell had been so out of it wandering the basement that, when he emerged, he was startled to find that his store and house were already done. He gaped at me in disbelief, but I just kept doing my thing.

Bell had two weeks to procure and prepare his products. His store was all good for the moment.

It was noon, so we seasoned some lizard meat for an indulgent lunch. I then informed everyone that I was headed out.

“Hmm, I should bring Esparda and Dee with me,” I mused. “And someone familiar with the area.”

I gathered some folks and asked around; Ronda recommended a hunter by the name of Inka. “He hunts fairly often. His vision is superb.”

I’m pretty sure you all have amazing vision, I thought, but I kept my lips shut and merely nodded in response.

Inka was called over, and he puffed out his chest with one eye closed.

“Can you take us to the river?” I asked.

Inka nodded and walked off in that direction. Dee, his knights, and Ortho were going to the woods to gather resources, so they tagged along. Esparda had work to do, so he was coming too—as were Till and Khamsin.

Ten minutes after leaving the village and heading down the road, we turned north. The road continued, but it was just barely suitable for travel.

I’m glad we didn’t come by carriage.

“Are you okay?” Till asked, worried, so I forced myself to walk properly.

“Yup, I’m all good! How about you?” I never forgot to show consideration to the people around me. I was a man, after all.

“I’m well! Thank you for asking,” Till replied happily as she trotted onward.

Khamsin was ahead of us, getting rid of any weeds or stones in our way.

What a gentleman!

Since not much was going down on the way to the river, I endeavored to be as much of a gentleman as Khamsin, but his swift and quiet clearing methods far outstripped mine. It was a one-sided rivalry at best, and we arrived at our destination before I could settle the score.

The river was far bigger and more beautiful than I’d expected, and it glittered in the sunlight. Without a bridge or a boat, getting to the other side would be a bit of a struggle. As far as I could tell, there were no aquatic monsters in sight, but I wasn’t about to test that by taking a dip. Furthermore, we had no idea as to the quality of the water.

“Okay, Esparda. Let’s get some water from here. It’s work time.”

“Right away, my lord.” Esparda dipped his head in acknowledgment.

Our primary order of business was to create a fork in the river that would lead to the village, taking breaks whenever necessary. First, Esparda made a small dam and dug out the area that would form the distributary channel. He managed to dig dozens of meters deep in a single moment, and Dee and Khamsin jumped in with absurd vigor when he rested. Then Till and I strengthened the ground and wall.

Given the distance between the wall and the river, we all said this would be a big job, but it was going by unexpectedly fast. I was just as astonished by Esparda’s seemingly endless supply of magic as I was by Dee’s everlasting stamina.

“Gah ha ha ha!”

Arb and Lowe plopped down in exhaustion while Dee dug with a shovel I’d made. He roared with laughter, seemingly having a blast.

“Quite a lot of energy for a forty-year-old man,” Esparda said, exasperated.

Dee’s forty? That’s kind of incredible.

While wasting my brain space on such thoughts, I spent half a day pulling water. Much to my surprise, the village came into view about eight hours into the project. We’d worked at an insane pace. It had taken us nearly an hour on foot just to get to the river, maybe four kilometers or so. Yet we’d managed to dig our way back in eight hours; we probably only had about a kilometer to go.

“All right, that’s all for today,” I announced.

Dee and Esparda stared at me like I’d said something wild, but I wanted them to consider Arb, Lowe, and Khamsin. Those three were completely dead.

“Hrm, and just when I thought I’d found a good source of exercise,” Dee said.

“But I suppose it’s better not to push ourselves too hard.”

Nobody else is going to call this guy out? How in the world does he still have energy?! Is he just a meathead?

It was so impossible to wrap my head around that I began to disparage him in my mind. Esparda likewise looked perfectly composed.

How terrifying… Today, I’ve come face-to-face with the true potential of veterans and older men.

Ortho and the others had no interest in creating the distributary channel, so they’d gathered a whole bunch of ore for me. However, I was so exhausted that I turned down the opportunity to make swords.

The next morning, we managed to dig all the way to the village’s moat. We stifled our impatience and made a path for the water to flow out the other side of the village. Just past that, we made a deep reservoir—one designed so that the water would pass through it once its level rose. In all honesty, I wanted to design it so that the water would ultimately return to the river, but I’d save that for another time. For now, I really wanted to see the water come through.

We rode carriages back to the river, left them on the road, and then walked to our destination once again. It was there that I expressed my appreciation for everyone’s work.

“Um, it is thanks to all of your hard efforts that I can now say this job is complete. I know the past day and a half has been rough on all of you, but you have my sincerest gratitude. Now then, let’s open this baby up!”

As soon as I finished my little speech, the dam was destroyed, and water flowed down the new channel.

“Oooh, wonderful!”

I couldn’t help but clap as I watched it go, and everyone else followed suit. Just watching the river water rush down the path we’d created was terribly exciting.

We drove back to the village at a leisurely pace, following the channel. Our waterway must have been well constructed, as the rush of water showed no signs of slowing down. Quite frankly, it was so smooth that I actually started to worry, so I made a mental note to check on the moat later.

Upon our return, the villagers lowered the bridge and opened the doors for us.

“Wow, water!”

“It’s water from the river!”

People clustered around to marvel at the water flowing into the moat.

Children ran alongside it, yelling in delight. I honestly wanted to join them.

“Super cool!”

Ronda walked over and said, “Now we have easy access to water.”

I shook my head. “Up until now, people haven’t been handling drinking water properly. I want to filter and boil it as well, which is why I need to build some equipment.”

“Er, I see…” Ronda attempted to hide his confusion behind a smile.

Meanwhile, I got Dee and his knights to ready the ore for me. “This way!”

Lowe was surprisingly driven for once as he carried over a whole bunch of ore for me. His eyes glittered as he watched me.

“Interested?” I asked him.

“Y-yes! I was just wondering what kind of equipment you’d be making this time.”

His curiosity about my creations surprised me.

Now that I think about it, he seemed over the moon when we wrapped up our river construction project.

“How about we do this together, then? First, we’re going to make a waterwheel to lift the water.”

“Right!”

Lowe gleefully carried over the materials, and I changed their form with Dee and Arb as backup. We set the waterwheel on one side of the moat, then attached buckets to its side at regular intervals. As the wheel spun, the buckets would lift the water up high.

After the water reached the top of the wall, the buckets would tilt as they came down, creating a waterway to the village. This water would flow through a filtration unit made from sticks, leaves, sand, dirt, stone, and cloth. The clean water would then go straight into a metal tank. Since the inside and outside of the tank were coated in copper, it wouldn’t rust, keeping the water nice and clean.

Once we had enough water in the tank, we could draw what we needed from a faucet at the bottom and bring it to the boiling device. Unfortunately, when it came to boiling the water, we had to ignite the flames on our own. Till explained that we could easily start fires if we had a fire crystal, so I’d have to look into purchasing one.

For now, we had safe, potable water.

Right when I was teaching Ronda how the equipment worked, Khamsin came running over. “It’s full!”

I was definitely not expecting that report. Only three hours had passed since we opened up the waterway, and the tank was full before dinner? I hurried up the wall.

“Whoa, it really is full.”

I couldn’t help but be impressed; the river water had already filled the moat. That wasn’t necessarily a good thing, though.

“If it rained and the water level rose, wouldn’t it overflow?”

Esparda, who was standing behind me and to the side, stared at me with wide eyes. “Excellent observation. Normally, one would widen the river according to the amount of water or perhaps build banks in areas that overflow frequently. For a waterway with a dead end like this, we’ll have to make some adjustments.”

Hey, Esparda actually praised me!

“There’s nowhere else for the water to go, after all. We should send the water downstream or create a lake on the other side.”

Esparda frowned. “Normally the former would suffice,” he said in a low voice, “but the lake might be a better idea. During long periods of drought, or should water from the river cease to flow, it would be good to have a large reservoir.”

“So all we really need to do is take overflow countermeasures? All right, let’s go with that then.”

And so I decided to build a lake about two hundred meters away from the back of the village. I was going to push construction through before it rained.

“It doesn’t have to be cone-shaped. Just make it so it can hold as much as possible!”

“Understood!”

“It’s going to be sloped, so let’s angle it so the water flows to that side.” “Got it!”

As I described the image in my head, Dee and the others made it a reality. Esparda was constructing the banks and the lake’s overall shape. Lo and behold, the lake was completed in three days’ time. All that remained was to build a manually operated floodgate to prevent disasters. As for anything else, we’d have to test it out and think on it some more.

But we had plenty of clean water, and that was enough for me at the moment.