Chapter 15

Two days after the decision to build a water wheel, in the morning, Ichirou and Barretta sat side by side next to the water wheel installed by the river. Each held a mechanical pencil and was intently studying their university notebooks.

The fertilization work in the village was not yet complete, but at the suggestion of the village chief and other villagers, Barretta and Ichirou had started the preparations for building the water wheel ahead of schedule.

In Ichirou's notebook, there was a water wheel illustration that had been repeatedly erased and redrawn. The shape of the water wheel in the illustration was slightly different from the actual one in front of them. The notebook contained two illustrations: one showing the water wheel from above and another from the side, both with dimensions marked in various places, giving it a distinctly technical drawing feel. Additionally, there was a semi-transparent illustration of the water wheel from a diagonal front view, which did not have any dimensions marked but clearly depicted the shape's characteristics. Thanks to his experience helping his father, who worked at a town factory in metal drawing, Ichirou had drawn several simple technical drawings before, and this experience was now proving useful. He had just finished drawing these and was now reviewing them.

In Barretta's university notebook, the hiragana characters were written vertically in gojūon order, with the corresponding characters from this world's alphabet written next to each. Barretta was studying Japanese while decoding the text from a book titled "How to Start a Popular Cafe" that she had brought along. Since there were many unfamiliar words, she was frequently asking Ichirou for help. Although she had also brought reference books for elementary school subjects like science and math from Japan, this time she had chosen the book with the most appealing photos for her Japanese studies. Ichirou had already added furigana to the kanji and katakana in a few pages, so she could read everything by comparing it with her notebook.

"Mr. Kazura, what does this herbal tea taste like?"

While Ichirou was reviewing the completed drawings, Barretta opened a page titled "Special Herbal Tea" and asked. The page featured a photo of a bright red hibiscus blend herbal tea.

"The one in the photo contains hibiscus flowers and has a strong sour taste. There are many types of herbs, each with a different flavor and aroma... It might be hard to understand just by hearing it, but I'll bring some from my country next time, and we can try it together."

"Really!? Thank you!"

At Ichirou's suggestion, Barretta's face lit up with joy. Although Ichirou had only been in this world for about half a month, he felt that he had become quite close to the villagers, especially Barretta. When they first met, she had been quite reserved, but recently that had changed.

By the way, according to the village chief, Barretta was 16 years old this year.

"By the way, I want to use nails for the water wheel we're going to build. Do you have any in the village?"

"I think my father had some, but not many. How many do you need?"

"Um, I think I'll need more than 100... Ideally, I wouldn't use nails, but using them would make it easier and more secure. I could bring some from Japan, but they only sell iron nails there. If I hammer them in deeply, they might not be noticed, but if someone looks closely, it could be a problem. I'd prefer to use bronze nails from this world."

"I don't think we have 100 nails... But we can get them in the city. I'll talk to the villagers and start preparing to go to the city."

"Is there a city nearby?"

The word "city" caught Ichirou's attention. Since he had only seen the village of Gricia since coming to this world, he was eager to see a city if there was one nearby.

"Yes, there's a city called Isteria, which is directly governed by Lord Narson, about a two-day walk from here. There are many shops, so you can buy nails there."

"I see... Is it a large city?"

"Yes, it's the largest town in the region governed by Lord Narson. There are many large buildings, and it's nothing like this village."

Barretta's explanation piqued Ichirou's curiosity. He had always wanted to see more of this world, and the prospect of a large city made him even more eager to visit.

"... I'd like to go to Isteria too. Is that okay?"

"Uh..."

Seeing Barretta's puzzled expression, Ichirou quickly added, "Of course, I won't go in this outfit. But I'll need to borrow some clothes from someone..."

"Oh, right... I'll talk to my father about the clothes."

Barretta was taken aback by the unexpected request to go to the city, but she couldn't refuse Ichirou's request. Besides, if Ichirou changed his clothes, he would look like an ordinary villager, so it should be fine.

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

Hearing this, Barretta decided to talk to her father about it.

"Mr. Kazura is going to Isteria too?"

"Yeah, he said he would change his clothes and go, so I told him he could come along..."

After lunch that day, Barretta was consulting with the village chief in the living room about the conversation by the river. Ichirou was in his room, saying he was "drawing part diagrams."

"Well, if he changes his clothes, he shouldn't stand out in the city, so it should be fine. Just make sure Mr. Kazura doesn't do anything to draw attention to himself in the city."

"Okay... But I'm still worried..."

The village chief chuckled at Barretta's continued concern.

"What are you so worried about? Mr. Kazura is Lord Gracior, after all. He won't do anything foolish. Besides, if he goes with you, you won't have to worry about being attacked by beasts on the way, which is a plus."

Barretta looked up and said, "Yeah, you're right."

"Then I'll tell the villagers we're going to the city. After that, I'll go catch some Arcadian bugs."

"Alright. I'll prepare some firewood."

Thus, the plan for the trip to Isteria was finalized without Ichirou's knowledge.

"Hmm, to Isteria? It's been a long time."

Barretta left the house and went around the village to gather people for the trip to Isteria. The journey would take two days one way, so they would travel in a group for safety. They also planned to share the load of goods to sell in the city.

"Yes. If you'd like, would you come with us, Rozuru? Mr. Kazura will be coming too."

Rozuru exclaimed, "Oh!"

"If Mr. Kazura is coming, it will be reassuring. I have some extra firewood, so I'll come along."

"Great. We'll leave early in the morning the day after tomorrow. Thank you."

After making arrangements with a few more villagers, Barretta headed to the forest to catch Arcadian bugs.

When the sky outside the barred window of the room turned the color of sunset, Ichirou finally finished drawing the part diagrams and stretched. The diagrams in his university notebook were quite rough, but the shapes of the parts were simple, and there were few points to mark dimensions, so there were no problems. Moreover, the parts did not require high precision, and he had not included any tolerances.

As Ichirou was reviewing the diagrams, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

When Ichirou called out, Barretta entered the room with a set of clothes in her hands.

"Mr. Kazura, we're leaving early in the morning the day after tomorrow. These are my father's clothes. Please use them."

"Really!? Thank you!"

Ichirou took the clothes from Barretta and exclaimed, "Yay!" like a child. After all, this would be his first trip since coming to this world, and his first visit to a large city. The last time a visitor, Isaac, came to the village, Ichirou had not seen him, but in the city, he could see people of various occupations. He might even see guards with swords or spears, and there would be many large buildings, which made Ichirou's heart leap with excitement.

"By the way, while you're away, we need to give instructions to the villagers who will stay behind for the water wheel construction."

"Oh, right, I understand. I'll talk to the villagers tomorrow."

"Thank you. It's almost time for dinner, so let's go to the living room."

After dinner, Ichirou, who was excitedly asking all sorts of questions about Isteria, surprised the village chief and Barretta with his enthusiasm. They answered his questions one by one, carefully and in detail.