Chapter 29

In the scorching summer sun, the village chief and Valleta were welcoming Isaac and the four other armed soldiers at the village entrance. The soldiers were all clad in thick leather armor reinforced with bronze and wore bronze helmets, making them heavily armed. Except for Isaac, the other soldiers were carrying buckets in both hands and did not seem to be carrying any weapons or shields other than the daggers at their waists. Moreover, Isaac was the only one not wearing a helmet, perhaps because he judged that it would interfere with his long inspection.

"So, during my inspection of the village, I decided to have the troops set up camp near the village. I was wondering if we could use the village's waterways for water supply..."

"Of course, that's fine. Please feel free to use them as you like."

The village chief responded with a smile to Isaac's polite request, though he was quite surprised inside. He had never considered that the commander of the army heading to the village would be Isaac. During Isaac's previous visits to the village, he had always been courteous to everyone, and the village chief had never imagined that he was a person of such high status as a commander. Furthermore, the daggers hanging from the soldiers' waists were adorned with family crests, indicating that they were likely nobles. Only a noble of higher rank could command a unit of nobles, so Isaac must be a noble of considerable standing.

Incidentally, the dagger Isaac was carrying also had an elaborate family crest. During his previous visits, his dagger had no such decoration, so perhaps he deliberately equipped a common soldier's dagger to avoid intimidating the villagers when inspecting the village alone.

"Thank you. I'll make sure not to let the soldiers go too far into the village. Please tell the villagers not to worry about them."

Isaac said to the village chief and then gave the soldiers instructions to fetch water. The soldiers, upon receiving the order, responded briefly and ran toward the waterway, buckets in hand. After watching the soldiers run off, Isaac turned back to the village chief and Valleta.

"Then, let's start the inspection of the village. How are the crops in the fields growing?"

"Yes, thanks to the water from the waterway, they are growing well despite the drought. Moreover, we tried a different method of growing the crops, and they are growing much faster than before. At this rate, we might be able to pay some potatoes as taxes during the harvest season."

In response to Isaac's inquiry about the crops, the village chief answered as he and Valleta had agreed beforehand. The crops in the village's fields were growing rapidly thanks to the fertilizer brought by Ichi and the leaf mold from the forest, but they had decided to only mention the leaf mold if asked in detail.

"That's good news. Any contribution of crops will be very helpful to us. This year, the taxes from other villages are expected to be much lower."

Isaac smiled at the village chief's words and then led the village chief and Valleta to the nearby potato field.

Upon arriving at the potato field, Isaac was amazed at the sight of the potatoes. The potatoes planted in the field were much larger than when he had last visited the village, and the vines were thick and robust, with leaves that were surprisingly large. Although Isaac was a layman in agriculture, he had never seen potatoes with such large leaves and vines.

"Is this... I've never seen potatoes with such large leaves and vines before... Are these the same potatoes you usually collect?"

"Yes, they are the same potatoes. However, this year, we mixed a lot of soil from the forest into the field."

Upon hearing this, Isaac squatted in front of the potatoes with a look of interest and touched the leaves. The leaves were thicker and, combined with the thick vines, were quite impressive. It was hard to believe that these were the same potatoes he had seen a month ago.

"Did you bring the blessing of the forest, which is under the protection of Lord Grisioal, into the village's fields... I didn't expect it to be this effective..."

"We are also surprised. It's unclear if this method can be applied to other villages, but the forest of Grisioal Village seems to be under strong protection from Lord Grisioal."

Hearing the village chief's words, Isaac recalled the village's legend and nodded in understanding. This village had a legend of Grisioal appearing and saving people hundreds of years ago. It was not surprising that the surrounding forest was under the great protection of Grisioal, and it made sense that using the forest's soil could accelerate crop growth.

"Indeed, Grisioal Village. If you can use soil that is so strongly blessed by Lord Grisioal, the future crop harvests are promising."

If the village could use the soil from the forest, which was under the great protection of Grisioal, the food production of Grisioal Village might dramatically increase. Moreover, the new waterway in the village was supplying water steadily even during the drought, so there was no worry about a decrease in food production due to the drought. Isaac thought that it might be possible to create a large granary area centered around this village and took out parchment and charcoal from his pocket to write down the crop growth and the existence of the forest soil.

"I'm also curious about the other fields, but I have a question about the waterway first."

After finishing his notes, Isaac looked up from the parchment and said this to the village chief and Valleta, who nodded with smiles but braced themselves, thinking, "Here it comes." During the previous inspection, Isaac had not probed into the waterway, but as Ichi had suspected, it was probably because Isaac was not familiar with the village's location relative to the river. The village chief and Valleta thought that when Isaac reported the inspection to his superior, there must have been questions about the water source.

In fact, Isaac had reported directly to Nelson and had been questioned about the village's location relative to the river, but the village chief and Valleta had no idea that Isaac was in a position to meet Nelson directly.

"Is the water in the village's waterway drawn from the river to the northwest?"

"Yes, it is drawn from the river."

"Hmm... The river to the northwest is too low relative to the village, so it should be impossible to draw water. How are you drawing the water?"

When asked this by Isaac, the village chief glanced at Valleta and, after seeing her nod, began to speak.

"Actually, my daughter Valleta came up with a device called a water wheel, which uses it to draw water from the river and continuously flow it into the waterway."

"Water wheel?"

Isaac repeated the word, which he had never heard before. He had never heard of a device that could continuously draw enough water to keep a waterway flowing.

"Is this water wheel located at the end of the village's waterway?"

"Yes, it is. Would you like me to show you now?"

The village chief offered to guide him, and Isaac nodded immediately. He had thought that a new water source had been found, but it turned out that the water was being drawn from the river using a device. Isaac felt a vague premonition as he followed the village chief and Valleta to the river.

After about 30 minutes of walking, the three of them arrived at the second water wheel installed recently. The water wheel was turning energetically as usual, using wooden buckets to transport water from the river to the elevated wooden waterway.

"Wow, this is amazing!"

Isaac exclaimed in amazement at the sight of the water wheel, which was transporting a large amount of water from a lower to a higher elevation. He had never seen a device that could do such a thing using only the power of flowing water.

"This is the water wheel. Valleta came up with it to find a way to draw water from the river to the village."

"Water can be drawn to such a high place... This is an incredible invention! Did Valleta come up with it alone?"

Isaac stared intently at the water wheel and then, while drawing a picture of it on the parchment he had taken out, looked at Valleta.

"Yes, I thought about various ways to draw water from the river to the village and came up with this water wheel. The villagers helped me make and assemble the parts."

While nodding at Valleta's answer, Isaac felt a nagging doubt in the back of his mind, excited by the existence of the water wheel. It was simply inconceivable, according to his knowledge, for a simple farmer, especially a young person like Valleta, to come up with such a groundbreaking invention. New inventions were usually made by engineers and craftsmen in urban areas, and Isaac had never heard of a farmer in a remote area inventing something.

Isaac was not belittling farmers, but it was hard to believe that a villager with no educational opportunities other than agriculture could develop such a groundbreaking device.

"To come up with such a device on your own... If there were any papers that described how to make the water wheel, could I see them?"

"Well, the water wheel was built piece by piece as I thought about it, so there are no such papers. I'm sorry."

When Valleta bowed apologetically, Isaac furrowed his brow for a moment but quickly composed himself and nodded.

"Then, could you give me a brief explanation of how the water wheel works and how it is made?"

"Sure. First, about how it works..."

Isaac listened to Valleta's explanation and wrote down the key points on the parchment. As he watched the water wheel, which Valleta explained confidently, he noticed that the shaft was significantly worn down from the friction of rotation.

"Oh, this rod is quite worn... It might break if you keep using it like this."

"Really?"

As Isaac approached the water wheel and peered at the shaft, Valleta stopped her explanation and walked over to him. When she looked at the shaft at her eye level, it was indeed significantly worn.

"This will definitely break if you keep the water wheel running... We need to think of a solution."

After saying this, Valleta went to the upstream side of the waterway that connected to the river, picked up a wooden board, and inserted it into the waterway to block the flow of water from the river. The water wheel, deprived of water, slowly stopped moving.

"I see, you use this board to stop the water wheel whenever you need to."

Impressed by this, Isaac nodded, and Valleta smiled.

"Yes, this way, we can repair the water wheel whenever we need to. But if you hadn't noticed the wear on the shaft, it might have broken before we could repair it. Thank you."

"Anytime," Isaac replied and, taking notes again, began to listen to Valleta's explanation of the water wheel.

Half a day after the inspection began, at the edge of the village, which was now bathed in the colors of the sunset, Isaac finished receiving a report from the village chief about the preparation of the timber for taxes, and they were exchanging words of appreciation.

After receiving an explanation from Valleta about the water wheel, the three of them returned to the village, and the village chief reported to Isaac about the village's food situation and crop growth while they inspected all the fields. Isaac seemed to believe that the rapid growth of the crops was due to the influence of the forest soil blessed by Grisioal, and he did not probe further. However, the village chief was told that there might be some instructions from Isteria regarding future food production methods.

Incidentally, Valleta had already returned to the house to prepare dinner.

"Then, I'll return to the troops. I apologize for the inconvenience we caused by bringing the troops here."

"No, no, it's an honor for us to be able to assist the military. Please don't worry about it."

The village chief answered with a relaxed tone, perhaps relieved that the inspection had gone smoothly. Isaac smiled and said, "Thank you."

"Then, let's call it a day. I'll be back in a month, so please have the tax preparations ready by then."

"Understood. See you in a month."

The village chief bowed deeply and returned to the house. As he watched the village chief leave, Isaac took a deep breath, looked around the village, and reflected on the inspection results.

From the occasional sight of the villagers and the physical condition of the village chief and Valleta, it seemed that the food situation in Grisioal Village had improved significantly. The use of the water wheel to draw water and the rapid growth of crops using the forest soil were impressive, and the rapid recovery of Grisioal Village in just one month was remarkable. However, Isaac felt a nagging doubt.

The village seemed to be going too well, and it felt unnatural. What particularly bothered him was the water wheel. Isaac still could not accept that such a groundbreaking device had been created by a single farmer.

While reflecting on the water wheel and looking around the village, Isaac noticed a small shadow at the edge of his vision. Looking sideways, he saw a child hiding behind a tree about 30 meters away, watching him intently.

(A boy... about 5 or 6 years old. His name is...)

Isaac thought for a moment, recalling the villagers' names, and then, on a whim, turned to the boy and waved with a smile. The boy, who had been hiding, flinched for a moment when he realized he had been spotted but then ran over excitedly.

"Big brother, you're a great soldier! I've never seen such cool armor before!"

The boy ran up to Isaac and, without waiting for a greeting, started talking excitedly. He seemed impressed by the heavily armed soldiers.

"Well, I'm just a little bit of a great soldier. I'm the commander of 100 soldiers."

"100!? That's amazing! I never knew because you always wear cheap armor when you come to the village!"

Isaac chuckled at the boy's words and watched as he ran around him, excitedly examining the armor. Then, he decided to ask the boy a question that had just come to mind.

"Are you Colt? I heard that the troops are waiting near the village. Would you like to see them?"

"Really!?"

Colt's eyes widened with surprise and excitement as he looked up at Isaac.

"Sure. But first, let's go tell your parents that you'll be leaving the village for a bit. We don't want to cause a commotion if you disappear without telling them."

"Okay! My house is this way!"

Colt eagerly agreed and started walking quickly toward his house, with Isaac following a few steps behind. After a few steps, Isaac stopped and snapped his fingers.

"What's wrong? Let's go!"

"No, I just remembered something important. If you know, could you tell me..."

"What? Hurry up and ask!"

Isaac, acting a bit dramatically, was urged by Colt, who was getting impatient. Despite feeling a bit guilty about it, Isaac asked the question he had just thought of.

"A while ago, I heard from the village chief, Balin, about the person who made the water wheel, but I forgot the name because it was unfamiliar... Do you know the name of the person who made the water wheel?"

At Isaac's question, Colt looked puzzled for a moment but then spoke.

"Lord Kazura?"