Chapter 34: CH34 Improvements and a suprise visit

Not everything about the new carriage was good though.  Like the old cart, carrying water made it very heavy.  The wheels were wooden with a plating of metal around them. This caused the wheels to not do well in loose ground. It took some effort for merumeru to find scrap metal along the farm and make the metal tires.  The supply of metal pipes taken from the dungeon was running very low.  Fully loaded, the clockwork carriage weighed as much as a modern truck. Fortunately there was an easy fix for when it got stuck.  It could be turned back into card form.  It was even useful to help with farm work.  Alex could dance on top of the carriage while Rose used the water in the barrels to water crops.  Sadly, this revealed another problem.  Transforming back into a human caused Alex's cuteness to go down.  Rose's water pressure was only about half of what it once was.  She sprayed water more like a giant sprinkler.

Everyone watched the experiment with awe.

"With something like this we could grow more water intensive crops." Bob commented.  But with how quickly the 100 gallons of water were drained he changed his mind. "Well maybe not, I guess the bigger fields will have to remain as wheat."

"Well, the grains have to be milled by hand.  There isn't a mill at the farm to make it easier.  I had wanted to try to make a mill for wood back in town before we got chased off.  What did your grandparents do with their wheat harvest?" Alex asked.

"They mostly sold it to the baron.  Well some of it, part of the harvest was collected as a tax and farmers would get ground flower back as payment.  After all, peasants don't really own any land.  So the mills which were located back near town were also property of the baron's family," Kaide replied.

"Wow that sounds like a terrible deal," Alex grumped.

Fufi chimed in, "Actually it really isn't because nobility classes have skills with a really broad effect.  If the baron had skills that boosted all the farming taking place in his domain then the taxes could be offset completely if they were high enough level."

"Sakura was like a lady for the forest.  Does she have skills that affect all of her domain?" Alex asked.

Kaide nodded.  "Yes, I don't know exactly what they do but she seems to know what is going on in her forest.  I imagine most of her broad skills are centered around protecting the forest and purging demons.  You'll notice that not once have any imp scouts flew overhead." Kaide gestured to the sky. "I imagine her broad skills keep them away somehow."

Fufi added, "I think they'll still be working even after Luna sealed her magical girl powers.  Those kinds of skills tend to be rare.  A knight magical girl may have skills and magic that can help people under her banner.  A princess magical girl would have skills that could effect a whole kingdom.  Princess magical girls are really rare though. People born to privilege tend to not be suitable to form contracts with."

Alex sighed, "Terre is confusing.  Just because someone is born into a certain family they get to have better skills.  I imagine a king or queen's skills affect the whole country?"

"Yes, that is right. Some kings have skills that boost their armies in battle.  Another one could have skills that make roads between cities work better to facilitate travel. Others might suppress crime.  The system helps them in the path they want to take." Fufi explained.

Alex thought that wasn't completely true.  If it was true then cooking, cleaning, and doll making suited him more than woodworking and lumber harvesting.  It was true that Sakura's living dress was much cuter than the magical girl dress he made and he was a little jealous.  After all, cuteness seemed to be the most important stat for a magical girl.

Noticing that Alex got quiet and the water was used up Bob spoke up, "Well let's move along looks like the water is all used up we can go back to the well and fill the barrells back up."

They took turns spinning the rope pump.  Apparently spinning a wheel and causing water to pour out was a fun task. Alex really missed the fountain that was in town though.  Having water just come out through pipes is one of those things people took for granted.  If what Kaide said was true, building a dam like they did in town might be safe here.

"Bob, do you think it would be possible to build a dam on your property?  The stream is in a small gorge and I was thinking with Merumeru's help as a plumber we could get you running water." Alex asked the farmer.

"Hmm, I don't see why not but how would damming up the creek get us running water?  Also, where are we going to find enough workers to do something like that?  We barely get by as things go." The overall-wearing man replied.

Kaide chimed in, "Why would we need people to build a dam?  I can ask some forest friends to come help out. It is one of the benefits of being a nymph.  I mean... if that is okay.. Dad?"  The leaf-haired girl still seemed a bit unsure as she voiced the last word.

Bob looked over at Alex then Kaide, "You sure about this girl?  I don't see why you can't try.  What do you mean forest friends?"

Kaide performed a magical chant and a strange sound echoed around her.  Everyone looked confused.  "Hmm, just a moment, I think he's on his way."

An impressively large beaver waddled up to the nymph.  The rodent made some clicks and whined at her.

Kaide answered, "He says he is up to building a dam for us if he can bring his family and use the trees around the water.  Where would be a good spot for it?"

"Well, if we want to have running water it needs to be higher than where the buildings are located so upstream a bit?"  Alex led them to where the drop off before the steam was and went about a mile uphill, following the water.  "Is this okay?  Do you think you could build a pipe and a drain back into the stream like back in town?"

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The slime girl nodded, "Meru!" The slime girl hopped into the water and started creating a pipe into the ground using dirt and clay and rock from nearby.

"You don't have to get started right now. The beavers usually come out at dusk let's give them a couple days to get started." Kaide chuckled at Merumeru's eagerness.

"Want to start from Bob and Martha's house?  I bet it would be easier on the beavers if we created the sink and the drain line first. It could go back into the stream.  That part would be easier because it isn't as far." Alex suggested to the slime girl.

The group split up for the rest of the day.  Merumeru, Alex and Fufi worked with Martha to pick out a spot in the kitchen where Martha would like the sink.  She along with everyone else had got to try out the sink in the carriage.  It wasn't well received.  The general consensus was that using water from barrels for cleaning was a waste of water. Also, the water pressure was less than impressive. The water was pushed from the barrels to a hose and then from the hose to the sink in the carriage. Martha said that she would be happy to have water in her house. Her heart wasn't in it.  Unlike Fufi and Merumeru, the others didn't get how gravity fed water was superior in every way to the barrel setup in the carriage.

After working out how the sink would look in the kitchen Fufi and Alex followed Merumeru around the area gathering the materials she pointed out and placing them in the carriage.  There was some contention in the kitchen when Martha was trying to cook dinner for everyone but they had parts for a sink laying all over the place.  They had to use one of the few valves left from the dungeon to create the fauscet.  It was becoming apparent that without another trip to the dungeon their attempts to modernize Bob and Martha's farm were going to hit a major roadblock.

At dinner that night someone knocked on the door.

Everyone jumped a bit, not expecting visitors.

Bob answered the door. "Who is it?"

A nymph was at the door.  She had leaf hair with aspen leaves and dressed in a similar forest dress as Kaide.  "Hello there. I'm Ki from Sakura's grove.  May I come in, I have a message."

The mention of Sakura's name made everyone a little nervous.  Hopefully everything was okay there.

"Come in, would you like to join us for dinner Ki?" Bob offered.

Ki nodded and thanked him.

Martha brought out another chair and prepared a place for her at the table.  After getting everyone served she asked, "So what is the message?"

Ki took a breath, "Well, as you know some of the people who took the hummus were from the tribesmen lingering in the town ruins.  They went back there and told their leaders what happened.  Anyway, the humans have sent an envoy back wanting to meet with Alex. Something about apologies for the misunderstanding. Some time before some of their kin went missing in the woods.  Sakura recruited them and it turns out Alex got blamed for it."

Martha nodded and placed another serving of vegetables on her plate. She didn't look too happy about this news either. "I see, thank you."

Alex frowned, "Why would they want to meet with me?  They seem like the type that would solve all their problems with violence."

"Well, they said something about needing to apologize for that.  Also something about wanting to trade for plans.  And something about a water curse on the dungeon." Ki didn't look like she really understood everything either.

Bob sighed, "It sounds like a trap."

"No need to hope for anything dad, Alex and I can go meet with them." Kaide said and everyone turned to her in surprise.

"Kaide?" Martha asked her daughter who wore an expression of pure confidence.

"I'll have you know that Sakura rarely needed to deal with threats to the forest.  If we meet in the forest and they decide to double cross us then a root strike ending them will be the result." Kaide sounded a bit scary.

"I will come too," Ki stated with conviction, "It is thanks to Alex that we all got our memories back."

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