"Good morning, Big Brother."
"Good morning, Hanna-chan."
The morning after Jin had decided to stay at Martha's house, he stepped outside to wash his face. He happened to run into Hanna, who had also just woken up.
"Hanna-chan, I was looking to wash my face."
"Okay, the well is this way," she replied.
She picked up a bucket and a hand towel and started walking. Jin followed her, taking the bucket from her as a matter of course.
"It’s right here!"
The well sat about twenty meters from Martha’s house. It was rimmed with circular stonework and topped with a small roof to keep out debris. Water was drawn using a simple wooden bucket suspended from a pulley.
"Just a second... Heave... ho!"
Hanna strained her small body as she began hauling on the rope with all her might. Startled by the sight, Jin spoke up.
"W-Wait a minute, Hanna-chan. Do you really have to do this every single day?"
Hanna looked at him as if the question itself were strange. "Yeah, of course," she answered.
Jin grew thoughtful at her words. While she struggled, Hanna finished drawing the water and poured it into his bucket.
"Go ahead and wash your face first, Big Brother."
Flustered by her kindness, Jin thanked her and washed up. "Thanks. Here, let me draw the water for you this time, Hanna-chan."
Hanna gave him a bright, appreciative smile. "Okay!"
On the way back to the house, Jin continued his line of questioning. "Hanna-chan, drawing water like that is hard work, isn't it?"
"Yeah. But it's just what everyone does."
Her answer set Jin’s mind in motion. He didn't have the materials to craft complex magic tools yet, but surely he could manage a mundane one.
After breakfast, he broached the subject with Martha.
"Martha-san, is there a blacksmith in this village?"
Martha’s expression softened into a lonely smile. "My husband was the village smith, but he passed away a long time ago. We don't have anyone like that now. Why do you ask?"
"I was hoping to find a bit of iron or copper."
"Ah, if that’s all, there should be plenty left in my husband’s old workshop. It’s likely buried in dust, but if you can use it, it’s yours."
"Thank you very much."
Jin thanked her, and she led him to the workspace behind the house. It was a modest room, roughly ten square meters in size. Inside sat a broken forge, a dust-caked anvil, and various hammers. In the corner, he found a significant pile of iron and copper ingots.
"With this much, I can make plenty," Jin muttered, relieved to see the copper. He set to work immediately.
"Now then. Analyze... Copper and tin. So this is bronze. That’ll work perfectly. Now to shape it..."
Using his newly inherited magic, Jin began to reshape the bronze ingots. He fashioned a pipe, a lever, pins, a cylinder, and a piston. He was building a well pump.
"Man, magic is a lifesaver," he mused. "Back home, I’d need a lathe, a milling machine, and a furnace to do all this."
Just as he was finishing the components, Hanna appeared, having finished her morning chores.
"What are you making, Big Brother?"
"Oh, Hanna-chan. This is called a pump. It’s a tool that makes getting water out of the well much easier."
"It makes it easier?"
"You'll see. Come on."
Jin assembled the pump and carried the main unit and the piping over to the well. He found Martha there with several neighborhood women, all engaged in a well-side chat. Since everyone washed their dishes at the well, it was the natural time for the village women to congregate.
"Oh, Jin, what have you got there?"
"So this is the Jin-kun that Martha picked up? Hanna-chan seems to have taken quite a liking to him."
"How old are you, anyway?"
The curious women pelted him with questions. Jin gave them vague, polite answers while setting up his equipment.
"This is a tool called a pump," he explained.
"Hmm. And what’s that supposed to do?"
"I’m going to install it here to draw the water. It’ll be much less work than using the bucket."
One of the women looked skeptical. "Wait, is that a magic tool? Are you some kind of mage?"
Jin chuckled. "It’s not a magic tool. Where I come from, these are everywhere. Though, I did use a little magic to put it together."
Ignoring the surprised looks from Martha and the others, Jin connected the pipe to the pump, secured the unit to a wooden base, and fixed it over the well opening. He poured in a bit of water he had drawn earlier—the priming water—to fill the cylinder.
"All right, let’s test it out."
Jin began to work the lever with slow, steady strokes. He had built a standard suction pump, the kind found in old-fashioned wells.
With a rhythmic clatter, water began to gush from the spout.
"Whoa! Look at that!"
"Wait, wait! Let me try!"
The women surged forward, but Jin held them back.
"Hold on a second. I want Hanna-chan to be the first to try it... Go ahead, Hanna-chan."
He stepped aside to let the girl take his place.
"Okay. Um, I just move this handle?"
Hanna pumped the lever up and down. Immediately, a stream of water poured out. Jin hurried to slide a bucket underneath, and it was full in seconds.
"What do you think, Hanna-chan?"
"It’s so easy! Thank you, Big Brother!"
Hanna’s radiant smile made Jin’s heart swell with satisfaction. Seeing her success, the impatient neighbors finally crowded around the pump.
"Wow, this really is a breeze!"
"This is going to be such a help from now on."
"Jin-kun, you really are a wonderful mage!"
The women took turns using the pump, filling their buckets with a speed and ease that clearly shocked them.
"Jin, so this is why you wanted the copper," Martha said, looking pleased. "Thank you. It’s a wonderful gift."
Seeing the materials that had been gathering dust for years transformed into something so useful clearly made her happy.
Jin stayed for a while to ensure the pump was functioning correctly before heading home with Martha and Hanna.
It wasn't long before word spread through the village. Before he knew it, Jin was being begged by the rest of the villagers to install pumps in every well in town.
In the process, Jin earned the gratitude of the entire village, and everyone came to know his name.