I used the [Universal Farming Tool] to excavate a brand-new, large reservoir.
It was located on the west side of the village, roughly two kilometers along the waterway that connected the village to the river. Since the Shrimp Pond sat on the southern side of the channel, I decided to build this one to the north.
The current water supply was sufficient, but this was a precautionary measure against the unlikely event of a drought. The river's flow had never fluctuated much, so while I expected it to be fine, one can never be too careful.
The new reservoir measured two hundred meters by two hundred meters, with a maximum depth of about twenty meters. For now, it was a standalone basin, but I planned to eventually link it directly to the first reservoir I had built.
I would have preferred to simply expand the original reservoir, but the number of buildings around it had grown too dense to make that feasible. Besides, the Pond Turtles had made it their home. I would have felt terrible disturbing them with noisy construction work.
The reservoir and its connecting channel were finished in about ten days, though I had yet to fill it with water. Lu apparently wanted to use the dry basin for an experiment.
I initially assumed she was testing her Chain Explosion Shells, but it turned out to be the Chain Freezing Shells. She had demonstrated them at a recent banquet, but they hadn't been well-received by the spectators because they only produced a quiet snap of ice at the impact point rather than a thunderous boom. I wondered if the lack of popularity had been weighing on her.
"Wait, are these Chain Freezing Shells intended for mining as well?" I asked.
"Yes. Apparently, it’s quite common to strike a water vein during excavation and have the entire site flood."
I had heard similar stories—of many mines being abandoned because the sheer volume of water made further work impossible.
"That’s where these shells come in! They freeze the incoming water instantly."
"And then what? What do you do once it's frozen?"
"You break the ice and resume mining in the areas away from the water vein. It allows you to reclaim sites that were thought to be lost."
"Oh, wow. That’s actually incredible."
"Isn't it?" Lu said proudly.
However, a thought occurred to me. "But won't the ice in the untouched areas eventually melt? Then the place would just flood again."
"Heh heh. Did you really think I hadn't considered that?"
"I suppose you have."
"Of course I have! The ice created by these Chain Freezing Shells won't melt at room temperature!"
...That sounded like it could be extremely dangerous.
"Naturally, they must be handled with care," she added.
I hadn't noticed that property during the banquet demonstration because the frozen spots were immediately targeted for destruction by the next rounds.
"The issue is that for the miners to be able to break it, the ice needs to be a bit softer. That's the experiment I want to run here."
Lu set a Chain Freezing Shell in place. She used magic to manifest a massive sphere of water about ten meters in diameter and launched the shell into it. The sphere burst, then instantly crystallized into a solid mass. It looked like a piece of avant-garde art.
"This is the standard Chain Freezing Shell."
Lu then created a small water ball with magic and threw it against the frozen sculpture. The small ball simply splashed against the surface and fell to the ground as liquid.
"It didn't freeze?"
"That's because I've integrated Solidification Magic into the chain alongside the freezing spell. But because of that, it’s too resistant to external factors. It's a nightmare to break."
"Wasn't everyone smashing it easily at the banquet?"
"That's because the Chain Explosion Shells are absurdly powerful. Their force is enough to dissipate both the freezing and solidification effects."
I see.
"Regardless, unless I can refine these, they won't be practical for mining. As it stands, the workers would just be trading a site submerged in water for one submerged in permanent ice."
If she made it too soft, the ice would melt naturally. If she weakened the solidification too much, it would continue to freeze everything it touched. It sounded like a complex puzzle.
Still...
"Instead of trying to fix the shells themselves, wouldn't it be easier to develop a spell specifically designed to melt the ice they create?"
"..."
Lu went quiet for a moment, thinking it over, then began chanting a spell. A thin jet of flame, about a meter long, extended from her hand. She used the narrow flame to carve through the frozen water sphere. In no time, she had sliced it into perfectly uniform cubes.
It seemed her experiment for the day was concluded.
I was about to open the sluice gate, but then Hakuren and Guronde approached me, asking if they could use the area for a field study.
"I don't mind, but please don't do anything dangerous."
"It'll be fine, trust me!" Hakuren replied.
I didn't necessarily distrust her, but I decided to tag along anyway. Since the new reservoir was a fair distance away, we traveled by carriage. The children were having a wonderful time.
Kuro’s children trotted alongside the carriage, and on their backs sat the fist-sized children of Zabuton. They were acting as both guards and students.
The theme of today's lesson was "Wind." Hakuren used her magic to whip up a whirlwind. It was ten meters wide and over a hundred meters tall—at that scale, "whirlwind" felt like an understatement. Being near it made me feel like I might be sucked right in.
The vortex began to thrash about like a living creature, but Hakuren simply punched it, and it vanished. I was genuinely impressed that a whirlwind could be neutralized with a physical strike. I was also very glad she hadn't tried that inside the village. A gust of that magnitude would have likely leveled several buildings. Doing it out here, far from the village, was definitely the right call.
I thought that was the end of it, but I was wrong. Hakuren explained that the first one was a whirlwind forcibly manifested through magic. The next one would be created by warming the ground.
Guronde began explaining the concept of updrafts to the children. Apparently, a whirlwind doesn't just happen from heat alone; you need air currents passing over the warm ground from two different directions... or something like that. I decided to pay attention to Guronde’s lecture as well.
The children soon began generating small, manageable whirlwinds of their own using magic.
"Once you understand the underlying principles of how these things occur in nature, you can eventually learn to utilize non-attribute magic to achieve them," Hakuren said proudly.
I see. Since I was unable to use magic, it seemed this was a conversation that had nothing to do with me. I felt a little dejected.
Perhaps because the field study had been such a success, some of the fist-sized spiderlings began exhibiting a new behavior.
First, they would source a large leaf. Then, holding the leaf aloft, they would cast a whirlwind spell and leap into the center. They would be carried upward by the gale, essentially surfing through the air on their leaves.
It looked like a lot of fun, but I had to remind them to only use whirlwind magic in wide-open spaces. Doing it indoors was strictly forbidden to ensure they didn't cause trouble for anyone else.
They eventually asked for even larger leaves, suggesting that leaves from the World Tree would be ideal. I had to turn them down. World Tree leaves were vital for medicine, and using them for toys was a bit much.
Sure, the dwarves were trying to ferment sake using an extract from the leaves, but they considered that serious business, not play. The High Ogre maids had also used them to make cherry blossom mochi, but that was a culinary pursuit.
Well, I suppose it all came down to a "playful spirit." And a playful spirit is important. In the end, I convinced the spiderlings to settle for banana leaves and gave them some of the fruit as well.
The Universal Ship, which traveled between the Village of the Great Tree and Village Four (the Sun Castle), happened to be in port.
"Hey, Boss... I mean, Village Head."
Tou, the ship's captain, approached me carrying a heavy load.
"These are some prototype fruits we’ve been growing at Village Four. They seemed ripe, so I brought them over."
"I appreciate it."
He presented a variety of fruits I had never seen before. Since I had planted them using the [Universal Farming Tool], I didn't even know their names, let alone which parts were edible.
"Bell and Gou wanted you to have them before they started researching how to eat them. Though, I figure you just crack most of them open and eat what's inside, right?"
"Probably. But we like to see how the flavor changes if you eat them raw, cook them, or freeze them."
"Huh, fancy. Oh, the dwarf guys also mentioned that these two specific ones would make good alcohol, so they want you to mass-produce them."
"I can't do everything at once. Tell Bell and Gou I’ll focus on the ones that are easiest to grow first. Once I have some free time, I’ll head over there to plow more fields."
"Got it. Also, once that new reservoir on the west side is filled with water, would you mind if I floated the Universal Ship on it?"
"I don't mind, but is there a particular reason?"
"A ship’s a ship, even if it flies. It’s good to let it sit in the water every once in a while."
"That makes sense. And the new reservoir is much larger than the old one."
"Exactly. The depth looks perfect, too."
"I only intend to keep it as a backup water source for now, so feel free. Just be careful—the forest is close, so you’ll need to keep a sharp eye out."
If I were there, Kuro's children would be around to provide security, but otherwise, it could be dangerous.
"Don't worry. We’ll use it as an opportunity for security drills."
"Drills, huh? Speaking of which, how is the crew doing?"
The crew of the Universal Ship consisted mostly of the devil and dream demon races from Village Four. They were eager, but since they were largely self-taught, I wondered how they fared in the eyes of a professional captain like Tou.
"They’re doing great. Maybe it’s because they spent so long living in a confined space like Village Four, but they’ve adapted perfectly to life on a ship. I could spend six months at sea with those guys."
"That’s good to hear."
"It's a great ship, after all," Tou said before heading toward the dungeon.
He was likely going to use the teleportation gate to visit the hot spring area. He seemed to feel guilty about leaving the management of that gate entirely to Yor, so he made a point of visiting her frequently with souvenirs in hand.
Futa, who managed the gate at Village Five, always told me about their visits with a mischievous grin. I wondered if there was something more going on between them.
On a different note, there was Miyo in Shashato City. Her working conditions were supposed to have improved significantly, but she was reportedly buried in paperwork. It turned out she had been assisting Magistrate Ifuls with his administrative duties.
Considering the various ways our village had inconvenienced Shashato City in the past, I wasn't about to tell her to stop helping, though I hoped she wasn't overextending herself.
According to Michael from the Goroun Company, rumors were spreading throughout the city about a "Mysterious Little Girl Maid" who secretly controlled Shashato’s finances. I honestly didn't know what kind of face I was supposed to make when I heard that.