NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29
Chapter 29
Prejudice
Under the blazing midsummer sun that baked the ground, Valin and Valetta greeted Isaac and 5 armed soldiers at the village’s entrance.The soldiers were clad in thick bronze reinforced leather armor, and wore bronze helmets to cover their heads. They were heavily armored.Apart from Isaac, the soldiers were carrying water buckets in their hands. Except for the short swords on their waists they didn’t bring any other weapons, or shields.Moreover, only Isaac didn’t wear a helmet, maybe because he thought that it would hinder him in the time-consuming inspection.「And thus, while I’m inspecting the village, the army will be making camp near the village, so I was wanting to ask permission to use village’s water channel......」(Isaac) 「Of course it will be alright. Please, no need to hold back use it to your liking.」(Valin) Valin replied to Isaac, who’d asked apologetically with a smile, but in his mind he was surprised.Because it had never crossed his mind, that the commander of the army that was heading to the village was Isaac.Even if Isaac had visited the village several times before, because he always politely interacted with the villagers like today, Valin couldn’t have imagined him as an army commander and a person with a peerage.Furthermore, there were family crest ornaments on the short swords that dangled from the soldiers’ waists. It appeared that they were all nobles.A commander of a Noble Unit wouldn’t come from low-ranked nobles but of course from the high-ranked nobles, so Isaac was obviously a high-ranked noble.By the way, currently on Isaac’s short sword there was magnificent family crest ornament.Whenever he visited the village before for inspections, his short sword hadn’t had any ornaments and he also inspected the village by himself, so the villagers didn’t feel any air of intimidation from him and just consider him as yet another common soldier with a common short sword. 「Thank you very much. I’ll make sure the soldiers don’t enter too deeply into the village. Please convey to the villagers to not worry about the soldiers.」(Isaac) After Isaac said so to Valin, he gave the order to the soldiers behind him to draw water.The soldiers who received the order made an immediate reply and then ran towards the water channel with water buckets shaking in both hands.Isaac observed the running soldiers before turning his attention back to Valin and Valetta. 「Well then, it’s a bit early but please let me to inspect the village. Has the growth of the crops in the fields gone well?」(Isaac) 「Yes, thanks to the water from the water channel, they didn’t succumb to drought and were able to grow favorably. Furthermore, the crops are growing differently from the usual, its growth is faster than before. At this rate, we might be able to harvest a bit of potato for the tax tribute.」(Valin) Valin answered Isaacs question about the crops condition with the reply that he, Valetta and Kazura had discussed before.The crops in the village’s fields were able to grow rapidly because of the fertilizer that Kazura had brought and the humus gathered from the forest. In case Isaac asked about it in detail, then he would answer only about the humus. 「That is good news. For us to be able to receive crops as tribute, even if it is in small quantity from this village, is something that is really helpful since the taxes from the other villages this year are greatly decreased.」(Isaac) Isaac let out a small smile after hearing Valin’s answer, and then he urged Valin and Valetta to lead him towards the closest potato field. ✦✧✦✧ Isaac arrived at the potato field and was amazed by the sight of the potatoes that grew inside.The potatoes that were growing in the field were outstandingly larger in size than when he had visited before. Any observer could see the thick strong stems and surprisingly gigantic leaves.Isaac personally was virtually a layman in the field of agriculture, but he had never seen a potato plant with stems or leaves that was big like this before. 「This is...... As far as I know, I never see a potato grown with stems and leaves as big as in this place, however...... The crops planted here, are they really the same potatoes that were tributed last year?」(Isaac) 「Yes, this is the same usual potato crop. However, this year we mixed a large amount of soil taken from the forest into the fields.」(Valin) When Isaac heard that, he squatted near a potato plant with a curious expression, and touched the leaves.The thickness of the leaves seemed to have increased and the thick stems that were gathered together were very impressive.If he was told that this was the same potato crop that he’d seen one month ago, to be honest, he wouldn’t have believed it. 「So it was mixing the soil from the forest that received the blessing of Greysior-sama together with the village fields.....But I couldn’t have imagined that it would’ve had this much effectiveness...」(Isaac) 「We were also surprised. We don’t know if this method is possible in other villages, but it might just be because Gresior-sama’s blessing that the forest in Grisea Village received was very powerful.」(Valin) Hearing Valin’s answer, Isaac remembered the legend about the village, so he showed agreement with Valin’s answer about the potato growth.After all, this village was the village in the legend where Greysior-sama had appeared and saved the people hundreds of years ago, so it wasn’t strange if the forest near this village had heavily received Greysior’s blessing, and he could understand if the soil from that forest could cause the crops to grow this fast. 「As expected from Grisea Village. By using the soil that received Greysior-sama blessing these crops could grow strongly like this, so we can expect that we will receive crops on the next tribute, right?」(Isaac) If they used the soil from the surrounding forest that had received Greysior’s great blessing then in the future the food production output of Grisea Village might be dramatically increased.Furthermore, because of the newly built water channel in the village, even in this drought they still had stable water supply, so there was no need to worry about decreased food production even in the middle of great drought.Perhaps, it would be possible to make a large scale farming region centered on this village, or so Isaac thought. He took out a parchment and charcoal from his pocket and wrote about the state of growing crops and about the forest’s soil. 「I’m curious about the crops in the other fields, but first please explain to me about the water channel.」(Isaac) Finished with writing his memo, Isaac raised his face while still holding the parchment and spoke out. Valin and Valetta nodded with smiles while murmuring “so it has come to this” in their hearts and secretly putting themselves on guard.On Isaac previous inspection, he hadn’t particularly probed about the matter of the water channel, but just like what Kazura had worried about, it seemed that this time Isaac might have been informed about the relative location of the village and the river.When Isaac conveyed the inspection report to his superior, there was no doubt that they had talked about the origin of the water, was what Valin and Valetta thought. Actually, Isaac reported directly to Nelson, and it was Nelson that had pointed out the relative location of the village and the river, however neither Valin nor Valetta had even a bit of an inkling that Isaac was a person of such status that he could be reporting directly to Nelson. 「The water that flows in the water channel, is it drawn from the river in the northwest?」(Isaac) 「Yes, it is drawn from the river.」(Valin) 「Fumu...... But the river in the northwest is situated lower than the village, so it would be impossible for it to flow from that place, how can you draw water from it?」(Isaac) When Isaac finally inquired, Valin gave Valetta a quick glance, and Valetta noted this nod as he began to speak. 「As a matter of fact, my daughter Valetta came up with the design of a device called a waterwheel. Its function is to continuously scoop water out from the river and deposit it in the water channel.」(Valin) 「Waterwheel?」(Isaac) Hearing the unfamiliar word “waterwheel”, Isaac parroted the word and asked back.As far as Isaac knew, he’d never heard about a tool that allowed continuous water draw in such an amount that it could always create flow in a water channels. 「This tool called “waterwheel”, is it located at the end of the water channel from this village?」(Isaac) 「Yes, that’s true. Should I guide you to it right now?」(Valin) Isaac immediately nodded to Valin who’d offered to be a guide.Even though he had previously thought that it was surely because of a newly discovered source of water, it was actually because of a tool that scooped water from the river.Isaac for some reason felt an indescribable premonition as he was guided by Valin and followed by Valetta to the river.
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After walking for about 30 minutes.The three people arrived at the location where the waterwheel Mk.2 had been installed several days ago.The waterwheel like usual was continuously turning vigorously, by using its wooden box it scooped water from the water channel that ran along the river and carried it into the wooden aqueduct. 「Th-This is amazing!」(Isaac) When Isaac caught sight of the waterwheel, he was struck by admiration by the scene of the waterwheel carrying large amounts of water from low ground to a higher level.It didn’t use any human power, a tool that moved by the force of flowing water alone. Isaac had never seen such a thing until now. 「This is waterwheel. It is something that Valetta had thought about, to find a method to somehow draw water from the river to the village.」(Valin) 「To get water to such a higher place...... This is an amazing invention! Is this what Valetta-san had designed alone?」(Isaac) After staring intensely at the waterwheel that kept on turning Isaac took out a parchment from his pocket and started drawing the waterwheel while asking Valetta 「Yes, I thought many different ways to draw water from the river, and thought up this waterwheel. Everyone in the village cooperated together in making the parts and assembling it.」(Valetta) Although Isaac was nodding to Valetta’s answer, in the corner of his mind that wasn’t consumed by the excitement for the existence of the waterwheel, he felt that something wasn’t completely clear.Because, a mere peasant’s daughter, furthermore a young girl like Valetta was able to invent something revolutionary like this was something impossible based on common sense as Isaac knew it.Since the ancient times, it was always an engineer or craftsman in the city that invented something new, Isaac had never heard of a story where a peasant in a remote area invented something. It wasn’t that Isaac looked down on the farmers, but the peasants in this small village didn’t have any opportunity to learn any knowledge other than farming, so for them to be able to develop a revolutionary tool like this was plainly unbelievable. 「To be able to invent a tool like this alone is....... Could you show me the paper where you wrote down the way to build this tool called waterwheel?」(Isaac) 「That is...... This waterwheel was made part by part every time I had a thought about it, so there is nothing written of it. I’m really sorry.」 Valetta apologetically bowed down. Isaac dubiously drew his brow momentarily before returned to normal countenance and nodded while saying, ‘Is that so?’ 「Then, may you please give me a brief explanation on how this waterwheel works and how to make it?」(Isaac) 「I understand. Then for the first, this waterwheel works by....」(Valetta) While Isaac listened to the explanation from Valetta, he noted the main point of the waterwheel on the parchment.Valetta confidently explained the mechanism of the waterwheel, and Isaac who was still feeling that something was amiss, took a closer look at the waterwheel. When he casually lanced at the axle part, he discovered that the axle was greatly worn out by the continuous friction. 「What’s this? This axle part is considerably worn out...... If this keeps going then won’t it end up breaking?」(Isaac) 「Eh? Really?」(Valetta) Isaac spoke while peering at the waterwheel’s axle parts, and Valetta immediately stopped her explanation about the waterwheel, and went to tand beside Isaac.Then, she personally looked up at the waterwheel axle and surely enough it was considerably worn out.
It was still alright for now, but if it kept being used and continued turning then the waterwheel might end up collapsing when the axle broke. 「This is, if the waterwheel continues turning then certainly the haft will broken...... I need to think of some countermeasure for this.」(Valetta) Valetta spoke after seeing the worn out condition of the shaft. Then she went to the water channel entrance on the upstream side of the river and inserted a wooden board nearby into it so that the water channel was disconnected from the river.Since the river stopped supplying water, the waterwheel that had kept on turning previously gradually stopped moving. 「I see, using that board you can always stop the waterwheel, right?」(Isaac) Isaac felt admiration towards the situation, Valetta nodded with a smile. 「Yes, since with this way, we could always repair the waterwheel if needed. If Isaac-san hadn’t noticed that the axle had been worn out, before we could service it, the waterwheel would be broken first. Thank you very much!」(Valetta) Valetta was expressing her thanks. ‘It’s my pleasure.’ Isaac replied. And once again he continued to write in his memo as Valetta resumed her explanation about the waterwheel. ✦✧✦✧ It had been half a day since the inspection began.In front of the forest near the village that was painted by the sunset’s color, Isaac had finished receiving the report from Valin about the preparation status of the timber for their taxes. They mutually exchanged their thanks after the negotiation. After Isaac received the explanation about the waterwheel from Valetta, the three of them returned to the village, and Valin reported to Isaac about the food situation in the village and the growth of the crops as they toured all the fields.About the sudden crops growth, Isaac believed that it was because of the influence from Greysior’s blessing in the forest soil, so he didn’t particularly bother probing into it, but he explained to the village chief that in the future there might some instructions from Isteria asking for the food production technique. By the way, Valetta went home earlier to make dinner. 「Then, I will return to my unit. I brought along the unit out of personal convenience, so I’m sorry for the trouble.」(Isaac) 「No-no-no, it was us who are honored to be able to lend assistance for the army’s business. You don’t owe us any favor.」(Valin) Maybe because the inspection had ended without any incident one way or another, Valin replied cheerfully as if a great burden had been lifted off his shoulders.Hearing Valin’s reply, Isaac showed his smile, “Thank you very much”. 「Then, shall we finish up here? I will visit in one month, before then please finish the preparation for the taxes.」(Isaac) 「I understand. Until we meet again then, in one month.」(Valin) Hearing Isaac’s words, Valin replied and deeply bowed before returning to his house.While watching Valin’s back as he walked away, Isaac thought back on the inspection result, “well then, let’s take a breather while surveying the village.” Judging from physical conditions of Valin, Valetta and the villagers that he sometimes saw during inspection, it seemed that Grisea Village’s food condition had substantially improved.Making the waterwheel to draw water, using forest soil to promote crop growth; during this month Grisea Village had undergone rapid recovery. It was something that made him amazed.This should be a very joyous situation, but Isaac felt that something was amiss. Because, everything was going too well in the village and that was what caused it to feel unnatural.He was especially bothered about that waterwheel.Even if it was true that such a revolutionary invention was invented by one peasant, even now Isaac still wasn’t able to accept it.
While Isaac was thinking again about the waterwheel and surveying the village, he noticed a small shadow in the edge of his view.Based on the identification of his sidelong glance, behind the tree 30 meters away was a child quietly looking at him while having hidden himself. 「(That boy...... looks about 5-6 years old. If I remember rightly, his name is......)」(Isaac) Isaac tried to remember the village name register and thought for awhile. Isaac seemed to have planned something, and waved his hand at the child with a smile.The boy who received that hand wave, realized that he had been discovered but soon shrugged his shoulders and immediately headed out from the tree’s shadow and started running in Isaac’s direction. 「Nii-chan, you’re an important soldier, right!? It’s the first time I’ve seen armor this cool!」(Boy) The boy ran to Isaac and without greeting him the boy started talking in excitement.Apparently, the boy was very impressed by the figure of a soldier in heavy equipment. 「Hm, I’m not really that important. Just a Captain of 100 soldiers.[1]」(Isaac) 「100 people!? Amazing! You always came to the village with that cheap looking armor, I can hardly recognize you!」(Boy) Isaac made a wry smile after hearing the boy’s words. The boy was circling at him in excitement and enjoying himself while looking at the armor. Looking at him, Isaac decided to test what he had thought before and began asking the boy. 「You must be Colts-kun right? Actually, the unit is camping near the village, do you want to visit for awhile?」(Isaac) Isaac spoke and Colts face showed a mixed expression of surprise and expectation. 「Eh? I can?」(Colts) He replied it while staring at Isaac. 「Yes, no problem. But, before that, let’s inform your parents that you will be outside the village for awhile. Since, without their permission it may cause a commotion.」(Isaac) 「Yes! My house is this way!」(Colts) Colts replied to Isaac’s suggestion with great joy and start walking in front of Isaac to his house at high pace.After Isaac walked for several steps following Colts, he stopped walking and clapped his hand, ‘That’s right’. 「What’s wrong? Let’s quickly go!」(Colts) 「No, I forget an important thing. But if Colts-kun knows about it, I want you to tell me about it....」(Isaac) 「What? Let’s quickly go!」(Colts) Isaac said it with serious expression, but the impatient Colts tried to hurry Isaac.Although Isaac felt a little guilt in his mind about manipulating Colts, he spoke out what he had thought awhile ago. 「Just now, I asked the name of the person who made the waterwheel to the village chief Valin-san, but I never heard that name before so I forgot...... Colts-kun, do you know the name of the person who made the waterwheel?」(Isaac) Hearing Isaac’s question, Colts blankly stared at him for a moment before immediately opening his mouth. 「About Kazura-sama?」(Colts)