34 – Lunch. And Making The Well

When Hippolius and I started eating, Fio and Shiro started to eat as well.
I suppose it was a rule of demon wolves, that they could not eat before us.
While Victor was the real leader of the pack, they didn’t seem to pay any attention to Victor.
Well, it was me who had invited them to join us.

“Guff-guff-guff…”
Shiro ate his food greedily.

“Mm-mm…”
Fio held the meat tightly with her right hand and ate.

“I see that you use your hands now, Fio.”

I said as I patted her on the head.
“Wuff!”
She replied with a wag of her tail.

Kelly watched this scene intently.
She was in her observation mode.

“You should eat too, Kelly.”
“Aye…”

She muttered back, and then ate her meat quietly.
However, she kept her eyes fixed on Fio and Shiro.
Observing them was more important to her than eating.

And then Victor came along.

“Hippolius. Thank you for the fish.”
“Kyuo!”

Victor had come to thank Hippolius for catching the fish.

“Are you eating too, Victor?”
“Of course, I am.”
“I see. By the way, did you find a good place to turn into farmland?”
“We have a few candidates now.”
“That’s good to know.”
“Well, regardless of where we choose, there will be a lot of work involved in preparing it.”
“Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“If the farming goes well, life here will be a lot more stable.”
“Indeed. We cannot rely on hunting and gathering forever.”

As we talked of such things, Kelly, who was still staring at Fio and Shiro, spoke.

“Let me know when you have chosen the farmland. And I will unleash the earthworm.”
“The earthworm?”
“Aye. A demon worm. However, as it’s not tamed, it might just go off somewhere.”

While it would be nice to have a worm that cultivated the land, the worm might have plans of its own.
And there was no guarantee that it would move as expected.

“Though, I will try my best to create an environment that would be comfortable for the worm.”
“We’ll be counting on you, Ms. Kelly.”

We talked about such things until lunch time was over.
Victor and the geologist took a few Adventurers with them as they headed out to investigate.
Kelly went with them.

As for me, I started work on the well.
Thankfully, I had more than enough building materials.

“I better start with the appraisal skill.”
“Hmm-hmm.”
“Ha-ha.”

Fio and Shiro were sitting side by side and watching me seriously.

“You two should watch me as I work.”
“Okay.”
“Wuff.”
“But if you get tired, you can take a walk around the base as well.”
“Okay.”
“Wuff.”

With Fio and Shiro, they would start working on their own if not given specific orders, and so I had to be careful.
If only they would take it easy and just eat, play and rest more often.
They were still young.

When it came to that point, Hippolius would rest and play without being told to, which was comforting.
Hippolius could be serious, but also knew how to relax.
Not only that, but when out playing, Hippolius would find things to eat, as well as bring food back for us.

Even now, Hippolius was wandering around the base.

I patted Fio and Shiro on the head, and then activated the appraisal skill towards the ground.
This was so I could find a water vein.
As there was a river nearby, there should be plenty of water veins underground.

And so I would likely hit one if I just dug randomly.
In that case, it was a matter of finding the most convenient place to have a well.

“I suppose the center of the base would be best.”

Also, being close to the ovens would be convenient.
And since I wanted to create a bathing area near the well, it would have to be somewhere with a lot of space.

“I think this area should do it.”

Once I had decided on a spot, I focused my attention on it.
I needed to visualize the structure.
While a deep hole had to be dug, the structure itself was quite simple.
And so the visualization process finished quickly.

And then I activated the crafting skill.
I used magic energy to compress the soil, create a hole, and use the rocks I gathered to create a wall.

Once that was done, I made a pipe out of metal.
This metal was brought from the continent and stored in my magic bag.
While it was simple in structure, I made a large and durable pump, which I attached to the well.
Then I put some priming water inside, and filled the pump with water.

“Now we won’t have to use a bucket.”
“Wuff?”
“Fio. This handle…”
“Handle?”
“Aye. This is a handle. Try moving it up and down.”
“Okay.”

Fio walked up to the well and gripped the handle with both hands.
And she said ‘Wufff…wuff…’ as she moved it up and down.

“Is it heavy?”
“I’m fine!”

After a moment, water began to gush out of the pipe.

“Water! Came out!”
“Wuff!”

Fio and Shiro’s tails were wagging excitedly.
I patted them on the head.

“You did well, Fio.”
“Wuff!”

Fio was about the size of a five-year old, and was very light.
And if someone as small as Fio could use it, then you could say that the installation of the pump was a success.

And so I decided to start work on the baths.

Next Chapter

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Bonus chapter. Thank you, SFcipher!

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