Drinking Water

The morning sun rose indifferently.

Everyone who had attended the meeting at Waldrova Castle acted according to the measures they had devised the night before.

Isabella proclaimed a state of war by sounding the alarm bell in the center of Hestia Village.

The joyful day they had enjoyed so much scattered like a midsummer night's dream, and a nightmare began.

Isabella did not thoughtlessly instill fear in them.

She merely made them understand that the current situation was serious enough to warrant caution.

The cooperation of the adventurers staying in the village was smoothly secured under Erika's direction.

“The legendary adventurer Eri came here?”

“Of course I have to participate!!”

Ferda didn't know it, but Erika—or rather, Eri—was practically a legendary figure among adventurers.

She was known to the world as the Great Sage Eri, or Gold Hand Eri.

This was thanks to her reputation for helping even bronze-tier adventurers rise to gold tier.

‘She was one of the twelve members of the expedition that killed the Demon King.’

She was certainly an adventurer whose experience, wisdom, and ability to improvise had been thoroughly proven.

For adventurers who admired her, the news that such a legendary figure had become head of the Far Eastern Adventurer Guild branch was enough to send morale soaring.

Then Ferda grew curious about something and asked Isabella.

“Has she quit her position as Tower Master of Blue Eyes?”

“I don’t think so. The situation hasn’t stabilized, and she couldn’t do something so irresponsible.”

Then what would happen?

He was curious, but since she was a Dragon Spawn who had lived longer than he had, he decided not to worry about unnecessary matters.

While Erika was persuading the adventurers, Olivia gathered and persuaded the nobles inside the castle.

There was no hangover cure as effective as that.

Even the young ladies and young masters who had not yet sobered up became fully alert at the words that they would soon die.

“W-We should hurry and escape, shouldn’t we?”

“I-I think I’ll be leaving now…….”

Those who had fallen into a panic began by thinking about how to escape.

It took only an instant for the place to become a chaotic mess.

Dealing with them was Olivia’s responsibility.

“Everyone! Calm down and listen to me!”

At that moment, Olivia’s beautiful voice rang through the banquet hall.

The Imperial princess’s charisma seized hold of them.

“The Far East is currently isolated. If you panic and flee now, it will mean a loss of fighting strength! And not merely a loss of fighting strength. We will lose our hope of escaping this predicament!”

They calmed down at the warning that panic would only make them lose even more.

“Now is not the time to flee. We must stand as one. Why do you think wild wolves cannot easily bring down a cow? Because cows always stay together. Even if each of you is insignificant on your own, if you unite, you can become a lantern—and a spear—that will lead us through this predicament! So…….”

Olivia’s tears began to fall.

“Please…… lend us your strength…… so that this land, this continent of Cerdes……! Will not be stolen away by demons……!”

The princess’s tears.

Their purity was enough to stir everyone’s emotions.

“As fellow people of the continent of Cerdes, we cannot simply stand by and watch!”

“As you say, we must unite if we want to survive!”

Their agreement spread like fire across an autumn field.

“Thank you! Everyone!! Thank you so much!!”

Olivia left the room, barely able to walk and supported by others, overcome with emotion.

The moment she was off the stage, she casually wiped away her tears with her thumb.

“Phew.”

The moisture in her voice had dried up like a wasteland, and a victorious smile hung on her face.

She asked Ferda with an impish expression,

“How was it? My speech?”

“……It was excellent.”

She had not simply urged them to ask the Empire for help; she had led them to unite as people of the continent of Cerdes.

Since it had become their natural duty as members of the continent of Cerdes, rather than a request for an Imperial relief force, the amount they could demand in compensation later would be reduced.

She understood the current situation, understood crowds, and understood herself as well.

‘Why would a woman like this break her own script and do something like that?’

He considered pressing her about it, but kept silent.

Whatever had happened then had ultimately benefited Ferda, and this was no time to start a pointless fight.

For now, they had to ride the momentum.

“What will you do next?”

“I’m going to hold a tactical competition and select a supreme commander and chief of staff. Becoming the supreme commander would be a major stepping stone to advancement.”

“So we’re not the only ones trying to turn a crisis into an opportunity.”

“We’re going to die either way, so we have to try something, don’t we?”

Erika and Olivia had each done their part.

Ferda also had to do what he could.

That was why he went to find Burnell.

He was bustling about with the researchers and laborers inside the castle.

“We’ve raised the magic stone’s efficiency to 25%. We’ve also improved mana leakage, bringing the practical figure to 20.32%, a little over one-fifth.”

It was an astonishing improvement, spurred by what had happened in Halim.

Ferda picked up one of the stones.

Compared to how it had looked at first, its shape was beginning to take form, and its interior was becoming clearer as well.

“How many shots can one magic stone fire?”

“By adjusting the output, it can be used for two shots.”

“How many rifles and magic stones do we have?”

“There are currently 150 magitech rifles, and 520 magic stones for them. Since we can adjust the output to fire two shots per stone, that amounts to 1,040 rounds.”

“So if every shot hits, we can kill 1,040 monsters.”

That was hardly a hopeful prospect.

“We don’t have much time. Can you increase production any further?”

“We can somehow make more rifles, but…… the magic stones are the problem.”

“How many more can you make?”

“In terms of available materials, I think 300 is the limit.”

Magic stones were made by processing monsters.

They were supplied through the Pascal Trading Company, but that supply chain had been cut off, leaving them unable to make any more.

‘So 1,600 shots is the limit.’

Was there no good solution?

Looking down at the magitech rifle Burnell had made, Ferda asked,

“I was wondering…….”

“Yes.”

“Can I recharge this magitech rifle with my own mana and fire it?”

Since it used mana all the same, perhaps it would work.

Contrary to what Ferda had thought, Burnell’s response was negative.

“That won’t work. It operates only with magic stones.”

“I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“Magic crystal stones can store mana and release it for use. But magic stones can’t do that, can they? I mean that they operate according to a form of mana and a principle that humans cannot replicate.”

“So the magic we use and the magic in magic stones are effectively separate things.”

“That’s right.”

Come to think of it.

If their forms were identical or even similar, they could have converted them into a form that used junk mana.

Then, suddenly, Ferda found himself thinking about the distant future.

‘How did the revival of magitech come about?’

Extracting magic stones was possible because monsters existed.

It was not an era when monsters overflowed as they did now, so naturally, the resources that could be extracted would have been limited.

Ferda exercised his imagination.

Had Burnell illegally mass-produced and slaughtered monsters?

‘Could Burnell also be plotting to overthrow this continent…….’

Ferda shook his head hard.

He erased those useless speculations from his mind.

It would be rude to use needless imagination to suspect someone in a field that was not his own.

‘I should have dug into this more deeply.’

Resenting the days he had wasted by focusing only on pointless anger, he turned his attention back to reality.

He had to prepare for the war that would soon begin.

“For now, process the magic stones first. We need to create a use for them immediately.”

“Understood.”

They had to operate magitech soldiers.

160 rifles.

That meant they could operate 160 magitech soldiers.

‘No, not even 160.’

Judging by how crossbowmen operated, a crossbowman always carried one additional crossbow as a spare.

Even if they pushed themselves to increase the number, they needed to produce 100 soldiers.

One hundred soldiers.

One shot per monster, for a total of 1,600 monsters.

It would be nice if everything went that smoothly, but he did not think optimistically.

Nothing optimistic had ever helped him in his life.

“Regent.”

As if to prove that point, Isabella came to see him.

“We’ve distributed all the war supplies and finished providing the barracks as well.”

“Good work.”

The Beginning-of-Spring Festival was a festival held to pray for the abundance of spring.

Spring was the beginning of life, but ironically, it was also the most impoverished season.

However, because they had prepared a vast amount of food in consideration of the region’s characteristics and the supplies needed for the Beginning-of-Spring Festival, they could accommodate all the suddenly increased mouths.

Had another territory been placed in this situation, it would have been truly difficult to manage.

‘By a simple estimate, we have enough for a month.’

But it did not seem that she had come merely to report that result.

As proof, Isabella’s hair was disheveled.

For someone who was usually so neat to have become disheveled meant there was a troublesome problem she could not solve.

Isabella forced her sticky lips apart and said,

“However, a problem has arisen.”

As expected.

“The drinking water is the problem.”

“Has something happened to the waterways?”

“Yes.”

Isabella unfolded the map she had brought.

It was a diagram showing the flow of various resources that she had mapped out since becoming an administrator.

“As you can see here, our water source is water flowing down from the north.”

“That’s right.”

“We confirmed that monsters are blocking that route and contaminating the drinking water as well.”

That explained her disheveled hair.

It was the worst possible situation.

“So what have you done about it?”

“It seems Blue Eyes has already taken care of it. To prevent the contamination from spreading, they diverted a river outside the territory.”

“That’s fortunate.”

There would be no secondary damage, but the shortage of water remained.

“What about groundwater?”

“There’s still water in the reservoir, so it can be drunk if we purify it properly, but…… at most, it will last a week.”

“We’ll have to ration it.”

A week.

In war, it was common to besiege a castle.

It was a battle to see which side grew exhausted and raised the white flag first.

That method caused little damage and was the most effective.

Being surrounded by monsters was even more effective than the siege formations humans commonly used.

And it involved the most important thing of all: water.

They had contaminated the water humans needed, cutting off their lifeline.

‘Besides, all the supplies we distributed are going to be preserved dry rations…….’

Since they had been made by removing as much moisture as possible, they required more water than usual.

They needed a countermeasure.

“What about filling the supply with water magic?”

“Even if we gathered all the mages and used water-creation magic, it would barely be enough for the nobles inside the castle. The magic that would actually help in this situation is rain-cloud magic, but unless we were in the southern polar region, it would draw on the territory’s lifespan, so we would need to be cautious.”

“Because it draws on the climate…….”

Water-creation magic would not be enough to replenish their supply.

The problem with weather magic was that its backlash was too severe.

Its drawback was that it could cause a severe drought in summer, when water was actually needed.

The southern region, where extreme weather—either torrential rain or drought—was common, was free of that concern.

Going without a few meals was not a major problem, but water was different.

Ferda’s choice had become extremely important.

Creating rain clouds would mean drawing on the territory’s lifespan,

but if they tried to end the battle quickly, they were not prepared,

and Iorga could help in this situation, but if they intervened, their ability to exercise autonomy would be diminished.

‘Do we have to overcome this in a week, not a month…….’

It was harsh.

He wondered whether this could truly be resolved by humans alone.

After agonizing over it for a long while, he opened his eyes.

‘We have to find water.’

Even muddy water, even filthy water, could be drunk if purified.

Ferda searched the map Isabella had spread out.

The original waterways were marked with lines drawn in blue.

A similar blue line caught his eye.

“There’s a waterway here.”

“There is, but…….”

Her response was reluctant.

Ferda had pointed to it reflexively and only realized belatedly.

Its water source was deep in the Demon Land.

In other words, it was contaminated water filled with impurities like junk mana.

Even Ferda, who was searching for so much as muddy water, found it difficult to say, ‘But isn’t it still a water source?’

What would happen if they drank this water?

The junk mana would twist the molecules inside their bodies.

Once that happened, they would lose their humanity and be turned into something resembling a Melted.

It was lethal water that caused mutation, not merely an illness.

That was why Blue Eyes had changed the river flow even without being asked.

“Regent.”

Seeing how serious the situation was, Isabella spoke cautiously.

“It seems we cannot resolve this matter among ourselves after all. It is not too late even now, so would you consider formally requesting aid from Iorga?”

“……”

Ferda could feel his heart inclining in that direction as well.

If he possessed some extraordinary ability capable of overcoming this situation, it might be different, but he was merely a human.

‘If only water could suddenly spring from the ground…….’

It would not be so easy.

They needed a method.

“Um, Regent…….”

While he was considering the matter, Burnell interrupted.

“What is it?”

“You’re saying we need water for us to drink, right? And we’re in a situation where we need it even if the water comes from the Demon Land.”

“I suppose that’s the situation.”

Burnell heard that and thought deeply about something.

He raised his head with an expression suggesting he had grasped a clue, then held up three fingers.

“Three days.”

“?”

“Please give me exactly three days. I’ll definitely come back with a solution!”

Isabella glared at Burnell with irritation in her eyes.

“Are you saying you can solve this problem?”

“Of course, I-I can’t guarantee it. But we only have a week, and if this is a time when we have to take a chance, I’d like you to give me just a little time!”

The distrustful look in the eyes of Iorga’s Spawn of Water made Ferda wonder whether it was really right to entrust this to Burnell.

Putting his impatience aside, he thought about it more carefully.

‘Come to think of it…….’

Ferda suddenly realized that he had forgotten who Burnell was.

He was not a man who made weapons, but a man who wanted to give commoners a better life.

“I’ll leave it to you.”

With the future of the territory already at stake, there was no turning back.

Ferda decided to trust the people he had believed in and recruited.

Burnell dashed away as if every second were precious.

Isabella watched his retreating back and asked Ferda,

“Do you think that magitech engineer can solve it?”

“I’m not sure myself.”

However, Ferda had a rough idea of what Burnell would become in the distant future.

He was the pioneer of magitech, the man who had brought about a revolution in technology.

He had created magic stones for the sake of improving the lives of ordinary people.

Instead of rifles, he made farm tools and machines to handle tasks that were difficult for humans and too menial for mages.

Could that improvement in ordinary people’s lives also have something to do with contaminated water?

He had always been strong in a crisis.

Ferda had no choice but to trust Burnell’s instincts.