Chapter 103: Returning to the Village

I walk through the fully restored village with my family, observing everything. It's not how I remember it. Many things are in different places, the village layout is more planned-out now with clear residential, market, and industrial sections. Included in the industrial part of the village are production facilities, like the ones that produce bathing oil, and other facilities that don't directly sell their products. This section is mostly owned by the village and managed by the elders. Since the airship production is owned by the village as well, the construction yard for them is also here. Bordering the industrial section is the pier, for easy access to warehouses. The industrial section is closest to the island for easy access to the fruit that the oil is made from.

The residential section only makes up about half of the village, since most people with a shop live above their store and workshop like my family does. The residential houses are mostly owned by miners, divers, Kheshamo, and apprentices who don't own their own shop yet. The children's playgrounds are in the middle of the residential area for ease of access. The market is mostly dominated by any building that sells products, even if the product is made in the same building, like forges, tailors, and restaurants.

Baths are sprinkled throughout the village but are mostly concentrated in the market and residential areas. Many statues have been destroyed, and since they are dedications that people made, they have not been replaced yet, but I expect that most will have a statue again by the end of the year. Whether it's made out of clay, stone, metal, or bamboo, many will seek the prestige of having their dedication be a vessel for Myrou's projection and be on display for the whole village.

Many people are moving their stuff from the airship to their new homes. I fixed the dents in the hull of the airship while the flooring was being repaired, which took me a full day of work, and now it is as good as new again.

Just as I was starting to get used to living in the city, we have to move again; I hope this is the last time we have to move.

The village is in debt now. We had to buy building materials for the evacuation site, then more to rebuild the village, and since the other villages also need to rebuild the demand has driven prices way up. Luckily for me, it’s not my job to manage the village, so I'll let Guklaro worry about the debt. Still, this would be a very good time for a group to go into the dungeon to get materials for the village; I should expect a visit from Esofy or Guklaro asking me to join the expedition team.

With Tusile training new priestesses, Guklaro is filling in as Head Elder. I do not envy her that position, especially now.

We arrive at our house, and I go upstairs to unload my storage ring. We've managed to salvage many of our more important things from the evacuation point, even though much of it was buried. Looking at what I carefully empty onto the floor, I realise that I have never really had many material possessions. My Kyhosa and my hair ornament are things I care deeply about but clothes, blankets, window curtains, my bed and many other things I can simply make out of mana, so I never had much investment in them.

I look around my mostly empty room, the lack of furniture very apparent. My dresser, bed frame, jewelry chest... anything I can't simply make out of mana is gone, and I admit it does hurt a little to not have them anymore, but I have a lot of money for the work I did for Tusile; I can easily buy replacements.

Our house is in the market section since we own a shop. It's going to be very convenient to shop for things now, since most shops will be within a five-minute walk, but the twins will have further to go to get to the playgrounds.

I notice something missing from the village: a sewage system. Having lived in the city for two months, it's something that I've grown accustomed to, and I don't know why I haven't made a proper toilet yet. We've always just used a pot and dumped our waste in a designated dumping place, a chore Mom and Dad had always done. If, however, we made a sewage system that drains into the dump, then that chore can be made obsolete.

The waste is dumped off the corner of the village. The Domrs are filter feeders and feed on the waste, and the water is actually too hot to support microbial life and kills any germs, so the water remains safe and unpolluted.

Making toilets out of mana, while convenient for me, will still cost a ton of mana. The next best choice would be to use ceramic, Aunt Chozu could probably make them, and it would be a good thing to sell provided I can convince Guklaro to install a sewer for the village. Actually, I could probably make it out of mana if everyone donates mana, like how we did with the airship. The sewer pipes don't have to be metallic mana, just loosely solid form. I can easily make it, and it doesn't have to be one type of mana, meaning I can simply pull the mana from around me. I can probably set up the sewer system within a week.

Modern toilets use siphons to flush, which means that we only need to use a pump to draw water up from the sea below us, and that should be easy to make. All of this is old technology that requires no electricity, just siphons and hand pumps. Actually, I can incorporate enchantments, so we don't even need to hand-crank the pump, but the piece will need to be higher quality and made of void essence or air mana to draw up water.

Making hundreds of pieces that need to be enchanted will be a huge pain, especially since it will also need a battery to fuel the enchantment; otherwise, people will have to stand there and power the enchantment until it's done drawing water. However, if we make a water tower, we will only need one high-quality pump with a large battery, and that can supply water to all homes. It will require more plumbing, but it will also raise the quality of life for the whole village as we can bring modern concepts like individual bathtubs, showers, sinks with running water, and more.

It's a project that will likely take a couple of weeks, but it will be cheap since I will be the one doing it. With that in mind, once I finish unpacking I walk downstairs, where Mom and Dad are setting up their tools and shops. I send a clone to talk to Guklaro while I help my parents with their tasks.

"Thank you, Aly," Mom says, organizing her tools while I sort the raw materials.

Another problem abruptly catches my attention: after years of unchecked growth, Domrs have grown quite numerous and large, and they will need to be dealt with. I send out another clone to cull their population.

There is an Aydomr, an ice Domr, a kilometer away. It is Adept in both its Race and Class and should be close to level two hundred judging by its size. Last time I could barely do any damage to it and had to support the warriors in killing it. Now, my Bond level is much higher, my Cass level is about the same, and my Race tier has increased.

My clone charges up a spear of beauty mana in conjunction with my Fang Spear of the Pack's charging ability. I dash forward, ignoring the ice spear it shoots at my clone and stab it in the face. The beauty mana rushes into the Aydomr’s brain and rapidly drains its vitality, yet, surprisingly, it doesn’t drain it all. The Aydomr turns and runs away in fear, but I pursue it with [Fairy Strike] until I kill it.

If only I had this power last time... but I was too young, I had yet to unlock my Class and my Bond was below level two hundred. I wonder if Esofy can solo kill one too? She has the breakthrough to resist its movement restriction now, which was probably the only reason why they had so much trouble with it.

While my second clone is going after the Aydomr, my first clone arrives at the village hall. Guklaro is managing the village ledger and several other things, such as airship projects. I let myself in and walk up to her office, then knock on the door politely.

"Enter" Guklaro looks up as I do so. "Alysara, I am glad to see you well; what brings you here?"

I tell her about my idea for village plumbing.

"Hmmm, this is certainly the best option for now; we are running low on funds. Plus it will help bring people to the village who have become used to the city’s luxuries." Guklaro puts a hand on her chin in thought. "I don't see many people not wanting this, and I am sure most will be willing to donate mana to this project. Very well, I will make an announcement at this evening’s Lojyo. The battery we used last time is destroyed, so you may need to prepare another for tomorrow." Guklaro grabs a journal labeled: 'Expansion Projects' and starts writing.

"We'll also need materials for the water tower, that will take a few days at least to acquire unless you are also willing to make it out of mana?" Guklaro asks.

"If it needs to be, then I’ll do it, but that will be another week to make," I answer.

It will have to be made of higher quality mana than the pipes. It is going to be the tallest building in the village, so it needs to look nice, be structurally sound, and have pumps and mana batteries. It would be best if it was made out of space essence to be larger on the inside than the outside, but I am not a miracle worker, my [Mana Manipulation] would need to have Class bonuses to make that possible. Well, we could cannibalize a part of the airship, but it is currently being used to ferry people around even in its incomplete state.

"Right now, construction materials are being sold at a premium – the price has inflated to over seven hundred percent of what it used to be – and there's a waitlist for materials, so making the tower out of mana is likely the cheapest and quickest way to get it."

"I didn't think that the price would rise that much." I knew it would be bad, but that’s ridiculous.

"Bamboo takes time to grow, so good materials are limited in supply. That and the fact that almost every village needs the materials means that demand is at an all-time high. It honestly could be much worse. If we weren't the only village producing bath oil for years now, we wouldn't have the money to fully restore the village. I have to say that Tusile is the best at business, and her foresight for times like these really helped."

"If everyone is buying construction materials, then they won't have money for our products, will they?" I ask after thinking about that for a few moments.

"Yes, but we will still see some trade. The villages which grow bamboo specialized for construction will buy our products, and they will buy more than they would normally since they have a large excess of money. These things will circulate around over time and, eventually, things will reach equilibrium."

I'm not worried, Guklaro knows what she is doing and can ask Tusile, who has proven to be the best person during times like these.

"I'll get started on the battery then... where will the water tower be? I'd rather this battery be used for the water tower enchantments to help cut down on time needed to make it."

"Use one of the empty lots in the industry section," Guklaro answers, still writing in the book.

There are many empty lots throughout the village for later buildings Many will likely end up as houses, shops or both as people move here, since we are one of the first villages to have been restored. Or we may need to build more warehouses, or, in this case, a water tower.

"Wouldn't the market or residential area be better, placing it closer to people who can refill the battery to keep the enchantment running?"

Guklaro looks up. "Hmm, that might be better, or perhaps closer to the docks? Yes, the docks are still in the industry section, but close enough to the market that it's a convenient location."

With the location picked out, I walk there to start making the mana battery.