Chapter 128: The Water Overhaul

The people fell silent in an instant.

Even the supreme ruler of the empire had made such a tremendous concession for them.

It was only natural for this kind of reaction to appear.

“Ah! To think His Majesty the Emperor cares for us this much. I am so moved I do not know what to do with myself.”

“Indeed, he is different from those pig-like nobles!”

“He only became ruthless to stabilize the shaken imperial family. In truth, he is a benevolent and wise ruler!”

The nobles who had been watching from afar slowly retreated, while the people hired as laborers burst into cheers.

That was how deeply Emperor Karon’s decision had touched their hearts.

In reality, no such order had ever been given.

It was one hundred percent a lie.

The emperor had only permitted the water and sewage, waste management, and fire services projects.

He had never said anything about cutting off the water supply to the imperial palace.

All of this was something I had packaged myself.

So why had I done something like this?

It was time for a complete rebuild.

Had I not mentioned that the aqueduct only served the imperial palace and noble districts?

It had been installed when the city was first built.

Perias had been established roughly four hundred and fifty years ago.

To use the aqueduct without any maintenance from then until now?

The scale buildup inside must be insane.

The interior would inevitably be filthy.

But it was not possible to clean or replace the pipes individually, so what was there to do?

Overhaul the whole thing.

Moreover, the water being supplied itself was problematic.

It was nothing more than lake water being transported as is.

It had never been particularly clean to begin with.

Naturally, it left the population highly vulnerable to all kinds of waterborne diseases.

That was why I decided to build a water treatment plant in northern Perias.

It would not use modern chemicals, but rather a method where water filtered through a sand layer.

If I could also establish a culture of boiling water for at least thirty minutes before drinking, most common illnesses could be prevented.

Additionally, attacks such as poisoning the water supply would naturally be thwarted.

“Well then, let us move.”

I led the workers through Perias’s northern gate.

The long aqueduct connected from the lake at the mountain foothills.

It must have displayed tremendous majesty when first constructed.

But now, after long years, parts had collapsed and there were traces of overflowing water everywhere.

If left like this for a few more years, it would completely lose its function.

“The aqueduct is quite worn out, just as Your Grace said.”

“Yeah. If it collapses, the whole city will turn into a sea of water.”

“Imagine the water from Lake Einfol at the foothills flowing this way. It would be an absolute nightmare.”

The people chattered among themselves as they looked at the old aqueduct.

It had been there so naturally for so long that they had never paid it any attention until now.

“But about that aqueduct. Won’t rebuilding it take an enormous amount of time?”

“Since we’re tearing it down and rebuilding, of course it will.”

“Does that mean the city will be without water the entire time until construction is finished?”

“Huh? Yeah, I guess so?”

Perias’s water supply system was centered on the inner city where the imperial palace and mansions were located.

However, it was not as if there were no wells elsewhere.

There were simply too few of them, so fetching water took a long time.

While everyone worried whether they would have to go outside the city, I was having a secret conversation with Shugl.

“Is this really going to work?”

—Of course. If that half-god fellow helps, we can pull it off no problem.

“There cannot be even the slightest mistake. One slip and the city could end up submerged in water.”

—Hey, stop worrying already? Do not you trust me?

Shugl placed his front paws on his waist and stood up proudly.

In truth, more than half of what this guy said was nonsense.

But there was no other way.

It was nearly impossible for human power alone to complete such a massive civil engineering project quickly.

If we mobilized a large number of mages, it might be possible.

However, that was realistically too difficult.

Those hikikomori obsessed with research would not pour their effort into something like this.

Even if paid research funds, they were the type who would not produce a single magic item.

In that sense, Vargas was quite unique.

Ah, that guy is like that because of his unspeakable condition.

He had settled in well now, but without the dried cordyceps pills, I probably would not have been able to keep him.

In any case, this time I decided to receive help from Shugl and Adam.

“By the way, it should be about time.”

We had arrived near Lake Einfol, but today’s key worker had not shown up yet.

I strolled along the lakeshore as leisurely as possible.

Suspicious glances were growing stronger by the minute.

It was understandable.

I had dragged a huge crowd all the way to this remote mountain foothill and done nothing.

Ah, when the hell is he…

I was cursing Adam in my mind for not keeping the promise properly when suddenly a figure appeared beyond the bushes.

A massive frame dressed in a tuxedo.

It was unmistakably Adam.

“Hey, what are you doing over there?”

—Huh? Oh, when did you get here?

“Can’t you see all those people gathered over there? There’s no way you didn’t sense that many presences.”

—I was concentrating and did not notice.

“No, what were you even doing all the way out here?”

—Isn’t this my first official appearance in a while? I wanted to look as cool as possible.

“Wearing the tuxedo is enough.”

—Look at this.

Adam lifted something with a triumphant expression.

It was a bow tie with a blue gem embedded in the center.

It was a product I had not even taken out of my mind yet, so how was he holding it?

Adam bared his teeth in a grin.

—I asked the head tailor, Mr. Martin, to make one in this shape.

It was a bit ridiculous, but I felt rather proud.

The guy who used to live in seclusion in the Erset Mine had changed so much socially.

“Stop wasting time and sync up with him first. Can you really do this?”

—As long as this half-god punk does his part.

—As long as this half-demon punk does his part.

—What the hell?

What the hell?

I asked again out of concern, but as expected, they started bickering from the beginning.

Since they had completely opposite personalities, it could not be helped.

But to let emotions take over right before such a big job?

I could not stand to watch that.

“If you do not get your act together, I am banning both of you. Adam, no more custom clothes from Martin. Shugl, no more spirit energy.”

—Eeeek?

—Hiiiek!

The two stopped growling and looked at me with sad eyes.

“Do it properly.”

—Yes!

—Yes sir!

Adam and Shugl answered in attention posture.

It was convenient to control them since I had such a firm grip on their weaknesses.

I immediately took the two and moved in front of the people.

“From now on, we will demolish the aqueduct leading to Perias and build a new one. You see it over there, right?”

When I pointed to the empty lot west of the lake, dozens of carts were there.

They were loaded with large pipes and various tools.

“The only two things you need to do are this. I will open the path ahead, so please clean up the surroundings. After that, all you need to do is transport those pipes.”

The explanation sounded extremely simple.

However, every single person looked utterly confused.

They seemed to have no idea what I was talking about.

“Your Grace… I mean, Mr. Mayor! I have a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“I understand what we need to do, but I do not understand how you plan to carve out the path.”

“Ah, that would be confusing. It is hard to explain with words. You will understand once you see it.”

I gave Adam and Shugl a slight nod.

The two, who had been glancing at each other, let out long sighs.

—Cannot be helped. This is a temporary alliance, just for today.

—Hmph! If it were not for that human duke, I would not even look at a guy like you.

—Still so stubborn till the end.

Ahem! Let us focus on the work first.

The God of the Earth and the mountain demon continued bickering until the last moment.

Soon the two began a strange ritual.

They held each other’s hands and started chanting.

—O supreme existence of the heavens. Please allow this righteous thief to do his work today as well.

—O incredibly badass evil god of the underworld. Please forgive me for cooperating with this ugly half-god nobody.

I shook my head.

On the surface, it looked quite magnificent.

Pure white holy light and gloomy purple energy intertwined.

One would probably never see such a sight anywhere else in this world.

But the content of the chant was ridiculous.

“You did not transmit that telepathy to the people too, right?”

—Nope. They are only talking among themselves.

“That is a relief. But do you really have to do it like that?”

—What?

“You may not have cursed, but you are still badmouthing each other like crazy.”

—Ah, that is a kind of workaround.

I tilted my head at Feltron’s explanation.

I could not understand what he meant at all.

“Explain properly.”

—Hiiing! Why are you only scolding me?

“You should have done better. Explain it right.”

—Normally we cannot combine our powers. So we ask for permission through prayer like this.

“Understood.”

They always talked about being a real god and demon, but they knew the truth.

They knew they were merely fragments of authority.

Since they could not escape the laws of the heavenly and demonic realms, they used this kind of loophole.

“You should have said that from the beginning.”

—Ahem. I was trying to explain it as simply as possible.

“Idiot. Nice excuse.”

I watched Adam and Shugl’s joint operation with interest.

Then Feltron suddenly spoke.

—Hey. Boss.

“What?”

—Get ready. It is coming.

“What do you mean all of a sudden?”

I had noticed it before, but this guy always said things in a way that was hard to understand at once.

That was what made it annoying.

I was about to flick his forehead as punishment when Feltron’s urgent telepathy continued.

A tremendous wave of power will hit soon.

“That was already expected.”

—No, it is heading this way.

“It should move as planned. Why?”

—Because those guys do not know the exact route. You have to guide them, Boss.

“Ah? Like a conductor?”

—I do not know what that is, but anyway, get ready!

Thud—!

The moment Feltron finished speaking, a heavy wave exploded.

The ground rippled like waves and launched my body high into the air.

After rising roughly fifty meters, the speed gradually slowed.

In that state, I pointed my finger toward Perias.

“Does this work?”

Rumble rumble rumble!

Amazingly, the ground began splitting apart exactly in the direction I pointed.

At first, a massive rectangular pit was created.

This would become the water treatment plant.

Next is the aqueduct.

Lake Einfol was at a higher elevation than Perias.

Moreover, the river only flowed to the northwest.

No matter how much rain fell, the water would not overflow toward the city.

The aqueduct existed to overcome this terrain.

But the current facility was far too old and unsanitary.

“Go!”

I stretched my hand toward the massive structure leading to Perias.

With a deafening roar, the aqueduct began to collapse.

Kwaaaaaaaaang—!

The people watching the scene shouted.

“His Grace the Duke has finally obtained the power of a god!”

Wait a minute.

That was a huge exaggeration.