Chapter 53: Joy
Through the Eternal Night, not a single Nightmare attacked the Fortress.
The only thing that echoed all night was the pain-filled voices of the ’Forgotten’ scratching the wall.
Edgar barely got any sleep. He spent most of his time staring at the ceiling, thinking.
Once the Eternal Night receded and the murky grey-black fog reclaimed the world, Edgar stepped out of his house.
The first thing that caught his attention was a grey pigeon perched atop the warehouse. A small parchment was tied around one of its legs.
’Is there a message from the Yamhad Clan?’
He wondered and curiously walked towards the pigeon, taking the paper.
Opening it, Edgar began to read the content while old man Oswald walked towards him.
"Who is it from, young master?" he asked in his aged voice.
"Theo," Edgar replied, crushing the paper. "His Fortress was also surrounded by the Forgottens, and both the Atreus and Yamhad Clans lost one subsidiary Fortress last night."
Old man Oswald turned silent while Edgar leaned on the wall of the warehouse.
The pigeon had already flown away, leaving the two of them alone with the dilemma.
"We need to be ready, young master," the old man said after a while. "Every time Forgottens are seen, terrible things happen."
Oswald had been living in this world for a long time. When he was young, one of his main jobs was as a patrol soldier of the Atreus Clan.
The things that he had seen right after the arrival of the Forgottens had always been horrendous.
A Nightmare far more capable and cunning was almost always behind them.
Death, destruction, and mayhem, those are the things that the Forgottens represent.
Edgar understood the severity of the situation as well.
With a nod, he whispered, "I will work on increasing the defence of this place."
"Please do," Oswald said with a sigh. "Is there anything else that Clan Leader Theo said?"
"He had also sent his main Builder to Soragon Bazaar," Edgar replied, pushing himself off the wall. "He really wants me to become his Clan’s personal Builder..."
"The more allies you have, the better," Oswald suggested. "And with your speed, you can fortify his entire Fortress in just a day."
"..."
Edgar didn’t respond. He just walked towards the southern side of the Fortress.
Even though he was not against the friendship, he was still very wary.
His ability as a Builder was far more terrifying than anyone could expect. There was no guarantee that Theo wouldn’t give in to his greed and enslave him.
’Betrayal rarely comes from the hands of enemies...’
Pushing those thoughts aside, Edgar began to think about all the work he had to do today.
His first goal was to complete at least two projects that he had envisioned last night.
Taking in a deep breath, Edgar walked inside his house and took out the two parchments with diagrams.
He put aside the one which was the blueprint of the Agricultural Building and focused on the groundwater hand pump.
’I hope this works.’
Edgar willed for his system to register his blueprint.
For a while, nothing happened, but soon a new blueprint appeared in his arsenal.
---
⟨Builder Blueprint: Manual Water Pump⟩
⟨Level: 1⟩
⟨Completion Rate: 81%⟩
⟨Description: A manually operated device capable of drawing groundwater to the surface.⟩
⟨Nightmare Stones Required: 8⟩
Or
⟨Materials Required: Pipe (200m) ×1, Piston ×1, Handle ×1.⟩
---
Looking at the message from his system panel, Edgar rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
’So, there is really groundwater...’
That made him wonder, why do people not use it then?
’Only one way to know...’
Holding back his anticipation, Edgar whispered, "Construct."
Eight White Nightmare Stones floated into the air.
The familiar milky-white liquid poured onto the ground.
Unlike his previous constructions, this one was tiny.
Within less than a minute... a waist-high iron pump stood firmly in the earth.
It looked almost identical to the old hand pumps Edgar remembered from his childhood.
Andrew, who was working on bringing in more Nightmares to the ⟨Tower of Souls⟩, froze in place.
He quickly stopped working and rushed towards Edgar with the curious look of a learning child.
"What is it, young master?" he asked earnestly.
Edgar gestured towards the pump. "Mind pulling the handle down?"
"Sure," Andrew replied, walking towards it and standing behind it.
He put both his hands on the extended handle and pulled it down, but nothing happened.
"Keep repeating," Edgar said.
Andrew did as told and kept on moving the handle, which in return made the piston move up.
After a few minutes, the first drop of water came out before it became a constant stream.
Andrew’s eyes widened. "It’s water!"
A stream of water poured out of the iron spout, splashing onto the dry earth below.
The sound alone made everyone nearby turn their heads.
Viera, who had been washing vegetables, hurried over.
Even old man Oswald couldn’t hide his curiosity as he approached the strange metal device.
"...Water?"
The old butler crouched down and cupped some in his palm.
His old eyes had a look of disbelief in them, like he was holding something precious.
"Y-young master... what... how?" Lady Viera couldn’t form coherent words while she stared at the water.
Edgar remained silent and walked towards the stream of water that was being pushed up.
"Can you fetch me a container?" Edgar asked the lady.
"Y-yes!"
Viera quickly brought a bucket, which Edgar put under the water.
As the bucket was being filled with water, his expression slowly changed.
Edgar dipped two fingers into the bucket before bringing them to his lips.
The taste immediately confirmed his suspicion.
’Just as I thought.’
By the pale yellow colour and the taste, Edgar knew that the water had too much iron in it.
’This is enough to kill an adult if drunk for a long period of time....’
Drinking it every day would slowly damage the body, and with this much iron, boiling wouldn’t solve it.
’It’s like a slow poison. Perhaps that’s why people of this world avoid underground water. But still...’
His gaze shifted toward the flowing stream.
’For cleaning and construction... this is more than enough.’
Edgar sighed, and a smile slowly formed on his face.
"This is still a small success."
His gaze then shifted towards the other parchment close by.
’...This will work.’
After warning everyone not to drink the water from it, Edgar dismissed them.
He then picked up the parchment on the side and opened it, looking at it one last time.