Chapter 274: The Endless Fountain
A spacious new building had appeared on the village street. It was built primarily of smooth gray stone bound with mortar, while massive pine beams framed only the window openings and the high-pitched roof. The structure combined a shop and a workshop—a place where the villagers would come for ready-made household goods and everyday necessities.
Inside the spacious hall, it smelled pleasantly of dry wood and wax. Long wooden racks and massive open cabinets with deep shelves lined the walls.
The girls were sorting out the supplies that had been brought in, putting them in their proper places.
Liana stood by the central rack. On the top and middle shelves, she arranged clay vessels, glass vials, and rolled-up bundles of processed materials. She assigned a designated spot to each item, making sure everything stood stable and straight.
Helda was working at the next rack over. She carefully sorted small parts into little wooden boxes: throwing points, metal clasps, fastening rings, and fittings. She gently adjusted every item, ensuring nothing got mixed up.
Meanwhile, Nastya moved around the hall with a wide tray in her hands. She crouched down, checking the order on the very bottom shelves, wiped away the settling dust with a dry cloth, and arranged the remaining household items.
Behind the counter was a wooden door leading to a spacious back room. It was much quieter here, and the only furniture consisted of a large workbench, a couple of chairs, and a few shelving units.
Eliza sat at the table, which was cluttered with fabric offcuts. Right in front of her lay a thick paper pattern draft that Iron had sketched out specifically for her.
The process was going poorly. Eliza laid the paper pattern over a piece of thick material, pinned its edges with tiny metal pins so nothing would slip, and began tracing the contours with a piece of dry chalk. She picked up large scissors and cut the fabric with force—the blades came together with a squeak, and the cut came out slightly jagged and uneven in places.
Next came the sewing itself. Threading the needle and tying a knot, Eliza began manually joining the two pieces. The stitches turned out either too long or skewed to the side.
At one point, the needle slipped and pricked the pad of her thumb. Eliza winced, popped her finger into her mouth for a second, and then inspected the fresh seam. The thread had gone crooked. With a sigh, she picked at the stitch with the tip of her needle, pulled out the entire crooked thread, and grabbed the edge of the fabric again, trying to lay the stitch straighter.
A wooden box stood on the floor next to the table. It was filled to the brim with ruined cuts, scraps, and Eliza's failed attempts—crookedly sewn sleeves and torn pieces of cloth that had never turned into proper clothing.
At that moment, the door quietly creaked open. Nastya walked into the room.
She only cast a quick, brief glance at Eliza. In response, Eliza didn't get distracted or raise her head either, still intently trying to align the seams on the fabric.
Nastya walked to the corner of the room where the box of ruined scraps stood. Seeing that the crate was packed to the very top with no room left, she leaned down, hoisted it with both hands, and straightened up.
Turning around, Nastya marched back through the shop.
Liana was carefully adjusting a row of clay pots on a rack at that moment. Hearing footsteps, she froze for a second, following Nastya with her eyes, and then returned to the shelves.
Nastya approached the exit with the box in her hands. Holding the wooden crate with one hand was difficult, so she pressed it against herself, pushed down on the door sash with her elbow, and shoved it outward. The door gave way. Nastya immediately gripped the box lower down with both hands so it wouldn't slip and stepped outside.
She had barely taken a couple of steps when a faint greenish glow flared in the air right in front of her nose, and then Elyria materialized.
"Let me help you, Nastya!" the spirit offered right away, circling over the box.
Nastya shifted her grip on the box to make it more comfortable and shook her head:
"Oh, no, it's fine, I can carry it myself."
Elyria immediately held her palm out, shaking her head:
"No way!" She poked herself right in the chest with her thumb.
"You see... I just have absolutely nothing to do!"
"Well..." Nastya hesitated.
The spirit flew up almost flush with her face—so close that Nastya had to lean back slightly. Elyria frantically flailed her little arms and legs in the air:
"And that's why you have to let me do at least this!"
Nastya gave up:
"Alright, fine..."
She stretched her arms forward, offering the box.
"Here."
Elyria snapped her fingers with a satisfied look.
The box instantly vanished. Right in its place, a handful of emerald sparks spilled out. They fell onto Nastya's open palms and melted away immediately, leaving no trace behind.
Elyria proudly gave a thumbs-up:
"All done!"
And in that same instant, she dissolved into the air, as if she had never been there.
Nastya stared at her hands in silence for a few seconds. Then she quietly shook her head, turned around, and walked back into the shop.
A few seconds later, she returned to the shop empty-handed.
Liana, without tearing herself away from arranging things on the rack, asked over her shoulder:
"Oh, so you already gave it to him?"
"No, Elyria helped me," Nastya replied.
"Ah, I see," Liana replied briefly, and went back to adjusting the vials.
At that moment, Helda called out to them from the back of the hall:
"Girls, could you help me?"
Nastya took a step toward her, and Liana immediately left her shelves.
"With what?" Nastya asked.
"This box needs to go on the top shelf of this cabinet. But it's way too heavy..."
"Got it," Liana replied briefly. The girls looked around, spotted a wooden chair nearby, and pushed it right up against the cabinet.
Liana climbed onto the chair, while Nastya and Helda approached the heavy box on the floor. Together, they grabbed the edges and hoisted it up with effort.
Liana took hold of the box. It wasn't easy for her either, but she held it much more confidently and firmly. Standing on her tiptoes, Liana reached for the very top, while Nastya and Helda stood close to the chair, ready to back her up from below at any moment.
With a dull thud, the box was set on the edge and slid neatly onto the highest shelf.
Making sure the box was sitting flat and wouldn't slide off, Liana lightly hopped off the chair onto the floor. She picked up the chair and carried it back to where they had found it.
"Thank you guys so much," Helda said.
"Don't mention it," Nastya replied.
She was about to return to her shelf, but her gaze lingered on Liana for a second.
"You really are super strong, Liana."
"Nah, I don't think so," Liana shrugged, going back to arranging the vials.
"No, seriously..." Nastya stepped closer and touched her arm just above the elbow, lightly squeezing her bicep with her fingers. She felt her arm for a couple of seconds and frowned. "Even though there don't seem to be any muscles here... How does that even work?"
Liana froze with a vial in her hand, silently shifting her gaze from her arm to Nastya.
Nastya pulled her hand back and scratched her neck:
"Oh, sorry... I zoned out for a sec."
"Ah, well, it's fine, don't worry about it," Liana replied calmly and continued working.
At the same time, over at the construction site, the men were laying fresh logs and raising the frames of yet another house.
"Oh, come on, please make it..." Elyria dragged out in a pleading tone, flying a little closer.
Clerk sighed:
"Sorry, but Iron told us to build new houses. And besides..." He paused, looking over the logs. "We've never done that before and have no idea how to make a fountain."
"I'll guide you!" Elyria declared confidently, throwing a small fist into the air.
Clerk looked first at the spirit, then at his workers, and asked:
"Can't you just make it yourself?"
Elyria immediately drooped and sank a little lower in the air:
"I can't... There are way too many complicated schematics. Just imagine! How can a fountain run endlessly? Like, literally forever! Have you ever asked yourself that question?"
Clerk just looked at her in silence, thinking to himself:
And how were you planning to guide us then...?
The spirit, meanwhile, planted her hands on her hips and shook her head desperately:
"I don't know stuff like that! It's way too hard. So hard!"
"What about asking Iron?" Clerk suggested.
"Nope, he's turned me down a hundred times already. Even though he promised..." Elyria lowered her eyes and muttered quietly and resentfully under her breath: "Promised so much you can't even count it all, and yet for some reason he never actually does any of it..."
Not hearing her muttering, Clerk just looked at her in silence.
"Clerk, could you lend a hand?!" Marek shouted. "This joint won't hold!"
"Sorry, Elyria, but I gotta go," Clerk said, and hurried over to the guys.
Elyria pouted, watching him walk away in silence for a moment.
Turning around, she flew slowly, her little arms crossed over her chest.
"Why does no one want to build a fountain with me...? Is that thing really so complicated that only Iron can make it?"
She flew a bit further, completely consumed by gloom, when suddenly it dawned on her. Elyria froze right in mid-air. Her face brightened for a second, but then immediately darkened again:
"Noooo... He one hundred percent won't do it."
She flew a couple of meters, thoughtfully studying her feet:
"Well... but maybe he will after all?"
She immediately shook her head vigorously, chasing the thought away:
"No way! One hundred percent no!"
Flying a bit further, Elyria clutched her head with her hands:
"Damn it... But what if he does? He seems smart enough... I guess."
She sighed heavily, straightened up in the air, and waved her hand with a determined look:
"Alright, here goes nothing!"
And in that same moment, she vanished.
Meanwhile, deep in the forest, Noah was resting. His sword was stabbed right into the ground nearby. He was sitting with his back leaning against a trunk: his right leg stretched out along the ground, his left bent at the knee, and his arm resting calmly upon it.
Elyria wove into existence in the air beside him. Looking around and noticing that Noah was resting, she was instantly and genuinely surprised:
"Wow! It's not every day I get to see you taking a break!"
Noah replied dryly:
"Yeah."
"Listen," Elyria flew a little closer, "will you build me a fountain?"
"No," Noah cut her off instantly.
"But why-y-y?!" Elyria immediately flew right up to his nose.
Noah winced and frowned:
"Do I really need to explain it to you...?!"
The spirit exhaled heavily and dropped right onto his arm, turned her head away, and grumbled quietly under her breath:
"Here we go again..."
Noah silently ignored her muttering, continuing to stare off somewhere at the trees and the sky, and then gave his arm a couple of short shakes.
Elyria, slipping off his arm, dropped down slightly, but immediately caught her balance and hovered in the air once more.
Noah pushed himself up from the ground:
"Never mind. Just don't bother me."
He stepped toward the embedded sword, yanked it out of the dirt, and gave the blade a twirl in the air, preparing to resume his training.
Elyria crossed her little arms over her chest in annoyance and grumbled quietly:
"You'll never get any stronger like that!"
Noah whipped around and hurled the blade right at the spirit with full force.
The sword sliced through the air with a whistle, literally a millimeter from her head. With a dull, cracking thud, the sword buried itself up to the hilt in the tree trunk exactly where Elyria had just been hovering, splintering off a piece of bark.
"What did you say?!" barked Noah.
Elyria, having barely managed to dodge, flew a bit higher and screamed back at the top of her lungs:
"I said, you'll never get any stronger like that!"
With those words, Elyria stuck her tongue out at him and in that exact second simply vanished.
Noah clicked his tongue in displeasure. He unhurriedly walked up to the tree, grabbed the hilt, and yanked out the blade that had sunk deep into the wood. He got back into his stance and started a new set.