The mayor guided him to the first well, located not far from the mayor's mansion. As expected, the well was so deep that he could barely see the bottom. There was indeed water and he didn't know how deep it was, but the pump wouldn't be effective.
Even Anna confirmed that there was water below.
"This is the well. What do you think, my lord?" The mayor asked after seeing Noel's concerned face.
"How is it, Noel?" Anna asked. "The rune should be enough, but I'm not sure I understand the mechanism."
"Indeed." Noel nodded while looking down, pondering.
The mayor was surprised to hear that the rune was capable of solving the issue. If that was the case, the city could finally get enough supply of water.
A few citizens couldn't help but stop when they saw the mayor and the captain were escorting two people personally. It was clear that their identities were far more important than them.
The fact that they inspected the well meant that the mayor was trying to do something to solve the water problem.
Some of the bystanders decided to watch what the mayor planned to do while the others seemed to continue their lives without any hope. Though, they still talked about it, which ended up bringing more people.
"Can you get me the blood of the Advanced Level Demon… No, the Peak Level Demon we killed earlier?" Noel asked the captain.
"I don't mind, but for—! Never mind. Let me bring you the corpse." The captain didn't continue his question, believing that he should act as a soldier who didn't question his superior when the latter tried to save the town. He hurriedly departed to the gate to fetch the corpse.
Noel turned to the mayor. "I need a bucket… as big as possible."
"I understand!" The mayor rushed back to the mansion excitedly. This was the first good news he had heard for a while.
But surprisingly, the one that came back first was the captain, who was clearly sprinting the whole time. He carried the large corpse on his back before putting it down for everyone to see.
"This is the corpse."
Noel nodded and pulled out his sword, slicing the skin before using his Spiritual Energy to let the blood flow out and gather them into a single spot. After that, Noel removed the skin as it was the foundation of the rune.
Not long after, there was a commotion coming from the mansion.
"Mayor. Please let me do it."
"Ah, give way! Give way! I'm bringing an important item." The mayor pushed through the crowd with a bucket almost as big as his body. "Sir."
The mayor put down the bucket while panting. Noel couldn't help but chuckle seeing his energetic self and excitement even though he was so frail that he looked like he was going to collapse at any moment.
"Alright. Everything is ready." Noel winked at Anna to protect him before announcing, "Alright. Move away from me for a bit."
The captain and the mayor stepped back a few times until Noel snapped his finger.
All of a sudden, a lotus appeared above Noel's head, alarming everyone. However, the petals soon fell down and hit the ground around Noel, creating a series of ice crystals that blocked the view of everyone.
He had to hide the method of drawing the runes after all.
Afterward, Noel began to let the blood flow out of his Spiritual Energy as he used his finger to redirect the blood and draw a Enhance Forward Rune on the skin. Of course, he used the water from the Water Bottle the system provided him to clean the skin before drawing the rune.
After he completed the rune, Noel turned to the bucket and asked Ardagan to buy a few Water Gallons to fill the big bucket.
The moment he confirmed that everything was ready, Noel placed the Enhance Forward Rune into the water. Once it reached the bottom, Noel began pouring his Spiritual Energy, activating the rune.
In that instant, the water suddenly got pushed by an unknown force that blasted the water into the air.
Boom!
"!!!" Everyone was startled by the noise, but soon they found a fountain coming from the inside of the ice barrier.
"That's…" The mayor gasped, wondering where Noel got that water. But if that could be used to supply the water, the city might reach its new peak.
Meanwhile, Noel nodded his head with satisfaction. "The height is not enough, but the hole is small, so all that energy will be concentrated into a single spot and launch the water into the air. Since the well will be filled up constantly, it should be able to create a constant supply of water."
However, he had to think about the way to put this rune down the well, including the activation.
"Hmm. Can the Low Level or Mid Level Crystals be used? I don't think they are strong enough. So, I guess I need an Advanced Level one. The captain should be strong enough to handle a Peak Level Demon, so the supply for Advanced Level Demon Crystals shouldn't be a problem."
Noel then butchered the demon to retrieve the crystal it had. After that, he drew the Energy Gathering Rune on another skin and the Spiritual Energy Dispersion Rune on the other.
He stacked the Enhance Forward Rune with the Energy Gathering Rune while covering the Demon Crystal with the Spiritual Energy Dispersion Rune.
This way, the Spiritual Energy Dispersion Rune would release the energy from the Demon Crystal and the Energy Gathering Rune would catch that energy and supply it to the Enhance Forward Rune. It was still a rough concept, but it should work, Noel thought.
After that, he tossed all of them inside the bucket and another spurt of water occurred again. It was smaller than before, but this was enough for the entire concept.
Since he didn't know if this was enough to raise the water to the surface or not, Noel created another set of runes.
"Done." Noel smiled, satisfied with his work. He then snapped his finger again, causing the ice to disappear.
The people were confused as to how Noel managed to get all that water. In fact, they thought it was a waste to use such a precious resource for his research.
However, Noel ignored them for a bit and asked the mayor, "Do you have a rope, a long one that can reach the bottom of the well."
"Let me bring it to you." The mayor nodded his head and rushed into the mansion before coming back with the rope.
Noel then tied the demon crystal and the runes together before lowering it to the well.
The people were watching with anticipation, realizing that Noel wanted to use that experiment to release the water that was stuck inside the well.
Noel lowered it carefully so that they didn't suddenly drop and get stuck in the well. Once it reached the water level, the water instantly got pushed upward with a significant force that was enough to reach the surface.
It wasn't as big as the one they witnessed earlier, but the well suddenly turned into a small fountain.
"That's… Water!"
"Water!"
The people became crazy, showing how desperate they were about water.
Even the mayor and the captain couldn't believe what they were witnessing. It only took Noel a few minutes to settle one of the biggest problems that had been plaguing this city for a long time.
Noel suddenly pulled the rune back as the water dropped once again, stopping the people's excitement. He checked the rune and made sure that it wasn't ruined by all that water.
"My lord…" The mayor looked at Noel in panic, thinking something went wrong.
"Don't worry. The experiment is successful, but there are a few things that need to be fixed first." Noel pointed at the well and said, "Because this is fueled with Peak Level Demon Crystal, it wouldn't be sustainable.
"So, I need your blacksmith to create a rod that can allow us to bring the mechanism back to the surface to replace the Demon Crystal with a new one. Since it has to be powered by Advanced Level Demon Crystal, it will need two of these inside.
"Also, we need a giant water storage so that we only need to activate it to fill that tank instead of letting this rune run all the time. As long as we turn a few wells into this, the water problem should be solved."
The mayor was stunned while the rest only cared about the last sentence. If they could get unlimited amounts of water, there was nothing to be afraid of anymore.
The mayor hurriedly shouted, "Hurry up, someone get Blacksmith Joe here!"
"I… I will!"
"No, I will!"
A few people hurriedly ran toward the blacksmith. Noel and Anna could clearly feel their excitement to get the water as soon as possible.
Noel then asked another question. "Is there any building we can use to distribute the water? Unfortunately, we have to wait for the mechanism to complete first for security reasons. It will be bad if the well is clogged up because someone cut the rope, right? Anyway, I have another supply of water, so we can use it first and distribute water to everyone."
"In… in that case, you can use that building. It was our garrison's storage, but because of the prolonged battle, it was almost empty. So, we could take the rest out and use it to store water." The captain pointed at a two-story building not far from the mansion.
"In that case, we'll use it as the distribution point." Noel nodded in agreement before turning back to the citizens with a gentle smile. "Nice to meet you, everyone. I'm the new appointed lord of Lounstein, Noel Ardagan.
"I can't promise you that it will be done in an instant, but I can assure you that there will only be improvement from now on. So, please go back and spread the words. Tell the people around you to bring their buckets to receive water in that building. Don't worry, I can fill all your buckets to the brim, so don't hesitate to come."
The people were amazed by what Noel said. If he said those words before proving his experiment, none of the citizens would believe him.
However, the fact that he could create a miracle like that, he might be able to improve this city.
Some people couldn't help but fall to their knees as if greeting their new lord. Those few people inspired the others as one by one began to kneel, thanking their new lord. Even Anna was in awe, realizing that he was born to be a lord.
"Thank you. Now, hurry up and go! Spread the words!" Noel waved his hand while adding to the mayor, "I need a few people to help me with the distribution."
"Y-yes, Sir!" The mayor was still having a hard time to regain his composure while the captain hurriedly guided Noel.
As soon as they reached the building, Noel asked the captain to remain on the outside while he inspected the building.
"You are truly good with your speech." Anna smirked. "And what's with that waiting? You just want to use this opportunity to farm more honor points, right?"
"You are not wrong, but you should feel suspicious about the demon's activity, right?"
"So, you're thinking that there might be a spy from the organization among the citizens?"
"I don't know, but there is a possibility." Noel nodded. "Anyway, help me clear this first floor. Your control is better than mine."
"Fine." Anna spread her Spiritual Energy and all the items inside the storage began to float. After that, they flew toward the exit as Anna threw them away.
After that, Noel exchanged a water tank from the shop and summoned it. The tank contained about one thousand liters of water, which surprised even Anna. "Where the hell did you get this?"
"Ask Ardagan, not me." Noel shrugged. "Use the water to clean this place by the way. Also, use the remaining water to create a container outside this building. Make sure no one can see the inside."
Anna followed Noel's instruction. She took out the water from the water tank and washed away all the dirt that had been piling up inside the storage. After that, she used the remaining water to create a giant cube that would contain all the water. Noel's job was to freeze it.
"But won't the ice get frozen inside?"
"I got a Temperature Control ability from the Ice Pearl we found in that lake." Noel chuckled while summoning a few more water tanks and stacked them up together.
"That lake? Ah, the one where we found the Ancient Demon Tree?" Anna remembered the first joint operation they had in the past. After seeing the other water tanks, she began controlling the water to create a pipe that connected them to the main container outside.
With this, all the water began to flow out and fill the main container.
"I'll be discussing things with the blacksmith, so call me if I need to replace the water tank with a new one later." Noel smirked. "Alright. Time to distribute the water."
