"Here you go!" Anna smiled.
"Can we get all this water?" One of the citizens, who got his bucket filled to the brim, gasped. Since he had brought two buckets, the first one could be used to cook and drink while the other one could be used to wipe his body. Before this, he could only get a half bucket which was not enough for his family to drink.
Anna shook her head and corrected him, "You can come back if you think it's not enough."
The others couldn't help but listen to it as well. They realized that this was the help they had been waiting for. And once the water problem was solved, they wouldn't have any more worries.
Some of the people couldn't help but tear up.
When Anna saw their joy, it reminded her of the stark contrast of what happened in her previous life. Back then, the only thing she could bring was sorrow and death.
And with Noel in this life, she brought happiness and hope. There was a funny feeling in her heart that somehow made it hard for her to contain her smile. In the past, she had only watched how Noel solved their trouble one after another, but never directly participated in it. This feeling made her a bit addicted. It was no wonder why Noel continued to help people. It wasn't just for Honor Points.
"Thank you, Thank you, Young Lady." The guy thanked Anna profusely.
Anna waved her hand and said, "You're welcome."
Her actions made a great impact on people's hearts. She was also extremely beautiful, so some of them couldn't help but idolize her.
This was also one of the reasons Noel's mother helped Luke when solving problems. She also built her reputation as the kind lady of the Ardagan Family.
Though, Anna never realized it.
While Anna, helped by more than fifteen people, continued distributing the water, Noel was talking with the blacksmith.
"That's the plan. What do you think?" Noel asked.
The blacksmith was a muscular man. There were some burn marks on his arms and his hands were rough. However, he gave an aura of an expert, so Noel believed that he could give him a satisfactory response.
"If you can get enough water to that place, then we can create a rod through the same hole. The pipe will be planted right on the bottom, so even if they tried to destroy the entire structure, the pipe would remain. We could just replace it if that ever happened.
"As for the storage system, we have to think about the size. Providing the entire city with water requires a considerable amount of water, especially if we can't pump up the water to the surface at all times. How many wells are you planning to transform, my lord?"
"How many wells does this city have?"
"Ah!" The middle-aged man thought for a moment. "If we use all 16 wells as storages, we can downsize the storage significantly. In fact, what do you think about the main storage system, Sir?"
"Elaborate."
"It's basically a single big storage that will supply the water to the entire city. Instead of turning all the wells into this, we can just use one or two wells to fill up that main storage and distribute it to other storages that would be placed in different parts of the city."
"So, you are going to divide the city into a few different segments and distribute them from the main storage?" Noel asked for confirmation.
"Yes. We can even treat the rain water in this main storage. And if there is indeed an accident, we will still have the main storage as an emergency water supply. It won't last long, but it should be enough for us to ask for help from the main city and return with the solution." The blacksmith explained.
"What do you think?" Noel turned to the mayor. He knew the city more than him, so if it was impossible to construct it, then he would have to reject the idea.
"I think it's plausible. The current state of the city is horrible, but if we manage to restore the wall and rebuild the city, we can create that system. So, the progress can be done gradually. Besides, we can close down the deeper hole and turn the well into storage, reducing the cost." The mayor nodded in agreement.
"If I were to agree with this development, what do you require?" Noel turned to the blacksmith.
"If you have the technology to direct the water, then we can create a pipe system underneath the city. If we just create the main storage at a slightly elevated area, we would definitely be able to fill up the storage naturally. So, we need to redirect the original resources to maintain the water level on other wells, which means the main storage has to be operated at all times."
"That shouldn't be a problem cost wise." Noel nodded. "But how many wells do we need to transform to be able to supply the water constantly?"
"I think two wells should be enough. The current city only needs a single well, but if we want to rebuild the entire city, then two would be needed."
"Then, add two more wells for back up." Noel thought for a moment before asking, "That's right. What if you expand that pipe system underneath the city?"
"What do you mean, Sir?"
"The water flows from the high elevation to the lower one due to differential pressure, right? What if we create two different levels? For example, the main storage will be on the highest level, the second stage storage would be on the level below it, and lastly, we would create another pipe system and create a storage to the people's houses? This means, the last one would be at ground level."
"This…" The blacksmith gasped. His imagination expanded when Noel presented this idea. If they could do it, it meant there was no need for the people to get more water from the facility anymore. They could simply get an unlimited supply of water right from their house. It would definitely revolutionize the city.
Even the mayor dropped his jaw to the ground. The project was ambitious, but the concept was very clear.
"I need to calculate the height for that. No, it's already outside the expertise. We need to find someone who is educated enough to handle all the calculations." The blacksmith shook his head.
"Well, the main city is in early development, so I think I can implement this idea in the main city as well so I don't have to reconstruct anything later. And your city is in the beginning of reconstruction, so the cost is far less than a fully developed city. There are other ideas, but let's solve this problem first, shall we?" Noel smiled.
The mayor thought for a moment and said, "During my early days, I had such a contact. How about I ask him to do the calculation? He is an eccentric man, but he is exceptionally gifted."
"If there is someone like that, send him to the main city to talk with the main architect of the Ardagan Family. They can discuss the plan there." Noel nodded.
"Yes, Sir." The mayor nodded furiously. He was just having a headache, thinking about how to deal with the water problem. But Noel actually gave a solution and an idea to revolutionize the city. This lord was like a blessing to Lounstein.
"Then, we should build the main storage and additional storages first. We can easily reconstruct them if the calculation is slightly missed, right?" Noel turned back to the blacksmith..
"Yes, Sir. Give me…just one day. I will deliver the blueprints tomorrow and we'll immediately begin the construction. Also, the rod will also be ready tomorrow. I'll ask my disciples to build them." The blacksmith raised two fingers. "Mayor… I think we need about two hundred people to build this as soon as possible."
"Two hundred? It's impossible to employ all of them right away."
"Then, how many can we employ right now?" Noel asked.
"At most one hundred people. Our money is currently not enough because we have just paid for water two days ago."
"In that case, employ all one hundred people right away and focus on the main storage first. The citizens won't have any problem in going there to get some water right now. I will send you an additional fund from the main city later and we'll begin the second development." Noel nodded.
"Understood." The mayor nodded with a serious expression.
"Also, make sure that you retrieve the lands from the people who are leaving this city at a low price. We'll then construct that land later and sell it to the people at a higher price. This should be enough to get the money to maintain the city." Noel gave his plan.. As expected of a merchant's son, while he never went to an intense education about trading, he was still able to think of a simple plan to gain some profits.
"In that case, I will work right away. Mayor, please gather all the people as well as the necessary materials to build it. We can use bricks as the main material." The blacksmith explained.
"Alright." The mayor nodded with excitement. The blacksmith seemed to know that it would be hard to get wood in this situation, so he changed it to bricks, which they had plenty of.
Before Noel gave another instruction, Anna's voice resounded from behind. "Noel. We're about to run out of water."
"Alright!" Noel automatically responded before giving his last instruction to the mayor, "During the recruitment, just tell them that we're going to build the storage for an unlimited supply of water for the entire city. There should be a lot of people going to apply. Choose the best among them so that we can complete the construction as quickly as possible."
"Understood." The mayor acknowledged the order without hesitation, albeit Anna called him again. "Noel!"
"I'm coming." Noel shouted back while patting the mayor's shoulder. His gentle smile was telling him that he would definitely solve all the trouble the city had and bring it to its golden age.
The mayor couldn't contain his smile. This was the biggest hope he would ever have. Without them realizing it, the mayor had sworn in his heart that he would recognize Noel as his only lord and served him until he died.
Unfortunately, he didn't have time to be sentimental as he hurriedly followed the instructions and created the recruitment post.
Meanwhile, Noel was participating in the water distribution directly to bond a bit with the citizens. They didn't know what kind of surprise Noel had for them.
