「..... How about that?」
「It’s true that Valetta is a bright girl, however...... A favor to this extent... Is that really all right?」
After hearing Kazura’s proposal, Valin’s expression was half-delighted and half-surprised, while Valetta’s, who just finished washing herself, entered the room.
Her steamy wet hair that dangled in her neck was strangely erotic.
「Wah... I feel refreshed. This soap really has a nice scent....... Did something happen?」
Valetta was puzzled after seeing Kazura and Valin, who had serious looks in their faces.
「Valetta, a long time ago you had said that you wanted to go to the city and learn various things in there.」
「Un[1], I had said that before. But now I don’t have any intention to leave the village, you know?」
Valin smiled after hearing his daughter words and her wish to stay in the village.
「The truth is, you can study about many things in the village too. It seems that Kazura-san kindly offered to teach you.」
「Eh!?」
Valetta become surprised and then looked at Kazura who started to speak about his proposal.
「Yes, but, as long as Valetta-san fine with it. And also for.......」
「Re-really!? Thank you very much! Certainly, I wish to do it!」
Valetta accepted while interrupted Kazura’s word. Maybe because she was so happy, her eyes were sparkling.[2]
Although he was overwhelmed by Valetta’s enthusiasm, at any rate, Kazura continued his interrupted explanation.
「Ah, yes, I understand. Now back to our discussion. I would like for Valetta-san to pretend that it was your idea to build the waterwheel that we assembled the other day.」
「......Eh?」
Valetta’s expression stiffened after hearing Kazura’s proposal, but he continued with his explanation.
「From Valin’s story, Isaac-san, who inspected village’s condition the other day, wasn’t well-informed about the connection between the village and the river. But in the future, if Nelson-sama received Isaac-san’s report and became suspicious, he might see the waterwheel after following the aqueduct. If that happens then, the fact that the origin of that waterwheel was me will be exposed, and that.... well, it would be really inconvenient for me........」
So, Kazura finished his explanation, his speech style with an uncertain tone.[3]
「A, yes..... It’s like that....」
Valetta nodded.
Up until now, regarding the country that Kazura came from, the villagers didn’t deeply pry into it.
Valetta and Valin were not an exception, instead they are the ones who instructed the villagers to never inquire about it.
They had a legitimate reason for why they did this, but until now Kazura completely unaware of that reason.
「With that, if you accept the proposal as the compensation, not only I will tell you about how to built the waterwheel, beside that, I will also teach you about a lot of things. So do you accept this cooperation?」[4]
「Ye-Yes, I will gladly accept anything...... But, is this all right.....?」
Valetta had an uneasy expression, but after Kazura gave his ‘it’s all right’ answer, she replied yes.
Although she had consented with this very unreasonable proposal, up until this point, there were still no devised steps. For the time being they just had to just try and do it.
Besides, the existence of waterwheel would be not immediately exposed. There was still time to make up a plan.
「Ano[5], Kazura-san, I just had an idea, but......」
Kazura was mumbling about 「What would happen if they inquire in precision machining[6]......」 and looked greatly troubled of it. Seeing him like this, Valetta suddenly had a light bulb shined in her mind and then started to call out to Kazura.
「What is it?」
「If possible, instead of the waterwheel that had been installed, what if everyone build a new waterwheel and install it, is that all right? After all, there is a waterwheel to become the model, so I think that we can build another more easily.」
「Will it really be an easy thing to do?」
Hearing Valetta’s suggestion, Kazura nodded and pondered it.
Even though there was a waterwheel that could become the model, will they really be able to fabricate another waterwheel so suddenly?
However, even if considering that they already seen a waterwheel, but the precision machine parts like the axle was made from metal, so that it can handle the entire load in it. In any case, Valetta’s idea was the best solution for now.
「Is that so...... Certainly if that waterwheel been seen then it will become unpleasant in various ways. So, let us somehow built another waterwheel in 1 month time. At least, as long as it can draw even a little bit of water it will be fine.」(Kaz)