After walking for about 30 minutes.
The three people arrived at the location where the waterwheel Mk.2 had been installed several days ago.
The waterwheel like usual was continuously turning vigorously, by using its wooden box it scooped water from the water channel that ran along the river and carried it into the wooden aqueduct.
「Th-This is amazing!」(Isaac)
When Isaac caught sight of the waterwheel, he was struck by admiration by the scene of the waterwheel carrying large amounts of water from low ground to a higher level.
It didn’t use any human power, a tool that moved by the force of flowing water alone. Isaac had never seen such a thing until now.
「This is waterwheel. It is something that Valetta had thought about, to find a method to somehow draw water from the river to the village.」(Valin)
「To get water to such a higher place...... This is an amazing invention! Is this what Valetta-san had designed alone?」(Isaac)
After staring intensely at the waterwheel that kept on turning Isaac took out a parchment from his pocket and started drawing the waterwheel while asking Valetta
「Yes, I thought many different ways to draw water from the river, and thought up this waterwheel. Everyone in the village cooperated together in making the parts and assembling it.」(Valetta)
Although Isaac was nodding to Valetta’s answer, in the corner of his mind that wasn’t consumed by the excitement for the existence of the waterwheel, he felt that something wasn’t completely clear.
Because, a mere peasant’s daughter, furthermore a young girl like Valetta was able to invent something revolutionary like this was something impossible based on common sense as Isaac knew it.
Since the ancient times, it was always an engineer or craftsman in the city that invented something new, Isaac had never heard of a story where a peasant in a remote area invented something.
It wasn’t that Isaac looked down on the farmers, but the peasants in this small village didn’t have any opportunity to learn any knowledge other than farming, so for them to be able to develop a revolutionary tool like this was plainly unbelievable.
「To be able to invent a tool like this alone is....... Could you show me the paper where you wrote down the way to build this tool called waterwheel?」(Isaac)
「That is...... This waterwheel was made part by part every time I had a thought about it, so there is nothing written of it. I’m really sorry.」
Valetta apologetically bowed down. Isaac dubiously drew his brow momentarily before returned to normal countenance and nodded while saying, ‘Is that so?’
「Then, may you please give me a brief explanation on how this waterwheel works and how to make it?」(Isaac)
「I understand. Then for the first, this waterwheel works by....」(Valetta)
While Isaac listened to the explanation from Valetta, he noted the main point of the waterwheel on the parchment.
Valetta confidently explained the mechanism of the waterwheel, and Isaac who was still feeling that something was amiss, took a closer look at the waterwheel. When he casually lanced at the axle part, he discovered that the axle was greatly worn out by the continuous friction.
「What’s this? This axle part is considerably worn out...... If this keeps going then won’t it end up breaking?」(Isaac)
「Eh? Really?」(Valetta)
Isaac spoke while peering at the waterwheel’s axle parts, and Valetta immediately stopped her explanation about the waterwheel, and went to tand beside Isaac.
Then, she personally looked up at the waterwheel axle and surely enough it was considerably worn out.
It was still alright for now, but if it kept being used and continued turning then the waterwheel might end up collapsing when the axle broke.
「This is, if the waterwheel continues turning then certainly the haft will broken...... I need to think of some countermeasure for this.」(Valetta)
Valetta spoke after seeing the worn out condition of the shaft. Then she went to the water channel entrance on the upstream side of the river and inserted a wooden board nearby into it so that the water channel was disconnected from the river.
Since the river stopped supplying water, the waterwheel that had kept on turning previously gradually stopped moving.