Chapter 496

The Village with No Water
It took us two days to reach the troubled village.
There, I asked Lady Kiri and Lord Riku to help interpret as we inspected the wells and other spots, but sure enough, the water was completely gone—not a single drop to be found.
What to do now…

“Talat, is there a water source nearby?”

(Hmm… I don’t sense any water around here. Water isn’t exactly my specialty, but I don’t think there’s any groundwater close by.)

Hmm, what now?
If there’s no water source nearby, there’s nothing I can do.
This is bad.

“Umm, what did Lord Talat say?”

“He says he doesn’t sense any water nearby. I’m guessing the underground water flow shifted due to the earthquake.”

“I see… Would it be possible for Lord Talat to bring water from a new source?”

“Well, Talat’s an ice spider, so he can’t actually create water. What he did before was extend ice pillars or spikes underground from an existing water source to draw the water up to the surface.”

That’s right.
What Talat can do isn’t creating a water source—he can only freeze water and move it.
By nature, if there’s no water to begin with, he can’t do anything. And without enough pressure on the water, it’s impossible to push it upward.
It’s all quite complicated.

“Then, I suppose digging a new well or pond in this area is impossible?”

“It looks that way. We’ll have to search other areas near the village, and if we can find a water source, he can bring the water up from there.”

“Please do. We’ve tried everything we could, but we can’t overcome the fundamental lack of water…”

“Natural disasters really are terrifying. May I walk freely around the village for a while to take a look?”

“Of course. I’ll have someone accompany you, so if you need anything, just ask.”

With Lady Kiri’s permission, I wandered around the village, inspecting things.
The fields looked like they had been properly tilled at some point, but nothing seemed to be growing.
It seemed clear that the crops weren’t surviving due to the water shortage.

“Kiblinki Saltas, what do you think of the soil quality in this village?”

(Let me see… I’d say it’s slightly below average. It drains well, which sounds good, but in reality, it means the soil can’t retain moisture. Growing crops here would be quite the struggle.)

Even the Kiblinki Saltas say this village’s soil isn’t very good.
And if there’s no water, there’s really nothing they can do.

After spending half a day thoroughly exploring the village, I still hadn’t found any potential water sources.
I even walked a bit outside the village, but still found nothing.
It looks like I’ll need to get serious about searching for a water source.
Or… maybe they really should relocate the whole village.
Which option would be better?

What do you think about this chapter?