Building Affinity with Villagers (4)

"It's coming out! The water is flowing!!"

The young man who had been inspecting the pipes on the village side ran into the hall and shouted.

"Oh my, water?"

"Is that true?"

Swaaaa-.

Indeed, clear water was gushing from faucets all over the village.

"From what I checked, it's all flowing."

The young man's voice was full of excitement.

That was how miraculous the situation was.

"Good heavens, good heavens!"

"The water is clear! It's not muddy!"

"Surely the pipes were all destroyed by the landslide. How could this be fixed so easily?"

"He's a wizard! Our Lord!"

Miroa, who had been listening nearby, finally understood.

'I knew it. That thing on the first day...'

Even if it was a simple spell to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠unclog pipes, the Master had designed and created it.

There was no way Master's magic could fail.

The scale of the event was just much larger.

'And yet, He resolved it so quickly.'

The villagers talked among themselves as if they couldn't believe it.

From what she overheard, this was definitely not a simple problem.

"I thought I'd have to give up on spring vegetables entirely."

"Spring? We might not even see fresh vegetables all year."

"There is the lake, but it's deep in the mountains."

"The road was blocked by the landslide too."

"The hot spring water has sulfur mixed in, so it's harmful for children to drink. We were so worried. I'm glad things worked out!"

They said it could take weeks to restore the water pipes. Maybe months. Some even predicted years.

It would require mobilizing the entire village, and maybe even bringing in multiple professional plumbers from the city.

Until then, they would have to fetch water through the rugged terrain.

Or alternatively, dig a new well and rely on that.

But Rii-nim, the Master, solved such a problem in one go.

He fell into deep thought, sent her to the village, and resolved it in just a few hours.

'How did He do it?'

Miroa had no way of knowing.

But for the Master, it was only natural.

That's just the kind of person Rii-nim is.

'I'm happy...!!!'

She was happy. Everyone was finally recognizing the Master's true worth, which had been ignored at the Academy.

She wished they would recognize it even more. So much more!

"Ahem."

Even while rejoicing inwardly, Miroa maintained a cold, expressionless face.

A maid must always act with dignity, befitting the honor of her Master.

Moreover, the Master would accomplish far greater things.

She couldn't openly rejoice over something as trivial as solving a village's problem.

Otherwise, when He did something even more amazing later, she wouldn't know how to express her joy.

'Hold it in. Hold it in.'

As Miroa pressed down the corners of her mouth with that thought, the village head stepped forward.

"Everyone, it's good to be happy, but first, we must offer our gratitude. Knight-nim, please tell us the Lord's name!"

She was more like a personal maid than a knight.

But that wasn't important.

"The commonly used name is Rii. The formal name is Liberio von Solanium. He is a great wizard and my Master."

The Master had instructed her to tell the residents His name.

He had personally commanded it before they parted, so she was faithfully following that order.

In terms of pronunciation, unlike the Empire's common language spelling, Rii has a long vowel, so it's closer to Riibelyo.

"Rii-nim... So it was Rii-nim."

"If it weren't for the new Lord, who knows what would have happened."

"Thank you... Please convey our gratitude to Rii-nim!"

As if summarizing the villagers' opinions, the village head bowed his head and offered thanks.

"The water shortage was a matter of life and death for the villagers. To so carefully examine this and resolve it, we don't know how to repay you."

And around this time, a memory kept surfacing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in Miroa's mind.

It was the instruction Rii-nim had left just before parting in front of the bathhouse.

"Miroa. When you go to the village, try to remember as many faces and names as possible."

"Just the names?"

"Listening alone isn't enough. You need to introduce your name and mine as well to do it properly."

"And why is that?"

"Well, let's call it building favorability with the residents."

The Master pondered for a while, carefully choosing his words.

It seemed the word 'favorability' had just come out.

But as if there was a heavier, deeper meaning beyond that, He corrected His expression afterward.

"That's the only way the connection will properly start to accumulate."

"Understood. I will follow your orders, Master."

She hadn't understood why He gave that order at the time.

The phrase 'connection accumulates' didn't quite sink in either.

But now, she felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she could understand its meaning.

"And I, Miroa Avis, am here to convey the Master's will."

Unlike the joyful commoners, Miroa remained expressionless.

As if that were the natural duty and responsibility of a noble.

A noble is one who ponders first and steps forward when needed.

Yet, one who never rejoices first.

Only after building fame and having one's name known does one rejoice, and only then does one become noble.

In today's world, that concept had indeed become somewhat distorted.

Nobles had become obsessed solely with making their names known.

They had forgotten the true meaning of nobility, indulging in luxury, vanity, and pleasure.

But the Master was different.

Rii-nim is a noble person.

Even if the world didn't recognize it, He always, continuously...

"The true meaning of nobility a noble must possess is to first show devotion oneself. And thereby illuminate the world so that others cannot help but know. The Master wished to hear your names and stories and ease your burdens."

He had never once failed to do so.

With Miroa's confident voice, even the excited villagers fell silent for a moment.

A feeling of something swelling up.

Until now, they thought they had managed on their own without a noble's protection.

Their circumstances were difficult, and they got hurt fighting monsters, but the village had still survived.

What if the suddenly appearing Lord levied harsh taxes or forced labor?

That worry had indeed crossed their minds for a moment.

But at this point, the villagers' thoughts had completely changed.

No matter how hard things were right now, they couldn't just stand by.

The villagers had nothing?

Had the Lord, who came down to the countryside alone, had so much that He helped the village?

An elderly woman urged the village head.

The young man who had witnessed the miracle while inspecting the pipes also added his opinion.

"Village Head! Isn't there anything in the village treasury?"

"That's right, Village Head! The Lord solved a problem that couldn't be fixed even by emptying the entire village budget! We can't do nothing!"

The others remaining in the village hall seemed to share the same sentiment.

In the center of everyone's gaze, the maid Miroa firmly shook her head.

"The Master said He would not accept any separate compensation."

Because that is nobility. Nod.

She nodded confidently and spoke again.

"The Master is exactly that kind of person."

The moved villagers offered their final thanks and dispersed.

A few residents remained in the hall, exchanging brief words with Miroa.

"What? So you're staying at that abandoned farm?"

"Oh my goodness! The weeds are so thick you can't even step foot! You might get hurt by the plant thorns!"

"How terrifying it is—can I even say the plant's name properly? They actually call it Motherless Hook."

"I know. The plant's name."

Miroa calmly answered the villagers' curiosity.

"Those were all cleared out personally by the Master on the first day we arrived."

"What?"

"It must have been tough!"

"Oh my goodness. We could have helped, but we made the Lord work hard..."

This time, too, she was inwardly overjoyed.

"It was magic."

Our Master is truly amazing.

"Thank you so much. Really."

"Alright, alright. Those of you still here, go back to your homes and check if the water is flowing!"

People dispersed.

And as Miroa was about to leave, one more person approached her side.

"Excuse me, I don't think I properly expressed my thanks earlier. I... thank you too, Miroa-nim."

"Huh? Ah..."

It was Gwen.

"Thank you! For helping the water flow as well."

"I was merely following the Master's orders."

There were two things I conveyed to Miroa.

To build favorability, you need to know each other's names, so remember the people's names.

And introduce your name and mine.

Helping is just helping, so don't extort compensation or anything.

That would just lower favorability.

You need to gauge public sentiment, and the gifts and rewards from raising favorability are more valuable.

I had fully communicated this content to Miroa as well.

I omitted everything about the system and just gave the instructions.

But something was strange.

There was no way the water would start flowing from the faucets already.

[Gwen's favorability has increased.]

[Luca's favorability has increased.]

[Stefan's favorability has increased.]

[The overall favorability of the village residents has increased.]

Several messages with similar content appeared before my eyes.

'Huh.'

What on earth was happening in the village?

It didn't seem like Miroa had done anything. Well, I wasn't sure.

She's definitely not the type to stir up people with her silver tongue and spread the Lord's greatness to elevate the Master's glory.

Then, had the water already started flowing?

I did put some effort into designing the magic.

But I didn't think results would come that quickly.

[New Achievement: Water Pipe Normalization]

[The magic succeeded in clearing the pipes, and the village's water shortage has been resolved.]

'What.'

Had I overestimated the slimes?

Of course, I had designed the magic more carefully this time, learning from the failure of the first day.

I drew out a bit of sincerity.

Ah. I didn't want to make serious magic here!

I didn't want to do magic research again after coming all the way to a rural village.

I have to admit, I did want to rest and clear my head for a while.

But I never expected the effect to be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this great.

The magic had done its job faster than I thought.