At the break of dawn, the first rays of sunlight peeked through the crevices of the barn, gently awakening Alex from his slumber. Despite the lingering exhaustion from the strenuous bor of the previous day, an ardent desire burned within him to embark on a day brimming with productivity and purpose.

  In the dim light of the barn, Alex gently nudged the slumbering slime girl, Merumeru. "Rise and shine, Merumeru. It's time to work on the well," he whispered.

  A muffled reply escaped Merumeru's lips then she rolled over, still clinging to the remnants of sleep.

  Undeterred, Alex persisted, "Come on, Merumeru. I know how much you enjoy plumbing adventures. You must have pns already brewing in that clever little mind of yours."

  With a weary sigh, Merumeru emerged from the pile of bnkets, her body like a puddle of blue goo. She shuffled behind Alex as they exited the barn, curiosity piqued despite her desire for more slumber.

  Alex went to the well and looked at it. He wasn't sure if he could do much to improve it. He pulled out his feather duster and cleaned off the top of the well and the surrounding area. "Hmm, we could make a manual pump to repce the bucket and rope method of getting water but I don't actually have the ability to make something like that. I know they work with a piston and some valves but we don't have any o-rings. What do you think Merumeru? If we wanted to do a really old style we could maybe create a rope pump. That is just a circle of rope that goes through a pipe with some balls on it about the same size as the pipe. Someone spins a wheel and water comes up from the pipe. Maybe we could come up with some options for Bob and Martha. It is their nd after all and we are just guests. We could always try to build another dam and fountain like in the city but that comes with its own problems. When we made that reservoir a couple days ter some unwanted visitors came and robbed us."

  Deep in thought, Merumeru seemed to be contempting something.

  "Merumeru?" Alex called out, his voice tinged with concern.

  "Merumeru ru me," Merumeru responded in her charming little voice.

  Determined to involve her in their project, Alex proposed, "Merumeru, we want to build something new, but we can't do it without your help."

  "Meee!" the slime girl excimed, ready to take on the challenge.

  A smile spread across Alex's face. "Wonderful!" he replied. "Let's head back to the house and devise our pn."

  Together, Alex, Merumeru, and Fufi made their way back to the farmhouse, their steps filled with anticipation.

  "Hey, Bob and Martha," Alex greeted. "How is your morning so far? We have been thinking about making some improvements to the well."

  Bob appeared surprised. "Really? I've never put much thought into how to improve that old thing. But I'm curious, why do you want to help us with that?" he asked.

  "We've come up with a few ideas, and we were wondering if you could lend us a hand with one of them?" Alex inquired.

  Bob scratched the back of his head. "Sure, I guess. What kind of idea did you have?"

  "Well, we're considering building a new well," Alex expined. "Instead of using a bucket and a rope, we thought a pump would be a more efficient way to draw water. I wish I still had my ink and paper. It would be easier to expin with drawings. Do you have anything we could use to write with?"

  In a farmstead, literacy held little value, as Bob stated while fetching supplies, "We just need charcoal and wood, Martha and I don't read. It's not necessary for farm life." Meanwhile, Martha emerged from the kitchen with breakfast, carrying a wooden serving ptter adorned with cooked eggs and berries. She carefully pced it at the center of the table.

  Martha pced her hands on her hips and remarked, "I couldn't help but notice you evaded that question my husband asked. What's in it for you?"

  Alex acknowledged his oversight, saying, "Apologies, I didn't intend to dodge it. I just have a tendency to get overly absorbed in things from time to time."

  Martha repeated the query posed by Bob, "So, why would you want to lend us a helping hand?"

  Alex responded, gncing at Fufi and Merumeru to gauge their agreement, "I was hoping to express my gratitude. We recently lost our home, which we hadn't even completed constructing. Even offering us shelter for the night means a great deal. Things haven't gone as smoothly as we hoped, and even a small act of kindness means the world to us."

  Martha responded, "I'm relieved to hear you feel that way. I was worried you might be a bandit or something. I apologize for my rudeness; I didn't mean to bring up painful memories. I'm certain Bob would agree that you can stay and help around the farmstead for as long as you want. Times have been difficult for everyone. It's been years since we've seen another human, and nature has recimed the nd due to a ck of path maintenance. It's a miracle you managed to get your cart through the woods and steep terrain."

  Alex replied, "I appreciate your willingness to trust us. Regarding the cart, we obtained it as a reward for completing a dungeon wave."

  Martha apologized, "Ah, I see. I didn't realize you had been in a dungeon; I didn't know there was anything like that around here."

  Alex responded, "It's okay. It's a long story, and I don't want to bore you with the details."

  Martha insisted, "No, please tell me. I'm intrigued by your stories."

  "I will tell you and Bob. Perhaps ter, I'd like to do something productive while the sun is still up." Alex said.

  As if on queue, Bob came back in. He had a fairly big and ft scrap of wood in one hand. In the other he carried a stick that was burnt bck on one end. "Will this work?" The farmer asked.

  Alex nodded. "I'll try to sketch how the concept works." He prepared his charcoal and wood block. First, he drew a side view of a piston-style pump. He added open lines for the valves' pcement. Merumeru crawled into his p, eager to observe.

  "It operates simirly to a toilet, but in reverse, I believe. When you pull the lever, the water in the pipe has no choice but to go up. The valve on top remains closed during this process as it attempts to suck air down; however, it cannot due to the seal. When you push down, the air in the pipe wants to go the other way, so it opens the valve. This one is challenging because everything must fit snugly together for it to function." Bob appeared puzzled by the drawing, while Merumeru maintained a serious expression.

  Flipping the log, Alex began a second sketch. "As I recall, a rope pump is effectively a circle of rope with notches running through the pipe. The water ascends and exits through the faucet. It follows a simir principle to the bucket on a rope, except instead of bringing up a rge quantity of water at once, it traps tiny bits within the pipe by spinning the rope." He sketched a rge wheel with a handle and a pipe curving at the bottom. He drew waves to indicate the water line, along with a small curved pipe at the top with a bucket beneath it.

  "Someone can turn the wheel, causing water to flow out. That's how I imagine it would work, but I've never actually created one. Additionally, I'm unsure of the rope-making process. Is it simir to spinning yarn?" he inquired.

  "You take the fibers of pnts and twist them together. If you have the right skills it helps a lot. Grandpa's workshop has a small rope walk in it. We use it every now and then if the rope for the well's bucket breaks. I can teach you how to do it." Bob spoke when the conversation switched to rope. Apparently that was something he understood.

  "Ok, we'll try it out. I think I have an idea of what to do but no promises we can get this to work." Alex said.

  "I'll go with you." Fufi said.

  "Meru!" Merumeru seemed to want to get a new well also.

  "It is a good idea. But you really should eat breakfast before it gets cold." Martha said.

  Bob set the stuff on the table aside and the group ate a quick breakfast together before heading out to face the day. Martha went to tend to the livestock. Alex, Fufi, and Merumeru headed out towards the well.

  Alex peered into the well and contempted, "Perhaps it would be wise to leave this one as is. If the new pump fails, we'll still have this well as a backup. I know I mentioned improving it earlier, but constructing a second well might be a more viable option."

  "Meru!" Merumeru excimed, pointing towards the well.

  "What is it?" Alex inquired.

  Merumeru descended into the well, and Alex followed suit. Reaching the bottom, he noticed Merumeru pointing at the stone wall of the well. A crack ran along its entire length, and the water level was approximately three meters from the surface. This was a positive sign, as certain pumps might not function effectively if the water table were too low.

  "It looks severe. Do you think you can repair it?" Alex asked with concern.

  "Ruuu," Merumeru replied. She pced her hand on the crack, and her arm transformed, molding itself to the shape of the crack. Under the influence of the slime, the stone softened and hardened again. Merumeru spent several minutes pushing and pulling, gradually closing the crack.

  Once the well was repaired, they both climbed back up the rope. They were both wet and dirty, so Alex used his feather duster to clean himself and Merumeru.

  Bob whistled in admiration, "That was an impressive feat. What was happening down there? I heard some noises like rocks cracking."

  "She fixed a crack in the wall of the well." Alex said with a cough, a feather duster couldn’t clean up inhaled dust.

  "Being able to do that without bricks and mortar is quite the feat." Bob commented, sounding mildly impressed.

  "She can use her body to dissolve and reform things." Alex said.

  "It is a really useful ability. She used it to rebuild the dam by the town. Did I mention that before? We found some pipes and Merumeru used the same ability to get us a working dam." Fufi added her two coppers.

  "She did? I assumed she was using an earth spell to shape things. Can all slimes like her do that?" Bob asked.

  "I don't really understand how she does it. I just know that Merumeru is amazing." Alex gave the beaming slime girl a head pat and looked to Bob."Where should we start digging? I'm guessing some pce that is not too close to the other well but still far away from the outhouse?"

  Bob hmmed and pointed to a low spot next to a colpsed building. "How bout there? That was grandad's old house."

  "Okay, do you have a shovel I could use?" Alex asked as he headed to the spot to get a look at the type of ground there. There were a couple big rocks but it was mostly dirt.

  "Yeah, I'll grab one. It is in the shed." Bob walked to the nearby shack and returned with a rusted shovel. He held out the shovel to offer it to Alex.

  Alex wrinkled his nose a bit. Instead of taking it straight away he dusted it off with his feather duster. After a couple passes the wood looked much better and the metal had a satisfying shine to it. Alex took the shovel and plunged it into the ground. With his smaller body and reduced strength he really struggled to make meaningful progress. Merumeru worked at his side. She sucked up rocks and dirt into her small body and would produce a brick a few minutes ter.

  "Boy, I'm not sure you are cut out to be a farmhand. However, I can say you don't ck grit." Bob offered a broad smile showing some missing teeth. "How about after lunch I'll teach you how to make rope."

  "I'd like that." Alex said.

  "I'm gonna go check on the animals and see if there is anything I need to do." Bob said. “I’ll be back after that.”

  After Bob left Alex talked to Fufi while they were digging, "Did you get a chance to fly around and scout out the area yesterday Fufi?"

  "Yes, I flew over the whole valley." Fufi answered.

  "Are there any monsters in the woods or anything that might attack us?" Alex continued.

  "Mostly, I've only seen trees," Fufi remarked. "A few miles away are some other ruined farmsteads. The forest borders the wastend surrounding the city. It's surprising to find so much pnt life so close to where a demon army battled, even though it was long ago."

  Intrigued, Alex inquired, "Why is that?"

  "The wastend soil is poor," Fufi expined. "I suspect the demons poisoned it. When a rge number of demons gather in one area, it spreads miasma, making it difficult for pnts to thrive in such a toxic environment. Bob's grandfather was likely part of the generation that witnessed the city's fall. I would expect more miasma-filled wastend in the vicinity, but the forest appears to be more resilient than I anticipated."

  "So, nobody inhabits the other farmsteads?" Alex asked.

  "I think the people who lived around here mostly left. Well, I wasn't there but I'm guessing that is something like what actually happened. There might be a few holdouts like Bob and Martha but I didn't notice anyone. Like I said, it is mostly just a thriving forest." Fufi replied.

  "I wonder how the forest got started. If the nd was poisonous then it makes sense that it wouldn't support life." Alex said.

  "Who knows, maybe the forest held back the miasma all this time. Sometimes ancient trees can form spirits. A powerful woodnd spirit could defend against the spreading of corruption." Fufi suggested.

  As they continued digging until lunchtime, Bob arrived with four sandwiches on a wooden pte.

  "Martha made the sandwiches I brought," Bob expined.

  "Thank you," Alex said, taking one of the sandwiches and sitting on the pile of bricks Merumeru had created.

  Merumeru was already seated at the well's opening. Alex handed her a sandwich, which she gratefully accepted. He grabbed one for himself and pced the pte with the remaining sandwich in front of Fufi. Since she cked hands, he was unsure how else to offer her a sandwich.

  Everyone took a bite of their sandwiches simultaneously.

  "How do you like your sandwich?" Bob inquired.

  "It's delicious," Fufi replied, her beak full of food.

  "Ru Meeeruuuu," Merumeru muttered between bites.

  Alex nodded, not wanting to talk with a mouth full of food.

  "If you are still up to it, I can show you how to make rope after this." Bob said between bites.

  "Sure, I am really sore after shoveling for hours. I guess I am out of shape." Alex said, though he didn't see how considering how active he'd been the past few weeks. As time passed, he felt like he was becoming smaller and weaker.

  After everyone had finished Bob stood up. "The rope walk is in grandpa's workshop." Bob stood up and headed towards another run down building.

  "I can't believe that this pce is still standing." Alex said, then winced thinking perhaps that was a rude thing to say.

  In his youth, Grandad, a skilled carpenter, constructed this house and workshop. Later, he met and married Grandma. They settled down in the vilge, where they raised their children. Grandad and his extended family pooled their resources to purchase a plot of nd from the local noble who governed the town and its surroundings. Bob somberly remarked that Grandad took great pride in what he had built here.

  Alex expressed regret for his previous words, apologizing for speaking ill of a deceased retive. Bob chuckled and assured him not to worry since Alex had never known Grandad.

  As Alex contempted the workshop, he couldn't help but imagine how charming this pce must have been during its prime.

  In the dipidated workshop, Bob led Alex without a word. Fufi stayed with Merumeru, who was busy tunneling and making bricks. Bob gestured towards a strange metal object mounted on an old wooden table near a wall. It had three hooks with gears and a handle on a wheel. Alex guessed that the whole thing spun to perform a function.

  Bob mentioned they had twine spools made earlier and skipped expining how fx was turned into thread since it involved farming and cloth-craft. He secured one spool of twine to one of the hooks. Then, he walked to another set of three hooks. Bob looped the twine on the hook on the other side and brought it back, securing it again to the same hook. He instructed Alex to repeat this process with the other two pairs of hooks.

  After cutting the twine, Bob gave the spool to Alex. It seemed straightforward. Alex followed Bob's actions, and they had three pairs of twin lines on hooks. Bob expined their next step was to twist these pairs together into three lines. He turned the crank on the metal device, and the hooks began spinning in circles.

  When they were sufficiently spun, Bob retrieved a cone-like piece of wood with three grooves. He instructed Alex to put all three lines on one hook and pce the top between the strands. While one person spins the hook, the other holds the top as the twisting pushes it back. Bob demonstrated by pcing the top between the three strands, and Alex held it.

  The gears cranked again, and the threads started twisting together. Alex noticed the top wanted to push back independently, but he only needed to hold it in pce. Slowly, he walked back from one end of the workshop to the other. Soon, they had a length of rope long enough to create their rope pump.

  "Wow, that was really something. I've never seen rope made before. I guess it always needs two people?" Alex asked while holding the rope in his hands.

  With a chuckle, Bob expined, "You have to hold it tight while someone spins the wheel to make it work. Martha usually helps when we need to make more rope."

  Alex looked around the messy workshop and spoke up, "Do you have any buckets? I'd like to go to the stream and get some sand. Maybe Merumeru can coat the pipes with gss to prevent the iron from rusting and allow the rope to pass through more smoothly." He had a strong desire to clean up the entire area.

  Bob rummaged through a pile of items and returned with a stack of wooden buckets, saying, "Sure, I believe there's a stack right around here." They took the buckets to Alex's cart, a wind-up design that prevented it from rolling away on steep slopes, and pced them inside. Bob was impressed.

  As they filled the buckets with sand using shovels, Bob asked, "That's a really fancy cart you have there. But I have to ask, what's with all the stuffed animals and dolls?"

  Alex smiled and replied, "Oh, those are my friends. That one is named Lily, the doll next to her is Rose, and the one in armor is Edelweiss. The plushies don't have names yet."

  Bob observed Alex filling his bucket with sand and commented, "I don't know if I'd call them friends, but they're certainly unique. That's some high-quality work right there."

  "Thanks. I made those three myself. The rest I got from the dungeon. I guess I am a bit of a craftsman." Alex said proudly.

  "You're a pretty crafty guy." Bob filled his second bucket with sand.

  After about an hour, they had filled the buckets and returned the cart to the unfinished well. Alex went back to the well and began assembling pipe sections.

  "Hey, I can help you dig," Bob offered.

  "I appreciate it. However, it seems like Merumeru has decided to outdo us all. I can hear her spshing around in the hole. She's probably already digging underwater," Alex replied. He walked over to the hole, and a slimy hand reached up, offering him a wet brick.

  Alex took the brick and added it to the growing pile.

  Bob whistled but sounded a bit worried, "Will she be okay down in the water at the bottom of the well?"

  "She'll be fine. The first time she attempted something like this, I was concerned. However, I'm confident she can't drown. It must be a slime perk. Plus, she can dissolve things with her body. It appears she's dissolving some of the stones down there and turning them into bricks," Alex expined as he headed back to the hole.

  "I see. Well, let me know if anything changes," Bob replied as he unloaded more buckets of sand from the cart.

  Meanwhile, Merumeru had grown tired of the tunnel and was amusing herself by pying with the water at the well's bottom.

  Alex called out to Merumeru, urging her to come closer. He then grabbed one of the metal pipes lying on the cart. As the slime girl slithered up the shaft, her questioning gaze met Alex's. Clearing his throat, Alex spoke, "I'm not certain if you're able to do this, but could you coat these pipes with gss? If I remember correctly, gss is primarily composed of sand. Moreover, if the interior of the pipe is smooth like gss, the pump's lifespan will be extended." Alex took the rope, inserting it into the iron pipe. He suggested that simply tying knots in the rope could adjust its diameter to fit inside the pipe. However, he raised the possibility of something else being inserted between the twists to ensure a snug fit.

  Merumeru acknowledged his request, plunging her hand into one of the sand buckets. Gradually, she dissolved the sand into her own body. Then, she pced her hands on a section of pipe, staring at it with intense concentration. Tiny sparkles flowed up her arms and around the pipe section. Once she was finished, she returned her limbs to their normal state and handed Alex a section of pipe now coated in gss.

  Merumeru's excitement was palpable as she hopped up and down, exciming "Merumeru! Ruuu!" She was clearly thrilled with her creation.

  As Alex handed Merumeru the knotted rope, he asked, "Can you modify it to fit the pipe?"

  Merumeru examined the rope, then gently touched it. She gathered more sand and crafted rger gss beads with three holes, one for each twine of the rope. Alex and Fufi cheered her on.

  It took the rest of the afternoon to complete the curved pipe that would fit into the well. Bob crafted a wooden wheel to spin the rope, while Merumeru constructed a solid ledge around the well to prevent people from accidentally falling into the hole in the dark.

  As they prepared to test the new well, Martha approached them. "What are you all doing? It's past dinner time."

  "We have finished our project." Bob pointed to the well that didn’t look like any kind of well they’d seen before.

  Martha stood up and walked down to the well, "How does it work? I've never seen a well with a pipe like this before." She peered down into the wet darkness.

  "It's a pump." Alex expined.

  "A pump?" Martha repeated.

  "Yeah, if we didn't mess it up then you just spin this wheel and water will come out from this part there." Alex pointed to the contraption.

  With a determined expression, Bob cranked the handle of the device, anticipating that it might take several attempts to make it work correctly.

  Everyone's attention was focused on the contraption as it emitted a series of noises. Initially, no water flowed out, but with persistent cranking, water began to gush out of the pipe and spill onto the ground. Recognizing the practicality of the device, Martha swiftly positioned a bucket beneath the stream of water, remarking, "This appears to be significantly easier than hauling up a bucket on a rope."

  Grinning triumphantly, Bob cranked the handle once more, and this time, the water flowed at an accelerated rate.

  "Wow, that is a lot of water." Bob said as the flow of water increased.

  "Dear, please stop the bucket is overflowing." Martha gently teased her husband.

  "Oh, sorry." He said and stopped the crank.

  The stream of water slowed down and eventually died down.

  "Well,you all made something impressive. How about dinner as a reward?" Martha said and walked back to the house.

  "That sounds good." Bob followed his wife.

  Everyone went back inside and had a cheerful dinner. Everyone talked excitedly about the new well until it was time for bed. That night Alex had the same dream again of the girl beckoning him into the forest.

  melchi