Ch.163Heavy Rain (3)

Currently, our pioneer village has a working population of exactly 320 people, excluding very young babies and others unable to work.

In a world where population equals the strength of a community and society, this high number increases our village’s capacity and raises what might be called our “weight class”—a figure that’s better when higher in many respects.

But where there is light, there must also be shadow. As with all things in the world where good and bad coexist, this principle applies to high population numbers as well.

What I mean is that such a high population demands tremendous “consumption” in exchange for raising the collective’s weight class.

The 320 people require various foods, luxury consumables, fuel, housing, furniture, daily necessities, clothing, garments, textiles, and all manner of other supplies.

And just as they consume these diverse resources, they also produce waste in the process….

I believe the main issue emerging as our pioneer village’s population grows is the dramatic increase in the amount of “sewage” being discharged.

Beyond just wastewater containing human waste, there’s water from bathing, laundry, and cleaning—that’s just the basic level.

The real substantial problem, I suspect, is the wastewater coming from “production facilities.”

Wastewater from tanning and dyeing processes is contaminated with chemicals. The blacksmith’s shop uses quite a lot of water for quenching and cooling, and agricultural water often becomes unusable after serving its purpose.

But the “real” issue, the most problematic aspect, is the addition of livestock.

With over 50 animals arriving in the village, the proportion of their excrement has increased dramatically. In fact, the fundamental reason we’re racking our brains over sewage treatment is because of the added animal waste.

Especially when it was just manure, we created sewage treatment pits with the idea that they could double as compost fermentation sites. But once industrial contaminated water was added, how could anyone possibly use this as fertilizer?

In this situation that strongly feels like a transition period in many ways, Pierre’s sewage treatment method… well, it’s not something we hadn’t considered at all.

I’m talking about the special structure passed down since the ancient empire era—a sewage treatment system using slimes.

These creatures, which have their own distinct classification like “magical beasts” or “undead,” are divided into various types, such as “■jade slimes,” “contamination” types… and even metal slimes.

From acidic ■jade slimes with brilliant primary colors like blue or fluorescent hues, to special contaminated slimes like “shoggoths” influenced by external factors, to metal slimes with their unbelievably high durability and physical attack capabilities unusual for slimes.

And in this world where countless slime varieties have emerged through artificial or natural influences, it’s perhaps only natural that there are surprisingly many cases of people treating these seemingly useful slimes as livestock….

Among these cultivated slime breeds, one is the “sewer slime.” It’s a unique slime that swallows waste and sewage, using its body as a filter to purify dirty water and discharge clean water.

These creatures, born from the ancient empire’s selective breeding, have their aggression toward living beings extremely suppressed, and no matter how much they gather, they cannot grow beyond intermediate level, making them safe to use in sewers.

Of course, during times of chaos, many escaped and became feral, resulting in the birth of waste slimes like “sludge slimes,” but even more numerous are the sewer slimes used for sewage treatment throughout the world.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, it might not be a bad idea to establish sewage treatment facilities to handle the increasing sewage….

“Pierre. Listen carefully. Slimes…. You can’t use just any slime for sewage treatment.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

As I told Pierre, you can’t just put any slime in a sewage treatment plant and expect it to work for sewage treatment.

Or more precisely, if you just capture any random slime and throw it in there, there won’t be major problems at first, but the slimes you put in there obviously won’t just stay docile.

Slimes that feed on organic matter will absorb waste, increasing their numbers and size until they reach intermediate level, and with their fluid bodies, they might squeeze through narrow gaps and infiltrate homes through water pipes.

Moreover, being in a sewage treatment plant exposes them to all sorts of pollutants, sometimes resulting in strange mutated slimes contaminated by chemicals.

This tendency doesn’t change much even with sludge slimes, which are feral sewer slimes, because the traits that were bred out of them naturally revived during the process of becoming wild.

These wild sludge slimes can grow to intermediate level, have maximized aggression toward living beings, and their entire bodies are masses of bacteria contaminated with all sorts of toxic substances.

In other words, these wild slimes solve absolutely nothing.

‘…Hmm.’

So that evening, after returning to the village from exterminating a group of slimes, I continued pondering in my office, trying to resolve this sewage issue once and for all, and eventually reached a conclusion.

Indeed, this problem cannot be solved by my power alone.

※ ※ ※

Though I started by saying this, I actually have almost no intention of immediately installing a complete water and sewage system.

Because… frankly speaking, the village doesn’t have the capacity for such construction work right now.

With the labor already being consumed by the expansion of wooden “walls” surrounding the village and the construction of watchtowers and turrets, any remaining workforce is mostly being used to build housing for new interns.

Moreover, it’s now autumn, when the ground starts to freeze despite the recent rain. In this situation where moisture-laden soil freezes solid, it’s difficult to dig up the ground and overturn the village to install sewage treatment facilities.

In fact, the sewage treatment facilities in the major cities of this era aren’t even built by them; they’re either repurposing remnants from the ancient empire… or they’re small-scale operations.

We might be able to cobble something together crudely thanks to our all-around technician, the dwarf Magni, but even if we build such facilities, how would we manage them?

Additionally, sewers in this world basically need to be large enough for people to enter, and I know enough about construction to understand that digging such structures under flat ground is no easy task.

In short, the more I consider it, the more problems and issues emerge endlessly, and these are not the kind of problems our village, barely emerging from rural status, can handle.

“…A sewage treatment plant?”

“Yes. …Would it be difficult?”

“I could make one without much difficulty if it’s just for the village’s current needs, but if you want something on a more substantial scale, it would be difficult.”

Indeed, when I asked Magni, our village’s finest craftsman, about expanding sewage treatment facilities, his reaction was quite lukewarm.

More precisely, it seemed we lacked the capacity to build any serious facilities.

I had brought up the question wondering if an expert’s opinion might differ, but the unexpectedly tepid response proved that my thinking wasn’t far off the mark.

Therefore, after much deliberation trying to figure out the best solution for our current situation, I had no choice but to compromise, despite my reluctance.

“Then, please make one that we can use immediately, at a manageable scale.”

“…Understood.”

After all, with so many projects already underway, all we can really do is patch things up temporarily.

As I mentioned earlier, it’s not an arrangement I’m particularly fond of, but considering the circumstances, it might be the only compromise we can make….

And just as our future course of action seemed to be decided, I encountered a variable I hadn’t predicted at all.

“Lord Alzar, I have something to report.”

“A report? What is it?”

“Yes. Recently, the village artisans have been asking more questions about taxes, so I was wondering how we might resolve this….”

It was the issue of income and taxes related to the “artisans,” who could be considered the village’s specialized workforce.