6th - 8th Days | Well Then... It's time to Dig the Well! (2)

The embarrassed knight continued to glare daggers at the mischievous butler; irritated by his nonchalant attitude.

On the side, both Anastasia and Bella, who had been watching their antics, couldn't help but let out giggles of their own, always amused by their usual banter.

"Martha~! Sir Sebas~!" the mistress called as she approached them, followed by Bella, who had promptly brought out towels for the two to dry off.

"Lady Anastasia! We found the water reservoir that you spoke of!" Martha quickly reported, brushing wet strands of hair from her face. She also graciously took the towel from Bella's hand to dry herself off.

"Hehe, indeed, I can clearly see that," Anastasia remarked, amused by their drenched state, much to her knight's embarrassment. "So... the next plan would be to build the well structure itself, correct?"

"Correct, my lady. But still..." The knight turned toward the gushing water, which seemed to be slowing down gradually. "...What would be the best material for the well's structure itself?"

"Materials, huh... Wouldn't lumber suffice?"

"Well, we could use it, but... I'm afraid it wouldn't last long enough and would eventually rot."

"Hmm, indeed... that would be a problem," the young noblewoman mused, tapping her chin in thought. She then turned to her other drenched servant, who was also drying himself with a towel, courtesy of her maid.

"Sir Sebas, pardon me for asking, but... what do you think? How should we build the well structure?"

"Hmmm... I think I heard that in the old days, they would use stone for reinforcement," he suggested.

"The old days...?" She blinked, curious but also confused by his choice of words. "W-well, either way, yes, we could use stone for the foundation. However..."

"We don't have any stone material, do we, my lady?" Martha interjected, already realizing the issue with that choice. Anastasia solemnly nodded in agreement.

"And there's no stone in sight either, huh..." Bella also added, glancing around.

The vast meadows of her mistress's region were mostly flatlands without any rocky terrain they could use.

Their head butler had also not brought any stone building materials from Florentia during his last supply trip, making stone an unviable option...

"I should have instructed you to buy stone building materials instead of just lumber..." Anastasia admitted, somewhat guilty for not thinking ahead.

"No, no, my lady. We don't have to go all the way back," Sebas reassured her, waving a hand dismissively. "We can't use lumber without processing it first, but stone? We can gather it locally and use it immediately."

"Locally...?"

"I-immediately, Sir Sebas...?!?"

"...What do you mean, Sir Sebas?" Anastasia inquired, a bit of doubt creeping into her voice.

Her butler simply smiled before turning around... and dashing away!

"W-what?! Sir Sebas?!"

They all just stood there, stunned by the butler's sudden departure. His figure vanished from sight as he leaped over the region's border wall, leaving them in silent shock.

"Where is Sir Sebas going...?" Bella broke the silence with the question on everyone's mind.

"...Finding stone, if I had to guess," Anastasia sighed, exasperated by her butler's unpredictability.

"Where exactly would he even get some to begin with...?" Martha grumbled, folding her arms.

The three of them could only wait for his return, idly lingering around the well hole that had filled with water—discussing the well's structure and, of course, their on-errand butler.

But eventually... that butler returned—carrying a giant boulder on his shoulder.

"Everyone~! I'm back~!"

"Wh-where did you even get that...?!" Anastasia asked, genuinely baffled.

"From a nearby mountain~," he answered cheerfully, as if carrying a boulder the size of a carriage was an everyday task.

He then brought down the giant boulder to the ground—

THUD!

—causing a small tremor in the ground, temporarily startling Anastasia and Bella. The one who remained unfazed was Martha, though her annoyed expression was deepening by the second.

"...And how exactly are we going to use this giant boulder, Sir Butler?" Martha asked as she approached Sebas, eyeing the massive rock beside him.

"We crack it open, of course~."

"...What?"

Without further delay, the butler suddenly took an odd fighting stance. Legs spread, one arm extended, the other pulled back—

Martha raised a brow. "...What in the world are you—"

He punched the boulder straight on!

Crack...! Crack...!! Crack!!!

With a single, precise punch, the massive boulder shattered into smaller, usable chunks!

"Now we have stone materials~," he declared, satisfied.

The silence that followed was almost deafening.

Anastasia blinked. Bella gawked. Martha rubbed her temples, as if nursing an oncoming headache.

"You absolute monster of a butler..." the knight muttered under her breath, exasperated.

Ignoring her remark, Sebas dusted off his hands and smiled. "Well then, shall we get to assembling?"

< | X | >

It took another two days, but the well's structure slowly came together.

Stone by stone, they lined the interior, ensuring its stability. With meticulous care, they constructed a sturdy frame, reinforcing it with wooden beams for additional support.

And finally, as the sun set on the last day of construction...

"This is the last one, Sir Butler," Martha said as she carefully carried the last part of the Well with Sebas himself.

"Got it. Just a bit more... and done."

Sebas and Martha finally put and installed the finishing touch: a roofed structure over the well, complete with a pulley system that the butler himself had gone and retrieved—in a flash, no less—from Florentia.

The moment the final piece was set in place, he and the three ladies stepped back to admire the finished well...!

"...We did it," Anastasia breathed, pride swelling in her chest as she witnessed another step of progress in her region come to fruition.

Martha, despite her exhaustion, smirked. "Hah, we sure did, my lady."

"It looks amazing...!" Bella cheered, eyes sparkling.

Sebas himself... only smiled at their reactions, glad that they liked the end result.

The young noblewoman turned to her three servants, the completed well standing behind her... and gratitude shining in her eyes.

"Everyone, well done. You have all worked so hard and made this possible," she praised, drawing their attention. They all gladly looked to their mistress as they saw a proud smile etched on her beautiful visage. "Thank you for your hard work."

Martha, Bella, and Sebas exchanged a glance, their faces lighting up with smiles, before they turned back to their mistress and gave their gratitude back to her.

"Thank you, my lady!"