Volume 1 Chapter 40 Let's Create a Path
"Alright, got it──wait, hang on a sec!"
Cain's mind drifted back to the [magic] he'd just learned.
"Hey Gardy, do we have anything like a big flat board, or maybe some huge spatula that can smooth out the ground?"
With his hands flying, Cain tried to show what he meant.
"Understood, Sir Cain. I'll fetch the tool we always use after filling holes in the road."
Gardy dashed off to the tool shed.
Cain knelt by the rutted path, placed his hand down, and whispered, "...Mud!"
A patch one meter square and 30 centimeters deep instantly turned to thick, oozy mud.
"Alright, think that did the trick?"
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Sir Cain!"
Gardy came back with a tool──a stick with a wide, flat board on the end.
It almost looked like a hockey stick, but with the blade set flat and parallel to the ground.
"Okay, Gardy, I turned the road to 'mud' so the ruts should be easy to level out. Go on, make it nice and flat."
"You did this yourself, Sir Cain? Using [magic] like this... You come up with the cleverest things."
Impressed, Gardy started smoothing out the ruts with the tool.
In just a few minutes, the deep grooves were evened out.
"This is a breeze. The ruts vanish right away. Still, I think it'll take a while to dry."
Gardy muttered, staring at the wide, even sheet of mud.
"No problem. ...Dry!"
As Cain spoke the powerful word, the muddy road firmed up into perfect, dry earth──flat as could be.
"Whoa, that's amazing! I've never seen a road this smooth before."
He knelt, running his hand over the fresh earth, drumming it with his fingers in disbelief.
"The rest looks bumpy compared to this. Should we just fix the whole thing before Father comes home?"
Cain glanced down the drive, from the gate all the way to the manor's entrance, throwing out the idea.
"Let's do it!"
Gardy grinned, jumping right on board.
And in less than an hour, the path from the gate to the front door was a perfect, stone-free boulevard.
"Thanks, Gardy! Do you think Father'll notice? I kinda hope he does... but he probably won't."
His father was gentle, but Cain pictured him as always──hunched over documents in the carriage, probably too busy to catch the change.
"Whoa, Gardy, you're covered in mud. Come on, let's hit the well and clean you up."
"Okay."
The two of them headed off to the well, big victorious grins on their faces, ready to wash that "mud" right off.
After cleaning up and parting ways with Gardy, Cain went back to the library, studying like nothing had changed.
"Cain? You in there?"
Luke's voice called out from the library entrance.
"Yes, I'm inside. Did you need something?"
Setting his book aside, he turned toward the door.
"You're the one who leveled out the road to the mansion, right, Cain?"
Luke sounded a little fired up.
"Yeah, Gardy and I saw all those ugly ruts so we smoothed them out. Was that... not okay?"
His heart sped up as he wondered if he'd messed up.
"No, not at all. Sorry──I was just surprised. The moment I passed through the gates, all the shaking vanished! You did a great job. Here──a little reward."
Luke ruffled Cain's hair and handed him a silver coin.
"Thank you! But Gardy helped too, so we should split it."
Cain felt a warm glow──he'd been praised, actually useful to someone.
"You're a good kid, Cain. I'll make sure Gardy gets his share, so you keep this one for yourself."
Cain thanked Luke again before heading off.
A few days later, Gardy came by to thank him──Luke had given him a special bonus too.
Then, several days after that.
One whole day of rain──and just like that, the road they'd worked so hard to fix was full of ruts and puddles again.
"Seriously? We busted our butts, and it's back to square one... If I try the same thing again, the rain'll just ruin it. There's gotta be a better way. How did old Europe handle roads, anyway?"
Cain mulled it over, lost in thought──until an idea suddenly sparked.
"Wait. Why not just pave it with stone?"
He snapped his fingers, whispering to himself.
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