Published: January 4, 2026
The next morning.
We left the post town early in the morning and arrived near the city by around noon.
Cindy exchanged words with the coachman and then reported to me.
“We’ll be at the city of Medain shortly.”
“Medain... so that means we’ve entered Enlil Province.”
“Yes.”
“All right, stop here.”
“Huh? Ah, yes!”
Surprised, Cindy hurriedly gave instructions to the coachman.
After the horses neighed, the carriage slowly came to a stop.
“It’s not exactly the city yet. Are you sure about this?”
“If we enter the city, we’ll have to get off and walk around anyway. Better to be inconspicuous from the start.”
“I see!”
“Wait outside the city, close enough that if I call, you can come immediately.”
“Understood!”
Leaving Cindy to give further commands to the coachman, I jumped off the carriage alone.
Ahead on the road, the silhouette of the city was faintly visible.
I started walking ahead, and Cindy hurriedly followed behind.
“From a distance, it doesn’t look like there’s been much damage.”
“Huh? Ah, yes. That seems to be the case.”
Walking closer to the city with Cindy, I observed more carefully.
Once inside the city, there was indeed some damage.
“It hasn’t collapsed entirely, but...”
“There’s damage to roof tiles and exterior walls in spots.”
“Yeah.”
“What shall we do?”
“Over here.”
I said that and led the curious Cindy along.
“Where are we going?”
“I have a rough map in my head — this spot.”
I led her to a place where an aqueduct ran through the city.
The aqueduct wasn’t flowing with water, and upon close inspection, it had cracks.
“This means... the aqueduct has been damaged.”
“Seems so.”
“This will make life difficult for everyone.”
“...”
I squatted silently and touched the bottom of the aqueduct.
There was still some mud that hadn’t dried yet stuck to the bottom.
“Um... is something the matter?”
“No. I was just wondering, if the aqueduct is like this, what are they using for daily water?”
“Now that you mention it!”
“Let’s look around the city.”
“Yes!”
I took Cindy with me and started walking.
Water is more important to humans than food.
Most people won’t die from missing a meal for a week, but very few can survive a week without drinking water.
If the aqueduct is broken like this, there must be some alternative source.
We searched around the city for it.
We found it quickly.
“Water stall...?”
I read the sign out loud, furrowing my brow so deeply it almost merged in the middle.
At the shop with that sign, people came and went constantly.
Most carried jugs or barrels, paying money to buy water.
“They’re buying and selling water, it seems.”
“Looks like it.”
I approached, and when there was a brief pause in customers, I called out to one of the shopkeepers.
“May I ask something?”
“Welcome—hmm? You don’t have a container?”
“No, I’m a traveler. What kind of shop is this?”
“As you can see, we sell water here. Drink it or use it for cooking, whatever you like.”
“Water?”
“Yes—ah, here comes an old lady.”
The man left me and Cindy to serve the next customer, an elderly woman.
She handed over a well-used jug and had it filled with water.
“All right, since it’s our own jug, you get a 10% discount.”
“...Let’s go.”
I said softly, took Cindy’s hand, turned around, and began walking away.
Perhaps I was giving off a displeased aura because Cindy spoke sympathetically.
“That’s a terrible merchant. To take advantage of a disaster and do business like that. They might not be able to stay in the city once things return to normal.”
“No, I don’t think you need to worry about that.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“Remember the last thing the shopkeeper said.”
“The last thing... oh, ‘10% discount because it’s our jug?’ I don’t see how that would ease the complaint.”
“No. It was, ‘It’s our jug, so you get a 10% discount.’”
“Oh, right. I forgot.”
“The old lady’s jug was very old and well-used. What does that mean?”