Release That Witch

Over two weeks they performed "Cinderella" three times with many people coming to see it more than once. Many people attended the premiere due to its publicity and advertisement, while the next two showings had a spontaneous rise in crowds. There were even subjects who came to City Hall to enquire about the next performance.     

This left Roland feeling overjoyed. Everyone had been completely fascinated by the story. In fact, there had been almost no-one to cry out in objection, asking, "Why does a witch help Cinderella?" Next month he would show "The Cock Cries at Midnight", a play whose audience was mainly comprised of poor subjects. He did not know what the serfs would think about the witches helping them in the show.     

He was also happy that the cast had accepted the existence of witches after settling down in the town. After the third performance, Irene had sought out Roland and asked him why they were able to have such unique accompaniment. Roland decided to tell her about Echo.     

From what Nightingale observed from the darkness, although Irene was surprised, she had shown neither offense nor disgust. After she composed herself, she became curious, asking all sorts of questions about Echo and making her demonstrate her magical sound several times. After that, Echo joined the theater crew, becoming the obscure music director. In order to avoid accidents, Irene would hold a separate rehearsal with Echo where they would line up sound effects. All of this happened without the knowledge of the rest of the crew. Without a doubt, the richness of the sound would reach a new level in the next play.     

In addition, something else to be even more joyous about was that the castle was reaching the era of tap water.     

A tall water tower had been built in the castle backyard. The tower was triangular and made of a welded iron frame. An iron water drum, three meters tall and two meters in diameter, was attached to the tower. A float valve was attached to the drum, which made it convenient to adjust the water level. The tower was welded by Anna and then it was given an anti-rust coating by Soraya. Finally, with the help of Hummingbird, it was lowered considerably so that it could be erected on a pre-poured cement base.     

Due to the height of the castle, the water tower in the backyard was higher than the Redwater River and was approaching 12 meters, approximately equal to the top of the castle. In order to stop it from collapsing, Roland added a wall section to the tower, integrating it and the castle into a single structure.     

A steam engine was set just outside of the backyard and was used to bring source water to the tower. The water came from the well in the castle backyard. This was the third generation of the steam engine. The largest improvement in this generation was a large reduction in sound pollution.     

A gasket was fitted at each junction of the steam engine. These light blue gaskets were the color of the sky when Soraya created them. They were very soft but tough and could greatly lessen the noise made in running the machine. The inside of the cylinder, as well as the sides of the pistons, were the color of grass. These parts reduced leakage while simultaneously increasing efficiency. All of the steam engine's components that were prone to tremors, such as the exhaust pipe, were replaced with coated hoses.     

In order to protect the steam engine from rain and sun, and to further isolate noise, Roland created a small room to enclose it. The walls of the room were given a honeycomb coating by Soraya. This worked as a porous, sound absorbing material. The test results showed that even when the machine ran at night, its sounds did not wake the people sleeping in the castle.     

However, Roland's attempt to make the steam engine run automatically was ultimately a failure. He had thought that a flying ball controlled by the steam engine could work the wooden box flap. When the steam pressure was lowered, the shifting ball would open the flap and push the firewood from the storage box into the furnace. However, he had to enlarge the speed controller so that the ball would be able to move the flaps with its own weight. After thinking for a bit, Roland decided to give it up. If the wooden box was loaded with firewood, it was better to have people fill it. Furthermore, men had to fill the water tank daily anyway.     

The last step was installing water pipes into homes. This included faucets, showers, pipes, and the corresponding drain pipe installation.     

The castle was not like the newly built brick buildings in small neighborhoods where holes were prepared. The stone walls and roofs were quite troublesome to reconstruct. This step alone took nearly a week to complete. In order to improve the quality of life, Roland personally commanded Carter to have a room converted into a bathroom on both the second and third floors.     

For this, Soraya's new ability once again played a critical role. She paved a drain on top of the cement flooring and then painted on a thin layer of grass. Not only did this help with waterproofing, but it made entering the bathroom feel like taking a stroll in a valley. After he had received this inspiration, Roland told her to paint over the entire room. The ceilings became open blue skies with clouds, and on each of the four walls, one could see distant valleys and forests. The walls of the bathtub were made crystal clear like a gemstone.     

On the day when the water system was up and running, the prince called all the witches into the bathroom, so that they could experience this great achievement for themselves.     

The backyard water tank had been filled with water. He twisted the faucet, and water flowed through the pipes.     

"From today on, there's no need to raise water from the well," Roland proudly announced, "Bathwater also doesn't need to be used for three days. All you need to do is to stand in the shower, and pull this lever."     

"Huh? Where does the water come from?" Lightning stretched out her tongue and tasted the stream of water. "It's sweet."     

Maggie stretched out her head from under Lightning and did likewise. "Very sweet, coo!"     

Roland grabbed Nana, who was also trying to put her head over it. "If you want to drink this water, you need to boil it first. This water is only for washing hands and taking showers."     

"This is the siphon principle, right?" Anna looked at Roland, her lake-blue eyes sparkling.     

"What's that?" Hummingbird raised her hand and asked.     

Under Teacher Scroll's training, the witches had developed the habit of raising their hands to ask questions.     

"Elementary Physics says that when the two uneven vessels contain liquid, and the liquid is connected by a pipe, it will move to the lower vessel due to gravity, regardless of the shape of the tube," Anna explained. "We're in a lower position than the water tower, so the water will keep flowing here."     

"You're completely correct," Roland praised. She really was a genius, able to learn new information and connect it like this.     

"What about these?" Nightingale pointed to the tall shower curiously. "Why are there so many tiny holes at the bottom?"     

Roland opened the valve, letting a small bit of water pour out. "It's designed for a more convenient bath. All you have to do is to stand here, and you'll easily be able to clean your body."     

"So you've been busy around the castle all a week just to make a more comfortable bathroom?" Lily curled her lip and whispered, "it's indeed the sort of luxury that the noble would enjoy."     

"Lily!" Scroll frowned.     

"It's alright." Roland waved, showing that he did not mind. "The pursuit of enjoyment is the source power of human progress, and I'm no exception to that."