Spiral Pump

In B.C. Europe, Archimedes had solved the problem of the pump. He had designed a very impressive spiral pump. To Robb's surprise, in this world, Archimedes had become an archmage and had been dead for many years. Robb estimated that Archimedes' spiral pump would have been used by quite a few people in this world. This remote town just didn't know it yet.

For the time being, Robb did not explain what an Archimedes Screw was. Instead, he had the masons work with the blacksmiths first, loading the iron pipes, the taps, and everything else. Where the pipes were connected to the iron pipes, the process of welding the ends of the pipes on the spot and then connecting them together was done similarly to where the faucets were connected to the pipes. This was the only simple and crude way to solve the problem in this age. In short, three long hoses were pulled down from the cistern and connected to the side of the church toilet, the kitchen, and the field in the yard.

Next, he had to wait for the cistern to dry and solidify before he could use it.

Only then did Robb call the blacksmith to his side and draw a diagram of the Archimedes Screw on the ground with a branch. He smiled at the blacksmith. "You can make another one of these when you get back. This time the iron pipe can be made thicker, the iron sheet thinner, and bent into a spiral like this… This shouldn't be too difficult, should it?"

"Oh, that's no problem at all," said the blacksmith. "I can do that."

He was excited to discover that he could learn the craftsmanship of the Divine Smith from Robb. He was so excited that even his biceps were stirring. He could not wait to see this strange thing forged.

So, after another two days, the spiral pump came out. Although the blacksmith's skills were terrible and he couldn't make it into a beautiful streamlined shape, or even parallel to every spiral, it didn't matter if it was ugly. As long as it worked.

There was no time for the reservoir to dry in two days. Fortunately, when no one was around at night, Robb secretly used wind and fire magic to forcefully dry the reservoir, causing it to finally catch up with the equipment made by the blacksmith.

This morning, hundreds of townspeople had flocked to the church. Even the mayor had brought his wife along to watch the fun. In a small town like this, it was really easy to get noticed when something was going to be done in the church. When the townspeople heard that the priest was going to display great technology today, they all came to watch.

The small courtyard of the church was crowded with people. Robb and Lillian were surrounded in the middle.

The townspeople were pointing at the high cistern. Now and then someone mumbled quietly under their breaths.

Robb did not need to hear it to guess that they were curious about the purpose of this thing. Well, all that was needed now was a little demonstration.

'Let's put the pump in the well, blacksmith.'

"Okay, Father!" The blacksmith and a few of the townspeople who had come to help carried the long Archimedes Screw to the well and lowered one end of the pump into the deep well. The other end rested on the edge of the cistern. The long spiral iron cylinder attracted all the townspeople to crane their necks to see.

Westwind Town was a town with "mining, farming, hunting, and gathering herbs" as its core industry. There were many blacksmiths in this town, and there were more than a dozen blacksmiths standing among the onlookers. They looked at the spiral iron cylinder and thought to themselves, "I can build this thing too, but I don't know what it's for. If it's useful, let's go build one too."

The mason leaned forward and worked the handle himself, stirring the rotor above the spiral pump. Soon the entire pump began to spin. The spiral-shaped bent pipe kept pumping water out of the well, and soon the first stream was being pumped into the reservoir.

"Eh? This is something that draws water from low places to high places."

"Wow! This thing is amazing!"

"I heard it was invented by Archimedes, the ancient archmage."

"That's amazing!"

"I can't believe we can pump water like this. Hey, if we set this thing up by the river, won't we be able to pump water and irrigate the farmland?"

"Yes, it's amazing. Let's build one for our family later."

To these simple townspeople, such craftsmanship could really be considered "a work of God." They could not help but sigh.

As the spiral pump continued to spin, the water in the well was pumped up in large quantities. Soon the cistern was filled with water, and the masons who manned the pump were not tired at all. It was easier than he had expected to turn the pump. He could not help but cry out in wild joy. "Father, this thing is amazing! I can't wait to see your next demonstration."

"Well, the cistern is full, too, so let's move on to the next step." Robb stepped forward, a saintly (and deceptive) smile on his face, and stood in front of that tap at the edge of the farmland. He raised one hand high and spoke to the townspeople. "What you're about to see, my children, is something truly great and life-enhancing. I call it— running water."

"Running water?" the townspeople whispered.

They saw Robb's hand on the tap, lifting it gently…

CRASH!

White water gushed from the faucet.

This result was expected by the masons. He was the first person in town to understand the water system, but the other villagers were dumbfounded. They thought about it for dozens of seconds, their eyes following the water pipe all the way to the reservoir, before they finally understood what they were seeing.

Robb laughed. "If you want to use water anywhere in the house, all you have to do is attach the hose somewhere. At any time, all you have to do is lift the tap gently and the iron pipe will bring the water from the cistern… and lift it in reverse. Look, the water has stopped…"

With that, Robb realized that the faucet was still dripping after being held tight. Damn, there were no rubber rings in it. It was impossible not to leak. He hooked a wooden basin with his foot unobtrusively, caught it under the faucet, and continued to put on a glorious, holy face.

"WOW!"

"That's amazing."

"That's … that's magnificent."

"Praise the God of Light, praise Father, praise Archimedes, for sending aid to us with such great skill!"

Robb wanted to complain again. 'Give Archimedes a good compliment. I'm not jealous, but what the hell is the order of your compliments? Put the God of Light first and me second. All in front of Archimedes. Does Archimedes not deserve the credit? Apologize to Archimedes.'

Amidst the accolades, Robb walked to the stone chair, sat down, and instantly went into a state of indolence. "All right, I've finished my demonstration. Go about your business and stop making a fuss. I've imparted the most wonderful knowledge to you. You can figure it out on your own."

The townspeople slowly dispersed. The mayor grabbed the masons and the blacksmith. "Hey, don't go. I need to put one of these in my house too. Hurry up and help me make one."

"Then the price—"

"The price is negotiable…"

[Robb acquired running water]