The narrow stream cut through the underbrush, it wasn’t too thick but just enough to say that it had made an impact on the original river.

Eric stepped down onto the softer ground noticing as the channel wasn’t too deep, only ankle height, it moved steadily, sliding between carefully placed stones before disappearing downhill through the trees

The supervising panel members followed at a distance, boots crunching softly against gravel and dry twigs. The Hillford people lingered behind, clustered in uneven groups.

They all nudged the youngest guy present.

"Go get, Frank. Hurry!" One of them hissed to him and he nodded before he ran back towards the embankment.

The Hillford people’s early politeness had thinned into the right cautiousness. They knew what they had done was wrong but to have the Prince find it out so quickly would put them in the bad light in his eyes and they feared an unfair judgement.

They watched as Eric crouched beside the channel. He hadn’t spoke anything yet, he extended his fingers into the water, feeling its temperature and pressure.

The current was weak compared to the healthy river, but the soil had been cut deliberately and the stones lined the trench were not scattered by nature, they were all arranged to prevent collapse. It was guided by human help.

His thought was correct.

Behind him the supervising panel were shocked and moreover angry at the people of Hillford.

"No wonder the river’s flow was so weak."

"They dug up secret channels to keep their own fields from dying."

"Do they have no conscience? There is almost no water for Lowmere."

"His Highness must block these channels at once so that the flow would be repaired."

The panel were talking in hushed tones as they weren’t allowed to advice or effect his judgement in any way but their words were clear for the Hillford people who were there.

They looked at each other with terrified gazes.

"I-It’s natural runoff!" One of the Hillford famer stepped ahead.

The supervising panel gave the people a look.

Eric didn’t look back at them as he said, "Natural runoff does not have stones aligned so carefully."

A ripple of worry passed through the gathered men.

Another one of them shouted, "We did not steal anything."

"Like hell you didn’t." One of the supervising panel members scoffed.

"I didn’t say you did." Eric replied calmly making the supervising panel stare at him.

The silence that followed was heavy. Eric stood and followed the trench’s direction through the thinning trees. It slipped gently downwards until the brush opened enough to reveal green strips of cultivated land.

The wheat there stood tall and unlike the fields in the Lowmere, this one seemed healthy enough.

A younger Hillford man shifted uneasily.

"We only protected what was ours."

"How many acres?" Eric asked without turning.

The question caught them off guard.

"Six," someone answered.

"And how many families?"

"Seventeen."

Eric nodded once.

"And when was this dug?"

Silence.

Then from the back, a reluctant voice said. "Two summers ago."

Another snapped, "We had no choice!"

"You think Lowmere would have fed us?"

"They already blame us for everything!"

There it was. The clear sign of the fracture between the two towns. Eric didn’t comment on that.

"You were protecting your harvest," he said evenly.

The words stunned them.

"But you altered a shared river."

He finally turned to face them.

"And when water weakens here, it weakens further below."

A man near the front scoffed. "They hate us anyway."

Eric observed him quietly before he saw Frank Rovers rushing towards them huffing and puffing with a young man.

He doubled over placing his hands over his knees as he caught his breath and Eric waited.

"Y-Your Highness, w-why are you here?" Frank asked.

Eric tilted his head slightly, "You came at the right time. I need you to take me to the rest of the channels that Hillford has dug."

Frank smiled, "Pardon? The-There are no other channels."

Eric sighed, "There’s no point in hiding anymore Frank, I know there are more. You need to guide me to those so that I could collect the data to help you."

"Help us?" One of the farmers gasped.

"W-Wouldn’t you get us to block it?" Another asked.

Eric shook his head, "Your channels are helping your fields and I know you weren’t purposely trying to harm Lowmere. The river’s flow is weak enough so, it’s only natural that you dug the trenches but, it’s still unfair. I need to first fix the river’s issue and I will then tell what you should do after that."

The Hillford people looked at each other while Frank frowned.

"We did nothing wrong."

"We’ll talk about that later. As of now, I need to collect the relevant data to find the problem and think of a solution. And I need your help for that." Eric said with a smile.

The people were a little wary and even the supervising panel were at a loss for words. Usually if any other noble had found these secret channels they would have passed the judgement right away condemning Hillford and had their produce seized while also closing the channels immediately but Eric was keeping quiet about it and even asking for their help in solving the bigger issue.

"If this channel draws a quarter of the reduced base flow, then it also affects the fields of Lowmere. Their fields are all barren, so, we must first think of a way to have the river fixed." Eric repeated and the people appeared to falter.

Frank sighed deeply, "Fine, please come this way."

Eric sighed himself before he followed Frank.

Eric was glad that he sent away the Castermere guards along with Drac on the other way, if they had known that Hillford had dug up secret channels then it would have become a point of explosion for both the towns which were already hostile towards each other. The issue was sensitive so, he had to keep his cool and think of the bigger issues first so that the minor ones would be fixed.

They moved upstream again, following the natural bend of the river. The brush thinned gradually, revealing a section where the main current widened briefly before narrowing once more.

Eric slowed his pace.

There it was.

At first glance, it appeared natural, a shallow side stream branching gently away from the main current. But the mouth of it had been deepened deliberately. Stones were set along its edges, smoothing and guiding the intake.

This was not a fresh trench.

It was a widened tributary.

Eric crouched at the intake and withdrew a marked leather cord from his sling bag.

The original stream had likely existed for years, perhaps swelling only during rainy seasons. But someone had carved its bed deeper and reinforced its sides. The water feeding into it flowed more cleanly than nature would have allowed on its own.

He traced its path with his eyes before he got down into the stream shocking both the farmers and the supervising panel, he handed one end of the cord to the other farmer and gestured for him to stand at the edge.

The supervising panel watched as he measured the tributary and then wrote down something in his small notebook.

The tributary curved through low grassland before spilling into a clay-lined irrigation pool. From there, narrow furrows branched outward, feeding carefully tended farmland.

The supervising panel member nearest him bent to inspect the intake.

"It would not draw much when the river runs strong," he murmured. "But in drought..."

"It becomes significant," Eric finished quietly as he returned back to them.

"How many acres does this feed?" He asked.

"Nine," Frank answered.

More than the first channel.

"And when was it deepened?"

"Last year."

Eric nodded and noted it in his book.

Frank led them further along the bend where the river tightened between raised banks. It was here that Eric stopped again, but this time, there was no visible branch splitting off.

Instead, a low earthen ridge stretched diagonally across part of the river’s width.

At first glance, it resembled flood protection.

A reinforced embankment of packed clay and timber stakes, positioned not to block the current, but to slow it.

Eric stepped closer.

The water struck the embankment and lost speed. As it did, excess flow spilled gently over the lowered side into a shallow side ditch that curved away toward fields beyond the trees.

This was not a tributary.

It was a seasonal overflow trap.

Eric crouched beside the embankment and pressed his fingers into the clay.

Firm.

Recently maintained.

He walked downstream a few paces and studied the riverbed just beyond the slowed section.

Then he knelt.

He dug his fingers deeper into the sediment.

What came up was not loose gravel.

It was thick silt which seemed to have layered here with time.

He scraped again with the metal tool from his bag.

The buildup was substantial.

He planted his measuring rod into the narrowed center of the river and noticed that it was shallower than it should have been.

He compared the depth to his earlier markings and then stood slowly.

"This river is not only divided," he said quietly. "It is clogged."

Frank frowned.

Eric gestured first toward the widened tributary.

"You deepened that."

Then toward the embankment.

"You reinforced this."

Finally, he pointed toward the narrowed bend downstream.

"But you have not dredged the main channel."

The farmers exchanged looks as if that would give them answers.

"When was the last time both towns maintained the full stretch together?" Eric asked.

After a pause, an older farmer answered, "Three years ago."

"Before the drought."

"Yes."

"And after that?"

"We maintained our side."

"And Lowmere maintained theirs."

Eric nodded once before commenting, "And neither maintained the whole."

That settled heavily.

He stepped closer to the narrowed bend and indicated the silt.

"When the drought reduced velocity, sediment began accumulating. When flow was slowed further by diversion and reinforcement, accumulation increased."

He turned to Frank.

"If you close these channels now, the river will not recover immediately. The silt will still choke it."

The Hillford men listened carefully now.

"What are you saying?" One asked.

"I am saying," Eric replied calmly, "that the solution is not closing your channels first."

That startled them.

"It is restoring the river’s strength."

He walked a few paces along the bank and gestured to the compressed section.

"This bend must be dredged."

He pointed to the narrower intake. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"This intake must be slightly raised once flow increases."

He pointed upstream where the embankment stood.

"And that embankment must be reshaped to prevent excessive diversion during low-flow months."

Frank studied him.

"And you will do this?"

Eric looked at him.

"Yes."

"With what?"

Eric tapped the notebook lightly, "With planning."

He stepped toward the main current again.

"For now, these channels remain. But once dredging increases base flow, the draw ratios must be recalibrated."

The farmers frowned at the unfamiliar term and Eric simplified.

"You will still irrigate. But not at the river’s expense."

He closed the sling bag and slung it back over his shoulder.

"I will not expose this today," he added evenly. "Because the greater problem is sediment and mismanagement of shared maintenance."

Frank’s jaw tightened slightly.

"You mean Lowmere is also at fault."

"I mean," Eric corrected calmly, "both towns stopped working together."

That was heavier than accusation.

The supervising panel exchanged quiet looks.

Eric mounted his horse slowly.

"Tomorrow," he said, "we begin dredging at the narrowed bend."

Frank stared at him.

"We?"

"Yes."