Chapter 32

After the people of the Trak Kingdom had more or less all been settled down.

Walker led Bana and the other knights to Gaina on a "business trip" to continue recruiting people.

The weather gradually grew warmer.

All of Visas and Komoy Fort began bustling with activity.

The five-year urban construction plan was initially put into effect.

Residential districts, administrative districts, commercial districts, and so on were planned first. The spatial layout and land use of the two cities also needed reasonable arrangements.

There were simply too many factors to consider from every angle.

Cyrus had Conrad gather the engineers at the guild for meetings and discussions whenever necessary to work out solutions.

Everyone needed to write a detailed and precise proposal, which Conrad would then compile and submit to him.

After all, collective strength was like steel, and collective wisdom was like the sun and moon.

The engineers: gradually going bald.

Fifteen days later, after repeated revisions, rejections, and further revisions...

Cyrus finally finalized a complete proposal and set of blueprints.

He decided that the first areas to be built in both cities would be the residential districts. Once the housing problem was solved, everything else would be easier to handle.

However, regarding the materials for building houses...

Cyrus rejected Conrad's suggestion to use wood for everything.

"No. Komoy Fort aside, Visas is close to the sea. If we use nothing but wood without proper waterproofing and moisture-proofing measures..."

"In the long run, the houses will easily be corroded by moisture and vulnerable to fires. Their service life will certainly be short."

Besides, the amount of construction needed for housing in the urban residential districts was considerable, and usable timber would definitely become scarce.

"No, that won't do." Cyrus rejected it again.

Conrad felt helpless and troubled by this as well.

"But if we don't use wood, then we'll have to use rammed earth..."

Rammed-earth houses had even worse strength and durability. They were more easily corroded by moisture than wooden houses, and could even collapse after heavy rain...

Although the laws of the Gadayat Kingdom did not stipulate that commoners could not use stone materials for construction, it was customary practice.

Besides, commoners could not afford stone.

If they chose stone construction, the funding that had already been roughly calculated would have to be recalculated from scratch.

Cyrus said, "What if we crush stone and mix it with soil and other raw materials... Could we make a new material suitable for construction?"

—Bricks.

This world really had been formed from a novel, just as 098 had said, leaving its worldline incomplete and fragmented...

Though the setting resembled the early Western Middle Ages, part of its historical development differed greatly from and deviated from that of the real Western Middle Ages.

For example, red bricks had been invented by the ancient Romans long ago.

There was no Rome in this fictional world, so even bricks were gone?

As a construction material, bricks had good heat retention, insulation, breathability, and water absorption.

Most importantly, they were sturdy, resistant to wind and sun, durable, soundproof, easy to source, and low-cost.

The only problem was that a kiln for firing bricks would also need to be built.

Cyrus gave sufficient hints, then had Conrad return and find people to study it in detail.

He had originally thought it might take more than ten days before news reached the castle.

But unexpectedly, Conrad came to the castle just eight days later and said, "My lord, the kiln has been built."

Cyrus raised his eyes in surprise. "So fast?!"

Conrad said, "Yes, my lord. Would you like to go into the city and take a look?"

Cyrus said, "Mm, I do."

Ever since Cyrus had proposed crushing stone and mixing it with materials such as mud, Conrad had been thinking and researching how to make a suitable building material.

He went to the place in the city where stone was piled up and accidentally discovered that the stones there were being crushed very quickly. After asking a craftsman, he learned that someone had invented a convenient tool for crushing stone.

The craftsman brought Conrad before a machine about waist-high and roughly two meters long.

It was a stone-crushing tool made up of two iron wheels rotating toward each other.

The iron wheels had uneven, blunt ridges and depressions. There were holes in their centers where a wooden axle could be fitted to turn them.

Before using this tool, large stones had to be smashed with hammers into smaller pieces, which were then tossed into the sunken space between the two iron wheels.

The uneven ridges on the wheels meshed together as they rotated, crushing the stone into finer pieces and saving a great deal of labor and effort.

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Conrad immediately asked who had invented this tool.

The craftsman said, "People from the Trak Kingdom."

"They made two of these stone-crushing iron wheels over there. We thought they were good, so we borrowed one to use. I'm not sure exactly who made them..."

"But if you go ask, Guildmaster, you should find out."

Conrad personally made a trip to Komoy Fort and successfully found the person who had invented the iron wheels.

Afterward, he discovered that this person was very clever. In such a short time participating as a temporary craftsman, he had created quite a few small tools that saved effort.

And every tool was ingeniously designed.

So Conrad invited him to study the problem Cyrus had raised with him.

On the way, Cyrus heard Conrad mention the man's name.

When they met, he confirmed that it was indeed Renogue Masi.

Cyrus looked over the kiln and each tool, secretly marveling that Renogue Masi truly was a talent.

He asked, "How did you come up with these things?"

Renogue said, "I liked tinkering around since I was little... After I grew up, I thought about it every day... and then I came up with them."

Cyrus said, "..."

Perhaps every genius achieved what they had through constant thought since childhood, plus a little inspiration.

Conrad said, "My lord, the new material you mentioned has also been fired. It's here. Please take a look."

He led Cyrus outside the kiln, where a pile of failed and successfully fired bricks lay neatly arranged on the ground.

Pointing at a stack of intact bricks, Conrad said, "Because they need to be shaped, Renogue made a square mold. Each one is about half an arm's length."

"We conducted several repeated experiments. The material from the last batch was the strongest after being formed, comparable to stone."

At this point.

Joy could not help appearing on Conrad's face, and he vigorously praised Renogue's contribution to the research before Cyrus.

Cyrus expressed his satisfaction and asked, "What reward do you want?"

Renogue froze for a moment, then rubbed his hands together. "I-I can ask for any reward?"

"Of course."

"Then, can I l-leave... leave..."

Seeing how hesitant he was, Cyrus could not help speaking for him. "You want to be freed from slavery?"

Renogue's heart gave a violent leap, and he nodded involuntarily. "Y-yes."

Cyrus said, "You can. Your contribution this time was substantial."

"I have always been fair. Freedom from slavery must be exchanged for sufficient merit, and you have met the standard."

"From this moment on, I will officially certify you as a free citizen."

Renogue was both shocked and delighted, not knowing how to keep the expression on his face under control.

He stood there completely stunned, his heart filled with indescribable surprise and excitement.

Renogue had never expected that these things, which he had once thought would be of little use, could become the merit he wanted most now.

After all, as an illegitimate child, Renogue had often been scolded for lacking ambition and spending all day researching worthless junk that could not be shown to others.

Cyrus said, "Are you interested in becoming an advisor to the Artisans' Guild? The treatment will be excellent... Would you consider it?"

Renogue: There was such a good thing?!

Of course he wanted it!

Cyrus: Very good, extremely good, especially good.

From today onward, Renogue officially joined the ranks of those "gradually going bald."

Renogue: Just keep smiling.

As the weather grew even hotter, Walker finally returned to Visas from Gaina.

He had brought back a total of more than 350 people, who were settled in the two cities respectively.

When Walker came to the castle to report, he said, "My lord, some unrest has broken out in Gaina. One of the princes with succession rights has died."

Ferdinand was also there. Hearing this, he frowned.

Cyrus said, "How many princes does Gaina have?"

"I remember Bruno Green is a direct descendant of Gaina's king and has succession rights, but his chances of inheriting the throne are not great, correct?"

Ferdinand nodded. "Gaina has three princes in total."

"The old king of Gaina has lived a long life. He is already over sixty and still sits on the throne. The second prince died young, while the third prince crippled his leg after falling from a horse by accident."

"Bruno Green is the third prince's son."

Cyrus said, "So the one who died was the eldest prince?"

Walker's expression turned slightly strange, and he shook his head. "No, the one who died was the third prince."

Seeing this, Ferdinand asked, "Do you suspect that the third prince's death was related to Bruno Green?"

Walker said, "It's a reasonable suspicion."

"Bruno Green is highly ambitious. Gaina's old king has lived a long time, while the eldest prince is no longer young and is in poor health. He now often needs physicians to treat him."

"When I led the people away from Gaina, news came from the royal city that the eldest prince was critically ill. The physicians in the city had all been summoned into the palace by knights."

Cyrus: Fine, he was beyond saving. This eldest prince was definitely going to die.

Walker said, "Once all the first-ranking heirs to the throne are dead, there will be far fewer people standing in Bruno Green's way."

"The old king of Gaina has lived this long, but he should be close to death as well. At that time, they will naturally choose from Bruno Green's generation."

If Bruno Green ascended the throne...

It would become even harder for Ferdinand to get revenge.

Two days later.

Gadayat.

A startling piece of news suddenly came from Kaies, the royal city—the old king had passed away.

After the king's death, his body had to be kept in a coffin for three months before burial.

During those three months, the king's coffin would be placed in the church, where clergy would personally conduct the funeral, sprinkle holy water over the coffin, and ring the death knell.

The lords of the Gadayat Kingdom had to enter Kaies, the royal city, to mourn deeply for the old king, Duke Patch.

Before setting off.

098 put its little bundle back on its back and said to Cyrus, [Host, I'm going traveling again! I'll bring you a gift when I come back. Remember to miss me, mwah.]

Cyrus said, "Stay safe and come back early."

He watched 098 wave its little matchstick hands before jumping into the cosmic mailbox and disappearing from the system interface.

Seeing him sitting in his chair in a daze, Judas could not help asking, "My lord, how many knights and soldiers do you intend to bring to the royal city this time?"

Cyrus thought for a moment. "Ferdinand will remain in Visas."

"Walker will take Taylor and Bana with me. Also, send two platoons of soldiers to follow... No, have one platoon follow at some distance, and wait outside the royal city while I enter to mourn the king."

Judas was somewhat puzzled, but he still nodded. "Yes, my lord."

Cyrus: I hope I was overthinking it. The old King Duke's death had better not be connected to the death of Gaina's third prince...

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