บท 13: Firing the Cement and The Stonemason

I know Roland wouldn't need me to do anything. He could get rid of them with his own plan. But… but I want to do something too. I don't want to be useless here. Even more useless than those witches or miners.

Beside… I want do that before Nightingale apparent!

….

Roland stood by the kiln, waiting for the first batch of cement.

The brick structure was designed for cement production, about 15 meters long and four meters wide. It had a front and back door. The front door was designed wide enough to allow the transport of materials and people coming in and out of the room. The back door, on the other hand, was only large enough for one person and functioned as Anna's secret entrance.

Roland was becoming restless. This was his first step in guarding Border Town. If he could not produce any cement, his plan of building a city wall in three months would just be empty words. Without a wall to protect the town, he's worried that no one would be willing to stay in this godforsaken place. Whether in history or fictional literature, a stable base was necessary for agriculture.

Carter Lannis, who stood near Prince Roland asked him with nonetheless skepticism.

The flame in the window eventually died down. The firing of the cement seemed to be complete.

Roland stood up at once. Sending Carter and I away to the yard, he waited alone in front of the brick house.

(Looks like Roland still doesn't trust me?) I thought as he sent me out with his knight. And currently this knight observed me up and down.

(Hei, Mr. Knight, you shouldn't look at someone like that, especially kid like me. They would think you are gay and a pedophile one along that.) I said to myself.

But my heart couldn't calm down and got more restless because Roland was being alone with Anna there, even when I know they were there to work on to make cement, but still… Anna have charm for bewitching him.

…..

"Is this what you want?" Anna asked, staring at the material.

"Looks like it." Roland flattened the powder and tested the temperature with his fingers. "I wouldn't know for sure until we use it."

"What's the use of this thing?"

"To build houses and bridges and to repair roads. There are too many uses for this thing. If it succeeds, people won't have to worry about the cold or the rain and snow damaging their houses." Using his other hand, he patted the girl on the head. "It's all thanks to you."

Anna lowered her head. He wasn't sure if it was just an illusion, but the girl's breathing seemed to have sped up a notch.

…..

The chief knight did not mind doing menial work. In his opinion, it was much better than fighting or chasing after the noble ladies for His Highness in the Kingdom of Graycastle.

Roland let his knight to make the first experiment with cement.

The next morning, Roland hurried to the kiln room, bringing me, Carter and Anna with him. When he opened the door, he noticed that the cement appeared solid and the bricks seemed to have stuck together. The surface of the material seemed rugged and part of it was covered in white frost.

Roland try to test the cement once again. And even command Carter. Carter first tried to lift the bricks. He then attempted to kick the bricks until they gave way. The cement dislodged from the ground, yet the bricks remained stuck firmly together. He ended up using the hilt of his sword to knock them apart, but he succeeded in only knocking off a small corner of the bricks.

"So this is the effect of the so-called cement." The purpose of the material dawned on Carter. "It's simply incredible."

"You'll understand it in the future." Roland reaffirmed the path he was taking. For many people who travelled through time, technology was the gate leading to productivity. But here, the witches were their path to the future.

…..

The production of cement went into a rapid development. In order for Anna to have ample amount of rest, the kiln room only operated once every two to three days. Hoping to obtain more raw materials, Roland once again issued a recruitment notice, thus doubling the population of the workers.

However, Roland himself knew that he could not always depend on Anna to do these.

Witches should not be utilized as consumables, but instead as the engine to stimulate the development of civilization. Although Roland recognized the fact very well, as of this moment, he could only spend all his efforts in constructing the city wall. After all, nothing could be done if the demonic beasts could not be stopped.

Roland thought that after solving the cement problem, building a city wall would be effortless. However, when he actually began to do the work, he discovered that he was utterly ignorant in engineering. How deep and wide should the foundation be dug? How to solve the unevenness of the ground? How to ensure a 600-meter-long wall was kept in a straight line after construction?

As a mechanical blueprinter, although Roland and the next-door civil engineer were known as the ultimate geeks, however, their expertise was much too different. Not only that, none of the recruited bricklayers had ever participated in the construction of a big engineering project. Their capabilities were not even comparable to Roland's.

Fortunately, such an awkward period did not last too long. While Roland was in the firing room to direct the firing of the sixth batch of cement, Assistant Minister Barov reported that a stonemason had responded to the recruitment notice. The stonemason claimed that he joined the Mason Guild in the Kingdom of Graycastle for a while and was now waiting outside the hall.

Roland thought about it for a moment and was exhilarated. In his memory, the Mason Guild in the Kingdom of Graycastle was a prominent and pioneering team that even Prince Roland had heard of. Even though the team was ordered to be dismissed due to a construction accident, but how could there be no accidents when you work in the construction industry?

"Bring him in." Roland made a pretense of being composed and nodded. He wanted to tell Anna to leave but changed his mind after a while.

(Oh, my gosh... ) My eyes opened wider when I really heard Karl name. Not because I was surprised about him, but rather… Because It means that Nana will show up not long again! (Aghhhh!!!)

Fortunately, there's no Nightingale and no one looks closely at my expression, otherwise it'll be suspicious.

Karl's heart was shaking when he bowed and saluted to His Highness. Lifting up his head, he stood aghast at the sight—the girl stood next to His Highness looked so familiar, he even had this delusion that he might be dreaming. Karl rubbed his eyes, stared again, and cried out uncontrollably, "...Anna!"

Jesus Christ! What a coincidence? He just randomly hired a craftsman and he hired a neighbor of the witch? Apparently, the craftsman seemed very familiar with Anna. Otherwise, he would not be able to recognize her in an instant. Roland thought.

"Professor... Karl?"

Anna's reaction puzzled Roland for a bit. "What? Professor?"

"It's you indeed, Anna, I, I...." Karl felt the warmth in his eye sockets, and something started to spill down. He fell on the ground hopelessly, and repeated endlessly, "Sorry, I'm so sorry... I'm so glad... What a blessing..."

After a while, Karl Van Bate was finally able to appease his emotions. He slowly stood up, and again bowed to Roland. "I'm sincerely apologetic Your Highness, I have forgotten my manners."

"What's the matter? Aren't you a stonemason?"

"I used to be," Karl swiftly replied after he released his concerns. His Highness did not execute Anna! It was a replacement that was hanged on the execution ground—realizing this fact, he already knew what his next move would be. Although he was fuzzy about why His Highness would rescue a witch, nevertheless, even if His Highness intended to take Anna as his lover, that would still be much better than sending her to the gallows. At least it proved that the prince did not fear the rumor that witches were the incarnation of the demon.

Knowing what that old man thinking I really wanted to rush and smack him. (What lover, you said!)

He confided his experience of being exiled from Kingdom of Graycastle to Border Town, including incidents such as establishing a local school and finding out that Nana Pine also turned into a witch. At the end, he beseeched His Highness to also hide Nana in the castle, in order to protect Nana from any persecution in case the residents found out her true identity.

Anna, who was standing aside did not speak a word, although she seemed to desperately want to plead for Nana.

"A new witch. What great news! Although the name Pine sounds familiar," Roland thought and called the assistant minister for further inquiry, and he found out that Pine was the last name of a middle-class noble in Border Town.

"You could bring her to see me. If she is truly a witch, I vouch that she'll be safe from any sort of harm." Roland promised. "But I can't take her away from the Pines, especially when she isn't threatened by her family. Besides, the reason that I saved Anna is far different from what you thought..." He pondered for a bit, and decided to tell the truth. "I need her help. Compared to such incredulous tales of demons and evil power, I'm more inclined to believe that the power of witches has nothing to do with good or evil, it can instead be controlled. So, regardless of Anna, Nana, or any other witches, as long as they did not commit any real crime, I'd not consider them as sinful."

"Next, let us talk about some serious issues. Have you ever participated in the construction of the city wall of Kingdom of Graycastle?" The prince brought the subject back to the construction project.

"Yes!" Karl nodded. Even though Prince Roland did not keep Nana as how Karl predicted, saying that His Highness needed the help of witches was also perplexing, however, it was good enough that His Highness promised to protect Nana.

"Very well, I'm planning to build a city wall over the Redwater River and at the foot of North Slope Mountain to block the invasion of demonic beasts. From now on, you're responsible for this project."

They began to discuss about the wall.

Karl paused, and then continued, "Pardon me in my frankness, Your Highness, now is not a good time to undertake the construction. If we don't mason the wall in a timely manner, even if the trench is dug, but after soaking by the rain and snow through the entire winter, it'll lose its original functions. That way, it'll cost more time and manpower to clean and soften the trench, causing the trench to be dug even deeper."

"Assuming we adopt your plan, and build the city wall four meters high and two meters wide. How long will it take to complete the trench?"

"It'll most likely take one and a half months," Karl answered.

"Then let's take this plan. Digging the trench and masonry will proceed simultaneously so that the construction is completed before the Months of Demons." Roland waved his hand and interrupted Karl. "I know your concerns. Look at this first, a new product from the alchemical workshop of Graycastle."

He, of course, did not have time to once again stick the bricks together to show the stonemason. He simply presented the two bricks that he stuck together beforehand. Fortunately, no one dared to question the prince. When Karl heard that an alchemic adhesive, called cement, was able to solidify within one night and produce massive adhesive force, he looked astonished.

Karl, as someone who devoted half of his life to the Mason Guild, naturally recognized how groundbreaking this invention was. Besides adhering stones, most importantly, it would be able to transform into any shape.

Roland judged Karl's expression with satisfaction, and pursued again. "What do you think? Would three months be enough?"

Karl Van Bate replied with a trembling voice, "If what you said is true, no, no, I mean... if the alchemical workshop described this thing truthfully, I, I'm willing to give it a try."

"Very well, I'll have someone write a detailed document for you regarding the usage of cement. You can speak to my assistant minister for any other needs." Roland smiled. "Mr. Karl, now you're a member of the Administrative Office."

...

At night I become restless again. Pacing here and there in my room.

(What should I do?) I asked myself.

Until now, I almost hadn't done anything yet another witch will come. If things continued like this, not long Roland would pay more attention to those witches than me. Especially if I'm just his merely servant.

I sighed again and suddenly remembered about the maid's clothes! Yes, maid clothes! Even if I'm merely an assistant, I was still a fashion designer too before. I can give my contribution through this! This is my talent when it come to make clothes!

So I run to find a maid and asked them about their old uniform that they don't used again. I bring those clothes to recycle as new uniform.

When I finish, I tried to wear them, but unfortunately there is no mirror here, so I can't see myself. After some last touches, this clothes become fit for my size to wear. I play with it for a moment and singing like a princess in a happy mood before I froze.

I froze there just when I turn around and see Roland opened my door. We were silent for a few seconds.

Cold sweats run down my body while curses flowed inside my heart. (Fuck!) I don't know what I should say to him now. He catch me in action!

The problem is, I'm now a boy that wear maid uniform! Even if I plan to show him my beautiful work, that doesn't mean I want him to see me wear this! At least not now! Wait until I become sexier.

(Goddamn!)

Roland : "...."

Me : "...."

As the silent went on, my inner self already screaming! (Aghhhh!!!) I may looked indifferent, but my scream was enough to split heaven and earth.