Soon the cement production got on the right track, in order to permit Anna a sufficient amount of rest, the kiln was only used two to three times a day. To obtain the most out of each calcining process, they had to get more raw materials. For this, Roland once again issued orders to recruit more workers, until their current numbers were doubled.
But he also knew that he could not rely on only Anna to do the firing. People who were working long-term in a dusty environment, would eventually become sick; furthermore, once future production scale increased, Anna alone would not be enough to satisfy the demand.
The witches should not be used as consumables.Instead, they should serve as an engine to promote the development of civilization. Although Roland was already aware of this fact, at the moment, he could only invest all of his energy and manpower in building the city wall. After all, If they couldn’t stop the demon beasts, everything else would become unimportant.
Digging out the foundation for laying the City wall had already started in order to connect the northern slope with the Chishui River To increase the production speed, he personally took charge of the overall project. He dug out the first shovel of earth with his own hands in front of the shocked masses of surrounding onlookers.
Roland thought after the problem with the cement was solved, building the city wall would be easy and relaxing. But he soon found out that his prior experience in engineering wasn’t enough to understand a word from the project. How deep and wide did the foundation have to be? How to resolve the different heights of the sections? How to ensure that the more than six hundred yards long wall would be built in a straight line? He had previously seen the construction of a road by a group of young men. They were looking at a scale on their measure instruments; it was called a theodolite and level, right? But both of those tools didn’t exist here!
As an unfortunate mechanical engineer, although Roland and the civil engineer next door were called the two engineering dogs, the content they were actually learning was poles apart. Of the mud artisans who he’d hired, no one had ever been involved in the construction of major projects, it could even be said that his own understanding was better than theirs. Therefore, building the wall started very slowly, it took an entire week to dig out barely half of the foundation they needed.
Once a project got out of control, it would be difficult to say how the final product would look like. For example, this dug out foundation which was hard to dig, came out as shallow groove, rather than the foundation of the wall. It more suited to be called a drainage ditch. Despite Roland’s descriptions, the width they dug out was more or less individualized. Thus, the width got clearly out of shape, becoming more and more narrow. While standing at a distance, the foundation practically resembled a curving and twisting snake.
Even so, Roland was unwilling to stop the project. With little else than the digging on his mind, as long as it was not the time of the firing,which was Anna’s job, he would stay at the northern slope for the rest of the day. Adjusting the direction of the pit’s extension with the naked eye, slowly moving forward. Simultaneously he also doubled the reward for enlisting stone craftsmen.
Fortunately, this predicament did not last long, when Roland was preparing the sixth cement calcining; Barov the Assistant Minister reported that a stonemason responded to the recruitment. It was said he was a former member of the mason guild. The people who were waiting for an audience had been already taken to the outside of the hall.
When he got this information, he nearly burst for joy, in his memories the Graycastle mason guild was a famous organization, even the fourth prince had heard their name. But in the end, because of a construction error, they were ordered to disband.
But how can we finish this without help from stonemasons?
“Take him in,” Roland put on a calm expression and nodded. He originally wanted to tell Anna she should leave, but then he thought it wouldn’t be a problem. Border Town had more than two thousand people, very few had seen the true face of the witch. Moreover, her look now, in a bizarre new dress, and her appearance before, when she wholeheartedly courted death, when she was not her usual self, was worlds apart. He estimated that even if she was seen, she wouldn’t be recognized.
Karl van Bart felt restless when he was lead into the courtyard by the knight; he intended to inform his Highness, that this time of year was unsuitable to carry out a large-scale project. After acquiring his Highness’ trust, he could slowly change the prince’s view on witches. In the rumours his Highness always acted wild, what should he do when it seemed he would get the contrary result of his advice?
With his thoughts in a whirl as he bowed down, when he lifted up his head again, he suddenly stopped and stared blankly – the girl at the side of his Highness looked so familiar, he had felt that he was dreaming. Karl rubbed his eyes, then looked once again, he could not help but cry out, “… Anna!”
Roland’s heart stopped for a beat. How was that possible? He just wanted to hire a craftsman, but who could know that the craftsman was also the witch’s neighbour? He could tell, that the other was absolutely familiar with Anna, if not, it would have be impossible to recognize her immediately. He looked at Carter. The chief knight got the hint, he immediately pulled the latch, blocking the only exit.
“Venerable… Teacher?”
Anna’s reaction let Roland’s spirit circle for a while before he came back to complete consciousness, what, teacher?
“It’s really you, Anna, I … I …” Karl only felt his eye socket warming up, and then there was something flowing down. He knelt powerlessly on the ground, constantly repeating, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry …… very good, too …… well ……”
After Karl van Bart was able to calm his mood, he slowly stood up and then bent over once more to pay tribute to Roland again, “I’m very sorry, your Highness, I forgot my manners.”
“This, in the end what is going on? Aren’t you a mason?”
“I used to be,” when Karl had regained a calm mood, his speech became very fluent. His Highness had not killed Anna! The one who was hanged on the execution ground was substitute – being aware of this point, he already knew how to progress further. Although it was unclear why the other party rescued a witch; but regardless, even if his Highness wanted to take her as his concubine even that would be much better than being crucified. This showed that the prince wasn’t afraid that the witches were the evil incarnation described in the rumours.
He described his experiences of living in this Border Town, since the time he fled out of Graycastle. Including, that he had opened a college here, and that he had found out that Nana Paien, one of his students, had also become a witch. Finally, he pleaded to his Royal Highness, that he would also take Nana into his palace, so that she would be safe from exposure.
Anna, who stood at the side had a caring expression on her face, while listening to the plea for Nana, but from the beginning to the end she never said a word.
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Yet another new witch! This truly was important, and good news, but he seemed to remember the name Paien. When Roland quietly asked the assistant minister, he got to know that this was in fact, a small aristocratic family of Border Town.
“You can take her to see me, if she is a witch, I will make sure, that she doesn’t get hurt,” Roland promised, “But I cannot take her away from the Paien family, especially when she had not suffered any threat from her material family. Also, me rescuing Anna is not what you think … “He considered, telling the truth would be better,” I need her help. The idea that they are the Devil’s force is absolutely nonsense. I believe that the power of the witch, regardless if it is good or evil, can be controlled. So Anna, Nana or any other witch, as long as they do not break any other law, I won’t condemn them to death. “
“Next, we will turn to the town business, you participated in the construction of the Graycastle city walls?” The prince quickly changed the topic back to the construction matters.
“Yes!” Karl nodded. Although, his Highness the fourth prince did not resemble his prior knowledge of the prince; he did not expect that the prince would need a witches’ assistance, however, his wish to protect Nana was accepted, that was enough.
“Well, I’m going to build a wall from the Chishui River to the foot of the northern slope. The goal is to ward off the demon beast invasion. From now on this project is your responsibility.”
“Your Highness, how tall and wide should the city wall that you’re planning to build be?”
“It should be at least fifteen feet high, six feet wide, allowing four men to advance side by side,” Roland had to nod inwardly, professionals truly weren’t the same. They would first ask about the technical parameters and then determine the construction program.
“So it would require us to dig a trench one man deep to stabilize the upper part of the wall, in addition, for a six foot wide top of a fifteen foot high wall, the width at the base needs to be at least doubled.” Karl replied quickly, “Thus just digging the trench will consume a lot of manpower. Your Highness, if you give me a hundred and fifty people, I should be able to dig this trench in the months prior to the demons’ arrival .”
“A trench cannot stop the evil beasts,” Roland answered noncommittally.
“That’s true, but if we build the upper section of the city wall with stone masonry, it would take three years. In order to only stop the evil beasts, you needn’t build the wall so high, approximately 12 feet high should be enough. The width can also be reduced by a third, resulting in a six-foot wide foundation. With the simultaneous digging of the trenches and building of the wall, as well as an increase of the workers to two hundred… That way, I could finish it by January next year, before the arrival of the demons. “
Karl paused, then said, “Please forgive me, Your Highness, this really isn’t a good time to start. In case the construction of the wall is not on time, even if the trenches were dug well, they will lose their original form after the soaking rain and snow throughout the winter. When you return, instead of finishing it, you would need to spend more time and manpower just to clean up the softening trench, excavating and deepening it one more time. “
“Say, in case we only build the wall twelve feet high and four feet wide, how long would you need to dig the trenches?”
“It should be finished within one and a half months,” Karl replied.
“Then do it according to this plan, trenching and masoning at the same time, so that we succeed a month prior to the arrival of the demonic beasts.” Roland waved his hand, interrupting Karl, “I know what concerns you, but take a look at this, this is the latest work from the Graycastle alchemical workshop.”
Naturally, he had no time to allow the stonemason to see the gluing process. Instead, he showed him two bricks, glued together from before. Fortunately, when the prince spoke, almost no one dared to question him. When Karl heard that this alchemical adhesive cement can turn from a liquid into a solid form overnight, furthermore, it came with a sky-high adhesion effect, his face exposed his incredible shock. As a stonemason who had dedicated half a lifetime into his work, he could naturally recognize how great this invention was. Apart from stone binding, the most important fact was that it was possible to freely shape its figure! Wouldn’t that be equivalent to no longer needing a second cutting and polishing process, being suitable for any loosely shaped stone? The time-consuming processing stage could be abandoned, and the construction rate of any building would be raised to a whole new level. This alone was exciting enough!
Roland looked at the expression on Karl’s face with satisfaction, and once again asked, “What do you think, will three months be enough?”
Karl van Bart’s voice somewhat shivered,”If you’re right, no, no, I mean… If the alchemical workshop described this matter correctly, I… I’m willing to try.”
Very good, I will let people summarize the detailed information of cement for you. If there are still other needs to discuss it, then feel free to talk with my assistant minister,” Roland laughed, “Mr. Karl, from now on you’ll be the chief of the employees office. “
On the next day Roland saw Nana in the afternoon. The little girl stared blankly at Anna, clutching her clothes for a long time, before saying, “I’m already… Dead?”
The first time Roland saw her, he had to admit that the power of the witch did not only give them the ability to use magic. To some extent, it also changed their appearance and temperament. She and Anna were very different types, but both of them had a unique charm. This feeling had nothing to do with age, and it was also unrelated to their situation. Even when Anna was in jail, waiting for her death sentence, the radiance she emitted still continued unabated. He searched through his entire memory, whether it was a noble lady with a very good upbringing or a street walker in Graycastle, neither gave off such an aura. If one insisted on describing it, them compared with a witch, it was like the witches were the colors in a black and white photograph.
She was brought over by Karl van Bart, who afterward retired tactfully, leaving only Roland, Anna, and Nana in the backyard. “You’re not dead, Anna too is alive and well,” Roland had to hold back a smile, “I’m the fourth Prince Roland Wimbledon, and you’re -.”
“I’m Nana Paien,” when the little girl heard that she herself did not die, her expression turned lively again. She ran straight to Anna’s side, beginning to chatter with her, unconcerned, disregarding the identity of Prince Roland Wimbledon. Roland naturally didn’t care what a 14 – 15-year-old girl had to say. Instead, he leaned on the round table and poured himself some ale, appreciating the “day to day behavior” from the side.”
Anna was clearly a little bit calmer. In the time Nana would say more than ten sentences, Anna would say one. Having said that, while Anna was only seventeen, she already exuded a big sister feeling. Roland couldn’t help but think, “When she grows up, how outstanding will she become?”
When Nana’s speaking slowed down, he coughed, opened his mouth, and asked, “Miss Paien, I heard from your teacher that you have awakened as a witch?”
Compared to the vast majority of people who used the word “Fallen” when becoming a witch, Roland preferred the term “awaken”. He was not naïve enough to think that all witches were immaculate white, people who already had a malevolent personality would only create greater destruction. This is the same with weapons, they could produce violence, but they could also be used to resist violence. The crucial point is the person who holds the weapon.
Perhaps the church’s propaganda of the massacres caused by witches was based on the facts, but using this as proof that the whole witch community was guilty was the greatest of injustices.
Nana’s face once again stiffened, she whispered, “Will you hang me?”
“No, of course not, the gallows are for heinous criminals. You’re not one and Miss Anna is not one either, so don’t worry about that.”
She took a breath and nodded, “I’m not sure… The teacher said witches were coerced by the devil and afterward got some evil powers. C-can I be possessed? Moreover, I have never seen the devil.”
“When did you find out that you, yourself, had become different?”
“Roughly a week ago,” Nana muttered, “I saw a bird with a broken leg and wanted to help it. …… And suddenly, I felt something flowing out of my hands.”
“There were things flowing out?” Roland asked, “What happened then?”
“Ah… It suddenly enclosed the bird like a sticky bubble of water,” Nana’s head tilted when recalling this, “Then the bird’s leg was healed.”
Does she have the power of healing? Roland’s heart began to race, he was very clear what this ability would mean. With the absence of antibiotics, there was no modern medicine there, people with a traumas or infection would likely encounter death in these ages . As such, rapid wound healing was almost the equivalent of saving many lives. This ability is very limited in promoting the progress of civilization as a whole, but it has amazing significance for an individual life.
He immediately went to the door, looking for a knight to bring a living chicken. If it could be proved that what she said was true, he might be able to use this as a source to change the border town’s view of the witches, ending the current situation of ruthless persecution.