The night went by peacefully. The collapsed entrance held on and no undeads made it out of the cave.
Morning was here and Chris was in his tent, finishing the first tasks of the day. He had just received confirmation from Aden, the mason chief, that the first wall fortified with the improved mortar formula should be dry and ready for testing in two days.
This was according to plans. The masons had one more week to tests and make improvements on the current formula.
There was some time left before noon so he finally finished the plans for the wheelbarrow, he didn't have that opportunity yesterday. He took the completed plans and left with Dalahan and his guards for the mason's and carpenter's workshop.
As he rode Dalahan, he was reminded of this morning's event. He was not woken up by Mia's beautiful voice like usual but by a strangely arrogant little kid. That little kid was Titus' daughter, Petunia. As it turns out Dalahan was only on loan and she was here to collect him back. Chris was not going to be outdone by a little girl and after an intense discussion, Dalahan's fate was decided by a game of Hopscotch (1). Chris was very proud of himself. This game didn't exist in this world, so he had a huge advantage. The game started and Chris... Was crushed by that little girl.
She gave him one last day with Dalahan as thanks for teaching her a new game and left a humiliated Chris behind.
He was surprised how fast he got attached to the little guy. It was embarrassing at first but no matter where he went people immediately recognized him. He was the 'King on a donkey', everybody knew him.
[What kind of mount should I get next? How about a white donkey?] Chris suddenly shook his head. [Nono! What I am saying! I should aim higher. How about taming a Kunall? They are quite fast I could ride on his shoulders... Hmm but they are so tall I might look like a little kid. What if rode on Bergy's shoulder?]
If the guards escorting him heard his thoughts, they would think: [... How about a horse?]
Chris was still lost in thought when he reached the workshops. He was welcomed by Carmelo Adler and Rinat Merton.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Carmelo was appointed as the chief blacksmith by Mia. Chris was convinced he had some dwarf blood in him or at least was trying to cosplay as one. His head barely reached Chris' shoulders. He had a thick brown beard and thick eyebrows and his arms were huge. He looked friendly and approached Chris with a smile.
Rinat was a tall woman. She had a long ponytail. Her arms were very muscular and Chris had no doubt she was way stronger than him. She was also appointed by Mia as the chief carpenter.
"Good morning, my Lord!" They both said as they approached.
"Good morning! Rinat I am impressed by the speed and quality of your work. Please continue to work hard so that all our people have a roof over their heads!" Currently all the buildings were wooden. So Rinat and her carpenters had a lot for work.
"Thank you my lord!" She said gratefully. Her impression of Chris was very good. She was worried as she had heard some strange rumors before. Something about a naked mud bath...
Chris seemed happy with her answer and smiled [Side buns like Mia's are great, very librarian-like but pony tails are cute too. I wonder if Mia would consider it... Ah but I wonder if it would suit her image. She has more of a cold beautiful vibe than a cute vibe...]
"My Lord?" Rinat and Carmelo were wondering what their lord was thinking.
"Oh right! I have something for both of you. Here is a copy of the final product and here are the plans of the pieces I need each of you to make." He handed them a bunch of leather scrolls.
They were surprised as leather scrolls were still very precious.
"O-Oh my!" Said Rinat. "Those kind of plans are so easy to read. Did you draw these my lord?"
Chris nodded and continued "Can you build a prototype with those plans?"
"Of course!" Answered Carmelo without hesitation. He looked at the plans and said "This is... A large bucket with a wheel?"
"Exactly, you can imagine it as a horse drawn cart but pushed by people. You can call it a hand cart or wheelbarrow."
"Incredible." Said Rinat. "This is for the miners right?"
Chris was impressed. "Oh, you can tell? I have designed those for the miners and builders, but they can be used by anyone who needs to transport heavy materials. You could use it to transport wood, or scrap metal, or building materials. Most of the weight will be on the wheel, and you'll just need to push the hand cart it should be very useful for short distances."
Their eyes shined. This was indeed a god send for them. It was just too inconvenient to borrow a horse drawn cart everytime they had to move materials between workshops or from storage.
Chris continued."This is a priority. We need a lot of those by next week. Our workers will need them to speed up the construction of our first defence wall. With your efforts we can divide the time needed by half!"
"Yes my lord!" They answered very seriously. They knew how important the fortified defences were.
"Rinat. Here is a modified version of the hand cart. The sides of this one are open, this will make transporting lumber a lot easier. You can build a few of those for your carpenters but this must not delay the standard hand carts. Understood?"
"Yes! Thank you!"
"Please inform me as soon as you have a prototype, please work well together, this is just your first of many collaborations."
"Yes my Lord!" They answered in unison.
[They seem quite competent, the project should be in good hands.] Chris looked at the sky and thought: [It's about time to visit the undead cave, let's go.]