Release that Witch - Chapter 370

Three days later, Roland received a positive reply from the Honeysuckle’s eldest son.

“I am willing to continue serving you, and so will the Honeysuckle Household,” he bowed and said, “I will definitely persuade my father, he, compared to other nobles… is different.”

“Good,” Roland’s mood immediately improved, “That would be for the best.”

“These past few days, I’ve seen the amazing changes your territory has gone through… It is likely, that the city will be like something from my dreams,” Petrov said bluntly, “If it can make the Honeysuckle family this prosperous, Father would not mind our family working together on the new city.”

These words made the prince feel slightly touched, because there were only two reasons he called for Petrov: One was that it seemed more appropriate to have a face-to-face meeting in spite of such major events, and the other point was to observe his attitude towards the new policies, he didn’t expect that it would play out this way. He nodded, “Of course, as long as there is time, every piece of land in Greycastle can become a comfortable and prosperous place for the people.”

“Then, I will set off as soon as possible and return to the Stronghold, I need to tell Father the news.”

“Also to the other four Great Noble Families, as well as all the nobles of the western region,” Roland added, “Any family that is willing to accept these conditions, will be forgiven of any past animosity towards Border Town in the new city. You can hold a grand feast in the Stronghold’s castle, and use the opportunity to spread my words.”

“You mean, you want me to inform them?” Petrov was startled.

“Obviously,” the prince smiled and then continued, “This time… you really will serve as my ambassador.”

“By your will, Your Highness,” the Honeysuckle’s eldest son saluted with a hand on his chest.

Just as Petrov was preparing to leave, Roland stopped him and said, “Oh, right, regarding the case of the witch, what you did was a great job, you no longer need to cover it up. The universal education had its chance to open the mind and change the views of the people, so those who are still obsessed with the Church’s beliefs have no place in the western region. About how to exactly accomplish this, I’ll let you decide for yourself.”

“Yes.”

After Petrov Hull excused himself, Roland stretched his body as he continued to look at the city hall’s statistics on the new projects’ overview. Affected by the heavy snow, the work on the main road had long been suspended, the construction of the residential buildings also slowed down, so basically, the only works being carried out were small indoor improvement jobs. Fortunately, the large number of earthen dwellings Lotus had built before leaving, had practically met the needs of the new refugees, and even if their numbers continued to increase, he only needed to allocate more people in each dwelling—this was a merit of those cave-like houses.

According to the Ministry of Construction, at least 60% of the workforce was currently in an idle state, this caused some of the most recent temporary recruitment notices issued by the city hall to become popular, for example, removing the snow from the streets, transporting ore to the blast furnace area, and so on.

In other cities, it was inconceivable that this many people were enthusiastic about doing work during the Months of Demons, knowing that winter was the hardest season for them, most of the citizens just stayed at home, and it was an unspoken rule to live on the food that they saved in autumn. However, in the eyes of Roland, watching so much of the workforce being idle always felt unsatisfying, so maybe, by coming up with new projects, he could make good use of them.

After all, Margaret of the Chamber of Commerce had bought out the last batch of steam engines produced this year, so the city hall had plenty of money and food, giving him the chance to start implementing new plans.

Having thought up to this point, Roland called the guard and had him summon the minister of construction, Karl van Bate.

After he declared his plans, Karl couldn’t help but to stare with his eyes wide open, “You want to employ the masons and clay craftsmen to build ships for you?”

Roland nodded, and in a serious tone he continued, “Yes, the location will be near the wharf, I want them to set up a temporary yard with wood, and inside I want them to place braziers to ensure a stable temperature. Have them set everything in a way so that after construction, the ship can be pushed directly into the water.”

“But, my lord, how could they possibly know how to build a ship?”

“Of course, the same way they built the witches’ housing,” Roland pulled out a piece of paper, and while pointing at the diagram said, “Erect the supporting guides, lay the steel bars, pour concrete into this… For the first ship, I’ll instruct you through the process, but you will be responsible for supervising the ships built after that. This way we can make use of all the idle workers.”

Karl stared at the schematic with a doubtful gaze, “Is this… a basin?”

The prince couldn’t help turning the corners of his mouth upwards, “Yes, a huge concrete basin.”

Since Karl had not participated in the construction of the Little Town, it was not surprising he viewed the diagram with those kind of eyes. In fact, in the long process of the development of ships of his last life, ships had undergone several morphological changes across the ages, so the inherited characteristics were scarce. In truth, Roland wanted to design a classic boat with a keel, yet he obviously didn’t know where to begin with, but there was no difference in building a cement boat and just ‘modelling’ one like clay, so long as it stayed afloat.

Steel boats were the same, due to the advancement of welding technology, most of the modern hulls had abandoned the process of laying down a keel, and instead chose to have steel squared sections joined together, spreading the overall stress across the floor. So there was really no need to master the crafting techniques of wooden shipbuilding beforehand.

And about the new fleet of cement boats, he had been thinking about it for a long time—whether if it was to exploit resources like coal in the mines near the snowy mountain, or to transport refugees, he would need numerous high-capacity river vessels to carry out those tasks, therefore, a flat hull design was the most suitable choice. Comparing it with the conservative design of the Little Town, the hull of the new ships could be longer, allowing for an increased speed while at the same time ensuring a bigger load and greater stability.

And to lower the difficulty of their construction, Roland finally decided to use a paddle wheel as a propulsion mechanism. This had already been done in the wooden boats, so it was easier for the craftsmen to get started on it.

“Your Highness, how many people are you going to employ in the construction of this… cement boat?” Karl asked in a bit of an awkward tone.

“Bring all of the idle workers over, like they did with the houses, they can start working on several ships at the same time.” This way, even if the new assembled steam engines from the factory do not sell out, they can become useful, Roland thought to himself, Also, the furnace area can continue to produce cement, so this endeavor serves multiple purposes. And when next year arrives, if I can have a large cement fleet, no matter where the First Army has to be dispatched, they would have a reliable logistical support.

After concluding this matter, Roland planned to go take a look at the back garden of the castle.

The olive trees and vines planted by Leaf provided shelter from the snow, so if they did not have a job at hand, the witches were generally practicing in the garden, and the newly arrived Paper should be no exception.

After listening to Wendy’s report, he noticed that her ability was not a sort of temperature regulation, nor was it likely that it was able to return materials back to their original state either. Besides, apart from water, the effect her ability had on other objects was very little. This made Roland feel rather curious about her ability. Now that three days had passed, the little girl should not be as timid with strangers as she was when she had just arrived, he decided to go and personally observe.

Just as he entered the garden area, Roland realized there was something strange.

He was welcomed by a green and exuberant sight, as if this place was completely isolated from the white outside world—the olive trees were evergreen, and among their branches there were winding vines, it wasn’t really strange that the fluttering snowflakes couldn’t get inside, but these plants were simply just too vibrant. And unlike a silent forest, there was no wind blowing, yet the plants were gently swaying, elegantly and filled with rhythm.

He believed this might be an illusion, but as he thought this, he saw the branches of the olive tree dropping down, as if to bow down to express its regards, and the blades of grass at his feet also inclined to the side, as if to greet his arrival.

This feeling slightly frightened Roland, giving him goosebumps on his back, I feel like I’m not walking in the garden, but inside the body of a gigantic creature.

The entire garden felt alive, as if it were breathing.