The first award ceremony lasted until noon, and Roland, who was also the awarder, commentator and host, was exhausted by the end, but the ceremony was finally completed in the noon bell and salute. Closing. He returned to the castle sweating profusely, and as soon as he stepped on the third floor, he saw Anna leaning against the door of the office with a smile on her face.
"What's wrong?"
"You'll know when you go in," she blinked her beautiful lake blue eyes.
It wouldn't be a trick show, right? Roland pushed open the door in confusion, and then he froze in place—I saw twelve witches standing neatly in two rows, with Scroll and Wendy at the front. When the prince appeared, everyone lifted the corners of their skirts, bent their knees, and bowed in salute.
"Cough, you are..."
Scroll took the lead and said, "Your Highness, your actions prove everything you said, and the sisters are deeply grateful for this. No words can describe our gratitude. Please let us continue to serve you in the future."
"That's it," Roland breathed a sigh of relief, "I thought you were going to say goodbye collectively."
"Pfft," Wendy couldn't help laughing, "How is it possible, Your Highness, this is the holy mountain that witches dream of. As long as you don't drive us away, we hope we can live here forever."
"And this is what I want to see... In fact, you don't have to do this. I'm not only helping you, but also helping myself. Don't be too serious, I prefer your relaxed appearance."
"Hmph, I just said there's no need to be so formal," Lily snorted, "Look, he thinks we're too serious."
"How can you say, didn't you agree to it right away," Miyue murmured in a low voice, "Traitor!"
"Okay, everyone, let's go to the restaurant first, His Highness has to change clothes," Shu Scroll reluctantly held his forehead, "By the way, I heard from Miss Anna that you slept very late recently? Please take care of your health. Before that goal is achieved, you Don't fall down."
"Don't worry," Roland smiled, "I'm in good health."
After the witches filed out, he and Anna were the only ones left in the office.
"Why, do you want to thank me too?" Roland teased her.
"Well... I want to say the same as them," Anna raised her mouth, "No words can describe my gratitude." "
"Then... hope to always live in Border Town?"
"Not always."
Roland was stunned, and his heart jumped, "Why?"
"Because you won't stay here forever," Anna tilted her head and said, "...and no matter where you go, I will always follow you."
A warm current suddenly surged in his heart, and since the day he met her, her thoughts have never changed. Whether it was the invitation of the mutual aid society or the critical moment against the evil beast, she chose to stand by herself.
At this moment, Anna suddenly took two steps forward and hugged him gently.
"Wait, sweat." Roland reminded.
The girl didn't answer, but put her head on his chest, as if she wanted to write down the smell, and took a deep breath. He finally gave up his plan to push her away, put his arms around the other's fair neck and never let go for a long time.
…
After lunch, Roland took a cold shower and quickly went to work.
He called Carl Vanbert, spread out the detailed map of Border Town, and pointed to the location of Chishui River, "I want to build a bridge here."
"It's not a pontoon bridge?" Karl thought for a moment and said, "Please forgive me, Your Highness, the Chishui River is nearly 100 meters wide, and it is almost impossible to build a stone bridge, even an arch bridge, at most, can only cross A third of the distance, and the water flow of the Chishui River is so great that the bridge piers can’t stand at all, even a stone pile as thick as one person will be washed down... Except for the raft crossing and the pontoon bridge, there is no bridge on the entire river.”
"It's not a stone bridge, it's a bridge of steel," Roland explained. "There are three spans in total, and the pier in the middle will be solved by a witch. You just need to set up its approach bridge in place in advance. Raise the whole bridge so that riverboats can pass through without the mast touching the bottom of the bridge."
"Isn't that setting the bridge to the sky?" Carl asked in surprise.
"It's only about six or seven meters above the ground," he sketched a sketch of the three-span iron bridge, "In order to better develop the south bank and the construction of the dock, there must be a bridge on the river that does not affect the passage of ships. Although the pontoon bridge is simple, it is equivalent to blocking the river, which is not conducive to subsequent development.”
The first army expedition team's trip to the capital gave Roland a lot of inspiration - he found that the rivers in Greycastle extend in all directions, and major cities are basically built beside several major rivers. If you launch domestic operations in the future, if you have several shallow-water heavy artillery ships, it will definitely be a weapon to provide fire support and siege the city-after all, the power of the naval artillery, which is famous for its caliber, is far from the field artillery. To build a ship, he first had to have a dock, so the plan for a steel bridge came into being.
"But I don't have any experience in building similar bridges..." Karl seemed hesitant.
"Neither did I," Roland shrugged. "Just take it as your first time exploring slowly. You can set up a bridge on the bank for testing, and then move to the Chishui River if there is no problem." The construction concept of overall prefabrication, one-time hoisting, "just like installing a water tower, with hummingbirds to reduce its weight, and your student Anna to help with assembly and welding, it will not be difficult."
"Follow... orders, Your Highness." He nodded.
"Besides this, there is a very important project to hand over to you," the prince moved his finger to the castle area, "I plan to expand the size of the backyard, encircle all the open spaces on the high ground, and build a three-story building here at the same time. Floors."
If all goes well, Tilly's five witches will arrive in Border Town next month, and there are no more rooms left in the castle. Although it can be temporarily changed to a three-person room, there will always be more and more witches in the future, and it is impossible to make do with it all the time. The superior living environment and all kinds of novel and comfortable experiences are also one of his strategies to retain witches. Whether it is the ancients' transition from extravagance to frugality, or the modern sugar-coated cannonball theory, a beautiful and comfortable life can always make people addicted to it. .
"Three-story... brick house?"
"It's not exactly a brick house," Roland smiled. "It should be called a brick-concrete structure. The columns and roof beams are made of reinforced concrete, just like a human skeleton. This structure can make the house If it is built higher, it will be no problem to add to the fourth or fifth floor in the future.”
"Rebar... concrete?" Carl repeated, confused.
"It is a mixture of cement, sand and stones, with steel bars inserted in the middle to enhance its bending resistance," he said. "Of course, how much each ingredient is added requires rigorous testing. If the configuration is successful, it will even Stronger than natural bluestone."
In theory, this kind of thing has a very large elastic space in quality. It is also concrete. The cement purchased in the countryside is configured by itself, and it is completely different from the measurement and configuration of the mixing station. The same is true for steel bars... Some people do not even put pebbles when building their own houses on the homestead, or use iron wires and bamboo chips instead of steel bars. When Roland stayed in the country, he had witnessed several "country villas" rising from the ground. the process of.
And he also intends to follow suit. After all, it is only a three-story house, and it is difficult to collapse no matter how much you cut corners.
In addition, he hopes that through the Witch House project, Carl can master this kind of building material that can change shape arbitrarily and is as perfect as artificial stone. As one of the development directions of the construction industry, concrete occupies almost half of the country. He is not proficient in architecture, and what he knows is the little fur he learned from the countryside, so it is the right way to broaden the vision of the mason and lead him on the right path.
"Uh... does this also let me grope slowly?" he asked.
"No," Roland smiled slightly, "I can teach you this."