Er Mu - Release that Witch

So, that’s how it works, Roland thought. Her ability could not only transform a solid surface, but also water. Furthermore, it was even easier to lift than loose gravel was. Even though the surging river was immediately washing it away, but by now the river bed had already been lifted up a little.

Not long after, a gray mass of mud appeared on the water surface. It seemed to be very soft, but it also gave off a very unpleasant odor, making it impossible for all those present to not cover their noses.

However, in Roland’s eyes, this gray mass was the best kind of fertilizer. The soil contained hundreds of years of fish and other aquatic bones, aquatic plants, as well as the inhabitants of the depths’ excrement. If the transport wasn’t too inconvenient, Roland would like to gather all of this soil and use it as fertilizer. Unfortunately, at present, it could only be collected by hand through directly entering the river water.

So, after clearing up the fertilizer layers and improving the section, he finally saw the yellow-brown solid earth he had waiting for. The following steps were to repeat the process again and again until the two pieces of land had been fully formed.

Roland expected that this course of event would at least continue for around one week, but even after the soil was lifted up and broke through the water surface, it didn’t mean that the land could be used. The flow of the river would unceasingly carry away the silt, and without further protection, even if the piers were formed according to the spindle design, they wouldn’t be able to persevere for longer than ten years.

Trying to come to a conclusion, Roland called Karl van Bate to his side, took out a piece of charcoal, and began to paint the steps needed to solidify the ground.

“Is your idea to dig holes into the soil and fill them up with cement?” This newly promoted Minister of Construction asked after analyzing the drawing.

He once more proved why he had once been one of the most exceptional members of King’s City’s Stonemason Guild, Roland thought in satisfaction. With only a few words of what I was able to remember, and he immediately managed to understand my intentions.

“That’s right, but every segment mustn’t exceed five meters in length, while it should be around one meter in depth. When you’re filling it up with cement, call for Lotus to let her bury it one meter into the earth. By repeating this we will be able to form a cement wall which goes straight from the surface of the river and into the river bed.” Roland had come up with this plan after seeing Lotus’ ability in action. Since she could control the surface and make it drop, she could presumably also bury a structure that was above the earth into the ground.

“Your idea is indeed extremely ingenious,” Carl said with sparkling eyes. “This way, even if the river washed away the outer soil, there will still be the cement wall left to block the water.”

Roland nodded, “The crucial point is to control the overall height of the cement blocks. If it is too small, it will lead to the problem where the bottom part will become unstable, while if it’s more than needed, besides the waste of cement it will also delay the construction. So, I am laying responsibility for this take on your shoulders.”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness,” Karl agreed, “Looking at the silt and soft soil coming up, I am guessing that the final height of the cement wall should be around twelve meters.”

“Also, after you surround all sides with the cement wall, don’t cover the land in the middle with cement, I want to grow several kinds of flowers and grass on top of it afterwards,” the Prince warned repeatedly.

“Several kind of… flowers?” Karl looked confused.

After all, these walls were unable to be made watertight, and when the segments had to be repaired, there would always be gaps left behind. If you wished to consolidate the soil, the simplest method was to plant different kinds of grass and flowers — the vegetation would reduce the water within the ground, while also reducing the soil erosion. That would be especially true after Leaves came and used her magic to lengthen the weeds’ root system, in that way ensuring that the earth would be firmly knit together.

After a simple explanation on how plants could strengthen the soil, Roland turned to look at the workers who were busy on the river banks, “What is the current state of the bridge’s approach construction?”

“We are right in the middle of laying the cement gravel for the road’s surface,” Karl reported without thinking, “They should be completed by this week.”

According to the plan, the approaches on either side of the river would be made by piled up fieldstone and cement, just like they had done with the city walls. As long as the positioning and measurement was correct, the construction itself wouldn’t be that complicated. The highest point of the ramp was seven meters above ground, and it connected with the city streets through a long gentle and curving slope. There was also some further height difference between the river’s dike compared to the water surface. After finishing the construction of the bridge, the difference between the water surface and the bridge should be around twelve meters. Which ought to be high enough for sailing ships to pass through.

So far only the first step of the bridge itself was completed, and it was currently undergoing a strength test on the shore — due to its small span, the load placed on it would be very small. This way the bridge would still be reliable even though Roland was ignorant about bridge engineering. In the absence of the eight wheel trucks from appearing in later centuries, a thirty-centimeter strong I-beam should guarantee the bridge’s stability. Even if the bridge was completely filled with people, it would still be impossible to break the steel beam. Even more so since the process of its construction, from assembling to welding it, had been completely taken care of by Anna, so the probability of a jerry-built construction project was extremely low.

Equally, the installation of the bridge would also be very simple. When the three-span bridge was completed, Hummingbird would use her ability to reduce its weight and would then give it to Lightning so that she could take it to its intended location.

From that point on two wagons in parallel could use the steel bridge to cross the Redwater River at the same, something which truly connected the northern and southern side.

“Even if they were the greatest of mason, it would still be hard for them to imagine such a magnificent bridge,” Karl lamented as he looked at the wide river’s sparkling surface, “Your Royal Highness, does this steel bridge have a name?

After thinking about it, Roland announced, “I presume it should be called ‘Redwater Bridge’.”

Under the hot scorching sun, Sirius Daly, wearing a straw hat, was walking along the river’s shore, examining the growth of the wheat.

Now four months after the planting, this day was the day in which the wheat had finally ripened.

As far as the eye could see, there was an unending wheat field surrounding him like a golden ocean. The wheat’s ears were thick and full, the amount of fruit had more than doubled, and was even bigger than that of any spring wheat he had seen before. There was no need to wait until the weighing of the harvest, Sirius already knew that this year was bound to be a bumper harvest.

Without a doubt, this was surely because of the witches’ contribution.

He had accompanied his father in planting for ten years now, so he naturally knew what common wheat looked like. One wheat plant would have between one to three ears, and each ear could produce twenty to thirty fruits. That the fertility of the soil could actually influence the wheat grain’s size was still believable, but could it so straightforwardly double the size of the caryopsis? Besides it being the work of a witch, he could think of no other explanation for this.

It seems that there had been many changes like this one, for instances, the new water towers looming over Border Town — he had once observed those huge monstrosities from close up, and come to the conclusion that it would be impossible to install those steel tubes that were even larger than a residential building by depending on human strength alone; yet they had been built almost overnight. Nowadays, the people living in the new district only seldom needed to carry a bucket and go draw water. As long as they unscrewed the faucet, cool well water would come flowing out from the pipe.

The same was true for the “islands” at the center of the Redwater River, since His Highness had held the Honor and Reward Ceremony, and Miss Nana had been put on the stage, the usage of the witches became more and more known. Raising those islands in the middle of the river, was obviously something that only witches could do.

He had already asked City Hall’s Premier Minister Barov about this matter, but the answer he got in return was that he didn’t need to understand it, His Highness Roland naturally had his way.

I presume it should be okay… After all, the royal family always loved to meet head-on with the Church, even if the latter sends troops to suppress His Highness, they would have first to beat the First Army, only then would they be qualified to speak. Otherwise, the Western Territory can only ever belong to Roland Wimbledon.

Duke Ryan is only the latest example.

“Sir, you have come,” two serfs in the field who noted Sirius Daly, immediately came forward and greeted him, “You see, this piece of wheat field can be harvest now, the-therefore, may I ask you…”

“We wish to ask Sir, if the Lord’s previous statements are still valid?”

“That’s right, that’s right,” the other serf agreed while at the same time nervously rubbing his hands, “Can we really be promoted to free people?”

As the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, besides recording the best way to plant and creating a statistic about the harvest, Sirius also had another important responsibility: That was to communicate with the serfs so that they would listen to His Highness as well as the City Hall’s policy. Although he didn’t like coming in contact with these country bumpkins who all day long spent their life in mud, but his knight’s self-discipline still let him fulfill his task.

“Do you see those slogans?” Sirius reached out with his hand and pointed towards the banner at the side of the farmland.

“Sir, I… cannot read…” the serf confessed with an embarrassed smile.

“Labor creates wealth, and work changes destiny,” he stated. “In other words, as long as you try to cultivate, you will have the opportunity to be promoted to become a free person. This is His Highness’ promise, and it will come true.”

“Is, is that so? That’s great!”

“After becoming a free man, you can live in the town center area, get your own brick house, as well as the right to a primary education. After that, you will no longer need to ask me for the meaning of that slogan.” Sirius once more repeated the corresponding propaganda.

“Yes, Sir,” The serf nodded excitedly. “The weather is so hot, do you want to go to my shed and have a cup of cold water?”

“I couldn’t, right now you must be very busy.” He said and waved in the direction of the fields. Understanding his meaning, the two quickly said their thanks and bowed for a long time before finally returning to their areas and busying themselves with their work. This was the most frequently asked question he’d heard in the last month. No matter how often he preached so, they would always take the trouble of coming to ask him again, fearing that His Highness would decide to cancel this policy in the blink of an eye.

Not much further down the road, he was once again encircled by a group of people, “Hello, Sir Sirius, after drying the wheat harvest, do we really only have to pay seven-tenths?”

Hearing the question, Sirius cried within his heart. This question’s frequency was second only to that of the “the free person promotion”.

“During the first year, this is indeed the case, and from then on it will only become less and less. If you’re promoted to become a freed person you will only have to turn over two-tenths, we have already repeatedly stressed this point.”

“As if I will ever be promoted,” a tall man said while touching the back of his head, “That remaining three-tenths of wheat, can we—”