The production of cement went into a rapid development. In order for Anna to have ample amount of rest, the kiln room only operated once every two to three days. Hoping to obtain more raw materials, Roland once again issued a recruitment notice, thus doubling the population of the workers.
However, Roland himself knew that he could not always depend on Anna to do these. Working in a dusty environment for an extensive amount of time would cause people to suffer from Silicosis. Plus, once the production scale was expanded, Anna alone would be much too insufficient for the demand.
Witches should not be utilized as consumables, but instead as the engine to stimulate the development of civilization. Although Roland recognized the fact very well, as of this moment, he could only spend all his efforts in constructing the city wall. After all, nothing could be done if the demonic beasts could not be stopped.
A project was launched to dig the foundation for laying the city wall that connected the North Slope Mountain and Redwater River. As chief manager of this project and in accordance with the routine of the world Roland previously lived in, he dug out the first shovel of dirt amidst a mass of flabbergasted faces in audience.
Roland thought that after solving the cement problem, building a city wall would be effortless. However, when he actually began to do the work, he discovered that he was utterly ignorant in engineering. How deep and wide should the foundation be dug? How to solve the unevenness of the ground? How to ensure a 600-meter-long wall was kept in a straight line after construction? Back then, when the city government was constructing the road, Roland saw a group of young fellas measuring the road with tools and rulers, something called theodolites and leveling instrument, but there was hardly anything like those to be found over here!
As a mechanical blueprinter, although Roland and the next-door civil engineer were known as the ultimate geeks, however, their expertise was much too different. Not only that, none of the recruited bricklayers had ever participated in the construction of a big engineering project. Their capabilities were not even comparable to Roland's. Therefore, progress was extremely slow after the city wall project started. It took a whole week to even dig an incomplete, shallow trench.
Once the engineering project lost control, the final product would be unimaginable. For instance, this shallow trench that they dug with much difficulty looked more like a drainage ditch instead of the foundation for the city wall. Although Roland gestured an estimated width before they started, the width became increasingly narrow as they continued to dig. It even appeared to be a twisted snake if someone looked at it from a distance.
Nevertheless, Roland was reluctant to terminate the project. Based on the mindset that, a gradual progress was better than no progress at all, as long as the kiln room was not in its operating hours, Roland would spend all day at the foot of North Slope Mountain. He would adjust the direction of the pit with his naked eye and slowly push the project forward. At the same time, he also doubled the rewards of the stone craftsmen.
Fortunately, such an awkward period did not last too long. While Roland was in the firing room to direct the firing of the sixth batch of cement, Assistant Minister Barov reported that a stonemason had responded to the recruitment notice. The stonemason claimed that he joined the Mason Guild in the Kingdom of Graycastle for a while and was now waiting outside the hall.
Roland thought about it for a moment and was exhilarated. In his memory, the Mason Guild in the Kingdom of Graycastle was a prominent and pioneering team that even Prince Roland had heard of. Even though the team was ordered to be dismissed due to a construction accident, but how could there be no accidents when you work in the construction industry?
"Bring him in." Roland made a pretense of being composed and nodded. He wanted to tell Anna to leave but changed his mind after a while. Border Town had a population of 2,000 residents and hardly any residents had ever seen the faces of witches. Besides, Anna looked totally different from the girl who previously wanted to commit suicide. Plus, with the peculiar clothing that Anna was wearing, it was unlikely that anyone would recognize her.
Karl Van Bate was upset when the knight brought him into the courtyard. He wanted to first inform his Highness that it was unsuitable to undertake such a big project in this season, and then gradually obtain the trust from His Highness and ultimately change his perspective towards witches. However, according to the rumor, His Highness had always been quite capricious. What if his advice received adverse effect from His Highness?
His heart was shaking when he bowed and saluted to His Highness. While lifting up his head, he stood aghast at the sight—the girl stood next to His Highness looked so familiar, he even had this delusion that he might be dreaming. Karl rubbed his eyes, stared again, and cried out uncontrollably, "...Anna!"
Jesus Christ! What a coincidence? He just randomly hired a craftsman and he hired a neighbor of the witch? Apparently, the craftsman seemed very familiar with Anna. Otherwise, he would not be able to recognize her in an instant. Roland turned his head and looked at Carter Lannis, who immediately understood Roland's thoughts. Carter quickly locked the door, blocking the only exit.
"Professor... Karl?"
Anna's reaction puzzled Roland for a bit. "What? Professor?"
"It's you indeed, Anna, I, I...." Karl felt the warmth in his eye socket, and something started to spill down. He fell on the ground hopelessly, and repeated endlessly, "Sorry, I'm so sorry... I'm so glad... What a blessing..."
After a while, Karl Van Bate finally was able to appease his emotions. He slowly stood up, and again bowed to Roland. "I'm sincerely apologetic Your Highness, I have forgotten my manners."
"What's the matter? Aren't you a stonemason?"
"I used to be," Karl swiftly replied after he released his concerns. His Highness did not execute Anna! It was a surrogate that was hanged on the execution ground—realizing this fact, he already knew what his next move would be. Although he was fuzzy about why His Highness would rescue a witch, nevertheless, even if His Highness intended to take Anna as his lover, that would still be much better than sending her to the gallows. At least it proved that the prince did not fear the rumor that witches were the incarnation of the demon.
He confided his experience of being exiled from Kingdom of Graycastle to Border Town, including incidents such as establishing a local school and finding out that Nana Pine also turned into a witch. At the end, he beseeched His Highness to also hide Nana in the castle, in order to protect Nana from any persecution in case the residents found out her true identity.
Anna, who was standing aside did not speak a word, although she seemed to desperately want to plead for Nana.
"A new witch. What great news! Although the name Pine sounds familiar," Roland thought and called the assistant minister for further inquiry, and he found out that Pine was the last name of a middle-class noble in Border Town.
"You could bring her to see me. If she is truly a witch, I vouch that she'll be safe from any sort of harm." Roland promised. "But I can't take her away from the Pines, especially when she isn't threatened by her family. Besides, the reason that I saved Anna is far different from what you thought..." He pondered for a bit, and decided to tell the truth. "I need her help. Compared to such incredulous tales of demons and evil power, I'm more inclined to believe that the power of witches has nothing to do with good or evil, it can instead be controlled. So, regardless of Anna, Nana, or any other witches, as long as they did not commit any real crime, I'd not consider them as sinful."
"Next, let us talk about some serious issues. Have you ever participated in the construction of the city wall of Kingdom of Graycastle?" The prince brought the subject back to the construction project.
"Yes!" Karl nodded. Even though Prince Roland did not keep Nana as how Karl predicted, saying that His Highness needed the help of witches was also perplexing, however, it was good enough that His Highness promised to protect Nana.
"Very well, I'm planning to build a city wall over the Redwater River and at the foot of North Slope Mountain to block the invasion of demonic beasts. From now on, you're responsible for this project."
