The Cement is Burned

Chapter 59 The Cement is Burned

Mia understood perfectly that Alphonse now possessed unwavering conviction and powerful drive.

This cannot be changed simply by receiving a magical inheritance.

Could he be the real Edson, the magical bard, or simply inhabiting Alphonse's body?

I actually thought this person was alright?

"Mia, when you're counting the gold coins later, you can try Baron Aldrich's weighing method; it's much easier." Alphonse, completely unaware that Mia secretly believed he had been possessed, said enthusiastically, "Also, I'll teach you a recording method later; it's much easier to record things this way."

"Did that bard Edson teach you again?"

"Uh-huh!"

Back in the castle, Mia, holding the Arabic numerals written by Alphonse, fell into deep thought again.

According to Alphonse, such numbers are indeed simpler and easier to remember, and once you are familiar with them, bookkeeping becomes much easier.

But before Mia came to Coldwind Territory, she had been to the commercial kingdom of Izmir, and even the people there had never seen them use such simple numbers.

This is very likely a script that has never existed before.

Could it be ancient writing?

Mia became increasingly puzzled.

But Mia really didn't have any good feelings towards the original Alphonse.

I still remember the time I went to pick up Alphonse from the tavern when he was drunk and causing trouble. Alphonse blurted out, "Who do you think you are? You're just a knight of our family, how dare you interfere in my business? You're nothing but a servant, know your place!"

He even considered harming himself.

In the end, he was the one who got beaten up.

This kind of person is utterly ridiculous; he only acts arrogantly and recklessly in the territory because he is the son of a lord.

They didn't even respect his mother.

He was a scoundrel to respond to Lady Mary's concern with such harsh words.

He's completely changed now. He knows how to care for his mother and has made great efforts for the territory.

They just acted a bit recklessly.

Perhaps someone like that would be better?

Mia pondered, completely lost in confusion.

Alphonse followed Simon to the outside of the large kiln.

Several days have passed since the extortion of Baron Aldrich for sewage treatment fees.

Both kilns have been built.

Old Man Plancy wanted to take his apprentices to continue building the warehouse, but Alphonse told them to wait.

If cement can be produced, it will certainly be better than mortar.

At this time, the brick kiln next to them had already fired several batches of bricks, and seven or eight commoners were busy outside, mixing mud and making brick blanks.

Several thousand bricks were neatly stacked around it.

Old Man Plancy and his apprentice were also waiting outside.

Upon seeing Alphonse's arrival, the group quickly stood up and bowed in greeting.

The cement firing process was delayed because the gold-eating ants had to carry their excrement out of their nests, and then the leaders had to be hired to carry it down the mountain, which took a lot of time.

The combustion aid was bought by Mia in the city, and Alphonse checked the flames when he turned on the furnace.

The accelerant produced by the Alchemist's Guild is indeed effective. With the addition of the accelerant, the flames turned blue, indicating that extremely high temperatures had been reached.

Alphonse certainly wasn't going to sit there waiting for the cement to finish firing; he was busy cultivating.

You can't exactly do a handstand outside the castle; it's too strange, and there's too much external interference.

Just the fact that he was practicing the Innate Formless Divine Skill in his own castle made Mia, Taisi, and the others think that he was practicing witchcraft. They wondered what kind of rumors would spread if he were to practice it outside.

Now, the flames in the kiln had been burning for four or five hours, and only after the fire went out did Simon send soldiers to summon Alphonse.

Alphonse stepped into the kiln through the ashes, the heat still hitting him.

The cement-like material formed from the excrement of gold-eating ants has been burned into clinker, turning grayish-black in color.

Alphonse bowed slightly, and with a thought, a faint black halo appeared on his palm.

With a single reach, he dug a piece off the solidified cement clinker.

Simon, who followed closely behind, had a drastic change in expression and couldn't be stopped in time.

He knew very well that the flames had only been extinguished recently, and that pile of mud-like stuff had been burning for so long that the temperature must have been extremely high.

"My lord."

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Alphonse waved his hand.

How could he not know the situation? He used the Mysterious Heaven Black Gold Palm, which was protected by true qi, forming a protective layer. The slight high temperature was not a big problem.

With a squeeze, the cement clinker in his hand instantly turned into powder, which fell through his fingers.

The cement clinker was heated until it became quite brittle and could be easily crushed.

It doesn't look too different from modern cement.

Alphonse dusted off his hands, stepped out of the kiln, and instructed Simon, who was following closely behind, "Once it has cooled down, have someone transport these cement clinker out before starting the next batch. Then, have a few more people crush these fired cement clinker into powder."

"Yes!" Simon nodded immediately, but still had some doubts in his heart.

He knew that what Alphonse called cement clinker was the excrement of gold-eating ants; Alphonse hadn't hidden it from him, but he didn't understand why it had to be burned for several hours.

"What's the use of all this cement?"

"This is a good thing; it can be used for building houses and repairing roads," Alphonse replied casually.

Old Man Plancy, who was waiting quietly outside the kiln, overheard this and couldn't help but be surprised. "So this kiln is firing a new type of building material?"

"Hmm." Alphonse nodded. "After grinding it into powder, it should be mixed with sand in a ratio of three parts ash powder to one part sand, then water should be added to make cement slurry. Cement slurry can then be used to replace mortar, and red bricks can be used to build warehouses."

Old Man Plancy really couldn't understand why the lord would go to such lengths to make this thing called cement to build houses. If he wanted to make mortar, he would have started construction long ago.

But since the lord had spoken, he couldn't question it, so he immediately said, "My lord, leave the work of crushing the cement to us."

Since I'm getting paid anyway, I might as well be idle.

Alphonse could tell from the expression on Old Man Plancy's face that he had a question, but he didn't dare to say it. "You can have it too. This cement is much better than mortar. After it dries, it has a higher compressive strength and you don't have to worry about it being eroded by wind, frost, rain and snow. You'll understand once you try it."

Old Man Plancy nodded repeatedly, seemingly understanding but not quite. He hadn't tried it, so he couldn't be sure, but the lord's orders had to be obeyed.

Alphonse thought for a moment, then added, "When you're breaking up the cement clinker, remember to wear masks, otherwise the dust will be too thick and you'll get pneumoconiosis if you inhale it."

Old Man Plancy was taken aback. "What's a mask?"

In this other world, haven't face masks been invented yet?

Alphonse was amazed.

(End of this chapter)