When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

"Mr. Horn, look, this is what I mentioned, the style of Ancient Aier, where private spaces are small, and public spaces are large."

Vite pointed to a four-story stone house standing by the roadside, its roof already collapsed, exposing the moldy black wooden framework.

Horn pinched his nose and approached, a disgusting stench assailed his nostrils, as if pig dung, cow dung, and human waste had been mixed into a stew.

Most of the orange-red wall paint had peeled off, and it was unclear whether the sticks protruding from the windows were clothes racks or eaves.

This type of stone house is called Insula (island) Apartment, occupying about an acre, and when viewed from above, it resembles the structure of the character "回".

The roadside part of the first floor served as shops, while the rest were stables and public toilets, with the apartments for people on the second floor.

Without heeding the guards' warnings, Horn walked directly behind Vite into this Insula Apartment, and Vite, ignoring the decayed stairs, dashed upstairs in a flash.

Not bothering with the scampering Vite, Horn surveyed the surroundings; the inner side of these houses had wooden corridors, and small windows were cut into the outer side.

At first glance, it actually had a faint resemblance to modern apartment buildings.

Horn took a few more steps forward and reached the center of the courtyard enclosed by stone houses, where a trough overgrown with duckweed should have been a water source for both people and livestock.

Near the edge of the first-floor corridor, there remained flower beds and green plants, although now overrun with weeds, traces of its former days were still visible.

Sometimes Horn even wondered about the architectural techniques of the El Empire, how could they have built such modern-like apartment buildings two thousand years ago?

However, upon further observation by Horn, he discovered evidence of ancient technology; these apartment buildings were still too rudimentary.

Due to architectural limitations, the Insula Apartments had each floor shorter than the one below, with Horn estimating the top floor height to be less than two meters.

Each floor contained eight to twelve rooms, each approximately 30 to 45 square meters, with no bathrooms or toilets, let alone running water or sewage systems.

A room was merely just a room, and most importantly, such a room surprisingly accommodated two to three people, with an Insula housing fifty to sixty people.

"Crack!"

"Creak!"

"Thud!"

Indeed, no matter how light Vite was, the decayed stairs could hardly bear his weight.

Watching Vite rise awkwardly from the rotten stairs, Horn asked him, "Is this where the El people usually live?"

"To be precise, this is where the El commoners live." Vite looked at the Insula Apartment with some emotion, "Those moneylenders, nobles, and officials live in one-level courtyard residences called Doms."

And they are often the owners of these Insula Apartments, allowing them to reside in Doms through exploiting these multi-story Insulas.

This small El town is likely on the frontier, not as crowded as the capital Blacknell, where an Insula covers only half an acre but houses hundreds of people, that's truly crowded."

Horn sighed softly and turned to leave the Insula Apartment.

Upon reaching the street outside, Horn turned to the still-interested Vite and asked, "Rocker is afraid of joining us, aren't you?"

"I have never liked the Duke." Vite shook his head, "Also, I am quite intrigued by something, which is the drawing you made."

Saying that, Vite took out the stress analysis diagram Horn had previously drawn at the Stonemason Workshop from his pocket: "I've seen these kinds of lines and analysis methods at the Imperial Masonry Guild Headquarters, they were from a fragment of the towering architectural gospel 'Timber and Barrel' of Ancient Aier.

I suspect you have the complete book; if I work for you, can you give me the book?"

Seeing Vite's slightly trembling hands, Horn was stunned for a few seconds before bursting into laughter, "Sure, I can teach you, but I have a condition."

"Please, tell me."

"I want you to submit a town renovation plan to me in five days, with the goal of transforming these ruins into a settlement for at least 10,000 people, can you do it?"

After pondering for a moment, Vite raised his head with bright eyes, "I need manpower."

"I will have someone contact you." Horn smiled.

After parting with Vite, Horn wandered around the area, getting a rough understanding of the town before heading towards a workshop under the guidance of the Child Soldiers.

The workshop, set amidst the ruins, simply had a wooden shed roof covered with thatch, and inside the workshop, members of the Salvation Army dressed in black were clearing debris.

At a workbench, Patrick nodded continuously, dozing on a chair, while Haimodin was swiftly assembling a clockwork gun in front of her.

"How is it? Do you understand this?"

"A crude yet useful design." Haimodin's voice was thick with nasal tones, unsure if from a cold or Saint's Grandson illness.

"This clockwork gun's firing mechanism involves a clockwork housing and a firing rod, which is essentially a long nail rack with rounded ends.

One end is locked within the wooden handle's cavity to prevent the gear from launching the firing rod, while the other end is placed inside the barrel to shoot iron pellets,

When the gear rotates, it propels the rack, causing the firing rod to move forward, but due to the excessive force of the spring, the gear rotation causes the firing rod to jump and slant, so you installed a non-powered gear above the barrel for control.

However, this structure has an issue; to fully utilize the gear's kinetic energy, the firing rod must be very long, which makes the entire clockwork gun too long and heavy."

It must be said, though she was once a thief, Haimodin genuinely loves what she does, and she truly understands these tiny mechanical structures.

"These are the two problems I mentioned to you earlier." Grabbing a three-legged stool and sitting down, Horn extended two fingers, "First, find a way to shorten the firing rod and barrel, second, find a way to improve the necessity of pulling the spring key before firing."

"To reduce the barrel size, we can use the lathe in the Mechanical Palace for cutting and drilling." Haimodin pointed to the firing rod on the table, "As for shortening the firing rod, we need to find a metal material that is both light and strong.

There is such a material, known as Holy Silver, which is used only by the Holy Seat Guard, it is both light and strong, no less than refined iron or even White Crystal Steel, can you get it?"

"Nonsense, if I could get it, why would I be asking you for a solution?"

Playing with the clockwork housing in her hand, Haimodin looked at it for a while, eventually shaking her head, "I don't have any ideas for now."

Horn nodded with disappointment, "Think more about it in the coming days, I'll have Brock assist you."

Listening to Horn, Haimodin autonomously put down the clockwork housing, "I do have some ideas for the second problem, actually, within the structure of a pendulum clock, there is a ratchet pawl.

It latches onto the gear to prevent it from turning backward; we can adapt this for use in the clockwork housing, and then we need a, um, mechanism, to control the pawl..."

Haimodin frowned, seemingly trying to describe this structure.

"You could make a snake-shaped gun mechanism, then latch it onto the ratchet pawl, and shave out a curve on the wooden handle, mounting the trigger on it, just pull the trigger..." Horn interrupted Haimodin, recalling the image of a musket mechanism from his mind.

But when he looked up, he met Haimodin's curious gaze, "Your Grace, how do you know these things?"

A gun mechanism is simple, yet not thought of randomly; Haimodin's idea was a lever launch, which is inferior to a trigger pull.

"Oh, I'm just making a suggestion."

Horn chuckled, for the gun mechanism was a proven effective structure, it was better to try in this direction rather than making blind errors.

Brushing past the bewildered Haimodin, Horn looked toward the burly white-haired elder before him, "Master Chrispa, have you thought about the problem of mountain copper that I mentioned to you recently?"

The ritual for alchemical mountain copper was so consuming of refined iron, and with Horn's shortage of it, he had to seek help from Patrick, who claimed to be "proficient" in alchemy.

"The manufacturing of mountain copper is quite consuming of refined iron, but your manpower and mana compensate for this shortage."

Patrick stated matter-of-factly, "Actually, the current formula for mountain copper has undergone numerous adjustments based on the existing conditions calculated by the alchemists of Black Snake Bay.

But with so many of your alchemists arriving in Daze Village, you can completely use mana to offset the wastage in producing mountain copper."

"Can you fine-tune the formula then?"

With a look of disdain, Patrick expressed, "If I, Patrick... Master Chrispa can't do it, then no one else could!"