MTLNOVEL Chapter 217: The Mechanical Palace is Glowing
Despite the effort Gashkour spent on moving and setting up the bed, a sense of satisfaction welled up in his heart once he had cleaned out all the dust and clutter inside the house.
Back home, Gashkour had carpentry skills, and after helping the Holy Casting Department to repair and create furniture, he was among the first in his Household to be allocated an Insula apartment.
This apartment was located on the edge of the town, with windows facing north.
Standing by the window, Gashkour could even see the Mechanical Palace across the Parra River.
Gashkour lived on the third floor of this Insula Apartment, with the ground floor housing the warehouse, canteen, and bathroom.
This apartment was about 45 square meters, with a stone chimney built in one corner of the room, constructed with square stone bricks, firmly adhered together with mortar.
A U-shaped yellow mud flue, about halfway up to a small calf in height, was connected to the lower end of the chimney, filling with smoke and radiating with hot air.
Gashkour's family's simple large bed was placed just above the flue, with dry straw laid underneath, followed by a linen bedsheet, and on top of the sheet was a woolen blanket and a quilt stuffed with reed cotton.
Gashkour's family of five would spend the entire winter together on this large bed.
Opposite the bed were two simple chests, containing Gashkour's valuables and clothes, a chamber pot curtained off, and a cabinet and shelf near the window.
According to what Gashkour had heard from Mr. Vite, this was only a temporary measure. In the future, they would either move into a courtyard or each household would install a stove.
This Insula building had four floors in total, with the ceiling height decreasing on the upper floors, but the area increasing, resulting in fewer rooms per floor.
Thus, there were only 8 rooms on the third floor, and there were supposed to be another 4 rooms on the top floor, but these were not yet built and thus temporarily uninhabitable, so the Insula had 18 rooms in total.
Gashkour's group of ten households comprised 65 people, both young and old. However, most of the rooms on the second floor were only about 30 to 35 square meters, so they typically housed a family of three.
Some larger families had to split up, resulting in 15 of the 18 rooms being fully occupied, with the remaining 3 rooms being used as a prayer room, security office, and storeroom.
The prayer room was a religious venue, responsible for housing the household registration booklets and valuable items, as well as providing a place for residents to conduct religious activities and prayers.
The security office served mainly as the Ten Households Leader's office, responsible for penalizing residents for violations, guarding the main entrance, and storing militia weapons.
Gashkour did some calculations and suddenly realized that today was his day to guard the main entrance, but fortunately, he only had to cover the first half of the night, so he could still get a good night's sleep afterward.
"I'll go report to the security office first." Gashkour took a short cloak from the chest, put it on, and said to his wife, "You go have dinner by yourself later."
Dinner time for each Insula was from the evening prayer to sunset, which was from 5 to 6 o'clock. A designated watchman would bang a gong to remind everyone.
For essentials like food and salt, Horn strictly regulated them, with set limits on the daily distribution of food and salt for each person.
The staple dinner fare consisted of rice and potato root porridge, wheat bread, roasted mushrooms, wild vegetable fish soup, and small berries. Once all families within the ten households arrived, the Ten Households Leader would take a headcount, and then the meal would begin.
Each Insula housed a group of ten households, roughly fifty to sixty people, which was a manageable size for the Ten Households Leader to recognize and administrate.
Because he needed to watch the main entrance, Gashkour had to report to the security office first, receive a piece of bread to stave off hunger, and then exchange shifts with the elder on duty at the time of the evening prayer.
After leaving the room, Gashkour walked to the railing of the corridor, with the Insula's small courtyard appearing before him.
In the courtyard center was a well, flanked on both sides by wooden fences planted with only potato roots, with several children playing with small stick-like branches in the courtyard.
The corridor and stairs were made of wood, creaking as Gashkour stepped on them, while a few hens clucked noisily in the chicken coop beneath the stairs.
Upon reaching the second floor, he immediately smelled a sweet yet pungent aroma of rice porridge mixed with foul odor, permeating the courtyard.
The ground floor, or first level, had a main entrance on the south side, with rooms for garbage and chamber pots on either side, while the west housed the bathroom, the east the canteen, and the north the warehouse.
"Gashkour, the security office is this way," called a middle-aged man with messy facial hair and blackened teeth.
"Merikso, Ten Households Leader," Gashkour immediately stepped forward to greet him.
Merikso nodded indifferently and led Gashkour into the security office.
The whole security office was approximately 30 square meters, containing only a few large chests, a rack filled with bottles, jars, and paper rolls, along with a solid wood table.
On the back wall of the security office hung a short sword, a few sharpened and charred wooden spears, and two pairs of shackles.
Taking down a wooden spear from the wall, Merikso held it in his hand without handing it to Gashkour: "You know the rules, right?"
"Yes." Gashkour answered promptly.
After sunset, the main entrance would be closed, with entry only through the side door, which involved explaining the reason to the gatekeeper and providing a fingerprint ID.
During the evening prayer, which was around 8:30 PM, the side door would also close. Those who failed to return in time either had to sleep on the street or surrender themselves to the security office for curfew violations.
Although surrendering to the security office meant sweeping streets and helping with chamber pots the next day, it was still better than freezing on the street.
"Are you going to work at the Holy Casting Department's furniture workshop tomorrow morning? I heard you're already a group leader?"
"Ah, yes, I have woodworking skills, and I was just appointed the group leader this afternoon." Gashkour replied in surprise. He had just been appointed in the afternoon, and by evening, this Ten Households Leader already knew?
Carpentry and furniture woodworking are two different things. Furniture woodworking involves making doors, windows, furniture, and other finely joined wooden products, considered advanced carpentry.
Merikso nodded slightly, consistent with the news brought by Mosang Hundred Households Chief. "Well then, since you're working for His Holiness the Pope, not resting well might affect things the next day. You only need to guard until evening prayers tonight."
"Ah? There's still a long time until after midnight, what should I do?"
"Let that big simpleton Brune do it, can't he? Bai Chang, that big guy, can't even speak properly."
Brune was a fellow villager of Gashkour. Although they came from different birthplaces, when they were in Joan of Arc Castle, they were part of the same refugee village.
Brune was an orphan beggar by origin, with a rather wooden personality, speaking slowly, not very likable, and often scolded by Merikso.
"I don't mind staying up a bit later..."
"What are you saying? If you stay up a bit later, it affects the furniture production of our Pope Country. If furniture production is affected, nobody sleeps well. If nobody sleeps well, nobody has the strength to fight, and without strength for battle, we'll be annihilated by the Knights."
"Is that how it is?"
Merikso shoved a wooden spear into Gashkour's hands, "Yes, that's how it is. You should rest early. If you see Sir Rekado, tell him that Merikso from Black Dog Village sends his regards."
Accepting the wooden spear, after finishing a small piece of wheat bread as a filler, Merikso sat on a chair by the door and began his task of guarding the door.
On Autumn Dusk Island, there were no entertainment facilities. For prayers, each Insula apartment basically had a prayer room, so who would go out at night without reason?
Sitting idly by the door from dusk until the starlight appeared, Gashkour finally stood up, rubbing his joints that creaked, just as the Night Watcher called out the time outside.
After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, the tall and sturdy Brune, wearing a slightly smaller wool coat, hurried over. "Brother Gashkour, thanks for waiting."
"It's nothing, it's you who had to work harder." Gashkour handed the wooden spear to Brune, but didn't leave. "I heard you've gone to be an apprentice to learn skills?"
"The woodworking master thought my fingers were too coarse." Brune said sullenly. "Among seven people, only I was turned down. Hey, Brother Gashkour, could you..."
"I don't have that authority." Gashkour said with a bitter smile.
But in fact, if he spoke to a familiar master, he could indeed bring Brune in. However, this lad with his clumsy hands might not be able to do it well.
Brune sat on the chair by the door, holding the wooden spear: "Then I'll just be a laborer for now, anyway, the weekly salary is half a Dinar."
Gashkour stepped forward, but couldn't find the words to say, as he sadly realized that when Brune sat down, he was as tall as him.
"What's the matter? Do you have something to say?"
"...I heard, I heard that in six days, they will recruit soldiers. You're big and strong, why not become a soldier?"
Brune waved his hand in fear: "I can't fight, when others want to fight me, I just turn around and run."
"Aren't you just here to be bullied anyway?" Gashkour said earnestly, "I know how much you eat, and with our allocation, you never have enough to eat. Your former boss was hunted down to death by Master Knight for his debts. Look at how skinny you've become from hunger?"
Brune, holding the wooden spear, lowered his head and didn't speak.
Gashkour helplessly patted his shoulder, "Joining the army means you get food and accommodation. Once formally enlisted, you get a Dinar a day during peacetime and 4 Dinars per day during wartime. Isn't it better than now?"
After hearing Gashkour's words, Brune still shook his head stubbornly.
"...Sigh, don't say I didn't warn you." Gashkour sighed, turning to climb the stairs to his house.
He lightly knocked on the door, and his wife inside asked, "Who is it?"
"It's me, Gashkour, the famous flower thief of Joan of Arc Castle." Gashkour said softly.
The sound of the door bolt being removed came from inside, and his wife Shari opened the door, giving him a look, "You, a flower thief... What are you up to? The kids are here, quickly show it."
The two of them entered the house, and unlike the cold outside, the room, though still cold but with a chimney, wasn't bone-chilling.
There were no lights lit inside, only starlight. Their three children leaned by the window, gazing to the north.
"What are you all looking at?"
"Papa, look, His Holiness the Pope's palace is glowing."
"Glowing?" Holding the youngest child, Gashkour moved to the window and peered toward the Mechanical Palace, "It really is."