The best territory designer of all time - Episode 64
64fury. Impossible construction and magic ingredients (2)
cement.
Mixtures used in building buildings.
Materials used as essential materials in construction.
“The etymology comes from the Latin word cementum, meaning finely broken stone..”
“latin…….”
“Uh, there's a language like that..”
“Is it by any chance an ancient language??”
“that's right.”
Lloyd nodded..
I looked at Javiel, who was rowing the boat, smiling..
“Anyway, from now on, I'm going to try making that cement thing. In this construction, without it, there will be no porridge or rice..”
“So that means you're not borrowing magical powers..”
“of course. Is it possible to go bankrupt while carrying out a construction project??”
Lloyd made a point.
What he said was true.
A wizard is a precious body..
Of course it's incredibly expensive.
Especially if you are a wizard who can use magic with physical effects powerful enough to influence large-scale construction.?
‘It's more expensive. Even if you waste the entire territory budget, you wouldn't be able to bring them in, right? At that level, he would already be at the level of a country's royal palace chief wizard..’
So it makes no sense to use wizards for construction..
No, I didn't even think about it..
Lloyd continued..
“There's no need for magic. I looked at it while measuring earlier, and luckily it seems like the construction method I was thinking of would work well..”
“Is it a friction pile or something… … What do you mean??”
“uh.”
nodded.
As he said, the friction pile method seemed to be perfect here..
below the sea floor.
This was especially true because the soft rock layer was deep in the ground..
‘Canal Grande in Venice. Like the bottom of many buildings built around the Grand Canal..’
Lloyd suddenly remembered the foundations of Venetian buildings he had encountered while participating in club activities..
Venice, city on the water.
The ground conditions there were similar to here..
Thick pearl and mud covered the sea floor..
The Yeonam Formation was located much deeper than that..
It was a depth that would be difficult for the foundations of most buildings to reach..
In such a situation, the Venetians showed wisdom..
‘Dozens, hundreds, thousands of long piles were driven into the seafloor. Once the piles were firmly fixed in the mud, the foundation of the building was made on top of them..’
Even the stakes driven in at that time were?
Hundreds of years later, the structure still stands intact..
That was the traditional friction pile method..
‘Of course, that method was applied and is still in use today..’
The fundamental principles have changed little.
The wooden stakes were replaced with larger, stronger concrete pillars or H-beams..
Lloyd thus planned to apply another modern method to the friction pile method..
“It will be a mix of friction pile and box caisson methods. Because the water here is deeper than Venice. The pearl and mud layer is thick and soft, making it perfect for the caisson to sink under its own weight..”
“…….”
“You don't know what I'm talking about?”
“yes.”
“Well, anyway, this means that in order to use the caisson method properly, you have to make cement. Come on, let's go.”
Before I knew it, the boat had reached the dock..
The two came up to the dock..
But there was someone(?) who welcomed this side..
“You came?”
A softly soft voice.
A warm smile of joy.
Even a slightly red face as if embarrassed.
There was a woman on the dockside who looked like she was beautiful to anyone who saw her..
He looked at me and greeted me with a happy yet shy face..
“hmm?”
Lloyd tilted his head..
It was a woman I had no memory of meeting for the first time..
But looking at the clothes, it didn't look out of the ordinary..
She was wearing an incredibly fancy dress..
It was not an outfit suitable for such a gloomy dockside..
Moreover, the faces of the people next to her were even greater..
Five knights wearing decorative armor decorated with silver were guarding her..
“Hey, excuse me, but who are you??”
No matter how you look at it, he is definitely not a commoner.
Lloyd asked cautiously..
But the answer didn't come back this way.
This was because the woman's gentle smile was directed at Haviel, not at this direction..
“I'm embarrassed to tell you, but I've waited quite a while, Sir Asrahan..”
“Do you mean me?”
“yes. And this… … Please accept it.”
The woman lowered her head, her cheeks turning red..
He suddenly held out something he was holding with both hands..
“I put my heart into it.”
“…….”
Lloyd could see clearly..
It was a letter in a light pink envelope..
Even the name ‘Christine Cremo’ was written in pretty handwriting on the envelope..
‘for a moment. Christine Cremor... … Only daughter of the Count of Cremo?’
That lady suddenly came by and handed a letter to Haviel.?
Lloyd felt ridiculous..
Meanwhile, Habiel…….
“Thank you, Lady.”
I calmly received the letter.
He skillfully packed the letter into his pocket..
Somehow, it's a familiar gesture, as if it's something I've experienced once or twice..
Lady Cremo's face turned even redder at that sight..
I couldn't overcome my shame and turned around..
As if running away, he often ran away to the other side of the pier..
Of course, the knights who were guarding her were embarrassed and ran after her..
Thanks to this, only two people, Lloyd and Javiel, remained on the dockside..
Wow, the sea breeze blew..
“hey.”
Lloyd was the first to break the long silence..
“What kind of situation is this?.”
“I think I received a letter.”
“I know that too. Why did you receive the letter?.”
“I think it's probably because of what happened yesterday when I left the count's mansion..”
“yesterday? When leaving the mansion?”
“yes.”
“What happened then??”
Lloyd tilted his head..
Nothing happened yesterday.
All he did was meet the count, propose a new construction method, and win the construction order..
After that, he handed over the used treasure to the general manager..
The condition of the treasure was appraised and a generous amount of gold coins were received..
That was it.
That was the version(?) of yesterday's memory that Lloyd kept..
However, the version of Javiel's answer was slightly different..
“It was time to receive a gold coin from the butler and leave the mansion. at that time…….”
“at that time?”
“The woman who was walking in the garden happened to look back at us. At that moment, her eyes met mine for a moment..”
“so?”
“That's it.”
“……wait for a sec. We made eye contact for a moment, and that was all, but the next day, when the Countess handed you a letter with a red face, does this feel normal to you? Seriously??”
“yes.”
“why?”
“Why?.”
Javiel looked this way and tilted his head..
It's as if he's asking why he's making such a fuss over something that's so obvious..
What the guy said next was also like that..
“Because our eyes met.”
“…….”
“Lloyd, have you never done anything like that??”
“Wow.”
“The confession letters I have received so far are... … Let's see.”
“Don't count.”
“forty… … sixty… … hundred… … One hundred and fifty… … Umm…….”
“Don't count.”
“If you include all the ones I just received, I think there are about 537 messages..”
“…….”
This is why I don’t like good-looking guys..
I'm truly annoyed..
‘They're like dirty and shameful idiots..’
Lloyd snorted..
“That's it. Let’s stop talking about what we were talking about.”
“What do you mean by saying it's a story you were talking about??”
“cement.”
Lloyd said as he turned towards the inn..
“I'm going back to the inn like this. So you go to the count's butler..”
“What can I do when I go?.”
“Tell them to send 10 kilograms each of limestone, sand, and volcanic ash to the inn. Oh, and don't forget to ask me to introduce you to a blacksmith shop that I can rent as a workshop..”
“All right. Is that all you ask me to do??”
“no. There's more.”
“What are you.”
“On the way, I cover my face and walk with my eyes closed..”
“yes?”
“Don't go around begging women for no reason, man..”
“Are you jealous of me??”
“what?”
“No matter how I look at it, I'm telling you this because I feel like Lloyd has been secretly jealous of me..”
“Haha, that's ridiculous. No way.”
Lloyd shrugged leisurely..
“The guys I find most pathetic are the guys who hit on women on the street.?”
“They're attacking me?”
“There is such a thing. It was like that before. Some guy in Daehakro tried to talk to a woman to ask for directions? Then the woman said very loudly, 'I have a boyfriend!' While doing this, she ran away at the speed of light. Damn that, how embarrassed she must have been. From the perspective of watching, it was completely funny, but honestly, the person involved was so shameful and vain that he couldn't sleep well, and even though he kicked off the blanket every night, he honestly couldn't sleep... … shit…….”
“……It was Lloyd’s own story..”
“Phew, if you know, go quickly..”
“Cheer up.”
“shut up. go away.”
“……I'll be back.”
So I sent Javiel to the count's mansion..
In the evening, the items requested from the butler arrived at the inn..
But unfortunately the volcanic ash did not come..
It was with a message that it was difficult to obtain..
“Tsk.”
Lloyd licked his lips with regret..
volcanic ash.
It was because the most essential ingredient did not arrive..
‘That would be necessary to make Greek or Roman cement..’
So close.
Simply because he likes Roman civil engineering.?
It wasn't.
This was because Roman cement had clear advantages..
‘It's probably the strongest cement that can be made right now..’
In fact, the history of cement is very deep..
Almost 5,000 years of history.
By the time Grandfather Dangun established Gojoseon, primitive cement was already being used in Egypt to build pyramids..
In particular, the strongest and most reliable cement was that of Greece and Rome..
‘I mixed pozzolanic lime, sand, volcanic ash, and seawater..’
The cement made that way was indeed strong..
As for how strong it was, the cement breakwater made at the time was still strong to this day, 2,000 years later..
The secret was in volcanic ash.
‘That's because of the tuff in the volcanic ash. It mineralizes the gap between the aggregate and the mortar and prevents cracks from spreading in the structure..’
So, if possible, I wanted to use Roman cement in this construction..
For that, I requested volcanic ash..
But the ash didn't come.
‘but. There isn't a volcano nearby, and no one would bother to scoop it up and store it. So should we at least make Portland-style cement? I think that would be more difficult.’
Portland Cement is said to be the beginning of modern cement.).
Lloyd also roughly knew the manufacturing method..
‘Limestone, clay, silica and iron oxide are crushed and dried. Mix it with water, filter it, mix it with coal powder, bake it, cool it, mix it with gypsum, and grind it..’
I roughly know the process.
I felt like I had to experiment and repeat it countless times..
It was from then on..
Lloyd worked on cement manufacturing for several days..
Grinded and mixed ingredients provided by the count..
Baked in a blacksmith shop and dried in the early winter sea breeze..
Grind again, mix, and pour water..
However, the desired cement was not easily produced..
‘no. It keeps falling apart.’
Is the mixing ratio of the ingredients wrong?.
Or was there a defect during the baking, cooling and drying process?.
The cement that was made to look good didn't do its job..
It looked good when I mixed water and sand to make it..
However, it cracked during the curing and drying process..
‘Construction cannot proceed without this..’
Ten days have passed, fifteen days have passed..
As time passed, I became increasingly anxious..
‘It would be nice if we could get some volcanic ash. You don't have to worry about this.’
If only there was enough volcanic ash.
All you had to do was test the ratio of lime and sand..
It would have been much easier to make and experiment with cement than now, and obtain satisfactory results early on..
That was so disappointing..
Later, I even thought about going out to collect volcanic ash myself..
‘but… … Umm, no. There is no place to get volcanic ash, and considering the cost of transporting it, it is very inefficient. It will take a lot of time.’
I just thought it was realistically impossible..
‘In the end, do we have no choice but to continue this experiment?.’
If you try and try again, you will succeed..
We must not stop until then..
Lloyd decided to do so..
Even my sleeping time at night was devoted to experiments..
But little results came out.
Even if my eyes were red and bloodshot.
Later, I even ended up with a nosebleed..
Rumbling.
“……uh?”
Lloyd, who was grinding quartz stone in a dark corner of the blacksmith shop, suddenly felt an uncomfortable feeling under his nose and stopped..
I unconsciously touched the area under my nose..
Nosebleeds all over my fingers.
“Uh, what the heck.”
I covered my nose with my sleeve and pressed it..
Then a bitter smile came out..
Suddenly, the past days came to mind..
‘It's like when I was in Korea.’
It was a time when I had nosebleeds seven times a week..
Nevertheless, it was a day when I burned my will every day..
If I just hold on today, tomorrow will be a little better.
If I survive tomorrow, next month will be even better..
That one day I will be able to live like everyone else..
I thought I would be able to have a good job, earn a stable income, get married, and build a warm family..
It was a time when I believed that, held on, and tried to overcome it..
It was thanks to the memory of that day.
‘Let's do more.’
let's not give up.
Let's not back down easily.
With that promise, Lloyd grabbed the stone again..
It was then.
A clue to an unexpected solution came to him..
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