Chapter 23 - Archimedes, Do You Know?

Chapter 23 Archimedes, Do You Know?

The masons soon arrived. The town was not large to begin with, and it took only a few minutes for the middle-aged woman to find the masons. Like the blacksmith, he was a simple and honest middle-aged man. As soon as he saw Robb, he quickly put on a respectful expression. “Father, I heard you were looking for a mason. I’m happy to help you.”

Robb did not beat about the bush. “I need you to cut off my church roof and build a cistern

on it.”

“Aye?” The masons were startled. “That’s no good, Father. Build a cistern on the roof, and you’ll be light-headed. The house will fall over easily, and it’ll leak easily. The house will look as if it’s raining.”

Robb thought about it. It made sense. The level of construction was not up to the roof cistern these days.

“Tell you what, then,” Robb said. “Set up a small stone tower next to the church, in the clearing next to the well. Then build a cistern at the top.”

“I can do that.” The mason bowed quickly. “But it will require a little more labor. A lot of stones will have to be moved. I’m not quite strong enough on my own.”

Labor was quite troublesome for ordinary people, but for the rich, it was a small matter. Robb suddenly thought: In the past, I took on missions in the game and was ordered around by NPCs. Now it’s about time to turn the tables.

Okay, issue a construction-type mission.

He took out two gold coins and smiled. “All right. Now I’m going to give you a task. You’re going to help me build a small stone tower as tall as the roof. You’re going to build a big cistern on it. These two coins will be your reward. You’re going to find a way to hire labor. I’m not going to care.”

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The masons were overjoyed. How much could the labor in this lousy town be worth? They could hire a large number of people to queue up to carry stones for less than a few dozen silver coins. After deducting the material fees, they would earn at least a gold coin after completing this mission.

He said happily, “Father, please leave this to

me.”

The mason commended Robb with every compliment he knew and went off happily.

Three days later!

Next to the well, a wide stone tower was erected. Because a reservoir had to be built at the top of the tower, this stone tower could not be built very small. It had to be built to be big in the waist. The bottom was made of stone. The middle was not hollowed out at all like an ordinary “tower.” Instead, it was all filled with stone. It was more like a stone mountain than a stone tower.

The stone hill had been built with a full force of twenty townspeople. They had carried the stones from the rocky slopes on the side of the hill, laying them down under the direction of the masons. The gaps between the stones had been glued together with a strange mud. And they had been paid only three silver coins each for three days of work. Even so, they had been happy enough.

The mason had coated the topmost pool with layers of waterproof material. To be honest, Robb didn’t understand how people of this era could prevent leaks. He couldn’t figure out what this strange material was, but it didn’t matter. As long as it could hold water in the end.

“Father!” The masons bowed to Robb. “It’s done now. Once it dries, we can store water in it. If it rains before it dries, I’ll be here immediately and cover it with a tarp.”

Robb said: “Very well. These two coins are yours.”

The masons took the money. “Thank you, God of Light. Thank you, Father.”

“Thank the gods first again? Well, if you’re heartless, I’ll be too.’

Robb put on his glorious, magnificent face. “Oh, my child, the God of Light will remember your service to the church.”

This is called giving a man a taste of his own medicine. Since you like to thank the God of Light so much, I’ll let him remember your dedication. As for me, of course, I won’t remember. I’ll be a big, emotionless feudal landlord. Hmph!

After collecting the money, the mason looked curiously at the stone tower that stood high by the well. “Father, what exactly are you doing? Although I built this thing, I don’t think it’s practical at all. Why build the reservoir so high? How can you use it like this? Do you have to build a ladder to climb up every time you need water?”

Robb laughed. “Well, don’t be hasty! You’ll have your answer soon enough.”

At this point, the blacksmith arrived, along with many iron pipes of various lengths and several taps.

As soon as he saw Robb, he immediately bowed respectfully. He greeted the God of Light first, then Robb. “Father, I did as you asked and finished the iron pipes and taps. After receiving the craftsmanship you taught me, I quickly made the iron pipe, but the tap was really too difficult and took a lot of time.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s understandable since it’s your first time.” Robb smiled at the masons. “Help the blacksmith and set these iron pipes in the deepest part of the cistern.”

The blacksmith still didn’t know exactly what he was doing, but as soon as he saw the iron pipes and looked up at the reservoir built high above, he suddenly understood. After all, he was a professional who often worked at sites involving water. He knew better than anyone that water flowed low.

“Hey, hey, hey?” the masons shouted. “I think I understand something. So… is that how the cistern is supposed to be used? Oh my goodness!”

The mason felt as if he had learned something.

However, he quickly sat on the ground dejectedly and said in frustration, “No! Although it seems to be easier to get water, if it doesn’t rain, the cistern won’t be able to store water. This pool won’t be useful at all. And even if the next storm is filled with water, as long as it doesn’t rain for a few days, it will be used up. The idea of adding iron pipes to this cistern is awesome, but it’s actually not very practical.”

Robb patted the mason on the shoulder and smiled. “Did you know about Archimedes?”

“I do!” The mire nodded sharply. “There is no one on this continent who does not know Archimedes, the most famous ancient archmage.”

“Archmage?” Robb asked. “Ahem!”

Well, it seemed Archimedes had one in this world, but he was no longer an ordinary mathematician. He was an archmage. Never mind, that wasn’t the point! First things first. Robb said: “Archimedes solved the pumping problem a long time ago. It’s calledArchimedes Screw.”