Preparation

"The months of demons is coming early this year." Barov said

He was forced to changed his plan because of those words

On his table, was a paper drawn in it a blueprint of what was prison cell with two windows except for two entrance, one bigger than the other.

Yes, this was the blueprint of the kiln furnace that was made for Anna to use for practicing her magic. The prince made this drawing and explain about the details about it.

The structure was to be built to produce a thing called cement which was crucial in building a city wall they need. It is said that they can create a tall and long walls with a cement. It is just like a clay that binds things together but much stronger.

There are also some unfinished blueprint on the table such as the Steam Engine, and also the blueprint of a Firearm which is called a Musket.

Foundation for building the wall is very important so they made a very long straight ditch by digging there.

He recruited some excavator and stone mason for preparing to build the wall.

The excavator will dig for the foundation while the stone mason will be building blocks of stone for the wall.

And Anna will be the one to fire the cement she already have the technique to do it after the experiment, she also know the exact ratio she is truly a genius.

With this in mind, Roland designed a kiln that needed no heating and relied on Anna instead.

Broken particles of limestone and clay were mixed with water to form a paste, which was spread evenly throughout the firing room. Then the knights locked the door and cleared out the laborers. Anna then entered through the back door and heated the ground beneath the paste until the iron bar placed inside the room also melted.

Roland was becoming restless. This was his first step in guarding Border Town. If he could not produce any cement, his plan of building a city wall in three months would just be empty words. Without a wall to protect the town, he worried that no one would be willing to stay in this godforsaken place. Whether in history or fictional literature, a stable base was necessary for agriculture.

"Your Highness, you're saying that this material can hold stones together?" asked Carter Lannis, who stood near Prince Roland. Even though the prince had said this was the result of the latest research by the alchemical workshop in Kingdom of Graycastle, he was nonetheless skeptical. After all, that group of people was never famous for being useful.

"Who knows? That's what they said," Roland replied.

In this world, alchemy and astrology were known as the sage arts, and were very popular in the mainland. The royal family would generally keep their own alchemists and astrologers to predict and improve their fate. For ordinary folks however, such knowledge was beyond their comprehension and thus had little enthusiasm for them. Keeping this in mind, it was only natural for Roland to claim that the cement was a product of the alchemical workshop. He did not care about whether the chief knight believed it or not.

The flame in the window eventually died down. The firing of the cement seemed to be complete.

Roland stood up at once. Sending Carter away to the yard, he waited alone in front of the brick house.

The iron door creaked as it opened and Anna stepped out, naked. Roland draped a robe over her at once and handed her a glass of water. "How was it?"

The witch's face was painted a dusty gray. Even though wet cement would not produce much dust, it would still appear when the cement was burning. Since she could not wear a mask, it was uncomfortable for her to stay inside for tens of minutes. She coughed twice and nodded. "The mud has turned gray."

Roland was too impatient to wait for the temperature to be lowered. Wetting a towel, he wrapped it around his head and grabbed a shovel. He then went in through the back door.

Hot air instantly engulfed him and he found it difficult to breathe. The skin on his hands was burnt raw. Fortunately, shoveling the ashes took only a short moment. Otherwise, he might really experience thermal shock had he stayed any longer.

"Is this what you want?" Anna asked, staring at the material. She had already put on her witch's robes.

There was a huge pile of ash gray cast offs which was separated properly from the rest. He finally had his first raw material in making cement.Then the cast off was grinded into dust.

The ash gray cast off was plenty of calcium carbonate which could be used as a limestone when grounded.

Mixing the grinded material with clay that underwent plenty of washing to purify it, the actual production of cement is starting.

The result was an ash colored wet paste.

Roland could still feel the intense heat it emitted, when Anna use her powers.

"Looks like it." Roland flattened the powder and tested the temperature with his fingers. "I wouldn't know for sure until we use it."