The Mechanical Era

It had been two days since the tour. Kant woke up at around 6 AM as usual. He got off his bed and went down to take his morning bath. After which, he went to his closet to pick out some clothes to wear. Instead of his usual royal suit, he took out a white tunic, black leggings, and a pair of gloves for his outfit.

By the time he went down to the grounds, it was already noon. Kant was left with no other option but to use a horse for where he was going. He had ordered Arjun to get him a small vacant house, the machinery, the materials for the cement, and labor.

He hopped on the horse and made it across town to a wooden shack, guarded by elite knights. The limestone and clay chunks the size of his head were being unloaded from a cart to the inside of the building. Along with bags of sand, buckets of water, and rectangular stone bricks.

He entered the place. There the 2 tall knights with enormous muscles dwarfed Kant. The duo had short black hair, brown eyes, and a round face holding giant sledgehammers 4 inches tall. Thankfully there the two had their facial quirks that help differentiate the two.

The one on the left was slightly taller, maybe about 3 inches more. On the left side of his face, there was a large black bump half an inch wide. Meanwhile, the one on the right had his face covered in freckles, along with a small scar near his eye.

"Good morning," he said.

"Good morning sire." they both responded at the same time.

"Before we continue. I would like to know your names."

The man on the left went first. "My name is Leon De Vandal. I have been drafted since because of Sire's request." Kant noticed the man's unusually deep voice. He figured it helped in interrogations.

"I am Warren Farrell sire. I had willingly volunteered to help you with your project." said the man with the freckles. He had a more normal voice than Leon, being at a higher pitch.

"Alright, thank you. Now, I assume you all have been informed why you are here?"

"No sire. We haven't," replied Leon

"No? Alright then. You are all here to help me with making cement."

"Uh... What is cement sire?" Warren asked.

"Cement is a material used in construction and civil engineering. You can mix it with water and 3 parts sand to make a mortar that you can stick on bricks. Then, in about a day or 2, you will find the mortar solidified, with the bricks being held together.

You can also use it to make concrete, a building material that will get stronger over time. It is a mixture of cement paste with aggregates, but that is for another time."

He took a deep breath.

"Do you two have questions to ask before we continue?"

"..."

"No? Alright then. Let's Begin then."

Kant pointed at the limestone.

"First, we must take this limestone, and turn it into a fine powder. So take your sledgehammer and start grinding them." Kant ordered. Leon and Warren started to bash it hard with their all their strength. Till then, Kant looked upon the furnace, or the bloomery.

A bloomery consists of a pit with heat-resistant walls. This particular one was made of stone. Near the bottom, 2 pipes made of metal were placed through the side walls. Its function was to allow air to come in. He knew it wouldn't be enough, and got Arjun to bring in two large forge bellows for Leon and Warren to use.

Once the duo had got the limestone to the point Kant accepted. He mixed the limestone powder or calcium carbonate with clay and put it in the bloomery. Then he started the fire up and turned to the two.

"I want you two to use the forge bellows to push a lot of air into it. Understood?"

"Why is that sire?" Leon asked.

"Well, we need to get temperatures up to 1500°C, maybe more. The reason being is to make something burn, you need to feed the fire a ton of oxygen and that is what you two are going to do."

"Thank you sire. I understand." They both picked up the bellow, put it in the pipes, and started to blow hard. The smoke started to pick up and leave through a window on the roof.

After a few hours of blowing, it was time to see their result. When they opened the bloomery up, what they found was a clinker of dark grey cement.

"Alright, we are almost there Now we need to grind it with calcium sulfate, represented in the gypsum until the cement powder is made. Then finally add one part cement powder and 3 or 4 parts sand, mix it with water, and we can get our product. Depends if it is plastering or brick layering." he said. The knights stood still.

"Go get grinding you two."

While they turned the clinker into a powder, Kant took measurements of sand using a bucket with labels. He came back to the, now powdered cement. He took measurements and took in 1 part cement powder, then 4 parts sand.

"I want to experiment with brick layering." He mixed it with water while Leon and Warren watched. They watch as he made the paste.

"Get the bricks, I want to test it."

...

It has past two days since he tested out his product. Kant wearing his formal suit rode down to the house to see if the results were a success. He has accompanied some bodyguards and by Arjun, who was curious about what he had been making.

When they entered the building, he observed the result. The stone bricks and the cement seemed to have been successfully bonded and stuck together with the mortar.

"Is this it sire?"

"Yes, this is it. It is a simple invention. So it was likely that... there might not need other experiments. I was lucky."

"Well sire, would you like for me to 'test' its strength."

"Sure, go ahead."

Arjun ordered an elite knight to try and separate it without the use of magic. His confidence when he walked up to the challenge vanished as soon as he applied force to it. Arjun was astonished at its resilience.

"Well sire, it certainly seems to live up to its name. What is next on the list sire?"

"Well. The next step is to build some production facility to produce a lot of cement."

"Sire, you are not planning to use the royal funds are you?"

"No. I plan to use the merchants, and the money those rich bastards have."

"If you are to do so, you are going to have to impress them in some way. Do you have any ideas sire?"

"I do. I was thinking of a building competition of some kind. To see how long it takes to build one room or something. It's not fully thought out yet."

"Who would they be selling to?"

"To someone rich probably. I am thinking of King Heinrich Canmore of the Kingdom of Albersterg. I heard the city was building a wall for its expansion."

"Ah, it looks like sire has done his research. Although..."

"What is it Arjun?"

"His majesty King Heinrich is a cautious man. Albersterg's royal family is not the one to take much risks, so I do hope you somehow manage to convince the royal family there."

"I sure hope so."

The two made their way back to the castle. There a maid walked up to Kant and gave him an envelope. The coffee brown paper container had a peculiar seal. It depicted a coat of arms, with the shield having 4 pointy stars and two dragons on each side; a letter from the royal family of the Kingdom of Vallina.

After opening the envelope, he found a letter written in cursive. Since Kant could not read or learn to read in cursive ever, he got Arjun to read it for him. Arjun put on his reading glasses and started scanning through the letter. After a while, he puts the letter down, shaking.

"Sire, this message is from the academy."

"The academy? Why is the royal seal on there then? Don't they have their own?"

"Yes sire, it is just that it is an urgent message."

"Then what is it? Tell me."

"...Salvator Humat."

"The pseudo-terrorist group? What about them."

"Yes, sire. One of their members got caught in the academy, holding a letter from its very own leader. Apparently, it was supposed to be destroyed by him."

"Get to the point Arjun."

"The letter had your name in it sire. They are watching you."