The Mechanical Era

Heinrich wearing a black renaissance suit with white outlines looked onward at the incomplete stone brick wall in the distance. He was riding on his great white horse, being protected by knights in iron suits, carrying sharp spears.

From his sharp eye, he can see the little stonemasons working on building the wall. It was rather tall, being a full 6 meters or 20 feet high, and 2 meters or 6.5 feet wide. It was being built on the southern end of the city, to protect it from any upcoming demons.

He arrived to the wall and dismounts from his horse. He approaches and asks a stonemason where Oswald was. The stonemason immediately knelt down, telling him that he had not arrived yet.

"Isn't he supposed to be here?" Heinrich asked.

"Your majesty. It is just that you are very early."

"Then why is it that people are build the wall?"

"We were told to start building as soon as we came here." he replied. Heinrich thought of what he told him. He thought of some culprits who were behind it.

"Tell them to stop. We are going to need those bricks for a test." Heinrich replied.

In the distance, he can hear the clops of more horses, running straight in the walls directions. He turned around to see not Oswald as he expected, but the guild master and his associates, all wearing a wool cloak of either black, white or gray.

They dismount off their horses and approach Heinrich. The guild master himself wore gray breeches to go along with his gray cloak. Though his face was round and slightly feminine, his voice was anything but.

The two other men behind him were the largest stonemason the city of Albersterg had to offer. They all more a similar outfit. The one on the left of the guild master wore white cloak with white breeches while the one on the right wore all black

The one in the white had an oblong face shape with a large forehead. He had short grey hair with a few balding spots, a result of his old age, and deep brown eyes he uses to see. The one in black was much younger, with a square face. While he also had short black hair, he had a strong brown mustache.

"Your majesty, as you requested we have arrived to look onward at the cement powder being tested." he said.

"I hope we are not late your majesty." the man in the black cloak said.

"No. You are a little early. Mr. Oswald will be here in about 5 minutes or less." Heinrich replied.

"Until then, I want to ask a question."

"What is it your majesty?"

"I thought I told you to inform the masons here not to start building this day. Do you have an explanation for it?"

"Your majesty, there must be a grave misunderstanding then. When I sent the letter, I thought it was on the 11th! When I learned that it was supposed to be on the 10th, it was too late to change it." he replied.

"Please forgive me for my mistake. I swear to..." before he could finish his sentence, Heinrich interrupted him.

"You are forgiven Guild master Brax Rudd." he said.

"Thank you your majesty." he replied.

Brax and his associates looked on at the tons of bags stacked together, along with the large quantity of sand and buckets of water. Guarding these products were a bunch of knights in their suits, holding spears made of iron.

The guild master eyes the bags in which cement is kept. He then points it out to the other two.

"Do you think that is the cement powder?" asked the guild master.

"My guess is as good as yours Mr. Brax. We will have to see." said the one with the white cloak.

"Mr. Lyle, what are the chances that it will work?" asked the one in the black cloak.

"I am not entirely sure Mr. Iman. But if it is like that weak limestone mortar, then we will have nothing to worry about." Lyle replied.

After a few minutes, they spot a great black horse in the distance. On top of it, wearing his signature black coat, was Oswald Audley himself, sitting on a leather saddle made for him and the horse he rid.

The stops and jumps down and introduces himself to Heinrich.

"Thank you for your patience your majesty. My name is Oswald Audley. I do hope I did not keep you waiting for long." he asks.

"No Mr. Oswald. You did not." Heinrich replied.

"Well then, let's get started shall we?" he said. Heinrich nodded. The masons, who were working on building the wall, were called down to witness the production of cement. Oswald picked out two of them to help him in the process. He took one bag of cement and poured it on the ground.

"There are two formulas to make cement. The first is to use 3 parts sand with water, making cement for plastering. The other is 4 parts sand with water for brick layering. Ins this instance, we will need 4 parts sand." Oswald said.

He got a mason to pour the appropriate amount of sand. He then grabbed a bucket of water and mixed the sand and cement powder. It was when a mortar paste was formed in it's place, ready to be used.

"And there you go! Cement your majesty!" Oswald said. He started inspecting the cement paste along with the guild master and head stone masons for a while.

"Is it really? That quickly?" asked Lyle. Oswald smiled at his question.

"Yes. It is. indeed Mr. Lyle." Oswald replied.

"How long will it take to harden?" Brax asked.

"About 2 days." Oswald truthfully replied. Brax and Lyle pretended to throw a tantrum, make it look bad.

"2 Days? That is far too long for the material to harden! Besides, what happens if it is too weak? The wall will crumple and allow the demons on the other size to consume us all!" he objected.

"Do not worry. The cement has been proven to be just as strong, if not stronger than the old method. Over on Hoverdam, the prince there is building new projects with his own invention.

Add to that, you can build the wall a lot faster as making the mortar is much more easier. You can also place just as many bricks on the cement and expect it to withstand. By the time the next day arrive, it should be strong enough to support the weight of the other bricks." Oswald replied.

"Your majesty, what do you think? Do you really want to risk it?" Brax asked. Heinrich thought for a minute.

"Well then. Get the masons to start using it on the wall. I want to see how fast they will be able to build it." Heinrich replied.

"But your majesty...!"

"I have made my decision Mr. Lyle." he replied.

The masons obeyed the kings orders and started to build the wall. By the end, a good chuck of it held together with cement mortar. Oswald went back to Jac's estate, to fulfill his promise on telling him all about Kant's policies.

...

King Heinrich, riding on his white horse, went along a dirt path alongside his knights in iron suits, whose job it was to protect him. He heard from yesterday that the cement powder have been used up, just as they finished their work for the day.

Beside him were the guild master Baux in a black coat, along with Lyle and Iman, who whore coats in their respective colors. In the distance, they see the wall they have been building for months. Yet, never before they have seen such progress.

"Oh wow, that was fast." Heinrich commented.

"Do not have your hopes up your highness. We still have to test out the strength of the wall." Brax replied.

"I guess you are right Mr. Rudd." he replied. Brax and Lyle was a bit nervous while Iman was a bit exited. Oswald was seen to have already arrived beforehand, wearing a purple coat instead of a black one.

Heinrich jumped down on the grass ground and walked up to Oswald, who knelt down in front of him.

"Good Morning your majesty. I hope you had a safe ride here." Oswald said.

"I sure did Mr. Oswald." he replied. Oswald stood up, ready to ask Heinrich on what he thinks.

"Well your majesty, as I promised, the cement has managed to build the wall at a much faster rate. Is there anything you would like to inspect?" he asked.

"Yes, the strength." he replied. Heinrich got a knight to inspect it's strength. He got up to the top floor to try and separate the bricks apart, but to no avail. Heinrich smiled at the result of his test, concluding that it was indeed strong.

"The prince seems to be a man of his word." he tells to himself. He goes back to Oswald, who was waiting patiently for him.

"I am truly impressed Mr. Oswald. I would like to buy more cement powder from you." he told Oswald.