Volume 6 Chapter 29-4 Concrete Road
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The white valley glowed red under the setting sun. It looked amazing, but I didn’t have time to enjoy the view. I wished I had a magic spell that could take me back to Floria’s house in an instant.
By the time I reached the temple with the teleportation gate, I was already tired of walking. I thought about camping outside, but it felt safer to sleep in the passageway beyond the teleportation gate.
I pulled a sleeping bag out of my magic bag and crawled into the corner of the long corridor. It felt like I was turning into a cocoon—like becoming a larva.
As I lay down, I played with Pii-Pii. I ran mana through my fingers and into the fairy. When excited, Pii-Pii’s wings gave off a soft light. It looked beautiful.
A warm sleepiness started to take over. I kept meditating as I dozed off. The world was full of mana, and when I stayed calm, it flowed into me naturally. Maybe this was the true form of meditation.
* * *
”Hey, what are you doing in a place like this?”
A loud voice woke me. I opened my eyes quickly. I had fallen asleep without noticing.
Some dwarves had come through the teleportation gate. They looked surprised to see me sleeping in the hallway. Well, it was strange. Even if I was tired, I should have pushed myself a little more and gone to the hot spring room.
Luckily, no one thought I was suspicious. It seemed most of them already knew I was Mr. Gino’s disciple. Still, they gave me pitying looks.
One dwarf, who said his name was Ragul, felt sorry for me. He offered to let me stay at his place for the night. He said his workshop was close to the teleportation gate. I was grateful and followed him.
His workshop didn’t have a real bedroom. There was a wooden floor and a hearth in the center. People just laid out futons and slept where they liked.
A pot hung over the fire, and smoke rose through a hole in the high ceiling. The room looked like something out of a Japanese folk story.
Fish hung from the wooden beams above, slowly drying and smoking.
It felt strange to store food in the same room where people slept, but the smell wasn’t bad. The scent of burnt wood filled the air and made me feel calm.
* * *
The dwarves weren’t ready to sleep yet. They started drinking right by their pillows and laughing. They were having a lot of fun.
”Hey, want some?”
One handed me some smoked quail. He said it was Mr. Zenom’s favorite.
”You’re so thoughtful, brother.”
”As expected of the king’s disciple.”
Smoked food seemed very popular among drinkers. I gave them some of my smoked fish too. It was so hard I almost broke a tooth, but it tasted good and could last a long time.
”Are you all heading to the white valley too?”
When they came through the teleportation gate, I noticed sand spilling from their big bags. I didn’t say anything, but I did wonder who cleaned up that mess.
”It’s for concrete. You too, huh?”
”Yes. I was thinking of starting with materials.”
”Humans have been using it a lot lately,” one dwarf said. “They come into our lands and ask for money to mine sand. Pretty bold.”
”But they pay when we tell them to,” said another. “They don’t want a fight.”
”So, what are you planning to make?” Ragul asked me.
”A water pipe, maybe.”
”Copper might work well for that.”
”Concrete is amazing,” another dwarf said. “You can even make ships with it.”
Master Ragul laughed and spoke with pride. “You guys keep drinking out here. I want to show this brother my best creation—my ship.”
Behind Ragul’s workshop, there was a large pond. Near the water, several boats sat on the ground. Each one looked big enough for ten people.
Under the stars, the dwarves carried out sake barrels. It looked like they planned to drink while showing off Ragul’s special ship.
They really didn’t want to just sleep quietly.
Only one boat was made of concrete. I walked closer to take a better look. The shape was built by layering concrete over a bamboo frame.
”I made this one,” Ragul said. “It turned out strong and better than I thought.”
Most people wouldn’t think to make a boat from concrete. But since wood was getting rare, maybe new ideas were needed. Iron ships could work too.
It was impressive. But with dwarves, amazing things didn’t surprise me anymore.
”The boat is nice, but what’s that thing over there?”
I saw a large slide-like structure next to a waterfall that flowed into the pond. It seemed to stretch all the way up to the lake above.
At first, I thought it was a ladder for fish to swim upstream. But no water ran through it.
”That’s made from concrete too. Pretty amazing, huh?”
Ragul looked very proud.
He explained that the boat could be placed on a cart and pulled up to the upper lake using the slope. It was like the Biwako Sōsui incline back on Earth. They used a water-filled barrel as a counterweight. When water was drawn from the upper lake into the barrel, the cart would rise.
”That’s smart. So it’s not like the Panama Canal system.”
”What’s Panama?”
Since I was talking to dwarves, I didn’t feel the need to hide my knowledge. I liked talking about stuff like this.
”Let me show you with a drawing.”
I used my game skills to project a design in my mind, then traced it onto a wooden board with a pen. It was easy to make a clean diagram this way.
”Wow, that’s good!”
”This shouldn’t be kept for humans only!”
Even the dwarf geniuses were impressed by the simple design. They looked closely at the diagram.
Notes:
• Gino – A dwarf blacksmith with advanced magical and crafting skills. Regularly uses the hot spring facility like Escalion the Hero. Calls the protagonist his ‘grandchild’ and offers to train him.
• Ragul – A dwarf and a master craftsman on the temple. His appearance is typical of dwarves, with a sturdy build and a beard. He is kind-hearted, offering the narrator a place to stay. His relationship with the narrator is that of a temporary host and a fellow enthusiast of craftsmanship.
• Mr. Zenom – Tough dwarf blacksmith from Toyoata Village. Repairs weapons, improves accuracy. Charges 100 gold/arrow. Becomes protagonist’s strict master. Assigns hard tasks like pre-dawn cleaning, firewood, water pumping. Owns well-equipped forge. Challenges protagonist to prove ideas.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply