Chapter 157
Chapter 157 – I Will Take Care of This. (3)
Mercenaries are people who will do anything as long as they get paid.
In my previous life, Ghislaine also took on many requests besides fighting.
Not only did she help with construction projects like fortifications, but during wars, she even took on the task of building makeshift barracks if there weren’t enough hands.
‘I would have been called the Construction King if I hadn’t received the title of Mercenary King.’
At first, she didn’t know much and just used her strength, but as she kept receiving similar requests, she acquired at least some basic knowledge about construction and civil engineering.
Once she realized that having a base where soldiers could rest and reside was important for winning wars, she deliberately went to construction sites to learn.
With the knowledge she gained from real battle experiences, it wasn’t hard to lead the work.
“Bring a whole bunch of laborers over! The more we have, the faster we can finish.”
However, the people didn’t know that Ghislaine had such knowledge.
To them, Ghislaine was just an obnoxious and reckless person trying to meddle in things she didn’t understand.
But who would dare to oppose her when the lord was taking charge of the job?
Soon, a large-scale group of laborers gathered, and Ghislaine recalled her memories from her past life to direct the work.
“Alright, let’s first lay the foundation and then work on the framework!”
At her command, the laborers began to move busily.
Since the lord was directly involved, they couldn’t dare to slack off.
As they hurriedly followed her commands, something resembling a decent structure began to take shape.
The engineers worked while whispering among themselves.
“It seems like the lord knows something after all…”
“But what’s this? Isn’t it just a big house they’re building?”
“Looking at how the area is divided, it seems like she’s planning to create several big rooms and cram a lot of people in.”
If they divide the area like a mansion or military barracks, the housing problem would indeed be resolved.
While it might not be enough to provide proper housing for everyone, given the tight schedule, such an approach wasn’t necessarily a bad idea.
But did it really require the lord’s supervision?
Eventually, one carpenter raised his hand and asked.
“Lord, if you’re going to build a big barracks, we can take it from here. You don’t need to get involved in such rough work.”
“No, no. That’s not the kind of building I’m making. If we cram everyone into one place, what kind of house would that be? It’d just be a pigpen!”
Then another person raised their hand and asked.
“Isn’t what you’re making a house with lots of rooms, like a noble’s mansion?”
This time, Ghislaine shook her head.
“Similar, but a bit different. Sure, if we’re in a hurry, we can do it like that, but we still have some time. We need to create something proper from the beginning.”
Seeing the curious expressions on their faces, Ghislaine broke into a grin.
“Let me explain simply. You need to understand the concept to keep up. What we’re currently building is a structure where several houses exist inside a sturdy and large building.”
“Are there houses inside the house? Isn’t it just a bunch of small houses stuck together?”
In cities with limited land, they sometimes build mansions this way.
What Ghislaine was proposing was a concept that didn’t exist before, so that was about all the people could imagine.
“It’s not that. It’s a structure with several smaller houses inside a large building. It’s called an apartment building.”
“Such a house… exists?”
Ghislaine nodded vigorously in response.
“Yeah, one will be built here.”
After a disaster swept through the continent in my previous life, survivors began to gather, and many cities fortified themselves.
To allow many people to live together in a limited space inside a fortress, they had to make the most efficient use of space.
Thus, the concept of apartment buildings emerged. It involves allocating independent living areas for each household within a tall, large building.
Even though Ghislaine explained repeatedly, the people only wore confused expressions. Once you understand it, it seems easy, but they couldn’t break through the limits of their thinking.
“Seeing your expressions, it seems you still don’t understand.”
Ghislaine sighed and shook her head. Explaining a concept that doesn’t exist in the current era isn’t easy.
Then, there was only one method left. As always, she would just have to show them directly.
“Alright, that’s enough chitchat. If you don’t understand, just do your best following my instructions. You’ll understand when you see the final product.”
Having finished her explanation, Ghislaine returned to the task at hand.
The construction quickly fell into a rhythm. Just one lord stepping in had drastically increased the speed.
Partly, it was because the laborers weren’t slacking off out of concern for Ghislaine, but there was another, larger reason.
“Let’s go!”
<Crack! Crack!>
With a shout of encouragement, every swing of Ghislaine’s axe sent out smooth timber.
In the blink of an eye, she produced timber that needed to be refined, leaving everyone stunned.
“Wow… I heard rumors of the lord’s swordsmanship, but her axe skills are incredible too.”
“Is this even possible? Who swings an axe like that? A few swings, and that plank just comes flying out!”
It didn’t stop there. She plucked nails from a handful and effortlessly drove them in all at once, smashing everything that needed to be destroyed with just one strike.
For tasks that took time, like drying mud, she even brought in wizards to finish them in no time.
Naturally, others were hard-pressed to keep up with Ghislaine’s pace.
Since getting the tasks done was the priority, there was no room to be curious about what was going on.
“Ugh, are we really building a house now?”
“The speed is insane. It feels like we’re assembling something….”
Of course, Ghislaine didn’t just throw things together aimlessly.
Even if she brought over structures and forms from her previous life, she needed to modify the designs to fit the current technical capabilities and resource availability in the territory.
Ghislaine continuously educated the engineers about the concept of apartment buildings, implementing them into reality through thorough division of labor.
She kept seeking advice from the engineers while insisting on including every necessary element for a humane living experience.
“We’ll create a separate cooking stove, and heating will be done through a fireplace. If we create separate exhaust passages on each floor and install multiple chimneys on top, there won’t be any worries about smoke leaking.”
“The bathroom will have drainage pipes, allowing water to drain into a big pit.”
“This goes like this… that goes like that…”
As time went on, the laborers started to vaguely understand what Ghislaine was making.
“Indeed, seeing it once is the best way to explain!”
In response to Ghislaine’s words, the people nodded with dazed expressions.
They didn’t even know what they were making; they were just doing as told, yet something resembling a solid building was coming together.
Claude, who occasionally came to observe, also had a puzzled expression growing.
‘What is this? Is it real? Are they really building a house?’
When Claude first saw Ghislaine take charge, he was sure that the lord would mess things up and face a problem.
The reason he didn’t stop her was simple.
Sometimes, one needs to face defeat to learn humility and introspection.
But contrary to his expectations, a real ‘house-like something’ was indeed being constructed.
Moreover, the speed of construction was unimaginable. The wizards who were doing farming were also dragged along, so it was only natural.
In just four days, what Ghislaine referred to as ‘apartment buildings’ was completed.
It was a three-story building with four houses per floor.
“Hm, this should be decent enough.”
Ghislaine, with a massive hammer resting on her shoulder, looked at the completed building with a satisfied smile.
Since it was built in a hurry, there were no decorations—just roughness. However, seeing a building that was large and solid, completely different from the previous styles, even its roughness felt reassuring.
The people who collaborated with Ghislaine also stared at the apartment building in awe. They finally grasped what the lord had meant.
“Uh… so this was really possible.”
“How did the lord even think of something like this?”
Even though they had participated in making it, they still found it hard to believe.
Claude, with a dazed expression, asked Ghislaine,
“Uh, how did you come up with this idea?”
“Well… since the work was continuously delayed, I thought about the quickest and most efficient way to do it.”
Ghislaine pretended to be smug as she spoke, but truthfully, such apartment buildings were quite common in her previous life.
In fact, during that time, they utilized magic, making those houses much easier to maintain and far more comfortable to live in than what they had built now.
There were even developments where more houses were fit per floor, reaching heights of up to seven stories.
Of course, the nobles or high-ranking individuals still resided in mansions, while only commoners lived in apartments.
Ghislaine looked around at the engineers and said,
“With this method, we can finish the residential construction much faster, right?”
If there’s a limit to the number of buildings one person can supervise, then increasing the number of people who can live in a single building was a logical solution.
That wasn’t wrong at all. With the time it takes to build a couple of small houses, they could construct this one building instead.
“Yes, with this, we can significantly reduce the time. Just by building one, we can accommodate up to 120 households.”
“Great. I’ll provide even more laborers than now, so let’s speed things up as much as possible.”
“Understood!”
The engineers exclaimed with admiration while gazing at Ghislaine with awe.
Since they had kept detailed blueprints during the construction, they encountered no problems in replicating the buildings.
The engineers were more aware than Ghislaine of just how outstanding these apartment buildings were.
The more they dissected the concept, the more they concluded that apartment buildings were indeed the most suitable way to work and a revolutionary style of housing for the current situation.
Who would have thought that just by slightly bending the fixed notions about houses, such a result would arise?
Watching the engineers come together, excitedly discussing among themselves, Claude decided to stop overthinking.
‘Right, I’ve misjudged. I shouldn’t think of that person as ordinary.’
Seeing Claude with a sour expression, Ghislaine teased him.
“What are you doing? Are you not paying attention? Now the work speed is about to pick up, so bring in large numbers of laborers.”
“Oh, understood. I’ll immediately announce a recruitment for more laborers.”
At Claude’s response, Ghislaine raised an eyebrow, as if hearing something outlandish.
“How long will that take to finish? Let’s be quick about it. We’re running out of time here!”
“Huh? What do you mean by that…?”
“I’m talking about the immigrants. Haven’t we fed and rested them well for a few days?”
“Yes, there might be some sick ones left, but most of them have recovered their stamina by now.”
Then, Ghislaine grinned and said,
“From now on, it’s not recruitment but conscription. Bring everyone who can move. The free meals end here.”
*
The immigrants, who had been living comfortably, finally thought the time had come when the conscription order was issued.
For those who firmly believed that a lord who gives away something for free could not exist in this era, this was unsurprising news. Some even felt relieved hearing about the conscription.
Thus, no one rebelled. They all lethargically complied, like cattle being led to slaughter.
All able-bodied immigrants were forcibly thrown into the residential construction work and land cultivation tasks.
While they worked soullessly, their expressions changed once they began moving into the ‘apartment buildings.’
“Is this real? They’re giving us real houses, not tents? I thought it was a lie!”
“I thought “apartment building” meant we’d all be living in a barrack together… This is amazing!”
“Getting my own house… was this easy?”
Most of the immigrants had been forcibly driven out of slums.
The houses they used to live in were nothing more than dilapidated ruins, rickety tents that barely shielded them from the rain, or makeshift structures thrown together with uneven planks.
Born with nothing and having learned nothing, they lived with sorrow and hardship thinking that was just how it was.
But this place was different. Working hard brought them grand rewards.
Though they were told it was a shared housing arrangement, it was far bigger and cleaner than a shabby hut, and each family had clearly defined living areas.
For those who had lived like beggars, it was an extraordinary gift.
“At first, I hated it so much, but if I hadn’t come, I would have regretted it for life!”
“The lord is really generous! I’m so glad I came! Even a loyalty I didn’t have is naturally arising!”
“Even though I was driven out, how can I say I’m glad to have come? Still, getting banished turned out to be a stroke of luck.”
For those who had been treated like less than human, the Territory of Penris was a land where they could grasp a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The impoverished who didn’t want to return to their previous lives wholeheartedly cooperated in the construction.
Thanks to this, the construction was progressing at a speed incomparable to before.
Watching everyone enjoy their work, Ghislaine wore a satisfied smile.
“Look at how everyone is moving together for the territory. With such morale and enthusiasm, there’s nothing we can’t achieve!”
Claude could only agree with that statement.
“That’s a relief. If their morale is this high, other constructions will finish even faster.”
“That’s a good thing. We need to work even harder to prepare for the upcoming war.”
At the mention of war, Claude’s expression darkened slightly.
