Chapter Thirty
"How is this even possible!?"
"Didn't I make it right in front of you while you were busy pressing the bricks?"
"Yes... But... I... How is this snow holding up the entire structure?" Kaelen circled the dome with his mouth hanging open, looking like he expected the whole thing to crumble down any second.
"How do brick houses hold their structure?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back against the cold, solid wall.
"We put a mixture of adhesive, Your Grace. But that stuff is expensive, so only Nobles can afford to build that way. But there is no adhesive here! It is just stuck together somehow!?"
"Look at the mold carefully. What is the shape of a normal brick?"
"A cuboid?"
"And what shape is this?" I pointed to the vessel Mrs. Hans had brought with Lady Elena.
"A broken cuboid?"
"It is a trapezoid, Kaelen," I said, pointing to the slightly slanted, sloping edges of the mold.
"A trap-a-what?"
"A trapezoid. The blocks aren't perfect rectangles. They are slightly wider at the top and narrower at the bottom with a subtle inward tilt. Think of it like a puzzle where every piece is pushing against the other."
I tapped the wall of the dome.
Thump. Thump.
It sounded solid and resonant, like a well-tuned drum.
"In a brick house, nobles use mortar to glue things together, which is probably expensive, right?"
"Yes. It is very expensive."
"But here, we use gravity."
"What is gravity, Master?"
"Have you wondered how you are standing on the ground and not floating away into the sky?"
"No? Is there a need to?"
"Well, that is the answer to your question. You are fixed to the ground because of a force pulling you towards the land. Just like how you breathe in air, it is just there, constant and invisible."
"That is called grava—"
"Gravity."
"Gravity."
"Yes. Because every block is leaning inward, they are all trying to fall toward the center at the same time. But since they are all jammed together in a tight circle, they have nowhere to go. They lock each other in place."
"So... they are fighting each other to stay up?" Kaelen asked, poking a block tentatively with one finger.
What a smart, useful brat. I must not lose him. He is going to do all the heavy manual work for me from now on. Keke.
"Exactly. Initially the warmth from my hand melted the surface of brick and as I placed it. Then, the cold air turned that little melted surface into ice giving it the initial strength to hold the structure while constructing the ice house."
"But, that little ice can't hold a structure like this?"
"It doesn't need to. That's the speciality of this shape."
"Now, look at the gaps." I pointed to the seams where the snow blocks met. "The wind is already blowing loose snow into the cracks. When someone goes inside and lights a small fire, the heat will melt the inner surface just enough to create a thin film of ice. That ice acts as a natural weld. By tomorrow, this thing will be so strong you could probably stand on top of it without it cracking."
"Stand on it!?" Kaelen's eyes went wide. "Master, you are a genius. How do you know all this stuff?"
Ugh. Let's just lie. I'm really tired to link it to amnesia and think.
"I liked reading books late at night."
"Oh. I see." Kaelen's face dropped at my statement, making my shoulders go stiff.
"You sound disappointed?"
[Ping!]
[Could it be he caught Host's lie?]
That's not possible. What someone does late in night is impossible to know. Unless, you're stalking them.
Kaelen seemed irritated of Veryon. There's no way he'd care what Veryon would do at night.
[Ping!]
[Makes sense. Host should still be careful.]
I got it.
"It's nothing. You should just ask me for payment next time to answer my questions, Master."
Why is he bringing payment up, right now? Did he actually caught up on the lie?
[Ping!]
[Kaelen's Likability: 46]
[10 Gacha Points Awarded!]
Yeah, he didn't catch anything. He's just being his usual, weird self.
"It is fine, Kaelen. Go bring everyone out. Let's see if I have won the deal or not. I will bring some twigs to start a small fire inside to show them the real miracle than the First Duke's Big Ass stone."
"Understood, Master!"
As Kaelen jogged toward the greenhouse, I looked back at the white dome.
Whirrr.
If I can prove the North can be built with the very things that were killing it, I can turn this starving gutter into a kingdom and just take over the Empire, huh.
[Ping!]
[Host needs to first lay the founding bricks instead of just dreaming of conquering everything.]
I know that. Thank you.
[Ping!]
[Don't. It's uncomfortable.]
What? I was just thanking.
[Ping!]
[Host feels like the reincarnation of some demon.]
Yeah. Yeah.
---
"Your Grace, it feels so good." Elena gasped, her voice muffled by the thick, insulating walls.
Is she moaning or something? That sounds so wrong.
[Ping!]
[Host has a lot to say for a virgin.]
You're irking me again. Stop it.
"It feels warm, Your Grace." Vizen fed the little fire as he warmed his hands over the flickering orange light. "But the space is too small. It is more like a tent."
"I did not make it big on purpose as I just wanted to give you all a trial of the ice house. The better decision is obviously to build wooden houses, but the citizens are too weak to cut trees right now. And I do not have a lot of money to order wood from the capital."
[Ping!]
[Host is a liar!]
Shhh... I have my reasons.
[Ping!]
[Host does not want to part with his gold?]
That is partly true.
[Ping!]
[Host is a greedy, selfish money-obssessed rat that only wants to hoard gold.]
Ouch... that hurt. Why are you being so quick to judge me? Listen to me first at least.
[Ping!]
[What is it?]
I'll tell you later.
[Ping!]
[Fuck you, Host!]
Hahaha!
"-our Grace! YOUR GRACE!" Kaelen's voice pulled me out of my thoughts as I stared at him with blank eyes.
"Yes?"
"What happened to you?" Kaelen asked, waving a hand in front of my face. "You were staring at that snow block like you were trying to set it on fire with your mind."
"Nothing. What were you saying?"
"How are we going to convince the people to make ice houses? They don't trust you at all, Master. To them, you're just the guy who usually drinks the fief's taxes away. If you tell them to live in a pile of snow, they'll think you're finally trying to finish them off."
I straightened my coat as my lips turned upwards. "Oh, don't worry. They will definitely agree. In fact, they'll be begging to make them."
"You're making that reliable, demonic expression again," Kaelen muttered, shaking his head.
"Kekeke."