Swiss Arms 142 (Patreon)

Swiss Arms

Chapter 142

-VB-

Hans von Fluelaberg

[Construction] as a skill proved useful time and time again because it reduced material cost.

[Engineering] was also useful because it too decreased material cost while improving tool output. 

Neither of them helped me with building stone walls, mostly because I and my workers had to do the work in full view of other people and I wasn’t exactly willing to show off my supernatural powers. 

Well, more supernatural powers. 

I grunted as I lifted a rock that was as big as my chest and hefted it up to my shoulder. Then I walked up the sturdy log stairs and then gently lowered the rock down slowly. 

Neither [Construction] or [Engineering] helped me with designing a good agricultural terrace, so I was having to rely on good old trial and error when it came to the designs. Still, I knew enough about building from the previous construction I’ve done all around the Compact, specifically for my castle and then the roads that connected Fluelaberg and Davos to Chur. 

Speaking of which, Count John petitioned me to build a road between his main castle within the County of Toggenburg to Chur so that he would have an easier time traveling back and forth. See, the Old Roman roads existed between Rheineck, Bregenz, Feldkirch, Maienfeld, and Chur, which made north to south travel easy. There was also a branch of that road that extended westward from Maienfeld, around the southern coast of Walenseem and then over the northern coast of Obersee and Zurichsee, and finally to Zurich and Oberwinterthur. This, however, left the majority of Toggenburg outside of the Old Roman road network. 

The current center of the County of Toggenburg was the repaired and refurbished Neu-Toggenburg and the town of Lichtensteig. Again, these two places, despite being the center of the entire county, was isolated from the Old Roman network and thus a large part of the local trade. 

So what he wanted was to pay me and build a road connecting the Old Roman road to the Toggenburg Valley, connecting Uznach on the coast of Obersee to Wattwil in the Upper Toggenburg Valley. It was a five mile long stretch that would go through narrow valleys and forests. It was doable, especially if it meant I would have a better connected Compact. 

But that was for later. Right now, I need to get this construction right.

I grunted on purpose to make it look like I was also having a hard time like the rest of the workers, so that even the impressive show of strength looked feasible and not unnatural. 

Anyways, the way I designed these terraces were such that the stone walls would go up first, which would have wooden planks used as guidelines and supports during their construction. Here, [Construction] shined through, and I was able to use less stone and wood to make this work. Each stone seemed to fit just right. Each plank, even when it looked too slender, did its job without breaking or buckling. 

But only when I placed them.

That was fine, because I put in the same amount of work as ten people. In the time it took those ten people to grab a boulder and put it into a cart, push that cart over, use a system of pulleys and platforms to lift up the boulder from the cart, and then deposit it into a fitting location, I would have transferred over a dozen boulders. 

Anyway, where was I? 

Right. 

The terrace. 

The stone walls would be built first along the hill slopes. Once we complete the wall, we would build up the soil like how one would build up a filtration system but in reverse.

Big rocks at the bottom.

Small rocks on top of that. 

Gravel on top of the rocks.

Finer gravel or sand on top of the courser and larger gravels. 

Denser soil on top of the gravel. 

Looser, organic-rich soil on top of the denser soil. 

And finally, organic materials like mulch and fertilizer at the very top. 

Was it extra work? Yes.

Was it necessary? Also yes. 

I would have had to do this even if I used my Gamer to skip a lot of steps like wall construction. 

“All good things take time,” I hummed to myself as I picked up another boulder that was as big as I was. 

Look at the Old Roman roads. They were made well, so they lasted literally thousands of years, and they didn’t need to be heavily updated or repaired except in cases of deliberate destruction. 

If I wanted these terraces to last and not be a maintenance burden on the people, then I needed to make sure that it worked well, stood firm, and minimized problems the first time I made them, including this prototype. 

---

Because we had to go slow with the construction, it took the team and I almost a month to complete the first circular terrace. 

Eight levels. 

Three-hundred feet across at the highest ring. 

Sixty feet across at the lowest level. 

It was a good prototype, but it was one that I wasn’t going to be able to test right now.

Winter is coming.

-VB-

Isabella von Fluelaberg

Her husband’s recent obsession over agriculture, food storage, and food preservation became a problem lately. 

Why? 

Because he was so obsessed with trying to fix something that, while he claims was a problem, was not a problem as far as she could see it. Food was a big part of the regional trade, and they could import food from basically every direction. 

… Actually, no. Food import was not the real problem right now. 

The real problem was that he was missing out on his son’s first walk! 

“Come on, Louis! Come to mama!” she whispered as she felt tears prickling in her eyes. 

Her light brown haired baby struggled as he swayed on his two feet. He jerked back and forth… and then took his first step.

“Yes, come to mama!” 

Then he fell face forward. Thankfully, her husband made sure to pad their baby’s room, so he only landed on the softest padded wool floor. 

She hurried to pick him up and smiled. “Aren’t you the cutest baby? And who made this baby? I made this baby-!” 

Then she froze. 

Because Hans was standing right in the doorway. She forgot that ever since his little escapade into the town while “trying” to be sneaky, her husband had become actually sneaky and stealthy. Scarily so.

And he had this smile.

“Yes, our baby is the cutest baby.”

She blushed up a storm. 

“... Did you finish your work?” she asked him with a pout, feeling generously unlady-like right now. 

“I did. I won’t have to go back there until next year.”

“Good,” she huffed. “Louis took his first step by the way. You missed it.”

Hans froze just as he was about to take his shoes off at the entrance and then looked at her and Louis. 

“Really?” he asked quietly. 

“Really,” she nodded and smiled. 

“I want to see, too…!” 

“I know you do,” she smirked. “But only I got to see it. Maybe if my husband wasn’t so focused on work this winter he might see our baby take his second step?” 

The resolute look on his face told her that he would definitely be working a little less this winter.