Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 48 - 17 It’s Raining

48: Chapter 17: It’s Raining

48 -17: It’s Raining

Building a road was a major project.

In Roman’s view, the complexity and difficulty of this task were no less than that of spring plowing.

He would lead people along the route he had planned for preliminary leveling.

Roman liked efficient methods.

So, the route he planned was very straight, a direct line, convenient for transporting personnel and the rock salt being mined.

This also meant that they had to cut down trees along the way, move rocks, fill swamps, clean up all the shrubs and weeds, and even cross hills and streams—along the route there was only one hillock and a few small rivers about three or four meters wide, not hard rocky mountains and large rivers.

This road, 40 kilometers long, had to be at least four meters wide.

Since all the vegetation on either side of the road needed to be cleared, the actual width was about ten meters, making the road’s field of vision as broad as possible.

For this purpose, Roman had gathered many plow oxen, draft horses, and vehicles, using the strength of these large animals to solve some problems that were difficult for humans to handle.

He even used inappropriate iron agricultural tools for the task, completely disregarding their wear and tear.

When the farmers of Sige Town learned the purpose of the road, they accepted this heavy physical labor without any objections.

Even the most short-sighted knew what a salt mine meant.

It meant that from now on, they would have salt to eat, to use for pickling.

Roman himself could not engage in low-quality physical labor like those sweating farmers.

He was going to dig in quarries.

This land had many quarries, but they were considered worthless as nobody was interested in them.

Because mining quarries was very labor-intensive, and the place where Moor lived consisted only of wooden houses.

Unless it was a noble who wanted to build a castle.

Roman was not prepared to undertake massive construction projects, wasting manpower.

Though Origin Manor was simple, it was still adequate; it was better to use all resources for the road construction.

He knew that to build a solid and durable road, he could not do without soil, stone, and sand.

As the saying goes, where there’s a path trodden by many, there’s a road, but such roads were often not easy to travel.

Dust would rise as people ran over it, it would become muddy when it rained, with messy ruts that greatly reduced transport capacity—wheels would even get stuck in the mud, causing high wear and tear.

This was something Roman could not tolerate.

Even just laying a layer of crushed stone was much better than a pure dirt road.

And Roman hoped to burn limestone.

Humans had been using lime as a building material for many years.

Burned lime, mixed with sand, loam, and straw could be used in road construction.

It was not a long-lasting material, but it would certainly meet Roman’s basic needs for the road.

That kind of flat, hard road was much better than a bumpy dirt road.

Roman turned the hundred or so farmers he brought into quarry workers.

Their job had only two tasks: to keep mining limestone and to keep burning it.

The unstable temperature of the wood flame didn’t matter—it could be burnt for a few more days to produce the powdered lime, which couldn’t be burnt incorrectly.

…

[Architecture Experience +1]

[Architecture Experience +1]

While Roman was working vigorously, his [Architecture] skill’s Experience Points were also continuously increasing.

After seven days, Roman’s [Architecture] skill had risen to level 2.

The upgrade of this skill brought Roman some basic architectural knowledge.

Such as cement, brick firing, building houses, etc.

However, these had no direct relation to his road construction.

Roman wasn’t planning to build roads that would last for decades or centuries.

His requirements were simple; as long as it functioned for a year or two, that would suffice, and if any breakages or damages occurred, he would send people to repair them.

Road construction was originally a temporary solution.

He was severely short of funds now, otherwise, he wouldn’t be so eager to mine the salt mine.

Currently, a quarter of the road leveling work had been completed, and everyone was working extremely hard, nearly exerting all their efforts; no one was dragging their feet.

“That’s salt!”

Hundreds of people were continuously digging up soil and filling holes in swamp areas, striving to solidify a walkable road.

Oxen and horses pulled carts loaded with soil, shuttling back and forth.

To celebrate the improvement of skills, Roman had Seth buy four pigs from the farmers in Sige Town.

Because he had run out of game from the mountains and now could only buy domestic livestock.

These pigs, weighing over a hundred pounds each, were not expensive.

The price ranged from one silver coin to 1.5 silver coins, much lower than oxen and horses, only slightly more expensive than wheat.

Roman slaughtered the pigs on-site, set up a large pot, separated the meat from the bones with a carving knife, and started to cook the meat, tossing in salt as if it were free.

Pork was more delicious than most game, although it was gamey because it wasn’t castrated.

But in that era, it was already a rare delicacy.

At least Gwivelle was enjoying it to the fullest, which made Roman think that her taste buds were ruined from enduring hardship like other commoners.

On the other hand, Gwivelle could distinguish the good from the bad in food.

So, Roman could only attribute it to her past experiences, which had significantly lowered her standards for taste.

[Cooking Experience +1]

Roman stewed two pigs on the construction site and one pig each at the quarry and the salt mine as a reward.

This meal rich in oil, salt, and meat greatly replenished their physical depletion over time, slightly increasing their work efficiency thereafter.

Roman didn’t particularly care about the cost of food; he knew there was a gold mine waiting for him in the future.

The same old saying, a heavy load and a long road.

Of course, Roman didn’t always buy meat.

As they ventured deeper into the primitive regions, encounters with wild animals became more frequent, forcing him to carry the Crack Armor Great Bow.

The wild animals he shot were generously chopped into pieces and thrown into the stew pot.

Therefore, these fools would see unknown chunks of meat in their wooden bowls every few days.

It might be lynx, possibly beaver, perhaps deer, or even hedgehog, waterfowl, or wild ducks; the kinds were varied.

[Hunting Experience +1]

Such notifications frequently appeared.

…

[Cooking Experience +1]

[Cooking Skill Level 2]

[Level 2 Cooking: 0380]

[Milestone Unlock: Chopping Vegetables]

[Chopping Vegetables: Receive 500 original stones]

…

Two days passed like this.

The experience points for [Hunting] steadily increased, but the first skill to reach level 2 was [Cooking].

The smoothing work along the way had reached halfway.

Because of the extended supply lines and travel time, the difficulty of road smoothing also increased.

It was also this morning.

Roman’s biological clock automatically woke him around five o’clock.

But there was no predawn light in the sky, still dark and heavy.

The perceived temperature was also lower than in past mornings.

Roman stepped out of his door, and a continuous light rain fell from the sky, hitting his face with the slanting wind.

He looked at the gloomy clouds and sighed.

This drizzle seemed to be paving the way for a subsequent heavy rain.

[Breathing Story] had the feature to predict the weather for tomorrow.

Roman already knew it would rain today from yesterday and had made appropriate arrangements.

But rain was still forecast for tomorrow, which darkened his mood.

It seemed that road construction could not be carried out for the next two days.