Pioneer Wizard's Notebook

A brand new day.

The sun rises from the east, casting its warm glow upon this icy land.

The residents of Spring Flower Town struggled to get out of bed, wrapped themselves tightly in cotton-padded clothes, and reluctantly left the stove to step into the swirling snow outside.

They strode toward the manor, leaving a trail of footprints in the snow.

As the crowd dispersed, the heavy snow swept past, seemingly blowing away even the footprints, leaving no trace.

Sunflower Manor became lively once again as residents flocked in.

The army's training and the residents' production were in full swing.

Standing on the top floor of the manor, Linde had a clear view of the residents hurrying to their destination below.

"Sunflower Manor and Spring Flower Town are only half a kilometer apart. This might not be a big deal in the past, but in the winter when it snows heavily, it is quite an ordeal for residents to travel there."

Moreover, the town lacked protective measures.

If the patrolling soldiers and their dogs failed to detect the problem in time.

It is easy for enemies such as Iceborne Demons to infiltrate and cause heavy casualties.

It's time to put a large-scale renovation plan for the property on the agenda.

Linde looked down at the manor and an idea formed in his mind.

According to his plan, the original location of Spring Flower Town was unsuitable and had to be temporarily abandoned.

He needed to build a wider wall outside the manor, and then construct a living area inside, arranging the houses in an orderly fashion.

This was not only to provide residents with the protection of the city walls.

It is also a design that facilitates underground pipelines.

Heating pipes, sewage pipes, etc., all need to be laid out in advance so that they can be completed in one go when the living area is built.

In the current town of Spring Blossoms, unless he demolishes and rebuilds the entire town, it is impossible to lay pipes.

Moreover, the houses are messy and disorderly, so laying out the flooring would be a waste of money.

The plan is great, but it's destined to be a huge undertaking.

"Due to the threat from the Ice Demons, safety is the top priority. Before building living areas and underground pipelines, I need to build new city walls first."

Linde looked down the slope to the east of the manor, where there was a rocky beach piled with stones.

There are no coal or metal mines near Sunflower Manor, and it is not close to the Mecca River or the Ice Fog Forest.

The first patriarch of the Senwright family built the manor here because there was a rocky beach nearby.

It can serve as a natural quarry, providing stone building materials.

Over generations of barons quarried the area, large amounts of abandoned sandstone blocks accumulated on the rocky beach.

They were all left there because their irregular shapes made them difficult to stack.

Upon seeing this, Linde smiled.

Regarding the city walls, the manor no longer needs to worry about quarrying stone; he has ways to use these irregular sandstone blocks.

"Come to my side, it's time to get to work."

Lind called out Ash Stove Rat from the fireplace.

With a reluctant expression, it washed its filthy body, covered in charcoal ash, clean.

Its fur turned a beautiful crimson red again, and the Ash Stove Rat shook its body to dry its fur.

She then ran up his thigh to Lind's shoulder and nestled her body into his warm chest.

Only a small head peeked out from the collar, curiously looking around.

Linde picked up the superior sunflower from the table, left the room, and went to a newly dug kiln.

"My lord, it has been completed as you requested."

Hibbert saluted and spoke, with five soldiers holding hammers beside him.

Under Linde's instructions, the large chunks of limestone sent from the rocky beach were smashed and crushed, then ground a second time and mixed with clay before being poured into the kiln.

"Go."

Linde patted the gray furnace rat's head.

The latter understood immediately, grabbed the superior sunflower he offered, and darted into the kiln.

Crimson flames rose from within.

The soldier quickly sealed the entrance, and upon feeling the hot flow emanating from inside, he gasped in surprise.

What is happening now is undoubtedly the manufacture of cement.

The method is actually very simple: crush limestone and clay and calcine them. If possible, add some iron slag to make the clinker even better.

The raw materials are readily available; the problem lies in the high-temperature calcination.

Especially in the extremely cold environment of the northern ice plains, even if coal is used, the temperature of ordinary kilns is at most 800 degrees Celsius, which is far from the calcination temperature of cement.

Linde was unable to solve the temperature problem and had to put it on hold for the time being.

With the help of the Ash Stove Rat, cement production has been made possible, and the manor renovation plan has officially begun.

Calcination of clinker, grinding of cement, excavation of the foundation for the new city wall.

With the help of the Mane Horse to transport sandstone blocks from the nearby rocky beach, and with the aid of the Sun Wind of the Ash Furnace Rat, cement is poured onto the sandstone blocks to build a brand new sandstone city wall.

After the workers became familiar with the process, the construction work proceeded in an orderly manner.

Lind opened the diagram of the city walls drawn by Hippel.

The sandstone city wall in the drawings is eight meters high and three meters wide.

The estate will consist of a production area and a residential area, covering a total area of ​​15 mu (approximately 1 hectare), with a city wall that is 400 meters long.

The territory currently houses over two hundred people. The size is slightly cramped, but it is sufficient to meet the needs of daily life and work.

The cramped space means that the city walls are more secure and the district heating is more comfortable.

It can be considered a compromise in cold environments.

I imagine the residents won't mind.

After all, when Linde held a residents' meeting and announced the news, most of them cheered and celebrated, and their enthusiasm for work was at its peak.

Not only residents, but also soldiers' training was temporarily suspended, and they joined in as laborers.

With the entire population involved in the construction, the city wall is expected to be completed in one and a half months.

Thanks to the help of the learned old man, Hilbert.

After making the overall decision, Linde no longer needed to waste energy directing the construction, and was able to free up his hands to do other things.

During this time, he evolved two more Ash Squirrels, which then joined the construction effort.

The evolution of the Ash Furnace Rat requires at least thirty High-Level Sunflowers.

After continuous consumption, only twenty Magic Fields remain, as an emergency measure.

Linde had no choice but to stop for the time being and wait for the next round of higher sunflowers to mature.

He turned his attention to the two acres of experimental fields planted with rye and other grain crops, and began to conduct experiments on trait mutation.

Magic is etched into it, and the rye seedlings sway.

With the blessing of the earth's spirit, Linde accelerated the ripening of the wheat seedling.

Unfortunately, the result was not satisfactory.

Instead of evolving, rye degenerated into foxtail grass, with its ears of wheat turning into grass seeds.

Another failure. Lind frowned and shook his head as he recorded data in his wizard's journal.

"No, without sufficient evolutionary data to support it, mutation is purely a matter of luck. If you're unlucky, you might not succeed even after tens of thousands of attempts."

He decided to stop this foolish and time-wasting attempt and turn his attention to the distant Ice Mist Forest.

"The knights' squires have learned to ride horses and shoot arrows. William and Wayne are now idle, so it's time for them to go and take a look in the forest."

The Winter Wolf King's flesh and blood have been consumed, and the seven knight squires are only one step away from becoming knights.

Exploring the forest and engaging in combat with ferocious beasts and ice monsters will become their aid, helping them take that first step.