Chapter 663: The Spectacle
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
"In addition, I intend to build a landmark in the city of Neverwinter," Roland continued to say.
"Landmark?" Karl quickly composed himself after the excitement. "Do you mean an eye-catching architecture such as a monument or a clock tower?"
"You could also call it a spectacle." Karl was without a doubt a top figure in the Mason Guild of the king's city, judging by his quick response to such a new terminology. Roland nodded at first, then shook his head and said, "But I'm not going to build any useless landmark."
After the battle with the church, the First Army suffered serious losses. Although Iron Ax reported that the army's morale was still high, the casualties caused huge grief to the families.
In order to strengthen the confidence of the subjects, especially those who came from out-of-town, he came up with this amazing idea of the spectacle. Some spectacles in history were built entirely to satisfy the lust of the rulers without having any benefit to the builders. Even if this could highlight the power of the state, Roland would not build such a white elephant.
"I plan to build a residential building on the south bank of Redwater River, behind the industrial park."
Karl did not reply as he must have realized that this was no ordinary building.
Roland was very satisfied with Karl's calmness. "It'll have about 15 floors, with a height of three and a half meters per floor and an overall building height of more than 50 meters. In other words, it's close to the height of the four old city walls of the king's city—was that the biggest project you've ever been involved in?"
Karl gasped. "Your Majesty, this would be the Tower of Babel!"
"I wouldn't consider it the Tower of Babel. It's just an ordinary high-rise building." Roland said laughingly, "It just happens to be suitable as a landmark in this era."
The 15-floor height meant that it would tower over the castle. It would be visible as soon as one entered the city of Neverwinter. It would not only symbolize the power of Neverwinter but also make up for the shortage of housing now. After all, high-rise residential buildings had a higher plot ratio than cottages. This explained why more and more skyscrapers were built in the future.
"Could residential buildings really be built so high?" Karl seemed a bit skeptical.
"This is still far from the limitations of concrete." Roland thought for a moment and said, "I'll personally guide you through it."
Although a change of profession often meant a different field of knowledge, mechanics and structural principles were still interchangeable. Before coming up with this idea, he already considered many factors: the height might seem alarming, but in fact, it was not. For example, the Pyramid of Khufu which was constructed in 2,000 BC possessed a height of over 140 meters and relied only on the pilling up of stones. China also had wooden pagodas with a height of more than 130 meters—as long as the foundation was sturdy enough, the height would not be an issue.
Provided stability would not be affected, future generations minimized the volume of the pillars and walls to reduce the cost of materials. Neverwinter already had a surplus of cement production, hence using it to build a concrete building was a good choice.
It would also be advisable to use a multi-podium and towering building design for the structure. Although that would mean occupying more land, it would also greatly enhance the structural stability and reduce the difficulty of construction.
More columns could be added if stability was an issue. Reinforced steel bars could also help with its quality. As long as the foundation was solid, it would be almost uncollapsible.
The last issue was the casting of the concrete—Roland had already considered it and decided that Maggie and Hummingbird would rise into the sky, while Hummingbird would carry iron cans and pour concrete from the air. This would almost be as efficient as using the pump.
Karl already had experience from building the Witch Building which had the same concrete structure, and this time it was just on a slightly larger scale. The bamboo tendons and the steel wires would also be replaced by reinforced steel. He was highly confident about this project since he also had the Witch Union as technical support.
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"Time's up. Everyone, please put your pens down." Scroll knocked on the table.
"Phew..." Evelyn let out a deep breath. This meant that the second semester at Border Town... no, the city of Neverwinter, had finally ended. She ultimately managed to catch up with everyone else this year and participate in the final exam.
She kept her charcoal pen and looked around—Anna was still nowhere to be found. According to Wendy, Anna had already reached a mysterious realm. Ordinary people who read her books would only feel dizzy and fall into a deep sleep as if they had depleted all their magic powers.
Candle was also looking at her. When their eyes met, Candle even gave a thumbs up, to signify that she did well at the exam.
Nightingale, who was sitting at the back, still looked dejected. Since the reading and writing tests were scrapped, her scores fell drastically, which made Evelyn quite puzzled. As far as she knew, Nightingale came from a noble background and received her education much earlier than other people. She should have an easier time when it came to learning. Perhaps Nightingale's ability was too important, hence she was kept busy all day handling tasks for His Majesty, and this, in turn, affected her studies.
After all, Nightingale even fought alongside Lady Ashes as a combat witch. In Sleeping Island, she would be someone that Evelyn could only admire from a distance.
The others seemed both happy and sad. For example, Agatha, Lucia and Lily from the first tier always obtained high marks easily. Learning seemed to come naturally to them. Especially, Miss Agatha was already getting closer to Anna and Tilly. She was also a combat witch, thus making Evelyn extremely envious.
For the remaining few, one could guess from the expression on their faces that Honey, Hummingbird and Echo would come last if there were no mishaps.
Of course, this did not include the new members of the alliance, Paper and Summer—they were still not up to speed, and at the moment they were taught by Teacher Scroll alone.
But Evelyn was most excited about Maggie—looking at the guileless little girl, she could not help but want to laugh out aloud.
There are no multiple choice questions in the test!
Since the previous final exam results, Evelyn remained heartbroken. She thought she was already very close to her goal and did not expect to lose by one point to Maggie.
She even looked for Scroll to check if the results were wrong. In the end, she discovered that Maggie did very well for the multiple choice questions, which proved she failed miserably.
In the coming year, Evelyn spent most of her time on learning.
She was able to display her ability quite quickly. She only needed to go the winery two or three times per week, and it took her less than 10 minutes before she could cast all her magic power. Even when the bar was open later on, it still did not affect her performance.
She never once had a match with the poker trio. When she had spare time while working at the bar, she would always flip open her exercise book to consolidate what she had learned that night. She did not let even her favorite perfume collection affect her learning. Evelyn would go shopping with Candle at Convenience Market only when the new flavor of perfume started selling on the shelves. She did all this in order to achieve the goal she set for herself.
And this time, she was confident about winning!