"is this the legendary of cement"?
Vilu leaned in, pinching a small amount of gray powder with his fingers, then rubbing it, feeling the residual warmth.
"Marquis, is this thing really as miraculous as you say?"
"Of course."
With a confident smile, Owen had great faith in the technological power of Wenster's world.
To convince Vilu, he first had porters bring three large rough stones from the quarry, then instructed the laborers to mix a certain amount of cement with river sand in proportion to create cement mortar.
The cement mortar was gray overall and could flow like melted wax.
The rough stones were quickly brought over, and Owen led Vilu and Mapel outside the cement workshop.
Pointing to the three rough stones, he asked Vilu to try bonding them together with the prepared cement mortar.
This was the Marquis's command, and Vilu couldn't refuse, so he could only carry the cement mortar over.
He poured a layer of cement on the largest rough stone, placed another rough stone on top, then spread the remaining cement, and finally put the last rough stone on.
After he finished, Vilu still looked at Owen with suspicion.
"Marquis, I feel like this stuff is very similar to wet mud, and even if it dries, it will shatter with one knock."
"When it dries, you will definitely change your mind."
According to Wenster, cement needs about 8 hours to set.
Therefore, Owen had Vilu return to the Northern City Wall to continue supervising the repair work on the gaps.
He would come back at dusk to confirm the cement's effect.
For the rest of the time, Owen planned to continue firing cement, as his Qi was still very plentiful.
But before that, he had to find a way to improve the working environment; it was simply too hot during the firing process!
After some thought, Owen decided to return to the castle first to change his clothes; the magician's robe he was wearing was soaked and felt uncomfortably sticky.
Back at the castle, he changed into comfortable clothes and put on a sky-blue Frost Cloak.
This was a high-grade cloak with Frost Magic Stones sewn inside; although the quality of the Magic Stones wasn't great, it could effectively block out external heat, making it the favorite clothing for nobles and wealthy merchants to wear in the summer.
Of course, when Wenster saw the new Magic Stones, he immediately reserved them for his next transfer, and also hoped that more different Magic Stones would be sent over in the future for him to research.
Owen agreed. If the other party could research new uses for Magic Stones, it would also benefit this world.
The first batch of cement had all been ground by the stone crushers and stored in sacks. Owen didn't have to wait too long before the second batch of raw slurry was sent into the firing room.
With the experience of the first firing, Owen's subsequent firings went smoother each time, and he gradually mastered the knack of Qi output, making each consumption of Qi less than the previous one.
After continuously firing four batches of cement, Owen stopped when he felt that the remaining Qi was insufficient to support the next firing.
If the Qi consumption during the initial firings had been the same as the last one, then the remaining Qi should have been enough to fire another batch of cement.
In other words, Owen's current limit was to fire six batches of cement.
Under such backward technical conditions, to be able to produce so much cement, Wenster was deeply shocked. He couldn't help but exclaim: In this world, magic is the primary productive force!
Unconsciously, it was sunset. Owen walked out of the firing room, dusting off his clothes.
He wasn't sweating profusely from the heat; instead, he felt a slight coolness, which was very comfortable. It seemed that wearing the Frost Cloak was the right decision.
Taking off the cloth covering his mouth and nose, Owen said to a laborer nearby, "That's enough for today. After the furnace cools down, you can shovel out the last batch of clinker and store it."
"Yes, Marquis."
Mapel walked up from behind him, bowed with her hand over her chest, and said admiringly, "Lord Owen, you worked hard today."
"As long as it's for Border Garrison Town, nothing is hard work," Owen replied.
On the other side, Vilu also finished his work at the Northern City Wall and hurried to the cement workshop.
It was time to confirm the effect of the cement. Owen walked outside the workshop and saw that the cement was already in a solidified state, with an uneven surface and some areas showing white frost. The three rough stones looked as if they were tightly bonded together.
"Marquis, I'll test it for you."
Vilu, with a disdainful look, stepped forward and squatted down, trying to pry off the two rough stones on top, but found that no matter how much force he used, they wouldn't budge. Annoyed, he stood up and kicked them a few times, but the rough stones on top remained bonded, not moving at all.
Completely different from what he had expected, Vilu finally put away his disdainful expression.
Squatting down again, he pressed the cement part with his finger, then tried to pry at it with his fingernail, and finally borrowed an iron shovel from a laborer to forcefully strike the cement.
Looking at the small fragments he had painstakingly knocked off onto the ground, Vilu gave up.
After the test, he ran to Owen with a face full of shock, praising him with extreme excitement, "Marquis! You are truly great!!"
Huh? Owen was momentarily stunned. Why was the other party so overjoyed?
However, Owen quickly understood. He himself was very surprised the first time he heard about the properties of cement. Since he had already been surprised, he was naturally calm when he saw the effect of the cement now.
Moreover, as a stonemason, Vilu probably understood the power of cement better than Owen.
"cement is the ultimate Materials we stonemasons dream of. With it, buildings that used to take several years to complete can now be built in just a few months, or even less time."
Vilu explained enthusiastically to Owen, gesturing with his hands.
"Vilu, please mind your behavior," Mapel reminded him.
Realizing his rudeness, Vilu quickly apologized: "I'm truly sorry, Marquis, I got too excited and lost myself."
"No matter," Owen didn't mind.
"Marquis, the cement you invented is truly amazing. In the future, you will surely be praised by us stonemasons."
This wasn't Owen's credit, and he really felt uncomfortable accepting Vilu's praise so completely.
"Praises and such are too exaggerated. Besides, this isn't entirely my credit. I saw the cement formula in an ancient book."
Owen couldn't expose Wenster's existence, so he had to use a mysterious ancient book as an excuse.
"Ancient book?" Vilu stroked his chin, feeling a bit strange, "If it's content from an ancient book, it means people invented cement in the past, so why is no one able to make cement now?"
Owen secretly thought, 'Not good,' he had given an imprecise reason that contradicted reality.
His mind raced, and he explained: "That's because the formula in the ancient book had a major flaw. It was only after my improvements that I was able to create the cement you just saw."
"I see," Vilu suddenly understood, "Marquis, then your achievements are still worthy of our stonemasons' praise."
"You shameless fellow, you still took all the credit for the cement in the end." Wenster teased.
"Why not? I am indeed the first person to produce cement in this world."
Finally, Owen asked Vilu: "How about it? Now that we have cement, can the two gaps in the Northern City Wall be repaired before the winter arrives?"
This time, Vilu confidently patted his chest, his face full of assurance.
"As you wish, Marquis."