Setting up a school turned out to be not as straight forward as I had imagined. The older children were performing crucial tasks they couldn't be taken away from, which limited the time they could spend in school. To start, I sent them on an expedition to get some slates, which doubled as a talent-scouting program for the Hunters. We made some wax tablets as well, but our supply of wax was limited, so those were reserved for the administrators.
Once we had enough slates and chalk, we began teaching the children numbers and the written language. Aprilia, already literate, took over the role of teacher, along with three elderly men who couldn't handle physical work anymore.
Some older boys tried to get cheeky with her, which I was glad about, as it gave me an excuse to punish them with an hour of work on my special project. One boy, however, volunteered for it.
"You want to do punishment work?" I asked him, more than a little confused.
He nodded.
"Why?"
"You're not just digging a random ditch, are you, my lord?" he asked confidently.
"No, but who told you that?"
The boy didn't so much as flinch at the exaggerated suspicion in my eyes. Impressive.
"You told the boys you sent earlier that it was special. I want to know what it does. You've been making new things near Powerfall and I went to see what was happening there, but the guards shooed me away."
I looked at the curious fourteen year old boy.
"What is your name, young man?"
"Cyrus, my lord."
"Well Cyrus, that ditch is indeed special. Its going to be a biogas plant, that will produce a flammable gas."
"Flam...mable?"
"It burns," I explained. "Like wood. Only better."
"How?"
I couldn't help but smile at his inquisitiveness. If I was ever going to introduce vaccines and antibiotics to this world, I needed an army of smart and inquisitive people like him.
"Go dig that ditch, Cyrus, and I will explain it all to you in detail later."
"My lord," he said, bowing before running off.
I apprenticed some of the older children to the paper makers, as we were going to need a steady supply for textbooks and for general administration.
We drew up plans for the city that Cradle would one day become, and began laying foundations for houses, as the people wouldn't fare well in their tents during the winter. I also didn't want everyone crowding behind the palisade, as it could lead to an outbreak of disease.
"Those are very big houses you are planning, Sire." Ericsson said, as we examined the plans.
"They are, Lord Steward. They are called Insulae. Each of them will house eight families."
"Eight?" he repeated, incredulous.
"Yes. We save a lot of materials with this design, as many of the walls that would have been needed for individual houses are eliminated. Also, with fewer walls facing the elements, the buildings will lose heat at much lower pace."
"Clever."
"There's more," I continued. "These will be two-story buildings. Once we are on the path of prosperity, the ground floor will be turned into shops and businesses, while the families live upstairs."
"Ah, so that's why you've left so much space for the road. It's enough for two carts riding side by side and plenty of paths for pedestrians."
"Yup. Better to plan properly now than to tear down buildings in the future."
"That's good. What about all these channels that are being dug?"
"Sewerage lines. To take the poo from loo to the... biogas plant. Sorry, couldn't find anything that rhymes."
"You really plan on putting in latrines inside the houses?"
"Elder, I understand your skepticism, but you haven't seen a P-trap at work. It will block odors from getting back into the house. Please trust me."
"I do, Sire."
Even my most loyal supporters were skeptical about the biogas plant, but it was going to be essential to our success. It would be the source of methane and saltpeter.
I had a rudimentary toilet built within the palisade for my own use. No way was I going to shit in the open any longer than I had to, even though everyone else thought it was disgusting. They would change their tune once I made a proper toilet. I would rather be tortured than die while doing my business in the woods.
---
"Wash, wash, wash your hands!"
The children were singing songs about hygiene under a teacher's guidance, while Aprilia was watching from afar, when I surprised her from behind.
"Whoa!" she yelped, spinning, and playfully shoved me away.
"So, how are the children doing, Miss Teacher?" I asked her.
"They're doing just fine. What are you working on, boss?"
"I helped plan the layout for the grand city of Cradle," I said proudly. "We've planned it to hold a population of fifteen thousand."
"Fifteen thousand? Where will that many people come from?"
"Ah, looks like I need to give my secretary another lesson about the birds and the bees," I teased. "Such a forgetful employee."
She gave me a flat look. "Be serious."
"I am serious. With what I know, I can decrease the infant mortality rate a fair bit, which will lead to more children surviving their first five years of life. You will see the population at least double within a generation."
Improved sanitation practices and proper nutrition would help quite a bit, but the biggest factor were vaccines, which were beyond me.
Noticing my expression, Aprilia asked in an exasperated tone, "Are you again moping about what you cannot do?"
"Yes." I admitted.
"Forget about that," she said, her voice turning sultry, "Come teach your secretary about the birds and the bees again." She grabbed my hand and pulled me towards one of the buildings.
---
Tired of working hard for so long, I decided to take a vacation with Aprilia. I also had Cyrus tag along. The boy had shown himself to be very bright and a quick learner, so I began grooming him for the position of my future Head Scientist.
We began with a tour of our burgeoning industrial district.
As we approached it, the roar of crashing water intermingled with the hiss of bellowing furnaces and the clang of falling hammers.
"Welcome to the future," I said bowing, with a proper, exaggerated flourish.
My girlfriend and guards sniggered. Assholes. Hopefully one day I will meet someone who appreciates my flair. Cyrus at least had the decency to not laugh.
"What is that loud noise?" Aprilia asked. "Is that a hammer?"
We approached the Bearfall site, where Kovar's apprentices were using a waterwheel powered trip hammer to shape steel ingots into crossbow prods. Not too far away, a sawmill, also powered by a waterwheel, was being used to cut a tree trunk into planks.
"Behold!" I announced. "The power of nature harvested in the service of mankind. Each of those machines is doing the work of ten men, without ever tiring."
"It's amazing! But do we really need all these contraptions?" Aprilia asked.
"Oh yes. We have an entire city to build and an army to arm, and I want it done within one year. Three thousand people are going to need eighty insluae and an army of at least three hundred soldiers to protect them. Building that many houses and three hundred sets of arms and armor will require a lot of manpower. That's why we are building another sawmill." I pointed to the construction site.
"So that's why we are building those Insulae!" Lothar exclaimed in comprehension. "Otherwise we would have needed to build, what... six hundred houses?"
"Yes, we can't build a building for every family before winter arrives. Also our 'castle' currently is just a wooden palisade. It wouldn't survive a determined assault by an organized military. I have fifty people dedicated to just quarrying the limestone and carrying it back to build the second set of walls. Once that is finished, then we will have a proper castle."
"You've taken a lot of responsibilities, Jack," Aprilia said, her voice soft with sympathy.
"Such is the burden of great leaders!" I said in admiration of myself.
"You are indeed a good leader," she said with a smile. "So, where to, next?"
"Let me show you the new tank we're building."
"Not the biogas one, I hope?" She said, with a hint of warning in her voice.
"Nay, my lady. It's the opposite one. It will clean the water that will be piped into our houses."
I showed her the tanks under construction. "When it is finished, this tank will be filled with layers of gravel, sand, charcoal, sand, gravel and cloth. River water will go into the settling tank first, then into this one, and water that is almost clean enough to drink will come out at the other end."
"Almost?" She asked. "It sounds like clean water to me."
"Not quite. Some tiny nasties still lurk around in that clean looking water. It's fine for everything else aside from drinking. To make it clean enough to drink, it would have to be boiled."
"What nasties?"
"I'll show you when I have built a microscope."
"Are these the same kind of creatures that turn waste into gas and fertilizer, my lord?" Cyrus asked.
"Yes. Those ones."
Aprilia made a face. "We have been drinking this water forever!"
"Us adults' bodies can fight off those creatures most of the time," I explained. "Children's' bodies? Not so much."
Her eyes went wide in comprehension. "That's how you plan on increasing on our numbers!" Then she frown. "But boiling water for thousands of people will eat up a lot of wood."
"Not necessarily," I said. "The biogas plant is almost done and will become functional in a few months. I told you before that the gas it produces, methane, is an excellent fuel."
She narrowed her eyes at me. "You think people will drink water boiled with shit gas?"
I let out a sigh. We don't wanna shit inside. We don't wanna use the gas made from it. How do I reach these keeds?
"The gas burns up as fuel, baby." I said, patiently "There's nothing left behind to mix with the water. I will demonstrate it myself."
"If you say so," she muttered, still skeptical.
We had a picnic on our way to the beach. The fresh air and warm sunlight made for a very relaxing environment to doze off in. After a nap, I took Aprilia to the apiary we were building.
"What are those boxes?" she asked curiously.
"Modular beehives."
"Beehives? But they are boxes."
"It's a very effective design." I said, calling over the beekeeper. He slid out a frame, showing her the honeycomb inside.
"Mr. Sorn here can check on the bees' health anytime and harvest honey without destroying their home."
"Clever!" she said, impressed. "Shouldn't you be showing all this to the Elders."
"Already did. They were so impressed that even Elder Hyde will not be complaining again."
"I seriously doubt that." She muttered.
Our last stop was the sea. We had set up a salt harvesting operation, which had just begun yielding some salt and would be necessary to cure meat for the winter and some much needed flavor in our food.
We walked the beach, the see breeze on our faces, hand in hand. Our future looked good.
What could possibly go wrong?