Ch.38City in Winter

Winter is a season of many constraints.

First, snow and cold make outdoor activities difficult for people, and crops cannot grow, making harvests impossible.

As a result, the total amount of food available in markets decreases, and due to the harsh environment, finding fuel becomes difficult, making it literally a cold and hungry season for the poor. That was winter.

However, it’s also the season when it’s easiest to mobilize the labor of farmers, who normally require the most hands for agricultural work.

In the Polystory community, they even held in-depth discussions about how much farmers’ labor could be utilized during winter.

“Have the farmers work on road construction and city wall projects. They’ll be happy to earn income during winter.”

“Labor during the agricultural off-season… Understood.”

In this world too, the concept of using farmers as laborers during non-farming seasons already existed, so my aide accepted my order without question.

Until now, we had somehow managed with existing workers and refugees, but from now on, we would need much more manpower, which is why I gave such orders.

Those orders being…

“Paving roads and constructing sewage systems within Amurtat city… quite a challenging task.”

“Let’s be straightforward. We have the materials and the manpower. The construction itself isn’t difficult, is it?”

“It’s just the maintenance that’s difficult.”

My aide was right.

Paved roads simply need to be covered with stone or other solid materials so that travel isn’t hindered by rain or snow, and sewage systems just require establishing basic concepts and designs based on fluid dynamics knowledge. The actual work merely involves connecting pipes over long distances.

However, paved roads corrode, wear down, and crack, while sewage systems get blocked, twisted, and punctured. So while initial construction isn’t particularly difficult, maintaining such infrastructure continuously requires considerable effort.

That’s why infrastructure in economically underdeveloped small and medium-sized cities tends to be poor.

They can build it initially, but without the capacity to maintain it, infrastructure improvements ultimately fail.

Overcoming this requires continuous income, and fortunately, Amurtat had iron production—an extremely reliable source of revenue.

Considering that merchants travel long distances even in this cold winter to buy Amurtat’s steel, we should have more than enough to cover the maintenance costs of water systems and roads.

Moreover, since we’re only installing paved roads and sewage systems within Amurtat’s city limits, the area isn’t actually that large.

And regarding the sewage system, we already had some infrastructure built when we constructed public bathhouses for disease prevention—though it cost us dearly at the time—so we wouldn’t have to start completely from scratch, saving considerable expenses.

“By the way, you’re doing quite a lot this winter, aren’t you? Is it because of the war?”

“Well, you could say that. Once the war begins, we won’t be able to undertake such large projects.”

War requires substantial funds.

No matter how wealthy Amurtat might be compared to other medium-sized cities due to its steel industry and other exports, that wealth is only relative to cities of similar size. When compared to cities of 1 million or 10 million, we inevitably fall short.

In this world, population numbers were the ultimate advantage, and I couldn’t deny that.

A city of 1 million could mobilize more troops than one of 200,000, and a city of 10 million even more so.

*

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Digging through frozen ground was arduous work, but earning someone else’s money always requires accepting hard labor.

Especially when that money belongs to one’s lord.

“Work stop! Lunch time! Rest for one hour, then resume work!”

“Phew…”

I was tempted to press the “forced labor” button that was tickling my mind, but forcing labor in this winter could genuinely result in mass casualties.

With the possibility of war against Elisia looming, I couldn’t afford to indulge my tyrannical tendencies and risk workers going on strike during an emergency. For now, I needed to treat my subjects with the utmost gentleness.

Besides, if I kept them alive, they would naturally marry and have children, so why eliminate future labor force prematurely?

Rustle… rustle…

The workers began taking out food they had brought from inside their clothes.

Despite the cold winter, the food hadn’t frozen—just cooled—since they had kept it close to their bodies and had been working until just now.

Most had brought bread, while those with better clothing had also packed some meat to accompany it.

I was wondering if they might choke on the dry food when I witnessed something peculiar.

Grab!

“Wait, that’s snow. Surely not?”

Munch!

My suspicion was confirmed. The workers eating bread and meat were scooping up handfuls of snow from the roadside and putting it in their mouths.

“Oh my…”

It was unavoidable, really.

This world had no water heaters or thermos flasks. Any water they brought would surely freeze, so consuming snow and letting it melt slowly in their mouths was their only way to hydrate.

It might seem primitive by modern standards, but what could I do? It’s not like I could develop thermos flasks, so I just had to accept it.

“Alright! Break time is over! Pick up your tools and return to work!”

As the foreman clapped his hands to signal the end of the break, the workers sluggishly got back on their feet.

Though the telescope’s magnification limited my view, I could tell that despite their small statures, their arms were thick with muscle and calluses—indirect evidence that they could physically outmatch modern humans.

“Your Majesty, more documents have arrived.”

“Damn it… Michaela! Another bottle of wine! And more ink!”

*

How wonderful would it be if everything in the world could be handled without paperwork?

It would feel amazing to process vast amounts of administrative work through thought alone.

“Aide, can’t we enchant the throne with administrative processing magic?”

“We cannot.”

“Damn.”

Of course, that was to be expected. Even if magic existed, it wasn’t omnipotent.

To achieve the level of scribal magic I wanted would require simultaneously casting mind-reading and automatic writing spells, but magic could only imbue one property per object.

Well, perhaps searching a dragon’s nest might yield an artifact that defies this rule, but I’d likely die before finding it, so that’s beside the point.

“Still, you’ve finished today’s work.”

“Completing tasks as quickly as possible is my motto.”

“I agree completely. Especially in winter.”

Saying this, my aide approached the fireplace, gathered several logs from the woodpile, and placed them in the hearth.

Whoosh!

The embers flared momentarily, engulfing the well-dried logs, which soon caught fire and began to burn.

“Personally, I’d rather have running water that produces warm water at the turn of a tap.”

“…”

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No reason.”

Things we took for granted in the modern world can only be enjoyed as privileges by certain people in this world. It gives one much to think about.

I could take a warm shower whenever I wanted, but common people trying not to freeze to death had to clutch their coins and go all the way to public bathhouses for a warm bath.

And naturally, they had to endure the cold on their way there.

“We’ll soon have too few public bathhouses.”

“Ah… you’re right. With the population inside the walls increasing…”

One might suggest expanding existing bathhouses, but water is an incredibly heavy substance. And true to their name, bathhouses also need facilities to keep water warm at all times. Building new ones would be fine, but stacking them into second or third floors would be a recipe for collapse.

“Find suitable locations and build several new ones. Regular houses can be built upward.”

“Understood.”

My aide nodded in agreement.

This would mean more paperwork, but that was better than dealing with an epidemic.

In truth, the paved roads and sewage systems were planned with the vertical expansion of the city in mind.

When contaminants enter dirt roads, it’s very problematic, but paved roads can simply be wiped clean. And with proper sewage facilities, people wouldn’t dispose of excrement on the streets.

Some might say I’m overestimating the threat of epidemics, but… trust me.

When it comes to combating epidemics, there’s no such thing as being too cautious.

I know because I’ve seen cities devastated by disease over a hundred times.

Those damn developers even added achievements to commemorate it. I hope they get possessed like me while writing a 5,700-character rebuttal to some novel they’re reading.