Release that Witch

"What?     

Why aren’t we able to afford to buy it?" Roland asked while going     

through the analysis of his request to obtain a two masted ship, which     

had been put on the table within his office.    

Barov     

cleared his throat and then he explained, "Your Highness, it’s     

impossible. A brig costs between 80 to 120 gold royals, but this would     

only be the manufacturing cost. We also have to take into account the     

wages of the crew. Taking all additional costs into consideration we     

would need to pay up to 200 gold royals. "    

"Didn’t     

I say we don’t need sailors or a helmsman? We also don’t need a     

captain; we just need to buy a boat!" Roland exclaimed while knocking on     

the table to underline his point. With the help of Wendy, he wouldn’t     

need so many people to drive the boat. River sailing vessels mostly     

sailed in only one direction. So, to operate it, only the sails had to     

be set, which made helmsmen and sailors redundant.     

However, since we can control the wind, why should I be afraid that we can’t move forward?    

"Your     

Highness, there aren’t any offers of that kind, at least not in Willow     

Town." Barov carefully explained, "It seems that you don’t know enough     

about this industry. In general, the owner of the ship is also its     

captain. He might be a merchant or he may be part of the nobility. If     

they belong to the former group, they will travel between all of the     

major cities or towns that have a marina, to sell or buy goods. If they     

belong to the latter group, they would typically recruit a deputy     

captain who was looking for a boat. Employees won’t be paid on a monthly     

basis. Instead, their salary would be paid for one to three years all     

at once."    

"Most of the time, the boat and     

the crew are tied together. You intend to purchase a vessel from a     

captain, but without the crew he had already hired, so the salary he had     

already paid will be his loss. Even for a member of the aristocracy, 80     

gold royals isn’t a small amount of money. After the trade with Willow     

Town at the beginning of the month, the town hall now has a balance of     

315 gold royals, but if we spend half of it to buy a boat now, we won’t     

be able to pay the salaries of the militia." The assistant minister     

explained without pause, but afterwards, he had to first take a big gulp     

of ale.    

After thinking about what he had heard, Roland asked "You said most of the time ..."    

"Yes,"     

Barov nodded, "There are two cases when boats will be sold without     

their crew. The first would be when the merchant is in an urgent need of     

money, and they have to sell all of their property. They will start by     

disbanding their crew, and then they will try to sell the ship as     

quickly as possible. In the second case, the owner wants to replace     

their old boat with a new one. Both cases would be a good opportunity,     

but I have to say that this kind of situations is very rare."    

"Wait," Roland frowned, "you said to buy a new boat ... So in this case, where do these ships come from?"    

"Port     

of Clearwater, Seabreeze District, Farsight Point. Only cities with a     

seaport that have a dock are able to produce new ships."    

Hearing this Roland kept silent for a moment and thought everything through.     

So     

this was the original meaning of, “within Willow Town, it’s impossible     

to find such a deal.” However, I also can’t afford to travel to any of     

the port cities; they’re too far away, and if I don’t hire a crew, how     

would I get the ship back to Border Town?    

"Since this is the case, I will have to think about it."    

When the assistant minister saw that the Prince was lost in thought, he quickly left the room.    

Within     

Roland’s plan for the future, ships played an irreplaceable part. If     

there wasn’t a quick and conventional way to transport the artillery, he     

wouldn’t be able to use them in battle. Generally, the Duke’s troops     

were built up from the stronghold’s troops, mercenaries, farmers and     

knights. So, inevitably their marching speed was slow when they had to     

move.     

But,     

the artillery would be even slower. Just like Carter had said, as soon     

as they hit a pothole the artillery couldn’t be moved any further–     

during this time and age, there weren’t any asphalt roads, there wasn’t     

even a stone road. During this time, the people would walk more,     

producing many trails. During sunny days they would be lucky, but when     

it rained, the path became muddy.    

In the end, like always, would he have to rely on himself?    

Roland spread out a piece of paper, writing down the needed specifications.    

Firstly,     

the ship has to be able to carry one or two cannons in addition to     

thirty people, but it wouldn’t be powered mechanically, only with sails.     

Secondly, since the ship would be used only in rivers, it would need to have a shallow and stable hull.     

Thirdly, it had to be easy to operate so that the members of the Militia could handle it after a short training.    

Considering all these points, the only possible answer was a flat-bottomed barge ...    

The     

draft in front of Roland was very shallow; it was a ship with a very     

low center of gravity that could be seen on almost all of the river     

routes. In the past, he had seen many loaded with piles of sand or     

gravel, and their railing was almost level with the surface of the     

water. And as long as there was a tugboat, it would be able to pull a     

barge.    

After determining type of the ship, the next key point was to determine which material should be used when building the ship.    

Roland wrote down three different options: Wood, Iron, or conrete.    

Boats     

made of wood belonged to the earliest of the nautical technology tree.     

From a raft to a masted battleship. From sailing on either the river or     

the sea, wooden boats could be used everywhere. Unfortunately, Roland     

didn’t know how to use a log to build a flat-bottomed ship, and neither     

did he have any skilled craftsmen. If he relied on what he knew and on     

his craftsmen, he would only be able to make a large raft which could     

fall apart at any moment.    

Ships made out of     

iron were built similarly to houses, always taking two beams which were     

arranged in a crisscross pattern, constituting a keel. The keel formed     

would then be coated with sheets of iron. Since Anna could do the     

welding; the overall stiffness was guaranteed. However, this approach     

would deplete the already small iron reserves. So this could only be the     

last resort, as building steam engines and cannons was a much more     

appropriate choice.    

Then building boats out     

of concrete would be the last option – since the city wall construction     

was already finished, there was now a surplus of raw materials. As long     

as Anna had the time to calcinate, they would have enough concrete for     

one or two ships. The construction process would also be much easier     

than that of iron-boats. As long as they were able to produce a wooden     

template which could be reinforced with iron bars, they could quickly     

fill it with concrete. Even in this rural area, they could easily create     

several fishing boats out of concrete. Compared to iron ships, they     

wouldn’t rust. With this, the ship wouldn’t even need much maintenance.     

Even though a concrete ship could be built at a low cost, it would still     

be strong and durable. Even if he had never learned how to make big     

ocean-crossing ships, a river sailing ship didn’t need a high level of     

technological knowledge. So, building it shouldn’t be a problem, right?    

Picturing all the details in his mind, Roland picked up the quill and rapidly began to draw sketches of the barge.    

......    

An area with a shed near the Shinshui River was hidden by walls.    

In order to facilitate the launching process, Roland located the shipbuilding area as close to the river as possible.    

The     

shed offered shelter against wind and snow and contained two basins for     

burning charcoal to keep the temperature from falling too far and     

destroying the hardening effect.    

The     

carpenters had already pieced together the wooden template of the hull –     

the bow was formed in a circular design in order to reduce forward     

resistance, the aft instead had a square design meant to increase the     

load area. The boat had a length to width ratio of 3:1 and was built     

with a width of 8m. Compared to the traditional ratio of 8:1, it was     

simply a fat boat. In the center, they had set up two masts. The masts     

were inserted into the deck and connected to the iron beams of the ship.     

At the deck, they had placed a reserve rudder. Everywhere, the hull was     

strengthened with crisscrossing iron bars.    

Even though they didn't have any iron wire, it didn't matter since Anna had welded all the iron crosses firmly, to form an iron structure which was connected throughout the whole bridge.    

When the template and the reinforcements were ready, Roland ordered the workers to start filling it up.    

The     

concrete was poured into a basin-like template. The middle was flat,     

but the surrounding walls were five meters higher, forming the cabin     

walls. At first glance, it just looked like a uniquely shaped bathtub.    

All     

people who were involved in the construction, including Anna, had never     

thought that this strange material, which was used to build the walls,     

could actually also be used to build ships.    

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