Cornflower Witch

Chapter 196 The Base at the Foot of the Mountain (Thanks to amlls for the Alliance Leader)
In the border town of Mammoth, a team is preparing to set off.

This is the closest base to the Dark Mist Mountains and has a teleportation array. If you continue westward and get closer to the Dark Mist Mountains, there will be no convenient teleportation array to use.

"Therefore, from now on, you will have to rely on pack animals to move forward." A seasoned knight stood on a simple wooden platform and spoke to the members below.

“I am your guide for this trip, and also the transport officer for traveling between the various outposts in the Dark Mist Mountains. You can call me Reginson.”

"This time I will lead you through the Black Lion Wilderness and then to the foot of the Dark Mist Mountains, a place we have specifically scouted out that is suitable for establishing a base."

“You will be building a new supply outpost there in the future. I hope you can achieve your goal smoothly.” He then glanced at the young trainees below him again.

"Now, mount your horses, keep a close watch on your supplies, and then follow me!"

Soon, the sound of a copper bell rang out at the front of the procession, and the long procession began to set off.

The entire group consisted of about 200 people and more than 50 horse-drawn carriages, carrying various supplies, including those urgently needed for building the new base and supplies for the border front.

In the middle of the group, Hilti followed on horseback, occasionally listening to her companions' introductions.

“Senior Tiya, we have a total of 63 students as the first batch of settlers. In addition to the 52 people recruited from the Radiant Plains, there are 11 scholars and craftsmen from the ‘Candleburg School’.”

"They will support us in building our base in the early stages, but they will leave after the first phase is completed."

"Who will handle the subsequent maintenance?" Hilti looked at the members behind her, most of whom were wearing white academic robes, similar to the style of Maester Hyde in her memory.

"One or two people will stay to look after it. If new buildings need to be constructed, an application will need to be submitted to the association, and then personnel will be sent over."

"Can't we stay here permanently?" the girl asked, slightly puzzled.

“The permanent presence consumes a lot of resources, and they are not very useful in daily life unless they are building structures.” It is clear that within the woodland, organizations like the 'Candleburg School' do not hold a high position.

"Like This……"

The group gradually left Mammoth Town and headed towards Black Lion Wilderness. Here, the clouds overhead gradually lowered and thickened, and everything began to feel oppressive under the dim sky.

As if they were on an incredibly long downhill slope, after leaving Mammoth Town, Hilti felt that the entire group was slowly moving towards a deeper and darker, lightless region.

Several days later, when she looked back in the direction of Mammoth Town, she could only see the dark golden clouds and the horizon; the rest was desolate, with no trace of the town.

Ahead lay a dark sky, blurring the horizon in the distance, like a crevice falling into an abyss.

No wonder the association offered such generous conditions, which is why people were willing to come here to develop. Such a place does put a lot of psychological pressure on people, as if they have a kind of worry and fear that they can never get out of.

A week later, the team arrived at the foot of a dark mountain range. The terrain here resembled a horizontal 'V', with mountains on both sides and a small triangular clearing in the middle.

Thanks to the terrain of the mountains, this place is protected from the erosive winds, and at the foot of the mountains, there is a relatively safe and easy-to-defend piece of land.

“This is it, Siltia.” Reginson rode up to the girl.

"Your new base will be located here. If successful, it will become a transit point for those traveling between the Dark Mist Mountains and the border of the woodlands."

"I will stay here with the others for three days to assist and guide you in building the base. After that, we will set off to continue transporting supplies to the base deep in the Dark Mist Mountains."

"Thank you, I understand." The girl nodded, then raised her hand to signal her companions behind her to dismount and begin surveying the surroundings.

In the evening, the team members, having completed the initial exploration, gathered around the campfire to rest and cook dinner.

"Has the water source been secured?" Hiltiya asked the scholars and craftsmen who accompanied her.

"There is no problem with the water source. In fact, the water source was determined when the site was selected, otherwise the association would not have chosen this place as its headquarters."

"However, the water source here is close to the depths of the Twilight Sea and is heavily polluted. It must be pumped out, poured into a pool, and left to stand and purify before it can be drunk."

"Afterwards, we will build a temple at the well to purify the water and for protection."

"Okay." After dinner that night, everyone slept peacefully in their tents.

Over the next two days, after some discussion and planning, the construction plans for the new base were finalized.

“First, we need to build a wall to surround the entire camp.” A scholar wearing glasses tapped the blueprints lightly.

"Because manpower and resources are limited in the early stages, we only need to enclose this line." He pointed to a solid line that had been drawn.

"If the base expands later, it can be expanded step by step according to these three dotted lines."

After determining the location of the wall, the first phase of construction began. The trainees first quarried stones in the mountains, then cut them into suitable bricks and built the wall along the mountains.

"The steps of arranging these stone bricks, the order of stacking, and the patterns they form are all strictly controlled by the scholars of the 'Candleburg School,' because only in this way can a special magic array be built that can dispel and resist the erosion of 'Twisted'."

Meanwhile, Hiltiya and several scholars began discussing the reclamation of crop fields.

"The sunlight intensity here is less than 30% of that in the 'Golden Plain,' so it's probably impossible to grow wheat here," a scholar reminded the young woman.

“I understand, so I prepared seeds for other crops in advance.” Hiltiya nodded.

She had previously conducted research and found that the sunlight in the Dark Fog Mountains was weak, and many crops could not adapt to it. Therefore, she could only choose shade-loving plants. Currently, the staple foods are potatoes and taro, and the vegetables are water spinach, lettuce, spinach, carrots, and broad beans.

“However, the environment here is indeed worse than I imagined.” Hiltiya looked at the sky with concern.

Not only is the soil severely polluted, but even the wind is erosive. Ordinary plants exposed to this environment will die quickly, which explains why there are hardly any plants along the way.

"We want to build a glass greenhouse to isolate it from airflow and wind erosion. I wonder how big a glass greenhouse you can build."

"This..." The scholars shook their heads with some difficulty.

“It’s not that we don’t want to, but building a greenhouse that meets your requirements would probably require special glass.”

"Ordinary glass can block the wind, but it will become brittle and crack in about three months under corrosion. If you use stones and build it up, it will indeed block the wind and is not easy to damage, but then sunlight will not be able to get in either."

"What kind of special glass are you referring to?" the silver-haired girl asked, turning around.

“Only 'Tier 2 Excellent' quality wire-embedded glass can withstand the relentless erosive winds of the Dark Mist Mountains,” a scholar told after a moment of contemplation.

"Wire-embedded glass is made by embedding special metal wires during the glass manufacturing process. This can increase strength and also create special runes or markings to add special effects."

"If it is to deal with erosion, it is recommended to use the inscriptions of the castle road such as 'Swan Arch Window' or 'Sherlock Gate'."

"How much does one piece of this glass cost?" Hiltiya had a premonition that she was about to bleed a lot of money.

“A square piece of glass with a side length of 1 meter costs about 40 gold coins. If we order in bulk, we should be able to reduce the price to 30 gold coins per piece.”

"Only the 'Six-Point Glass School' can provide large quantities of this type of glass. They also produce many of the identification lenses used in the association." This reminded Hiltiya of the appraiser who assessed the quality of her wheat when she had cultivated perfect quality wheat. The appraiser used a special lens to distinguish the quality of the wheat.

“What if we make them ourselves?” She remembered that Professor Seroffie’s curriculum included knowledge of the “Six-Part Glass School.”

"If we have suitable alchemists and craftsmen, the cost should be around 10 gold coins." After all, glass raw materials and special metal wires also need to be purchased.

“I understand,” Hiltiya nodded.

"Let's use ordinary glass for now, and replace it with special 'wired glass' when we have more money later."

After that, the first phase of construction of the settlement began, starting with the city walls, stone houses and towers for living, and then tall greenhouses for growing crops.

As for the 'Association Hall', 'Bar', and 'Hotel', these will be built in the second phase, with the primary goal of survival.

　Thank you amlls for being the patron, thanks (ω)

　　Thank you, Zhangzhang, for helping me increase my income.
　　Hoshiguma Railway, Passerby in a Cup, Well in the City, My Brother's Chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur), awaiting donations from fellow readers~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)