Opening the bundle, Atlas' eyes scanned through its contents.
The first thing that caught his eyes was the crude diagram of an ancient-looking kiln that occupied a majority of the first page. The subsequent pages were also filled with more diagrams, blocks of text explaining the device, and a frightening number of failed calculations that were stricken and rewritten.
"What am I looking at, Douglas?" Atlas asked, lowering the bundle in his hand and meeting the blacksmith's eyes.
"It's the drawings for a kiln I came up with, milord!" Douglas answered with barely suppressed excitement. Leaning forward, he reached in with his fingers to point to the drawings in the bundle and explained.
"Ya see, milord, normally kilns are built larger, thicker, and narrower in order to heat metals to the point where they can be shaped. The smaller space causes the kiln to burn hotter." He pointed to a drawing of a kiln on the third page. "However! Such a kiln is hardly suitable for milord's tasks. What with we needing a large number of bricks and all."
"That is correct," Atlas agreed.
"And that's why I came up with this design, milord!" Douglas did not disguise the pride in his voice. Pointing to a drawing on the fifth sheet, he continued, "It's like a kiln but is far different from anything you've ever seen. It can be built to be as large as this room, even larger! The inside will be firmly sealed to trap inside, the heat and the air. There will be a coal pit in the center that will be continuously burning, The unfired bricks will be placed inside this room whereupon they'll be left until they are cooked. Oh, and this part…"
Atlas continued to patiently listen as Douglas enthusiastically explained his creation to the prince. Halfway through his explanations, the blacksmith removed a few writing materials from his pockets and started to redraw the designs piece by piece to explain with greater effect. Intermittently, the prince replied with nods, a few 'I see'-s, some 'Is that so?'-s, and other similar responses that showed his participation.
Outwardly, Atlas' expression of intense concentration and repeated engagement made it look like the prince followed along and kept up with everything that the blacksmith spewed out. In reality, however, Atlas was… clueless.
'What is this man saying? Brick limits? Refuel cycles? I have no idea what these words mean.' For all his strengths and advantages of coming from a more advanced, modern world, Atlas could not, for the life of him, understand Douglas' explanations. While he did keep up at the beginning, he left the train somewhere along the middle.
The passionate explanation came to an end after forty-five grueling minutes. While wearing the mask of an intellectual, Atlas shot off three questions.
"Are you certain that it will work?"
"As certain as the hair growing 'neath my arm, milord."
"How many bricks can you create in a day using this apparatus?"
"At least a thousand. At most, three thousand."
"How soon can you build it and get it working?"
"If I have some people helping me, a week, milord."
"Alright, that works for me," Atlas rose from his seat and extended his hand towards Douglas. The chatterbox blacksmith stared at the prince's open palm for a few moments before directing a questioning look towards the youth.
"Milord?" He rasped.
Atlas simply sighed in response and took back his hand. He then faced the blacksmith and said, "You will begin construction starting tomorrow. Joycle and Lukin will join you in your efforts."
After that, Atlas sent Douglas out of the manor. The blacksmith obediently left and did not create a fuss. It had been a long day and not even he had the energy to sit down and discuss gossip with the prince.
"This came for you, my liege," Baron Helm started and handed Atlas another bundle of parchments. "These are today's gains from the scouting group that you had sent out."
While receiving the bundle from the Baron, Atlas' mind wandered towards Scouting Group #2. He had sent them to scout the surrounding lands and draw up a map for him to peruse. They were supposed to meet up with him at the end of the day, but Atlas didn't see them during his other meetings.
Looking at the map detailing the town and a small perimeter beyond it, Atlas thought, 'Seems like they came through. It's a small addition and a good start.'
"I didn't meet with them tonight. When did they come, Baron Helm?" Atlas questioned.
"Roughly an hour ago, my liege. When you were being treated by Rohm," the Baron replied. He then stared at Atlas' arm which was in a sling and sheepishly scratched his head. "My liege, about that–"
"Just forget it. I don't want to talk about it." Atlas shook his head. "What do you suppose the time is?"
"It's around two past midnight, my liege."
"I suppose that's it for today then. Did we miss anything, Baron Helm?"
"Not that I recall of, my liege."
"Let's call it a day then. Bring me my meal. I shall have it before heading off to sleep. Oh, we are going to sleep in here, Baron Helm." Atlas casually said
"Here, in the living room? But that's…" The Baron's speech trailed away as a look of realization appeared on his face. "I understand." he suddenly said.
"Hmm?" Atlas grew confused at this sudden answer. He looked at the Baron and found the man sporting the expressions of pity, kindness, and understanding. 'What is going on inside his mind?' he wondered but soon gave up as he felt too tired to pursue his suspicions.
It had been a long day and Atlas was exhausted. He only wanted to hit the bed as soon as possible.
"Don't bother heating the meal. Just bring it to me," Atlas ordered and Baron conceded after little resistance.
The duo ate together in silence –Atlas once again had the Baron take the first bite to check for poison– and hit the bed thirty minutes later.
"Good night, Baron Helm." Atlas released a weary yawn and closed his eyes.
"Good night, my little prince," Baron Helm replied softly and put out the final lamp illuminating the room.
Darkness descended soon. Atlas descended into sleep even sooner.
---
The following days proceeded normally. The townspeople busied themselves with their assigned jobs, causing the work around the town to progress smoothly and by a large degree.
The Child Shelter was the second facility following the Medical Center to be built. The Feeding Shack was also expanded to become a proper Canteen that could better serve the townspeople.
The Tent-like shared residences of the townspeople had also seen improvements with another fourteen (14) such constructs having been built. Combined with the four (4) that were built on the first day, the new total stood at eighteen (18) Tents, properly housing a hundred and eighty people (180).
The wooden walkways around the town had also been largely reconstructed. They were no longer shaky and damp but instead were firmer and dry, serving their initial purpose of separating the townspeople from the sludgy, wet mud making up the swamp.
In a newly cleared patch of land to the north of the town, a construction crew led by Douglas Wootz went about creating the large-scale kiln that was to be used for firing bricks. Smaller kilns that continuously spewed out black smoke and dished out fresh, even bricks neatly lined up by the sides and provided the crew with the material to build the blacksmith's masterpiece. A tall mound of clay and silt –conveniently gathered from the nearby river– sat on one side of the smaller kilns while on the other side, sat a mound of freshly gathered coal.
Currently, nearly ninety percent of the mined coal was being funneled into this project. The remaining ten percent was rationed between serving as fuel for cooking in the Feeding Shack and serving as fuel for stoves inside the Medical Center.
Speaking of the Medical Center, the project was a resounding success. After the initial sick peasants, numbering thirteen were contained, quarantined, and treated, only three more townspeople fell prey to the sickness. After that, there were no more cases of sickness within the town. As for the admitted, more than half the patients had already recovered and went about their daily tasks!
This single endeavor had earned the Baron and the Prince an untold amount of fame and respect. The townspeople even heralded the young prince as the 'Representative of Heaven', slapping the moniker 'Son of the Gods' on him. Suffice to say, his popularity and importance within the little town peaked.
The Woodcutting Division performed their jobs with spectacular efficiency and made significant headway into the forest; almost halfway towards the mining site. Their excellent skills resulted in the production of excess lumber even after discounting its usage.
Having more lumber than what they could store and use, Atlas decided to cut down on its production and reassigned more than half of its workers towards other tasks. As they possessed a large surplus of wood, this temporary drop in production wouldn't hurt the town's interest or expenditure.
And finally, the mining site. Atlas bumped up the number of miners to a whopping ninety (90), an addition of five to the initial number. The mining site had also seen its fair amount of construction these following days, with emphasis placed on safety and increasing efficiency.
Support Beams to support the mine and prevent accidental cave-ins, shafts to increase ventilation within the mine, check-posts, and gathering points to act as emergency escape routes were some of the safety structures that were built in the mining site.
Apart from this, gathering posts, storage sheds, and a field kitchen were the constructions aimed towards increasing efficiency at the mining site.
If one were to calculate the number of resources spent to improve the mining site alone, these would be the numbers; eighty-five (85) units of Wood, and twenty (20) units of Raw Food (Field Kitchen). A negligible amount of coal was also used.
All in all, in just four days –five since Atlas' arrival to the town– the town had changed beyond recognition. Morale and Hope were bursting through their limits. Motivation was at an all-time high. The townspeople were happy and satisfied, beyond any and all doubt.
And the cause of all these changes was a single boy.
Atlas Constantine.