The first medal awarding ceremony lasted until noon. Roland, who served as the awarding officer, explainer, and host, was exhausted by the end. Fortunately, the ceremony concluded successfully amidst the noon bells and celebratory gun salutes. Sweating profusely, he returned to the castle. As he stepped onto the third floor, he saw Anna leaning against the office door with a smile.

"What's up?"

"You'll see when you go in," she blinked her beautiful lake-blue eyes.

Is it some kind of prank? Roland pushed open the door, puzzled, and was immediately stunned. Twelve witches stood neatly in two rows, with Scroll and Wendy at the front. Upon seeing the prince, they all lifted their skirts, bent their knees, and bowed.

"Ahem, what is this..."

Scroll took the lead and said, "Your Highness, your actions have proven everything you said. The sisters are deeply grateful for this. No words can express our gratitude. Please allow us to continue serving you in the future."

"I see," Roland breathed a sigh of relief, "I thought you were all going to resign."

"Pfft," Wendy couldn't help but laugh, "How is that possible, Your Highness? This is the sacred mountain that witches dream of. As long as you don't drive us away, we hope to live here forever."

"And that's what I want to see... Actually, you don't have to be like this. I'm not just helping you, I'm also helping myself. Don't be so serious, I prefer you to be relaxed and at ease."

"Hmph, I said there was no need to be so formal," Lily snorted, "See, he thinks we're too serious."

"Who said that? Didn't you agree right away?" Mystery Moon muttered softly, "Traitor!"

"Alright, everyone, go to the dining hall first. His Highness needs to change," Scroll rubbed her forehead helplessly, "By the way, Anna xiaojie said you've been sleeping late recently? Please take care of your health. You must not fall before that goal is achieved."

"Don't worry," Roland smiled, "I'm in good health."

After the witches filed out, only he and Anna remained in the office.

"What, are you going to express your gratitude too?" Roland teased her.

"Well... I want to say the same thing as them," Anna curled her lips, "No words can express my gratitude."

"And... you hope to live in Border Town forever?"

"Not necessarily."

Roland paused, his heart skipped a beat, "Why?"

"Because you won't always be here," Anna tilted her head, "...and wherever you go, I will always follow you."

A warm current suddenly surged in his heart. From the day he met her, her thoughts had never changed. Whether facing the invitation of the Cooperation Association or the crisis of fighting the Evil Beasts, she chose to stand with him.

At that moment, Anna suddenly took two steps forward and gently hugged him.

"Wait, I'm sweaty," Roland reminded her.

The girl didn't answer, but put her head on his chest, as if trying to remember the scent, and took a deep breath. He finally gave up on pushing her away, wrapped his arms around her white neck, and didn't let go for a long time.

...

After lunch, Roland took a cold shower and quickly immersed himself in work.

He called in Karl van Bate, spread out a detailed map of Border Town, and pointed to the Redwater River, "I want to build a bridge here."

"Not a pontoon bridge?" Karl pondered for a moment and said, "Please forgive my bluntness, Your Highness, the Redwater River is nearly a hundred meters wide here. Building a stone bridge is almost impossible. Even an arch bridge can only span a third of the distance at most, and the water flow of the Redwater River is extremely large. The bridge piers can't be set down at all, and even a stone pillar as thick as a person would be washed away... Apart from rafts and pontoon bridges, there is no bridge on the entire river."

"Not a stone bridge, but a steel bridge," Roland explained, "A total of three spans, and the middle bridge piers will be handled by witches. You only need to build the"

"bridge approach in advance. But I require the bridge to be raised at the bridgehead, so that the whole bridge is lifted up, so that inland river sailing ships can pass through, and the masts will not touch the bottom of the bridge."

"Isn't that putting the bridge into the sky?" Karl exclaimed.

"It's only about six or seven meters above the ground," he casually drew a schematic diagram of a three-span steel bridge, "In order to better develop the south bank in the future, and the construction of the dock, there must be a bridge on the river that does not affect shipping. Although the pontoon bridge is simple, it is equivalent to blocking the river channel, which is not conducive to subsequent development."

The First Army Expedition to King's City gave Roland a lot of inspiration - he found that the rivers within Graycastle are well-connected, and major cities are basically built next to several major rivers. If he launches domestic operations in the future, having several shallow-water heavy gunboats would definitely be a powerful tool for providing fire support and conquering territory - after all, the power of ship guns, known for their caliber, is far beyond what field guns can match. And if he wants to build ships, he must first have a dock, so the steel bridge plan came into being.

"But I don't have any similar bridge construction experience..." Karl seemed hesitant.

"Neither do I," Roland shrugged, "Just take it as a first time to slowly explore. You can first set up the bridge on the shore for testing. If there are no problems, then move it to the Redwater River." He also instilled the concept of prefabrication and one-time lifting, "Like installing a water tower, with Hummingbird reducing its weight, and your student Anna helping with assembly and welding, it won't be difficult."

"Yes... Your Highness," he nodded.

"In addition to this, there is a very important project to be handed over to you," the prince moved his finger to the castle area, "I plan to expand the backyard and enclose all the open space on the highland, and build a three-story building here."

If all goes well, Tilly's five witches will arrive in Border Town next month, and there are no extra rooms in the castle. Although it can be temporarily changed to three people per room, there will always be more and more witches in the future, and it is impossible to continue to make do. A superior living environment and all kinds of novel and comfortable experiences are also one of his strategies to keep the witches. Whether it is the ancient saying that it is difficult to go from extravagance to frugality, or the modern theory of sugar-coated bullets, a beautiful and comfortable life can always make people addicted.

"Three-story... brick house?"

"It's not entirely a brick house," Roland smiled, "Its name should be called brick-concrete structure. The roof pillars and top beams are all reinforced concrete, like human bones. This structure allows the house to be built higher, and it's no problem to add a fourth or fifth floor in the future."

"Reinforced... concrete?" Karl repeated with a bewildered expression.

"It is a mixture of cement, sand, and gravel, with reinforcing steel bars implanted in the middle to strengthen its bending resistance," he said, "Of course, the specific amount of each ingredient needs to be strictly tested. If the configuration is successful, it will be even stronger than natural bluestone."

In theory, this thing has a very large elastic space in terms of quality. The same is concrete, the kind that is bought in the countryside and configured by oneself is completely different from the metered configuration of the mixing station. The same is true for steel bars... Some people even don't put pebbles when building houses on their own homesteads, or use iron wires and bamboo strips instead of steel bars. Roland had witnessed the process of several "rural villas" rising from the ground when he was in the countryside.

And he plans to imitate this, after all, it is only a three-story house, and it is difficult to collapse no matter how much corners are cut.

In addition, he hopes to let Karl master this perfect building material that can be shaped at will, like man-made stone, through the witch residential building project. As one of the development directions of the construction industry, concrete occupies almost half of the country. He is not proficient in architecture, and what he knows is only the superficial knowledge he learned from the countryside, so widening the horizons of the stonemason and leading him on the right path is the right approach.

"Uh... do I have to slowly explore this too?" he asked.

"No," Roland smiled slightly, "I can teach you this."