When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#218 - The Mechanical Palace is glowing

Although moving and setting up the bed took considerable effort for Gashkur, a sense of satisfaction welled up in him as he cleaned all the dust and debris from the room.

Gashkur, who had carpentry skills from his hometown, was among the first in his hundred-household unit to be allocated an Insula apartment after helping the Holy Forging Department repair and build furniture.

This apartment was located on the edge of town, with windows facing north.

Standing by the window, Gashkur could still see the Mechanical Palace across the Para River.

Gashkur lived on the third floor of this Insula apartment building, with the ground floor housing the warehouse, canteen, and bathhouse.

The room was about 45 square meters, with a stone chimney in the corner, made of square stone bricks firmly bonded with mortar.

A U-shaped yellow mud flue, about half a calf-high, connected to the lower end of the chimney, filled with smoke and radiating heat.

Gashkur's family's simple bed was placed above the flue, with dry thatch underneath, linen sheets on top of the thatch, and a woolen blanket and a reed-filled quilt on the sheets.

Gashkur's family of five would spend the entire winter on this large bed.

Opposite the bed were two simple chests, containing Gashkur's belongings and clothing, and finally, a curtained chamber pot, as well as a cabinet and shelves near the window.

According to what Gashkur had heard from Mr. Vitt, this was only a temporary measure, and in the future, they would either all move to the courtyard or install stoves in every household.

This Insula building they were in had four floors, with the upper floors having lower ceilings but larger areas and fewer rooms.

Therefore, the third floor had only 8 rooms. Originally, there should have been 4 more rooms on the top floor, but they were not yet completed and could not be occupied, so the entire Insula had 18 rooms.

Gashkur's ten-household unit had 65 people, young and old, but the rooms on the second floor were mostly only 30 to 35 square meters, so they basically only housed a family of three.

Some large families had to be split up, and eventually, 15 of the 18 rooms were occupied, with the remaining 3 rooms used as a prayer room, a security room, and a storage room.

The prayer room was a religious place, responsible for housing household registers and valuables, while also providing residents with religious activities and prayer.

The security room was basically the office of the ten-household head, responsible for punishing residents who violated the rules, guarding the gate, and housing militia weapons.

Gashkur calculated the days and suddenly realized that today was his day to guard the gate, but fortunately, he only had to guard the first half of the night, and he could get a good night's sleep in the second half.

"I'll go report to the security room first," Gashkur said to his wife, taking a short cloak from the chest and putting it on. "You can go eat dinner on your own."

The dinner time for each Insula was from evening class to sunset, which was from 5 to 6 o'clock, and a special watchman would come to beat the gong to remind them.

Hohen strictly controlled daily necessities such as food and salt, and there were limited rations for each person each day.

Every day's dinner was basically millet and potato porridge, wheat bread, fried mushrooms, wild vegetable fish soup, and small berries. After all the families in the ten-household unit arrived, the ten-household head would count the number of people, and dinner would begin when everyone was present.

An Insula contained one ten-household unit, with fifty or sixty people, so the ten-household head could basically recognize and manage everyone.

Since he needed to guard the gate, Gashkur had to register at the security room first, get a loaf of bread to fill his stomach, and then exchange shifts with the old man on duty during evening class.

Leaving the room, Gashkur came to the railing of the corridor, and the Insula's own small courtyard appeared before him.

In the center of the courtyard was a well, and on both sides of the well were wooden fence flowerbeds planted only with potato roots. Several children were playing and fighting in the courtyard with wooden sticks made of thin branches.

These corridors and stairs were all made of wood, and Gashkur creaked as he stepped on the stairs. In the chicken coop under the stairs, several hens clucked.

Arriving on the second floor, he immediately smelled a millet fragrance mixed with a stench, which permeated the courtyard.

The south side of the first floor, or ground floor, was the gate, with garbage and toilet buckets storage rooms on both sides of the gate, the bathhouse on the west side, the canteen on the east side, and the warehouse on the north side.

"Gashkur, the security room is over here," a middle-aged man with messy beard and black teeth called out to Gashkur.

"Ten-Household Head Merikso," Gashkur immediately stepped forward to greet him.

Merikso nodded indifferently and pulled Gashkur into the security room.

The entire security room was about 30 square meters, with only a few large boxes, a shelf containing bottles, jars, and paper rolls, and a solid wood table.

On the innermost wall of the security room, there was also a short sword, several sharpened and blackened wooden spears, and two pairs of shackles.

Taking a wooden spear from the wall, Merikso held the wooden spear in his hand, but did not hand it to Gashkur: "Do you know the rules?"

"I know," Gashkur replied immediately.

After sunset, the gate would be closed, and entry was only allowed through the side door. To enter from the side, one had to explain the reason to the gatekeeper and put a fingerprint on the record.

During evening prayer, which was around 8:30 in the evening, the side door would also be closed. Those who did not return in time would either have to sleep on the street or surrender to the security office for curfew.

Although surrendering to the security office meant sweeping the streets and helping to empty toilet buckets the next day, it was better than freezing to death on the street.

"You're going to work in the furniture workshop of the Holy Forging Department tomorrow morning, right? I heard you're already a group leader?"

"Ah, yes, I have furniture woodworking skills, and I was just appointed as a group leader this afternoon," Gashkur replied in surprise. He was appointed as a group leader this afternoon, and the ten-household head knew about it by evening?

Carpentry and furniture woodworking were two different things. Furniture woodworking involved making doors, windows, furniture, and other wooden products that required precise joints, which was considered advanced woodworking.

Merikso nodded slightly, which was consistent with the information brought by Hundred-Household Head Mosan: "Well, you're working for our Pope, and if you don't get enough rest, it will easily affect your work the next day. You can guard the gate tonight until evening prayer."

"Ah? That's still a long time before the second half of the night. What should I do?"

"Why not let the big fool Brühne do it? He's big for nothing, and he can't even speak properly."

Brühne was Gashkur's fellow villager. Although the two were born in different places, they were both from the same refugee village in Jeanneburg.

Brühne was an orphan beggar, with a relatively dull personality, speaking slowly, which was not very pleasing, and was often scolded by Merikso.

"It doesn't matter if I sleep a little later..."

"What are you talking about? If you sleep a little later, it will affect the furniture production of our Papal State. If furniture production is affected, everyone will not sleep well. If everyone does not sleep well, they will not have the strength to fight. If they do not have the strength to fight, they will be wiped out by the knights."

"Is that so?"

Merikso put the wooden spear into Gashkur's hand, "That's how it is. You go to rest early. If you see Lord Rector, say that Merikso from Blackdog Village sends his regards."

After receiving the wooden spear and eating the wheat bread to fill his stomach, Merikso sat on the chair by the door and began his task of guarding the gate.

The Autumn Twilight Island had no entertainment facilities. If you wanted to pray, every Insula basically had a prayer room. Who would go out late at night if there was nothing to do?

Sitting bored by the door, waiting from evening until the stars rose, Gashkur rubbed his creaking bones and stood up. Just then, the watchman's voice came from outside the door to announce the time.

After waiting for another quarter of an hour, the tall and sturdy Brühne hurried over, wearing a woolen coat that was one size too small: "Brother Gashkur, sorry to keep you waiting."

"It's nothing, it's supposed to be you working hard." Gashkur handed the wooden spear to Brühne, but he didn't leave. "I heard you went to be an apprentice to learn a craft?"

"The carpentry master thought my fingers were too thick." Brühne said in a muffled voice, "Out of seven people, I was the only one who was brushed off. Hey, Brother Gashkur, can you..."

"I don't have that power." Gashkur said with a wry smile.

But in fact, if he asked a familiar master, he could indeed pull Brühne in, but this kid was clumsy and might not be able to do a good job.

Brühne held the wooden spear and sat on the chair by the door: "Then I'll just be a laborer for now. Anyway, the weekly salary is half a Dinar."

Gashkur stepped forward, but couldn't say anything for a moment, because he sadly discovered that Brühne was as tall as him when he sat down.

"What's wrong? Do you have something to say?"

"...I heard, I heard that there will be a conscription in six days. You're tall and strong, why not join the army?"

Brühne waved his hands in fright: "I can't fight. If someone wants to hit me, I'll turn around and run."

"Then aren't you just being bullied here for nothing?" Gashkur said earnestly, "I know your appetite. According to our distribution, you can't get enough to eat every day. Your old boss was chased to death by the knight lord. Look how thin you've become from hunger?"

Brühne held the wooden spear, looking down and not speaking.

Gashkur patted him on the shoulder helplessly: "If you join the army, you'll have food and lodging. After you officially enlist, you'll have one Dinar a day during peacetime and four Dinars a day during wartime. Isn't that better than now?"

After listening to Gashkur's words, Brühne still shook his head.

"...Alas, don't say I didn't remind you." Gashkur sighed and turned to climb the stairs to his floor.

Lightly knocking on the door, his wife inside asked: "Who is it?"

"Me, Gashkur, the famous flower thief of Jeanneburg," Gashkur said in a low voice.

The sound of the door bolt being removed came from inside, and his wife Sally opened the door and glared at him: "You're a flower thief... What are you doing? The children are here, hurry up and take it out."

The two entered the room together. Unlike the cold outside, the room with the flue, although still cold, was no longer bone-chilling.

There were no lights in the room, only starlight. The couple's three children were just leaning by the window, looking north.

"What are you looking at?"

"Papa, look, the Pope's palace is glowing."

"Glowing?" Holding the youngest child, Gashkur went to the window and looked towards the Mechanical Palace. "It really is."