CHAPTER 497: CHAPTER 475: STONE MAN WITH ONE EYE

"You dug up a one-eyed angel statue in the river you’re dredging?"

Horn, who was having breakfast in his silken pajamas, nearly sprayed milk out of his nose.

He fumbled for a handkerchief, trying to wipe the milk from the corner of his mouth.

Sitting across the dining table, Hilov tilted her head, puzzled as to why Horn had such a big reaction.

Unlike the clear skies of the past few days, a glance out the arched window frames revealed the shadowed mountains and a sky thick with leaden clouds.

A gentle drizzle tapped on the eaves, making an unusual ticking sound.

Since capturing the Demon Hunter, Horn found himself with free time for a while, especially since this unexpected rain further limited his activities to the small town.

September was just around the corner, and the annual heavy rain arrived on time in the Thousand River Valley, though it was better than last year, the autumn rain of 1445 was less than that of 1444.

So, calculating from the current rain situation and the arrival of the rainy season, even without the Inosen (Ruo’an) Dam, it probably wouldn’t result in a flood.

However, the Inosen Dam couldn’t be left unchecked, as it would also affect the Shattered Stone Plain upstream.

Now, in order to build the Inosen Dam, the Shepherds of the Shattered Stone Plain had to work under the cold rain and with empty stomachs to clean up the mess for the nobles.

Horn’s Daze Village was facing a similar issue, except the Shepherds of Shattered Stone Plain needed to block, while Horn needed to dredge the silted river channel.

"What do the laborers dredging the river think?" Horn finally suppressed his cough and asked while wiping his mouth.

"The laborers see this as a miraculous blessing from the Holy Father, and they’ve applied to have the one-eyed angel as the patron saint of the new river," Armand gestured for the maid to clear the plates, "They want to build a temporary small chapel on the site to worship the angel statue."

A classic example of the Thousand River Valley People’s auspicious worship indeed, Horn massaged his temples.

Whenever something unusual was unearthed, the Thousand River Valley People always tried to enshrine it.

Of course, most of the time, the Church rejected it under the guise of forbidding idol worship.

Such methods of worshiping signs were actually old expansion tactics of early Miseria teachings.

Specifically, they would bury a propitious sign in the land they coveted and then declare to use the land’s profits to build a church and offer worship.

Back then, there were pagans everywhere, along with the native Norn people of the eastern continent, mainly serving as a fraudulent claim.

"Did they spread any proverbs or songs?"

"How did you know?" Armand looked at Horn’s enigmatic face in surprise and recited the laborers’ song aloud, "The angel has one eye, guarding the faithful and Thousand River in peace."

Horn was speechless for a moment, then waved his hand after a long while: "Let them be, as long as it doesn’t affect the construction progress."

In fact, uncovering all sorts of odd things in the riverbed wasn’t a first-time occurrence; it’s just that this time, the stone angel was particularly conspicuous.

Horn suddenly recalled the underground tunnels mentioned by the Demon Hunters, claiming there were many bizarre angel statues like those within the tunnels.

Perhaps the statue from the river came from those underground tunnels.

"How’s the current level of Nanze Lake?"

Putting down the handkerchief and taking off his pajamas, Horn asked Armand while putting on a black linen shirt.

Armand stood aside, smiling as he answered: "It hasn’t reached the high-water mark yet, but several Beastman Kingdoms have already issued warnings."

"Based on the current situation, how long before we can open the gate to release the water?" Hilov followed up with a question.

"Probably next week, within ten days," Armand extended the five days reported by Chap.

Horn and Hilov’s concern for the water level was due to the dredging project for the new river, a key project for lowering Nanze Lake’s water level and opening up new channels.

On this dredging project, Horn encountered a massive problem.

According to the original plan, the first phase of dredging alone had to clear a 20-kilometer long riverbed that ranged from 100 meters wide at the broadest to 80 meters at the narrowest.

Currently, over two thousand people were laboring on this dredging project, yet it still couldn’t be completed before the advent of the rainy season.

Moreover, when the rainy season arrived, if a dam blocked the water, the Nanze Lake level would rise, even affecting the Beastman Villages on both sides.

Otherwise, it would bring a heap of silt, requiring a lot of redundant work.

If it ultimately couldn’t be done, Horn would not insist, and would at most wait for the rainy season to pass before resuming construction.

But at this moment, Hilov suggested a new idea; if it couldn’t be completed, they should at least cut a 30-meter wide channel for drainage, at least achieving some progress.

This idea instantly inspired Horn.

Even though he was busy suppressing bandits in the cave forest at the time, he still wrote a letter to Hilov, explaining the principle of water flow for sediment erosion.

After discussions with stonemasons, as well as Vite, his grandfather Fante, and the water engineers captured from various noble castles in Langsande County, they came up with a brand-new plan.

In essence, it was to first build a 200-meter long, 5-meter wide brick and mortar dam bridge at the lake’s river entrance, and then make gates using a double layer of soil-planked wood.

Then clear the silted channels before and after the river entrance gates, and only dredge the middle 20-meter-wide area of the rear river channel.

On both sides, build temporary simple river-blocking dams using simple stone cage wood frames.

When the water level rises in the rainy season, open the gates to release water.

Under normal circumstances, the lake water is laden with large amounts of silt, resulting in water being present but very little drainage.

As the lake water passes through the channel, it would bring new silt and mud.

But after the previous design, the pressure resulted in a rapid flow passing through the narrower central area.

Due to the simple river-blocking dams on both sides, the flow can’t spill over the sides, and a lake with rising levels stands behind.

This way, the flow rate will surge, yet the cross-section available for the flow will narrow, increasing the speed of the flow and hence creating a strong impact force.

Not only could it carry away heavy silt, but it could also wash away a significant amount of original sediment.

This effectively used natural water power to replace manual dredging work.

If Horn wanted to, work on the river-blocking dam wouldn’t even have to halt.

According to the calculations by a few hydraulic engineers who graduated from the Immortal Stone Field Claiden University, if the dredging of the channel could be completed, the overall water level of the Daze Village Lake could be expected to drop by five to twelve meters, or even more.

By then, it was estimated that 900 square kilometers of arable fertile land, especially in the Beize District, could be newly available.

After listening to Armand recount the rough timeline, the simply clad Horn buttoned up his collar and stepped out from behind the screen wall: "After the gate’s opened next week, I need to return to Joan of Arc Castle, Madlan is urging that the tax plan is finally ready."

"Oh, it’s about time to go," Hilov didn’t say much more, just let her tail droop lazily over the chair.

Horn stepped forward, gently stroking her head: "I will write letters from time to time, and when you can come out from the Mechanical Palace, I’ll take you to see the sea."

"The sea..." Hilov shook her head, displacing Horn’s hand, "I’ll take you at your word."

Before Horn could reply, there was an urgent knock on the study door: "Your Grace, it’s me, Raphael, are you available now?"

"Come in." Horn smiled apologetically at Hilov, "What’s the matter?"

"The tunnel entrance has finally been pried open." Raphael’s hair was slicked down by the rain, "There are some things you might need to see for yourself."