The Story of Hero Among Heroes ~The Founding Chronicles of Arestia Chapter 104

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Chapter 104 – City Development

After coming back from the Land of Demons, Ares decided to focus on the city development plan once again.

Two months had pa.s.sed since the development first began.
With the funding and magic stones obtained from the Land of Demons, the development was progressing at a terribly rapid pace due to the increased manpower and the introduction of golems.

Ares and George, who went to sightsee around the city with Ramires… were both amazed and pleased with how far the development had gone.

[This is shocking to say the least. The speed is way too fast…]

Not only are most of the roads in Heinz had been paved with cobblestone, but the waterway had also been established. Boats are now operating on set routes along the waterways, as both a means of transportation for the civilians and to help transporting goods.
In addition to that, the waterway also serves as the hub for Heinz' plumbing system, which extends to the entire city.
The houses were made of bricks and stones, changing the cityscape immensely. The city was more well-organized now and various shops had opened for business. Not only in Brittany, but merchants from other places such as Romaria and the Royal Capital had also gathered here in Grants. There were many street stalls along the main street, creating a lively atmosphere.
A large square had also been set up in the middle of the city. Many children were playing there around the fountain at the center.

[It's totally different from Heinz a few months ago… Truly like dream…]

Ramires who often went around the city to patrol was the most obvious of the changes.
The people were confused with the rapid changes at first, but gradually got used to it. It's interesting to see how their old feelings also gradually disappeared as their living place changed for the better.

[When the cultural life improves, the peoples' consciousness will also change. Soon, it'll be on par with the Royal Capital or Romaria.]

George explained.

[The new cityscape seems to be well-received by the citizens. With Heinz' scale, full development should be finished in about a year.]

After a while, Ares asked George.

[George, what is that building?]

[Ah, that's public restroom. Just in case people is too far away from their home, but is in dire need to do 'that'. We've educated people about the usage of this building. And it's been built all over Heinz.]

George made use of the waterway plumbing system to enable to flush the toilets. The system made it so that water would always flow, making the sewage to move along. The sewage will be then collected to one place, where it would be purified with the water spirit's power. The cleaned water would then be flowed back to the waterway.
Not only in Grants, but he also applied this to the other cities and towns. Serious illness usually occurs on unsanitary city, therefore these public restrooms were set up around the major cities to prevent illness.

The toilet itself has water drawing apparatus installed, which made sure the bowl will always be washed with water. This maintained good hygiene.

[Plumbing and its equipment, as well as the installation, are urgent matters. In rural areas, human feces can be used for fertilizer, but in cities, it will become a hotbed for diseases. The level of hygiene is proportional to the occurence of disease.]

[But, who was the one who came up with this… equipment?]

[I quoted a paper written by a friend who is familiar in civil engineering. Of course, I also sought advice from him.]

George said with a small smile.

[Soon, he will come to Heinz. Afterward, perhaps I can leave it to him to further develop the city.]

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When they arrived at the suburban area, Ares noticed a building that lets out steam.

[What about that?]

Again, George answered the question.

[It's a public bath house.]

[What?! Hot bath!?]

Ares raised his voice upon hearing George's reply.

[What do you mean by that!? Can you explain in detail?]

[There are some hot springs in the area. So I made use of it to make a public bath house.]

[What are we doing here~ we should've gone to this place much earlier~]

Ramires was surprised with Ares' sudden change in att.i.tude.

[Erm… George-dono, a hot bath is…]

[Ah, I guess Grants had no customs of soaking in the bathtub filled with hot water.]

And so, George explained to Ramires.

[That aside, people living inthe Royal Capital tend to have a bath in the river on the suburbs or just wipe their bodies with hot water.]

[Too bad it's only now that you'll experience the pleasantness… By the way, George, why don't we stop here…]

[……Perhaps Milord wants to try it out?]

[Yosh, let's enter.]

Replying George almost immediately, Ares took out a hand towel from his waist bag.

[Alrighty then, let's check it out!]

Ares entered the building while whistling happily. Ramires asked George in a low voice after seeing this.

[George-dono… To even make His Excellency this happy…]

[Milord has an unusual liking to baths. Especially hot springs… This was also true in Romaria. It was him who promoted the public bath with hot spring in the Schwarzer Territory.]

George chuckled as he said so.

[Then… should we also follow inside?]

And so, the two also entered the building.

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When George and Ramires entered the bathhouse, they were immediately greeted by two entrances.

On one side is [Men] while on the other side is [Women].

The signs said.

[When we have a mixed bath, some guys tend to do stupid things. That's why we divided the baths for security reasons.]

George said as he went through the entrances with 'Men's' sign. Ramires quickly followed.

Inside was a rather large hallway. The floor was boarded, making it easy to step on.
There was a door at the end of the room… and George opened it.

A lot of hot steam instantly rushed out. Looking more closely inside… there was a figure of Ares happily immersing himself in a large bathtub.

[How is the water?]

[The best.]

Ares responded with a compliment.

Having heard the reply, George resumed his explanation to Ramires.

[ I myself had no prior experience of soaking in hot water before I went to Romaria. Such kind of bath was only available for aristocrats after all. However… Ares-sama promoted making public baths everywhere, spreading bathing culture in Schwarzer territory…]

[So, this was His Excellency's idea?]

Ares' reply surprised Ramires.

[Well, I guess it was~]

[I took note that once the bathing culture has been established, hygiene, which correlated to one's health, also improved. It also has the effect of healing fatigue, maintaining if not improving quality of work.]

George continued on.

[The popular bathhouse… it's only possible because Romaria was abundant with water, and there was a water spirit helping out. The same goes with this area… moreover, the hot spring exists because there is a volcano nearby. Otherwise, it won't even be possible]

[Certainly… It's not something I would expect to actually exist in the suburban area.]

George explained a bit more in response to Ramires' words.

[This hot spring is different from a regular hot spring as it has various effects. I want this place to eventually become a resting spot for the common civilians. Therefore, the bath house in the city proper will have to resort to boiling water manually while this hot bath will make use of the hot spring.]

And thus, public bathhouses steadily increase in number around Heinz.

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Ares was fully refreshed after the bath.

[By the way, I was wondering.]

He then asked George a question.

[The number of houses had become considerably large… and you intend to build even more? Is it really alright to build so many?]

[Recently, there is a rumour that people from various places, including the Royal Capital, are about to gather here at Grants. If that really comes to pa.s.s, as it is, there will be not enough houses for them to live in. I'll say this as many times as I need to. I want to make Heinz to become a city comparable to that of Romaria.]

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Indeed, a few years later, Heinz population would swell by several times, that it became the city with the largest population in the entire Arcadia continent. It was exactly as George said.