Episode 105. marriage proposal (3)
“Ummm… Paris? wake up. Wake up.”
“uuu; What’s going on? Are you hurt?”
Suppressing the yawn that leaked out of my mouth and getting up, Ino pointed to the bottom of the tree and the leaves were covering the two of us like a curtain.
Then the answer was obvious.
“Is anyone here?”
“Yeah, I woke you up because you seemed to be calling. Hey there, your clothes and cloak.”
“What, when did you go over there?
“When you kick the leaves you covered last night.”
After we had barely changed into our outdoor clothes while we were chatting about such trivial things, I stroked the trunk of a tree whose branches were gathered together as if to hide us from the outside world.
Then, slowly, as a living person stretches, the tree spreads its branches. Then, through the branches, I see a person kneeling on the ground.
“Oh, Mr. Paris?”
“Uh… ah, you, you. What is it?”
An attendant who works in my mansion. I seemed to have just woken up, so I jumped down from the tree and tied my feet in the sandals I had taken off and tied them in a knot.
The attendant glanced at the top of the tree strangely, so I lowered my head in the direction of the attendant, wanting something.
The attendant, who was carefully looking up at me, whispered quietly.
“Artisans sent from Antandros have arrived.”
“···at las.”
I turned my head towards Ino, towards somewhere wrapped in the leaves.
“I’ll call you from the palace, and I’ll come back for a little while!”
“Uhhhhh. going well Buy a snack when you come!”
After saying yes, I quickly left the forest with the attendant.
Then they ran straight toward Troy and then turned south and soon passed through the south of Troy and flowed into the Aegean Sea.
And a couple of small boats are floating on the river.
I tidied up my clothes and walked to the pier to wait for the craftsmen to get off the boat.
As expected, there are many familiar faces among those who jump from the top of the galley down, assisted by attendants. Indeed, Skleos himself, who picked out and brought only the people I cared about, has a pretty good eye…
“Lord?”
“…Are you here too?”
“Yeah, didn’t they tell me to pick up about 30 good blacksmiths and carpenters? Because I am also a blacksmith.”
“What about the re-employment?”
“Antandros is a city that I used to go back to without it. I left it with Anoitus. and···”
Skleos turned his stiff neck muscles and looked out at the famous walls of Troy in the distance.
Watching the sight of a giant lying flat, Skleos let out a sigh.
“Sometimes, I wanted to come and see you. It’s a place you thought you’d never see in your life.”
Skleos’ expression contained more than just the satisfaction of a tourist.
Seeing that face, I decided not to talk about this topic any more.
I immediately ordered the banners of Antandros to be hung on the boats, and led them into the city.
An intermittent sigh escapes from behind. To them, Troia would be the greatest city they had ever seen, and the crowds in front of them would be like that.
But the eyes of the carpenters and blacksmiths were quite different.
Among the blacksmiths, there were many cases of secretly stealing tears or staring blankly at a corner of the market or temple.
As if he would never forget this moment.
After leading the party to the center of the city, I turned around and spoke to Skleos.
“What will happen from now on must be done in secret. I know it’s hard, but I have to finish it within a month at the latest or a week or two at the shortest.”
“Come to think of it, I haven’t properly talked about what kind of job I have to take on until now.”
“Because you never know. Secrecy is important again this time.”
As soon as I said that, the gate to the mansion opened at just the right time. Some of the carpenters seem to be nervous and swallow saliva.
And, beyond the gate, countless tools and timbers are piled up to welcome them.
“…Well, what kind of work are you going to entrust to me from now on?”
***
marriage.
There was a complicated inside story to point out as one. If I had to give an excuse, there were too many things in front of me to care about such personal things.
The threat of war looms, and an insurrectionary crisis arises. Hattusha watches over us, and the eyes of Achaia and Asia Minor are focused. Odysseus came and the Amazons attacked.
I was busy. It was very busy.
“Paris?”
“Keuheum, first of all, there is my personal forge in the back. The blacksmiths will have to move over there and work on it. The carpenters have brought tools to the shed right next to it, so go there.”
“Everybody move!”
“Move the things you brought, and start by gathering.”
And the thought of whether it would be a bad thing to promote marriage with Ino, and whether Aphrodite’s ‘gift’ was waiting for me, held me back.
“Scleos, and all of you, come this way. I will explain the situation in detail.”
I would rather have done everything, killed Agamemnon and bankrupted Hattusha’s army, and then proposed to her.
However, reality came like overdue homework.
For the safety of Troy and Antandros, out of political necessity, unexpectedly.
I don’t want to leave this marriage as a memory later.
So, at least as much as the marriage proposal.
“I drew at least a rough sketch while I was talking to Aeneas.”
“Is this… is this possible? I don’t think it can be made by human hands.”
just like we wanted
The blacksmith standing in front of me with arms folded… is the first blacksmith I’ve ever met. The one who gave the design of the scissors to Skleos.
“It was like that when I first made the water wheel. But it’s okay because we’re not making such huge, long-lasting stuff right now. It should work for a while. As long as it works.”
“Like toys, lord?”
“okay. toy. That’s the right word.”
This man with the handle of a hammer on his side and asking me questions is the one who taught me to hammer. A middle-aged woman with a long burn scar extending from her right shoulder to her forearm.
I think as I look back at the blueprints and the whole view of the mansion I designed myself.
“It will be a very, fancy toy. the whole mansion. A toy crafted by the greatest blacksmiths blessed by the Lord of the Volcano.”
At that, the blacksmiths did not protest any further.
Skleos, who had been listening to my story for a while, smiled lightly.
“Lord. There’s no use putting it up like that.”
“Are you clear?”
“whopping.”
And lightly pat my shoulder.
“It doesn’t feel too bad, though.”
Skleos nodded at the artisans around him. Bumpy people with tools start moving around.
“Let’s see how far we can go with those who receive God’s grace…”
Craftsmen in their 30s soon disperse in search of their jobs. Hammers and chisels and saw blades sway with cool light.
That’s how the strange devices in the blueprints I drew begin to take shape.
After living in the forest with Ino, returning to the city and inspecting the site, repeating it for several weeks.
Soon strange structures of bronze and copper crossed the mansion.
***
In fact, automatic doors and steam engines even existed in ancient Greece.
Of course, even if you refer to ‘ancient Greece’, you will have to skip hundreds to thousands of years from now, but from the point of view of modern people, it is not too difficult to jump over the technological gap of this era.
We made Medieval Steel some time ago in Antandros.
-Kirik.
-Kiririk.
The sound of the oiled metal joints moving makes me feel somewhat calmed down.
Oil is precious in this age, not to mention copper and bronze.
But if you could use both of them to your heart’s content, you could do anything.
I felt the complex intertwined joints and wiped the lubricant (i.e., olive oil) from my hands with a nearby towel.
“Scleos, what happened to the artisans?”
“Most of them are walking around the city now. Just in case, we have placed two or three or four people in the warehouse to wait.”
“What about the rest of the materials?”
“For now, I ordered the artisans to take turns shipping them, so it should be fine.”
“···great. Uncle is also going back to the boat first.”
“Paris? Oh Inone-nim is returning after being guided by the ladies-in-waiting!”
“Whoa, yes. For now, let everyone wait. Light a fire in the brazier down there.”
I opened the gate and went outside to face the sunlight pooling on the statue covered with gold leaf next to the gate.
And soon after, a shadow covers the statue.
“Paris?”
“Ah… Ino, are you here?”
“The ladies-in-waiting were giggling. Isn’t the mansion strangely fixed?”
“···no. I built it under my own supervision, so it should be fine.”
With a slightly questionable expression, Ino tilted her head.
I grabbed Ino’s hand and gently pulled him toward the door to prevent his thoughts from lengthening.
As we get closer, the door opens.
No one opened the door.
– Ting. Tee, tee, tee, ting.
Only the sound of metal colliding lightly resonated somewhere.
From nob le mt l. co m
Likewise, behind our backs, the main door closed automatically.
“···hmm? Are there fairies? Paris here…”
“Here, the marble is ground white. Except here you have your favorite marigold pattern engraved and painted yellow.”
Feeling suspicious, Ino looked around, and I quietly guided Ino to the next room.
As Ino hurriedly spoke out without noticing something.
“There are red cloths hanging in this room. I wanted to give it a little brighter feel, so I put some potted plants there and expanded the garden to that point. How is it?”
“Oh, the flower trees over there have grown so much! I could lie on it!”
“For that reason… I planted it. I want to be like when I was in the forest with you, uh, anyway.”
I suddenly look back at Ino and feel his face heat up.
And I also remember the time when Aeneas trembled before confessing to Creusa.
Didn’t you just shiver for no reason?
I turn around to try to relax.
“I’m going to dig a pond in front of it later.”
“pond?”
“huh. I will plant daffodils around it. You like daffodils.”
I still hadn’t let go of Ino’s hand. I led Ino to the next room, nervous that I would break a cold sweat from Ino’s interlocking hands.
A new statue was erected here, and a mural was painted here. Here the room has been repurposed, and here the walls have been removed.
explanations that follow.
Ino quietly listens to the explanation.
“hmm···.”
“what’s the matter?”
“Strange.”
Ino paused for a moment and frowned as if thinking about something.
“It’s strangely strange to point out something. Why do you look so bad today?”
“I?”
“huh.”
Ino grabbed the hem of his cloak and put his hand on my forehead.
“Look, aren’t you breaking out in a cold sweat? Are you not feeling well? Somehow, it seemed like I was overdoing it earlier…”
“No, because it isn’t.”
“And since I’ve been away for a very long time, I thought a lot had changed… But I can’t see anything different…?”
how much time has passed How much more do I have to drag?
When I glanced at the lady-in-waiting nearby, the maid hurriedly ran towards the warehouse.
-Kiririk. Kirik. Kirik…
If you don’t pay attention, you won’t be able to hear it properly, and even if you do, you will hear a small sound that makes you wonder if a bird or an animal is crying somewhere.
The sound of something huge spinning slowly.
“are you okay. It was just because I had a lot of things I wanted to show you.”
“You said there was a lot you wanted to show? What is it?”
Finally I brought Ino into a room.
It is an ordinary-looking reception room.
Walls made of bricks and wood, statues and statues of various mythical animals and plants erected nearby, the ceiling covered with red cloth, the darkened sky reflected through the window…
“Paris? Ready! They say the water is boiling!”
“…it took an awfully long time.”
The maid’s cry.
-Kiririk. Kirik. Kirik.
and a growing sound.
I also grabbed Ino’s other hand. I took a step closer to the confused Ino and said.
“Sorry. to make you wait.”
“hmm? what?”
“I want to show you this…”
Mouth doesn’t come off suddenly.
I close and open my eyes for a moment and speak to Ino, who is still looking up at me with a worried look.
“I will start now. Can you stand over here for a second?”
“Um… um?”
The maids extinguish the torches around them all at once.
“Suddenly, what is this…”
Ino opened her mouth to say something, and looked back at the butterfly decoration nearby…
Stop talking.
-Kirik.
A butterfly made of brass was flapping its wings.
Each joint emits a tiny stream of water vapor.
Technology is no big deal. The basic principles of the steam engine had been completed since BC, but it could not be used for industry.
Because it was just a toy.
And all I needed was toy-level skills.
Suddenly, the surroundings light up all at once. Hundreds of hidden mirrors move and the entire room starts to glow.
“Paris?”
“Wait a minute, watch over me just a little longer.”
And the brass griffon nearby, the fairy and the tree start to move.
Everything metallic in this room comes to life.