Chapter 218 The Mechanical Palace is Glowing
Although it took a lot of effort for Gaskur to move and arrange the beds, he felt a sense of satisfaction when he cleaned up all the dust and debris in the house.

Gaskul had carpentry skills in his hometown. After helping the Holy Casting Tribe to repair and build furniture, he was the first among his hundred households to be allocated an Insura house.

This house is located on the edge of the town and its windows face north.

Standing by the window, Gaskul could also see the Mechanical Palace on the other side of the Para River.

Gaskul lives on the third floor of the Insura apartment building, and the ground floor is the warehouse, canteen and bathroom.

The room is about 45 square meters. At the corner of the room is a stone chimney. Inside are square stone bricks firmly bonded with mortar.

A U-shaped yellow mud flue, half as high as a calf, is connected to the lower end of the chimney. The flue is filled with smoke, emitting billowing hot air.

The Gaskul family's simple big bed was placed above the chimney, with dry straw underneath and a linen sheet on top of the straw, and on top of the sheet was a woolen blanket and a quilt stuffed with reed fluff.

The five members of the Gaskul family will spend the entire winter together on this big bed.

Opposite the big bed were two simple boxes containing Gaskul's belongings and clothes, and finally a toilet surrounded by a curtain, as well as cabinets and shelves near the window.

According to what Gaskul heard from Mr. Witt, this was only a temporary solution, and in the future everyone would either have to move into the courtyard or every household would have to install a stove.

The Insula building they were in had a total of four floors. The ceilings got lower as the floors went up, but the area was also larger and there were fewer rooms.

Therefore, there are only 8 rooms on the third floor. There should be 4 more rooms on the top floor, but they have not been built yet and cannot be lived in for the time being. Therefore, the entire Insura has 18 rooms.

There are 65 people in the ten households where Gaskur lives, young and old, but most of the rooms on the second floor are only 30 to 35 square meters, so basically only one family of three lives there.

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

The prayer room is a religious place that is used to store household registers and valuables, and is also used by residents to conduct religious activities and pray.
The security office is basically the office of the head of ten households, responsible for punishing residents who violate the rules, guarding the gates and placing militia weapons.

Gaskul counted the days and suddenly found that today was the day he had to guard the gate, but fortunately he only had to guard the first half of the night and could still sleep well in the second half.

"I'll report to the security office first." Gaskul took out a short cloak from the box and put it on, then said to his wife, "You can go and eat by yourselves when dinner comes."

The dinner time for each Insura is from evening classes to sunset, which is from 5 to 6 o'clock. There will be a special night watchman coming to ring the gong to remind people.

Horn strictly controls daily necessities such as food and salt, and each person is allocated a limited amount of food and salt per day.

Every day's dinner basically consists of rice and potato porridge, wheat bread, roasted mushrooms, wild vegetable and fish soup, and small berries. After all the families in the ten households arrive, the head of the ten households will take count and start eating when everyone is present.

One Insulari houses ten households, about fifty to sixty people, and the ten household heads can basically know and manage them.

Since he needed to guard the gate, Gaskur had to first register at the security office, get a loaf of bread to fill his stomach, and then exchange it with the uncle on duty during the evening class.

After leaving the room, Gaskul came to the railing of the corridor, and Insura's own small courtyard appeared in front of him.

There was a well in the center of the courtyard, and on both sides of the well were wooden fenced flower beds planted with potato roots. Several children were playing and fighting in the courtyard with wooden sticks made of twigs.

These corridors and stairs were all made of wood. The stairs creaked as Gaskul stepped on them. In the chicken coop under the stairs, a few hens were clucking.

When he reached the second floor, he immediately smelled the aroma of rice crackers mixed with stench, filling the courtyard.

The first floor or ground floor has the main gate on the south side, garbage bin storage rooms on both sides of the main gate, a bathroom on the west side, a cafeteria on the east side, and a warehouse on the north side.

"Gashkur, the security office is this way." A middle-aged man with messy beard and black teeth shouted to Gaskur.

"Head of the Tenth Household of Melikso." Gaskul immediately stepped forward to greet him.

Melikso nodded indifferently and pulled Gaskul into the security room.

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

On the innermost wall of the security room, there were a dagger, several sharpened and blackened wooden spears, and two pairs of shackles.

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

"I know." Gaskur replied immediately.

After sunset, the main gate will be closed and you can only enter through the side door. To enter from the side, you must explain the reason to the gatekeeper and leave your fingerprints.

During evening prayers, which is around 8: p.m., the side door will also be closed. Those who fail to get back in time will either have to sleep on the street or go to the police station to surrender and observe curfew.

Even though I had to sweep the streets and help empty toilets the next day after turning myself in at the police station, it was better than freezing to death on the street.

"You are going to work in the furniture workshop of the Holy Casting Department tomorrow morning, right? I heard that you are already a team leader?" "Oh, yes, I have the skills of furniture carpentry, and I was appointed as the team leader this afternoon." Gaskur answered in surprise. He was only appointed as the team leader in the afternoon, and the head of the ten households knew about it in the evening?
The craftsmanship of a carpenter and furniture carpentry are two different things. Furniture carpentry makes doors, windows, furniture and other wooden products that require fine joining, which is considered advanced carpentry.

Melikso nodded slightly. This was consistent with the news brought by the Centurion of Mosan: "How about this, you are working for our Pope. If you don't get enough rest, it will affect the next day's work. You just need to guard the gate until evening prayer tonight."

"Ah? Then there's still a long way to go before the second half of the night. What should I do?"

"Why not let big, stupid Brune do it? He's so big that he can't even speak clearly."

Brune was a fellow villager of Gaskur. Although they were born in different places, they were both from the same refugee village when they were in Jeanne d'Arc.

Brune was an orphan and beggar. He had a dull personality, spoke slowly, was not very likable, and was often scolded by Merikso.

"It's okay for me to stay up a little late..."

"What are you talking about? If you stay up a little later, it will affect the furniture production of our Papal States. If it affects the furniture production, everyone will not be able to sleep well. If everyone does not sleep well, they will not have the energy to fight. If they do not have the energy to fight, they will be wiped out by the knights."

"Yes, is that so?"

Melikso put the wooden spear into Gaskul's hand and said, "That's it. You should go to bed early. If you see Lord Rekto, tell him that Melikso from Black Dog Village sends his regards."

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

There are no entertainment facilities on Qiumu Island. If you want to pray, there is basically a prayer room in every Insula building. Who would go out at night if there is nothing to do?

Sitting by the door bored, he waited from dusk until the stars rose. Gaskur finally stood up, rubbing his crackling bones. Just then, he heard the night watchman announcing the time outside the door.

After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, Brune, a tall and strong man wearing a woolen coat that was a size too small, came hurriedly and said, "Brother Gaskul, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

"It's nothing. You've been the one who caused me so much trouble." Gaskul handed the wooden spear to Brune, but he didn't leave. "I heard that you became an apprentice and learned a craft?"

"The carpenter thought my fingers were too thick," Brune said in a low voice. "I was the only one who was eliminated from the seven. Hey, brother Gaskul, how can you ..."

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

But in fact, if he talked to a familiar master, he could indeed get Brune to join, but this kid has rough hands and feet and may not be able to do the job well.

Brune held the wooden spear and sat on a chair by the door. "Then I'll be a laborer first. I'll get half a dinar a week anyway."

Gaskul stepped forward, but was speechless for a moment, for he was sad to see that Brune, when he sat down, was as tall as he was.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"...I heard, I heard, that there will be a conscription in six days. You are big and strong, why don't you join the army?"

Brune was so scared that he waved his hands repeatedly: "I don't know how to fight. If someone wants to hit me, I will just turn around and run away."

"Then you're just being bullied for nothing if you stay here?" Gaskul said earnestly, "I know how much you eat. According to our distribution, you can't eat enough every day. Your old boss is being chased by the knight for debts. Look how thin you are from hunger."

Brune held the wooden spear, lowered his head and said nothing.

Gaskul patted his shoulder helplessly and said, "You will join the army. Food and lodging are provided. After you are officially enlisted, you will get one dinar a day in peacetime and four dinars a day in wartime. Isn't life much better than now?"

After listening to Gaskul's words, Brune kept shaking his head.

"...Well, don't say I didn't remind you." Gaskur sighed, turned around and walked up the stairs to his home.

I knocked on the door and my wife asked, "Who is it?"

"I, Gaskur, am the famous flower thief in Jeanne d'Arc." Gaskur whispered.

There was a sound of the bolt being removed from the door. His wife Sally opened the door and gave him a cold look: "You are still stealing flowers... What are you doing? The children are here, bring them out quickly."

The two of them entered the house together. Unlike the cold outside, the room with a flue was still cold but not biting.

There was no light in the room, only starlight. The couple's three children just leaned against the windowsill and looked towards the north.

"What are you looking at?"

"Papa, look, there is a light in His Holiness's chamber."

"Glowing?" Picking up the youngest child, Gaskul went to the window and looked towards the Mechanical Palace. "It really is."

(End of this chapter)