Chapter 149: Completion
Half a day later. A patch of wasteland outside the walls of Iron Fortress.
This land had originally been earmarked for the next major factory, but it had been temporarily requisitioned for a far more "sacred" purpose. Kaito stood in the center of the clearing, surveying the few hundred skeletons gathered from various Imperial departments.
These skeletons each had their own... hobbies.
Some were stacking rocks into towers of questionable structural integrity.
Some were digging holes only to immediately fill them back in with the same dirt.
One particularly focused individual was engaged in a head-butting contest with a tree, rhythmically slamming its skull against the bark.
"LISTEN UP!"
Instantly, the hundreds of skeletons ceased their eccentricities. In perfect, bone-creaking synchronization, they swiveled their heads to face their Sovereign.
"Our mission today is to create something entirely new!"
Kaito held up a wooden board he'd prepared. On it was a crude diagram of a small square block. On the block, a single character was carved in reverse.
"Step one: We need to manufacture thousands upon thousands of these tiny blocks." Kaito pointed to the diagram. "Step two: On each block, you will carve a single letter. Step three: We arrange these blocks into sentences. Step four: We apply ink, lay paper over it, and—PRESS!"
"We'll be able to produce book pages at lightning speed! Is that understood?!"
A chorus of rhythmic "Gahs" erupted as the skeletons nodded in unison.
"Excellent! The materials are over there! Operation: Gutenberg, start now!"
Kaito gestured toward the mountains of timber, clay, and iron tools. With a collective rattle, the skeletons charged the pile.
Naturally, the situation devolved into chaos within seconds.
The "Demolition Squad" from the Department of Infrastructure had a very literal understanding of the word block. Three skeletons hauled over a massive, six-foot-long oak log. Using a two-handed saw intended for felling trees, they began to work with grueling intensity.
Ten minutes later, a waist-high, half-meter-thick wooden stump was born. The three skeletons stood around the massive chunk of wood, tilting their skulls as if wondering why their "block" didn't look like the Master's drawing.
Elsewhere, a few skeletons from the Arcane Legion had found the clay. Possessing slightly higher IQs, they deduced that the clay needed to be dried. One of them cupped its hands, manifested a condensed fireball, and launched it point-blank at a large mound of wet clay.
BOOM!
The clay detonated, showering a dozen nearby skeletons in wet, grey sludge.
Kaito felt a phantom pulse of pain inside his skull. "Blocks! Small blocks! Uniform size! Like this!"
He marched over to the skeletons wrestling with the giant log, snatched up an axe, and began hacking with precision. Wood chips flew in a frantic spray. Soon, a pile of uniform, palm-sized wooden squares sat on the ground.
Kaito held one up for the crowd to see. "This size! Copy this!"
This time, the skeletons seemed to grasp the concept. They began a rhythmic cling-clang of industry. Granted, there were still "accidents"—some turned their blocks into triangles, while others whittled the wood down until they were holding toothpicks. But eventually, after wasting half a mountain of timber, a pile of barely-qualified blocks was ready.
"Step two! The Carving!"
Kaito had a massive board hauled out, listing every common word used in his novel. "One block, one word! And it must be carved in reverse!"
The skeletons swarmed the board, staring at the symbols. One skeleton pointed to the character for "Bone" and let out an excited "Gah!" It grabbed a chisel and went to work. Moments later, it proudly presented its masterpiece. It wasn't the word for bone; it was a shaky, abstract self-portrait of a skeleton.
Another was responsible for the word "Eat." He seemed to have a unique interpretation of the command; having finished the carving, he immediately shoved the wooden block into his jaw and began to chew vigorously.
The most absurd case was the skeleton assigned the word "I." He stared at the block for a long time, chisel in hand. Finally, he gave up on the wood entirely. When Kaito ran over, the skeleton had already carved a jagged, lopsided "I" directly onto one of its own ribs.
He looked quite proud, pointing at his chest and then at the board, as if showing Kaito how well he had "internalized" the lesson.
Kaito's Soul Fire flickered with the intensity of a dying sun. Suppressing the urge to dismantle them all for firewood, he stepped in to provide "hand-in-hand" instruction.
"The character for King (王) is three horizontal lines and one vertical!"
He gripped a skeleton's hand, guiding the chisel. The skeleton was obedient, but the second Kaito let go, it added a tiny dot to the top of the symbol, changing it from King to Master/Lord (主). Then, it dropped to one knee before Kaito.
"..."
Kaito realized he needed to change his strategy. These things were too literal for linguistics.
"Listen! Forget the words! Your task is to treat these marks as pictures! Copy the 'pictures' onto the wood exactly as they appear!"
This command, the skeletons could handle. They stopped trying to interpret the meaning and focused purely on mimicry. The scene was still a mess, but slowly, a collection of bizarrely shaped but recognizable type-blocks was produced.
"Step three! The Layout!"
Kaito produced the first page of his manuscript. "Follow the order on the paper. Find the matching 'picture' and place it in this frame!"
He held up a heavy iron chase.
This was the spark that ignited the powder keg. One skeleton found the block for "Demon." Just as it reached for it, another skeleton—also eyeing the same block—snatched it away. A wrestling match over a single piece of wood broke out instantly.
Kaito didn't hesitate. He grabbed both brawlers by the spine and dragged them to a nearby pit. This was the Temporary Re-education Demonstration Zone. Without a word, he tossed them in and began shoveling dirt over them.
The clearing went dead silent.
Every skeleton stopped moving, watching their two companions who were now nothing but heads sticking out of the soil. The two buried heads were still glaring at each other.
Kaito dusted off his hands and turned back to the crowd. "Continue."
With the threat of being "planted" looming over them, the skeletons' collective IQ suddenly spiked. they formed an orderly line, carefully selecting their assigned characters and handing them to the layout specialist.
Finally, just as the sun dipped below the horizon, the first movable-type printing plate in the history of the Evernight Empire was complete.
It was crooked. There were massive gaps between the blocks. Some characters were even slanted at a forty-five-degree angle.
But it was done.
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