Day 312 of Banishment: Reclamation (2)
A ropeway is a system that spans from cliff to cliff, across rivers, or along mountain slopes, using ropes to transport goods tied to them by winding the ropes.
If the rope is looped, it can transport goods in both directions simultaneously. Additionally, by increasing the rope's strength, it can even transport people.
… This time, the main routes requiring transportation are between the ruins and the base, as well as between the iron sand sifting site and the base. Since these are all points at different elevations, attaching weights to the ropes and using pulleys would allow transportation without the need for winding mechanisms.
Marylia also considered using carts, but she concluded that building a ropeway would be easier than paving mountain paths for carts to pass through.
Of course, constructing the ropeway would require a large amount of "sturdy rope", which would be very heavy... but thanks to the ruins, this burden could be somewhat alleviated.
"Let’s see, probably over here..."
Marylia ventured deeper into the ruins. She hadn’t fully explored the entire vast ruin yet... but she had a rough idea of where to look.
"Ah, there it is!"
… And Marylia found what she was looking for. It was... thin iron wire made by stretching iron into fine strands and twisting several of them together.
"I knew it had to be here! After all, there’s a mine and its temporary base not too far away!"
The iron wire was rusted and tangled around a broken pulley and its supporting pillar. But... upon searching the nearby houses, she found two rolls of wire in good condition.
"Ehehe, the people back then must have used this to build a ropeway... Next, I think there’s probably a chain nailed somewhere on the cliff leading down to the valley. I’ll collect that and toss it into the furnace."
… Ropeways aren’t exactly a new invention. If a town like this could be built 100 years ago, they must have constructed a ropeway connecting the mine to the town. Her hunch had been correct.
"If there’s any other scrap iron, I’ll toss it into the furnace too. Hehehe..."
Most of the iron in this town had rusted and decayed, but throwing it into the furnace would still work. The iron, exposed to intense flames and charcoal, would shed its rust and transform into strong, beautiful metal.
"... In that case, it might be better to build a new furnace in this town. Iron sand and scrap iron behave differently, so mixing them wouldn’t be ideal..."
With that in mind, Marylia decided to build a new furnace and a charcoal kiln to produce pure iron.
… The ruins were gradually being transformed by Marylia’s hands, but that couldn’t be helped. Regardless of what the people from 100 years ago might think, the dead had no rights!
Marylia immediately began constructing the furnace.
She gathered clay from the steep cliffs, drew water from the nearby water source, and purified the clay by washing away impurities. She then kneaded and stacked the clay to build the furnace.
At the same time, Iron Golems were digging holes nearby, where the charcoal kilns would be built.
After instructing the Iron Golems to begin smelting, Marylia moved on to designing the ropeway.
"Hanging cargo cars from the ropes and allowing both people and goods to board seems like the best approach."
As she muttered this, Marylia sketched diagrams on parchment, pondering, "What should I do?"
"Going downhill is one thing, but going uphill would require either winding the rope or having the cargo pull itself along the rope... If it were connecting points at the same elevation, I could just add another rope for the operator to pull, but... what should I do?"
The main issue with ropeways is moving from lower to higher elevations, not the other way around. Gravity takes care of downhill movement, and all that’s needed is a braking mechanism...
"Attach wheels to the part that contacts the rope, connect those wheels to a wheel inside the cargo car with another rope, and add pedals to the wheel inside the cargo car... Could a pedal-powered system work? Or would it be better to have the rope wound at both the start and end points? That would require more manpower, but the structure would be simpler… Oh, what about the support pillars?"
Marylia groaned as she considered the materials, construction time, and labor required for operation.
Every solution seemed to create new problems. Marylia muttered, "Ugh, this is so tricky..." as she racked her brain... but she found herself oddly enjoying the process.
Having a clear goal made it fun. It felt rewarding. She could feel herself making progress.
Marylia smiled, thinking, "These kinds of worries are such a luxury," as she cheerfully sketched out the design.
And so, on the 327th day of her banishment...
"The ropeway will be pedal-powered. It’ll have a lot of parts and be a lot of work, but let’s do our best."
Marylia decided to build an advanced ropeway and informed the golems of her plan!
Now, building a ropeway would require a lot of materials.
First, the ropes.
This would be made by repurposing the existing wire rope as reference material and creating a new one.
… Using the wire rope she found was a bit risky. Even if it looked fine on the outside, there could be rust inside. The rope for the ropeway would literally be a lifeline, carrying both cargo and lives. She couldn’t afford to use anything subpar.
Marylia decided to use a wire rope for the ropeway made by twisting plant fibers into a rope, wrapping wire around it, and then twisting multiple strands together.
By using plant fibers as the core, the wire rope would gain flexibility, which in turn would increase its durability. Combining multiple strands would further enhance its strength.
… Incidentally, making the wire rope required constructing several large spinning wheels.
Spinning wheels were convenient for twisting the ropes. Additionally, twisting iron wire was difficult for the smooth fingers of Iron Golems and Terracotta Golems, while Mud Golems risked causing rust. And if Marylia tried to do it herself, she might cut her fingers on the wire!
By using spinning wheels for the twisting process, even Iron Golems and Terracotta Golems could make wire ropes. This gave Marylia peace of mind.
… Marylia stared off into the distance, muttering, "Building spinning wheels for wire ropes for the ropeway requires woodworking... and making large ones takes a lot of work..." But it couldn’t be helped. This was surely all part of the path to a quicker return!
The ropeway required more than just wire ropes, of course. Naturally, support pillars were also needed.
These would be erected on the mountain slopes to support the ropes. When cargo passed over a pillar, the cargo car would move over the rope support on the pillar.
Marylia decided to use the sturdiest wood she could find for the pillars. She would use logs, charred on the surface for anti-corrosion treatment, as the pillars.
Additionally, creating these pillars required a map.
The map, made by sending the small Iron Golem on a wyvern to survey the area, was essential for the ropeway.
A map was indispensable for building the ropeway. Without some kind of map, there would be no way to determine the best route for the ropeway.
"Let’s see, this is the cliff over here. So, I’d like the ropeway to pass through this area as much as possible..."
Marylia muttered to herself as she drew lines on a copy of the map, deciding the most efficient route for the ropeway. The Iron Golems watching nearby nodded along, memorizing the planned route. What reliable golems they were!
… Once the golems had firmly memorized the route...
"Alright, let’s clear all the trees in this area. Salvage any logs that look suitable for pillars, and drop the rest down the mountain to turn into charcoal later."
Marylia gave the order!
"Alright, everyone, be careful. Even for you guys, getting crushed by a falling tree would be a bit of a hassle, wouldn’t it?"
Marylia directed the Iron Golems on-site while referring to the map. The Iron Golems quickly began clearing the forest! The work progressed at an incredible pace, as the Iron Golems tirelessly cut down trees one after another. After all, Iron Golems never tire!
"... Oh. That over there is probably a monster nest. Everyone, gather up! Charge in! Clear it all out!"
… Marylia was relentless. She showed no fear in the face of the rapid progress, making quick decisions and issuing immediate orders. As a result, the Iron Golems moved at maximum speed... and it didn’t take long for a neatly cleared path to form along the mountain slope!
Now, with the wire ropes made, the path cleared, and the pillars gradually being erected... there was still a mountain of things left to do.
The cargo cars needed wheels at the top where they would contact the wire, and these wheels had to be connected to pedals inside the car for rotation. This required pulleys and gears!
… But somehow, Marylia managed. She created a model to test her design, then had the Iron Golems build the cargo cars and ropeway based on her plans. She used the map made by the small Iron Golem to figure out where to install and transport everything... and stayed busy.
Having a map made a huge difference. Marylia couldn’t help but think, "Maybe I should have pushed myself to do this sooner."
From what she could see from above, the island had one river to the north and one to the south, with the northern river branching off and extending further northwest.
This meant iron sand sifting could be done in three locations. Marylia was delighted and immediately sent the newly created Iron Golems to the new sifting sites to prepare settling ponds.
Once a few more Iron Golems were made, she planned to start iron sand sifting at these locations. If that happened, iron production would triple. The goal of 100 Iron Golems was getting closer and closer!
… Marylia worked so hard that she sometimes forgot to eat or sleep.
After all, she was making progress not only toward gathering 100 Iron Golems but also toward finding a way to escape this island... no, even without escaping, a way to return to her homeland.
Until now, her life had largely been about surviving the winter and staying alive. Creating Iron Golems had been a means of supporting her survival. This was especially true for Jade.
… But now, she wasn’t working just to survive. She was working toward a new goal, one that assumed her survival... and that made all the difference.
That’s why Marylia was happy. Building the ropeway, gathering iron, smelting it all in one place, mass-producing Iron Golems while shaping the island, and eventually turning the island into a golem... being so close to achieving such a goal made her incredibly happy.
… But that happiness came at a cost.
Working so hard that she forgot to eat or sleep naturally took a toll on her body.
"I caught a cold..."
Marylia had caught a cold!
What do you think about this chapter?
