Chapter 361: The Design Discussion
The design mission for the new Evernight Academy campus proved to be far
thornier than Leo had anticipated.
The issue wasn't technical—technically speaking, the Empire's Mana-reinforcement
was capable of supporting almost any structural load. The problem lay in those
three words: Compatible for all races.
After Director Miller broke down the project requirements, the first topic they
tackled was the most fundamental variable: Scale.
"Dragon-men can reach up to 2.3 meters. Dwarves average about 1.1 meters.
Goblins are less than a meter," Miller stated, scribbling three sets of numbers
on the whiteboard. "The standard door height we used in the Eldritch Realm
was 2.1 meters. If we use that here, every Dragon-man will have to duck just to
enter a room."
"Then we increase the height," Leo suggested, flipping through his data logs.
"2.5 meters?"
"If the doors are 2.5 meters tall, can a Dwarf even reach the handle to push it
open?"
A heavy silence fell over the room before Milo raised a hand. "Dual handles? One
at the top, one at the bottom?"
Miller rubbed his chin, processing the logic. "Possible. But what about Goblins?
Even a 'bottom' handle for a Dwarf might be out of reach for a Goblin student."
"...Triple handles?"
"Three handles on a single door? Do you have any idea how much that would ruin
the aesthetic parameters?"
Milo shut his mouth. Leo thought for a few seconds before offering a solution.
"Sliding doors. No handles. We use floor-mounted pressure plates to trigger the
mechanism. Since the plates are on the ground, everyone can reach them
regardless of height."
"That works for doors," Miller conceded. "But what about the stairs? The stride
of a Dragon-man is three times that of a Dwarf. If the steps are too large, the
Dwarves can't climb them; if they're too small, the Dragon-men will try to take
three at a time and trip."
"Floating Platforms," Milo said, experiencing a rare moment of quick thinking.
"Scrap the stairs. Use Floating Platforms for everything. Like Imperial
elevators."
"For a fifteen-story teaching block? Do you know how many discrete units that
would require?" Miller tapped the whiteboard aggressively. "Floating Platforms
require Mana-drive and periodic maintenance. The 'Od-consumption' and overhead
costs would be staggering. We need stairs as a redundant backup system in case
of a mana-outage or Logic Error."
The discussion raged for the entire day, until the table was buried under three
layers of draft paper.
Eventually, Miller settled on a compromise: Main corridors and classroom
entrances would utilize sliding doors with pressure-plate triggers. The
staircases would feature a "dual-track" system—one side with standard steps and
the other with a gradual ramp. Additionally, Floating Platform stations would be
installed every three floors.
As for the classrooms, desks would be produced in three distinct
specifications—Large, Medium, and Small—distributed as needed. The instructor's
podium would be a height-adjustable model.
"How do we implement the adjustment mechanism?" Milo pressed.
"Magic," Miller replied, having fully embraced the Empire's universal answer to
engineering hurdles. "But we'll need to coordinate the specific kinetic runes
with the Arcane Legion."
"I'll go ask," Leo said, standing up. He was no longer as stiff or formal as he
had been upon arrival. After half a month of dealing with the Empire's Vampires
and Skeletons, he was well-versed in the local protocols.
The Infrastructure Command Center was just a five-minute walk away. When Leo
arrived, he found the supervising Vampire discussing mana-array layouts with a
Lich.
"Excuse me," Leo interrupted.
The Vampire looked up. "Report."
"For the Academy's new podiums, we need a height-adjustment feature. Is there a
specific magical apparatus that can handle this?"
The Vampire considered the request before turning to the Lich. The flames within
the Lich's eye sockets flickered twice—the skeletal equivalent of processing
data.
"Feasible," the Lich rasped. "We can utilize a standard Levitation Rune Array
inscribed on the base of the podium, coupled with a simplified trigger
mechanism."
"A trigger?"
"Step on it to rise. Jump once to descend."
Leo's brow twitched. "Step on it to rise? What if the instructor is… heavy?"
The Lich was silent for several seconds. "Define the weight parameter."
"An Orc instructor could easily exceed 150 kilograms."
"...I will recalibrate the load-bearing coefficients," the Lich muttered.
"One more variable," Leo added. "What if a Goblin stands on it?"
"A Goblin?"
"Yes. If they are too light, will the sensor fail to trigger?"
The Lich's soul-fire flickered erratically. This was the Lich version of a
migraine. "I will add a sensitivity adjustment module."
"Much appreciated."
"…Think nothing of it." The Lich's tone was flat, but Leo felt those hollow
sockets staring at him with a very specific emotion. It translated roughly to:
Your human requirements are more complicated than the actual construction.
On his way back, Leo passed the Evernight Mall and decided to stop in for some
new drafting pens. Some of the Empire's pens were mana-driven; they didn't
require ink dipping, never ran dry, and featured adjustable line-weights. They
were infinitely superior to the tools back in the Eldritch Realm. Milo had
bought a handful last week and had become practically inseparable from them.
"Chief Leo!"
A voice squeaked from a corner of the mall.
Leo turned to see Bobo poking his head out of a maintenance corridor, dragging a
mop that was nearly as tall as he was.
"Bobo? What are you doing here?"
"I've been reassigned to the Mall Sanitation Unit," Bobo said, his expression a
complex oscillation between a grin and a sob. "The construction site crew
complained that I made the floors too slippery. An Orc stepped on one of my
'polished' zones and nearly slid off the third floor..."
"So you were exiled to the mall."
"Correct," Bobo sighed. "But I still want to go back to the site."
"Haven't you caused enough 'Logic Errors' over there?"
"Those were statistical anomalies!" Bobo hoisted his mop with intense
determination. "Chief Leo, you have to believe me! I actually know architecture!
I just need one real opportunity!"
Leo looked down at the sub-one-meter Goblin. He was holding a mop twice his
size, his face a mask of stubborn persistence.
"I believe you," Leo said.
"Really?"
"But I can't change the deployment. That's a Command Center decision."
Bobo's shoulders slumped. Leo reached out and patted the Goblin's head; at
Bobo's height, it was the only thing within easy reach.
"Focus on the cleaning for now. If you prove to be a reliable asset in your
current role, Command will eventually notice your potential."
Bobo looked up, his large eyes suddenly sparkling with a strange light. "Chief
Leo! Are you implying that—"
"I am not implying anything."
"I understand! Master the current task, then prove my worth through sheer
brilliance!"
"That's not exactly what I meant—"
"I'll be back!" Bobo shouted, hoisting the mop over his shoulder like a spear
and sprinting away. The mop-head dragged behind him, leaving a glistening wet
trail on the marble.
Leo stood there, clutching his new drafting pens, overcome by a sudden sense of
impending dread.
That evening, as soon as he returned to their quarters, Milo greeted him with a
wide-eyed stare.
"Chief Leo, have you heard? Someone used a mop to draw a massive architectural
blueprint across the entire first floor of the mall."
"...Was it Bobo?"
"No one saw who did it, but the mop-work depicted a twenty-story spire with a
dual-helix staircase. The Mall Administrator stared at it for an hour. He said
that while drawing it on the floor was an administrative nightmare, the
structural logic was… actually damn reasonable."
Leo remained silent for a long time. Then, he took out his notebook and
scribbled a single line:
Memo: Talk to the Vampire Supervisor. See if there is a role for Bobo that
requires design input but zero physical interaction with the building materials.
His pen paused. He added one final condition:
Requirement: Confiscate all mops first.
☆☆☆
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