Extreme Cold Era: Shelter Don't Keep Waste
Chapter 128: Igloo and Roshar Strongman

Although steam knights possess powerful maneuverability and combat capabilities, the wear and maintenance issues of the metal parts mean that non-combat maneuvers under normal circumstances require specialized transportation, much like armored vehicles in the original world.

At the same time, this also exerts significant pressure on logistics.

But considering the various situations that might arise at the fjord camp under the blizzard, Perfikot still brought two steam knights over, hoping they could make a difference when needed.

However, when she walked out of the station, she found the situation seemed better than she had anticipated.

There was no snow covering the main street of the camp, and several soldiers in heavy winter clothing were busy clearing the snow with tools in their hands.

The snow they removed was not casually piled up but loaded onto small carts and taken to the dock bridge, where it was dumped onto the frozen water surface.

Seeing Perfikot with two steam knights, these soldiers immediately stopped their work and saluted Perfikot.

"No need for formalities, carry on with your tasks." Perfikot waved her hand, not insisting on decorum from the soldiers, but after setting aside her worries, she carefully observed the soldiers’ expressions.

It was apparent they had not slept last night, almost all of the soldiers had bloodshot eyes.

But apart from fatigue, there was nothing else visible on them, suggesting that the blizzard last night had not caused much impact.

Still, Perfikot did not take it lightly and decided to visit the barracks first.

Yet, upon reaching the barracks, she found the situation even better than in other parts of the camp, making Perfikot feel as if her trip was in vain.

Most of the soldiers were wearing issued winter clothing and using shovels and other tools to pile the snow into a crate nailed together with wooden board strips, compressing it into rectangular snow bricks, then stacking these bricks outside tents to form structures resembling snow houses.

It’s evident that several soldiers survived last night relying on these, at least Perfikot noticed that some of the snow houses were built last night, having accumulated a thick layer of snow on top, almost obscuring the original shape of the snow bricks.

"Whose idea was this?" Perfikot inquired of White beside her, her eyes filled with admiration.

For ordinary people, they, of course, don’t have the alchemist’s ability to build houses with bare hands, but coming up with a method to use local materials is indeed remarkable.

"It was Lieutenant Mikhail. He is a Roshar, and it’s said he once lived in Hyponia. He taught us how to build snow houses, which helped us endure last night’s blizzard." Captain White answered Perfikot’s question.

"A Roshar who went to Hyponia?" Perfikot suddenly remembered a certain chubby man who also claimed to have lived in Hyponia.

Oliver, having obtained the pioneering document, had returned to the Empire’s mainland to recruit his pioneer group, planning to return to the Northern Territory come spring.

"Indeed, even though he’s a Roshar, he has served in the Empire army. Previously, when your guard unit was being formed, he was one of the officers who voluntarily signed up." Captain White explained, seemingly quite appreciative of Lieutenant Mikhail: "Had it not been for him last night, many would have likely frozen to death."

Perfikot did not doubt this point.

Facing the sudden blizzard, relying solely on thin tents and some simple wooden houses to survive was nearly impossible.

In such harsh weather, even with thick clothing, ordinary people could freeze to death within hours due to significant loss of body heat.

And snow houses, while seemingly made of snow, at least provide shelter from the wind and snow, serving as windbreaks and snow shields, even allowing for fires inside for warmth.

"Coming up with this idea indicates Lieutenant Mikhail has experience living in cold environments." Perfikot praised aloud and then ducked into a snow house.

The interior of the snow house was not large, just slightly larger than the single-person tents used by the army, surrounded by solid snow bricks ensuring the strength of the snow house, while effectively preventing internal heat loss.

However, after circling inside the snow house, Perfikot pointed out some inadequacies: "You should use snow to create a sleeping platform inside, at least higher than your knees, and dig the entrance a little longer. This way, when sleeping at night, you can ensure you won’t freeze since cold air sinks."

"I know that, but last night our priority was to shield against the cold wind. Further improvements on the snow houses are tasks for later, otherwise, many would have frozen to death last night." A husky tall Roshar man speaking with a distinct tongue appeared in front of Perfikot.

His height was over two meters, forcing Perfikot to look up to converse with him.

Even now amidst the swirling wind and snow, despite being wrapped in thick winter clothing and still feeling cold, this tall Roshar man was wearing only a thin shirt, steam rising off him as he rolled up his sleeves high, unveiling arms covered with dense hair.

It was apparent he had just been working.

"Impressive, your actions saved many lives. Clearly, you have experience living in cold regions." Perfikot nodded in approval, then inquired further: "I’m quite curious about how you learned this."

"I was exiled to Hyponia and learned it from the locals there." Lieutenant Mikhail explained but seemed reluctant to delve deeper into the topic: "In Hyponia, the ice and snow never melt, and the locals live nomadically. In such an environment, tents are ineffective, and there isn’t enough timber for building houses, so they devised the method of constructing houses with snow.

This kind of snow house, if maintained well, can usually be used throughout an entire winter.

I’m not well acquainted with the weather in the Northern Territory, but as long as the temperature doesn’t suddenly rise, these snow houses shouldn’t melt before spring."

"Very good, I’ll make note of your contributions. Would you wish to become my knight?" While Perfikot didn’t admire the Roshar man before her much, she recognized him as talented and needed to set an example.

Faced with a Count’s offer, Lieutenant Mikhail did not hesitate much and quickly nodded, then knelt on one knee before Perfikot.

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