Chapter 125: The Apartment Complex (2)
The apartment complex. Along with walk-ups, it was one of the most popular forms of housing in South Korea. But here in the Lorasian continent, it was a new type of structure that was being built for the first time in history, and its construction had officially begun.
“The construction, like always, begins with the foundation.”
Lloyd gazed at the vast plain lot that stretched in front of him. This land was located in the northern part of the barony and stood opposite of the Prona River that hugged the entire fiefdom clockwise. Lloyd had this part of the land in plan when he decided to build the apartment complex.
This place sits far from the center of the fiefdom, and the land isn’t fertile enough to be used as farmland.
The land wasn’t used for anything in the first place, so it was the perfect spot for construction which meant that Lloyd didn’t have to compensate for any damage or loss to the land.
“So, let’s dig the land first. Javier?”
“Yes. Did you call me?”
“Of course, I did. Who else is here besides you and me?” huffed Lloyd.
“…”
“Hmm?” Lloyd studied Javier’s face. “What’s wrong? You look like you saw a ghost,” said Lloyd.
“May I be frank?”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“I don’t want to do it,” Javier said.
“What?”
“I don’t want to do it, I said.”
Javier turned to his side, and his eyes flashed with grouchiness, so spiky and sharp like a porcupine’s quills.
“I know what you will entrust me with. The mana blast presumably. And you’re going to mark the ground with your red-dyed brush, telling me to vertically blast a hole wherever you see appropriate,” Javier said defiantly.
“Yeah, so?”
“And you’ll pour cement into the dozens of holes I bore.”
“Yeah, so?”
“And you will use the cement chunks as poles that will become the foundation of the building,” Javier drawled.
“Yes, that’s correct. Hey, you’re kind of smart.”
“Thank you… No, that’s not what I’m getting at. I’m saying that I don’t want to do it,” Javier objected.
“Are you saying you don’t want to dig holes into the ground?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I think you only regard me as a convenient tool, and nothing more,” Javier bemoaned, and his voice turned cold. “To remind you, Master Lloyd, of something you seem to be forgetting right now, I am a knight who vowed his allegiance to the lord.”
“Yes, yes. So?”
“And yet, you put me to work as though it is only natural that I do these things. As if my duty is to be mobilized into all sorts of constructions, not protect the fiefdom, which is my actual calling.”
“Yes, yes. But you’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you?”
“…”
“Of course, I get that you hate doing it, but you will do it, right? After all, this is for the development of the fiefdom,” Lloyd said.
“Even still, I wanted to voice my thoughts out.”
“Aha. My little Javier, you wanted to throw a tantrum in front of your big brother, didn’t you?”
“…”
“But do you think I give two hoots about it?” joked Lloyd as he sneered.
“…”
“Now, let’s get to work. Work, I say.”
Lloyd chuckled as he held up a jar, which contained red dye he would be using to mark the ground. Lloyd stabbed the land with the brush, and he went on to explain to Javier.
“Here. And here. And here. 39 feet deep. And as for the diameter, set it to 20 inches. As you can see, the distance is 9.8 feet.”
“Is that my task?” asked Javier.
“Yeah, can you finish it before lunchtime?”
“To do so, I will have to overwork my body.”
“And that is why it’s a job,” said Lloyd.
“Excuse me?” Javier grumbled at the prospect of the hard work given to him. Lloyd gazed at him pitifully.
“You asked just now whether this was your task,” Lloyd said.
“Yes, I did.”
“Don’t you know what it stands for?”
“I do not know.”
“Fine, then I’ll tell you. It’s been a while since I told someone about this. Can you spell the letter one by one, please?” asked Lloyd.
“What are you-”
“Come on.”
“J…”
“Just.”
“O…”
“Overwork till death.”
“B…”
“But never complain. Look at your face. You didn’t know? It’s just the way of this world.”
“…”
Javier scowled in annoyance while Lloyd smiled in satisfaction.
“Good luck to you. I’m off to prepare the cement.”
Whoosh. Javier was given no time to fight back. Lloyd simply left after finishing what he had to say.
“…”
Wow. Young master, at moments like this, I truly wish I could send you on a one-way trip to the underworld.
“Tsk.” Jaiver then resigned to get to work and plucked his sword. And there, the great construction of the apartment complex took place.
Time sped by like lightning. The construction progressed smoothly during this period. The monumental apartment complex, Building 101, had a basic foundation that was 492 feet in width and length and 22,500 square meters in area. But of course, the building wasn’t set to take up the whole land. It was shaped like a square. Thanks to it, the basic foundation took place surrounding the plaza.
Kaboom! Crash!
The diameter was 1.6 feet, and the depth was 39 feet. Each hole stood about 3 yards apart. Once each hole was bored, Lloyd poured freshly produced cement. More than 3,000 cement pillars were erected in the ground about 10,000 square meters in mass. The next part of the project was the groundwork. On top of the 3,000 pillars, a formwork as high as about 2 feet was erected.
“But, of course, there’s more to it than just pouring cement. The important part starts from here on out.”
Around the time the formwork was completed, Lloyd gathered 120 orc miners.
“So everyone,” Lloyd said, “today, we’ll be playing the steel bar folding game to our amusement.”
“Oink?! Folding steel bars, oink?”
“Yes, that’s right. Here, do you see this?”
“Yes, I do, oink.”
Lloyd held up the steel bar made by Bangul. The orc miner representative Arosh cocked his head to the side.
Folding that is a game? Oink?
Arosh wondered what the point of it was. Where’s the fun in that? He asked himself. Meanwhile, Lloyd went on to demonstrate.
“Like this. This way, ugh. Like this! Whew, you play by folding it up like this.”
Creak! Crack! Creak!
Lloyd rotated his mana circle to the full and transferred the amplified mana power into his grip. The steel bar, which was as thick as his fingers, bent by 90 degrees. Another was bent again in his fingers. Then, they were tied together. By doing so, Lloyd demonstrated the basic steel bar-tying method in front of everyone.
“What now? Did you get a good look?” asked Lloyd.
“Yes, I did! But I have a question, oink!”
“Arosh? Yes, tell me. What is it that you want to know?”
“What’s the benefit of folding up the bars, oink?”
“Aha.”
A sly smile formed on Lloyd’s face that was marked with satisfaction, and he gave a clear answer.
“It’s great for muscle development.”
“M-muscles, oink?”
“Yeah. It’s super good for your grip power, wrist, and forearm. The best. It’s really the best,” Lloyd assured.
“F-forearm, oink!”
“Yes, yes. The forearms and arms. This game will make your arms bulge with rugged muscles, even more so than now. And make worm-like veins appear from your wrist to elbow just from pinching your finger… It’s amazing. How do you like that?”
“V-veins, oink!!”
“Thrilling, isn’t it? The harder you play, the veinier you will become.”
“Is it true? Even more than doing a wrist curl? Is it more effective than wrist curls, oink?”
“Oh, please, wrist curl is just a warm-up exercise compared to this.”
“G-great! We will learn! Now! Folding game, oink!!”
“Oiiink!!!”
120 orc miners breathed heavily through their noses in sheer excitement. Just like that, Lloyd procured primitive steel workers who didn’t need any tools. Their training was simple. The orcs didn’t need much training since they were strong. Just giving a couple of tips was enough for them to be familiarized with the process. This whole thing was possible because of a natural tool that moved lighter than most professional tools: their fingers.
The steel bars were assembled at supersonic speed to cover the foundation and the first floor. At the same time, the formwork gradually expanded in size without an inch amiss in accordance with Lloyd’s design. And the cement depositing took place.
“Ppodong! Turn it!”
“Ppodong!”
Fwoosh! The 65-foot treadwheel rotated in a frenzy, and the colossal mixer connected to the wheel turned accordingly. The various materials loaded there mixed in a flash, but it wasn’t done in a random manner. Even the proportion of the mix followed Lloyd’s meticulous calculations.
Several factors were taken into account. These included the specified compressive strength, the target strength, the slump and AE air amount, as well as the proportion of the water and bonding materials, and of the fine aggregate and compression strength. These elements were mixed in perfect ratio, and the batter was mixed using Ppodong’s strength. Afterward, it was pulled up through the screw-type manual pump manufactured by the master dwarf.
“One, two. Press!”
“Argh!!!”
Clack! Clack! Clack!
It took 20 White Cavalry lancers to grab the pump knob. All drenched in sweat, they pressed, pulled, and pressed the knob again, allowing the pump to turn with force and suck the cement from the mixer. The cement then flowed out through the elongated leather hose. Its end was grabbed by Lloyd, who personally oversaw the construction site.
“Continue! Keep the momentum!” Lloyd yelled.
Splash! Splash!
A line of cement came out of the nose as they pumped, perfectly filling up the complex and intricate formwork. Meanwhile, Lloyd activated the optional survey skill Subterranean Scanning and observed the formwork in real-time.
Okay. It’s filling up nicely.
Lloyd saw that the cement was nicely filling up into all the empty crevices. Air bubbles were prone to appear in the corners of the formwork and steel bar links when the depositing job took place in a hurry. But thankfully, the cement was filling up without missing a single spot.
The cement mix is a success.
It wasn’t too thick or watery. It couldn’t be any better than this. The pump functioned, much to Lloyd’s satisfaction. To his relief, the first depositing job ended in a brilliant success.
“Great. Now, it needs to be cured for three days,” Lloyd said.
“By curing, you mean to let it dry and harden, right?”
“Wow! My Javier, how far you have come!”
“Like I had any other choice… It was because of you, Master Lloyd… Anyway…”
Javier, whose cheeks were smudged with dirt, opened his eyes wide.
“Can we rest for three days while this one is cured?” asked Javier.
“No.”
“…”
“Rest? For what? We have other work to do.”
“But you said that we have three days until it cures-”
“But we can construct the foundation of Building 102 while that cures, don’t you think?” Lloyd said matter-of-factly.
“…”
“Come on,” Lloyd said, “You weren’t planning to goof around, were you? Are you serious?”
“That is-”
“Can’t you hear the devastated cries of the refugees living in those makeshift tents?”
“…”
“Haa… You let me down. I wanted to construct this apartment as soon as possible even if it meant working overnight. That way, we can relieve the refugees’ pain sooner.”
“…”
“Haa… This is unfortunate. I wanted to provide them with a home soon even if it meant skipping dinner. That way, we can see happy smiles appear on their faces.”
“…”
Ugh, this young master is just…
Javier gave in at last.
“Ha… I see. So blast the ground just like I did before?” Javier asked in resignation.
“Yeah, shall we head there right now?”
“Yes…”
Javier, now resigned once more, had to draw his sword one more time. The great apartment construction continued once again.
A similar construction continued from that point on.
“Steel bars! We fold, oink!”
“Steel bars! We bent, oink!”
“Lunch box! We eat, oink!”
“It sure looks tasty, oink!”
The orcs bent the metal bars and tied them together with vivacity. The carpenter, on the other hand, built up the formworks. The entire process was similar to the one for the first floor, and it was like they were pressing Ctrl+c/Ctrl+v.
That’s the good thing about constructing apartments!
Every story held the same structure as the others. So, it wasn’t an overstatement to say that the process was just simply copying and pasting the same thing again and again. Things became much easier and faster after the first floor. The process could just be repeated from there.
And naturally, the workers learn the ropes and get better by many folds.
Thanks to the repeated course of action, their efficiency multiplied with each passing day. When they deposited the cement for the second floor of Building 101 and cured it, they proceeded to work on Building 102. When the cement for the first floor of Building 102 was being cured, they worked to build the formwork and steel bars of the third floor of Building 101. The whole process was smooth and perfect, reminding Lloyd of the rotation of the perfectly fit cogwheels. The fiefdom was struck with good luck in the process. The supplies the queen had sent arrived at last.
“According to Her Majesty, the supply will arrive once every month for the time being.”
It was the words of the officer that brought them here. Thankfully, the food situation for the refugees was now better. Meanwhile, the floors of Building 101 and 102 gradually increased. Now, Lloyd summoned another assistant he had in mind.
“Okay, now, Bibeong! Lift it up!”
“Bibeong!”
A special mercenary was hired: Bibeong, the conqueror of Lake Kapua. Biebong’s massive body and power allowed various materials to be transferred from the ground to the highest floor. In other words, he acted as a tower crane, which was commonly used in modern construction sites. Bibeong helped the construction to add more momentum. Cement was poured on the fifth floor. Steel bars and formwork were finished for the sixth floor. Pour, plan, pour, tap, and refine. One month later, Building 101 became an eight-story building.
“But don’t think it’s over yet!” Lloyd shouted. “Tell me! What’s the most important part of construction?!”
“The finish and detail!”
The engineering corp answered in unison when Lloyd shouted a question. And just like that, as the snow started to fall in the Frontera fiefdom, the outlines of the monumental and lucrative apartment complex that would drastically advance the fiefdom started to take shape.