Chapter 135: No Free Lunches (3)

“Now, this is what you call a contract.”

Flip. Flip. Lloyd waved his hands, and the contracts fluttered in them. The gaze of the refugees darted toward them, and he continued to speak.

“What for? You might ask. Well, I won’t beat around the bush. I will be straightforward. It’s about the request to participate in the construction of the terraced rice fields in the eastern mountain range.”

“…”

Terraced rice fields in the mountain range? What? The name was long and complicated. Most refugees tilted their heads, and a wry smile formed on Lloyd’s face.

“I will call it the ‘Reclamation Participation Application’ for brevity.”

“…”

Aha. This enlightened them some more. The young master was planning to reclaim land, so he had brought a bundle of application papers. But why? The refugees looked at one another. Lloyd continued to speak.

“It’s for your sake. How so? By helping you get settled here. That way you won’t live forever in this crowded and narrow camp. You’ll be able to attain land for your family to make money off of and live again as decent human beings even after you move into the apartment complex,” explained Lloyd.

“…”

“I am sure that you don’t wish to live in this state forever,” said Lloyd.

Lloyd’s words, which were like a pebble, were hurled at them. The small pebble created a ripple in their hearts, and so they thought to themselves that he was right. Actually, they were starting to get sick of living like a penniless beggar.

My life is worth more than this…

It was what the refugees were feeling in their hearts. They were currently reduced to living as refugees without any land or a proper house in their possession. And “refugee” was a flowery way to call them. They were actually beggars forever doomed to depend on the unilateral kindness of the Frontera fiefdom. Their bleak future was despairing as the majority of them knew who they were before coming here. Some of them were once landowners, while some were farmers who had worked together with their families. Some were woodcutters. Some had been shepherds. Even though their lives were modest, they led a rewarding and industrious life and put their own food on the table. In short, none of them had been a beggar, dependent on a refugee camp, until they came here. And no one wanted to remain in such a state in the future too.

Of course. That’s human nature.

Lloyd knew that people would rather work and sweat while living in their own houses rather than live a lazy life in an organized tent that was filled with strangers. They would rather live happily under one roof with their families, and that wish was only natural.

I thought the same as well.

Just then, Lloyd recalled the time when he was in South Korea, particularly the time when he lost his parents and home. It was the most wretched juncture of his life.

I had nowhere to go.

At first, he lived off his friends, lodging in their rooms. He did so in the spirit of friendship but soon learned that it couldn’t last long. Though his friends said it was okay, he felt self-conscious around them and thought it couldn’t continue. So, he left his friend’s room to stay in the student club room. But he soon regretted that.

I was more self-conscious there.

As such, Lloyd worked his head off doing part-time jobs and saved up whatever he could. He then moved into a rental room. Although he was more physically exhausted, it gave him a bigger peace of heart.

What I needed was my own private space where I could be free. I suppose the same goes for the people here.

Once they had their own spaces, they wouldn’t have to be extra careful around each other, and that would help their pride. Lloyd decided to take advantage of their psychology and turn it into an impetus for growth. And that plan was the reclamation project which Lloyd had just announced.

“It’s simple. Just participate in the reclamation project, and those who work hard will receive a portion of the reclaimed land. That is, you will be able to farm and settle there. And my promise will be vouched in this contract,” explained Lloyd.

Flap! Lloyd waved the contract again, setting up the table before the murmur died down.

“Okay, first come, first serve!” yelled Lloyd. “You might lose the opportunity to work if you’re late!”

The words “First come, first serve” worked. These magical words brought about a powerful effect, and the refugees, who were drawn to them, started to sit at the table one after another.

“So, young master, I can work if I sign the paper here?” asked an applicant.

“Of course, you can,” Lloyd answered with a smile.

“But what work would I do?”

“You will be participating in constructing terraced fields.”

“By constructing, do you mean-”

“Shoveling, pickaxing, or scooping and moving dirt. Have you never shoveled before?”

“I have, and I’m used to it. You see, I spent my entire life messing with dirt.”

“Great,” said Lloyd. “Exactly the kind of talent I was looking for.”

“I-is that so?” murmured the applicant.

“Of course. That’s why you should sign here.”

“Oh, yes.”

One contract was signed.

“Um… Can girls work, too?”

“Of course. Work doesn’t discriminate.”

“Then, I am in,” said the woman.

“What about your husband?”

“He hurt his back.”

“I see,” said Lloyd. “Must have been tough. Just sign here.”

Two contracts were signed”

“We brothers want to participate!”

“Um, I don’t think that’s possible,” denied Lloyd.

“Eh? Why not?”

“One person for every family. You see, I expect to receive a flood of applicants.”

“Then….”

“Wait, did you expect to earn a bigger piece of land if all of you participated in the project?” asked Lloyd.

“Yes…”

“Well, you thought wrong. What you can do is take turns among your brothers. Then, you will be able to earn the same amount of land for less work. Be satisfied with that for now,” suggested Lloyd as he looked at the paper.

“…”

“Don’t you like it?” Lloyd added as he looked up at the applicant.

“O-of course! I will do it.”

“Okay. Sign here.”

Three. Five. Ten. A hundred. A thousand. The signed contracts started to pile up, making Lloyd put on a content smile on his face.

Sweet. I like their reaction, and the contracts are progressing smoothly.

Lloyd was destined to house the refugees regardless of his will anyway. And they would be settled here eventually. Now, they were made to join the development of the reclaimed land naturally and legally. A win-win situation for everyone.

“Did you visit the camp to get these contracts signed?”

“Yeah, of course.”

On the way back to the refugee camp, Javier asked Lloyd as he carried a box loaded with contracts. Lloyd shrugged at the former’s question.

“There is no such thing as a free lunch anyway,” answered Lloyd.

“…”

“What? Why? What? Do you think that I’m sly?”

“No. However-”

“But?”

“Just for a second, I was relieved that you were born in a rural province like this.”

“Eh? What do you mean by that now?” asked Lloyd in confusion.

Lloyd turned around and faced Javier, who was putting on a mysterious smile on his face.

“If you were born in the capital, you would have become a terrible swindler,” stated Javier.

“…”

“Or a groveling disloyal subject.”

Lloyd was lost for words.

“Or a infamous swindler who cons people with his silver tongue.”

“Ha. Is that how you think of me?” said Lloyd with defiance in his voice.

“Yes.”

“This entire time?”

“Yes.”

“Dang. You didn’t even hesitate.”

“I am simply being honest.”

But soon, Javier grinned. He then uttered something that caught Lloyd by surprise.

“But I am relieved and thankful that you put your tricks to good use,” said Javier.

Lloyd didn’t say anything. He simply looked at Javier.

“Why are you making that face?” asked Javier.

“I am just figuring out whether what you said was an insult or a compliment.”

“It’s an insult for sure,” retorted Javier.

“I knew it was.” Lloyd snapped his fingers.

“Aren’t you going to lash out at me?”

“No, because I missed the timing. You know, it’s unseemly to get angry belatedly.”

“It was,” said Javier, “actually a compliment.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Are you sure?”

“What, you want me to break into tears right now?” asked Lloyd.

“Please do hold back your tears. I do not think I can bear seeing it.”

“Right? I think so, too.”

A scoff escaped Lloyd. And the two walked side by side, and Lloyd thought about how the Frontera family used to suffer from crippling debt. The place had previously been nothing but a rural provincial fiefdom. But now, it was prospering. He wondered how much they had changed. Did we become better people? Lloyd asked himself. But Lloyd and Javier didn’t have a way of knowing the answer.

The following morning rolled around, and Lloyd kickstarted the reclamation project. The first step, like always, was surveying.

Whew. The slope is steeper than I thought.

It was early morning, but Lloyd climbed the foot of the eastern mountain range after passing the coal mine. He headed to the land he would terrace, and he surveyed the slope, soil, and water in detail, leaving nothing behind.

The construction is going to be meticulous, but this place is the best option I have.

Some might inquire Lloyd about the rationale behind reclaiming the foot of the mountain. There were other lands in the fiefdom anyway. There were flat lands. Some might even cast doubt on his plan as if Lloyd was doing something beyond them. But the truth was that the Frontera fiefdom didn’t have much land left to reclaim on a massive scale.

The development in the south is already finished. Then, there’s the Maritz Land. As for the west… It’s not ours. Even if we’re now a county, we can’t touch the land outside the fiefdom without permission. It is possessed by Her Majesty.

It would be treason to reclaim land that wasn’t his. Of course, he wouldn’t be accused of being a traitor. But it warranted enough rebuke and scandal.

No need to take such a political risk. So that leaves me with the land in the north, but it’s not really suitable for agriculture.

Actually, Lloyd thought about reclaiming the land in the north, but he scrapped the plan when the apartment complex construction began. The soil there turned out to be worse than he expected.

It wasn’t conducive to farming. The land was only suitable for weeds.

So, in short, the only land left in his choice was the foot of the eastern mountain range. It was fertile and had long been accumulated with leaves and leaf mold. That was why cleaning up the trees and plants and flattening the land promised productivity. What was more, it wasn’t owned by the royal palace even though it sat outside the fiefdom territory. As such, successfully developing this part of the land would grant Lloyd with bragging rights, in which he could confidently say that he expanded the queen’s territory.

So this is the perfect place. I should also leave some of the lands in the fiefdom empty for later.

There were some undeveloped lands between the villages, and they were meant to be used either for residential or commercial districts. Lloyd had to save them up for the future of the fiefdom, where he would design the place based on the blueprint of the new city in South Korea. He surveyed the area with that in mind. Once it was finished, it was time to decide how to construct it. So Lloyd removed himself from the world for the next few days and remained alone in his bedroom, deeply thinking about it as he stared at the survey results.

Retaining walls. It’s the crux of this reclamation project.

The foot of the mountain was steep, and Lloyd meant to create agricultural land there. He referred to the rice terrace that was common in Southeast Asia. But to his grief, he lacked knowledge of the terrace fields, so he couldn’t follow it haphazardly.

I might as well do it my way. Okay. Just think of this as a large-scale construction of several consecutive retaining walls.

The retaining walls were found easily. In mountains and hills, concrete walls stood to prevent the earth from falling. They were common everywhere in mountain villages, highways, and national roads. But constructing it wasn’t as simple as it looked.

The job of putting it up looks so simple because it’s common. One may even think that it simply involves planting some walls on the ground. But it’s not. It’s never easy. One wrong calculation or fault in the construction, and the whole thing crumbles to pieces.

If it happened, the roads would be destroyed and houses would get buried. A landslide would occur. As such, the retaining walls required meticulous calculation and accurate construction.

But we can still do it. I just need to use my design skills.

The big terrace fields. And each vertical retaining wall would hold a large number of floors. He decided to construct a gabion.

That’s the best option we have.

If one drove through the national roads or highways in South Korea, some areas in the mountains were cut, wrapped in wire mesh, and filled with rocks. There was even a warning, “Falling Rocks.” That was one form of gabions.

Relatively, it’s simple to construct. I just need to create a wire mesh and throw thick pebbles and broken stones into them.

At first, Lloyd thought about constructing a general concrete retaining wall. But he couldn’t do so for two reasons.

The construction is happening in the middle of winter. It’s too cold. It’s going to freeze and melt for sure. The cement won’t be able to deposit properly. Plus, Bangul needs some rest. She’s been overusing her volcanic skill during our apartment complex construction.

Bangul was now thoroughly exhausted, and if Lloyd forced her to work and continue using the volcanic skill…

I can’t. It’s better that she rests for a while. Her butt is going to hurt otherwise.

Even though it was for work, she needed to give a rest to the breaking wind. So, Lloyd racked his brain for a new solution.

Wait… there’s one more problem in building the gabion.

It was the material to be used for the wire mesh.

How about using wires? No. Bangul needs to rest. Metal bars? I’ve got nothing left. I’m barely meeting the demand for the apartment right now with what I have. Then, ropes? Nah. It won’t do. It’s too loose, and long exposure to the sun will make it soggy and weak.

Lloyd furrowed his brows hard. Nothing came to his mind.

Even if I use wires for the wire mesh, I’m faced with another issue. I need to gild it in iron. Otherwise, it’s going to get rusty, and if that happens… It’s going to crumble, tear, blow up, and the wall will topple down, hurting families and my fiefdom… No. I can’t let that happen.

Actually, Lloyd could gild it in iron. But that would cost an arm and a leg. His finances were limited at the moment even with the funds received from the royal palace.

So let’s just leave the iron gilding as a last resort. The best alternative is to find a cost-effective method or new material.

From then on, Lloyd spent all day trying to come up with a solution. What could be used to build a wire mesh for the gabion? Not wires gilded in iron. It was expensive. Lloyd needed something cheap, tenacious, robust, and free from erosion.

Think… Ugh. Think!

Lloyd deliberated. A day passed. Two days sped by. But even after three and four days passed by, Lloyd couldn’t come up with anything suitable. At the dining table, he simply nibbled his food, and a ubiquitous furrow sat between his brows all day. The fantastical creatures, who always followed Lloyd, grew concerned.

“Ppo-do-dong? Ppodong?”

Unable to watch any longer, Ppodong decided to work up the courage and dared to give advice to Lloyd, who was deep in thought.

“Ppodong! Ppo-do-dong! Ppodong!”

“What…? Are you suggesting that I pick a new friend?”

“Ppodong!”

Ppodong nodded his round head zealously. Lloyd, who had his chin propped against the desk, turned his head toward Ppodong.

“Do you mean the random game?”

“Ppodong!”

“What? Are you saying that I should expect that a new friend will come out to solve my concern? Hoping that this new friend can create a robust material that can be used as wire mesh?”

“Ppo-do-dong!”

“Hmm… I’m not so sure that would work,” sighed Lloyd.

“Ppodong?”

“Since it’s all random, no one knows what kind of a fantastical creature will come out.”

“Ppo-do-dong?”

“Do you really think that it would give me exactly the one I want? I’m kind of skeptical about it.”

The Random Summon Game was really random. It was just as the name suggested.

“So what I’m saying is… We’ve been lucky all this time, but there’s no guarantee that we’ll be struck with another one.”

Lloyd chuckled and smiled, as this was the truth. He thought that it was all luck when he summoned Ppodong, Bangul, and Hamang. But just then, Bangul, who was quietly watching the two talk, slithered forward.

“Bangul! Bba-bangul. Bangul!”

“What…? That’s not the case?”

“Bangul!”

Bangul nodded, and the three started talking in the order they were in.

“Hamamang? Hamang! Hamamang!”

“Ppodong! Ppo-do-dong!”

“Bangul!”

The fantastical creatures advised Lloyd as they stood side by side. Lloyd’s eyes widened as he listened to them.

“What…? I didn’t know there was a special way to affect the outcome of the game!”