Chapter 162: Predicted Disaster (2)

Namaran’s Wall. It appeared in the middle of the novel, and Lloyd found it the most impressive part of the story. The powers of the dark magicians were finally unveiled to clash with Javier for the first time. Lloyd’s mind flew back to the part of the story.

The dark magicians tried to sacrifice everyone in the city by enclosing the city walls within a powerful magical barrier.

The magical wall was impenetrable, and that remained true no matter how much Javier tried. Perhaps, it was thanks to the hardship and danger then that the mana blast, which was the most advanced piece of technology in the novel, was invented right in front of Namaran’s Wall.

Javier clashed a mana circle for the first time as he went beyond his limits to use his mana to penetrate the wall. It was by chance that Javier instinctively understood to blast the power coming from the clash.

That was when Javier’s signature skill, the mana blast, was born. He mixed the aura with the mana blast, and the indomitable Naraman’s Wall finally came down. Javier and the Naraman knights entered the castle. The battle dragged out for about two days. In the end, Javier got rid of the dark magicians and saved the people in there except for one. The only daughter of Count Namaran. She sacrificed herself when one of the dark magicians attempted to summon Hell’s Knight as he clung to his last straw. Thanks to her sacrifice, Javier stopped attempting to summon the knight who could overpower even a sword master and was about to confirm his victory.

It seemed to Lloyd that Javier’s victory had only been possible because of her sacrifice.

Jolted out of his trance, Lloyd lifted his head and looked at the lady standing before him. She was cocking her head to the side with a grin on her face.

“I believe you murmured my name just a while ago. Did I hear it wrong?”

Siluria Namaran.

Lloyd had felt like this before. A strange feeling always swelled over him when he personally encountered a figure he only saw in illustrations. It was the case when he first met Javier. And right now. It was terribly more so right now when he knew what tragic fate awaited this character in the story. But now wasn’t the time to be engrossed in such emotions. Lloyd quickly removed the restlessness that was coming up in him and put on a plastic smile.

“Oh, please forgive me. What a blunder to commit to our first meeting. My name is Lloyd Frontera, and welcome to Frontera county.”

“You are the rumored young master Frontera,” Siluria said.

“Indeed. I am the rumored hooligan.”

“How modest you are,” she said, “and you already know my name.”

“Oh, I saw the symbol engraved in the carriage.”

“You have sharp eyes,” she said.

“And my head is growing from your compliments.”

Lloyd shrugged after he spoke.

It’s a bit worrisome, really.

Lloyd thought to himself as she looked at the lady in front of her. Just then, he became curious. He wondered if that disastrous incident about the Namaran’s Wall took place here.

Though Namaran isn’t in the east, it’s still not very far.

Technically speaking, the city was located in the mountainous area between the east and south. But if something did happen there, his fiefdom would be affected as well.

I need to go and check over it.

Actually, there was enough chance that the events in the novel would not take place in real life. A lot of things deviated from the story. Lloyd was alive, and Javier was here. Queen Magentano didn’t lose her arm. The period and result of the monster domino effect were changed. Port Cremo was cleared off the Gigatitan to be prosperous, and the Frontera fiefdom, which was only a provincial village in the story, came to house a host of refugees and became the city in charge of reconstruction. Like this, this world underwent countless changes. Namaran could be the same. The tragic incident in the novel might not happen. With such hope in his heart, Lloyd spoke and asked a question.

“Tell me, is renowned gentleman Cannavaro at your estate?” asked Lloyd.

“I beg your pardon?” Lady Namaran’s eyes widened.

“From what I heard,” said Lloyd as though he was testing her. “A wealthy man by the name of Cannavaro is doing philanthropic activities in Namaran. I personally have a lot of respect for him.”

The truth was that Cannavaro in question was a dark magician, the culprit behind the Naraman tragedy. But at this period in time, he was disguising himself as a regular wealthy man.

Like so, he makes a great name for himself. How? By personally taking in a considerable number of migrants and covering their expenses.

In the novel, once Queen Magentano turned into a tyrant, the southern region attempted a coup against the queen. That brought about a cruel, large-scale suppression effort, displacing an alarming number of people in the process. Some of them arrived at Namaran, and it was Cannavaro who took care of them. But did he do so out of compassion? Of course not.

It was mentioned in the story that it was so he could use them to experiment with dark magic.

But right now, things had changed. Queen Magentano was A-OK, and there was no coup in the south.

So, Cannavaro doesn’t have any way to accept people under his care.

And his fame won’t be able to grow anymore. In other words, Lady Namaran had to answer his question, saying, “Cannavaro? Who is that?” That would assure Lloyd that the place would be safe for a while, as it meant the warlock couldn’t test his magic out yet.

Which means I don’t have to worry too much about the people there. Tell me you’ve never heard of Cannavaro! Now!

Lloyd begged internally. Just then, Lady Namaran smiled brightly.

“Oh, mister Cannavaro? How surprising. Has his reputation spread all the way here already?” answered Lady Namaran.

“Excuse me?” gaped Lloyd.

“He is an excellent man. It is never easy to care for the destitute. It’s a difficult job for any normal person regardless of their wealth.”

“By the destitute, you mean…”

“The people who suffered from the tragedy that happened in the east. I am sure you know of it as well, right? The monster domino effect.”

“Oh.” And that was it for Lloyd.

“Yes, that is right. Some of the refugees came to Namaran in the aftermath of the disaster. About 400 people, I’m guessing. My father tried to take care of them at first, and that is when mister Cannavaro volunteered.”

“To take care of the refugees?”

“Yes, he did. What an amazing man. However, he cannot be compared to Count Frontera, who is feeding and housing tens of thousands of refugees here.”

“Haha, you flatter us.”

Lloyd swallowed dryly.

Crap. More than 400?

The number of people was significantly more than in the original story, which was only 100. In short, the situation was set to be worse than it was previously.

Crap. Crap!

Lloyd had an ominous feeling.

“Whew. My goodness.”

Lloyd flopped on the sofa after he came back to his bedroom. The pressure of his body caused the sofa to let out an airy noise. His sigh was the same.

I succeeded in rejecting her, but I’m not happy at all.

He thought about Lady Namaran, with whom he had chatted a while ago. Once they moved on from discussing the situation in Namaran and Cannavaro, Lloyd quickly said that he had no plans to tie the knot with her family. Thank you for traveling a long way, so make yourself at home, he said unilaterally. This was the sole reason he had waited for her in front of the manor at first. Sure, the Namaran incident was serious, but what was equally serious was a forced marriage. Thankfully, Lady Namaran’s reaction couldn’t be any calmer. She revealed that she, too, traveled up here by the passionate urging of her family and thanked Lloyd for being frank. The pressure was now gone, she said with a bright and pristine smile on her face.

“…”

So, Lloyd was bothered all the more. Lady Namaran, who just smiled at Lloyd, could wind up in a mishap and die.

Should I warn her in advance?

The thought crossed his mind, but he realized it wasn’t a smart idea upon more reflection. This Cannavaro figure’s fame was skyrocketing at the moment. No one would believe that he was actually an evil warlock. It would be Lloyd who would be considered a fool. Besides, he didn’t have clear evidence to prove the man’s evil plans as there was no exact explanation in the story of how the wall was made.

Should I just turn a blind eye?

He lay on the sofa and blankly stared at the ceiling. To be honest, he didn’t want to care. But how could he not? Ignoring the situation could have a huge consequence on his fiefdom.

Hell’s Knight.

This knight from hell was the entity that warlock Cannavaro attempted to summon by offering the people’s lives. What if nobody stopped it from happening? What if Hell’s Knight was summoned, unlike the novel? That hellish situation would be on another level compared to what happened with the monster domino effect.

The story says that Hell’s Knight can overpower sword masters.

They didn’t directly appear in the novel, but Javier mentioned them to himself in the latter part of the story. He said that even though he was a grandmaster, he stood no chance of winning against Hell’s Knight without the Asrahan Core Technique.

In other words, Hell’s Knight is almost the same as an ordinary grandmaster.

Even Javier stood no chance at this period. It would be so even if there were ten Javiers. That was how destructive and powerful a grandmaster was.

I must stop him from coming into this world at all costs.

If he didn’t, it meant the destruction of Namaran and the entire country. It would be impossible for Lloyd’s fiefdom to survive in those circumstances.

Dammit. What should I do? Send Javier to Namaran? No. What if that changes the story? But it already has. The change might be the reason why I can’t stop the incident.

If possible, he had to head to Namaran himself. That was the only way for him to actively respond to the changing situation. So, he needed to come up with an excuse to go there.

Should I just say that I want to travel there for vacation? But that’s a bit strange. Hmm.. ask Lady Namaran to pretend to marry me for three months? No, she would slap me for sure.

In honesty, Lloyd was already swamped with work at the Frontera fiefdom. The construction of the apartment complex and sewers was finalizing. He couldn’t think of an excuse as to why he was abandoning all those projects to visit Namaran. Just then…

Knock knock.

“Master Lloyd, are you inside?”

The knocking sound was followed by someone’s question. It was the administrator. Still lying on the sofa, he told him to come in.

“What brings you here?”

“Oh, I came to report to you the things you asked me a few days ago,” replied the administrator.

“Report? Oh, do you mean the statement of accounts for the workers?”

Lloyd rose up, recalling that he did assign the task.

“You’re done already?” asked Lloyd in surprise.

“Yes, the daily work log was very detailed, so it was a breeze. Here.”

But contrary to the administrator’s reassuring words, his eyes were dominated by dark circles. Feeling sorry, Lloyd took the wad of statements. He checked the total amount first.

“This is a lot more than I imagined…”

Lloyd felt bitter upon seeing the report. To tell the truth, the pay for the workers was considerably larger than he expected.

Well, it makes sense. It was a big construction that lasted for a long time.

In particular, the apartment complex construction started last year, and the construction of the sewers required the participation of the engineering corp, the White Cavalry, and regular workers. So, personnel expenses were expected to be high.

I’ll be stretching myself thin if I pay for everything at once.

The truth was, the financial situation in the fiefdom wasn’t enough. Lloyd was barely making it through with regular assistance from the royal palace and the water bill from Lacona viscounty. It was difficult enough to cover the expenses for the materials needed in all the various constructions. Just then, the administrator spoke in a careful voice.

“Um, young master, how about we pay them in parts instead of paying them all at once?”

“Hmm?”

“Since paying a large amount at once will burden the fiefdom. So, we ask for the workers’ consideration and give the payment until about the latter half of next year-”

“No.”

Not a chance. Lloyd shook his head right away.

“That’s not what I promised. The work contract didn’t mention anything like that in the first place.”

“But-”

“Stop. That’s enough. Contracts exist to be kept.”

Contracts were the same as promises in almost every way possible, and not keeping them would kill trust. No one would then roll up their sleeves and volunteer to work.

I’ve had enough of skipped and delayed payments in South Korea.

Lloyd experienced countless times in South Korea. His daily wage was often pushed back and given much later. Each time, he endlessly complained inside his head. And he wouldn’t repeat such a trashy practice just because the tables were turned for him in this world.

“Anyway, money is the problem.”

Lloyd let out a sigh after sending the administrator away. It couldn’t come at a worse time, as he was already preoccupied with the Namaran incident. Now, he had a financial concern on top of everything.

I need a new source of money.

Of course, he didn’t lack money. His fiefdom could live from hand to mouth if he tightened his belt. But it was time to break the status quo.

This isn’t good for my future as well. Everybody needs a pension to enjoy life as they get old, right?

The more, the merrier. Having more money was always good. It went the same right now. Though he had the palace and Lacona viscounty to fund his fiefdom, they weren’t guaranteed to help forever. The former might experience turmoil, while the latter could suddenly go bankrupt. If all his sources of income were cut off like so, Lloyd would struggle and die of hunger.

That won’t do.

Lloyd shook his head. For a more bountiful and beautiful life and to fulfill his promise to the workers, Lloyd had to earn more and acquire more funds.

The problem is how. It’s not like money grows on trees. I already have enough on my plate due to the Namaran situation. Haah. I wish there was a way to make money while preventing the Namaran Wall at the same time. Could there be a way to acquire a construction project in Namaran… Wait a minute.

Lloyd sat upright as his grumbling turned into an epiphany. The answer turned out to be so obvious and simple.

“Wait a minute, I simply have to throw a pretext for a large construction project.”

That would work. This would allow him to get paid for the construction and prevent the predicted disaster during the project. It was catching two birds with one stone and reaping double benefits at once.

So, what’s the fitting construction for Namaran?

Lloyd searched for his memory, returning to the novel as much as possible. Small details started to come back to him. Namaran. The magical wall was built around there. Javier, struggling to break that. But he had a difficult time as the city was built on the edge of a high cliff similar to a pyramid. The slope was too steep, and the cliff sides crumbled so quickly. It was a much larger challenge than fighting on flatland.

That’s it.

The side of the cliff crumbled easily, and the city sat at the very top. He thought about what problems that kind of terrain would cause the lord. As Lloyd put on his thinking cap, he started to see an answer.

Found it.

Before he knew it, Lloyd was out of bed. He passed the corridor and stairs, crossed the main building, headed to the annex building, and knocked on Lady Namaran’s room.

“To what business do I owe you?”

One of the guard knights of the lady opened the door, and Lloyd immediately slipped his foot between the door like a salesperson who went from one house to another proclaiming he was selling an amazing product at a staggeringly generous price. He licked his lips and darted his gaze further in, behind the knight’s shoulder, toward the lady. And with the goal of saving everyone from disaster and making some money, he spoke.

“I don’t make this offer every day. I also don’t carelessly tell this to just anybody. The crumbling cliff and collapsing ground. They’re actually not much to worry about. Have you heard of the slope stabilization method that builds up crumbling cities and stabilizes collapsing cities?”