Chapter 189: A Greedy Man’s Charity (2)
“Have you succeeded?”
“Hm? Yeah,” said Lloyd, realizing what Javier meant.
“Is she sound asleep?”
“Pretty much.”
“Are you happy?”
“Very much.” Lloyd scoffed.
Quietly shutting the door behind him, Lloyd winked at Javier. The operation was a success. Sheherazade. The daughter of the sultan and an excellent swordswoman. The novel described her as a high-level sword expert. And that was accurate based on the signs Lloyd had observed throughout their journey to Kandara. She couldn’t get any sleep. Tossing and turning with every minute, even the softest blow of the wind made her ears twitch. Seeing that every day, Lloyd was certain.
She’s experiencing sword master syndrome.
Lloyd was certain. She was acting much like the first time Lloyd saw Javier. The syndrome referred to when someone’s senses grew extremely sensitive as they became a high-level sword master. However, since they weren’t a sword master yet, they became tortured by the lack of control they had over their senses. That was what the sword master syndrome was, and Sheherazade was going through exactly that.
I never saw her sleeping for more than ten minutes since we left Ahinsya.
As such, her eyes were slightly bloodshot at all times. They reminded Lloyd of when he gave up sleeping under the crushing burden of his construction job and school work in South Korea. So, he resorted to his ultimate game plan, the lullaby. The result was highly satisfactory.
“She’s sound asleep,” Lloyd said, “It should be her first time falling asleep like this. It’ll probably be tomorrow until she wakes up as she catches up on all the sleep she missed. Much like you used to.”
Lloyd spoke, then flashed an evil smile, looking back to the first time he put Javier to sleep. Could it be that Javier thought the same thing?
“Is that so?” asked Javier. But his expression was sterner than before.
“Yeah, uh-huh.”
“So, are you happy?” asked Javier again.
“Hmm?”
“Never mind. If you got what you want, let us proceed,” dismissed Javier. With that, he wheeled around coldly and walked ahead along the corridor that led outside. But something about his back seemed strange. His gait was slightly faster than usual, and there was a roughness in his movement, though menial. The others wouldn’t have noticed it, but Lloyd, who almost always stuck to Javier all day, was able to catch the slight difference right away.
Hmm? Could he be…
Lloyd could sense it. Then he grinned. With a naughty smile on his face, he strode ahead and got closer to Javier, who was marching across the corridor.
“Hey, tell me. Are you sulking by any chance?” asked Lloyd.
“I am not sure what you mean,” denied Javier.
“I think you’re sulking. Right? You are upset about something, aren’t you?”
“No,” Javier denied once again. “I have no complaints of any sort.”
“Then why are you acting like that?”
“How am I acting?”
“You are obviously behaving like you are sulking.”
“What an unpleasant… speculation,” defied Javier.
“More like an accurate speculation,” quipped Lloyd.
“It is the wrong one.”
“Is it?”
Lloyd then grinned and glued to Javier as they stepped out of the building. He then stared hard at Javier with a meaningful side glance.
“It’s because of the lullaby, isn’t it?” postulated Lloyd.
“…”
Javier stopped dead and turned to Lloyd. Could it be that Lloyd hit home? Javier finally spoke up.
“The lullaby service. I did not know it was given free of charge.”
“Hmm?”
“I had to teach you the Asrahan Core Technique to hear your lullaby.”
“Aha.” Lloyd’s smile deepened. “And that is why you’re upset?”
“I am not upset as I told you before.”
“But,” pointed out Lloyd, “the Asrahan Core Technique was the result of a collaborative effort between you and I. Weren’t you struggling by yourself because you missed the most vital aspect of the skill?” asked Lloyd.
“But-”
“Don’t worry,” interrupted Lloyd. “It’s not free. Do you peg me as someone who bestows kindness to people for free?”
“No, never.”
“Right?”
“Yes,” agreed Javier, “For Master Lloyd is a petty cheat who likes to hold long grudges against people and cannot even fathom doing good and philanthropic deeds.”
“You know, you strangely become very detailed in moments like these,” said Lloyd.
“I was simply stating the truth here.”
“Hmm, hmm. Anyway, my lullaby service is not free. You can stay rest assured. I’m going to make sure that she pays for my lullaby service.”
“Is that so?” asked Javier.
“Yeah, yes.”
“I knew it,” scoffed Javier.
“…”
Why is he scoffing? And what’s that shrug in relief? Lloyd flashed a wry smile. Whatever the case was, the sultan’s daughter was now gone, and it was time to do business.
“Do you plan on looking around the construction area right away?” asked Javier.
“Yeah, since I should get a feel for the atmosphere before anything,” answered Lloyd.
“By that, you mean-”
“I need to see what it’s like here.”
Lloyd strode dutifully as he answered Javier’s question, heading to the city district quite distant from his lodging. The scenery of the deserted small city spanned in front of him. Under the sweltering sun of the desert, the sandy wind blew restlessly. Lloyd then spotted a line of people in the windy plaza. They were those who had lined up to receive the ration Lloyd carried from Ahinsya.
“They must have been hungry.”
Javier spoke as he frowned. Indeed, everyone didn’t look good. Most of them were scrawny, and their skins were dry and rough.
“After all, they had to endure a prolonged drought,” replied Lloyd with astonishment in his voice. “Lack of water. Lack of crops. This place is lucky because it’s fertile, at least. Otherwise, everyone would have starved to death already.”
It was true. Lloyd was hit with the story in the novel. The city of Kandara was one of the places Javier passed through. And almost all its people perished after several years of drought until the city disappeared at last.
But the sultan does nothing about it. He didn’t even give out relief supplies. Worse, he forbade people from moving elsewhere to contain the public rage until everyone died trapped there.
And that became the seed of revolt. The resentment and rage against the sultan and the flame of hatred burned to the sky until the people succeeded in bringing down the sultan from his throne. In short, this city represented the trigger of revolt and civil war in the novel.
“Anyway, thank goodness that we had the Padashar from the sultan,” remarked Lloyd. “Did you know that, technically, the food was gifted to us by the great and omnipotent sultan?”
“Wait, are you taking credit when it was the sultan that spent the money?” accused Javier with a gaze.
“Well, yeah, you’re right,” admitted Lloyd.
Lloyd then shrugged as he wistfully looked at the people receiving the food from the delegation.
“You know, it doesn’t look like they’re so happy to see us even though we brought them food.”
“Yes, it appears so.”
The thing was, people were throwing glances from time to time at the delegation and Lloyd and Javier. But they weren’t so nice. They were full of alarm. Some didn’t even hide their cynical and subtle hostility toward them. But Lloyd wasn’t offended by their behavior. He knew why they were acting like that.
It’s because I’m here under the sultan’s order.
Lloyd signed the contract with the sultan to construct something here. He came to this place at the sultan’s command with the sultan’s guards and people. The whole delegation was flashy, to say the least. As such, it was only obvious how he would be viewed by the residents here.
The sultan’s stool pigeon. Spiteful informant. We’re nothing more than that in their eyes.
The bitter smile on Lloyd’s face deepened. This place was suffering from several years of drought, but Ahinsya stood in stark contrast with Kandara due to its prosperity. Ahinsya enjoyed perpetual abundance. Drought was irrelevant there. This reason was simple. The sultan was in Ahinsya.
The sultan spends an exorbitant amount of money all the time. He hires magicians and buys thousands of carriages and ships with his enormous capital to transfer water to Ahinsya through various channels.
And so, Ahinsya never ran out of water. But what happened to the regions that didn’t receive the grace of the sultan? They had to go through all sorts of hardships when the drought struck. The land dried and cracked, and the crops desiccated. But no one could leave this cruel, arid land and dream of moving into the prosperous Ahinsya due to their prosperity.
This sultan kingdom strictly classifies people through their class. People are classified by region. Those living in Ahinsya are the top brass of the kingdom. And those that come next are the ones living around the capital. The lowest in the pyramid system are the ones living in the provinces.
The closer they lived to Ahinsya, the higher their status was. What about those in the lower class? They were permitted to reside in regions that suited their social class. In short, anybody who was born in the lower brass of society could never set foot in Ahinsya ever.
It’s dirty. Unfair. And it’s not like one can climb the social ladder so easily. The chances of winning the lottery are higher.
In other words, those in the lower class of the sultan kingdom suffered through the drought for their entire lives.
That’s why several regions in the kingdom are antagonistic.
The thing is, if everybody’s stomach was satisfied, none of this class system would have mattered. That was the case for the past 200 years. But as the drought frequently plagued the regions in recent years, everyone started to flip their lids. The atmosphere was the same in the Kandahar region and Kandara, the central city of the region. The sultan was already their enemy. It was just that they didn’t have the power to voice out themselves. As such, Lloyd and the others wouldn’t be welcomed as they came under the order of the sultan, even if he showered them with food.
Duh. People here are not foolish. What good does an occasional supply of food do to them when the sultan forever locks them up in agony? They’ll never be grateful for the sultan. Instead, they probably feel like they’re being managed like livestock. I mean, I’d feel the same way.
As his thinking developed that way, Lloyd was able to understand their antagonistic gaze well enough. But at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel frustrated.
“Haa. I still need their cooperation.”
“What?”
Lloyd was talking to himself, speaking his thoughts aloud. But it looked like Javier heard it. He cocked his head in confusion. Lloyd scoffed before shrugging and speaking.
“No, never mind. I think I understand what’s going on. Let’s get moving.”
Lloyd then guided Javier into an unpopulated area, and he brought Ggoming out.
“Ggoming,” called Lloyd.
“Ggoming!”
“I think you need to carry us and move around. We’ll be heavy, but can you do it?”
“Ggomiming!”
“Yes, thank you.”
Ggoming nodded as though it was A-OK. Lloyd stroked his round head and asked the others in his embrace.
“Are you guys feeling hot down there?”
“Ppodong!”
“Bangul!”
“Hamang!”
“Not bored or hungry?”
“Ppo! Bang! Ha!”
The fantastical creatures heartily answered that they were okay. Lloyd was grateful and proud of them.
“Yes, good. Then let’s get started.”
Lloyd fed the red sunflower seed to Ggoming and carried him and Javier on his back. Ggoming flew up as he spread out his wings.
“To the west!”
“Ggoming!”
In no time, they were high up in the air and outside Kandara. Ggoming flew in the direction of the west, passing countless dunes under him. Lloyd activated his surveying skill, Subterranean Scanning.
Let’s see.
His gaze swept over the underground, 16 feet deep. It scanned thoroughly lest he missed an area. But nothing he wanted could be spotted.
“It’s not here. Could it be somewhere deeper than 16 feet?”
“What…?”
“No, never mind.”
“…”
Nothing? Javier asked himself. Then why was Master Lloyd looking dismayed? Javier was curious as he stayed on Ggoming’s back.
He must be looking around the areas where the construction will take place. Surveying. Did he call it? But Master Lloyd is slightly different from his usual self.
This time, there was a slight difference in the manner Master Lloyd surveyed the ground. It looked like he had a specific target he wanted to uncover but couldn’t.
What could he be looking for?
Javier was curious, but before his curiosity could be resolved, the scenery under him changed. Ggoming, who faithfully flew toward the west, was no longer flying over the desert. Intermittent patches of grass appeared in their view until the foot of a mountain appeared. Then the streams of water flowing down from the mountain came into view.
“Higher,” Lloyd said calmly.
“Ggoming!”
Ggoming fluttered his wings, taking them higher to the foot of the mountain. The wind gradually turned chiller, colder. At last, a white permanent snow line spanned below them. Lloyd asked Ggoming to land on the field of snow. And he looked around.
“Hmm… Good. No contaminants. No bacteria. Just the right amount of sodium. Just perfect.”
Satisfaction appeared in Lloyd’s eyes. This was the place where the water that would be used for the Qanat was produced. The permanent snow line would melt to form a waterway that would flow along the foot of the mountain. Then he could construct the intake station along the waterway, and the water gathered that way would be transferred via the underground channel.
“So, Hamang,” called Lloyd.
“Hamang!”
“Time to work today.”
“Hamamang!”
Lloyd brought Hamang out of his pocket. And pointing at the snow field, he gently asked, “Tell me, do you like ice snacks?”
“Hamang!”
“So, anything with water is good for you, yeah? Then what about that?”
“Hamamang!”
Hamang nodded his head, saying that it went without saying that he liked it. A content smile appeared on Lloyd’s mouth.
“All right. I want you to put as much as you can of that in your mouth and turn it all into water. Do you remember the Kandara city we just visited? The people there are very thirsty,” explained Lloyd.
“Hamang!”
From then on, Hamang darted in the direction of the snowfield as though he was back home. Then he took a bite of the white snow, swallowed it, and the snow melted to fill his stomach. Hamang became happier with it.
“Hamamang! Hamang! Hamamamang!”
He continued to devour the snow, and his stomach swayed up and down, inflating his size in no time. Soon, he grew to become 229 feet in diameter.
“Are you happy now that your stomach is all full?” asked Lloyd.
“Humu-mung! Humung!”
Hamang responded, saying that he couldn’t be any happier. A smile appeared on Lloyd’s face as well.
“Great. Then let’s go back.”
“Humung!”
Everyone flew up again toward the east on Ggoming’s back. Hamang, on the other hand, rolled and rolled, coming down the foot of the mountain and traversing the desert. And when they were finally back in Kandara, it was already deep into the night.
“What now, Master Lloyd?” asked Javier. “You seemed to have instructed Sir Hamang to carry the water and give it to the people.”
“You’re right,” Lloyd agreed, “I came to give it to them.”
“Then do you plan on waiting until morning arrives?”
“Hm? Why?”
“Because everyone should be sleeping now-”
“That’s why we must wake them up.”
“Excuse me?”
Javier thought he heard him wrong. Lloyd smiled.
“You saw when we got to the foot of the mountain where the intake station will be constructed, right? How distant it is from here.”
“Yes.”
“It was almost 25 miles away.”
“Indeed.”
“So…” Lloyd paused before continuing. “The distance is too far, so we can’t do this job on our own. People here must help us. So we’ve got to wake them all up and give water,” he said matter-of-factly.
“But,” protested Javier, “an act of generosity and charity must be-”
“Must be done so openly and obviously. Yes, yes, of course.” Lloyd then put on an evil and rewarding smile before he finally said, “That’s how we can earn brownie points from them, right?”