Chapter 55: The Fiefdom’s First Accomplishment (2)

“Dig, carpet, cut, transport back, polish, and bury. These are your tasks starting today.”

In the deep part of the mountain spring, Lloyd stood on top of a small rock. His speech began amid the chirpings of the mountain birds. The human soldiers in the civil engineering group and muscular orc miners gazed at Lloyd. Lloyd continued his work briefing which was disguised as a speech.

“As every one of you would know, we are not in a safe place. We’re up in the eastern range. So what should we watch out for?”

“The wild animals!”

“The monsters!”

The soldiers and orcs yelled, trying to deafen one another. The corners of Lloyd’s lips pulled up in satisfaction.

“Yes, everyone is right. You’re correct. Wild animals and monsters may appear. So make sure to move in groups. Each group will be composed of twenty members, ten humans, and ten orcs. I believe you remember which group you belong to, right?”

“Yes!”

“Yes, oink!”

“Great,” said Lloyd. “Let’s check the roles assigned to you then. Groups one through six, each composed of twenty members mixed with humans and orcs. What’s your job?”

“To cut the giant bamboo and prune them out!”

“Okay. What about groups seven, eight, and nine?”

“We will transfer the smoothened giant bamboo to the site where the pipes will be installed!”

“Then what about groups ten, eleven, and twelve?”

“We repair the site where the pipes will be laid!”

Lloyd asked, and the soldiers answered. The Q&A session went by without a hitch. Lloyd’s smile deepened as he looked at them.

I’ve raised them well.

Just then, Lloyd remembered the first time he had mobilized the soldiers in the fiefdom to transfer red clay for the heated flooring system construction project. At that time, they were essentially a civil militia made up of ordinary soldiers, average young men you could see in any neighborhood.

But now, things have completely changed. At this rate, I can throw them into construction sites in Korea, and they’ll adjust quickly. The commonplace youthful civil militia was long gone. Their white complexions had completely changed, and now, everyone was tanned under the sun. A slight furrow wrinkle sat in between their brows, which was a result of habitual frowning from the sun’s bright glare. A slight mark of dignity could be noticed in their thick and rough mustache. Their clothes had changed as well as their work clothes were ragged but special. Each had various shapes embroidered on their left chest. One was a burned rock, which symbolized the ondol, or the heated flooring system. Another showed a flat surface, signifying the paved road. There was also an embroidery of a deep pit that symbolized the coal mine and a rectangular rock that represented the seokbinggo.

The majority of them carried embankment embroidery, a symbol for the reclaimed Maritz Wetland.

Every single symbol was proof of participation in various construction projects. It was also a form of medal that stirred pride in each soldier. Plus, their stamina has gotten really great.

They weren’t muscular and buff the way the gym rats were.

But when it came to strength, Lloyd could ascertain that they were stronger than any other fiefdom’s soldiers. That was because they spent all day moving bricks, soil, and other construction materials. Hammering, sawing, and shoveling were basic construction tasks. The hard labor that came with each task gifted them with tenacious and godly muscles. In other words, they had grown to become seasoned workers who could easily be hired as supervisors on any construction site out there with just a small adjustment period.

“But don’t ever let your guard down and do something idiotic. It’s always the experienced workers who get hurt first because of their stubborn ways. Am I clear?”

“Yes!”

“Okay, everyone except for Group thirteen made up of only civil engineers. Get to work with a shout!”

“Woah!!!”

There were a total of twelve groups. One hundred and twenty civil engineer soldiers and one hundred and twenty orcs held up saws, axes, and various other tools. Each rushed in order toward their respective places. The first six groups headed toward the nearby woods. That was where a huge forest of giant bamboo, each one wider than the body of an orc warrior, was located. The soldiers and miners became one, and their tools glinted against the sunlight that shone above the giant bamboo forest.

“Let’s start chopping from here!”

“I love using the ax, oink!”

“It’s good exercise, oink!”

The human soldiers charged forward with their hand saws. The orc miners swung their stupidly large ax with one hand. The huge stalks of innocent bamboo were cut down by a storm of loggers. At the same time, the groups beside the loggers smoothened and pruned the chopped bamboo. They cut the stalks in unified lengths and smoothened the outside. The same was done to the inside. The smaller soldiers entered the bamboo stalks to sand any rough edges and drill holes inside. Once the cutting and smoothing were finished, the giant bamboo was shaped into pipes of equal lengths. After that process was over as well, groups seven, eight, and nine on standby entered.

“Grab them up. One, two!”

The human soldiers and orc miners teamed up to transport the giant bamboo pipes.

They traveled, walking over rough mountains, creeks, and rocks. Along their way, they shooed away growling wild animals and fought drooling monsters. They delivered countless bamboo pipes to the site where the water supply system would be built and once they arrived, groups ten, eleven, and twelve received the bamboo pipes. There, right on the spot, Bangul and the blacksmiths worked together to add the stiffeners to the pipes.

“Bangul! Hng-!”

Bangul, who had eaten soil in advance, violently shook her chubby tail. Her bell attached to the tip of her tail blared a loud warning. At the same time, she tightened her bottom.

Splaaash!

Hot metal bars of poop got discharged from the area under her uplifted tail. The blacksmiths rushed toward the metal bars. It didn’t matter if they didn’t have a furnace. The bars were hot and soft because they were just made, allowing them to easily process the bars. They looped the metals around the bamboo pipes that groups seven, eight, and nine had delivered. The stiffeners would hold the pipes strong and sturdy against the water pressure that could make them crack or burst otherwise. Meanwhile, the workers in groups ten, eleven, and twelve assisted Ppodong.

“Ppodong! Ppo-do-do-dong!”

A sandstorm appeared wherever Ppodong went and once the storm left the area, a large pit was created in its wake. That was where the bamboo pipes would be installed. Of course, Ppodong hadn’t dug the ground haphazardly.

“Ppodong! Ppo-do-dong!”

Ppdodong dug the areas Lloyd marked on the ground. His digging was precise according to the depths and widths he was told in advance. It was perfectly in line with Lloyd’s design plan. Lloyd had to consider several factors for the foundation, including its earth pressure, surcharge load, vulnerability to earthquakes, water pressure, and surface load. Moreover, Lloyd’s design was also the result of carefully calculating the bearing power and expected subsidence. When Ppodong’s amazing feat left a huge hole in the ground, groups ten, eleven, and twelve followed behind.

“Okay, clean up the ground!”

“Woah, oink!”

The human soldiers and orc miners flattened the surface. They painted on a generous amount of stiffener to prevent any potential flooding or sinking. Once the ground was flattened, they laid out the rocks. Then, they pasted the rocks with a thick layer of limestone-mixed mud. On its very top came the pruned and processed giant bamboo pipes.

They added the paste of limestone-mixed mud around the pipes without missing a single spot. On top of that, the pipes were covered with tightly packed dirt. This method was called the backfill method. With that, they had finished one section of the pipe.

Of course, amid the ongoing construction, everyone strove hard to meet the exact measurements Lloyd had given them. When one section of pipe was over, they moved on to the next section. This process was repeated over and over again. While all this happened, Lloyd commanded group thirteen, which was composed of sixty civil engineer soldiers. He brought them to the lake that sat in the middle of the mountain range. Here, they proceeded with constructing the aqueduct. The first one to start the construction was Javier.

“Alright, Javier. You know what to do, don’t you?”

“Use the manablast to blow out the areas you marked?”

“Obviously. This isn’t your first time doing this.”

“Were you about to say I should run back after the blast, or else, I would whine in pain under the crushing weight of the crumbling rocks?”

“No, I wasn’t going to,” Lloyd said and looked away.

“Then?”

“If I see you crushed under a rock, I’ll be kind enough to set up a tombstone for you there.”

“I’ll be back…”

Javier then walked off.

It was pure luck that there was a bedrock of limestone that lay bare and plain near the construction site. Javier drew his sword and stood in front of the bedrock. He pointed at the mark Lloyd made.

He wielded his sword, which swung dozens of times in the air at lightning speed. He then contained the explosive power of the mana circle that collided at the same time. Combined it resulted in a precise yet deadly act of destruction. The bedrock, which had been there for hundreds and thousands of years, exploded a dozen times from the inside. The power blast split the hard bedrock. The bedrock was blasted into dice-sized chunks of rocks. Masons and soldiers held out their chisels and hammers and rushed toward the rocks.

“Okay, don’t space out now! Make sure you don’t get any shards of rocks into your eyes!”

They split, broke, and divided the rocks by following the marks Lloyd drew for them. The tranquil valley suddenly turned into a limestone bonanza. While the masons and soldiers were at work, the carpenters were busy as well with the aqueduct floor plan Lloyd had given them. Their mission was to build an arch support frame according to the plan, which was where the stone arches would be built.

Everyone wielded their tools strongly and powerfully. The wooden support frame was finished. In the shape of a rainbow, this firm support frame was topped with a block of limestone. Once the blocks fit perfectly, they created an arch. After that, the support frame was dismantled and reassembled right beside it. Another limestone block was added on top of the support frame again. Thus, another arch was constructed.

As such, the cycle of construction continued to repeat. On one side, the workers logged giant bamboo, made them into pipes, and laid them under the ground. At the valley, an arch-shaped aqueduct three floors tall, with a height of fifty-five feet, and twenty-nine feet in length, was erected. Each time a bead of sweat streaked down on workers’ faces, another pipe was connected one after another. Each time they shouted, the height of the stacked limestone block got taller. About two months later, under the drizzling rain of late fall, the two tasks finally merged into one masterpiece.

“Okay, be careful! Slowly! Make sure you fasten it tightly!”

Lloyd stepped forward, his tool belt wrapped around his waist. He climbed up the finished aqueduct himself and commanded the installation of the last bamboo pipe. It was fifty-five feet from the ground. The peak of the narrow aqueduct was slippery due to rainwater.

It was the perfect position to accidentally fall off. That was the reason why Lloyd was doing the most dangerous task.

I must do this by myself. Otherwise, the atmosphere among the workers will be dampened.

No matter how much Lloyd showered them with bonuses and rewards, the dangers of their work didn’t change.

The mood of the construction site would quickly be ruined if he pressured the workers to do dangerous jobs. They’ll calculate whether the money they receive is worth the risk of their job. This will make them decide how much their lives are worth. That was the natural thought process for those who had dangerous jobs. Lloyd didn’t wish for his soldiers to make such decisions. It’s not a good feeling. I know because I thought of it too. He knew the feeling very well. Truthfully, it was an awful one. Valuing his life based on money made him feel like he was just an object that could be replaced at any time. Once someone felt that way, they became distrustful of construction work. That was the reason why Lloyd led the riskiest part of the construction, which was standing on top of the aqueduct top and leading the process.

But he was with the most reliable individuals among the workers.

“Okay, carefully take a step here. Javier. Sir Bayern. Arosh. Count now.”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three, oink!”

“Let go!”

Lloyd, Javier, Sir Bayern, and Arosh moved as one group. They lifted the bamboo pipe above the aqueduct. They moved it, let it down, and connected it. At last, the last pipe was laid and linked. However, that wasn’t the end of the job. The final verification is still left. Laying the pipes wasn’t the end. There had to be a final check-up to determine whether the water flowed correctly.

So Lloyd climbed up to Lake Kapua and arrived at the intake station that would direct the lake water to flow through the pipes. He turned the valve affixed to the intake gate. Creak! The steel intake gate opened up. The lake water passed the muck frame made out of bamboo to flow into the pipe. Lloyd’s gaze acutely studied the water flow. The water is moving just right. It’s just as I had designed it. Lloyd designed that the velocity of water flowing through the pipes from Lake Kapua’s intake station to the fiefdom to fall between 0.5 to three m/s. If the velocity was slower than that, sand and other sediments would block and clog the pipes. However, if the velocity was too fast, the water pressure would eventually damage the pipes.

But at the current velocity I’m seeing… I won’t have to worry about it for the time being.

Lloyd continued to observe the flow of water and he waited. What did he wait for? He was waiting for a hopeful message from the foot of the mountain where his fiefdom was at.

Sometime later…I should be hearing from them right about now…It was when Lloyd was nervously biting his bottom lip.

A series of shouts started echoing up from the foot of the hill. It was the shouts from the line of soldiers who were stationed in the interval from the fiefdom to the intake station. They were shouting the message that started from the fiefdom, relaying it to the one next. Their shouts slowly traveled up to Lloyd.

At last, a full message arrived to Lloyd.

“The fiefdom’s purification plant has water! There is no leakage in between!”

Everyone cheered aloud. It was the end of the long construction. Everyone clenched their fists as they finally saw the results of their hard work. They exchanged gazes of satisfaction with those beside them. Just like that, the construction site erupted with joy and excitement.

Everyone except for one: Lloyd.

“Whew! Done. Let’s go collect the construction fee now.”

Lloyd smirked and casually touched Javier on the shoulder like he was brazenly asking to go to a local arcade or for a complimentary drink at a restaurant. Thus, Javier was left in confusion.

Construction fee? Collect what?