Chapter 90: Between Construction and Trust (2)
Wels Corgidus, the master craftsman, and the man in charge of the royal forge, visibly quirked his eyebrows.
“This is… Hmm… Are they the frames to support the weight?”
His tenacious eyes, which were distinct features to dwarfs, scanned the blueprint that contained a frame he had never seen before. Looks like a frame. There were straight bars connected to each other, intricately forming triangular shapes. Overall, dozens of short bars laid slanted and formed triangles in the area between two straight elongated bars. Corgidus, like the master of craft he was, immediately identified the purpose of the structure in the blueprint, as well as the flow of force on the structure and the balance of weight the structure would withstand.
“Is this going to be used in the bridge?” asked Corgidus.
“Yes, you are right. It’s called a truss.”
Lloyd smiled, impressed. Corgidus was just as the novel had described him. Corgidus tossed another question to Lloyd.
“Surely, this design would allow the wide structure to carry the most weight possible. But who designed this? Tell me, do you also have a dwarf master craftsman working for you?”
“No,” replied Lloyd.
“If not, who did it?”
“I did.”
“What?” The dwarf’s brow twitched.
“I designed this one. I did.”
A mysterious light flashed across Corgidus’s eyes as he looked up at Lloyd. He blurted out something not very nice.
“My, you are one heck of a nutcase.”
“Haha. Is that so?” asked Lloyd.
“Yes, indeed. You came to threaten me, right?”
“Did you already notice…?”
“Of course.”
Corgidus heavily exhaled through his nose.
“A mediocre blacksmith could never create something like this. No, in this forge as well, there wouldn’t be anyone else but me who can produce this. After all, it involves producing the entire metal structure with an equal distribution of weight and entrusting the job to other master craftsmen…”
That would lead to a disastrous accident. Corgidus was sure of it. It would be even so for a truss structure that appeared to be fine on the outside. One clumsy mistake during production would create an imbalanced distribution of weight on the inside. What would happen if one built a bridge on top of it?
“It will collapse. That’s the thing with metals. It looks fine until it suddenly snaps. That’s what is so scary.”
What would happen if the truss snapped, and the bridge collapsed? It would spell a disastrous accident where at least dozens would perish.
“Yet, you came to me and showed me the blueprint of such a structure? What, you thought I wouldn’t be able to see through you?”
“Actually, I wanted you to see me through like now,” Lloyd replied nonchalantly after chuckling. Corgidus clicked his tongue.
“Are you testing my conscience?”
“Well, you can always say no if you don’t want to.”
“So, you want me to watch the accident in the future and feel guilty?”
“The choice is yours,” said Lloyd, “so I will not force it upon you.”
“Are you not confident that you can pique my interest and get me to accept the order?”
“Indeed. I’m not confident at all. How can I when I am nothing? So that’s why I did it.”
“Did what?” asked Corgidus.
“I’d thought that I stand a greater chance by appealing to your conscience this way.”
“And why are you coming clean about it?”
“Because you’ll know even if I hide it.”
“Hahaha.”
Corgidus guffawed, and his thick beard danced along with his head. He considered Lloyd brazen. However, he didn’t hate him for it because such an attitude came rare among his visitors.
Usually, they try to abuse their position or provoke and test my skills.
But Lloyd, the boy that showed up in front of him, was slightly different. He was crystal clear about what he wanted. He didn’t parade around his position or attempt obvious provocations to challenge him. He only emphasized the truth that Corgidus was needed to make his construction project safe and successful. At last, after mulling over the matter, Corgidus made a decision.
“Let’s see your other blueprints.”
“That means…”
“Give me the blueprints first,” demanded Corgidus.
“Yes.”
Lloyd busied himself, spreading the blueprints in order. Each time it spread out; a pleasant shock was sent to the dwarf’s eyes to his relief. The large socket to fix the bridge cables to the bridge towers. The link-type joint connecting device to respond to the elasticity depending on the temperature change of the bridge. The flap to reduce the vibration level in the bridge depending on the wind level. Countless modules and components spanned in front of his eyes. A sense of responsibility suddenly surged in him, his eyes brimming with determination. And at last, he nodded.
“Okay,” Corgidus finally said, “Let’s do it. We’re doing it.”
“Do you really mean it?”
“Do I look like I’m lying?” Corgidus’s meticulous eyes stared at Lloyd’s face.
“I became more certain when I scanned the other blueprints you showed me. There’s only one being who can create this structure in the whole kingdom. Goodness, and if you have someone else build this, only for it to collapse later, my conscience will be bothered. This job isn’t a matter of interest. It’s about what is right.”
“Thank you,” replied Lloyd.
“You can save your gratitude. You owe me a lot of explanation as I’ll be making them for the first time. Don’t even think about going back home today.”
“I wasn’t planning to in the first place.”
Lloyd spoke, grinned, and opened his bag, which contained stacks of lunch boxes he had prepared. Moreover, it was for two people.
“Hahaha.”
Could it be that he saw this coming when he got here?
Corgidus once again felt that this boy over here wasn’t a normal brat. Now, the gaze Corgidus sent to Lloyd was no longer that of interest. It was satisfaction.
Three days passed, and Lloyd was not allowed to leave the royal forge during that period. Corgidus turned out to be a meticulous and detailed craftsman, befitting his status as a master. He asked questions, even Lloyd missed, about the details and directions of the production. Lloyd even broke out into sweat a few times trying to explain certain things to Corgidus.
He’s a master for a reason.
In fact, Lloyd received help from the design skill when he came up with the blueprint. So, a few of the details were missed and overlooked in the process. But now that he was hearing questions from the master of the craft, who was on par with his university professors, Lloyd realized that he was not paying attention to the details.
From now on, I should start designing with a fine-tooth comb.
Three days later, Lloyd was permitted to leave the forge. That didn’t mean the end of his job. Instead, it was time for him to really get serious.
“All right, let’s do some cooking, shall we?”
Lloyd cracked his knuckles as he looked straight ahead. He was now in a small training hall the palace loaned him to use, and a huge pile of sand sat there. The sand was the main ingredient for today’s cooking.
Everything was delivered just as I asked. I expected nothing less from the palace.
Oil-mixed clay, stone powder clay, magnetite, pebbles, grinded basalt, obsidian, azure stone, talcum, and tin were there. Each ingredient was placed in separate piles.
I’ll go first with the oil-mixed clay.
Lloyd’s shoveling began. He first scooped the oil-mixed clay and pressed it flat with his shovel, making it into the shape of a pizza dough that was about thirty feet in diameter. He then sprinkled all sorts of sand on top, which he finished with stones like basalt, obsidian, and others. Once he was done, Lloyd served it to Bangul, who was waiting with a growling stomach.
“Bangul,” Lloyd called.
“Bangul!”
“I made it just the way you wanted.”
“Bba-bangul!”
“Want to try eating this?”
“Bangul!”
Bangul turned gigantic and took a large bite of the sand pizza, chewing several times before gulping it down. At last, she wagged her tail hard.
The bell attached to her tail rattled violently, and she lifted her fat tail high up and shouted, “Bangul!”
Lloyd moved instantly at the noise and threw the granite tray he had prepared before her buttock. Metal bars that were thinner than usual started to come out of her buttocks. Red and hot metal bars stacked itself onto the granite tray, and Lloyd twirled the tray just in time to make sure that the bars would coil around the tray.
“Fan them!” Lloyd shouted.
As soon as he yelled, a gush of wind blew from both sides, which was the work of Javier and Julian standing by Lloyd. They wielded the fans very passionately.
The violent wind cooled the bars in no time. After all, the diameter of the bars was only about 0.2 inches thick. They were more like metal wires rather than bars.
Good. They turned out just fine on the outside.
Lloyd’s eyes held a joyful smile. Bangul had been honest about excreting thin metal wires if she ate according to the recipe. True to her words, the granite tray carried an abundant load of wires.
Let’s check if they function just as well as they look.
The wire would be used to support the suspension bridge, so it was imperative for Lloyd to test out how durable it was.
The load cell machine sounds like a perfect thing to have to test its applied force.
To his regret, there was no way he could get his hands on such a modern machine. Thus, he tested the tension of the wires by himself.
“Javier,” Lloyd called.
“Yes.”
“Hold this.”
Lloyd held out the cooled wire and told him to grip one end. Then, he grabbed the other end.
“Now, I’m going to pull this hard, and you have to hold on without swaying.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“You can’t pull it either. Even a little.”
“I just need to hold and endure?”
“Yes. This is to test how much force the wire can withstand.”
The exact math became complicated once Javier’s pulling force was added in the equation. So, Javier had to remain at a fixed position. Lloyd’s pulling force was the only input needed in this test.
“Here we go.”
Lloyd gripped the wire and employed one mana circle. He even used an optional skill to accurately measure the force.
[The Asrahan Core Technique Skill Option four: Circle Shift has been activated.]
Since I need to test by stage, I’ll start with the low gear. He set the gear to level one. The circle reacted instantly.
[The Alpha circle is set to gear one. Fixed at RPM 1,000.]
The RPM of the first circle was set to 1,000, and he transferred the amplified power of mana into his right arm. He then yanked the wire.
The wire stretched tightly, but it didn’t snap. It held very well. Time for gear two.
[The Alpha circle is set to gear two. Fixed at RPM 2,000.]
Lloyd tugged the taut wire with more force. It didn’t snap this time, either. He revved up his gear to three and four… until five. That’s when it snapped off.
Good. Somewhere between gear four and five based on the single circle. One more time.
The test continued. He first used the optional skill Circle Shift and set the stable RPM. Later, he turned off the skill and employed a more detailed RPM. Thanks to that, Lloyd was able to identify the tension of the wires Bangul produced.
The wire roughly snaps in between 4,600 and 4,700 RPM. Computing this to force… Hmm… It looks okay.
This was more than okay as it didn’t fall short of the wires used in modern times in South Korea. Now, it was time to produce the cables. Lloyd dug his hand into the inner pocket and brought out a summon creature taking a sweet nap in there.
“Hey, Ppodong.”
“Ppodong…”
“I’m sorry to wake you up, but can you do me a favor, please?”
“Ppo-do-dong?”
“From now on, Bangul will be making some wires for you.”
“Ppodong?”
“Once they cool, can you cluster them together and roll them up? Roll about 120 strands into one, like a bunch of dried noodles you would see in markets.”
Lloyd picked up a twig and drew something on the ground to help Ppodong understand better.
“What do you think? Do you think you can do it?”
“Ppodong!”
Ppodong nodded confidently. He liked doing favors for Lloyd. A smile of satisfaction hung on Lloyd’s smile.
“Yes, thank you. First, eat this one.”
“Ppodong!”
Ppodong grew thirty feet after eating the red sunflower seed. From then on, Ppodong rubbed his hands zealously, and Bangul got ready to excrete metal wires and shook her buttock.
“Ppo-do-dong! Ppodong!”
“Bba-bangul! Bangul!”
Now that it was ready to produce cables, Lloyd turned around and stared at the third worker he had appointed at the back of his mind.
“Hey,” Lloyd called.
“Eh? What?”
Julian flinched when he was called. He was in a daze. It was his first time seeing the giant summon creatures, and Lloyd was freely controlling them. The corners of Lloyd’s lips rolled upward.
“I’ll be working on the basic construction of the bridge towers with Javier.”
“Oh, sure,” Julian said.
“So, we need to vacate this place.”
“Yeah, so?”
“I want you to hold down the fort for me.”
“Me? How?” Julian asked curiously.
“How else?”
Lloyd lifted his shovel and held it out to Julian.
“Here.”
Before he had any time to resist, Julian found himself carrying a large shovel in his small arms.
“Imagine you’re with your friends, grilling some delicious and juicy meat, but you ran out of cooked meat, and the ones on the grill aren’t ready yet. So, you are now forced to wait until the new meat is done. You stopped eating in the middle of a tasty meal. How do you think you’d feel?”
“Uh, I guess I’ll get anxious and annoyed.”
“Right? I knew you’d understand. Therefore…”
Lloyd’s smile turned suggestive.
“You should start shoveling, and make sure to be faster than the speed of Bangul eating her sand. The recipe needs to be followed as closely as possible. Okay?”
“The sand you dig up with your shovel will be transformed into wires through Bangul, which will in turn become the cables that support the entire suspension bridge. So, do you see where I’m getting at? Put all your effort into it”
Julian’s adam’s apple fluctuated as he swallowed drily. The young master had done nothing but study until now. He didn’t understand the importance of shoveling until Lloyd enlightened him with the sheer purpose behind such a seemingly simple act.
“Hold on, wait,” Julian hurriedly stopped Lloyd as the latter was leaving.
“Wait, then, isn’t this super important?” asked Julian in disbelief.
“You’re right.”
“Then you’re entrusting it to me? Why?”
Julian was curious. Something was off. This person in front of him was Lloyd Frontera, the object of his unchanging hatred and doubt. It was the same case for Lloyd as well. He never believed in Julian. Each time Lloyd requested to go drinking and got rejected, he hurled curse words at Julian in anger and dismissed him as nothing but a buzzkill. As such, it was a wonder why Lloyd gazed at him with such seriousness while speaking in a gentle voice as if he always did.
“I’m entrusting it to you because it’s important.”
Though Julian wasn’t aware of it, his eyes trembled visibly.