The Greatest Estate Developer - Chapter 28: Double Circle (3)

“Ppodong!”

A hole had been made in the dirt wall.

Through the hole, Ppodong’s head popped out.

He smiled brightly at Lloyd, who was sitting collapsed in front of the wall.

Lloyd opened his mouth in disbelief.

“Ppodong… is that you?”

“Ppodong!”

“Is it really you?”

“Ppododong! Ppodong!”

Ppodong nodded vigorously.

Memories of the recent days flooded through Ppodong’s small, round head.

—

Until a few days ago, Ppodong was terribly bored.

Lloyd had been absorbed in the mine development project all day.

Bangul had also been kept busy, involved in the work, often away from home.

But Ppodong had nothing to do.

Every day was spent idly rolling around the room.

At first, it was fine, but after a while, it became unbearable.

An aching boredom.

Eventually, he dashed out of Lloyd’s room.

He roamed around the mansion, exploring it inside and out.

Then he encountered a woman tending flowers in the mansion’s garden.

It was Lloyd’s mother, the Baroness.

The Baroness was delighted to meet him.

And she said this:

‘Oh, how thankful I am. Lately, a few mice have been ruining the flower garden, and I’ve been worried. You’re related to them, aren’t you? If you could, would you please go and ask them not to damage the garden?’

…that was her request.

Of course, he accepted.

He had nothing else to do anyway.

Excited, he dashed to the meadow after accepting the request.

That’s when it started.

For days, Ppodong sought out the groups of mice around the mansion.

He eventually spotted a pack and even met their leader.

He made a polite request to the mouse leader on the spot.

‘Ppodong! Ppododong? Ppodong!’

It was a request to stop playing in the Baroness’s flower garden.

However, the mouse leader responded like this:

‘Squeak! Squeak? Squeak squeak!’

A response implying he couldn’t understand a word.

Ppodong didn’t know the mouse language, and the mice didn’t understand Ppodong’s language.

A failed negotiation.

The beginning of a “war.”

Ppodong declared war on the mice.

Every time he saw a group of them, he charged bravely.

He pressed down on them with his belly, bounced them off with his rump, and headbutted them.

Each time, the mice would scatter in panic.

Today was no different.

Ppodong chased the leader of the mouse pack.

But the mouse leader was quicker than expected.

Always just out of reach, it continued to flee.

Ppodong kept chasing it.

Through the mansion’s garden, across the driveway, past the village, up the hillside, and all the way to the under-construction mine tunnel.

And somehow, he ended up inside an anthill beyond the tunnel.

‘Ppodong?’

He had come to an unfamiliar place.

And he’d lost the mouse leader.

He was about to turn back.

If not for the familiar sound he suddenly heard nearby, he would have returned to the mansion.

‘Hoo! Huff!’

It wasn’t a voice, but the sound of breathing.

But that was enough for Ppodong to recognize whose it was.

‘Ppodong!’

The person who summoned him to this world.

The person who made his existence possible.

It was Lloyd’s breathing.

‘Ppodong! Ppododong!’

He shouted out, thrilled.

But there was no reply.

Lloyd was still somewhere nearby, exhaling rough breaths.

And with each breath, the sound of digging—a shovel striking the ground—resonated, “Thud, thud.”

‘Ppodong?’

Ppodong tilted his head.

He thought it sounded like Lloyd was digging.

Then he figured he should go help.

‘Ppododong! Ppodong!’

He pinpointed the direction of the sound with determination.

It wasn’t far. Just across the tunnel from where he was.

From that moment, Ppodong started digging.

He dug hard, sweating on his rice-grain-sized palms as he wiggled his pudgy bottom.

And finally, he emerged here, in front of Lloyd.

“Is it really you?”

“Ppodong!”

“……”

Ppodong waddled over and rubbed his cheek affectionately against Lloyd’s as if greeting him.

That familiar musty scent unique to Ppodong filled Lloyd’s senses.

It felt real.

It really was Ppodong.

“Hah, how did you end up here?”

He said that, but he couldn’t have been happier.

It was a moment he had thought marked the end.

The dazed fog in his mind began to clear.

The fist-sized hole Ppodong made.

Thanks to that, air was now circulating through.

‘Of course, my head still feels like it’s splitting.’

Hypoxia still gripped him.

The small hole only sufficed to prevent his condition from worsening further.

‘But it’s much better than dying.’

Lloyd wiggled his fingers.

They moved as he willed, thankfully.

He spoke to Ppodong.

“Ppodong? I need a favor.”

“Ppodong?”

“Could you bite my nose? To snap me out of this.”

“Ppododong?”

“It’s fine. That won’t kill me.”

“Ppodong?”

“I mean it. Quick.”

“Ppodong!”

Perched on his shoulder, Ppodong got into position.

He stood on his hind legs and placed his tiny hands on Lloyd’s cheeks.

Then he bit down firmly on the tip of Lloyd’s nose.

“Ppodong!”

Crunch!

“……Argh!”

It hurt much more than expected.

His entire body jolted, flinching hard.

But it worked—he was wide awake now.

“Ugh, th-thank you!”

Lloyd smiled at Ppodong, who flashed a thumbs-up from his shoulder.

He then struggled to stand up.

Almost crawling, he approached the wall.

He pressed his face against the hole Ppodong had made.

He took several deep breaths of the air flowing through the hole.

He felt a bit better.

‘I need to save him too.’

Lloyd turned around.

He crawled over to Javier, who lay some distance away.

Javier was completely unconscious.

Fortunately, he was still breathing.

Groaning, Lloyd dragged him over.

He grabbed him by the collar and lifted his torso.

He brought his face close to the hole.

Moments later, Javier’s complexion began to improve.

‘Now, let’s get out of here.’

They couldn’t know when another collapse might happen.

If it did, they would surely die.

Knowing this, Lloyd struggled to stand.

He picked up the steel shovel he had dropped.

Due to the penalty of using the Potential Burst option, he couldn’t activate the Asrahan Heart Technique.

But he still had just enough strength to move.

He jabbed the shovel into the wall.

Thunk.

The tip of the shovel sank about a centimeter into the dirt.

That was enough.

With the shovel anchored, Lloyd leaned forward.

He put all his weight on it.

Rumble…

The shovel’s tip dug deeper into the dirt.

Deeper, further, steadily, all the way through.

And finally, it broke through.

Thud!

The shovel, which had been pushing in slowly, suddenly slid through.

The tip had pierced the 30-centimeter barrier and emerged on the other side.

‘Got it!’

Lloyd pushed forward with more force.

His body, now acting as a weighted battering ram, pressed ahead.

Boom!

He struck the barrier with his shoulder, shoving it with all his might.

At last, the wall crumbled away.

“Hah, hah!”

The collapsing dirt partially buried him, but he didn’t care.

Lloyd took a deep breath.

The air that now flooded in filled his lungs far more than the tiny hole had allowed.

He felt a surge of energy return.

“Now, if only you’d wake up.”

Lloyd grumbled as he hoisted Javier onto his back.

Whether it was because Javier was unconscious or because Lloyd was utterly exhausted, he felt heavier than before.

But Lloyd took steady steps forward.

‘Especially now, keep your steps calm. Steady. Don’t waste energy. Brace your waist and legs.’

That was the trick to carrying a heavy load when fatigued.

You couldn’t rely solely on strength.

That would only lead to quick exhaustion.

The heavier the load, the less rushed you should be.

The more tiring it was, the more skillfully you should handle it.

Back in the days when he used to frequent labor offices at dawn, Lloyd had carried countless sacks of cement and loads of bricks.

‘Compared to going up and down four floors of a villa with a full load of tiles and bricks, this is nothing!’

He clenched his teeth.

He focused solely on walking.

Thanks to Ppodong leading the way, he didn’t need to worry about finding the path.

All he had to do was concentrate on placing one foot in front of the other and finding firm ground.

How long had he walked?

Suddenly, an unexpected message appeared before his eyes.

Ding-dong.

[In an extreme situation, you have overcome physical limits using unique methods.]

[This exceptional experience has had a significant effect on the <Asrahan Heart Technique> skill.]

[A new skill option has been unlocked.]

[Skill-exclusive Option ③: Power Saving Mode – Allows the Asrahan Heart Technique to remain slightly active even in a state of extreme exhaustion. The mana amplification rate is fixed at 10% in this state.]

‘What the…?’

Lloyd blinked in surprise.

It was an unexpected creation of a skill option.

And its effects were immediately felt.

Whir……

The Double Circle of mana surrounding his heart.

The circles, which had been dormant due to his exhaustion, began to spin again.

The rotation was only about 1/10th of their usual speed.

But that was enough.

It was a welcome strength for the utterly fatigued Lloyd.

‘Mana is being absorbed again.’

The Asrahan Heart Technique activated on its own, even without intention.

It drew in small amounts of mana from the surroundings and absorbed it.

The absorbed mana circulated through the circles and supplied his body.

A fresh surge of energy coursed through him.

‘I can do this. We can make it out!’

Lloyd’s steps grew stronger and faster.

He walked for a long time, never stopping, even with Javier on his back.

As he walked, the surroundings began to change.

The number of bioluminescent mushrooms on the walls of the anthill gradually decreased.

But the tunnel did not grow darker.

Far ahead, a flicker of torchlight illuminated their path.

“There! It’s Master Lloyd!”

A voice called out.

Hurried footsteps rushed toward them.

Hands reached out to support them.

One of those hands belonged to the Baron.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

A frantic voice as hands grabbed Lloyd’s face and checked him.

Lloyd couldn’t help but smile faintly.

He was too worn out to reply.

They were safe.

Relief washed over him, and the tension in his body released.

A smile crept across his lips.

His eyelids grew heavy.

‘Whew. It’s been a tough day.’

Back when he stayed at the boarding house, when he was exhausted, he would slump just like this.

Lloyd crumpled into the Baron’s embrace.

It was the end of a long, grueling day.

—

Time passed.

Lloyd fell into a deep sleep, much deeper than anyone had expected.

A day passed, then two, yet he didn’t wake.

Aside from strained muscles and ligaments, there were no major injuries.

There were no signs of illness.

The estate’s physician explained that his body was simply resting, recovering from the physical toll through sleep. He reassured the Baron and Baroness.

The Baron and Baroness spent much time in Lloyd’s bedroom.

They stayed by his side whenever time allowed.

Especially the Baron.

The man who had led the charge against the beast ants.

The one who hadn’t hesitated to open the path down to the underground anthill.

Despite having broken an arm in the battle and developing a fever from the aftermath, he refused to stay in bed and insisted on remaining by Lloyd’s side.

The Baroness’s devotion was no less earnest.

She took on the responsibilities of managing the estate.

She personally visited the injured soldiers from the ant battle, praised their valor, and comforted them.

During that time, warm stories spread throughout the estate.

Stories about Lloyd.

When the beast ants first appeared, it was said that the notorious young master had prioritized evacuating the workers. That he had stayed behind with Javier to ensure their safety. That he had even ventured into the anthill to defeat the beast ants and rescue Sir Javier.

There were witnesses.

The workers present during the evacuation.

The soldiers who saw Lloyd carrying the unconscious Javier to safety.

The young lord who risked his life for the people of the estate.

The young lord who never abandoned his loyal knight.

The men of the estate clenched their fists when they heard this, the maidens’ hearts fluttered, and the kind-hearted elders wiped tears from their eyes.

Meanwhile, the Baron and Baroness summoned Javier, who had awakened first.

They asked the young and loyal knight about what had happened in the anthill.

As they listened, they were at times astonished, at times sighing, and at times placing their hands over their hearts in relief.

And so, everyone waited.

They sincerely wished and hoped.

That their young master would wake up.

That he would soon rise with a healthy smile.

And on the fourth day after the incident,

Lloyd opened his eyes.

[All the people of Baron Frontera’s estate are deeply moved and praising the heroic courage and exemplary leadership you have shown.]

[As a bonus for this significant social achievement, a large amount of RP is awarded.]