The Greatest Estate Developer - Chapter 64: An Impossible Construction and Magical Materials (2)

Cement.

A mixture used for building structures.

A crucial material in construction.

“The word originates from the Latin ‘cementum,’ meaning crushed stone.”

“Latin…”

“Yeah, it’s an ancient language.”

“Could it be a language from antiquity?”

“That’s right.”

Lloyd nodded, smirking as he glanced at Javier rowing the boat.

“Anyway, from now on, I’m going to try making this cement. Without it, this project won’t go anywhere.”

“So you’re saying you won’t rely on magic?”

“Of course not. Do you want to bankrupt the estate just to finish one project?”

Lloyd’s remark was sharp, and it hit the mark.

Hiring a magician was expensive.

Magicians were rare, and those capable of performing powerful physical magic for large-scale projects?

‘Even more expensive. You’d have to empty the entire estate’s budget, and even then, you wouldn’t be able to hire someone like that. Such a magician would probably be a court mage for a kingdom.’

Using a magician for construction was out of the question. Lloyd hadn’t even considered it.

He continued, “Magic isn’t necessary. During the survey earlier, I confirmed that the construction method I had in mind should work.”

“That friction pile method or whatever it’s called?”

“Yeah.”

Lloyd nodded.

The location was indeed perfect for the friction pile method.

Underneath the seabed, the sedimentary rock layers lay deep within the earth.

‘Just like the foundations of the countless buildings surrounding the Grand Canal of Venice.’

Lloyd recalled his club activities, where he had studied the foundations of Venetian buildings.

Venice, the city on water.

Its ground conditions were similar to this place—thick layers of mud and silt covered the seabed, with the sedimentary rock lying much deeper.

This depth made it hard for most building foundations to reach solid ground.

The Venetians, however, had devised a solution.

‘They drove tens, hundreds, even thousands of long piles into the seabed. Once the piles were firmly embedded in the mud, they built the foundations of their buildings on top of them.’

And those piles?

Even after centuries, they still supported the structures without issue.

That was the traditional friction pile method.

‘Of course, the technique has been adapted and is still used in modern construction.’

While the basic principle remained unchanged, the wooden piles had been replaced by sturdier materials like concrete columns or H-beams.

Lloyd planned to integrate another modern construction method with the friction pile technique.

“We’ll combine the friction pile method with the box caisson method. The water here is deeper than in Venice, and the mud and silt layers are thick and soft, making them ideal for the caissons to sink under their own weight.”

“…”

“Don’t get it, do you?”

“No.”

“Well, to put it simply, we need to make cement to use the caisson method properly. Let’s get going.”

Before they knew it, the boat had reached the pier.

The two stepped onto the dock, only to be greeted by someone unexpected.

“Welcome back!”

A soft, melodic voice, warm and welcoming, accompanied by a shy smile and a slightly flushed face.

A young woman stood at the pier, radiating beauty.

Her presence was striking—her elegant dress was too extravagant for the dreary dock.

More surprising were her companions. Five knights, dressed in ornate silver-plated armor, stood guard around her.

“Excuse me, but who are you?” Lloyd asked cautiously.

Clearly, this was no commoner.

But the young woman didn’t respond to Lloyd. Instead, her affectionate smile was directed at Javier.

“Forgive me, Sir Asrahan, but I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Me?”

“Yes. Please, take this.”

Her cheeks reddened further as she lowered her head and extended something with both hands.

“This contains my feelings.”

“…”

Lloyd could clearly see what it was—a letter in a pale pink envelope.

On the envelope, the name “Christine Cremo” was written in elegant handwriting.

‘Wait a minute. Christine Cremo? The only daughter of Count Cremo?’

Lloyd felt disbelief.

The young lady of the Cremo family was suddenly handing Javier a letter?

Meanwhile, Javier remained unfazed.

“Thank you, my lady.”

He took the letter calmly, slipping it into his coat with practiced ease, as if this wasn’t his first time.

Christine’s face flushed an even deeper shade of red. Overcome with embarrassment, she turned and quickly walked away, her knights scrambling to follow her.

Now, only Lloyd and Javier remained on the pier, the sea breeze whistling around them.

“Hey.”

Lloyd broke the long silence.

“What the hell just happened?”

“It seems I received a letter.”

“I can see that. Why did you receive a letter?”

“Perhaps it was because of what happened yesterday at the count’s mansion.”

“Yesterday? What happened at the mansion?”

“Yes.”

“What exactly happened?”

Lloyd tilted his head in confusion.

To his recollection, nothing out of the ordinary had occurred yesterday.

He had met the count, proposed a new construction method, and secured the contract.

Afterward, he handed over some second-hand treasures to the head butler, had them appraised, and received a hefty amount of gold coins.

That was it.

At least, that was the version of events Lloyd remembered.

But Javier’s version of events differed slightly.

“It happened when we received the gold coins from the head butler and left the mansion. At that time…”

“At that time?”

“The young lady happened to be walking through the garden and looked in our direction. For a brief moment, our eyes met.”

“And?”

“That’s all.”

“…Wait. Your eyes met for a moment, and that’s it? And the next day, the count’s daughter shows up, blushing, and hands you a letter? Does this situation seem normal to you, seriously?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Why, you ask?”

Javier turned to Lloyd, tilting his head slightly, as if wondering why he was making such a fuss over something so obvious.

His response carried the same tone.

“Because our eyes met.”

“…”

“Has that never happened to you, Lloyd?”

“Khuh!”

“So far, the confession letters I’ve received… Let me see.”

“Don’t count.”

“Forty… sixty… a hundred… a hundred and fifty… Hmm…”

“Don’t count, I said!”

“Including the one I just got, it seems to be about 537 in total.”

“…”

This is why Lloyd disliked handsome men.

It genuinely annoyed him.

‘These disgustingly flawless bastards.’

Lloyd let out a huff of frustration.

“Enough. Let’s get back to what we were discussing.”

“What were we discussing?”

“Cement.”

As Lloyd turned toward the inn, he gave Javier his instructions.

“I’m heading back to the inn. Go to the count’s head butler.”

“And what should I do there?”

“Ask him to send 10 kilograms each of limestone, sand, and volcanic ash to the inn. Oh, and don’t forget to ask for a blacksmith’s forge we can borrow for the work.”

“Understood. Is that all?”

“No, there’s one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“Keep your eyes down and your face covered while you walk.”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t go charming innocent women, got it?”

“Are you perhaps jealous of me?”

“What?”

“It seems like you’ve been subtly jealous of me for a while now, Lloyd.”

“Haha, don’t be ridiculous. That’s impossible.”

Lloyd shrugged nonchalantly.

“The most pathetic guys to me are the ones who hit on women on the streets.”

“Hit on them?”

“You know what I mean. Once, back in college, I saw some guy try to ask a girl for directions. She immediately shouted, ‘I have a boyfriend!’ and bolted like lightning. That guy must’ve been so embarrassed. It was hilarious to watch, but honestly, it must’ve been so humiliating for him. He probably couldn’t sleep for days, kicking his blanket every night.”

“…That was your story, wasn’t it, Lloyd?”

“Hah… Just go already.”

“Good luck, Lloyd.”

“Shut up. Get lost.”

“…I’ll be on my way.”

And with that, Javier headed to the count’s mansion.

By evening, the materials Lloyd requested arrived at the inn, delivered by the head butler.

However, the volcanic ash was missing.

It came with an apology: it was difficult to procure.

“Click.”

Lloyd clicked his tongue in disappointment.

Volcanic ash.

It was the most critical ingredient, and its absence was frustrating.

‘With it, I could’ve made Greek or Roman-style cement.’

He felt a pang of regret.

Was it simply because he liked Roman engineering?

No.

There was a clear advantage to Roman cement.

‘It’s the strongest cement I can make with the resources I have right now.’

The history of cement was ancient, spanning nearly 5,000 years.

As early as the time of Dangun and the founding of Gojoseon, the Egyptians were using primitive cement in pyramid construction.

Among these, the most durable and reliable cement came from Greece and Rome.

‘They mixed pozzolanic lime, sand, and volcanic ash, kneading it with seawater.’

The resulting cement was incredibly durable—so durable that the breakwaters they built 2,000 years ago still stood firm today.

The secret lay in the volcanic ash.

‘Thanks to the tuff in the ash. It chemically bonded the aggregates and mortar together, preventing cracks from spreading through the structure.’

That’s why Lloyd wanted to use Roman-style cement for this construction project.

He had specifically requested volcanic ash for that reason.

But it hadn’t arrived.

‘Well, it’s not like there’s a volcano nearby. And who would think to stockpile volcanic ash? Should I switch to Portland cement? That might be even harder to make.’

Portland cement—the cornerstone of modern construction.

Lloyd knew the general process to make it.

‘Limestone, clay, silica, and iron oxide are crushed and dried. They’re mixed with water, filtered, baked with coal, cooled, and finally ground with gypsum.’

He understood the steps in theory, but it would take endless experiments to perfect it.

From that moment on, Lloyd dedicated himself to manufacturing cement for several days.

Using the materials provided by the count, he ground, mixed, baked, and dried everything in the winter sea breeze.

He repeated the process of grinding, mixing, and adding water.

But he couldn’t get the cement to meet his expectations.

‘It’s not working. It keeps crumbling.’

Perhaps the mixture ratios were off.

Or maybe there was a flaw in the baking and cooling process.

The cement seemed fine when mixed with water and sand, but during the curing process, cracks formed.

‘This won’t work for construction.’

Ten days passed. Then fifteen.

As time went on, Lloyd grew more anxious.

‘If only I had volcanic ash. I wouldn’t be dealing with this problem.’

With enough volcanic ash, he would’ve only needed to experiment with its proportions with lime and sand.

The process would’ve been simpler, and he would’ve achieved satisfactory results much sooner.

The absence of volcanic ash was an enduring regret.

At one point, Lloyd even considered going out to find volcanic ash himself.

‘But… Hmm, no. There’s no suitable place to source volcanic ash nearby, and the costs of transporting it would be far too high. It would also take an enormous amount of time.’

Realistically, it was impossible.

‘In the end, I’ll just have to keep pushing forward with these experiments.’

If he kept trying and challenging himself, success would eventually follow.

Until then, he couldn’t stop.

Lloyd resolved himself to this idea.

He devoted every waking moment to his experiments, cutting into his sleep time.

Still, no meaningful results emerged.

Even as his eyes became bloodshot, he pressed on.

Eventually, his body began to show signs of strain—he started having nosebleeds.

Drip.

“…Huh?”

In the dim corner of the forge, where he was grinding silica, Lloyd paused at the sudden damp sensation beneath his nose.

Absentmindedly, he rubbed his nostrils, only to find his fingers smeared with blood.

“What the… seriously?”

He pinched his nose with his sleeve to stop the bleeding, a bitter smile spreading across his face.

It triggered a flood of memories from his past.

‘It’s like back when I was in Korea.’

Back then, there were weeks when he had nosebleeds seven days straight.

Yet, he burned with determination every single day.

He believed that if he endured just today, tomorrow would be a little better.

And if he could make it through tomorrow, the following month would improve even more.

He convinced himself that one day, he’d live like everyone else.

He dreamed of having a stable job, a secure income, getting married, and building a warm family.

Clinging to those beliefs, he fought and endured through those tough times.

The memory of those days sparked something within him.

‘Let’s keep going.’

He wouldn’t give up.

He wouldn’t back down so easily.

With renewed resolve, Lloyd picked up the silica again.

And then, unexpectedly, a breakthrough came to him—one he hadn’t anticipated.