Chapter 150
“Remember when we built the ice storage for that orc village? The black magician we defeated back then—ring any bells?”
Lloyd’s voice floated down from above the pit.
“Yes, I remember,” Javier replied.
“And remember how we took all the materials that black magician had been hoarding?”
“Of course.”
“There was something interesting among them. This—when you inject mana into it, it projects an illusion into the air.”
Lloyd held up a round medallion from above the dug-out hole.
“So the glowing cube underground—was that drawn using that medallion?”
“Yep. Thought it might be handy for future construction. Workers could follow visual blueprints instead of getting confused.”
“Remarkable function.”
“Right? I think so too. And it has another neat feature. Try stabbing your shovel anywhere in the cube—just once.”
“Anywhere?”
“Yeah. Anywhere.”
“……”
Javier glanced up, staring silently at Lloyd, then at the medallion.
He could tell at a glance—it was indeed a magic item.
But those glowing blue lines and planes in the ground…
That was no illusion drawn by the medallion.
“……”
Should he pretend not to notice again?
After a short pause, Javier raised his shovel and followed Lloyd’s instructions.
He struck the wall of the cube once.
A clean mark carved across one of the glowing blue surfaces.
Then—
‘Beep!’
A sharp sound rang out, and that entire section turned bright red.
Lloyd grinned.
“See that? When construction deviates from the design, it warns the worker right away.”
“So…”
“It means the workers can tell immediately if they’ve made a mistake.”
“I take that as: ‘No more slacking off,’ then.”
“In exchange, I’ll make sure the benefits stay generous.”
Lloyd’s grin stretched wide—the kind of grin only a seasoned capitalist could wear.
The [Construction Guideline] option he gained from upgrading his [Design Skill]—
he’d wondered how it would actually work.
Now that he’d tested it—
It was a jackpot.
‘It’s literally a 3D blueprint rendered underground. It even shows real-time construction deviations.’
No matter how carefully one designed a project—
if the field workers messed things up, the whole plan went to waste.
Ignoring the design out of laziness, brushing off minor errors, or improvising work was all too common on-site.
After all, construction was still done by people.
‘But now that’s impossible. Any deviation shows up in color immediately.’
He could even set the acceptable error margin manually.
Meaning this new feature would guarantee precise construction—
especially crucial for something as complex as the great sewer system.
‘And the whole “magic tool” excuse worked fine too.’
It seemed he had successfully dodged Javier’s suspicion.
Good.
Now it was time to begin the real construction.
♣
The project started smoothly.
“Everyone should already know what to do,” said Sir Bayern solemnly, standing before the first excavation site near the central village.
“We have accomplished many projects under Lord Lloyd Frontera’s guidance. We built ondol rooms, turned the Marez Swamp into fertile farmland, and even laid a water pipeline from the high lakes of the Eastern Mountains to the estate.”
The knight’s voice carried pride.
“And that’s not all. We are constructing massive apartment complexes, reshaping the slopes of the Eastern Mountains into terraced fields, and now—today—we begin a project greater than any before.”
As he spoke, pride swelled on the faces of the engineering corps.
Each wore work uniforms embroidered with small marks—symbols of the projects they’d completed. Their personal medals of craftsmanship and experience.
“Yes! Today, we will make history! For Lord Lloyd Frontera’s design, for the future of this land, and for our honor—Safety First!”
“Safety First! Woooh!”
A powerful shout rose as construction began.
The engineering corps led the work, joined by countless refugees and villagers who volunteered to help.
Under the supervision of the trained engineers, the workforce moved in harmony—and Lloyd’s new [Construction Guideline] system ensured precision and efficiency.
“Ppodong! Ppodong!”
‘Thump, thump!’
Each time Ppodong wiggled his huge backside, the ground split open with a ‘boom’.
A pit four meters wide, four meters long, and five meters deep appeared in seconds.
The sight left the onlookers murmuring.
“What’s that glowing down there? Blue light?”
An old refugee asked, squinting.
A nearby engineer grinned.
“Ah, that? That’s the Construction Guideline Lord Lloyd marked into the ground.”
“Guideline?”
“Yes.”
“What’s that?”
“It shows exactly where to dig and where not to dig. Pretty handy, huh?”
“Is that even possible?”
“Well, if it’s glowing like that, I’d say it is. Don’t ask me how it works though. We just follow the lines.”
“Haha! Fascinating!”
The workers, having received their briefing earlier, now marveled as the glowing lines in the earth became clearer.
But what appeared wasn’t just a few lines.
It wasn’t a rough sketch or a digging outline.
Every part of the blueprint—
the digging boundaries, brick placement, foundation depth, and thickness—
appeared as if a full 3D holographic schematic had been embedded in the ground.
“Whoa, that’s… detailed.”
The workers gaped at the precision.
Soon, everyone got to work.
Ppodong’s excavations were cleaned and refined.
The central village—the source of household waste and sewage—was where they built the first large sewage pit.
‘Sure, it’d be better if every house could directly dispose of waste through connected pipes like in modern systems…’
But the technology, manpower, and time were lacking.
Watching the progress, Lloyd couldn’t help a bitter smile.
If possible, he would’ve built a modern sewage system—like those in Korea.
Water flowing from sinks straight into drains, toilets flushing effortlessly—
a system where no one had to think about it.
‘But that’s impossible here.’
To make that happen, every building would need plumbing installed.
And in this harsh land, with winter frost closing in fast—
the rivers would soon freeze, and the waste would pile up, bringing disease.
The great sewer had to be finished ‘before’ that happened.
They didn’t have the luxury of time.
‘So we’ll just build large communal sewers for each village.’
Every settlement would have a central sewage pit.
People would bring their waste there, and the pit would connect to the main underground pipeline.
That was the essence of Lloyd’s design—a system built for practicality and survival.
‘Cheaper, faster, and efficient.’
That motto drove his planning as he oversaw the construction.
They dug the vertical shafts.
Reinforced the bases.
Lined the pits with granite bricks and cement to prevent leakage.
Then connected them to the sewer pipelines.
They dug tunnels five meters deep, filling the base with sand and crushed stone.
On top, they laid smooth granite slabs—
then sealed the surfaces with cement and interlocking granite bricks.
Each sewer tunnel had an inverted-egg cross-section—
narrower at the bottom to keep water flowing smoothly.
Two meters wide, with a sixty-centimeter walkway on one side for maintenance.
Once complete, the tunnels were waterproofed and buried.
Manholes were installed at regular intervals, with spiral stairways for access—
just like the [Cholera Canal] of Vienna.
The entire process took twenty days for the first section alone.
And that was only the beginning.
‘Naturally. That’s just one village’s waste facility. The real challenge starts now—the main sewer.’
Each village and apartment block would feed its waste into the main underground system,
which would channel it all outside the territory.
An ‘extra-large’ version of the Cholera Canal.
Even Bibeong had been called in to help.
“Beaverbong! Bibong—!”
‘Boom, boom!’
Descending from the mountains, the beaver beast was full of excitement—
especially with Bangul watching from Lloyd’s shoulder.
With cheeks flushed and heart fluttering, Bibeong poured all three thousand tons of pure passion into his work.
“Bibong!”
‘Kwaaang! Kwaang!’
Like a colossal excavator, he tore open the ground.
A trench twenty meters wide and deep stretched out before them.
Engineers and laborers followed behind.
The massive main sewer, ten meters wide, eight meters tall, with a three-meter walkway, began to take shape—
stretching northward.
Day by day, steadily.
Spring rains stopped.
Sprouts grew.
Frogs sang.
Roses bloomed.
Three months later, the main sewer reached the northern border of the territory.
“Alright, everyone. Be careful from here on. You remember the Mastodon herd that attacked us during the Monster Domino Incident?”
“North side!” the soldiers answered.
The memory was still vivid—when they had flushed the beasts northward through the river.
“Good. Then you know this area’s likely become their new habitat. We’re now in Mastodon territory, so stay alert.”
He continued sternly.
“Even with Bibeong here, never let your guard down. Stick close to the site, and if you must leave, go in groups of ten or more. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
With precautions set, work resumed.
But strangely enough—
Ten full days passed beyond the northern border, and not a single Mastodon appeared.
‘Well… that’s anticlimactic. Guess my speech was pointless.’
Lloyd smirked.
Maybe the herd had fled farther away.
Or perhaps Bibeong’s presence had scared them off.
‘If so, that’s great for us.’
Less trouble meant smoother work.
But just as Lloyd was thinking that—
“Bibeong! Bibeong!”
Bibeong suddenly cried out.
It wasn’t his usual cheerful tone.
He was shouting: ‘“Something’s here!”’
‘Something?’
Lloyd hurried over to the excavation site.
Bibeong pointed at a mound of freshly turned soil.
There—beneath the dirt—
a familiar silhouette emerged.
“A Mastodon…?”
It was a corpse.
A dead Mastodon buried seven meters underground.
And it wasn’t decomposed.
‘Not long dead… but buried this deep?’
A landslide? Impossible—this was flat land.
‘Then what, another Mastodon buried it?’
No. They weren’t that intelligent.
Something was off.
“Bibeong? Bibeong?”
Bibeong tilted his head and dug more carefully.
Next to the first corpse—another Mastodon appeared.
And another.
And another.
“Wait…”
Everywhere he dug, more bodies appeared.
Ten, twenty—no, over a hundred Mastodon corpses.
“Bibeong! Bibeong!”
“Yeah… I see it. They’re lined up perfectly… buried neatly like someone arranged them.”
What was this?
Lloyd’s thoughts raced.
He combed through his memory of the novel ‘Iron Blooded Knight’—
but nowhere did it mention anything like this.
The closest example was the Namaran Wall episode, where Javier learned [Confined Blasting]…
Then—
‘PSSHHHH!’
From within the buried herd of Mastodons—
A grotesque, ominous hiss echoed from below.