Chapter 194
Hi everyone! The main story of Greatest Estate Developer has officially concluded, but don't worry—Side Stories will be released next week. As promised, I'll also be reposting the earlier chapters starting from Chapter 1, though they won't follow a fixed schedule. Thank you all so much for your amazing support! I hope you'll continue supporting me, especially with my upcoming translation projects.
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Full-scale surveying began.
A process that had to be done every time construction started.
A process that always looked similar, yet was never quite the same.
This time was no different.
‘We’re connecting tunnels scattered irregularly underground, after all.’
Location.
Length.
Depth.
Even direction.
Every one of the dozens of tunnels differed.
Those tunnels were scattered at random across the desolate plains between Kandara City and the foothills of the western mountains.
And most of them lay at least five meters below the surface.
In other words, standing on the ground wouldn’t be enough to grasp their shape and size, even with a ground-penetrating scan.
“That’s why we need your cooperation.”
This was an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Kandara City.
The very place where Lloyd had been kidnapped about two weeks ago.
In that place full of memories, Lloyd lifted his head.
He looked around at everyone gathered inside.
“You didn’t forget the maps I mentioned, did you?”
Nod.
At Lloyd’s question, Termes and the rebel executives nodded.
Termes placed dozens of maps gathered from everyone onto the table.
“Here they are.”
He unfolded them one by one.
“These show most of the tunnels we’ve secured or identified. I even sorted them to some extent.”
“Sorted?”
“By proximity to Kandara. If the distances are similar, then by size. I classified them using those two criteria.”
“Oh.”
Lloyd cheered inwardly.
Mr. Termes, the rebel leader.
He was doing the job far more efficiently than Lloyd had expected.
“Good.”
Satisfaction flickered in Lloyd’s eyes as he examined the maps.
They were more detailed than he’d anticipated.
And whether because they managed them systematically, the notations, units, and symbols were neatly unified.
‘Good. Very good.’
That would cut the workload significantly.
He wouldn’t have to waste time sorting messy maps and standardizing units.
“Then I guess it’s my turn now.”
Crack, crack!
With the maps in hand, Lloyd stepped away from the table and stretched, loosening his body.
Termes looked at him, puzzled.
“My turn?”
“Ah.”
Lloyd smiled as if it were nothing.
“I’m going for a run. Based on the maps you provided.”
“You don’t mean you’re going to run through the tunnels.”
“Yes.”
“……”
“It’s only natural. I have to survey them. I have to see them with my own eyes.”
“The distance will be considerable.”
“That’s why I’m dressed comfortably, isn’t it?”
Sure enough, Lloyd was already wearing a comfortable shirt and loose pants.
A towel was even draped around his neck.
He looked like someone about to run a serious neighborhood marathon.
“Still, thanks to how well you organized the maps, the distance I have to run should be cut by about half. See this passage here? It’s good that you identified places like this—where there’s no need to go at all.”
“Should I call this fortunate?”
“Yes. So please cheer me on.”
After finishing his warm-up, Lloyd walked out of the warehouse.
Outside, Ppodong—ten meters tall—was waiting for him.
“Ppodong!”
“Where’s Ggoming?”
“Ppodong! Ppodong!”
“Hasn’t he loosened his stiff wing muscles yet?”
“Ppodong!”
“I know. He’s been through a lot, flying to the royal capital this time. I’m letting him rest for a while.”
“Ppodong! Ppodong!”
“Okay, let’s go. Mr. Termes, hop on.”
Lloyd climbed onto Ppodong’s back with Termes.
The fluffy, bouncy ride he hadn’t felt in a while made him smile.
They raced west.
With Termes guiding the way, they soon reached the first tunnel closest to Kandara.
Lloyd entered.
And ran alone.
It was the start of his full-scale surveying marathon.
“Huff, huff!”
He kept his breathing light as he ran through the passage.
Sometimes straight.
Sometimes winding.
Torch in hand like an Olympic runner, he activated his surveying skill.
Tzzzzz……!
Information about the tunnel flooded in through the survey.
‘Seriously. Now I’m doing things like this too.’
A marathon several meters underground—something he never would’ve imagined.
He couldn’t help but laugh.
At the same time, memories surfaced.
‘I remember when I first learned swordsmanship.’
Was it for the duel to execute the traitor Lord Neumann?
Back then, he first learned swordsmanship from Javier and built up his basic stamina.
Those were days when he’d probably run more than his entire previous life combined.
Of course, now—
He could run much faster and much longer than he could then.
Thanks to the Triple Circle Asrahan Heart Technique and the Mana Heart that had reached the intermediate level of Sword Expert.
“Huff! Huff!”
When else had he run like this?
Ah, right.
‘Beast Ant.’
Back when he was developing the coal mine in the territory.
The mine’s dead end had connected to a Beast Ant tunnel.
And to lure them out, he’d had to run and run underground.
‘I remember that clearly.’
He chuckled again.
He ran while sorting through the memories that came and went.
Before long, he reached the end of the tunnel.
He checked the map.
‘Good. We can form a waterway along the route I’ve run so far. We’ll block here, here, and this side, so the water doesn’t flow off elsewhere.’
He quickly marked several points.
That was how surveying a single tunnel ended—after an hour or two.
After that—
“Okay, let’s move again.”
“Ppodong!”
He rode Ppodong again and moved on.
With Termes’s guidance, they reached the next tunnel.
And Lloyd didn’t rest in between.
He carefully surveyed the ground route between the first and second tunnels.
He predicted and calculated the shortest connection path.
By the time they arrived at the second tunnel—
“Wait here with Ppodong until I return. If you’re bored, play a word chain game together.”
“A word chain game?”
“Yes. Ppodong?”
“Ppodong?”
“Do you want to start?”
“Ppodong!”
“Okay. You have to respond with a word that starts with ‘dong’.”
Lloyd glanced back at Termes.
Without meaning to, Termes accepted the game.
“……Dong, donggeurami (circle).”
“Okay, Ppodong?”
“Ppodong!”
“Ppodong said ‘artist.’ But Ppodong’s pronunciation ended with ‘dong,’ so you know?”
“……”
This word chain game is a scam.
Termes wanted to say that.
But Lloyd didn’t even listen and disappeared into the tunnel.
He went right back to his diligent surveying marathon.
In the end, left behind, Termes could only look at Ppodong and say,
“Hoo. Dongjeon (coin).”
“Ppodong!”
“Dongdaeryuk (East Continent).”
“Ppodong!”
“……”
Termes felt like he’d run into a wall bigger than the one he faced when he rebelled against the Sultan.
♣
Swish!
“Huk……! Haa……!”
A huge wall.
A wall so vast, she couldn’t even estimate its size.
Was this what it felt like to slam into such a wall?
Scheherazade shuddered as helplessness gnawed at her.
And she swung her sword again.
“Tch!”
Swoosh—!
The realm of Advanced Sword Expert.
A sword she had honed countless times as she climbed to this level.
A strike containing the essence of her blood and sweat.
That was why she trusted her blade.
She had—until now.
Whoosh……!
“……!”
It missed.
It didn’t even graze him. It wasn’t even a threat.
‘Why?’
Scheherazade’s black-pearl eyes trembled.
Her gaze tracked the opponent’s movement at once.
She braced for a counterattack.
But none came.
He had merely stepped slightly out of the path of her strike.
“Are you making fun of me right now?”
Her trembling voice filled the lodging.
Then her opponent, Javier, replied with a blank expression.
“No.”
“Then what is this?”
“I told you. I’m just following Lloyd’s orders.”
“That ridiculous order to keep me locked up here?”
“Lloyd didn’t tell me to lock you up. He told me to take good care of you.”
“That’s the same thing!”
Swish! Swish!
Furious, Scheherazade darted forward in two quick steps.
She split the rhythm with syncopation and unleashed two strikes.
A scimitar—a curved sword unique to the desert—cut diagonally through the air.
It was exquisite timing, digging into the gaps between breaths.
If her opponent were an ordinary swordsman—
No, even if he were a knight at the same level of Advanced Sword Expert—
He would’ve been caught off guard.
But unfortunately, her opponent was Javier.
“……”
Swoosh.
Javier shifted half a step without blinking.
That was enough.
Scheherazade’s hidden offensive missed again.
It only split an innocent table and the back of a chair near him.
“Take care of me? Don’t be ridiculous. I’m a bodyguard. Appointed by the Sultan!”
“I know.”
“Then why are you doing this to me!”
“As I’ve said many times, it’s because of Lloyd’s orders.”
“What did that bastard say!”
“He said the desert sun isn’t good for your skin.”
“……What?”
Scheherazade—who had been attacking without pause—stopped for the first time.
One eyebrow twitched as she asked,
“What did you just say?”
“I’m conveying exactly what Lloyd said, accurately.”
“What……”
“He said the desert sun has strong ultraviolet rays, which promote skin aging. The air is dry, which makes it worse. He also said there’s a lot of fine dust, which isn’t good for the respiratory system, and in the long term increases the probability of developing various lung diseases.”
“……”
What is he even talking about?
Scheherazade listened, slightly dazed.
“Honestly, I don’t even know what ultraviolet rays are. And I don’t enjoy keeping you inside during the day, either.”
“Then why are you stopping me from going out?”
“As I’ve said many times, it’s because of Lloyd’s orders.”
“Again! That word again!”
Furious, Scheherazade tightened her grip on her scimitar.
In truth, a knot of dread had formed in her chest.
‘No. I can’t waste time like this.’
She had already been stuck here for days.
During the day, she couldn’t leave because Javier blocked her.
At night?
Lloyd came.
The moment he arrived, he spouted strange words like a spell.
There wasn’t even a chance to speak.
And when she heard those words, sleepiness flooded in like a wave—no, like a tsunami.
Even if she resisted with eyes wide open.
Even if she pinched her thigh until it hurt—
She still fell asleep without realizing it.
It was a sweet sleep—comfortable and peaceful—one she could count among the best in her life.
‘That’s the problem!’
The sleep was good.
But when she woke up—
It was already morning.
Lloyd was gone.
And Swordmaster Javier blocked her again.
Like today. Like now.
He kept her from leaving the lodging.
A perfect confinement system—operating flawlessly day and night.
‘This is deliberate. Those two are openly keeping me here. I don’t know why, but it’s obvious they mean to exclude me.’
That was what made her anxious.
The Sultan had given her a chance.
And she had seized it, determined to meet his expectations.
If she could make that man—Lloyd Frontera—hers.
If she could bring him back as the Sultan’s son-in-law—
Then, for the first time, she would earn proper recognition from her father.
‘I can’t… throw away that precious chance like this!’
To do that, she had to go outside.
She had to stay by Lloyd’s side as his bodyguard.
She had to naturally increase the time she spent with him.
So first—
She had to get out of this tiresome lodging!
Scheherazade gritted her teeth and swung her sword.
But she couldn’t reach him.
Not a strand of hair.
Not the edge of his sleeve.
She couldn’t touch him at all.
Even though Javier never counterattacked.
Even though he was barehanded, moving within only two steps.
That fact drove Scheherazade even crazier.
“Gyaaaaaak! Please!”
Just get caught.
Just get hit once.
She shouted as if she truly wanted it, and swung her scimitar again and again.
Of course, Javier refused her desperate wish without wavering.
He avoided every strike with ease.
And at the same time, he looked at her with a strange gaze.
“……”
Had Lloyd hinted at it?
That this woman was the Sultan’s daughter.
That she wasn’t merely part of an escort group.
That it would be better to keep her confined so she couldn’t interfere.
That they should avoid any situation where the Sultan’s daughter and the rebels might meet.
Javier remembered Lloyd’s repeated reminders.
‘Still… if she’s this skilled, she might be useful to me too.’
Javier’s gaze deepened.
Her level was Advanced Sword Expert.
Far below his.
And yet her sword carried a unique, sharp momentum—one that could make an opponent flinch.
‘Excellent talent.’
He admired it inwardly.
Not just anyone could produce a blade like this.
This wasn’t something you could get from level alone.
‘It’s talent.’
In pure talent, she seemed on par with Her Majesty the Queen.
So if she met a good teacher and the right opportunity—
She might soon bloom into a Swordmaster with dazzling potential.
‘Lloyd wouldn’t be unaware of that either.’
Shallow lines formed on Javier’s brow.
Lloyd, as Javier knew him, was quick-witted.
He wasn’t someone who would miss the potential in the Sultan’s daughter rampaging before him.
And yet he had assigned Javier to her.
To keep her confined to the lodging.
If necessary—
It was fine to be a little harsh.
It didn’t matter if she got a taste of what real swordsmanship was.
He had said it with a smirk.
“……”
What would happen if this woman became a Swordmaster through clashing with him?
The Sultan’s daughter.
The princess of an enemy country.
If such a woman became a Swordmaster—
The enemy country would only grow stronger.
‘Even so, if Lloyd entrusted this to me… then he must be drawing a bigger picture.’
Javier believed that.
From everything he’d seen so far, he could trust the plan Lloyd was drawing.
‘Then I’ll help you with that plan, too.’
He decided.
He would make her work hard.
At that moment, Javier’s hand moved.
He picked up a candlestick from the side of the lodging.
Clang—!
The candlestick blocked Scheherazade’s scimitar, scattering sparks.
“……!”
Scheherazade’s eyes widened.
Javier’s eyes gleamed coldly.
It was from then on.
Scheherazade sincerely regretted the childhood choice that led her down the path of swordsmanship.
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