The Greatest Estate Developer - Chapter 383: A Sincere Resolution (1)

“Capua Lake. We’ll make the holy water there.”

“What?”

Javier frowned. Capua Lake?

He had been asking about where to find 2 billion liters of pure water to make the holy water and how they would disperse it to fight the Hell Legion. But this…

“Does Capua Lake have that much water?”

“Yeah. Roughly that much. More precisely, between 1.9 and 2 billion liters.”

Lloyd shrugged. Capua Lake was a massive mountain lake located at the waist of the Eastern Mountain Range, which towered over the eastern side of the Frontera estate.

It wasn’t a natural lake. It had been created by Bibeong during his construction activities. But its scale was enormous.

‘The lake’s surface stretches about 60 kilometers in a straight line, and its curved shoreline is roughly 120 kilometers? It’s almost as big as Korea’s Soyang Lake. The average depth is slightly shallower, but it’s comparable.’

For reference, Soyang Lake in Korea has a water storage capacity of 2.7 billion tons. Capua Lake’s water capacity is around 2 billion tons, making it perfect for creating holy water.

In fact…

“2 billion liters of holy water. That’s the amount I planned to produce from the start.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“But that raises another concern for me.”

“What is it?”

“You’re not seriously planning to turn the entire lake into holy water, are you?”

“Actually, that’s exactly what I’m planning.”

“……”

“I’m going to turn the entire lake into holy water.”

“……”

“That way, there’s no need to store it separately. It’s efficient, don’t you think?”

“But what about the water supply for the residents and the dye works in the Lacona barony?”

“It doesn’t matter. Even if some of the holy water flows into the water supply, it won’t significantly reduce the 2 billion liters.”

“No, I’m asking what the residents will do if holy water starts flowing from their taps.”

“Oh, that? Holy water flowing from the taps—sounds great.”

“……”

“Drinking it will improve their health. The dye colors will be more vibrant. It’s a win-win, isn’t it? Though I am a bit curious.”

“Curious about what?”

“What do we call it if someone drinks holy water and then… passes it out as urine? Sacred urine?”

“……”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine as long as you understand.”

“Yeah, anyway.”

Lloyd grinned, his confidence evident.

“We’ll turn the entire lake into holy water. I’ve already figured out the most efficient way to disperse it on the day of the battle. We’ll start preparing for that now, so there’s no need to worry.”

“Understood.”

“…Hmm?”

“Yes?”

“Did you eat something weird?”

“No, why do you ask?”

“It’s strange.”

Lloyd tilted his head.

“You just said, ‘Understood,’ without any complaints. That’s not like you, Javier.”

“……”

“You’re Javier, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“So why?”

“Do you dislike it when I agree too easily?”

“No, it’s not that. It just feels… odd.”

“You’ll have to get used to it.”

Javier smiled faintly.

It’s true. He would have to get used to it. He had decided to trust everything this man said. He had made up his mind.

With that thought, he spoke again.

“Sometimes it’s more effective to go along with your ideas and act like I agree, only to point out the weak spots later when it hurts more.”

“Wow. That’s what this is about?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“You evil bastard.”

“You’re hardly in a position to say that.”

“Whatever. When I do it, it’s romance; when others do it, it’s an affair.”

“Ah, so you’re responding with shamelessness.”

“What else is there? If you have no weapons, you at least need to be shameless.”

Lloyd gave a bitter smile. It was something he had said without much thought. But upon reflection, it seemed to sum up the path he had walked so far, and that made him smile bitterly.

“Anyway, enough about that. We’ll handle the preparations according to the plan, step by step. But not today. Today, I need to act like a proper person.”

“What do you mean by ‘act like a proper person’?”

“I’m home, so I should greet them. I should say, ‘I’m back.’”

His bitter smile deepened. Saying it out loud made him feel like the count and countess were truly his parents. Lloyd shook his head, trying to dismiss the thought.

‘What a ridiculous notion… If you think about it, I’m just someone who took the place of their real son. I’ve wronged them, so I shouldn’t be having such arrogant thoughts.’

He tried to suppress the burgeoning sense of familial connection that was starting to form in his heart. Even if the count and countess were treating him like family, he couldn’t allow himself to hope for that until he told them the truth about the real Lloyd. He reminded himself of this over and over.

Then, he greeted the count and countess.

“I’m back.”

“…Oh?”

The count and countess were in the middle of enjoying some tea and conversation after dinner. They were seated together, smiling warmly, but upon hearing Lloyd’s greeting, their eyes widened in surprise. They both stood up without hesitation and hurried over to him.

“You’re back?”

They held his hands tightly, scanning his face and body. They met his eyes with warm smiles and exchanged countless unspoken words.

Lloyd could feel it all.

“……”

They were asking if he had been through any hardships, if he was hurt or in pain, if he had been eating well, and if he was okay. The questions were not spoken, but their gazes conveyed them all.

Because of those looks and touches, Lloyd couldn’t help but feel a rush of emotions. Warmth filled his heart, and before he knew it, the resolution he had made earlier felt meaningless. Lloyd ended up smiling brightly, as if he were speaking to his real parents.

“Yes. I’m back.”

No more words were needed. The count and countess welcomed Lloyd with warmth. They patted his back, sat him down beside them, and inspected his roughened hands, smiling silently for a long time.

And they thought to themselves, even though this child wasn’t their real son, and they didn’t know the circumstances that had led to this situation, he had become like a son to them. He was sincere, kind, and hardworking, and one day he would tell them everything. Until then, they would not let him know they were aware of the truth. They didn’t want to hurt this good child’s feelings by making him feel like an outsider.

So they decided to treat him like their real son. They smiled warmly, cared deeply, and welcomed him with all their hearts.

Thanks to this, Lloyd was completely unaware of their true feelings. He simply assumed they didn’t know his secret. Grateful yet guilty, he suppressed his feelings. And he made a promise to himself.

No matter what happened or what challenges came, he would protect these two as if they were his real parents.

That night, after everyone had gone to bed, Lloyd used the **Ending Spoiler** to peek into the upcoming battle with the Hell Legion.

***

“…Huff! Huff!”

He ran.

Kicking off the ground.

Leaping over corpses.

Running again.

Breathing heavily.

“Huff! Huff! The Hell Legion is invading! The timing is in 90 days!”

Splat!

He took down one of the demons.

He leaped over its body and swung his shovel.

The shovel, surrounded by aura, shot forward fiercely.

It clashed.

Clang!

The shovel met a massive sword.

A dark, towering figure behind the sword glared at him.

The Hell Knight deflected his shovel with its greatsword, parrying it.

Scrrrt-!

The shovel slid off.

The sword moved skillfully.

The moment he realized it, he quickly ducked.

Whoosh-!

The greatsword swept through the space, almost tearing it apart.

His hair fluttered in the wind.

Chills ran down his spine.

But there was no time to acknowledge it.

Because he sensed a killing intent from behind him as well.

“…Damn it! The scale of the invasion is…!”

He sprang up from his crouched position, dodging to the side and swinging his shovel.

Clang!

“…!”

He barely blocked the greatsword that had come from behind.

No, he hadn’t blocked it; he felt like his entire body was being flung away.

“…Ugh!”

He lost his balance.

He fell.

Had he dropped his shovel?

His hands were numb, devoid of any feeling.

But there was no time to check.

He lifted his head.

“…!”

Another Hell Knight, the one who had struck him from behind, was right in front of him, its glowing eyes glaring.

At the same time, his chest burned.

It felt like someone was branding him with hot iron.

Thunk.

The sound wasn’t loud.

In fact, it was eerily quiet, almost laughably so.

Was this really the sound of a human body being pierced by a piece of metal?

Thunk, thunk! Thunk!

Pain.

From the front.

From behind.

The dark greatswords kept stabbing into his body, piercing it. The swords were soaked in his blood, tearing through his life.

He felt every organ being destroyed.

Each time, his body convulsed.

His mouth gaped open.

But no sound came out.

Only a faint, wheezing sound, like air escaping from a deflating balloon, slipped through his lips.

His vision rapidly blurred.

The ashen sky wavered before him.

Was it because his eyes were filling with tears?

But why were those tears a dark, blood-red?

“…Hic, hngh!”

He needed to say something.

He had to say something.

But his consciousness was slipping away.

As his life drained out along with his blood, a bizarre sensation of all his strength leaving him overwhelmed him. The icy chill that seized his entire body mingled with the unreal pain, while the only thing he could hear was the sharp, vicious voices of the Hell Knights who had impaled him.

– Welcome, Lloyd Frontera, to your new lord’s service.

– And congratulations.

– You will join us now, Kim Suho.

“Huh… Ngh…”

What the hell are they talking about?

Please, stop.

He wanted to scream, to lash out, but no words came out. His vision continued to fade, the only thing remaining being the Hell Knight’s icy blue eyes closing in on him.

They approached closer.

Relentlessly.

As if they were going to swallow him whole.

As if they would pluck out his eyes.

They pulled him into an abyss, drawing nearer, until they were all he could see. Closer, and closer still, until the desire to kill overwhelmed everything else.

Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.

“…Aaaaargh!”

Lloyd bolted upright with a scream.

His toes clenched tightly.

He grabbed the blanket and pulled it around his sweat-drenched body, trembling as he looked down at his chest.

“Pant… pant… huh…?”

Nothing.

The greatsword that had pierced his chest wasn’t there.

There was no wound, no blood flowing.

So, just now…

“It was… a dream. Ha. Ha.”

The shivers hadn’t left his body yet.

His pillow was soaked.

His bedroom was dark and silent.

Realizing this, Lloyd let out a relieved laugh.

“Wow, really… Of all things, that’s what I dreamed about. Ha. Ha.”

It was a terrifying dream, chillingly vivid.

But of course it was—how could it not be?

“Of all things… to dream about what I saw in the Ending Spoiler. Ugh.”

The nightmare that had just shaken him awake was an exact replica of what he had seen in the Ending Spoiler before falling asleep. The memory made him shudder again.

‘I already felt uneasy after seeing that Spoiler, and it made it so hard to fall asleep.’

It was the most horrifying death he had ever witnessed.

It was so vivid that it sent chills down his spine.

That was why, after seeing it, he had struggled to sleep, his mind too unsettled.

But there had been nothing he could do.

He knew he needed rest.

He needed to be at full strength starting tomorrow to do what had to be done. He had to stop the invasion, and for that, he needed to be well-rested.

He had repeated this to himself over and over, tossing and turning, until he finally managed to fall asleep.

‘But I barely got 30 minutes of sleep, didn’t I?’

Seeing that it was still pitch black outside, it must have been the case.

Lloyd reached for the glass of water on the bedside table. He drank it down in one gulp, soothing his parched throat. But that only made him more awake.

‘Ugh. Looks like I’m not getting any more sleep tonight.’

It seemed impossible to go back to sleep now.

Since he was already awake, he decided to organize the details of the Ending Spoiler he had seen earlier.

‘So, I was surrounded by Hell Knights and killed. How many were there? Five? And also…’

He recalled the brief glimpses of the battlefield—or rather, the Frontera estate, which had been turned into one.

Hell Knights were rampaging everywhere.

The White Spear Knights were being overwhelmed.

The dragon Solitas and Yongyong were fighting desperately.

Even Javier was surrounded by dozens of Hell Knights, locked in a brutal struggle.

In just that short glimpse, he had seen at least 200 Hell Knights.

‘At least 200 of them. And probably many more.’

But what about the 2 billion liters of holy water?

Had his future self failed to use it effectively?

‘No, I probably did use it, but things still turned out like that. It means the method I’m thinking of for dispersing the holy water isn’t sufficient. I need to refine the plan. The one solid piece of information I have is that the invasion will happen in 90 days. So, I have to find a new way to disperse the holy water, gather more reinforcements, and prepare as much as possible. That Ending has to be changed. No, I will change it. I must.’

With that determination, Lloyd picked up his water glass again and drank two more glasses in quick succession. But his hands kept shaking.

He could barely hold the glass properly.

Even the muscles around his eyes were trembling.

“Damn it. What’s wrong with me?”

It was strange.

He wasn’t a child.

It had just been a dream.

But why was he still sweating coldly?

Why couldn’t he calm his heart down and stop trembling like this?

Why on earth was he…

“I don’t want to die…”

Before he knew it, tears were streaming down his face.

He cried silently.

He was terrified.

He was scared of dying.

More than that, he was scared of other people getting caught up in it because of him.

The burden of having to take responsibility for everything was crushing.

And so, Lloyd wept silently for a long time.

He cried quietly in his dark, empty bedroom.

And because of that, he had no idea.

He was completely unaware that just outside his firmly shut bedroom door, in the hallway, Javier had been standing silently all night.

Javier couldn’t bring himself to open the door.

Instead, he silently steeled his resolve.