Chapter 277
This is the royal castle of the capital, Magenta, a structure intentionally designed to be undesirable to dragons. It has a unique and massive architecture, with an egg-shaped appearance that’s half-buried in the ground. Lloyd meticulously inspected the interior of such a castle.
“Let’s see… Survey.”
[Initiating scan.]
A series of sounds followed as he activated his surveying skill. Wherever his gaze landed, various pieces of information flowed in—details about the structure’s load, strength, bonding methods, and more. There was no piece of information unseen, even down to the value of the land, thanks to the activation of the first exclusive option of his surveying skill.
Ding-dong.
[Skill exclusive option ①: Land price appraisal is activated.]
[The current price per area of the surveyed terrain is appraised. (Error margin +/-5%)]
Frankly, Lloyd was quite curious. He wondered how much the land of the castle, located in the very heart of the kingdom, was worth. Thus, he mixed a bit of curiosity into his survey of the castle. The results were enough to send a shiver of inferiority complex through Lloyd’s spine.
“Ugh. I expected it to be expensive, but this is something else.”
Lloyd was astonished at the appraised value of the castle. It was unimaginably high, far beyond the likes of Seoul’s Gangnam district. To put it simply, selling just a scrap of land from the castle could potentially buy the entire territory of the Count of Frontiera. In fact, there might even be enough left over for a thousand bowls of beef soup.
“This is literally priceless.”
Upon reflection, it made sense. The Magentano royal family was currently enjoying its golden age in the history of the kingdom. With Alicia, a Swordmaster Queen wielding strong royal authority, the unwavering loyalty of the local lords, and the addition of Bone Dragon, the kingdom’s political and military stability was further solidified by an enormous force.
“Well, technically, Bone Dragon is mine.”
But the people didn’t know that. They all believed Bone Dragon was loyal to the Magentano royal family, and only knew that the dragon had been dispatched to the Frontiera territory.
“Either way, the stock of the Magentano royal family has skyrocketed, securing an overwhelming position even acknowledged by the traditional rival sultanates to the east.”
This effectively crowned them as the world’s greatest nation, making the soaring land values of its capital a natural consequence.
“Ah, envy.”
Lloyd couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy. However, he quickly shook off the feeling. This was not the time to be distracted by the price of land. He had to find Tauranga and construct the Gem of Truth to prevent the restoration phenomenon of fate.
“There’s not much time left.”
Suddenly, he remembered the future glimpsed through an ending spoiler. The accident that would befall the count was less than three years away, precisely about two years and seven or eight months.
While it might seem like a long time, perhaps longer than the mandatory military service in South Korea, to Lloyd, it didn’t feel long enough.
“Can I find all the core materials for the Gem within this time? Plus, I need to construct the Gem, find a way to stop the restoration phenomenon through it, and then implement that method. Time is really tight.”
The more he thought about the tasks ahead, the more insufficient the time seemed.
“There’s no time to dawdle here.”
With a renewed sense of determination, Lloyd knew he had to use his time wisely, minimizing time waste and errors in every step. That was why he was conducting the survey.
“Is the key material, Tauranga, definitely somewhere within the castle?”
“Of course.”
Haviel, who had been quietly walking beside him, asked.
Lloyd looked at him and smiled faintly.
“Then we have to find it.”
“And once found, you’ll extract it?”
“Yes. Just that, cleanly.”
Lloyd shrugged.
“When I spoke to Her Majesty, I mentioned extracting the entire castle, but that’s unrealistic. It’s too wasteful.”
“Wasteful?”
“It would make too big of a mess. Imagine pulling this huge castle out like a radish from a field. Would it remain intact?”
“From what I see, that seems unlikely.”
“Right? To extract such a massive structure without any distortion would require overwhelming force, done swiftly and cleanly, then immediately put back in place. The only being capable of that, to my knowledge, is the Dragon King Berkis.”
Indeed, utilizing Bone Dragon and Bevin would almost certainly result in significant damage to the castle. To extract it without causing harm would require an overwhelming force, a task seemingly only achievable by Dragon King Berkis himself.
“But it’s impossible to summon Berkis here. He’s the most powerful being I know. Attempting to casually invoke such a lethargic titan could very well end with me on the receiving end of his wrath.”
“So, recklessly extracting the castle and causing damage would mean having to repair it later. And with the mountain of tasks I already have, when would I ever find the time for construction work? That’s out of the question.”
“So, after finding Tauranga, you plan to extract just that specific part?”
“Exactly. Like popping a pimple. That way, we minimize damage to the structure and also reduce the construction period.”
“So, we need to find Tauranga quickly, preferably in a location that’s easy to extract.”
“But from what I’ve seen, it seems you’ve already checked all the places that would be easy to extract from.”
“…Yes. That’s why I’m starting to feel a bit down.”
Lloyd sighed deeply. Haviel’s observation was spot on. They had hoped to find Tauranga in an easily accessible location, ideally one of the twelve pieces in such a place.
They first inspected the domes and roofs that made up the castle’s top, followed by the ceilings, roofs, pillars, and flooring materials inside. However, Tauranga was nowhere to be found, increasing Lloyd’s anxiety.
“I hope it’s not all in the foundations or something. That would be complicated.”
He prayed it wouldn’t be so, as he continued his meticulous survey with renewed focus. After three days of thorough examination across every corner of the castle, thanks to the king’s full cooperation, Lloyd was granted access to treasure vaults and various secret locations that would normally be off-limits. Yet, Tauranga remained elusive, and Lloyd’s frustration only deepened alongside his worsening eyestrain.
Then, two days later, he finally found Tauranga.
“…But why did it have to be here?”
Lloyd exhaled a weary sigh, coming to a grim realization about the hardcore challenges life can throw at one. The reason was simple: the core material of the Gem, Tauranga, had been discovered at the very bottom of the castle’s foundation.
“If it weren’t for the underground scanning feature of my survey skill, I wouldn’t have even seen it.”
Deep in the basement, in a damp chamber teeming with mold wars for territory, Lloyd’s gaze was fixed on the ground, specifically a few layers beneath the surface, where a massive rock about 5 meters underground was identified as Tauranga. Its location was extremely inconvenient.
“Darn it.”
Tauranga was intricately integrated into the foundation of the castle, specifically serving as part of the independent pillar bases that supported various parts of the castle.
“Extracting it directly would be impossible. It’s like trying to remove a supporting pillar from under a building like the 63 Building without causing the structure to collapse.”
Or like carefully extracting a block from the bottom of a Jenga tower without toppling it. In essence, Tauranga was being used as a foundational independent pillar deep within the castle’s base, with all twelve pieces embedded in each of the independent pillars.
“If we carelessly extract them, the castle might suffer subsidence.”
Just like a poorly played game of Jenga, the entire castle could risk structural failure.
“Of course, to prevent that, we could replace Tauranga with stones of similar size and strength. It’s like swapping parts quickly. But the approach and cleanup seem quite tricky.”
“Do we need to lift the foundation from above to reach it? No, that won’t work due to the angle. Each piece of Tauranga is enormous, the smallest being about 6 meters. If we were to dig up the floor here? And then create a pathway to the surface? No, that would make things too complicated.”
From here to the exterior was a long and obstructed path, filled with numerous layers, walls, and structures. Even if Tauranga could be safely extracted, transporting it outside would require creating a passage at least 6 meters wide all the way to the surface.
“Digging through wouldn’t be the hard part. It’s the aftermath that’s the problem.”
Repairing the dug-out areas would be a massive undertaking, requiring a lot of time and effort. Lloyd wanted to avoid such cumbersome processes if possible, aiming for an efficient and clean operation.
“Let’s think this through.”
He felt a spark of inspiration. The answer, he believed, lay within his own knowledge. With this intuition, Lloyd returned to his guest quarters and secluded himself for two days, emerging only to focus on various calculations.
He pondered over the data from the underground survey of the castle, the information about the foundation where Tauranga was used, the load each part bore, and the anticipated ground changes during the extraction process.
After much deliberation, prediction, preparation, and experimentation, he made a decision.
“Alright.”
Once the decision was made, Lloyd acted immediately. He left his quarters and entered the main palace, requesting an audience with the king. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long before being granted entry to the king’s office. Upon entering, he knelt down promptly and didn’t even take a moment to catch his breath before stating his business.
“Long live Her Majesty. Lloyd Frontiera, the eldest son of the Count of Frontiera, humbly presents himself before Her Majesty, the rightful ruler of this land. I have come to make an urgent request.”
“A request? To me, urgently?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Queen Alicia slightly furrowed her brows, her expression a mix of curiosity and mild irritation. Lloyd Frontiera had been approaching her with increasing frequency, each time with bolder requests.
‘It seems he’s growing quite comfortable with the Queen demands. Though he always keeps within bounds, at this rate, he might just overstep.’
Despite this thought, she was well aware that Lloyd, with his cunning nature, would not cross the line. Crossing it would lead him down paths he didn’t wish to tread.
‘Either trying to dethrone me or declaring independence. But that’s hardly the life Lloyd desires.’
A wry smile crossed her face at the thought.
‘Such power and influence, yet his ultimate goal is to laze around. And yet, for that very goal, he’s more industrious than anyone. Isn’t it paradoxical?’
The irony of Lloyd’s situation didn’t escape her, and while she found it amusing, there was also a touch of sympathy in her tone.
“Speak, then. You have the right to make your request.”
Curious about what outrageous demand Lloyd would make this time, she asked with a mix of amusement and resignation.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I dare say…”
Lloyd’s eloquence suddenly kicked into high gear, his words flowing like a well-oiled machine.
“I request support for implementing a freeze-thaw method. This technique is a type of ground improvement method first devised during the excavation of vertical shafts in the Wells mines of 19th-century Britain. By inserting freezing pipes into the ground and injecting a coolant at minus 30 degrees Celsius, the moisture in the soil around the pipes is frozen, similar to ice cream. Over time, these ice pillars thicken, eventually merging to form a massive ice wall underground. This ice wall, being much harder than the original soil…”
“Wait.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Lloyd paused, facing the queen with a brazen look.
Queen Alicia met his gaze with a slightly overwhelmed expression, quickly realizing it might be better to acquiesce to his request before she suffered further from his relentless explanation.
Finally, she sighed deeply and asked,
“What exactly do you need?”
Lloyd promptly produced a prepared note from his pocket and handed it to her, his demeanor as casual as if asking for a borrowed item back or requesting a spoonful of ramen from a friend.
“Your Majesty, I humbly ask to borrow one of the Magentano royal family’s Three Great Treasures, ‘The Heart of Winter,’ to use at my discretion for a while.”
His request was delivered with such nonchalance, yet it was a petition for one of the kingdom’s most prized possessions, illustrating Lloyd’s audacious yet calculated approach to solving the monumental challenge before him.
