Chapter 307: Changing the Construction Site (2)
“If I manage to make the air of the Arctic cold again… Would you then cooperate with changing the site of the Sacred Jewel’s construction?”
“What?”
Lloyd’s subtle inquiry made the mermaid queen’s pectoral muscles twitch.
She tilted her head and asked back, “You can make the Arctic air cold again? You?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I have a method prepared. If you permit, I can implement it today and we can see the results immediately.”
“Today? Immediately? Are you serious?”
“Absolutely.”
Lloyd confidently answered, and the mermaid queen stared at him intently.
“You are a curious human.”
“Is that so?”
“Certainly. I’ve always thought, you’re not like ordinary humans; there’s something unique about you.”
“Ahaha, you flatter me…”
“Sometimes, I feel like hitting you for no reason.”
“…Excuse me?”
“You’re smart and sharp, but that makes you annoyingly endearing in a way.”
“Oh, um, not sure if that’s good or bad…”
“Both.”
A bitter smile hung on the mermaid queen’s lips, as if she had somewhat grasped his intentions.
“Thinking about it, you’ve become quite familiar with our kingdom. You’ve spent a considerable time here, coming and going. You must have understood the difficulties our kingdom faces.”
“Yes, I won’t deny that.”
“So, you brought a proposal that I couldn’t refuse, right?”
“I apologize.”
“No, it’s fine. Let’s see if you can really cool down the Arctic air immediately today?”
“Yes.”
“Alright. Prove it.”
“Understood.”
A faint smile of satisfaction appeared on Lloyd’s lips.
Got it.
His plan had taken hold.
‘The mermaid queen has as bold a personality as her muscles suggest. It was good to play it straight without beating around the bush.’
He blatantly made the offer.
Directly and honestly.
He laid out his thoughts clearly.
The mermaid queen’s most urgent problem.
He offered a solution to that problem.
It was like aiming precisely at a terribly itchy back to provide relief.
‘Luckily, that tailored strategy worked.’
Lloyd felt inwardly relieved.
“Then, let’s head to the surface together.”
He and the queen left the kingdom and ascended to the surface.
The Hellgate, flickering above the Arctic Ocean, came into view.
“Now, let’s get started. Ah, Your Majesty, please step back a bit.”
“Back? Why?”
“You might get swept up in the cold.”
“Hmm, alright.”
The queen swam a distance away.
Once she was far enough, Lloyd took a deep breath.
‘Whew. Carefully. Slowly.’
Keeeeeeng…
He rotated three mana circles.
Absorbing the surrounding mana.
Amplifying it with the circles.
In the process, he stirred the Winter Heart’s coldness that had clung to his mana heart since the last time he used time freeze.
The coldness, a side effect of using time freeze, reacted instantly.
Tssss!
Like poking a beehive or waking a hibernating hedgehog.
The coldness erupted, sending icy spikes everywhere.
Mana heart scattered the cold mana all around.
As expected.
‘The ice dragon said so. This coldness, the more I use the Winter Heart, the bigger it will grow. It will settle in my mana heart like a parasite and spread throughout my body. Like cancer.’
Suddenly, Ice Dragon Tyrannus’s warning came to mind.
If you want to live long, don’t misuse the Winter Heart.
He also remembered the circle techniques he had practiced secretly while coming here with Javier.
‘It’s okay. I’ve done safety tests. I’m just using the coldness created as a side effect, not using the Winter Heart itself!’
He focused his mind.
Tamed the rampaging cold with the mana circles.
Absorbed the carved out cold into the circles.
Reversed the rotation of the circles from absorption to expulsion.
The flow of mana changed.
He raised both hands.
In that state, he clashed the three circles together.
The collision of the circles created a fierce shockwave.
He released it from his hands.
A triple blast of amplified cold blasted out.
Tsuwahak-!
It felt like being a human smart converter air conditioner.
An overwhelming blast of cold shot vertically into the sky.
Like a giant lance made of frost.
Slam-dunking into the sun.
It soared unfettered and then dispersed like a fountain.
Pahat-!
Millions of ice particles spread like pollen.
Each particle rapidly froze the air molecules it touched.
A serene storm of coldness covered the Arctic Ocean’s airspace.
It brought the temperature around the North Pole down to tens of degrees below zero.
The formed coldness spread across the entire Arctic Ocean.
The Arctic Ocean’s waters did the same.
Jjeojjeok… Jjeok!
The area’s sea rapidly froze like a yogurt smoothie.
Thickening, then hardening, and finally clumping together.
Eventually, icebergs formed.
A successful terraforming, or rather, polar forming.
“…Huff, huff.”
After releasing the cold, Lloyd gasped for air.
He brought his trembling hands to his thighs.
And pinched hard.
“Kwahp!”
Pinching the inside of his thigh hard enough to bruise finally brought him back to his senses.
He hastily shook his head and checked his insides.
‘I almost fainted on the spot. I should not use this lightly again.’
It was dizzying.
The coldness created in his mana heart as a side effect of using the Winter Heart.
He thought it might be possible to amplify and release it using the mana circles.
So he had experimented beforehand.
While riding here on Hamang.
He secretly rotated the mana circles with Javier unaware.
Touching the coldness, poking it.
Testing its feasibility and risks.
But the actual use felt different from the tests.
‘I thought I was going to die.’
Lloyd flicked his tongue.
It wasn’t for nothing; the moment he released the coldness.
It felt like displaying all his internal organs.
It even felt like his soul was being expelled as part of a combo meal.
But the successful release of the coldness was not without its merits.
‘Thanks to that, the coldness clinging to my mana heart has significantly reduced.’
Perhaps because he had carved out and expelled part of it, the coldness created as a side effect had reduced by about one-third.
‘This is an unexpected effect.’
It seemed so.
The coldness created as a side effect of the Winter Heart.
Like cancer, it had clung to his mana heart and would not fall off.
But releasing it through the mana circles like this?
It had noticeably diminished.
‘If used well, it could be useful. Especially, it might delay or stop the side effects the ice dragon warned about.’
Of course, it would be physically demanding.
And since the coldness could only be released when accumulated, it couldn’t be used recklessly.
‘Thinking about it, this feels like collecting special attack bombs in a plane game.’
A bitter smile formed at the sudden thought.
Really, it was just like that.
Using the Winter Heart to freeze time.
Then, as a side effect, coldness was created in the mana heart.
If needed, that coldness could be expelled through the mana circles.
‘Literally, a special move to use in a crisis.’
Not a bad gain.
Evaluating thus, Lloyd closed his thoughts.
He turned to the mermaid queen who had approached.
“How about that?”
“…”
“Perhaps the cooling… no, the coldness still feels insufficient?”
“No, not that.”
The queen asked with a somewhat dazed face.
“What exactly are you?”
“Lloyd Frontera. Your friend, the constructor of saunas, fairly handsome when you take a closer look, charming even at a glance…”
“Cut the nonsense, are you a mage?”
“Well, something like that.”
Lloyd grinned wryly.
A mage or something similar.
There was no other way to explain the cold blast he had just demonstrated.
“Thanks to absorbing a rather useful artifact by chance recently, I can perform such feats, though it is a bit strenuous on my body. Anyway, how about it? It seems quite cold now, doesn’t it?”
“It’s not just quite; it’s excellent.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course.”
The mermaid queen nodded.
She looked around with a satisfied gaze.
“It’s been a long time since I felt such cool and refreshing wind at this surface. It’s reassuring on one hand, and still worrying on the other.”
“Worried?”
“This cold air, how many months will it last?”
“Yes, that’s likely.”
This time, Lloyd nodded.
He admitted it while looking up at the Hellgate in the sky.
“As long as that remains.”
“That’s right. Even though you’ve made it cold here now, the hot winds will keep blowing from that Hellgate.”
“You’re right, Your Majesty. What I did today is just a temporary measure, only good for a few months.”
“What about a permanent solution?”
“We need to close that Hellgate. I will take care of that.”
“You have a way?”
“If we complete the Sacred Jewel, we should be able to find a way. We can ask the Jewel itself.”
“Excellent.”
At last, the frown disappeared from the mermaid queen’s brow.
But her cautious gaze towards him remained.
“So, you’re saying you’ll take responsibility for both this temporary measure and the eventual closure of the Hellgate, in exchange for moving the construction site of the Sacred Jewel to your domain?”
“Yes, if Your Majesty would cooperate.”
“Hmm.”
The queen pondered.
Her contemplation didn’t last long.
“Alright. I’ll trust the credibility you’ve shown so far.”
“Thank you. Now, if you could…”
No sooner had the queen nodded.
Lloyd quickly pulled out two grease-stained parchment sheets from his pocket.
“Here’s the contract. Please check it thoroughly.”
“…”
“By building the Sacred Jewel in the Frontera domain in exchange, I, Lloyd Frontera, will resolve the warming phenomena of the Arctic Ocean and close the Hellgate. Furthermore, once the Sacred Jewel is completed, the mermaid kingdom and Your Majesty will share the rights to use the Jewel fairly with me… that’s what the contract says.”
“Hmm. A contract.”
“It’s always best to be sure. This way, the promise remains as evidence, doesn’t it?”
“That’s also true.”
The queen’s eyes meticulously scanned the contract.
Indeed, the content was just as Lloyd had stated.
The queen’s thoughts deepened.
‘Trading the construction site of the Jewel in exchange for closing the Hellgate. Now that I think about it, it’s not a bad deal. No, it’s clearly beneficial for our kingdom.’
She realized it was true.
The Sacred Jewel was a treasure of the mermaid kingdom, but only in the distant mythic age.
In reality, the mermaids after the mythic age lived without knowing of the Jewel.
They hadn’t needed the Jewel for a long time.
Nor had they thought it necessary.
It was a Jewel forgotten in the annals of time.
‘But this human unearthed it.’
If not for Lloyd Frontera, could the Jewel have seen the light of day again?
She thought not.
‘Moreover, building the Jewel in our kingdom would only increase the risks as much as the benefits.’
The queen reflected on the lessons of the mythic age.
All races coveted the Sacred Jewel then.
It provided the wisest answer to any question.
Thus, it was considered the most powerful weapon in the world.
Everyone fought to monopolize the Jewel.
Wars broke out to exclusively control it.
A bloody conflict that ended the mythic age.
‘And in the end, the Jewel was destroyed. Our ancestors lost their homeland and suffered greatly. What if the Jewel is built in the kingdom today? There’s no guarantee the same events won’t recur.’
Right now, perhaps not.
But once the existence of the Jewel becomes known.
Everyone would covet it.
The peaceful mermaid kingdom might get swept into wars.
‘But what if the construction site of the Jewel is conceded to Lloyd Frontera’s domain?’
It seemed she could offload that risk.
And since the Jewel would be jointly named, they could fully enjoy its rights.
In essence, shift the risk to the Frontera domain and keep the rights for themselves.
As she calculated this far, the mermaid queen unwittingly formed a bitter smile.
‘This proposal was made considering even this calculation of mine.’
I’ve been completely won over.
A wry chuckle escaped her at the sudden realization.
Yet, she didn’t feel bad about it.
She sensed Lloyd’s consideration in the proposal.
‘In fact, he could have decided the construction site without informing us. Yes, most selfish humans would have.’
But Lloyd Frontera before her did not.
Though it would have been cumbersome.
Though he might have been greedy.
Still, he formally requested negotiations with her.
He presented a rather splendid proposal that would satisfy both sides.
Then, there was no need to refuse.
No, rather, it was a contract that deserved a hearty welcome.
“Good. I like it. Let’s make the contract.”
The mermaid queen grinned broadly, her pectorals bulging.
A smile also formed on Lloyd’s lips, the deal sealed.
The most powerful treasure of the mythic era.
The moment when the construction site of the Sacred Jewel was officially decided to be in the Frontera domain.
