The Greatest Architect

21. Second Random Draw (1)

Kang Kang!

The steel shovel moves.

Whenever I moved, I reflected the warm sunlight in the spring.

I smashed Pathal’s head with an iron powder van noise.

Ka Kang!

Finally, the sign buries deep into the ground.

Then he stopped shoveling and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

“Phew.”

The breeze that steals the sweaty drops.

The sun makes me feel better with just a little warmth.

And the sign that stood right in front of your eyes.

Lloyd’s mouth was filled with a happy smile.

“Hey, what do you think? ”

His head turns around.

You gaze towards the Silver Hair knight standing behind you.

Xaviel, the Silver Hair Knight who received his question, returns his grim gaze.

“How’s that? What’s that?” ”

“What the hell. This. ”

Lloyd’s hand points to the sign.

Xaviel’s eyes turn to the sign.

In the sign, the phrase was written enormously.

“You have to put this in advance. Otherwise things will get complicated later. ”

“How does it get complicated? ”

“It’s for planting cabbages and peppers. ”

I smiled bitterly at Lloyd’s mouth.

“The grandmothers and the grandmothers. If you have an empty piece of land that you want to be okay with, do you plant it thoroughly in lettuce, cabbage and cabbage? But what if we have to start construction on the land? ”

In fact, there were many such things in Korea.

Usually, a garden is just a shove with a Poklane.

There are times when a penalty will be imposed on the grandmother or grandmother who planted the field.

It was such a pity.

Of course, Lloyd had no intention of doing that here.

“What if you pushed the garden away for construction? I like to hear the accusation of trampling the farmer’s precious fields. I like the sound of tyrants. And the image of me that I’ve been building lately? I’m flying up to Good Morning Hellgate in an ascension dance. Very. ”

“…… in summary, that means you face criticism. ”

“Yeah, that’s it. ”

Lloyd grins.

It’s been a while since I’ve gained the trust of the colonists.

But I didn’t want to lose it in a small conflict.

“Anyway, we’re going to start construction soon. Dig a tunnel in here, dig up some tar. ”

“Counterpoint coal, you mean coal? ”

“Yes, you do. ”

“Yes, a little. ”

Xaviel nods.

“I know it’s a black stone from the ground. It’s brittle, but it’s much better than firewood. ”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m gonna dig it up from here. ”

“You mean there’s a plaque buried here? ”

“Huh.”

Lloyd smiles bloody.

“The records show that you tried to build a mine around here twice during your time as a former lord and failed? The tunnel collapsed because the ground was weak. ”

It was mentioned in the article on Novel Blood.

Suddenly, I remembered the contents of the novel.

Baron Arcos Frontera, Lloyd’s father.

In the novel, he eventually suffers from debt prompting and commits suicide.

Just before hanging him up like that, he stretches out a sigh.

If Mathias Frontera, his predecessor, had succeeded in mining development, none of this would have happened today.

Of course, Lloyd remembered the references in those novels well.

That’s why.

It was from the beginning that he decided to develop the territory.

Mineral development of this mountain has been noted on the agenda as an essential course.

Of course, in the meantime, I didn’t forget to check.

Checking the vein helped with the recently moderately advanced surveying skill.

Activating a surveying skill will allow you to see all the space from the ground to 5 meters underground.

The construction of rocks, groundwater, and the presence or absence of veins were all available.

‘I wish I could get a deeper scan. ’

This place is perfect, as we’ve investigated.

So I placed the paved road.

It was to move coal from the mine smoothly.

“That coal will be food for our territory for a while. And it will be the most efficient way to stop the fireworks coming this winter. ”

“What are you talking about? ”

“We’re going to run out of fuel. Because of the hothouse I’m building these days. It’s not prophecy, it’s inevitability, it’s certainty. ”

Lloyd shrugs.

His words continued.

“That’s the way the heating works. Instead of hot, it’s a bit of fuel consumption. It doesn’t just heat up the kitchen like a fireplace, it heats up the floor of the whole house. Thanks to you, forest resources are wasted. To put it simply, this area will be in Pyongyang in just a few years. ”

“You cut down too many trees for firewood? ”

“Yes.”

“Then……. ”

“Did you anticipate the damage? Of course.”

Lloyd’s smile is slightly sinister.

“Who am I? He designed Onstone Heating. Of course I expected this. Halfway through this winter, everyone will start to feel it. The firewood we’ve been preparing since autumn. ”

“So you lied to everyone? ”

“Me?”

“That’s right.”

Xaviel’s voice calms down.

“These are the people who trusted Lloyd to tear down the fireplace and set up the stone. But if we don’t have enough firewood, we’ll spend half the winter shivering in the cold. ”

“Yes, it is. ”

“So Lloyd was scamming them? ”

“Well, that’s not true. ”

“If you……. ”

“I’m selling coal. ”

“To the colonists? ”

“Yes. Coal is the best wood you can dig up. You can’t learn without it. ”

That was Lloyd’s plan.

Supply Onstone Heating to the territory.

The higher the supply rate, the less fuel there is.

It will highlight the unique disadvantages of hotstone that fuel consumption is extreme.

Sell the coal you had stored at that point to the colonists.

First profit with Ondol Construction.

You get a second profit from coal sales.

What if we expanded the Onstone Construction to our neighbouring territory? We’ll just have to export the coal to another land. ’

Onstone and coal.

Two wagons of profit will help settle debts in the territory.

The thought made Lloyd’s smile even more sinister.

Xaviel’s look on Lloyd’s face was stronger.

“Lloyd didn’t think this through in advance. ”

“Yes.”

“Since when did you do that? ”

“From the beginning, I went to the owner of the tavern with you and apologized and wrote my first greenhouse contract. ”

“ ……. ”

“I need to talk to you. Don’t curse with your eyes. ”

“May I? ”

“Yes.”

Lloyd nods.

Xaviel said as if he was waiting.

“You’re a clever human being. ”

“Better than naive. ”

“That’s why I hate it. ”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“But what do we do? ”

“What is it? ”

“That hater is giving you sleep every night. ”

“ ……. ”

“So you don’t like the lullaby service? ”

“ ……. ”

“Shit. I don’t think so. Look at those eyes rolling. ”

“ ……. ”

“Ahjussi, if you fixed your gaze after listening to it, it would be too irritating. ”

“ ……. ”

“Open your eyes, man. I won’t tease you.”

“ ……. ”

“What a relief. Cute post. ”

“I……. ”

“Never mind. I’m not going to end my lullaby service, so don’t squirm like a poop dog. ”

…… I’m not a puppy!

Xaviel almost cried out in secret.

But Lloyd’s words, first of all, stopped his cry.

“Well, I can see why you’re dropping out now. You think I’m cleverly manipulating everyone. That’s how I feel about being mean. I know, and I won’t deny it. But what do we do? We have to save our own territory. ”

Lloyd’s evil smile grows a little bitter.

“Don’t you know that? Honestly, when you were a kid, you thought money wasn’t the whole world. But when I got older, I was mistaken. There’s nothing more important than money. Money was a lot better than I thought when I was a kid. ”

“Lloyd, but…. ”

“That’s right. You can’t buy happiness with money. But you’ll be happier if you have money. So let’s make some money, even if we’re mean. Let’s start by repaying the debt accumulated in the territory. Huh?”

“ ……. ”

Xaviel closes his mouth.

The moment I realized Lloyd’s plan, my disgust had suddenly subsided.

Lloyd Frontera smiles at himself and says,

It was because his eyes seemed to say this.

‘I eat insults. Pointing fingers? I’ll take it.’

So just close your eyes and follow me.

I thought you might say that.

“ ……. ”

This guy right in front of me.

I thought he was a worthless jackass.

I often embarrass people from time to time.

It still is.

But I didn’t just hate it.

‘The way is naughty and awkward. ’

After that, what he did was often right.

You helped complete Asran’s cardinal law.

Lord Neumann’s betrayal has been revealed.

So, what now?

Maybe they’re setting a stage for a big leap in territory.

“I understand.”

Xaviel smiles unknowingly.

I told Lloyd frankly.

“I’ll admit it. ”

His escort, Lloyd.

I looked at him with honest eyes.

Lloyd looks this way, too.

I tilted my head.

“Admit it? Do you have a plan? ”

“Yes, of course. ”

“Hey, what are you thinking? ”

“Yes?”

“I didn’t ask for your approval or your permission. ”

“ ……. ”

“That’s right. I’m the lord’s son. Why do you need your approval to dig a mine, me? ”

“ ……. ”

“So let’s not get confused. Can we get out of here? Let’s do some surveys. ”

Xaviel’s graceful face crumples.

Lloyd smiles mischievously.

As expected, Xaviel is fun to tease.

♣

Since that day.

Lloyd has been sticking to the mines all day.

Peripherals were surveyed and the environment analyzed.

Try to build a mine that has been built twice in the past.

Two consecutive failures.

I made a plan for the construction in accordance with the case.

‘There is no answer in the traditional method of rocking. It takes a long time, and above all, it’s too dangerous. ’

There was a record of past construction failures in the mansion’s records.

As we looked at them, it was written that they both used traditional methods of reconstruction.

‘I was scorched by fire and advanced by breaking through the rocks in a cool way. ’

That was the traditional method of rock destruction.

What if there’s a big rock digging through the ground?

The workers light the rocks.

Heats the rocks very hot.

Pour cold water into it.

Then sudden temperature changes are applied to the warmed rocks.

The rocks split along the grain.

It is easy to break.

‘That’s how I first moved on. But we couldn’t advance more than 30 meters. The shaft collapsed. Twice. ’

Of course, all the unfortunate workers were buried.

This led Lloyd’s grandfather, Baron Mathias Frontera, to abandon the construction of the mine.

‘The reason is simple. It’s because the ground is weak. ’

Failure to properly understand the nature of the vulnerable ground can lead to accidents.

His understanding was that the mountain’s terrain was a kind of fragile terrain, a mixture of some rock and dry soil.

Therefore, it was essential to use custom techniques for the environment.

“So I’m going to use the shield technique. ”

“Shield technique? ”

It was during dinner.

Lloyd thrusts a piece of paper toward the baron across the table.

“That’s what I thought. Here, this is a simplified conceptual diagram of the shield technique. ”

“Conceptual.”

The baron’s eyes turned to the conceptual diagram.

Lloyd’s explanation followed.

“In short, a cylindrical frame made of steel is called a shield. An operator enters the shield. It excavates dirt and rock. Meanwhile, the shield itself withstands the pressure of the shaft and prevents collapse. ”

“Hmm, some kind of shield and support? ”

“That’s right. Have you heard of the Shipworm Shellfish? ”

“Can I… have a tummy… worm clam? ”

“Yes.”

“Explain yourself.”

“The great river is a distant relative of a squid or snail. It’s a beast that gnaws through the bottom of a wooden belly and punctures it. ”

“But what does such an animal have to do with this construction now? ”

“He’s the one who gave ideas to the shield technique. ”

Lloyd smiles.

It was true.

In fact, in the mid-1800s, the construction of the Thames tunnel through the River Thames in London, England took place in this way.

Mark Brunel, the engineer who designed the Thames tunnel, came up with an idea to look at the ecology of cockroach clams and develop a new technique.

That was the shield technique.

“The abalone shell perforates the wood beneath the boat with a shield-like shell. Wood swells when you drink water. and it narrows the hole, and the cockroach clam dies in its wooden hole. And to stop that, the mothballs drill holes while simultaneously applying secretions to the inner surface of the tunnel. It prevents your discharge from closing in as it solidifies. The shield technique is the same. ”

Lloyd pointed to the conceptual diagram.

“Shields are like shields of moth clams. Protects the worker, acts as the lead digger of the hole. So inside the shield, the worker tightens. Some are drilled holes, and others are installed in real time to prevent collapse of the shaft. ”

“Like the worm applying discharge to the inside of the hole to prevent it from collapsing? ”

“Yes.”

“So you’re going through a process of digging and reinforcing holes simultaneously and progressing gradually. ”

“That’s a pretty accurate summary. ”

Lloyd explained the construction plan in a little more detail.

The baron listened to Lloyd.

Meanwhile, the baron was very interested.

Coal is a great fuel source.

It’s money if you can dig it up.

The baron felt overwhelmed by a debt of great value.

Moreover, Lloyd’s new approach seemed plausible.

Finally, the baron allowed the construction.

“Good, but on one condition. ”

“What is it?”

“I don’t want you in the tunnel during the construction process. ”

“You think it’s dangerous? ”

“Of course.”

The baron’s answer becomes clear.

“A new technique doesn’t make it perfectly safe. ”

“But that’s not going to work. ”

“Why?”

“If I don’t go in, who will believe in the safety of the new technique? ”

“ ……. ”

“We also need to keep an eye on situations or changes in the environment at all times. That way you can prevent accidents. ”

“But……. ”

“I promise. You’ll be safe. ”

“Haha.”

Afterwards, the excitement continued.

But the more stubborn side was Lloyd.

In front of the stubbornness, the baron raises his hands.

So the construction of the mine was decided.

But Lloyd did not immediately begin construction.

It was because I had something to prepare for the construction.

Waiting for the night to come.

I put Xaviel to sleep.

I went out to the smokehouse in the back of the night.

System window loaded.

I opened the ‘Random Picking of Phantoms’ menu.

‘Podong can’t use it for this construction. It’s too big to dig a tunnel, so it’s dangerous. But it’s going to take that long to sell the shaft with just human strength. ’

If the construction is long, it costs that much.

Shield construction keeps the construction safe.

I could not speed up the construction.

So, in order to reduce the duration of the construction and save the cost of the construction, we needed a capable hand.

‘If possible, it’d be better if he had the ability to dig a tunnel. ’

Lloyd thought so and ran the ‘Random Draw’ menu.

There was enough RP left after the last use.

[Random picking cost (2nd time) 70 RP]

[Current RP: 119]

[Do you want to run a random draw?]

[YES/NO]

‘YES’.

[Perform a random draw of phantoms.]

Phew…!

The pale light flooded the room.

A complex enchantment engraved upon the room flutters.

An unfamiliar silhouette begins to peer in the turbulent space.

A new kind of fantasy that finally reveals itself.

Lloyd’s eyes curled up, looking at him.