The Ondol That Melts Dwarves
“Hoo, looks like we’re almost done.”
A week had passed since Hydra’s attack. During that time, everyone had been working at a frantic pace. Clearing away the rubble of collapsed buildings and constructing new homes in their place was a massive undertaking. The land itself was in disarray, requiring extensive leveling, and the farmland had to be completely turned over. On top of that, the water supply pipes had suffered significant damage and needed to be replaced entirely.
The one who had suffered the most was Grandel.
“Wh-what did you say!? You want me to make a hundred more faucets!?”
“Yeah. By tomorrow. You can do it, right? You’ve done it before.”
“That’s completely unreasonable! How am I supposed to—!?”
“That bastard caused such a ruckus and broke everything. We have to make new ones.”
“Guhk!”
Grandel suddenly clutched the back of his neck as if his blood pressure had spiked, then toppled backward. He was on the verge of fainting. Albert quickly caught him, channeling mana to keep him conscious, then smiled brightly.
“Where do you think you’re going, fainting on your own? Stop with the tricks and get to work. You’re a genius, aren’t you? You’ve done it once, so you can do it again.”
“You damned bastard……”
Grandel shed hot tears. He had been goaded into making them that day, but it had been literal hell. He had poured his body and soul into barely meeting the deadline. Now this man was forcing him back into the same grueling labor. At this point, Albert looked like a prison warden from hell in Grandel’s eyes.
“You’ll be punished for this!! You rotten scoundrel!”
Thus, Grandel threw himself into mass-producing faucets. Meanwhile, Albert calmly laid out his plans.
‘I’ll need to hire more people eventually.’
He couldn’t keep relying on Grandel alone to make the faucets forever. Elena had attended a social gathering and stirred up quite the spectacle there.
It was certainly spectacular.
She turned the guest of honor into a complete mess the moment she arrived.
Oh dear……
‘What’s the problem? You enjoyed it too. You were the one cheering the loudest.’
(*ૂ❛ัᴗ❛ั*ૂ)
The System pretended not to hear. It seemed to have a guilty conscience and couldn’t argue back.
‘Anyway, the nobles have started paying attention to our territory. If that’s the case, they’ll naturally take interest in the water pipes and faucets too, won’t they?’
You’re planning to sell them?
‘Yeah.’
He fully intended to sell them at a profit. But to do that, he needed stable mass production of faucets. Right now Grandel was somehow managing alone, but the burden would only grow heavier with time. Before that happened, Albert planned to recruit people and set up a proper production line.
‘Three shifts should do it, right?’
You’re going to work the dark elves the same way?
‘Yeah.’
The dark elves were already being worked to the bone. Orders for soap were pouring in through the Flower Merchant Group. They were churning out Flower Soap day and night like madmen just to meet the demand. At a glance, the dark elves’ current state looked like a glimpse into Grandel’s distant future.
“We’ll collect payment for the construction, the faucets, and regular purchases of mana stones from our territory.”
The water supply system was incredibly convenient. There might be people who had never used it, but no one would use it only once. Once you experienced running water, there was no going back to the old way of life. That was simply human nature.
“People want to sit when they stand, lie down when they sit, and sleep when they lie down.”
Once they tasted convenience, they could never return to hauling water from wells. Albert intended to farm gold from the pockets of these people who had already lain down.
“If that happens, we won’t just collect water fees from the territory—we’ll be able to collect them from the entire continent.”
Not just from the territory, but from the whole continent. He could stick a straw into the entire continent and suck up water fees. Forever. The entire continent would become the Legrian family’s wallet.
Albert.
Your smile is so wicked it’s terrifying.
Can’t you do something about your expression?
“Huh? Ah, I was just excited about making money.”
Oh dear……
“Besides, our expenses have been high lately.”
The cost of repairing the territory was substantial. They were purchasing large quantities of materials from the architects’ guild, and Richel was sourcing additional supplies from elsewhere. It was a complete overhaul of the entire territory. Since they couldn’t afford to take it slow, they had no choice but to spend heavily on materials.
And then there was the labor cost.
‘Labor costs are always the problem no matter where you go.’
Money was leaking out like water from a jar with a hole in it. To cover it, he had no choice but to sell aggressively. And to sell aggressively—
“I just have to work them hard.”
Work them, work them, and work them some more. That was all there was to it.
“Laborers are best when they’re worked hard.”
……Albert, I recommend looking in a mirror right now.
“Why? I know I’m handsome.”
That’s not what I meant.
“‘That’? That’s a bit harsh. My face is a national treasure. I was the unofficial number one in the hunter appearance popularity poll in the other world.”
It wasn’t official.
Do you know why people didn’t officially vote you number one?
Albert looked at his reflection in a nearby transparent window. His lips curled up in a twisted smile, exactly like a villainous CEO of a black company grinding his subordinates to dust. The reason he couldn’t take first place in the official poll was—
Your smiling face is too wicked.
You look less like a hunter and more like a villain hunter.
His occasional smiles were simply too wicked. Albert offered his own excuse.
“……It’s because I take after my mother.”
Isn’t the DNA excuse getting old?
“……”
It didn’t work at all.
* * *
“You lot! Move faster!!”
“Hey! Don’t slack on the hammering! Do you want to die!?”
“Move those bricks over here! Huh, what’s so heavy about that? In my day, we carried things twice as heavy without breaking a sweat!”
The territory was undergoing a complete transformation. Albert had said, “Since we’re doing this anyway, let’s tear everything down and rebuild from scratch.” He intended to completely overhaul the territory this time. Until now, the territory’s houses had been wooden. But their safety was too poor, so he planned to upgrade them to brick houses while rebuilding.
“But what on earth is he trying to build?”
Hote couldn’t help but tilt his head as he looked at the blueprint Albert had given him.
“I built it exactly as instructed, but……”
Before him stood a brick house built according to the blueprint. It was far sturdier than any wooden house, looking like it could easily withstand attacks from most monsters. The interior was spacious, with separate rooms and a dedicated bathroom. On the surface it looked like an ordinary brick house, but the inside was anything but ordinary.
Hote tilted his head again.
“Why is the fireplace outside? I don’t understand.”
The fireplace was located outside. Normally, fireplaces were placed indoors for heating. But the blueprint Albert provided had the fireplace outside. That wasn’t all.
“What the hell is this passageway? Ugh, there has to be at least one thing he does that makes sense.”
Everything was incomprehensible. He had built it as instructed, but even while doing so, he had no idea what it was for.
“You’re done?”
“You’re here! I’ve been waiting, you bastard! So, what the hell is this?”
True to the impatient nature of dwarves, Hote immediately questioned Albert.
He really is impatient.
Well, it’s understandable. This is an architectural style that doesn’t exist in this world.
‘Exactly.’
If even the dwarf Hote didn’t know, then no one on the continent would.
“It’s better to experience it directly than to hear about it.”
Albert placed firewood in the outdoor stove and lit a fire. Hot air flowed out and was drawn inside. White smoke rose from the chimney built on the opposite side.
“What a peculiar structure. Normally you’d install the chimney right above the stove, so why is this one on the opposite side?”
“Because the heat needs to go that way.”
“Heat?”
“Hmm, this should be enough. Go inside.”
At Albert’s words, Hote grumbled, “Damned human, won’t even explain properly……” as he entered the brick house. Several minutes passed, but Hote showed no sign of coming out. Albert went inside to find a slime.
“Ugh…… This feels good. My body is melting, melting.”
It was a melted dwarf slime. Hote lay flat on the floor with a languid expression.
“My joints feel completely loose. Whoa, this is really nice……”
The interior was toasty warm, providing heating on a completely different level from a fireplace. He was gradually becoming one with the floor, reminiscent of Albert’s old self melting into an electric blanket on a winter day.
After lying there for a while, Hote’s eyes suddenly snapped open.
“I see! The heat is coming through the passageway built under the floor! The winding maze-like design was to distribute the heat to every corner!”
Hote sprang to his feet and stared at Albert as if demanding the answer to a test question. Albert nodded.
“That’s right. This is called Gudeuljang Ondol.”
Gudeuljang Ondol was a common heating system in Korea from the other world. Albert had been shocked the first time he saw it. Heating by warming the floor itself. Its efficiency was on a completely different level from fireplaces, and the way it heated both the floor and the air felt revolutionary.
It’s Korea’s traditional heating method that no other country could even attempt.
‘With this, even the coldest winter will be easy to endure.’
After that, people came to experience the ondol houses for themselves.
“Aigoo…… I’m melting, melting.”
“My body feels so relaxed.”
“How can it be this warm! It’s nothing like a fireplace!”
“The air is warm too. With this, winter won’t be a problem at all!!”
The residents’ praise continued. The unfamiliar heating method had felt strange at first, but once they tasted ondol, there was no escaping it.
“The floor is this warm……”
“When we used fireplaces, the floor was cold so we had to lay something down, but now there’s no need!”
“Hahaha! This would be perfect to lie on after work!”
People couldn’t hide their joy.
“My house will be built like this too, right?”
“Hahaha! This is great!”
The thought of owning such a house filled them with strong motivation. The desire to have a home like this ignited their passion. The territory was recovering at an incredible speed.
Thanks to that, the guards were the ones being worked to death.
“Huff…… Huff……”
“It’s heavy……”
“Damn it…… Braum! You can do it! Just a little more!”
Digging the ground, laying new water pipes, leveling the surface, then hauling bricks for manual labor—it was no easy task. Sweat poured down like rain. They wanted nothing more than a break, but Aiden refused to allow it.
“Move! This is training too! Time to build your body!!”
Even if they collapsed from exhaustion, drinking well water would instantly restore their stamina. They couldn’t even faint. Their trained bodies simply wouldn’t allow it.
“Move it, you lot! Hurry up! Rhythm is important for this kind of work! Once the flow breaks, it becomes hard to work!”
Hote’s shouts followed. He urged the guards from the side. Looking at the sweating guards carrying bricks, he spoke with disdain.
“You fools! Why do you think you train your bodies? It’s all for this!”
“That’s not true!? We train to protect the territory’s peace as guards!”
The guards protested indignantly. They trained to fulfill their glorious duty of maintaining public order, shedding blood, sweat, tears, and vomit. Not to haul bricks!
Hote continued.
“You idiots! This is also part of maintaining public order! How can people be safe without houses? Right now, you’re building those houses!”
“Building houses is part of maintaining public order! Move it!”
“You’re slacking off? Let’s get moving.”
“Stack bricks over there, and over there too. We need to dig the ground as well.”
“……”
The guards had nothing to say in response to the dwarves’ words. Especially Hote’s argument made sense. Houses were necessary for residents to live safely, which naturally maintained public order. Houses were the very foundation of territorial security. In other words, hauling and stacking bricks could broadly be considered part of the guards’ duties. Everything could be twisted to fit.
“That dwarf……”
“He’s been hanging around Albert too much. His way with words has improved.”
He was becoming frighteningly similar. He used to be a simple-minded busybody, but lately he spoke with surprising eloquence. It was maddening.
“Move it!!!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“Damn it!”
“Burst! Just a little more!”
“Aaaagh!”
And so a week passed. Richel, leader of the Flower Merchant Group, stepped down from her carriage and sought out Albert. Her flushed face showed clear excitement.
“Ah, Albert!”
Upon finding him, Richel grabbed him in a panic.
“We’re in big trouble!!”