Chapter 113
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: Ruler of the Lake (2)
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“Capua Lake on the mid-slope of the Eastern Mountains? You’re saying you’re going to wake up King Stoma, the ruler of that place?”
The first to break the heavy silence was Baron Frontera.
His frantic question pierced everyone’s eardrums like a needle.
Only then did everyone in the office snap to attention with a start.
The Baroness unconsciously clutched her handkerchief tight.
Haviel’s blue eyes flashed coldly.
Sir Bayern swallowed dryly.
Sir Blanc felt his heart race with anticipation.
Baron Frontera’s question continued into everyone’s ears.
“If it’s Capua Lake, isn’t that the place where we built the water intake station last time because of Viscount Rionero Racona?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But the King Stoma sleeping there—isn’t that an incredibly powerful magical beast?”
“Yes, that’s correct too.”
“And yet you want to wake up a beast like that? Do you have some specific purpose in mind?”
“Yes, just as I mentioned a moment ago.”
“A moment ago?”
“I’m thinking of putting it to work for us.”
“King Stoma? Wake it up and make it work?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
Was that even possible?
No, before that—what kind of work did he plan to make that magical beast do?
The Baron, and everyone else, felt dazed.
They couldn’t even begin to guess Lloyd’s plan.
Lloyd continued.
“Well, ‘putting it to work’ doesn’t mean anything grand. I just plan to have it roar twice a day, morning and evening.”
“Roar?”
“Yes. A sort of territorial marking behavior.”
“King Stoma’s roar. What changes if we make it do that?”
“Yes. A lot changes.”
“Specifically?”
“The territory will suffer no damage from the monster domino effect.”
“Why?”
“Because no monsters charging in from the wasteland to the west will dare cross the Eastern Mountains.”
“Surely not because of King Stoma’s roar?”
“That’s right.”
Lloyd nodded.
Then he pulled an old book from his pocket.
“This is an ancient record I found in the library.”
Rustle, rustle.
Lloyd’s hand carefully turned the pages.
The aged paper gave off a musty smell of mildew as it revealed its contents.
“Look here. About three hundred fifty years ago—before our family was granted this fief—the lord managing this region at the time left this record.”
Lloyd pointed to a spot on the page.
“According to the record, King Stoma first entered the mountains back then. No one knows where it came from. Anyway, it showed vigorous activity. It snapped countless trees and piled them up on the mid-slope of the mountains.”
“On the mid-slope? Why?”
Lloyd smiled at the Baron’s question.
“It built a natural dam. Massive amounts of water pooled up there in the mid-slope. You can probably guess by now, right? The origin of Capua Lake.”
“……Ah.”
Everyone’s eyes widened.
Capua Lake, the mountain lake they’d always assumed was a natural formation.
To think it had been created by King Stoma.
Everyone’s ears turned toward Lloyd’s mouth.
“Well, it’s natural you wouldn’t have heard this before. I only learned it myself from this record. Anyway, soil piled up over the dam it made, trees grew, and the landscape perfectly turned into a natural mountain lake, just like now. Then King Stoma entered a satisfied hibernation. Right in the center of the lake it had created.”
“So Capua Lake was made by King Stoma’s own hands, as a home for itself?”
“Yes. But the part we need to focus on comes after that.”
Flutter, flutter.
Lloyd’s hand turned the page again.
“According to the record, after King Stoma entered hibernation, life in this region became harsh.”
“Why?”
“Simple. Occasionally, monsters would cross the mountains from the east. They’d rampage, eat people, that sort of thing. Just like the incidents our territory at the foot of the mountains still experiences once or twice a year.”
“Ah…….”
A spark of realization lit up in the Baron’s eyes.
Listening to Lloyd, it all made sense naturally.
Even now, Frontera Barony suffered occasional monster damage. Most of it came from monsters descending from the Eastern Mountains.
Even without this monster domino effect, it was always the case.
But what if a powerful magical beast conducted territorial activities at Capua Lake, the gateway from the mountains to their territory?
The answer was clear.
“So King Stoma will act as a barrier to keep the monsters out?”
“That’s right. Exactly.”
“And that’s why you want to wake it up?”
“Yes. If it just roars twice a day to mark its territory, all monsters coming from the east will turn tail in fear. It’d be like a biological barrier.”
“A biological barrier.”
The Baron nodded.
Everyone else thought the same.
Lloyd’s idea they’d just heard had a scale beyond imagination, but it was convincing.
It was worth trying at least once.
“But isn’t it dangerous?”
“What do you mean by dangerous?”
“The possibility that King Stoma might attack our territory instead.”
A faint worry colored the Baron’s voice.
“If that terrifying beast ever came down to our territory, the damage would be indescribable. Have you prepared any countermeasures for such a scenario?”
“Of course.”
“What are they?”
“Just leave it alone.”
“Leave it alone?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Just leave it alone.”
“…….”
The Baron fell silent.
Lloyd smiled faintly.
“It’s true. The records say King Stoma never once left its habitat even back then. It strictly followed the habits of a territorial creature. It’ll probably be the same this time.”
“Still, what if…….”
“Yes, I know what you mean. I understand the concern. But we have Sir Asrahan.”
“What?”
“As you already know, he’s a Swordmaster.”
“…….”
Everyone’s gazes turned to Haviel.
Perhaps feeling embarrassed by the attention.
Haviel cleared his throat softly.
A mischievous bitter smile played on Lloyd’s lips.
“If King Stoma comes down to the territory and causes havoc, the solution is simple. We have Swordmaster Sir Asrahan. And the valiant White Lancers have joined him. No matter how powerful King Stoma is, we can hunt it without much trouble.”
It was a fact.
He had investigated King Stoma through written records and various scholars’ research journals.
The conclusion was that the barony’s current forces could hunt it sufficiently.
“King Stoma’s expected power is about the same as the Gigatitan we faced in Creemo. So if the goal is just hunting it, Sir Asrahan alone could handle it. He could even kill it. It’d be easier than dealing with swarms of hundreds of thousands of locusts or hundreds of Mastodons. Since it’s just that one.”
“But you’re saying we won’t hunt it—we’ll make it work for us?”
“Yes. From our perspective, this seems like the best option.”
“Hmm, I see.”
The Baron nodded.
Hearing his son’s explanation, the picture came into focus.
Dealing with King Stoma……
1. Not too hard to eliminate if it becomes a threat to the territory.
2. In exchange, it can effectively preempt attacks from larger numbers of trickier monsters.
……That was it.
Not hard to control from their side.
And it efficiently blocks bigger threats.
That would be King Stoma’s position from the barony’s viewpoint.
“In short, it’s like an enormously huge guard dog. Tied up in our front yard, scaring off and blocking other monsters.”
The Baroness, who had been listening quietly, chimed in.
Hearing it put that way, it was exactly right.
A perfect summary.
Now everyone understood Lloyd’s vision.
But that didn’t mean all their questions were answered.
“Hmm, I get the gist. But…….”
The Baron tilted his head.
“How do you plan to wake up King Stoma and make it do your bidding?”
“I’m not going to control it.”
“Then?”
“We just need to give it some exercise.”
Lloyd’s hand moved toward the old book.
Flutter, flutter. He turned the pages again.
Finally, the last page opened.
“Look here.”
Everyone’s eyes followed Lloyd’s finger.
There was a single sentence defining King Stoma’s habits.
[Extremely similar to a beaver.]
“……Beaver?”
Everyone tilted their heads.
Sir Blanc was the exception.
“The large rodent that lives in rivers and builds dams, right?”
“Ding ding ding. Correct. It seems the rest of you aren’t familiar with beavers.”
Lloyd smiled as he spoke.
“Roughly as Sir Blanc said. Beavers live in rivers or lakes, gather branches to build dams—that’s their habit. They’re obsessed with dams. They even pass it down through generations. That’s why if a dam breaks, they drop everything and rush to rebuild it.”
“So King Stoma is the same?”
“Yes.”
Lloyd nodded.
Suddenly, he recalled beavers from a wildlife documentary back in Korea.
‘Was it episode 202 of that animal show? They featured beavers raised in a zoo.’
That beaver spent its entire day building dams—that was its routine.
It worked so hard.
But once it finished the dam?
The zookeeper destroyed it!
Smashed it mercilessly!
‘I thought it was cruel torment. But no.’
He remembered the zookeeper’s interview from the show.
They have to do this so the beaver keeps moving diligently and doesn’t lose its wild instincts. If you leave the dam complete, with no need to expand, the beaver gets complacent. It lounges around, gains weight, and starts having health issues.
So they periodically smash the dam.
Providing work keeps the beaver active and healthy.
‘Scholars’ analyses say King Stoma has similar habits to beavers. So that method should work.’
Lloyd briefly explained the beaver’s habits to everyone.
He skipped the specific animal show and polished it appropriately.
And as everyone nodded.
He spoke with conviction.
“So we just use that method.”
“That method?”
“Yes. While King Stoma is hibernating, we slightly demolish part of the perimeter around Capua Lake.”
“Then King Stoma will sense it and wake up to repair the dam?”
“Exactly.”
“Hmm, then once the dam is fully repaired?”
“We sneak back in and smash the dam again.”
“…….”
Isn’t that too evil?
Everyone suddenly felt pity for the hibernating King Stoma.
But Lloyd ignored their gazes.
‘I don’t have the luxury to worry about that right now.’
The territory was on the brink of being swept by the monster domino.
If tormenting one giant magical beast for a year could secure the territory’s peace and safety, he’d do it a hundred times without hesitation.
“Besides, we don’t need to feel unconditionally sorry for King Stoma. It’s not like there’s zero risk to us either.”
“Hmm, true, it is a giant magical beast.”
“Yes. Plus, if we miscalculate the demolition scope and collapse the dam, a flood will happen.”
“A flood?”
“Yes.”
Lloyd’s eyes turned serious.
“That’s how dams work. Even a slight partial breach can cause total collapse. And if King Stoma thrashes violently inside the lake, that’s trouble too. It’d create a localized tsunami in the lake, water overflowing the dam. That’d cause a flood as well.”
“…….”
Everyone fell silent.
They’d never considered that kind of disaster before.
‘Well, of course not. They’ve never dealt with large dams.’
But the two disaster types he’d just mentioned were always potential threats.
‘First case: the 1985 Stava Dam collapse in Italy. A minor outer wall crack brought down the dam, sending 250,000 liters of water crashing into the village at 90 km/h.’
And the second case, lake tsunami, was worse.
‘1963 Vajont Dam disaster in Italy. That was horrific. Clay and limestone layers flanked the dam. Water filled the reservoir and saturated the strata. Over time, the ground weakened, leading to a landslide that dumped 238 million cubic meters of debris into the dam’s water. All at once. With twice the impact of the Hiroshima bomb.’
The result was catastrophic.
Massive debris poured into the dam lake.
The aftermath: a 250-meter mega-tsunami of shock and awe in the reservoir.
The wave naturally overtopped the dam.
It swept away all downstream villages.
An ultra-massive disaster with estimated deaths from at least 2,500 to as many as 5,000.
“But anyway, we’ll just have to make sure no such disasters happen. Leave that to me. Surveying and design are perfect for this.”
Intentional partial dam breaches to wake and move King Stoma.
But he planned thorough calculations to avoid structural damage to the entire dam.
Guiding the activated King Stoma’s movements would be the same.
“That’s why. Anyway, since King Stoma is a dangerous beast, this operation will involve only me, Sir Asrahan, and the White Lancers.”
“Us?”
Sir Blanc asked.
Lloyd smiled brightly.
“Yes. Too dangerous for the regular Engineering Corps. Even if King Stoma detects us and reacts aggressively, the White Lancers can handle combat response sufficiently.”
The Engineering Corps, being civilians, couldn’t.
If King Stoma rampaged?
Mass casualties could occur.
That’s why they needed tough fighters who could switch from digging to combat instantly if things went wrong.
“That’s why I incorporated the White Lancers into the Engineering Corps early on and had them join the Megalania relief carving. Why? To give them time to get used to digging.”
“…….”
Lloyd’s calm voice echoed in the office.
Everyone’s mouths closed.
And they realized.
They hadn’t known he’d calculated even that far in advance for everything up to now.
There was no choice but to follow.
Thus began Lloyd’s devious and cunning scheme to awaken and exploit the ancient magical beast slumbering in the lake.