Chapter 125
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: Apartment Construction (2)
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Apartments.
Along with villas, they were the type of housing used by most people in Korea.
But on this Lorasia Continent, they were not just unfamiliar—they were an entirely new form of building, the first of their kind in history.
And now, full-scale construction of that apartment had begun.
“Construction always starts with the foundation work, just like always.”
Lloyd looked around the vast empty plot of land stretching out before him.
This was land located to the north of the barony.
Across the Prona River, which wrapped around the entire territory in a clockwise direction.
He had been considering this spot as the site ever since he first thought of building an apartment complex.
‘It's a good distance from the center of the territory, and the soil quality isn't great for farming anyway.’
It was land that had gone mostly unused.
That made it perfect for this construction project.
He could skip all the land compensation procedures and such.
“So, let's start by digging the foundation. Haviel?”
“Yes. Did you call for me?”
“Of course I did. Who else is here besides you and me?”
“…….”
“Hm? What's with that face? You look like a puppy that just chewed on some shit.”
“May I speak my mind honestly?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“No thanks.”
“What?”
“I said no thanks.”
Haviel turned to look at him now.
His eyes were filled with a prickly hedgehog-like sharpness, something Lloyd hadn't seen in a while.
“I already know exactly what you're going to ask me to do from here on out. You'll tell me to use my sword for blasting again. You'll poke the ground with a brush covered in thick red paint to mark spots, then tell me to stab straight down into them to make holes.”
“Mm-hmm, and?”
“And once I've drilled dozens of those holes, you'll pour cement into them.”
“Mm-hmm, and?”
“Then, Lord Lloyd, you'll use those cement lumps as the foundation piles for the building.”
“Mm-hmm, correct. You're a smart one, aren't you?”
“Thank y— No, that's not the point. So no, I refuse.”
“You don't want to do the hole-drilling part?”
“Yes.”
“Why not?”
“Because it feels like you're treating me as nothing more than a convenient tool.”
Haviel's voice grew suddenly cold.
“In case you've forgotten lately, Lord Lloyd, let me remind you: I am, above all else, a knight who has sworn loyalty to my liege lord.”
“Yeah, yeah. And?”
“But you treat it as the most natural thing in the world to use me like this. Dragging me into miscellaneous construction work instead of my true duty of protecting the territory.”
“Yeah, yeah. But you'll do it anyway, right?”
“…….”
“See? You hate it, but you'll do it because it's for the territory's development.”
“Even so, I had to say this much.”
“Ah-ha. So our Haviel wanted to throw a little tantrum at big brother here, huh?”
“…….”
“Like I care about that.”
“…….”
“Come on, let's work. Work.”
Lloyd chuckled and picked up the jar.
As expected, the jar was filled to the brim with red dye for marking the blast points.
He used a large brush to poke and mark the ground.
He continued his explanation as he did.
“Here. And here. And here too. Depth of twelve meters. Diameter of fifty centimeters. As you can see, spacing of three meters.”
“Is that my assignment?”
“Yeah. Think you can finish before lunch?”
“That would require pushing my body to the limit.”
“That's why it's an assignment.”
“Pardon?”
Haviel grumbled as he was saddled with the heavy workload.
Lloyd looked at him pitifully.
“You just said it yourself. Asked if it was an assignment.”
“I did.”
“Do you know what 'assignment' is short for?”
“No.”
“Then I'll make you a two-line poem for it. Man, it's been a while since I did a two-liner. Give me a rhyme to work with?”
“What are you even…….”
“Come on.”
“……Ass.”
“Assignment death.”
“……Ig.”
“I go first.”
“…….”
“Tsk. You didn't know, huh? That's just how the world works.”
“…….”
Haviel's expression soured.
Lloyd's smile turned cheeky.
“Alright, work hard. I'm off to prep the cement.”
Swoosh.
There was no time to argue back.
Lloyd finished saying his piece and strode off.
“…….”
Ugh, what a young master I'd love to send on a one-way trip to the afterlife.
“Tsk.”
Better just get to work.
Resigned, Haviel drew his sword.
And so, the foundation work for this historic apartment construction had begun.
♣
Time flew by in an instant.
The construction proceeded smoothly throughout.
The commemorative first apartment building.
Building 101 had its foundation laid over an area of 150 meters by 150 meters, totaling 22,500 square meters.
Of course, the building wouldn't occupy the entire area.
Building 101 was shaped like a hollow square.
Thanks to that, the foundation work proceeded around the central square plaza.
Boom! Boomboom!
Holes fifty centimeters in diameter and twelve meters deep were drilled densely at three-meter intervals.
Freshly mixed cement was then poured into those holes.
In this way, over three thousand foundation cement pillars were erected underground across roughly 10,000 square meters.
Next came the base slab work.
Formwork sixty centimeters high was built atop the three thousand pillars.
“Of course, it's not done just by pouring cement. This next part is the important one.”
Once the formwork was nearly complete.
Lloyd assembled 120 orc miners.
“So, everyone? Today, we're all going to learn the fun game of rebar bending.”
“Kuiik? Rebar bending, kuiik?”
“That's right. See this here?”
“We see it, kuiik.”
Lloyd held up a Bangul-brand rebar.
Orc miner representative Aroshi tilted his head.
‘Bend that and play with it, kuiik?’
What good would that do?
What was so fun about it?
Aroshi grew curious.
In the meantime, Lloyd demonstrated.
“Like this, then like this, nghhh, like so! You bend it while playing.”
Craaack! Grriiind! Crauunch!
Lloyd spun his mana circle at full power.
He poured amplified mana into his grip.
The finger-thick rebar bent like taffy at ninety degrees. Bent again, then the other way, and twisted together.
Finally, he completed a basic on-site rebar tying method and showed it to everyone.
“Alright, did everyone see that clearly?”
“We saw it well! But we have a question, kuiik!”
“Aroshi? Yeah, what's your question?”
“What good does playing rebar bending do, kuiik!”
“Ah.”
A sly smile crept across Lloyd's lips.
His answer was clear-cut.
“It builds muscle.”
“Mu, muscle, kuiik?”
“Yeah. Especially killer for grip strength, wrists, and forearms. The absolute best.”
“Fo, forearms, kuiik!”
“That's right. Forearms. Your forearms. Just flex 'em, and they'll bulge way more than now. Pinch your fingers, and boom—veins like earthworms popping from wrist to elbow…… Ooh yeah. How's that sound?”
“Ve, veins, kuuiik!”
“Thrilling, right? So work hard at this game, and you'll get there.”
“Really? Better than list curls? Better than reverse curls, kuiik?”
“Pfft, those are just warm-ups compared to this.”
“Go, good! We learn! We do! Rebar bending game, kuiik!”
“Kuiiiik!”
The 120 orc miners all got fired up, snorting excitedly.
And just like that, primitive rebar workers who didn't even need tools were secured.
The training was simple too.
Orcs had overflowing strength anyway.
A few pointers on technique, and they picked it up fast.
Thanks to their natural fingers—far more convenient and flexible than any professional tool—wielded with boundless strength.
In this way, rebar assembly from foundation to first floor progressed at lightspeed.
The formwork expanded in scope simultaneously.
All based on Lloyd's designs.
Proceeding without even a one-centimeter error.
And the first concrete pour took place.
“Ppodonga! Spin it!”
“Ppodong!”
Ruuuumble—!
The twenty-meter waterwheel spun furiously.
The large mixer connected to it churned vigorously.
Materials added to the mixer in precise ratios blended in an instant.
Not just tossed in haphazardly.
Even the mix ratios followed Lloyd's thorough calculations for apartment construction.
Design compressive strength.
Mix strength.
Slump and AE air content.
Water-to-binder ratio.
Fine aggregate ratio and compressive strength ratio—all considered.
Every element calculated for the optimal mix, kneaded thickly with one Ppodong's power.
Then pumped up vigorously by dwarf artisan screw manual pumps.
“One, two, push!”
“Hraaah!”
Clank! Clank! Clank!
An impressive twenty White Lancers clung to the manual pump handles.
Muscular men sweated buckets as they pushed, pulled, pushed again.
Each time, the pump churned powerfully.
Drawing out perfectly mixed concrete from the mixer.
The pumped concrete flowed through the long boom into the connected leather hose.
Lloyd, gripping the hose end, handled the on-site pouring himself.
“Keep it going! Don't break the flow!”
Gloop! Glooop!
With mighty pump strokes, concrete surged from the hose.
Filling the complex, intricate formwork solidly.
All the while, Lloyd activated his surveying skill to monitor the formwork interior in real time.
Thanks to the surveying skill's exclusive option: underground scanning.
‘Good, it's filling nicely.’
He could see the concrete seeping into every corner.
Even in formwork corners and rebar joints—spots prone to air pockets during rushed pours—filled seamlessly.
‘The mix is a success.’
Not too stiff, not too runny.
Perfect, just right.
The pump performance was outstanding too.
Thanks to that, the first pour wrapped up flawlessly.
“Alright. Now we cure it for three days.”
“Curing means drying and hardening the cement, right?”
“Wow, our Haviel's picking up all this stuff now?”
“……I learned it out of necessity. Because of you, Lord Lloyd. Anyway—”
With construction dirt smudged on his cheek, Haviel's eyes gleamed.
“So, we get three days off while it cures?”
“Nope.”
“…….”
“What's the point of slacking? We've got work to do.”
“But you just said we need three days for curing…….”
“We can do Building 102's foundation work in the meantime, duh?”
“…….”
“You weren't seriously planning to lounge around like a bum, were you? For real?”
“That's…….”
“Even now, can't you hear the refugees crying out in pain from those temporary tents over there?”
“…….”
“Sigh. I'm disappointed. I'd pull an all-nighter if it meant finishing the apartments faster. That way, their suffering could ease even a day sooner.”
“…….”
“Sigh. It's a shame. I'd skip dinner if it got them homes quicker. So they could smile happily even a day earlier.”
“…….”
Ugh, this young master for real.
Haviel finally raised the white flag.
“Fine, I get it. So same as before—blast the ground with my sword?”
“Yeah. Head out now?”
“……Yes.”
Resigned once more, Haviel drew his sword again.
And so, the historic apartment construction continued.
♣
After that, similar construction repeated.
“Rebar! Bend it, kuiik!”
“Rebar! Twist it, kuiik!”
“Bentō! Eat it, kuiik!”
“……There's a rice thief here, kuuiik!”
The orcs bent and tied rebar energetically.
Meanwhile, the carpenters diligently built formwork.
Every process was almost identical to the first floor.
Like straight-up Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V.
‘That's the beauty of apartment construction!’
All floors had the same structure.
Literally copy-paste.
Once the first floor was done, everything got much easier and faster.
Just repeat the exact same process.
‘Naturally, the workers' proficiency skyrockets.’
Repeating the same tasks boosted efficiency day by day.
Pour concrete for Building 101's second floor.
While it cures, tackle Building 102.
Pour for 102's first floor.
While that cures, meticulously build formwork and rebar for 101's third floor.
Every process meshed like perfectly geared wheels, running smoothly and orderly.
There was even good news midway.
The supplies from the Queen had finally arrived at the territory.
“Her Majesty said support will come once a month for the time being.”
Words from the officer who transported the supplies.
Thanks to that, the refugees' food situation eased considerably.
Meanwhile, Buildings 101 and 102 rose steadily.
At this point, Lloyd called in another pre-planned reinforcement.
“Come on, Bibung! Lift!”
“Bibung—!”
He summoned Bibung, ruler of Lake Kapua, as a special mercenary(?).
Bibung used his massive body and immense strength to haul materials from ground level to upper floors.
Essentially filling the role of a modern construction site's tower crane.
Construction gained even more momentum.
Pour the fifth floor.
Assemble rebar and formwork for the sixth.
Pour, assemble, pour, hammer, smooth.
In just one month, Building 101 stood tall at eight stories.
“Don't think we're done yet! What's the most important part of construction?”
“Finishing touches and details!”
Lloyd pointed, and the Engineering Corps responded crisply.
And so, amid the first snowfall, the monumental structure that would dramatically advance Frontera Territory—the honeycomb apartment complex—began to reveal its historic outline.