Chapter 159
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: Flower Wind Bombardment (2)
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“Report on the Seventh Eastern Subjugation Operation.”
This was the royal castle of the Magentano Royal Family.
A conference room prepared in the most luxurious and secretive location.
Minister of Military Affairs Sir Elcamo’s steely gaze scanned down the report.
“First, through the previous six subjugation operations, we had already crushed the main forces of the monster hordes that ravaged the eastern region. Thus, this seventh operation focused primarily on mop-up actions in the areas where annihilation was complete.”
“And the results?”
“We completely eradicated the remaining monster stragglers in the areas around Sortino Territory and Adrano Territory. In the process, we discovered three monster nests established along the border with neighboring Basto Territory.”
“Were there any accidental engagements?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Our casualties?”
“Seventy-seven killed and 182 wounded from the main force, the 20th Infantry Regiment. Sixteen wounded from the support unit, the Ranger Special Forces.”
“That’s quite a number.”
“My deepest apologies.”
The Minister of Military Affairs bowed his head.
Queen Alicia Termina Magentano, seated at the head of the conference table, waved her hand dismissively.
“This is not your failing, so do not take it too much to heart. Ensure there are no disruptions to the overall operation by promptly evacuating the wounded, deploying reinforcements, and managing the supply of support materials and their transport.”
“I shall obey.”
The Minister of Military Affairs took his seat.
In the meantime, Queen Alicia let out a small, unnoticed sigh.
‘Damn monsters.’
The monster domino that had swept through the eastern provinces.
In truth, that destructive disaster was still ongoing.
Of course, no more monsters were pouring in.
The domino effect itself had ended.
But damage was still accumulating nonetheless.
Because the monster hordes that crossed the Eastern Mountains weren’t about to meekly retreat to their homelands saying, ‘We’ve destroyed human territory, so now let’s go home!’
In other words, the monsters responsible for the domino effect had settled down in the ruined provinces.
‘And we can’t just leave them be.’
That was why the protracted large-scale subjugation operations had dragged on to the seventh round.
Yet it seemed far from over.
Queen Alicia furrowed her brow and turned her gaze to the Minister of the Interior.
“Next.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Minister of the Interior rose from his seat.
Reports followed on the recovery efforts in the eastern provinces.
Support materials for Frontera County.
And various other current issues.
Then the Minister of Foreign Affairs took the baton.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs spoke in a somewhat agitated tone about the brazen response from the Eastern Sultanate.
They still refused to acknowledge the facts of the monster domino incident and dismissed it as mere accident, which was the main point of the report.
As she listened, Queen Alicia’s brow furrowed as well.
‘Sultan... that shameless bastard.’
Should she resort to force?
No, perhaps give them one last chance first.
Queen Alicia thought she should soon dispatch a special envoy to the Sultanate to properly hold them accountable and extract diplomatic compensation.
At that moment, one person came to mind.
‘Lloyd Frontera.’
What if she included that bold fellow in the envoy delegation?
It didn’t seem like a bad idea.
His sly tongue could prove very useful.
Moreover, sending Lloyd along with the delegation made sense in terms of justification and propriety.
After all, the Frontera Count family was a direct victim of the monster domino disaster.
‘That could work. I should consider it positively.’
As her thoughts churned.
The status reports from the various ministers concluded.
She then led the regular meeting for another half day.
During which she suddenly recalled a minor curiosity and tucked it away in her heart.
She kept it there.
And right after the meeting ended, as she withdrew from the conference room, she called back the Minister of the Interior.
“There is something I wish to ask you briefly.”
“Ask away, Your Majesty.”
The Minister of the Interior waited politely for the question.
The Queen asked.
“The House of Nobles is a subordinate agency of the Ministry of the Interior, correct?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I’ve heard that recently a large number of marriage proposals have been sent to the Frontera Count family via the House of Nobles. Do you happen to know the results?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Just yesterday, the reply from Count Frontera arrived at the House of Nobles, and it has been forwarded to the respective families.”
“I see.”
A reply to the marriage proposals.
‘Lloyd Frontera. I wonder which family that cunning man will choose as his match.’
Ideally, one that would aid in territory reconstruction.
That way, the foundation would solidify further.
And it would grow into her sturdy eastern shield.
Thus, Queen Alicia felt a touch of casual anticipation and excitement at the news of the marriage proposals from the east.
♣
A few more days passed.
In the interim, work on the sludge treatment plant accelerated toward completion.
The overall structure of the treatment plant resembled a massive bucket buried underground.
A sturdy concrete foundation.
Above it, a precisely carved granite frame.
A colossal granite bucket, fully 50 meters in diameter, hollowed out from a single massive block. A masterpiece Haviel had crafted over four grueling days, channeling his aura-infused sword with the fury of unjust labor.
That was the main body(?) of the gravity-fed concentrator tank.
Transporting that concentrator tank to the treatment plant fell to Bibeng.
“Beaver-beng! Beng!”
Amid everyone’s cheers, Bibeng’s 3,000-ton haunches wiggled.
Of course, it wasn’t easy for Bibeng either.
Even hollowed out, it was a 50-meter rock, half Bibeng’s body length in diameter.
To put it in human terms, it was like single-handedly lugging a massive pestle for pounding rice cakes on Lunar New Year’s and trudging hundreds of meters with it.
“Bea... ver... beng!”
Sweat poured from Bibeng’s paw pads.
But Bibeng didn’t give up.
He didn’t show any sign of strain.
The reason was simple.
Bangul was watching him.
“Beng!”
A true man never shows weakness before his first love.
Even if his back felt like snapping.
Even if his breath reached his throat.
Even if his legs shook.
All the more reason to show only his coolest side.
That was the heartfelt truth of Bibeng, the red-blooded male smitten with first love.
“Beaver-beaver-beng!”
He clenched his buckteeth.
With sheer grit, he placed the concentrator tank into the prepared underground foundation.
Boom!
With a sound that shook the earth, the tank slotted into the foundation like a perfect puzzle piece.
The moment the sludge treatment plant was complete.
But that didn’t mean the grand sewer project was finished.
‘Sludge treatment requires a huge amount of water.’
Same principle as a flush toilet.
Water had to constantly flow through the sewers.
Only then could the solids(?) flow smoothly to the treatment plant.
Otherwise?
All sorts of filth would dry and stick inside the sewer pipes.
The pipes would clog, filth would pile up more, and eventually...
‘...No need to imagine that far.’
Lloyd quickly dismissed the appetite-killing mental image.
Anyway, that was the day it began.
Over five days, they constructed the water pipe from the Prora River to the sewer well.
Part of the river water now flowed through pipes into the central village’s sewer well and into the grand sewer interior.
The moment the first section of the grand sewer was complete.
That day, Lloyd gathered the residents of the central village.
“Alright, everyone knows why we’re gathered today, right?”
The waning afternoon sun of late summer.
Beneath it, some 300 residents assembled.
Each held a hefty bucket.
Inside those buckets...
“Everyone collected it well, as I asked in advance?”
Nods.
The residents nodded in response instead of speaking.
Every one of them had their nose and mouth covered with a towel or cloth like a mask.
The reason was simple.
The buckets were filled to the brim with filth they’d been saving instead of discarding over the past few days.
Lloyd hurriedly pinched his nose.
“...Good job. The smell tells me you all put in real effort—I’m thrilled. If today’s test goes well, you won’t have to work this hard anymore. From tomorrow, just dump any filth you produce straight into the sewer well here. Got it?”
Nods again!
Everyone’s nods were a touch more urgent than before.
It was already a sweltering summer day.
The multi-day accumulated filth had fermented(?) to perfection.
It was already emanating a stench like a high-grade biological chemical weapon.
Everyone prayed as one.
Lord Lloyd, save us. Please don’t start a speech.
And Lloyd cheerfully obliged their earnest wish.
“Ugh, my nose is gonna fall off. No one wants to hear a speech in this, right? Line up. We’ll pour them into the sewer well one by one. But slowly. Don’t splash around. Got it?”
Rustle!
As expected, no verbal replies.
Any hesitation meant savoring the annihilation of their olfactory cells.
Instead, they responded with disciplined action.
The filth diligently collected by 300 residents over days poured into the sewer well.
And Lloyd descended into the sewer well via the manhole.
With Haviel.
“...Is there any reason for you to come down here personally?”
“Of course.”
Lloyd shrugged.
“I need to see with my own eyes if the filth flows properly through the sewer and what the flow is like. Otherwise, we’re in for trouble.”
It was true.
They couldn’t relax just because the grand sewer was built.
It was a passage for pollutants.
Verifying if it was properly constructed and free of blockages was essential.
“Sewers don’t show clogs right away. A few days pass, then you get a musty smell wafting up or sewage backing up. By then? Too late. You’ll suffer ten times more than during construction to unclog it.”
So he came down personally.
The massive load of filth just poured in by 300 residents.
He planned to check with his own eyes if it flowed well to the treatment plant.
But despite Lloyd’s kind explanation, Haviel’s stiff expression didn’t soften.
“Then there’s a reason you brought me down here too.”
“Yeah.”
“What is it?”
“Can’t have me suffering alone.”
“......”
“Cover your mouth and nose with this. Before your guts turn. Ah, of course, puking’s fine too. It’ll flow down the sewer.”
Lloyd grinned mischievously and offered a handkerchief.
Lloyd himself had his mouth and nose double-wrapped tight with towels.
Otherwise, he couldn’t breathe.
No, even so, breathing was agony.
‘This is no joke.’
Deep underground space.
Sewer pipe leading to the grand sewer.
Cramped. Barely room for one person to walk alongside it. Beside the passage, massive amounts of thoroughly rotted filth bobbed along in the flowing water.
That alone was enough to turn his stomach.
No ventilation amplified the stench.
Moreover, he had now reached mid-level Sword Expert.
That tormented him even more.
Because his senses had sharpened.
‘Driving me insane. If I could, I’d delete my nose. No, reset the Mana Heart skill. Cancel Expert, everything.’
The towel barely helped.
It was torture.
To what degree? Like entering a gas-filled chem-bio room at a military training ground, removing the gas mask, doing bunny hops while belting out all four verses of the national anthem.
So Lloyd vowed.
‘If I make it to advanced Sword Expert later, never.’
Even without this, he’d planned to avoid it.
Because of Swordmaster syndrome.
‘Haviel suffered insomnia from it before.’
All senses hypersensitive, pushed to human limits.
Unable even to control those sharpened senses.
Living 24/7 hearing a pin drop. Tormented by overly acute smells, touches, and vision too.
‘Eagle eyes so sharp you see the pores on the person ahead.’
Had Haviel been seeing him like that all along?
A sudden chill ran down his spine.
He shook his head vigorously and turned to Haviel.
“You’re not taking this?”
Sure enough, Haviel hadn’t taken the proffered handkerchief.
Yet his expression was utterly calm and composed.
Why?
Just as curiosity peaked, Haviel spoke.
“I’m fine.”
“Fine? For real?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
A faint smile played on his lips.
“I’ve blocked my sense of smell completely since entering here with you, Lord Lloyd.”
“...Blocked it? Your smell? On purpose?”
“Yes.”
“That’s possible?”
“Yes. Because I’m a Swordmaster...”
“So you’re not smelling this stench at all right now?”
“Yes.”
“......”
“In fact, if I wanted, I could adjust my senses so even the air I’m breathing smells like flowers.”
“Lucky you.”
“Thank you.”
“......”
Suddenly, an urge to pound the ground in injustice welled up.
Thus, Lloyd trudged on, his happiness index plummeting to negative dimensions.
Along the Cholera Canal sewer.
Through the vast, endless grand sewer.
Side by side with the bobbing 300-person filth load.
Walking and walking to the sludge treatment plant, observing and inspecting the actual flow inside the grand sewer.
The result was utter satisfaction.
‘Perfect. Flows down smooth as a plunger-cleared toilet.’
That was the day.
Lloyd assigned the remaining expansion sections of the sewer to Sir Bayern.
To every other village in the territory.
To the honeycomb apartment complex too.
Even to the Count family mansion.
He ordered sewer wells constructed.
‘Filth collected at each sewer well, flows via Cholera Canal sewers to the grand sewer, then drifts to the sludge treatment plant.’
That was the core of his grand sewer system design.
Time passed, and expansion sections broke ground one by one.
A day, two, ten, half a month...
Meanwhile, central village residents enjoying the grand sewer’s first benefits diligently produced(?) filth and dumped it in the village sewer well.
Day by day, filth accumulated in the treatment plant. Separated from water, concentrated.
And finally, a month later.
Fwoosh-!
Beyond the territory’s northern border, Red Dragon Solitas’s breath erupted.
Opening the lid(?) atop the sludge treatment plant.
Levitate sludge clumps via magic through the open lid.
Then spew hellish breath at the floating sludge.
...!
The massive yield from 300 central village residents’ month-long diligent(?) production.
That yield engulfed in tens of thousands of degrees of flame.
No chance to stink.
It burned.
To ash in an instant.
At that moment, a welcome message appeared before Lloyd’s eyes.
Ding-dong!
[You have successfully implemented the first collective sewage treatment system in Lorasia Continent history, thanks to your mysterious foresight, exquisite engineering knowledge, and aid from the world’s strongest species.]
[Your grand sewer system begins establishing the concept of ‘public health’ for the first time on Lorasia Continent.]
[This impressive achievement of yours will be passed down through the ages.]
[A new praise, infused with the blood, sweat, tears, and resentment of future civil engineers and public health scholars toward you, has been generated.]
[New praise, [Red Toilet Paper or Blue Toilet Paper?] has been created.]