Chapter 163
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: City on the Cliff (1)
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“Slope stabilization method—have you ever heard of it, by any chance?”
“Yes?”
“As expected. It’s a shame you haven’t heard of something so great. How regrettable.”
“…….”
Still with one leg shoved into the door of the guest lodging, blocking it from closing.
Displaying the patented Korean door-to-door salesman skill.
Lloyd wore a sales pitch smile.
Seeing that smile, the Namaran Lady thought.
Is that guy insane, maybe?
But regardless of her thoughts, Lloyd’s tongue fired off the next line smoothly.
“If it’s not too rude, may I come in?”
“What if it is too rude?”
“Then we’ll just talk like this.”
“What if I don’t want that either?”
“Then the Lady would be missing the perfect opportunity to solve the biggest problem plaguing the city ruled by her family in one fell swoop.”
“You speak as if you’ve seen right through the issues of my hometown.”
“Why not? Is there a law saying only the locals of that region can know the problems of a city built on a cliff?”
“Of course not.”
“Exactly. That’s why.”
Good.
The conversation had opened up.
Now, time to launch the attack.
Lloyd stabbed straight at the core with a flawless tone.
“I’ll solve the cliff problem for you.”
“You?”
“Yes. Me.”
He shrugged.
All the more reason to equip himself with full confidence.
To instill trust that they could just leave it to him.
“A city built on a cliff. But the cliff’s foundation is weak. So it’s crumbling bit by bit, steadily. In another ten years like this, even the base of the walls surrounding the city will be in danger. Right?”
“…….”
“Of course, the Namaran Count must have tried everything. Planting vegetation on the cliff, applying plaster coatings—things like that. But such stopgaps wouldn’t have much effect.”
“You speak as if you could solve it.”
“Because it’s the truth.”
“…….”
“The slope stabilization method I mentioned earlier. That technique can solve it. What do you say?”
“What’s with the sudden….”
The Namaran Lady inwardly stuck out her tongue in surprise.
Honestly, she was flustered.
The way he’d barged into the guest lodging out of nowhere.
The attitude of shoving an electrifying, no—reckless—proposal right under her nose the moment the door opened.
It was more than enough to make her suspicious of Lloyd’s intentions.
‘Who is this guy?’
Maybe he’s up to something.
She’d briefly suspected that at first.
But she soon shook her head.
‘Doesn’t seem like it. We cleanly wrapped up the political marriage talk earlier.’
More than that, for someone making such a forceful proposal, the man seemed awfully serious.
His gaze toward her, his demeanor—everything.
And then, a fact that suddenly came to mind.
This man wasn’t the one who’d received the title of master craftsman from the Queen in the capital?
‘Her Majesty ordered him to build a bridge in the capital that seems to walk on air. And I heard he carried out a project in Creemo City that drew admiration from the people.’
A builder favored by the Queen.
Lloyd’s reputation had already spread far and wide throughout the kingdom.
She knew it well too.
Maybe this man is worth trusting.
“Is that proposal truly sincere?”
She probed.
At the same time, she recalled her hometown.
Namaran.
A city built atop a pyramid-shaped cliff.
But it hadn’t always been a grand city.
About 400 years ago, it started as a small fortress built to monitor and manage the trade route connecting the south and east.
Its location was too perfect.
Being in an ideal spot to oversee the major trade route, merchants often rested around the fortress. It guaranteed safety from bandits, wild animals, and various monsters thanks to the fortress.
As merchants came to rest there frequently, inns sprang up.
Restaurants followed the inns.
Various facilities emerged.
The fortress grew in scale accordingly. Expansion after expansion. Influx of population. More vitality. Even more merchants gathered.
They even set up a full trading post.
That’s when it began.
Namaran shifted from a mere stopover for merchants to rest to a destination for trade.
Its explosive growth into a proper city.
That’s what led to today’s problems.
‘It wasn’t a place meant for building a big city from the start.’
Just a fortress for monitoring trade routes.
Merely a site for that.
But as the fortress grew and grew, it somehow became a city.
The space at the cliff’s peak was cramped to begin with, but now the enlarged city had pushed the cliff beyond its limits.
The cliff’s soil wasn’t that sturdy.
Add the massive weight of the city on top.
The cliff faces crumbled and eroded day by day.
Very slowly over decades, but surely.
The area at the cliff’s peak kept shrinking.
By now, the foundations of the walls encircling the city were in peril.
If a few more years passed like this?
The citizens’ fears of the walls collapsing might become reality.
The Namaran Lady recalled this as she awaited Lloyd’s response.
Lloyd’s answer was simple and clear.
“Yes.”
He could do it.
He could solve that problem.
He’d informed them and appealed enough.
No need to add flowery words now.
No need for lengthy explanations.
That would make him seem desperate.
It would give the impression of clinging.
So now was the time to strike and retreat appropriately.
“Whether you trust me is up to you. So think it over.”
Lloyd pulled back the leg he’d hooked inside the doorway.
As if he’d never charged in aggressively, he stepped back.
He even showed a calm, composed gaze.
As if to say the choice was hers.
As if he had nothing to lose.
He smiled leisurely.
“Then, I’ll take my leave. Sorry for the intrusion.”
He left without looking back.
“No, wait, what….”
Was this how it felt to watch a storm whip by?
The Namaran Lady stared at the half-open lodging door, bewilderment in her eyes.
A day passed.
The hit-and-run tactic was powerful.
“What do you think about entrusting that project to you?”
“Have you decided?”
“Yes.”
The next day, the Namaran Lady who’d come to find Lloyd nodded.
“I thought it over after you visited yesterday.”
In truth, the worry had kept her tossing and turning at night.
Lloyd, who’d pinpointed Namaran’s issues so accurately.
His confidence and reputation.
She decided to trust that.
It wouldn’t be a loss.
For her hometown Namaran, or for herself.
‘This could even redeem myself to Father.’
In fact, the Namaran Lady had been pushed by her family to come here.
To build a good relationship with the Frontera Family’s eldest son.
To solidify the family’s position.
She recalled her father, full of expectations, seeing her off the day she left.
It had been burdensome.
She hated political marriages.
She’d planned to return empty-handed from the start.
So she felt guilty in a way.
But not anymore.
‘At least I won’t be going back empty-handed. Even if it’s not as a bride, but bringing back this man as an excellent builder.’
She couldn’t fulfill expectations for marriage.
But she could solve the city’s chronic problem.
That seemed achievement enough.
That’s why.
“I’d like you to come with me back to Namaran when I return. What do you say?”
“Of course, I’d be delighted.”
Lloyd smiled genuinely at her question.
Mission accomplished.
Now all that was left was to fix up the trade city of Namaran, save it, and stick in a big, juicy straw to suck it dry.
♣
Preparations for departure were simple.
Over several days, Lloyd gave Sir Bayern various instructions and reminders.
Apartment complex construction.
Sewer expansion sections.
He entrusted him with finishing the remaining projects.
To the other ladies still at the mansion, he left well-wishes(?) to return safely to their families.
Then, with the baron and baroness seeing him off, he departed.
Crossing mountains, fording rivers, traversing fields—after a 12-day journey, they arrived at Namaran.
Average elevation of 1,000 meters.
At the heart of that highland stood a pyramid-shaped cliff towering proudly.
“……Ah. I want some Bora Bocon.”
The moment he saw Namaran City, Lloyd thought of his favorite ice cream from Korea.
The cliff supporting the city.
Its shape was exactly like an upside-down, pointy Bora Bocon.
Haviel, riding alongside, tilted his head.
“What’s Bora Bocon?”
“It’s a thing. Ice cream.”
“The cold dessert that nobles in the capital love?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
Lloyd nodded as he looked up at the cliff and Namaran City atop it.
The pyramid-shaped cliff holding up the city.
It reminded him of a melting, sagging Bora Bocon ice cream.
‘In other words, if the cliff is an upside-down, melting Bora Bocon, then Namaran City is the precarious strawberry perched on top.’
That’s exactly what the cliff and city looked like.
At the same time, he instantly realized why Namaran’s cliff kept crumbling.
‘As expected. The ground is mostly sandstone and shale.’
Sandstone was a sedimentary rock formed from piled sand particles.
Shale was metamorphic rock hardened by pressure and heat from shale.
Neither could be called truly sturdy rock types.
‘Building a city on such a foundation—unstable ground was inevitable.’
Lloyd scanned the surrounding terrain with his surveying skill as he ascended the cliff.
The ascent path was relatively easy.
A straight, wide road spiraled around the cliff.
Thanks to that, Lloyd could survey nearly the entire surface from base to peak with his skill.
A plan for the necessary construction naturally formed.
‘Retaining walls won’t cut it. Even stacking walls on the surface to brace the load won’t hold long. Wrapping the faces with Kokming’s spider silk wouldn’t help either.’
The slope was steeper than expected.
The rock itself was soft, so surface wrapping would just be a band-aid.
The solution had to come from the inside out.
‘Use anchor piles and anchors. Bind everything from the surface down to the bedrock shale. That way, it can properly support the crumbling force of the slopes and prevent collapse.’
A rough plan took shape.
Required equipment, manpower, time, funds.
Construction sequence and schedule accordingly.
With the big picture in mind, he reached the cliff top.
Entered through the gate.
But then.
A somewhat unusual sight caught his eye.
Inside the gate, in the plaza, over a hundred people were gathered in clusters.
Most wore ragged clothes.
A savory food aroma wafted from there too.
It felt familiar.
‘That’s…….’
“That’s the free distribution center run by Mr. Kannabaro.”
Before he knew it, the slightly open carriage window.
The Namaran Lady smiled faintly from inside.
“You said on the day we first greeted each other, didn’t you? That you’d heard of Mr. Kannabaro’s reputation and admired him. Yes, that’s the place. He runs it out of his own charity. Many who fled the eastern chaos to here are filling their bellies and getting by thanks to his kindness.”
“……I see.”
Lloyd examined the people at the distribution center a bit more.
Unlike their shabby clothes, they all had good color in their faces.
Probably from eating and resting well.
‘But no one knows yet what that kindness is really for.’
Lloyd felt a chill.
Those people would become experimental materials.
Yet they gathered at the center, smiling brightly, unaware.
Sending grateful looks to the one serving food.
Then.
The Namaran Lady spoke.
“Ah, there he is, right on time.”
“Yes?”
There? Who?
The Lady smiled faintly.
“Mr. Kannabaro. Over there.”
“…….”
From the carriage window, she pointed.
Lloyd’s eyes followed.
The distribution center.
The center of the people’s greetings and smiles.
There, a man with sleeves rolled up, holding a ladle.
He was plump.
A kindly face.
Replying to those expressing thanks with the world’s warmest, gentlest smile.
“See him? That’s Mr. Kannabaro. As always, he’s personally looking after the refugees today.”
Her voice brimmed with pride, as if boasting of the city’s pride.
But Lloyd couldn’t chime in agreement.
Because he knew Kannabaro’s true identity?
Because he recalled the novel where that black mage killed the Namaran Lady?
No, none of that.
The reason he shut his mouth lay elsewhere.
‘Black dragon-headed reaper.’
Above Kannabaro’s rolled-up sleeve, on his shoulder.
An embroidered pattern on his clothes was visible.
At a glance, it looked like an ordinary family crest.
But Lloyd knew what it really was.
‘Undead Mastodon.’
The pattern used by the necromancer who’d hidden it.
Also, the pattern adopted by Queen Alicia after she fell into tyranny in the novel.
That ominous pattern was embroidered on Kannabaro’s clothes too.