Chapter 48
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: How to Make Land (2)
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Ding-dong.
[The entire populace of Frontera Barony is filled with immense admiration and respect for the miracle-like feat of magic you have performed.]
[As a bonus for this monumental social achievement, a large amount of RP has been specially awarded.]
[You have acquired 450 RP.]
[Current RP holdings: 1131]
“Eureka!”
Lloyd clenched his fist tightly.
The massive land reclamation project in the Marez Wetland.
He had sensed the atmosphere ripening as it reached its final stages.
Recently, the way the engineering corps members and the territory’s residents looked at him had changed once more.
Not just surprise, but gazes laced with awe.
Not mere goodwill, but eyes that seemed to look up to him with reverence.
That was why he had roughly anticipated a reward like this.
‘Just as expected. Perfect.’
Successful land reclamation.
A hefty haul of RP.
He felt like he’d become rich overnight.
‘For the first time, my RP has broken into the thousands.’
Where to spend it.
How best to invest it.
Just imagining it brought him joy.
But Lloyd didn’t bask in this fleeting pleasure.
Now was not the time to linger on momentary rewards and indulge.
‘For projects like this, the finishing touches are the most crucial.’
Lloyd raised his head.
He looked up at the sky.
Summer was already slipping away.
The clear blue sky, still blazing with sunlight, felt a bit higher than before.
The scorching sun that had relentlessly baked his and the engineering corps’ backs throughout the construction now felt a touch milder.
Autumn was approaching.
‘And with it, the rainy season.’
The region where Frontera Territory lay saw heavy rains in spring and late autumn.
Mid-summer and mid-winter were relatively dry with low precipitation.
Thanks to that, the reclamation had been smooth sailing so far.
Almost no rain had fallen.
‘But that’s about to change.’
As autumn deepened and winter’s doorstep neared, torrential downpours would come.
Then, the embankments and drainage systems of this hard-won reclaimed land would face their true test.
Among them, Lloyd believed the drainage facilities needed to be foolproof.
“Every time it rains, we have to drain the water properly. Otherwise, all this reclaimed land we’ve made will flood again.”
“Is that because the elevation is lower?”
“Yeah. Spot on.”
Lloyd nodded at Haviel’s question.
He explained.
“This land was made by consolidating the peat layer.”
The once-soft wetland had hardened completely.
Because the water saturated in the strata had been removed.
In that process, the soil particles drew closer together, solidifying the entire ground layer.
And it sank at the same time.
Only natural.
“When the water drains, the ground subsides by that volume.”
“Subsidence—you mean it sank?”
“Yeah. The lower elevation means rainwater will pool more easily when it rains. And it’ll be harder to drain.”
“That sounds like big trouble. Why not just pile on more soil to raise the elevation?”
Haviel tilted his head.
Lloyd smirked.
“Nah, that won’t solve it. Why? Because this land is peat again.”
“What do you mean?”
“Peat has this property: pile soil on top, and the weight causes the ground to sink again. No matter how much soil you add diligently, it’s pointless. Like going on tons of blind dates but never getting a girlfriend. It doesn’t work.”
“What’s a blind date?”
“Something like that. You try hard, but it doesn’t go your way.”
“Like Lord Lloyd’s face?”
“Yeah. Like your insomnia.”
Lloyd laughed, deftly returning Haviel’s straight-pitch fastball that had come out of nowhere right to the solar plexus.
“Anyway, that’s why we need waterwheels.”
Waterwheels were mills powered by water.
And this Marez reclaimed land was surrounded by two river tributaries.
Meaning there was a constant water source for power right outside the embankments, year-round.
“Why else do you think I dug all those canals throughout the reclaimed land?”
“To gather the pooled water in one place?”
“Yeah, exactly. Collect it in one spot. Then use screw-pump waterwheels powered by the tributaries to pump it out beyond the embankments.”
Post-reclamation management of the land.
Lloyd knew an excellent model for it.
The Dutch polders like Kinderdijk.
‘Kinderdijk was just like this.’
A peat wetland.
They built dikes over time and drained the water.
The consolidation made the land firm, but also lower.
Water constantly pooled in the lowered areas.
To combat the flooding, the Dutch built windmills.
They fully exploited the benefits: mild winters with less snow due to the Gulf Stream around their land, and constant strong westerly winds.
‘A perfect role model. Ideal to reference. Minus the windmills.’
No need to build windmills here.
Waterwheels using the river power would suffice.
Plus, like most baronies, the territory had skilled craftsmen who knew how to make traditional screw-pump waterwheels.
“Anyway, waterwheel construction should start soon. I ordered them in advance.”
It was true.
He had summoned the craftsmen on the very first day of reclamation work.
And handed over a generous advance payment while placing the order.
‘They should be arriving any time now.’
Today was the day the craftsmen were scheduled to arrive on site.
But for some reason, the expected craftsmen didn’t show.
Instead, an uninvited guest came calling.
‘What the hell is that?’
South of the Marez reclaimed land.
A group approaching from quite a distance.
About twenty in number.
All on horseback.
‘Craftsmen? Nah.’
Not engineering corps or laborers either.
Especially the man on the white horse at the lead, draped ostentatiously in a luxurious cloak.
Seeing it, Lloyd suddenly recalled a detail from the novel *Iron-Blooded Knight*.
‘Rionero Racona Viscount?’
South of Frontera Territory.
The neighboring land there was Racona Viscounty.
In *Iron-Blooded Knight*, the viscount ruling it was briefly mentioned as a man who reveled in luxury.
‘A cloak in this weather. Fits the guy.’
By the time that thought crossed his mind, the southern interlopers had drawn near.
They cut straight to the chase.
“Are you the person in charge of this construction site?”
The question came from a man on a black horse.
Lightly dressed.
But his sturdy build, sword at his waist, and expert horsemanship marked him clearly as a knight.
Haviel stepped forward.
“Please mind your manners when addressing him. This is Lloyd Frontera, eldest son of Baron Frontera, lord of Frontera Barony. Who is it you serve that brings you here?”
“Lloyd Frontera? Hm. We have business with the lord of this land. Where is the baron?”
“……”
Haviel’s eyebrow twitched.
Hardly surprising.
They had clearly stated the presence of the lord’s son.
Yet this knightly man showed no courtesy, didn’t even dismount, and unilaterally demanded to see the baron.
Arrogance personified.
But Haviel couldn’t call out the rudeness.
Or rather, he didn’t get the chance.
As the indignant Haviel opened his mouth for a stern rebuke, Lloyd swiftly stepped up first.
“Could you be Rionero Racona Viscount?”
“Of course. The young lord of Frontera should show proper respect to the viscount first……”
“Whoa, whoa. Step back when nobles are talking. You’re Racona Viscount, right?”
Lloyd’s gaze turned to the cloaked man—the viscount.
The black horse knight’s expression hardened.
All twenty of the viscount’s knights did the same.
The more so, the more Lloyd smiled all the brighter(?).
“Pleased to meet you. As my man just introduced, I’m Lloyd Frontera, eldest son of Frontera Family. What brings you here today, Viscount?”
“……”
Racona Viscount stared at Lloyd instead of answering.
Lloyd didn’t avoid the viscount’s gaze.
Under the blazing sun of approaching autumn.
A strange chill flowed between the viscount and Lloyd.
In the end, the viscount broke the silence first.
“Rumor has it the eldest son of Frontera acts in very peculiar and insolent ways.”
“You’ve heard rumors about me?”
“Of course. Meeting you now, it seems they weren’t wrong.”
“An honor. I do have a bit of talent, after all.”
“……”
“Anyway, care to state your business for coming all this way?”
“I’d prefer to discuss it directly with your father, the baron, if possible.”
“I’d prefer to hear your business first, Viscount.”
“Tch. Won’t yield even an inch.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ve come to discuss territory matters.”
“Territory?”
“This Marez Wetland.”
The viscount looked around.
His goatee twitched at the corner of his mouth.
“As a vassal of Her Majesty the Queen, I have a duty to cultivate and protect my fief. But lately, I’ve heard disturbing news. About this Marez Wetland.”
“News about this place?”
“That Frontera Family is developing this wetland without any consultation with me.”
The viscount continued.
“You know this, surely. The Marez Wetland spans between Frontera Barony and my territory.”
“Yes, of course I know.”
Lloyd nodded.
It was true.
The Marez Wetland lay between the barony and the viscounty.
Precisely, it was split north-south: the north belonged to the barony, the south to the viscounty.
The viscount spoke in a stern voice.
“Thus, the rights to the southern section of Marez Wetland belong strictly to me. Think about it. A fief is a territory entrusted to us by the great Her Majesty the Queen, is it not?”
“Yes, indeed.”
“Then whose duty is it to govern that fief?”
“The lord’s, of course.”
“Exactly. Finally, some sense.”
The viscount’s lips curved up smugly.
Lloyd could only give a wry smile.
He couldn’t help but laugh.
‘Haha, now I get it.’
He’d probed just in case, and sure enough.
The reason the southern viscount had come.
He had a rough idea now.
Simple, really.
‘The Marez Wetland was useless wasteland for generations. Then they hear the neighbor’s developing it. At first puzzled, then they start calculating. Stay quiet until it’s done. Why? To reap benefits without lifting a finger. Show up late claiming rights: “This part to here is ours.” Freeloading like flies on shit.’
Flies that swarm ruthlessly where profit beckons.
Such people existed everywhere.
Even in the Korea he’d lived in.
The scammers who tricked his father into ruin.
Voice phishing scum deceiving people daily.
Even in everyday life, not just crime.
Freeloaders pulling the “just one bite” routine.
Or in games, lurkers sniping the finishing blow.
‘The world’s like that. Conscience? Nah, it’s a place crawling with profit-first types.’
He figured this world wouldn’t be much different.
The newly developed Marez Wetland.
He’d fully anticipated flies eyeing it.
Of course, the baron before him was one such candidate he’d foreseen.
‘Too predictable.’
This situation.
He’d seen it coming.
From the moment he first planned the Marez development.
‘So, you picked the wrong opponent.’
Lloyd smirked as he looked at the viscount.
Pathetic and absurd.
This land they’d sweated blood to develop.
Trying to freeload here?
Time to hammer in a lesson so he’d never think it again.
Unaware of Lloyd’s mindset, the viscount kept spittle-flying on.
“So, it’s only proper for Frontera Family to cede the southern half of Marez Wetland to me. Why? Because this land is the sacred fief granted to me by Her Majesty, and I must tend to it with utmost loyalty. Understand?”
“……”
“So, summon the baron at once. Don’t waste more of my time.”
“……”
“Are you deaf?”
“I hear you fine. The buzzing of shit-fly wings in my ear is awfully loud.”
“What?”
The viscount scowled.
Lloyd picked at his ear.
Then looked around.
Silence everywhere.
No one around?
No.
People were swarming.
The viscount’s twenty knights.
Dozens of engineering corps members who had paused their shoveling.
Even the tardy waterwheel craftsmen hovering at the edge of the site.
Over a hundred eyes on them total.
All holding their breath, ears wide open.
A perfect crowd of spectators.
‘Especially in disputes like this, witnesses are key.’
The stage was set ideally.
Lloyd grinned.
He looked up at the viscount, still not dismounted.
“I’ve heard you out. Your claims too. And it hits me: Viscount, you’re quite the expert in nonsense. Did you homeschool in etiquette?”
“……What?”
“Now, let’s have an enlightening time, legally dismantling point by point why your story is more worthless than a dried-up, lidless wet wipe.”
A beaming smile.
With that smile, Lloyd unleashed a torrent of sharp words.
The onslaught of pitiless fact-violence began.