Chapter 83
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: A Superior Wrong Answer to the Right One (2)
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“I believe the most urgent task is to build a new bridge across the Majena River that runs through the entire capital.”
It was a vast audience chamber.
The space was spacious like the king’s personality—bold rather than flashy.
Lloyd’s voice rang out clearly through the entire room.
King Alicia Termina Magentano’s eyebrow twitched.
“A bridge?”
“That is correct.”
“Explain in more detail.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. If I may be so bold, I’ve heard that the current bridge over the Majena River collapses frequently, repeatedly, and whenever one might forget about it.”
“……Frequently?”
“That is correct.”
“Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?”
“In civil engineering terms, collapsing once every few decades means it fails very frequently and often.”
“……Really?”
“That is correct.”
Lloyd, his face as thick as steel plating, answered.
It was honestly the truth.
Collapsing once every few decades.
From a civil engineering perspective, that was ‘very frequent.’
In fact, the bridge over the Majena River in this capital, Magenta, was exactly like that.
‘Even in the novel Iron-Blooded Knight, the issue gets mentioned several times. And about three years from now, it actually collapses after decades.’
He recalled the novel’s description of the capital’s layout.
The Majena River crossing the capital never dried up year-round. Thanks to this abundant water source, the city had prospered for ages.
But abundant water was a double-edged sword.
‘Floods hit every spring. The eastern rainy season causes water levels to surge. Plus, snow piled up massively in nearby highlands melts, boosting the flow even more.’
Those spring floods were Magenta’s chronic illness.
Especially disastrous for the bridge over the Majena River.
Every ten years at shortest, or every fifty to sixty at longest, the bridge would collapse in a flood. Each time, the royal family had to pour massive funds into building a new one.
‘Earth had a similar case, I think.’
Heidelberg, Germany.
The ‘Karl Theodor Bridge’ over the Neckar River came to mind.
‘The first version of the original Karl Theodor Bridge was built in the mid-11th century. It collapsed in the 1288 flood. And the next ones were similar.’
That sounded right.
The second bridge in 1308.
The third and fourth in 1340 and 1400, respectively.
Even the fifth collapsed in 1470.
It kept happening after that.
‘The sixth due to ice floes with a flood in 1565. The seventh destroyed by Louis XIV’s army during the War of the Palatine Succession. Then the eighth, built extra sturdy with fortifications, collapsed from flood and ice in 1784.’
Thus, the modern Karl Theodor Bridge was the ninth iteration.
The situation in the novel’s capital Magenta strikingly resembled medieval Heidelberg.
“I’ve heard that the current bridge over the Majena River is the twelfth built after eleven collapses. Thus, repeatedly rebuilding collapsed bridges is highly inefficient.”
“Rebuilding after collapse is inefficient?”
“That is correct, Your Majesty.”
“So you say we need a new bridge?”
“That is correct, Your Majesty.”
“Then, you’re confident your new bridge won’t collapse even in spring floods and ice floes?”
“Indeed, Your Majesty.”
In moments like this bet, one had to be bold.
Keeping that in mind, Lloyd answered confidently.
King Alicia’s gaze sharpened.
“And if it does collapse?”
“Then—”
Lloyd bowed his head even deeper.
‘I’ll pack up and flee the country immediately.’
Swallowing that resolve(?), he declared.
“Take my head.”
“Are you serious?”
“Deadly serious. However—”
“However?”
“If the new bridge I propose stands without collapsing, please guarantee my family’s status forever.”
“Guarantee your status until the new bridge collapses?”
“That is correct, Your Majesty.”
“…….”
Lloyd bowed so low his head nearly touched the floor.
King Alicia’s eyes narrowed fiercely at the back of Lloyd’s round head, like a chestnut burr.
‘Look at this guy.’
The eldest son of some frontier barony.
Yet he dares negotiate with me.
Demanding eternal guarantee of noble status for a baronial family.
Guarantee of status.
The meaning was clear.
No confiscation of their fief, no matter what happens.
And a stable pension for life to maintain basic noble dignity.
Those were the true intents hidden in his request.
‘Moreover, he’s speaking as if building the new bridge is already a done deal, just waiting for us to watch.’
She couldn’t help but chuckle.
It was cheeky and sly rhetoric.
Obvious petty tricks.
Yet it felt endearingly pathetic.
Fascinating how he could be so brazen before her.
Like a puppy whining for treats before a lion.
Besides, a flood-proof bridge would benefit the royals immensely.
King Alicia’s tone softened slightly.
“Then you claim to have some ingenious method to build an unbreakable bridge?”
“Of course.”
She’s coming around.
She came around.
Lloyd read the mood from her softened voice.
Fortunately, his bold move worked.
‘Good.’
He recalled King Alicia’s personality from the novel Iron-Blooded Knight.
The Indomitable Sovereign, Alicia Termina Magentano.
Wielding absolute power and might, she was bold and unhesitating. Fair and just, she heeded advice regardless of status.
Thus, she despised sycophants.
She liked those who spoke bluntly regardless of rank, like him now, and kept them close without hesitation.
That’s why she’d lose one arm.
Poisoned by her most trusted aide.
She’d sacrifice the arm to save her life.
The betrayal would shatter her, twisting her personality completely.
She’d become a tyrant trusting no one.
Falling from Indomitable Sovereign to Sovereign of Slaughter.
‘But that tragedy hasn’t happened yet.’
In the novel, it was three years away.
At this time, King Alicia still shone as the bright, just Red Lion.
That’s why he bet on this bold proposal working.
The bridge collapses were a perennial royal headache, so he calculated good odds.
And it was paying off.
Confidence filled Lloyd’s voice.
“If we build a suspension bridge over the Majena River, it will never collapse in any flood.”
“A suspension bridge?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
The king tilted her head.
Lloyd explained more confidently toward her.
“A suspension bridge is ideal for long-span bridges. Typically, tall main towers are erected on both sides, connected by long rope-like cables for support……blah blah blah……the cables are anchored at both ends by anchor blocks……yada yada……The advantage is no piers needed in the riverbed……blablabla……Thus, if I may boldly suggest…….”
“Enough. Stop there.”
“…….”
“Have you said all you wanted?”
“Regrettably, Your Majesty ordered me to stop…….”
“That’s enough. I get the idea.”
King Alicia unconsciously grimaced. She wiped sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief.
Somehow, Lloyd’s explanation felt like it had poured in her left ear and slithered straight out the right.
Lloyd’s question turned subtle.
“Then, what is Your Majesty’s will…….”
“My will.”
The king chuckled.
“I said I’d test your abilities. You answered my question with full confidence. Why hesitate? Proceed.”
“You mean to authorize the new bridge construction?”
“Indeed. Build it yourself and prove it. If successful, I’ll reward you greatly, adding to your Creemo feats. But—”
Her chuckling eyes turned stern.
“The greater your boasted confidence, the heavier the price of failure.”
“I shall remember that.”
Lloyd bowed in thanks.
The die was cast.
He’d ridden the tiger’s back.
Now was the time to show his skills.
♣
“I’ve never seen someone so insolent and arrogant before me.”
In the audience chamber after Lloyd and Haviel withdrew.
King Alicia remaining there gave a wry smile.
Soon, a middle-aged man’s voice responded to her wry smile.
“He seems clever and shrewd, Your Majesty.”
It was the captain of the Royal Guard, who had stood silently behind her.
“Sir Cherni, you see it that way too?”
“That is correct, Your Majesty.”
“Ha, yes. Far more cunning than expected.”
Her wry smile deepened.
Suddenly, she recalled the report from Count Creemo.
It evaluated Lloyd Frontera thus:
‘A shrewd talent who fully unleashes his abilities in situations with clear personal gain, astonishing everyone.’
……That was the assessment.
“Seeing him in person confirms it. But I never expected such a wrong answer.”
“A wrong answer, Your Majesty……?”
“The answer Lloyd Frontera gave to my question.”
“You mean the one about urgently building a new bridge over the Majena River?”
“Yes.”
“If that’s wrong…….”
“I had a different right answer in mind.”
King Alicia stated it sharply, like slicing with a knife.
In truth, even as she questioned Lloyd, she had a right answer in mind.
It wasn’t bridge-building.
Not even Majena floods or anything river-related.
“The right answer I had was repairing the royal palace.”
“Ah……!”
Sir Cherni gasped at her words.
“That makes perfect sense, Your Majesty. The decade-regular palace maintenance period is approaching…….”
“Yes. Exactly. Built excessively thick and sturdy against dragon raids, it’s heavy. Needs frequent repairs. I thought that was the answer. Anyone versed in construction would surely say it.”
But no.
Lloyd gave a completely different answer.
A wrong answer with no room for debate.
Yet not just any wrong answer.
‘The Majena bridge really has needed work for ages. But no real solution.’
Indeed.
Previous kings had the same worries.
Regular spring floods from melting snow. Against such natural fury, only sturdier bridges.
Each collapse led to a sturdier rebuild.
But they lasted only decades before falling again.
Simple reason.
An engineering dilemma.
‘The builders said to make bridges sturdy, piers must be bigger and stronger. But thicker piers face more water pressure.’
She knew little of construction.
But she grasped what the engineers explained.
Simple principle.
Piers are pillars in the water supporting the bridge, always pushed sideways by the current.
Thicker piers?
Wider area?
More surface for water pressure.
Builders tried wedge-shaped upstream faces. Separate wooden ice-breakers upstream.
But temporary fixes.
Every few decades, floods overwhelmed them.
Bridges invariably collapsed.
So she’d half-given up.
Build as sturdy as possible. If it falls, rebuild. Treat as tribute to nature.
That was the Magentano royals’ policy on the Majena bridges.
King Alicia hadn’t expected—or even imagined—any novel solution.
‘Yet Lloyd Frontera used it as his answer.’
Better than the right answer she’d secretly considered.
A superior wrong answer.
‘We’ll watch for now.’
King Alicia thought inwardly.
Watch the bridge he boasted of, the suspension bridge.
Observe Lloyd Frontera’s skills in building it.
If proven, she’d use him heavily.
With the king’s expectant gaze upon him, Lloyd’s bridge preparations proceeded smoothly.