Chapter 92
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: The Sky-Walking Bridge (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Vroooar—!”
Kwaaaang—!
The volcano eruption skill detonated.
The magma generated inside Bangul’s belly was shattered.
It turned into millions of dust particles and erupted fiercely.
It violently propelled Bangul’s plump 5-meter frame.
Thwack!
Bangul leaped into the air.
It soared from the western tower of the suspension bridge.
In one bound, it crossed the skies above the Majena River.
Clamped firmly in Bangul’s mouth was a thick chain.
And connected to that chain was a cable.
Paaaat!
A plump arrow with ropes attached.
No, Bangul, with the chain in its jaws, soared freely.
Leading the way, the long cable drew a clear line across the 238-meter span above the Majena River.
It hurtled toward the top of the eastern tower.
Waiting there was a natural(?) cushion to receive Bangul.
“Podoong! Pododoong!”
The 10-meter Podong stood on its hind legs.
It spread its arms wide and thrust out its plump belly.
It held its breath with perfect form.
Soon, Bangul flew in and collided.
Thwoooong!
Bangul’s round head buried arrow-like into Podong’s belly fat.
But Podong’s belly was protected by multiple layers.
Its cotton-thick fur absorbed the initial impact.
Its thick hide blocked the secondary damage.
Its squishy belly fat dispersed the remaining shock.
Podong moved its arms.
It grabbed Bangul tightly, just in case it bounced off.
Clutching it with a vow not to let go, it rolled tumbleweed-style.
At the end, the two fantasy beasts’ black eyes met.
“Podong?”
“Bangul!”
“Pododoong?”
“Ppabangul!”
They confirmed each other’s safety.
Bright smiles bloomed on their faces.
Behind them, Haviel moved swiftly.
“Now!”
Lloyd’s voice called from across the way.
Amid the shout, he reached out and grabbed the chain.
It was the chain Bangul had brought over in its mouth.
Clang!
He braced so the chain and connected cable wouldn’t slip.
He mobilized his Mana Heart and all three Mana Circles.
“Hup!”
Grrrind!
Podong and Bangul rushed over too.
They grabbed hold together.
They braced and pulled.
Pulled and held.
Finally, the cable at the end of the chain was in their grasp.
In that moment, he turned his body. Hoisted it over his shoulder. Walked. Advanced. Toward the target.
There was a socket to connect the cable to the top of the main tower.
“Shove it in!”
With Lloyd’s shout, he pushed the cable end into the socket.
Click! Kikik!
Like it was measured with a ruler, the cable fit tightly into the socket.
Confirming that, he twisted the socket. Locked it.
The cable was securely fixed.
But Haviel didn’t relax.
He quickly turned his head. Looked across the river at the western tower. Confirmed Lloyd’s figure.
Only then could he take it in.
“……Success!”
Lloyd was waving both arms toward them.
A slightly panting shout reached them too.
The cable on that side seemed connected as well.
“Whew.”
Having finished the most dangerous and precarious process, Haviel finally let out a sigh of relief.
Lord Lloyd is safe too.
That was enough.
♣
After that, complex processes continued one after another.
They had only just hung the main cable.
Under the increasingly scorching sun, Act 2 of the construction unfolded.
Main cables were connected behind the main towers too. Fixed to the anchorages on each side’s landward direction.
Then, suspenders made of chains were installed.
If the main cables between the towers were like a clothesline, the suspenders were like dozens of harp strings hanging vertically from it.
Podong shone in that process.
To sum it up, Podong was a master of tightrope walking.
With its massive 10-meter frame, it traversed the main cable with ease.
Running across the swaying cable like flat ground was basic.
Hanging and moving was effortless too.
Sometimes it even slid down on its plump belly.
“Pododoong!”
It freely zipped along the cable every day, hanging countless suspenders from the cable and securing them.
Once the suspender installation ended, the biggest task remained.
Laying and connecting the bridge deck.
To do that, Lloyd first floated the deck on the river.
“I’m really glad.”
“Glad about what?”
Dwarf craftsman Wells Kogidus looked up at Lloyd.
A satisfied smile played on Lloyd’s lips.
“The bridge deck I ordered. The truss structure came out much sturdier than expected.”
“Is that something to call glad? Who made it?”
“Of course, the greatest craftsman, Sir Kogidus.”
“You brat, with the flattery.”
Kogidus snorted.
“But you impudent human. What’s your plan from here?”
“My plan?”
“That.”
Kogidus nodded toward the river.
There floated a large raft on the river.
And atop the raft was part of the massive iron truss structure bridge deck.
Kogidus’s question continued.
“You said you’d connect that thing to the upper suspenders today, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Floating it on the river was fine, but how do you plan to lift it up?”
“Oh, that?”
Lloyd smirked at the question.
“There’s a way. It’s called the ‘jack-up-down’ construction method. I’m planning to adapt it to our current situation for now.”
“Jack-up-down?”
“Yes.”
“What’s that?”
“Hmm, simply put…… Eh, just watch.”
“What?”
Lloyd just grinned.
Explaining it to the people here was a bit tricky.
He couldn’t very well say, ‘It’s the method used when building Busan’s Gwangan Bridge.’
So he just shrugged.
Of course, Kogidus’s mind grew even more confused.
‘Jack-up-down or whatever. How’s he gonna lift that?’
He couldn’t understand.
Because no one knew better than him the scale of the truss deck he’d made this time.
‘Even mobilizing all my subordinates’ craftsmen, it took a full 4 months for six spans. It’s insanely heavy. Each block, one span, weighs over 100 tons easy.’
So how was he going to lift that from the raft to the suspender height?
As the craftsman’s brow furrowed in doubt.
“Bogrrruk, Hamang!”
Suddenly, a firm shout rang from the middle of the river.
Right after.
Shwooooaaaa!
“Huh? The river’s draining!”
Like some onlooker’s shout, the river suddenly churned.
It seemed to whirlpool, then shwoooaa into one spot.
As if a hole had suddenly opened in the riverbed.
Soon, Kogidus and the onlookers witnessed it.
The overwhelming sight of a water-drinking hippo inflating beneath the raft!
“Hamang! Hamahamang!”
Gulp! Glug glug!
Hamang bellowed powerfully as it gulped river water.
One gulp, two gulps—each time, its body ballooned like a balloon. It grew endlessly.
10 meters, 15 meters, 20 meters….
Crack!
The expanding Hamang’s back lifted the raft.
“Hamahamang! Hamang!”
Hamang’s body grew even more boldly.
The raft on its back rose steadily higher.
50 meters, 60 meters…… Finally, at 70 meters, Lloyd signaled.
“Hamang, stop!”
“……Hamang?”
“Can you pause drinking the river water for a bit?”
“Hanamang? Hamang?”
“I’ll let you drink more later!”
“Hamang!”
……Thus, Hamang stopped at 70 meters. Thanks to that, the bridge deck on its back was fixed at 48 meters above the water surface.
That height matched exactly where the suspender ends hung down.
Lloyd shouted.
“Alright, let’s go!”
He led the waiting laborers across to the bridge deck.
They connected dozens of suspenders into the pre-made sockets all over the deck.
Once one deck block was connected, they repeated the process.
“Hamang!”
Hamang, having shrunk, grew again and pushed up the next block.
Above, Lloyd, Haviel, and the laborers waiting connected the deck to the suspenders. They linked deck to deck with the pre-ordered link-type joint devices. Mages’ blazing flames handled the welding.
The connection work continued for days like that.
Finally, they completed the last deck connection.
Click!
The moment the final suspender slotted into the socket.
A clear message appeared before Lloyd’s eyes.
Dingdong.
[The suspension bridge to the capital Magenta has been completed.]
[You have successfully finished constructing the first large-scale suspension bridge in the history of the Lorasia Continent.]
[This new type of bridge will receive the deep love of the capital’s citizens. Accordingly, it will be called the ‘Roy-Habi Bridge,’ named after the constructor and his handsome knight.]
[The ‘Roy-Habi Bridge’ will become Magenta’s new landmark.]
[Your name, as the constructor of the ‘Roy-Habi Bridge,’ will be prominently etched in the kingdom and continent’s civil engineering history.]
[As a bonus for this significant construction achievement, a large amount of RP is specially awarded.]
[Acquired 850 RP.]
[Current RP held: 3,019]
‘Good.’
A welcome message announcing the achievement.
The ever-joyful RP acquisition message.
Lloyd smiled brightly at it. It felt real.
The long suspension bridge construction was successfully completed.
Also, he thought.
The achievement RP was just the beginning.
The real, overflowing rewards were yet to come.
♣
“I, Alicia Termina Magentano, do declare.”
Thud! Thuuud!
Queen Alicia’s quiet voice echoed grandly.
It wasn’t an amplification spell.
She was a swordmaster.
She could freely infuse mana into her voice and amplify it in all directions.
That majestic voice.
With each word, twenty magically controlled golems moved in perfect unison.
Ten each entered from the west and east of the ‘Roy-Habi Bridge.’
They marched toward the center.
Thud! Thuuud!
Each heavy step shook the bridge deck.
Yet the bridge didn’t collapse.
It endured even more flexibly and solidly.
The twenty golems gathered at the bridge’s center.
Even then, the ‘Roy-Habi Bridge’ stood firm.
Thuuud!
The twenty golems halted.
They lined up behind the queen on the central platform.
A pleased smile bloomed on Queen Alicia’s lips.
“To Lloyd Frontera, who constructed this sturdy and beautiful bridge, I personally bestow the title of ‘Master Craftsman.’”
Waaaaah—!
Hundreds of pure white pigeons painted the sky.
Citizens clustered along the riverbanks cheered.
The old bridge had been an anxious existence to them.
Every spring, they fretted over floods collapsing it.
Especially after cracks appeared this spring.
A bridge they had to use to cross the river no matter what.
Each crossing filled them with unease.
Fear it might collapse suddenly without warning.
Yet they had to cross to make a living.
But now, no need for anxiety.
The beautiful new suspension bridge.
To them, the Roy-Habi Bridge looked safe.
Forget its wondrous clothesline-like shape—there wasn’t a single pier in the river.
So even savage floods wouldn’t affect it, they believed.
Just like now.
Twenty golems had marched and gathered in the center. Yet the bridge didn’t sag or droop even a little.
“Lloyd! Lloyd!”
Lloyd’s name mixed into the citizens’ cheers.
The chanting voices grew louder.
Finally, in one voice, the gathered citizens shouted in unison.
Ahead of the suspension bridge completion festival, it was the citizens’ utmost respect and gratitude for the man who built them a safe new bridge.
Thanks to that, Lloyd’s shoulders shivered.
‘Whoa.’
If he became a world-star Hallyu celebrity, would it feel like this?
His name echoing across the whole city.
Unreal, yet his heart pounded.
After that, the queen’s praises continued.
Rewards piled up like Vienna sausages.
He received an enormous sum.
Enough to pay off the barony’s debts and more.
Plus a lifetime pension as a bonus.
‘Perfect. It’s perfect.’
What reward could surpass money?
Throughout the completion ceremony, Lloyd clenched his fist.
Sweat pooled in his gripped hand, but still.
Proud.
Thrilling.
It had been a year and a half since coming here as Kim Suho.
The debt repayment he’d longed for all that time.
Finally made reality.
‘Now, back to the barony, I’ll just suck honey and roll through life.’
Finally, all debts paid.
Pension coming steadily from the kingdom.
As a rural noble, no risk of getting dragged into grand rebellions or anything.
Live a peaceful life there like a honeybee.
Lloyd basked in happiness.
So now, just one last problem to solve.
The secret vow he’d made months ago when bringing Julian out of the academy. Realize that, and he could truly carefree return to the barony.
Thinking that, Lloyd gauged the timing.
Glanced at the queen.
Swiftly dropped to one knee.
Toward the queen descending the platform after the ceremony, he reported in feigned sorrow.
“Your Majesty, first, I thank you for your boundless grace today. However, separately, I, Lloyd Frontera, have one urgent matter I dare to petition Your Majesty.”
“What?”
The queen, about to leave the platform, paused.
Her gaze slid back this way.
“An urgent petition to me? What is it?”
Good.
She bit.
Feeling that, Lloyd smiled beneath his bowed head.
Perfect timing, having just received the Master Craftsman title.
With the queen’s favor and trust secured.
So, the moment was now.
“It is none other than this: at Magenta Academy, which Your Majesty personally sponsors, highly unjust, irrational, and despicable acts continue unabated. I wonder if Your Majesty knows of this reality.”
“……What? Injustices at the academy I don’t know of?”
“Sadly, it is so, Your Majesty.”
Lloyd’s voice dripped with sorrow.
His lips secretly curved in a meaningful smile.
Finally, the awaited response came.
“Report in more detail.”
That was the start.
Those who’d rampaged in the academy relying on their families.
The academy staff who’d shielded and excused them.
To smash them without room for excuses.
Lloyd’s ironclad tattling began, packed tight with facts like plump pollock roe sacs.