Episode 46: Even though the desire to incorporate Clayton and the Golem School into the force ended up being a delusion, the power shown in the immediate construction was the best without even having to consider cost-effectiveness.
With Clayton’s giant golem, there is no need to risk mobilizing workers.
‘In fact, he handles the biggest part alone…’
Even if Clayton was special, Logan was able to realize once again why the labor costs of a 5th circle wizard were so expensive.
Isn’t it on a different level in terms of productivity from top-class articles that are treated at a similar level?
‘A knight who only knows how to sharpen his sword…’
Logan, who had been criticizing the knight in his mind, suddenly realized that he was one of those knights and cleared his throat.
As if in response to the cough, an explosion rang out again.
Wow!
Rumbling.
A roar that seemed to shake the heavens and earth sounded again.
Goooooh.
Screams were heard here and there as a huge monster made its presence known in the midst of it all.
“Heeeeeek!”
“It’s mom!”
“I want to go home!”
“Ted! Catch him! How many people does he have in his family? Hey, you bastard!”
The workers who had gathered together sat down in horror at the horrific scene created by Clayton’s golem.
And among them was Dwayne, whose eyes were still empty.
“I have to tell the head of the family…”
Logan laughed involuntarily at the sight of Dwayne and the workers shaking.
‘Clayton alone will be sufficient for tunnel construction.’
It seemed like there was no need to bring in workers.
“Hamar. Take all the workers to dig the canal. There will be no need to leave them behind to work on the tunnel.”
At present, Logan’s construction plan had two parts going on simultaneously: the tunnel and the dam, which, if carried out as planned, would allow the water to flow throughout the wasteland to be reclaimed.
The 8,000 mobilized workers were planned to be divided into tunnel and waterway construction, but it seemed like the plan could be revised.
‘Completion will be faster than expected.’
A smile appears on Logan’s lips at the pleasant premonition.
“…yes!”
Hamar, who had been distracted watching the golem, understood Logan’s words a little later and called the workers together.
And it was good for the workers too.
“Aqueduct?”
“Where is the water?”
“If you have to do it, you have to do it, but…”
“Does that make sense?”
“Why are you digging a hole in a useless mountain and turning the ground upside down?…”
“Why are you talking so much? It’s better than carrying stones, isn’t it? Besides…”
Rumble.
The residents of the territory, seeing the rock wall where the roar was still echoing, trembled and turned around.
All the residents of the territory felt the same way.
Even if you are an ally, how can you not be afraid of a monster created by a wizard?
If a giant over 20m tall accidentally touched it, it would be goodbye to this world forever.
“Are we confident that we can dig in the ground?”
“then!”
The task of digging waterways at equal intervals in a huge wasteland that is over 40 km wide on both sides and an estimated area of well over 800 km2.
It was not an easy task to accomplish even with 8,000 workers mobilized, but at this moment, not a single person thought the task was difficult.
* * *
“Matriarch! Lord! Master Padric! Oh, kinda!”
bang! bang! bang!
Dwayne’s hand seemed urgent as he knocked on the tightly locked door.
Rumbling.
The faint noise that sounded like thunder made the touch even more urgent.
“The Archduke is blowing up the territory!”
His voice now seemed pitiful.
bang! bang!
“Please open the door…”
Suddenly.
“What happened to Logan….”
Ugh.
The hand that was vigorously knocking on the door dug into the skin with a dull sound.
Dwayne raised his head at the unfamiliar feeling of the blow and made eye contact with red eyes staring at him with a fist stuck in one eyelid.
“Hwaaaah!”
At that moment, Dwayne got goosebumps all over his body and jumped back with a strange scream.
Padric, who had suddenly been hit on the eyelid, let out a brief comment.
“…her.”
“I’m sorry…”
“…Hehehe.”
“It was a mistake! I’m sorry! Head of the house.”
“I said I would devote myself to training day and night, but I let my guard down like this… Hehe, I still lack a lot. Dwayne, you are reminding me.”
“Oh no. I didn’t mean that…”
“Yes, I guess so. Shall we go inside and talk in more detail?”
“Yes? Me too…?”
“then.”
Rattling.
I’m sorry.
Unlike a moment ago, when Dwayne was shouting for someone to open it, the door opening diagonally with a loud noise felt like the gates of hell.
The inside of the heavy door, over 1 meter wide and made of ironwood from the Tritan territory, was entirely gray.
Although it is currently a training room exclusively for the head of the family, a rumor passed through Dwayne’s mind that it was once used as a torture room for capturing prisoners and torturing them.
“It’s okay for me to not have to go in…”
“It’s okay. Come in.”
At Padrick’s urging, Dwayne had no choice but to enter the training room.
I’m sorry.
Dwayne felt goosebumps rise once again as he saw the door closing with a soft smile.
“…I don’t want blood to splatter outside.”
A voice that could not be heard even by the person next to me came out through the gap in the closed door, echoing through the empty hallway.
bang.
“Go, matriarch?!”
A voice like a scream came out faintly from the tightly closed thick door.
After that day.
McLane Financial Administrator Dwayne was unable to return to work for a while due to illness of unknown origin.
* * * ‘Hmm. My father is strangely quiet. Were the iron blood sword and vision a special medicine?’
Even if Dwayne made a fuss, he must have hit me a few times, so it was worth coming out and seeing it, but there was no reaction.
“Well, it’s better if there’s no reaction.”
The moment Logan smiled happily, I felt the ground he was standing on tremble.
Rumbling.
A sound rang out later, and the surrounding workers began to move noisily.
“Now, now. Go back in!”
“When Hamar comes out, clean up the collapsed rock wall first!”
Around Logan, workers with soot-covered faces were busy running around.
It was not a new dam construction site, but a mine construction site that had been in progress before.
Because the workers were secretly mobilized from Tethron Castle, the construction, which would become the largest source of funds for the as-yet-unknown future of McLane Castle, was progressing rapidly upon the arrival of the Collapse Scroll.
‘Clayton is in charge of the dam, and Hamar is in charge of the mine.’
It felt like everything was going smoothly.
As Logan was watching the situation with a satisfied expression for a while, a dwarf, stained as black as ink, trudged in front of him with weak steps.
“Oh. Hamar, you’ve worked hard….”
“Ugh! I can’t do this anymore! You’d rather kill me!”
“hmm?”
“Can’t I even rest? Things won’t work without me! Why am I the only one having such a hard time?!”
Logan could only look at the rampaging dwarf in confusion.
“It was carried like luggage?”
“I can only ride a pony, so that vicious person over there forcibly tied me up, put me on a horse, and took me back and forth between the tunnel and here!”
“Ah…”
“I heard the owner ordered it? Am I an object? A burden? Huh?! I’m sick of horses now! I can’t even ride a pony!”
‘Hamar did order to be able to travel back and forth between both sides quickly.’
When I saw the embarrassed face of Kai, the leader of the mercenary force guarding the mine, I felt like I knew exactly what had happened.
It wasn’t unreasonable for him to grind his teeth as soon as he saw himself.
The understanding master laughed off the slave’s misfortune.
“Yes, yes. You have worked hard. So, from now on, you will take charge of everything. All you have to do is report the progress to me.”
“…what?”
Although Logan said out of anger that he had no work to do, in reality, his job of finding materials and missing parts at the two construction sites and filling them in was usually not a bothersome job.
And the fact that the Grand Duke of the estate was watching seemed to be a significant motivation for the workers, as the difference in labor force between when he was watching and when he was not was quite large.
If you want to reinforce it by taking care of it separately…
“Now, even the chores are all on me… huh huh.”
Hamar’s tongue is twisted with anger.
“Cheer up! I really promise. I’ll let you rest well when the construction is over!”
Does taking a good rest mean that you will have a good rest in the afterlife?
Or are you asking me to put the knife away?
While Hamar was unable to utter a word due to his dizzy thoughts filled with anger, the harsh master who had punished the poor slave as much as he could, disappeared without even looking back.
Only then did an angry roar burst from Hamar’s mouth.
“Hey, you damn @#%&@%….”
* * * ‘It is certain that the mine will be developed faster than in the previous life. The dam is a bit uneasy, though…’
Logan, who had a pondering expression on his face, quickly shook his head.
‘No, it will be fine. It should work out.’
If we fail to clear the wasteland, from then on we will have to use all our resources to prepare for war, no matter how the rumors spread or not.
Hoping that the plan would succeed and give him a little more time, Logan began to make future plans again, taking into account both the failure and success of the dam.
After a while.
Having made up his mind, Logan moved to the place where the territory’s only artifact communication port was located.
[Construction materials will be delivered without disruption. Since we had previously traded lumber, we easily agreed to 100,000 gold per month. Anyway, once you build a mine and clear land, the territory will look completely different. I have to go there sometime too.]
“Okay, good job. You should come here too next year.”
[You say it again. It’s next year… I don’t know what you’re talking about… Even if I ask you anyway, you won’t answer, right?]
“No. I have to tell you now. It’s dangerous.”
[Yes?]
“When I went to the swordsmith shop, I heard some bad news.”
Of course, Logan had never heard anything like that.
But it was a necessary lie for the story I’m about to tell.
[…What kind of bad story are you talking about?]
“Isn’t there anyone around to hear it?”
[The security of the Magic Tower is certain. No matter how much the Earth Magic Tower is destroyed…]
“There are rumors that there is some problem in the royal family.”
[yes? Then?!]
Philip’s expression clearly hardened at the words Logan carefully uttered.
“I don’t know the details, but it seems like a pretty big deal. While doing business, look into the rumors coming out of the royal family.”
According to my memories from my past life, the king died suddenly the next winter and a civil war broke out.
However, there was no guarantee that the information Logan, who was a low-level mercenary at the time, heard was really true.
What is certain is that the king The only thing he knew was that he had died.
If the king had not died suddenly like the story he had heard, there must have been some sign before that.
‘If the death was really sudden, it would happen just as it was in the previous life, but if not, the timing could be wrong.’
Just like during the territory war with Tethron, the timing of the civil war should not have changed for unknown reasons.
If that happened, at least the timing had to be known for sure.
‘That way we can start at the right time.’
The McLane family is leading a war that will turn the kingdom upside down.
“There is no need to ask Nox. It will cost too much and may raise suspicion. I guess he gets stabbed little by little while dealing with the nobles. That’s enough. Take care as much as possible and contact me right away if anything happens.”
[I understand. Huh, what is this…]
And bringing up this story was also a stepping stone for what I was going to say next.
“Now, I am using Imporic’s net profit to pay for construction materials and food purchases at the Magic Tower. How much is left after deducting the money sent?”
[Yes? Hmm… I have about 1.8 million gold left.]
“Then, leave about 500,000 gold as an emergency fund and buy and send as many spears, swords, and armor as you can afford.”
Philip said those words . My expression became even more sour.
[Is the royal family’s problem that serious?]
“It might be so. Anyway, please send us enough weapons to fully arm 1,500 people by this winter.”
[…This is really not a joke.]
“Is this a joke? So, spread it out as much as possible, buy it separately and collect it. It’s okay to spend a little more money.”
Buying such a weapon at once could have attracted unnecessary attention.
Philip’s expression became more serious at Logan’s words, but perhaps it was a merchant’s instinct, and he decided to do something else in this situation.
[But 1500 Justification? As far as I know, there are less than 100 knights in the McLane family.]
“It’s not for the knights. I’m going to give it to the soldiers.”
As soon as Philip heard those words, he reacted violently.
[You’re going to fully arm all the soldiers?! Are you really going crazy?!]
Perhaps the merchant’s instincts were suppressing his anxiety, but the seriousness from before was gone. Logan couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of him disappearing in no place.
‘Yeah. Well, you could think that way.’
Properly refined metal spears and swords, chain mail that covers the vital parts of the body, and metal armor to wear on the outside.
No matter how basic the armament, if it is good quality weapons, it costs almost 1,000 gold per person. “Plus, you need that much horse
too.” If that’s the case,
then. The budget was doubled.
In other words, Logan was planning to invest at least 3 million gold until winter to equip the soldiers with knight-level weapons.
[No, even if that were the case, would the soldiers be able to defeat the knights? With that money, the knights would be able to defeat them. Make weapons!]
And that was something we should normally hear.
The main forces of the current war were superhuman knights and wizards.
Even at this moment, there are knight trainees who are undergoing rigorous training and dreaming of becoming knights, but basically. Even regular soldiers were merely auxiliary troops supporting the knights.
Would you spend a lot of money to arm such soldiers?
[That’s foolish! No matter how much money you have, you have to use it efficiently! There was a time when they made a single weapon and wiped out all the regular soldiers. What on earth are you thinking?!]
In a way, it was natural for such a reaction to occur.
But Logan’s thoughts were different.
‘Too many Young Ji-min died in the last war.’
The first war fought immediately after returning.
Although it was easily won with some preparations, there were more deaths among ordinary soldiers than expected.
Although the fundamental cause was that Thethron mobilized a large number of conscripts, the territory’s expected production for this year was drastically reduced because of that.
Of course, the largest proportion were the men of Tethron Castle who were killed by Logan and the mercenaries.
‘So the mobilization of conscripts must be kept to a minimum.’
The future war should not be allowed to continue to be a war that consumes conscripts like that.
That would ultimately be tantamount to self-destruction that eats away one’s own flesh.
‘Furthermore, if a full-fledged imperial war breaks out, conscripts without proper equipment will be nothing more than arrow rests. It’s meaningless.’
Therefore, the knights and regular soldiers had to be strengthened as much as possible.
‘First, recruit more regular troops, including knight trainees…’
Naturally, the armament of the regular soldiers, who were the most vulnerable to death among the regular troops, had to be strengthened.
In the civil war, the McLane family had lost the power of the past. Even in order to recover the territory.
This decision was a preparatory process for that.
“Have I done anything wrong so far?”
[…Nothing.]
So, I lightly suppressed Philip’s objection based on the achievements so far.
“Then should I do it?”
[That’s right. Haha, I understand.]
“I believe you will carefully look into the rumors and take good care of the weapons.”
[No matter how much you think about it, this is a lot of money….]
“You won’t look at it a second time?”
[Yep! I’ll try to buy it without being noticed. If I use someone to do the work for me, it may cost more money. If it’s too bad…]
“It’s okay. I have enough money now. Rather, it is more important not to attract the attention of those around you.”
[If that’s the case. That’s enough.]
“Okay.”
Raising funds through mining, securing food through building dams, and even improving soldiers’ armament.
Basic preparations for the leap are necessary. Things were going smoothly.
And when everything was going smoothly, Dwayne came by.
“You’re not going to the construction site directly anymore?”
“Hmm?”
The moment I thought about resuming the personal training that I had put off, Dwayne came in.
“In that case, You have to do the work of acting as a lord that you have put off.”
“…Ah. Well, that’s how it should be.”
It was a mistake to nod my head easily at those words.
