Chapter 35. The speed of light is a muscle (3)
“Kkuik? What is this? I hope Seokbinggo…Did you already make it?”
Orc Arosh was a natural warrior.
face the enemy and fight
hunt for the tribe.
Of course, his virtue is bravery.
He had lived his whole life thinking only of fighting.
So he knew nothing about civil engineering.
I didn’t understand what kind of process the construction went through and what kind of results it produced.
But still, I knew something.
The point is that no project is finished overnight.
Thanks to that, Orc Arosh had to be truly surprised today.
“This must have been just a pit a few days ago! But how did this happen? It’s full of rocks!”
It was true.
a few days ago.
While helping Lloyd dig up the ground, he had no choice but to let go of the shovel.
Because I had to go hunting.
‘sorry! I’ll fight for a few days and come back!’
Hunting was the sacred duty of tribal warriors.
Just as the military is the duty of Korean men and they have to participate in reserve army training and civil defense even after being discharged, all Orc warriors had to go out on a regular group hunt.
In the case of Orc Arosh, this was his turn.
‘I’ll help again when I come back!’
That’s how he patted Lloyd’s shoulder.
As soon as he returned to the village after hunting, he ran to the scene.
It was to help his benefactor Lloyd.
But what
The scene has changed so much in just a few days.
The pit, which had barely finished digging, disappeared without a trace.
Instead, a stone chamber meticulously made of granite bricks was placed there!
And Lloyd was in front of that stone chamber, or stone ice storage.
“How are you? Somehow I made this much. It’s not finished yet.”
“….”
Lloyd shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal.
Seeing that, Arosh swallowed his saliva.
I felt like I was seeing an unknown creature.
‘What the hell is my benefactor?’
It was great.
The more I looked at it, the more I felt that way.
When his benefactor Lloyd snaps something, something pops into existence.
It wasn’t sometimes.
It was like that every day.
‘I gave orders to Xaviel. Part of the stone mountain was split into chunks evenly. He trimmed the stones he brought and dug the ground. Then….’
In an instant, a straight stone chamber called Seokbinggo was created.
‘I didn’t even use magic.
Arosh thought that the result was more like magic than magic.
The young orc warrior gave a thumbs up heartily.
“You benefactor! It’s a big nostril!”
“Wangkot…hole?”
“That’s right!”
Lloyd tilted his head.
Arosh let out a snort.
“You have to have big nostrils to breathe well. If you breathe well, you won’t get tired. An indefatigable orc is the best warrior!”
“aha. Was it a compliment?”
“Of course it is!”
Orc Arosh grinned, exposing his fangs.
Lloyd laughed too.
“It’s just a compliment for something like this. It’s hot. To be honest, I never learned anything like Seokbinggo properly.”
“Are you saying you never learned?”
“It is literally. My major is civil engineering. It’s completely different from this one.”
“Civil engineering…What is it?”
“There is such a thing. However, I have been personally interested in this kind of thing since before. I guess you can see some of that virtue.”
He was interested in traditional buildings such as Seokbinggo as well as ondol.
The club he joined was also related to traditional architecture.
When my family was wealthy, I used to go on field trips with my club members.
“Well, it was a time when we were too far away. Anyway, this stone binggo looks like a wow from the outside, but it’s still just a shell. It is far from finished.”
Chop Chop!
Lloyd hit the wall with his palm.
“As you can see, I made all sorts of things like drains, arches and vents on the sloping floor. Thanks to the strength of your tribal warriors.”
It really was.
The strength of the Orc warriors was truly amazing.
Each and every one hundred.
It was like a gorilla with a hydraulic press mounted on it.
Thanks to this, Lloyd has been able to keep his hands free of dirt for the past few days.
With the help of the muscular orcs, he was able to raise all the walls and vaulted ceilings of the ice rink.
Of course, it wasn’t finished yet.
“Well, it’s just a little flashy on the outside. At this rate, it won’t be able to function as a stone ice storage facility at all.”
“Are you saying you can’t?”
“uh. There is no insulation.”
Lloyd’s words continued.
“Even though I made the granite bricks as thick as possible. As it is now, the geothermal heat in summer will come into the stone ice storage. That’s why we need insulation to block the heat from outside.”
“Then where can I get insulation?”
“There is no need to save.”
“Are you saying no?”
“uh. You just have to wait. I sent ten sappers to our estate. Go get something for insulation.”
It was true.
It was even before the first blast with Xaviel started.
At that time, Lloyd had already selected ten men with good stamina among the Corps of Engineers.
I sent them back to the Barony of Prontera.
It was accompanied by an order to bring insulation materials to be used in the construction of the stone ice storage.
“Actually, these are items that are hard to find here. Chaff and straw sawdust.”
That too was true.
This Orc colony was nestled in the wilderness.
Of course, he had no ties to farming.
Obtaining rice husk and straw, which are by-products of agriculture, was impossible here.
“Well, it’s been a while since I sent them, so just wait a few more days and they’ll come.”
It wasn’t that it wasn’t, but the time was slowly approaching.
So several days of waiting followed.
But even if a day passes and two days pass.
Even if three days pass, another four days, five days pass by.
Even after ten days had passed, no soldiers had returned from the territory.
I didn’t even bring a nose plucker, let alone bring insulation.
‘Umm, that’s strange.’
It was Lloyd who passed the time by joking around with Xaviel in the orc tribe’s village.
Of course, even during that time, his eyes were always directed westward.
Suspicion bloomed in his eyes as the wait lasted longer than expected.
‘As expected, they should have returned by yesterday.’
He was the one who had crossed the Eastern Mountains himself.
Through the experience at the time, it was possible to calculate the time for the soldiers to return to the territory and the time to cross the mountain range with supplies.
According to his calculations, at least the soldiers should have returned by yesterday at the latest.
“Hey Xaviel.”
He opened his mouth while lying down in the tent and shaking his legs tediously.
The answer came back quickly.
“Did you call?”
“Yes, I called. To pamper you again.”
“…What are you doing?”
“You go to the mountains over there for a drink.”
“Is it a search?”
“uh.”
There was no need for long words to each other.
In fact, Xaviel knew roughly what Lloyd was waiting for and what he was worried about.
“It will be a meeting and search.”
“I guess so. The fact that the Corps of Engineers haven’t arrived yet means that there’s a chance that something happened along the way.”
That was his judgment.
Deep down, the deadline for the arrival of supplies that I had been thinking of until yesterday.
It was the result of taking into account the physical strength of ordinary soldiers and the volume and weight of the supplies they would bring.
In addition, the delay due to movement in rough terrain was included in the calculation.
It was a calculation that left enough room for the date.
“However, there is no news yet. The cause could be one of two things. Either something happened or you’re just fooling around.”
“All right. First of all, we will proceed with the search by giving priority to the road that crossed the mountain range last time.”
“okay. Be careful. When you come, Merona.”
“…yes?”
“It’s nothing. It’s a melon.”
“Whoa.”
Instead of answering, Xaviel let out a deep sigh.
I got up, packed my rucksack, and got my gear ready to start the search right away.
After everything was ready, we left the tent.
I stopped walking just before leaving the tent.
He turned around with his characteristic chic and cool expression.
And threw out a blunt word.
“…reflect.”
“uh?”
There was no time to attempt a counterattack (?).
Before this guy could say anything, Xaviel left the tent in a flash.
“Heh heh heh.”
Laughter came out of nowhere.
But that laugh didn’t last long.
‘Nothing should have happened.’
For some reason, a strong feeling welled up.
And again, when three more days had passed.
His strong feeling became a reality.
“I found this.”
“….”
Returning after three days, Xaviel presented a pair of shabby gloves.
Lloyd immediately recognized the identity of the glove.
‘This is our manor.’
I had no choice but to find out.
It was because it was a work glove that he personally provided to the soldiers of the Corps of Engineers in the territory.
Lloyd’s expression hardened as he asked.
“Where did you find this?”
“I found it in a valley on the eastern slope of the mountain range. It is an area marked as ‘Plogia Gorge’ on the public map of the kingdom, and it was discovered two days ago.”
“Continue explaining.”
“At first, I focused my search on the road that our group crossed the mountain range the other day. If the soldiers were returning behind schedule, there was a possibility of meeting them along the way. However, I couldn’t encounter the soldiers until I crossed ‘Pano Peak’ and ‘Pesano Peak’. Of course, no traces were found either. That fact was the only piece of information.”
“There’s no chance the soldiers are late coming in for a prank.”
“yes. From then on, the soldiers moved with weight on the possibility of an accident. Thanks to you, I found these gloves in the Phlegia Gorge and found some straw lying around.”
“so?”
“There were bits of straw all over the place. I followed the trail. The trail led to a fairly large cave.”
“The Phlogia Gorge…it’s a cave so? Did you go in there?”
“yes. Thanks to you-”
Xaviel rolled up the sleeve of his left arm with a calm face.
His pure white forearm was revealed like that.
There was a scar on his forearm that was in stark contrast to his calm expression.
“I got hit like this. As soon as I took a few steps into the cave, the magic circle was activated.”
“…Are you okay?”
“Yes, it is fine. It’s just a little scratched.”
“It’s not just a scratch, it looks like a burn.”
It’s not that it wasn’t, but the wound was quite big.
Besides, it wasn’t just a burn.
The skin had turned red and blue, as if burns and frostbite had been mixed together.
“I don’t know the exact identity, but it seems to be some kind of curse magic. Fortunately, I avoided a direct hit.”
“….”
“It’s really fine. The wound did not penetrate into the muscle. If you use mana as you do now and put your energy into recovery, it will probably heal completely within a few days without a trace.”
“Oh, that’s fortunate.”
“yes. I am worried about the soldiers.”
Xaviel’s calm expression when he showed his wounds darkened as he mentioned the soldiers.
“Traces of fallen straw continued all the way into the cave. Given that fact, the soldiers….”
“Were you dragged into it?”
“It seems so.”
Xaviel slightly lowered her head.
“Even after being hit by the magic circle, I tried to enter several times. But it was impossible. sorry.”
“Tsk. It’s up to you to apologize.”
Xaviel did nothing wrong.
Rather, it was amazing that he got out of the defensive magic circle with only that much damage.
“But I am a knight. In addition to commanding the soldiers of your estate, you are obliged to protect and preserve them as much as possible. In that situation, I couldn’t rescue the soldiers because of my lack of skills. So if you give me another chance-”
Xaviel’s tragic words continued.
“I will return to the manor as soon as possible and inform them of this fact, and prepare to attack the cave.”
“Are you going to attack the cave?”
“yes. Considering the power of the defensive magic installed at the entrance and the subtlety of the curse, it is expected that a considerable amount of black magicians lurk in the cave. Perhaps the warlocks have kidnapped our soldiers for nefarious purposes.”
“In other words, time is life?”
“That’s right. The longer you stay in the warlock’s hands, the more your soldiers will be in danger.”
“Hmm. Then let’s go right now.”
Lloyd said right away.
It’s like saying let’s go to the convenience store to buy triangular gimbap.
Or like going to a local PC room to get a bowl of stomach hair ground.
It was so ordinary that he spat it out in a rather dignified tone.
Of course, Xaviel’s eyes widened.
“yes? what….”
“What is what. They say our kids are being held by a black magician. Besides, my precious construction materials were also taken away, didn’t they?”
“Yes, but-”
Xaviel shook his head.
“It is dangerous for Lloyd-nim to step forward without any preparation. This is too reckless an attempt.”
“You think so?”
“yes. Decided not to.”
Xaviel said with a serious look.
“Even I had to face great danger from the defensive magic circles there. Lloyd-sama’s insignificant skills are absolutely unreasonable. Besides, the opponent is a warlock. I don’t know what other evil traps they may have set up.”
“omg. They say it’s insignificant.”
“Compared to my skills, it’s an undeniable fact.”
“Anyway, if I go now, will I be robbed properly?”
“That’s right. It might be miserably cut, frozen, broken somewhere, or even fried. It’s like a little shrimp that was charred because you forgot to soak it in boiling oil to eat it on Thanksgiving Day.”
“…hey. Does that somehow sound like a heartfelt wish in the description?”
“Not at all. It is a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding is bullshit. It’s completely real.”
Lloyd laughed.
and got up from his seat.
He had a backpack in his hand.
It was a backpack with food and supplies to move in the mountains for several days.
“Then let’s go.”
“yes?”
“I told you. Let’s go to that cave right now. It’s a race against time. They said that the longer our soldiers are held captive, the more dangerous they will become.”
“Of course that’s true, but as it is….”
“are you okay. Trust me.”
Lloyd picked up another backpack.
He put his backpack on his chest and hugged him tightly.
“Follow me quickly. If not, will you throw it away?”
“….”
Xaviel accepts the backpack on a whim.
His expression hardened.
This was a very reckless attempt.
But he hadn’t even dreamed of it.
This time, he had to retreat to the Phlogia Gorge’s cave, or the Dark Wizard’s Dungeon.
That that place is from the novel Iron Blooded Knight.
It is a dungeon that he will attack at the point of view several years later in the novel.
Lloyd, who had read the contents, was fully familiar with the strategy.
He did not know and could not guess.
‘So the guy who was cut by Xaviel in the Phlogia Gorge episode…Was it Lupelan, the warlock?’
Hard!
Lloyd gritted his teeth.
It’s a curse magic circle for defense, and it’s sleeping.
I’ll give him a real sense of what it’s like to mess with his soldiers and construction materials.
On top of that, as a bonus, he would skip everything he had stored in the dungeon, from his spine to his bone marrow to the broth in his pores.
I can’t die even if I want to die.
Everything to be squeezed out will be squeezed out.
‘So, the bottom line is, repeat beforehand that you’ve died.’
Punishment and exploitation.
For that purpose, Lloyd’s steps headed toward the canyon.
