Construction sites were not merely places for digging and erecting things from the ground. With all the materials, laborers, and miscellaneous costs involved, they also set the perfect stage for extravagant spending. There was money quietly, no, outright being poured into them, and that was typical everywhere around the world.
This has always been true throughout history. There have been hundreds of countries, dynasties, kings, and nobles that became obsessed over a massive construction project. There have been more than a few times when that obsession caused financial ruin for those who didn't consider the impact it would have on their wallet.
Construction sites weren't something to be overlooked. This was especially true the larger they were.
"And we're boring a tunnel into the range. And who commissioned the job to us?" asked Lloyd rhetorically.
"Her Majesty gave you the order as a form of test," replied Javier coolly.
"Right," affirmed Lloyd. "Then, who should pay for the construction?"
"Well, of course-"
"You are right!" Lloyd clapped loudly. "She should pay. Why should I use my own money? And that's why-"
"You are draining the royal treasury," Javier interrupted.
Lloyd put on a scowl. "Hey, drain the treasury? You are being dramatic."
Javier stared at Lloyd, narrowing his eyes.
"All I am doing is billing someone who commissioned a construction project so that I can purchase the required materials for it."
Lloyd spoke in a direct tone as if his response was common sense. Yes, the House of Magentano commissioned this construction project, and he was the contracted developer.
To sum up, I'm the developer. The queen's the property owner. Moreover, she's the richest property owner across the entire continent. There's no need for a credit construction.
Credit construction was when a developer covered a portion of the costs for a construction project since not every property owner in the world had an overflowing budget to work with.
The truth is that most property owners are slightly short on money, and that's why some developers offer loans in exchange for signing a contract with them.
This made it easier to start and complete construction projects. The property owners would gather funds while a construction was in progress to pay off their remaining balance. That was the general idea of a credit construction. However, now...
There's no need for that! Why should I when she has plenty of money to burn?
With no exaggeration, there was no need for him to spend a penny. Moreover, he didn't want to for another reason.
"I have to freeze time."
He had to freeze the flow of time for this project, too, since it was expected to take a few months.
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway took 26 months to complete. Though this railway won't take as much time, I expect it to take at least a year.
Lloyd tallied up the months. It appeared that a year was sufficient. "So, I need everything from materials to people before I freeze time since there would be no way to get them elsewhere once time freezes."
"Well, you have a point. So, your plan is to receive everything at once?"
"That's right. Everything. All at once. I'll be back. Meanwhile, watch over Yong Yong, okay?" Lloyd asked, thinking that he had no time to waste.
"You speak as if... you're leaving me to watch your dog."
"Well, somewhat?"
"Don't you have any other assurances for me?"
"Assurances?" asked Lloyd with a baffled look.
Javier nodded. "Yes."
"What assurances?" Lloyd cocked his chin. "Wait, you can't be asking me for sweet words of assurance like, 'be safe', 'don't skip meals', or 'watch out for the flu'?"
"Of course not, sir. However..." Javier shook his head, replying in his cold voice. "In case you experience an unintended event."
"Me? An unintended event?"
"Yes, like an unfortunate accident, a beheading from the queen after upsetting her, or dying from chronic pneumonia on your flight back home... Those kinds of events."
“...”
"So," Javier went on. "If your absence prolongs, what should I do after supervising Yong Yong?"
"Are you planning to cheer or something?"
"Is that what you want me to do?"
"No. Not at all. Never." Lloyd chuckled. He knew Javier was joking as usual, but it didn't sound like that to him.
Really, my death might be something worth celebrating. The restoration of destiny won't happen if I'm gone, after all.
Lloyd was certain of it, even though no one knew that Javier's role as the main character had been stolen by him. He laughed at the thought. "Don't say such scary words, and don't get any strange ideas either."
"Ideas?"
"Never mind, dude. I'll be right back." Lloyd hopped on Ggoming and departed for the capital after a light tap on Javier's shoulders. Fortunately, he didn't have to meet Queen Magentano in person because she had already arranged a special budget for him.
I expected no less of the queen!
Come to think of it, she was always like this. Always a step ahead of him.
On top of that, the budget is extremely generous.
Lloyd nearly burst into tears when he saw the amount written on the check from the imperial house. It was more than enough for the construction. Because of the generous financial support, the construction gained momentum as Lloyd traveled to Namaran and Cremo, respectively. Everything went swimmingly during his visits to both places as well. When word got out that Lloyd, the city's savior, was looking for various supplies, including groceries, construction materials, and other necessities, all the merchants competed to help him. They lined up in front of him and offered to give him a special lower price. It was as if they were competing in a survival show, and Lloyd was the judge. After going through a buffet-style selection of his supplies, Lloyd completed his preparation in ten days and headed back to the range. The place changed dramatically in ten days. No, it had completely transformed.
"Haah..."
Lloyd exhaled in awe as he took in the sight around him. First, the cone-shaped and cylinder-shaped peaks around the rift that Lloyd planned to construct on were no longer there. More specifically, they had been cleanly broken down from the base, and the rift between them had also significantly changed. It was wider and easier on the eyes, with little change in altitude. Everything was going exactly as he had planned.
I know I ordered this myself, but it's impressive. Very impressive.
He felt a sense of accomplishment well up inside him. It was the exact outcome he had hoped for after experimenting with his simulation countless times.
Perfect.
This was good enough. He met all the minimum requirements to attempt the construction. However, there was one more thing he needed.
Everything has to be in place before I freeze the flow of time.
There was still a lot of work he needed to complete. Lloyd looked for Javier.
"Hey, are you sleeping?" Lloyd discovered Javier resting in front of a fire in his cave. Javier extended a plate with freshly grilled mushrooms toward him.
"Warm yourself first, Young Master," invited Javier. "I started grilling them earlier as I expected you to arrive soon."
"Are you sure I didn't catch you about to eat them all by yourself?"
"Looks like I have been caught," Javier said, playing along.
"I knew it. These aren't poisonous, by the way, right?"
"They are."
"For real?"
"No."
"Tsk." Lloyd took the plate and ate it after carefully inspecting it. The warm and aromatic mushroom melted in his mouth. "Hey, do you have any more food you've squirreled away for yourself?" he asked, enjoying the remaining warmth in his mouth.
"No, Master Lloyd."
"Good. Then, go and observe the area across the range."
Javier sighed and looked hard at Lloyd in silence.
"Why? What? Why are you narrowing your eyes and glaring at me like that?"
"I was wondering if you are punishing me for not stashing away more food for you."
"This isn't a punishment." Lloyd grinned as he chewed the mushroom. "I'm planning to fly around with Yong Yong in just a moment."
"Fly around?"
"To Namaran and Cremo. I need to bring back the prepared supplies."
"Oh."
"That's the reason. The whole range is going to be in an uproar while I fly around with Yong Yong."
"Indeed. That should be the case. In fact, the place has been quite chaotic since a few days ago."
"It was, right?"
"Yes. Ever since Sir Yong Yong demolished the two peaks of the range."
"No surprise there." Lloyd's grin grew wider. It was only natural. After all, this was a massive undertaking. The two peaks had to be removed in order to widen the rift and smoothen the steep slopes. This was no ordinary foundation manicure. The terrain had been pretty much ripped apart and put back together.
"The construction affected the areas beyond the range as well, after all." Since the railway would run in two directions, a number of places in the range had to be smoothed and flattened. "That likely caused a commotion in the kingdom across as the range was once impassable to anyone, merchants or military alike, and served as a natural blockade for them against the Magentano Kingdom."
And boom! As if it were a sculptor, the Bone Dragon randomly appeared and began to destroy the mountains, breaking down, carving out, and filling in the rough terrains. In the eyes of those on the other side of the range, that would have looked like a disastrous, terrifying invasion.
"The military should be rushing here now since the Bone Dragon appeared out of nowhere and started destroying the area that they deemed to be secure. Well, that's a good thing for us anyway," explained Lloyd in a calm voice.
"Good for us?"
"The range belongs to nobody under international law. It's an unexplored area that can be developed without anyone's permission as long as they have the skills and capital."
"So, you are saying that everything is fine as we are developing the land within those parameters."
"Yeah. And it's not like we're harming them."
"But they must be petrified."
"That is why I need you to be watching out on the other side." Lloyd pricked the last mushroom piece. "The patrollers should be approaching to assess the situation. Or the military may arrive. That's a problem. We don't want them to figure out what we're up to because this site is ours."
"Why?"
"Simple. According to international law, the first to develop becomes the owner. So, we can well expect that they'll put up a fight once they realize we're doing this to build the trade route because it will eventually belong to the Magentano Kingdom, and they won't be happy for the direct route to open up. So I need you to put a stop to it."
"Stop them from coming up here?"
"Yeah. That way they won't notice what's going on here. However, don't hit or kill them until I come back with Yong Yong. Can you do it?"
"Yes. It is doable."
"Good." It was done. Javier could do it. He could shoo away dozens of patrollers so simply and easily. It would be the case even if they barged in with hundreds and thousands of armies.
Anyway, this guy is just something.
Lloyd felt strange all of a sudden. He couldn't believe that a man like Javier was following him. How? Why? This moment, following his instructions, sharing jokes, and sitting around the bonfire with him, suddenly seemed bizarre to Lloyd.
The Knight of Blood and Iron. When I read it, he was this fictional character I found cool and could only hope to hang out.
Lloyd stared hard at Javier sitting across from him. Javier, feeling the gaze, looked back strangely. "Master Lloyd? Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Oh, your brows are slightly asymmetrical."
"My brows?"
"Yeah."
"So...?"
"What do you mean, so? That shows you're human too."
"It makes me human that my eyebrows are not proportionate?"
"Yeah. It means that you are not perfect."
"That means you are very human."
"Hey."
"If I look up close, it's hard to find anything on your face that's proportionate. Your eyebrows, eyes, and eyelids. Your nose bridge is a little wonky. Your nostrils are also different sizes. Crud. Disproportion is your face. And your personality. Whew. Let us not go there."
"Ha... I hope millions of soldiers come marching here while I'm gone."
"Do you wish for me to die, Young Master?"
"Yeah."
A gutted look flashed across Javier's face for a second.
"I'm joking. You know that, right?" Lloyd smiled like a naughty child, worried.
"Yes. I was joking too."
"That my entire face is disproportionate?"
"No. That you are human."
“...”
"That was the joke."
“...”
Dammit. Lloyd cursed inwardly, thinking he would have punched Javier if he hadn't been a grandmaster. Lloyd then laughed, hoping that Javier would not die and that their story would not end with one of them dying or disappearing. He promised he'd make that happen. The night darkened as the brightly lit bonfire burned in front of them. At the same time, in the corner of the mountains, the Elemental King of the Pantara Range, who was slowly losing control over his territory, icily glared at the two of them.
