[A new title, "Hell's Top Talent," has been created.]
Lloyd grinned as he was about to leave the Benetto Kingdom when a message appeared in front of his eyes.
Haha.
As expected, titles tended to appear at a later time, until the impacts of a project could clearly be seen in society They rarely appeared right after construction was completed.
I suppose this is natural because civil engineering values pragmatism. A construction should result in something that is not just pretty and grand but useful to society at the end of the day.
Lloyd believed that the Pantara Railway would have a significant impact on international trade, similar to how the Suez and Panama Canal transformed the world of cargo transportation. He carefully scanned the messages.
[Hell's Top Talent]
[Title Level: Hero's Legacy]
Okay, it's time to study the railway of the past. Open your History of Modern Civil Engineering Book to page 359. Yes. That's the famous Pantara Railway, which I'm sure every one of you knows. Student in the front row. Could you briefly walk us through how this railroad came to be? Excellent. That's correct. The Pantara Railway, just like what the student said, is a masterpiece built by Lloyd Frontera, who received an order from the Magentano House. Hahaha. Are you all bored? It's Lloyd Frontera again. Look at this section, and you'll find Lloyd Frontera. Move on to the next part, and you still find him. I, too, am sick of him. Had it not been for him, we would only have one-eighth of what we will study this summer. But what else can we do? That son of a gun set the groundwork for the civil engineering of our empire. So, it would be unfair if we were the only ones to suffer, no? Let's hit the books. Come now. Let's study harder, create new theories, and make it harder for the students who'll come after you all. All right, so the Pantara Railroad introduced the switchback system for the first time in the world...
[Compliment Effect: You used every means possible to finish the railroad in the Pantara Range. In this process, you tricked countless people who shuddered in shock and repulsion. The demons watching over you could not give you enough paise. As a result, countless residents of Hell and the undead have come to respect and admire you even more strongly.]
[Precaution: The affections of the demons may come at the expense of Hell's King's overwhelming desire to recruit you.]
[Title Region: All The Regions of the Human World and Hell]
[Active Period of Title: 1200 Years (Human world) / 750,000 Years (Hell)]
[A title's powers can be activated for 24 hours in the region for which the compliment was given. Moreover, the time and region can expand or shrink depending on your actions.]
[Monthly CP Earned from the Title: 8]
[Current CP: 1,648]
Lloyd's brows wiggled after finishing reading. It was all good and impressive.
But it feels like there's a trap here.
Lloyd's eyes focused on the word "Caution".
Hell's King's overwhelming desire to recruit me?
Did that mean the Hell's King would hire him after he died? Does it mean he would have to work his butt off even after death instead of resting? Something did not sit right with him.
I don't like the idea of that.
Lloyd despised he thought of working in Hell with every fiber of his being. He was already tirelessly working every day and peace was something he couldn't even dream about. He refused to still work after death.
Tsk. I need to look into this later.
It could backfire on him if he pushed this aside as nothing. However, there was other work he needed to take care of right now.
I need to finish the railroad construction here, return to the palace for the Tears of Summer, treat the side effect of absorbing the Heart of Winter, and then finally resolve the restoration of destiny.
He felt like a college student with a pile of assignments that couldn't be pushed aside.
Tsk.
Feeling a surge of bitterness, Lloyd went back to the construction site for the railroad.
♣
The railroad construction was finished without much problem. It was all thanks to the operation and maintenance procedures that Lloud thought of in advance.
"The train will run twice a day, morning and afternoon. But if there's an overwhelming amount of cargo, that can be extended to a maximum of four. Don't forget," reminded Lloyd.
"There are dozens of cars attached to the long train. I wonder how it could get overwhelmed," pointed out Javier.
Lloyd assured him that it would. "This railroad will carry goods from nearly everywhere across the southwest, beginning with the Benetto Kingdom and neighboring nations. Magentano Kingdom will also be sending many freights to the southwest. Why? That would save months of travel time by avoiding a round trip. Think about all the risk factors, like encounters with mountain robbers and monsters, that would be eliminated. Even if they have to wait a month to be allocated, everyone will still hurry to utilize the facility. A month of waiting and paying a storage fee would be more cost-effective than months of circling the range."
To begin with, Lloyd planned for the train to make up to six roundtrips every day. That way there wouldn't be too many shipment delays.
"And that's why it wasn't for nothing when I built large-scale warehouses on both ends of the train platform. One here in the Magentano and the other in the Benetto Kingdom."
"You foresaw that the orders and items would be piled up."
"Yeah, and that is why I built the makeshift station at the rift's summit," Lloyd explained. The said station was built when the upward tracks were completed and the downward tracks were ready for construction. "Because you never know when emergencies might occur, and people who maintain the railway should have a place to live."
"You are right."
Sure, the construction was important, but so was its maintenance. With that in mind, Lloyd stated, "About 30 orcs and ten elves will be stationed there. They will check the railroad every day and be trained to make immediate repairs when necessary. I will also place elementals with them."
Lloyd chuckled as he spoke. He had not expected to get support from the elementals on the first leg of this project. But now, thanks to them, the number of laborers that would need to reside here could be significantly reduced since their lack of physical presence allowed them to travel around the track freely.
"That sounds like labor exploitation..." remarked Javier, finding Lloyd unbelievable.
Lloyd shrugged. "Not necessarily. There are countless low-level elementals."
"Countless?"
"I asked the high-level elementals for a number, and they said it is about 60,000. I was told they're going to be fine as long as they properly distribute the work amongst themselves."
"Without pay...?"
"Free, my foot." Lloyd chuckled. "You know I don't believe anything's free in the world. I hate putting people to work without compensating them as much as I hate doing things for free. Their labor will be compensated."
"What kind of compensation?"
"I'll make sure that no human will enter the entire range except the railroad zones. I'll ask the queen to formalize it into a law. And besides, this place rarely has any human traffic in the first place."
That was the deal Lloyd made with the high-level elementals. But Javier slightly frowned upon hearing it.
"It appears that your negotiation skill is becoming more evil day by day."
"Eh? Why?"
"These mountains had no human traffic to begin with. Yet, you destroyed a part of the elementals' home only to declare that you would protect it. I am not sure if you are shameless or sly."
"Well," said Lloyd. "I won't deny it. Let's say that I'm both."
"I would not find you so spiteful if you didn't admit it at the very least."
"Consider it karma."
Lloyd ultimately grinned. It was not in his plans to become an Elemental King. But now that he was, he wanted to make the most of it and believed that protecting the remaining untouched nature was the best he could do for them.
"Everyone's happy. The elementals are happy with the deal, and I'm happy to have a larger workforce for the railroad's maintenance."
Just like that, he stayed a few more days at the site, looking over the operation of the railway and maintenance system one more time, supervising the quality of travel of four trains made up of ten cars, and providing basic education to the residential repairers.
"Are we clear? A few days later, there will be more help arriving from the Imperial House of Magentano," promised Lloyd.
"You can leave it to us, oink!" the orcs replied.
"Tell them to bring lots of meat," said the elves with a smile.
Then, it became time to say farewell and return home. In the reversed order of their arrival, the following groups departed from the site aboard Yong Yong: the engineers, White Cavalry lancers, elf archers, ores (minus 350 train propellers and sand men), and Skeleton Corps.
Once everyone was back home safe, Lloyd turned to the capital. "Time to meet the queen!" And as soon as he arrived at Magenta, he made his way to the palace and requested an audience.
"I see, sir. I will inform Her Majesty. Please wait here."
Lloyd waited just like the Lord Great Chamberlain said. And soon, the latter returned and said, "Her Majesty has agreed to meet you. Please, this way."
Lloyd followed him down the corridor, and his heart felt an unexpected burst of sense of reward.
Ha... Finally. Just a few steps, and I'm done.
Lloyd's huge picture, which he had created the instant he confronted the Minister of Angels in the sky, was now about to be realized. With only a few steps remaining, he felt delighted.
And, as promised, I will get my hands on the Tears of Summer. In the meantime, there won't be a need to return to the capital for a while since I have no favors to ask from the queen. So, I will try to stay as far away from here as possible.
Lloyd didn't want to get too close to the queen. Sure, she was being generous with her assistance and making things convenient for Lloyd. But he didn't want to grow too close to her.
Never. Never.
He didn't want it. Getting closer to the queen was the same as becoming a neighbor with a boss at work.
Sure, a huge wage is nice, but if it means giving up boundaries, that is uncomfortable. Why would I do that? My honeypot is already full, and I have got a strategy to keep it that way. I only need to stop destiny.
Lloyd made a mental note to distance himself from the queen after attaining the Tears of Summer. Just then, he noticed that he was being led to a different path.
What's going on?
He looked around and was passing through the convoluted staircases and corridors. He was familiar with them but in a bad way.
This leads to the training center...
This wasn't the way to her office. It was the way to the training hall that sat in the annex. Realizing that something was off at that moment, Lloyd asked, "Excuse me?"
"Yes, Young Lord. Is there something you wish to know?"
"I do. Why are we heading to the training hall?"
"Oh, I was about to tell you what Her Majesty has asked you to prepare."
"Prepare?" Lloyd asked again, gulping involuntarily.
The Lord Great Chamberlain put on a meaningful smile. "Her Majesty issued a special order to have you come with a solid shovel, sturdy training clothes, and strong resolution."
What the heck? Am I going to have a sparring session with her? But I just asked her for an audience. Why? Why is she trying to make me her punching bag?
Lloyd felt sick to his stomach after making sense of the situation. When he entered the training hall, he discovered something very unexpected.
