Construction began in earnest.
Thanks to the strengthened surveying and design skills.
The work proceeded smoothly right from the first stage.
"Ppoding?"
"Ppoding?"
"Now, from here on, I'm going to draw a line on the ground."
"Ppoding!"
"Then, can you dig a consistent depth of 1.5 meters inside that line?"
"Ppododong!"
Lloyd asked.
Ppoding nodded its plump head on the palm of his hand.
"Good. Then let's eat this first."
"Ppoding!"
He held out a red sunflower seed.
Ppoding snatched it up as if it had been waiting and crunched it down.
Puuuung!
Its body swelled to ten meters in an instant.
In the meantime, Lloyd picked up a shovel.
He drew a line on the dirt ground with the shovel.
Following the 2D blueprint visible only to him etched on the ground, he outlined the shape of the road.
Scraaaape!
"Now, starting from here, like this. Stick exactly to the line I've drawn and go in that direction. Keep the width at a steady 13 meters, please."
"Ppododong! Ppoding!"
Whoosh!
Ppoding's front paws moved like a gale.
With every jiggle of its plump rear, an enormous amount of soil was excavated and flung backward.
It was a living high-powered excavator.
Lloyd issued his command.
"Engineering Corps Team 1, deploy."
"Deploy!"
The first team of the territory's Engineering Corps—thirty soldiers—grabbed shovels and moved out in unison.
They leaped into the 13-meter-wide, 1.5-meter-deep trench Ppoding had dug.
They followed behind Ppoding as it continued digging forward, scooping out the soil, rocks, and tree root fragments it had scattered everywhere beyond the trench.
Clang! Claaang! Clang! Thunk! Shluck!
Thirty shovels danced.
The sweat drops from Engineering Corps Team 1 sparkled in the sunlight.
Each time, the trench walls and floor were firmly compacted.
Then Ppoding rolled over the surface once more where Team 1 had packed it down.
"Ppoding!"
Ppokgrak!
Ppoding's bouncy butt stamped the ground like a roller.
Its 25-ton weight compressed the soil perfectly.
In that state, Ppoding rolled along the trench.
Ppoduduk!
This was truly the majesty of a living 25-ton roller!
While the foundation work progressed like this, the second team of thirty from the Engineering Corps bustled about.
Engineering Corps Team 2 hauled fine sand from the riverbank.
Then Team 1 spread it evenly across the trench floor.
Compaction followed once again.
The Engineering Corps tamped it down with shovels.
Ppoding pressed it flat with its rear.
The compacted sand layer was precisely 30 centimeters thick.
The work repeated like interlocking gears.
Dig, spread, tamp, press.
On top of the sand went a 30-centimeter layer of egg-sized gravel.
Then a 30-centimeter layer of fist-sized rubble.
Then another 30-centimeter layer of walnut-sized gravel.
Finally, a 20-centimeter layer of fine sand on top.
The territory's two Engineering Corps teams of sixty men, plus quarry workers and miners, all sweated together. Efficient task assignments, proper breaks, and meals were provided.
Thanks to that, by evening on the first day of construction, about 30 meters of foundation work was complete.
"Good."
Lloyd smiled in satisfaction.
It was progressing much faster than expected.
'With Ppoding, things are going perfectly. Construction really needs heavy machinery.'
Thanks to Ppoding handling excavator and roller duties, the pace was lightning-fast.
The Engineering Corps' disciplined movements deserved credit too.
'I trained them well while working on the ondol rooms.'
The sixty-man Engineering Corps was already becoming shovel experts.
Their stamina was incomparable to before.
'It's that manual labor muscle.'
Suddenly, memories of his days as an active-duty soldier in the South Korean army surfaced.
He'd originally enlisted to defend the nation.
But reality was different.
After assignment to his unit?
He sweated more to maintain the company barracks and facilities than for the country.
His military life was filled with manual labor and construction rather than training.
Every day brought new tasks.
Mowing overgrown grass, repairing fences and drainage ditches.
Patching leaky barracks roofs, building guard posts from scratch.
Erecting vinyl greenhouses behind the barracks, hammering together tool sheds to expand storage.
'It was all because I majored in civil engineering.'
It felt like being the company commander's personal summon for free labor.
'Tch, gives me chills.'
Lloyd looked at the Engineering Corps soldiers, recalling those days.
And grinned wickedly.
'You'll get to savor that feeling too.'
The Engineering Corps were salaried territory soldiers anyway.
A small bonus instead of complaints for the construction work would keep things smooth.
They were perfect for working hard while cutting labor costs.
And the construction was just getting started.
Before the spring rains arrived.
He planned to finish the first section of the paved road somehow.
♣
A few days passed.
Fortunately, the weather stayed clear.
As pleasant as the skies, the construction progressed smoothly.
The work site extended noticeably each day.
Territory folk swarmed like clouds to watch, of course.
"Wow. What the heck is this? Why all the fuss?"
"You still don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Word is, this is called a paved road."
"Paved road?"
"Yeah."
"What's it for?"
"No idea. But they say it's something good."
"Good how?"
"...Who knows, probably good?"
"You don't know either."
"Tch."
Some tilted their heads and muttered to each other.
As the road cut through the territory's center, folks speculated on its purpose.
"Maybe it's for a canal?"
"Looks like they'll fill it with water in winter for skating to me."
"Nah, it's fields. Long, straight fields for easier harvesting."
"Doesn't seem easier. Could be for dominoes—they're digging for that."
"No, definitely a canal."
"Ah, skating rink."
"Fields, obviously."
"Or a running track for the lord's sports day."
...and so on.
Of course, the territory folk weren't fools who didn't know roads' uses.
Paved roads made walking easier.
Great for carts hauling goods.
So they couldn't understand this.
'Our territory doesn't have enough traffic for roads. Why?'
Why pave roads in this tiny backwater?
They couldn't grasp the purpose.
The project felt out of nowhere.
Paths got muddy sometimes, but it was just inconvenient.
Did it warrant this money and manpower?
Even the Engineering Corps soldiers shared the doubt.
"Ugh! Hoo, haa, ugh, tough. So tough."
"Hey, no slacking. You the only one shoveling hard?"
"Still. Isn't this overkill?"
"What?"
"Engineering Corps is great—bonuses other soldiers don't get. But this work we're doing? Feels like a huge waste no matter how I look at it."
"Waste?"
"Think about it. What's the point of paving roads here?"
"Well, obviously...."
"Nothing comes to mind, right?"
"...Yeah, true."
The questioned soldier scratched his head.
The complainer irritably wiped sweat from his eyes.
"That's my point. What do we even have here? No trade with other territories. No merchants or armies passing through regularly."
"Yeah. Kingdom's eastern edge."
"Right? And farther east? Just mountains and wasteland."
"Hmm, yeah, now that you say it."
"Exactly. So why build such a fancy road? And toward that empty east?"
"What? For real?"
"Yeah. See for yourself."
"...Damn, it is."
"Right?"
"Sigh, oh well. Young master says pave, we pave."
"Yeah. Tch!"
Thud, smack, smack!
The soldier's shoveling grew rougher.
Days of breathless, gear-like work.
In it, the Engineering Corps began questioning the road's point.
Yet construction pressed on without pause.
It was already underway.
Lloyd knew of the growing grumbles.
But he had no intention of stopping midway.
He had a clear goal.
'They're all puzzled now. Some are annoyed. But once the road's done?'
Everything would change.
They'd see the big picture.
Lloyd was confident he could make it so.
No need for long explanations.
Just show results.
Like his resolve, the work progressed steadily.
Digging the ground.
Laying gravel and sand.
Tamping and pressing.
Foundation sections grew.
Soon piercing the territory center.
Reaching the eastern foothills.
Climbing the gentle slope into the mountainside.
There, Lloyd advanced to the next phase.
Paving the foundation road in earnest.
For that, he mobilized every territory stonemason.
"Alright. Now it's your turn to shine. All that foundation work was prep for the paving ahead."
"Yes, Young Master."
"Listen up. How to lay the paving stones on the foundation is...."
Lloyd's instructions continued.
The stonemasons' eyes sparkled at the novel techniques.
Soon, paving began.
"Let's move! No forgetting safety rules!"
"Yes, sir!"
Stonemasons and Engineering Corps teamed up and deployed.
They laid large, flat stones evenly over the prepared foundation.
70-centimeter-square stones interlocked perfectly.
Seams were nearly invisible.
That wasn't all.
The 6-meter-wide road crowned slightly higher in the center than the edges, forming a gentle arch for rainwater drainage.
At the concave edges, 50-centimeter-wide, 20-centimeter-deep drainage ditches flanked it. Beyond them, 3-meter-wide compacted sidewalks hugged both sides.
'This keeps the road from flooding. Side ditches handle water naturally, gravel-sand base prevents pooling. Separate sidewalks keep carts and pedestrians apart.'
Finally, Lloyd marked off no-tree zones along the sides.
Tree roots could undermine the pavement.
Construction resumed.
Paved sections extended daily.
From the lord's manor entrance through residential areas.
Past homes and market to the outskirts.
Finally to the eastern mountainside.
All sections complete.
Frontera Territory's first paved road was finished.
Yet even then, no one grasped its true meaning.
Not the folk.
Not the Engineering Corps.
Not even Baron Frontera, who'd approved it.
No one fathomed why Lloyd built it.
Then spring rains hit.
Torrents for over ten days.
All paths turned to mud.
Only the new road held firm.
As everyone expected.
Such effort on paving.
Naturally rain-resistant.
Doubts lingered stronger.
Why such an overkill road?
What for?
Pouring rain amplified the questions.
Finally, the morning rains cleared.
Amid doubts and suspicions, Lloyd walked the paved road.
To its end, the eastern mountainside.
There, he planted an unexpected sign.
[Bitumen Mine Construction Site: Unauthorized Farming Prohibited - Lord's Son Baek]
At last, Lloyd's grand vision—from his first day's ondol plans—began to reveal itself.
(End of Chapter 21)
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