Flash!
A pale light dyed the space.
An unfamiliar silhouette began to flicker.
It revealed its true form with a powerful shockwave.
Crackle!
"Bangul!"
Something cried out in a cheeky voice.
It whirled toward him.
Lloyd hurriedly caught "it" with both hands, afraid it might slip away.
A plump, solid sensation dropped into his palm.
What Fantasy Beast had he drawn this time?
Lloyd checked its appearance.
"Bangul!"
"Huh?"
A 10-centimeter-long plump body.
A round, chubby head.
Round, sparkling eyes.
A golden bell tied with a ribbon at the tip of its tail.
"...A snake?"
The new Fantasy Beast was a snake.
But it was a chibi-style snake.
It wasn't an insult or belittlement.
Its head and body were exactly 1:1 in proportion—a pudgy chibi size!
"You, are you really a snake?"
"Bangul!"
It nodded, confirming yes.
Its smiling face looked sassy.
Seeing that, a sudden guess came to mind.
Lloyd asked.
"By any chance, is your name Bangul?"
"Bangul? Pababangul!"
The new Fantasy Beast—no, Bangul—nodded again.
His guess was spot on.
'Crying out its own name isn't anything rare.'
Even that famous cartoon character Pixtchu goes "Pikapika."
That thought made the connection between Fantasy Beasts' names and cries click.
Lloyd looked at Bangul up to that point.
A snake with chibi proportions.
He doubted if it could even crawl properly.
But Lloyd didn't jump to conclusions.
He already had experience drawing Podong.
That experience taught him.
You can't judge Fantasy Beasts by their looks alone.
"Bangul?"
"Bangul?"
"Do you, by chance, have something like an instruction manual?"
"Pababangul? Bangul!"
He asked just in case, and it was true.
Bangul opened its mouth wide.
Inside was a cheek pouch.
Opening the pouch revealed a set of 10 sunflower seeds and a neatly folded note.
Lloyd read the note carefully.
[Bangul Instruction Manual]
[Bangul is a lovable bell snake. Please care for it with love and attention.]
[Bangul offers absolute trust and loyalty to you, its summoner. A Fantasy Beast is a lifelong companion and family member. Please do not abandon it carelessly.]
[Bangul can change its size by eating two types of sunflower seeds.]
[Red Sunflower Seed: Makes Bangul gigantic. Maximum giant form duration = 12 hours]
[Blue Sunflower Seed: Makes Bangul petite. Feed it before the giant form maximum duration expires. If you exceed 12 hours in giant form without a blue sunflower seed, Bangul will enter an exhausted state. It will automatically return to petite form, but giant form will be impossible again for 24 hours.]
[2-color sunflower seed set purchase cost: 1 RP.]
[Bangul can use various skills in giant form.]
[Bangul's Skill List]
[Dirt Gobbling (Lv. 1)]
[Dirt Digestion Acceleration (Lv. 1)]
[Steel Poop Discharge (Lv. 1)]
'What the heck. Dirt Gobbling? Digestion Acceleration? Steel Poop Discharge?'
Lloyd's jaw dropped as he saw Bangul's skill list.
It was an utterly absurd combination of skills.
'No way it eats dirt and poops out steel...right?'
The suspicion crept in.
He pulled out a red sunflower seed.
He handed it to Bangul as a test.
"Bangul?"
"Bangul?"
"Wanna try eating this?"
"Bangul!"
Bangul snatched the sunflower seed eagerly, as if it had been waiting.
Lloyd set Bangul down on the ground and quickly stepped back.
Soon, the moment Bangul gulped down the red sunflower seed.
Boom!
"Bangul!"
It grew gigantic.
Into a 5-meter-long pudgy chibi bell snake.
'Yeah, I expected something like this.'
Lloyd had already experienced Podong.
He approached the giant Bangul.
"Bangul?"
"Bangul!"
"Wanna test out a skill for me?"
"Bangul?"
"Like Dirt Gobbling and digesting it, stuff like that. Can you do it?"
"Pababangul?"
Bangul's eyes turned sulky.
As if doubting whether he was questioning its abilities.
Lloyd flinched.
'Whoa, sassy reaction. Is Bangul's personality different from Podong's?'
It seemed so.
He softened his tone to more of a plea.
"Of course I trust your abilities. I just wanna see it in action. It'll be awesome."
"Bangul?"
"I mean it."
"Bangul!"
Only then did Bangul's expression brighten.
Pleased, it wriggled its plump body this way and that.
Then it lowered its large, round head.
It opened its mouth toward the training ground floor.
"Pababangul!"
Chomp! Munch munch! Gulp!
...Mom, it's eating dirt.
Is this what I look like when I devour chicken?
Bangul ate the dirt so deliciously that such thoughts crossed his mind.
It gobbled, gulped, and swallowed.
After eating for a while, it burped.
Then it suddenly shook its short, plump tail vigorously.
"Bangul! Pababangul!"
Jingle jingle!
The ribbon bell at its tail tip rang noisily.
At the same time, Bangul raised its tail tip.
It made a straining face.
The next moment.
Pew-pew-pew-pew!
It fired a thin, long steel poop straight backward, glowing red-hot!
"...."
What the hell, it's not even popcorn.
Lloyd suppressed his bewilderment.
Instead, he examined the steel poop Bangul had fired.
That's when he realized Bangul's true power(?).
'This is insane.'
Bangul's poop was genuinely steel.
But not just a messy lump.
'It's rebar.'
About 10 meters long.
Thumb-thick.
And uniform.
No irregularities at all.
Perfectly consistent thickness from start to finish.
In other words, perfectly forged rebar itself!
'And it's scorching hot.'
The steel poop was still cooling, radiating red-hot heat.
The implication was clear.
'We can cut and bend it before it cools. To any length we want.'
Meaning, on-site, cut to size or bend it for immediate use as construction material.
Rebar at our fingertips.
Anytime, just feed it dirt!
'This is totally nuts.'
It was too good to be true.
Unbelievably awesome.
Thinking about it, this wasn't just pooping rebar.
It could gobble dirt.
Meaning, it could dig tunnels.
So, incorporating Bangul into his original shield method plan?
'Inside the shield device, Bangul gobbles dirt. Digs the tunnel. Simultaneously discharges steel poop...er, rebar. The blacksmith cuts it right there. Workers make segments—wall panels—to support the tunnel on-site and erect them immediately. Advance the shield, Bangul gobbles dirt, extracts rebar...'
The work plan formed perfectly in his mind.
The more he thought, the more mind-blowing it was.
'If this works, we can cut construction time to 1/10th.'
Lloyd had only hoped for something with basic digging abilities.
But this was way beyond.
Lloyd looked back at Bangul in a daze.
"Bangul?"
"Bangul?"
"You...you're a total game-changer."
"Pababangul?"
"No, like, super ultra game-changer."
"Bangul!"
Lloyd gave a thumbs-up.
Bangul beamed happily too.
***
Construction prep gained serious momentum.
Starting from the day he drew Bangul.
Lloyd redesigned the shield device for Bangul.
Even the rebar layout for segments and wall panels matched.
Bangul was the core of this construction.
"Podong! Pododong!"
"Bangul?"
"Podong!"
"Pababangul!"
Fortunately, Podong and Bangul got along great.
He'd worried the hamster and snake might clash(?), but it was unfounded.
Maybe the bond of being fellow Fantasy Beasts.
The bouncy hamster and pudgy chibi bell snake became besties in no time.
On idle days, they rolled around all day, bouncing and plump bodies tumbling. Basking in the sun, dozing off, more sunbathing, dozing again.
'Sigh. You guys have it good. Rolling around all day and still getting called cute.'
While the two Fantasy Beasts played, Lloyd stayed busy.
He frequented the forge daily.
Hounded the blacksmiths nonstop.
Personally oversaw the shield device fabrication.
About ten days later, the shield device was finally complete.
A cylindrical device like a long cola can laid on its side, open top and bottom.
About 3 meters in diameter.
At the front center was Bangul's riding(?) spot. Around it, honeycomb-pattern sturdy supports bolstered the outer wall.
Behind that, space for workers.
There, protected by the shield structure, they'd receive and cut Bangul's steel poop—rebar—and erect wall panels on-site to prevent tunnel collapse.
'Perfect.'
Next was manpower.
Lloyd assembled the work crew.
With Baron Frontera's permission as lord, things progressed smoothly.
Blacksmith group to cut hot rebar on-site.
Engineering Corps to assist blacksmiths and advance the shield.
Crew assembled in a flash.
Work began immediately.
The shield device's true power(?) shone.
"Bangul! Pababangul!"
Bangul inside the shield device bobbed its large head around.
It chomped and swallowed dirt and rock with its wide-open mouth.
Soon its plump belly jiggled.
It shook its stubby tail hard.
Jingle jingle!
The tail bell rang loudly.
"It's coming!"
At Lloyd's shout, the blacksmiths tensed.
Soon Bangul's steel poop shot out in rebar form.
Pew-pew-pew-pew!
Red-hot steel rebar stretched like taffy!
"Before it cools—hurry! Haviel!"
Lloyd shouted.
Haviel moved at his call.
He shed his coat.
Drew his sword.
Shing!
The longsword gleamed as coldly as Haviel's expression.
It dropped vertically like lightning.
Toward the red-hot rebar.
Sizzle!
A full-power overhead strike from Sword Expert-advanced Haviel.
The longsword sliced the hot rebar cleanly.
Not just once.
"Hey! Cutting to spec, right?"
"Of course."
Sizzle! Sizzle! Snick! Snick! Slice!
Haviel's longsword danced.
Relentlessly striking down on the rebar.
The iron-blooded blade that felled countless mighty foes in the original work *Iron-Blooded Knight*.
Now cutting a Fantasy Beast's steel poop.
Its swordplay was as clean and flashy as a mother slicing rice cakes every night, or an auntie who'd spent her life at Kimbap Heaven slicing kimbap—precise and flawless.
Clang! Clang!
The rebar scattered in long and short pieces, a dozen strands.
All exactly to Lloyd's specs.
Lloyd gave a thumbs-up.
"Nice! Not even a cabbage leaf's width off!"
"...Thank you."
Lloyd cheered.
Haviel sighed deeply at his sudden demotion(?) to rebar cutter.
Next, the blacksmiths' turn.
"Before the rebar cools—move! Assemble!"
"Got it! Yes, sir!"
Under Lloyd's command, the blacksmiths moved in unison.
They bent Haviel's cut rebar to size.
Wove and tied it.
Secured and assembled.
Wall panels formed step by step. Erected.
The densely woven cylindrical panels matched the shield's inner dimensions perfectly.
Lloyd confirmed and shouted.
"Shield, advance!"
"Advance!"
Dozens of Engineering Corps members echoed.
They pushed the levers linked to the shield with force.
The heavy shield carrying Bangul and workers inched forward.
Exactly 1 meter into the space Bangul had eaten away.
Leaving a 1-meter wall panel behind.
Rumble!
The shield that had supported the tunnel passed forward.
The tunnel ceiling and walls shook.
But didn't collapse.
The wall panel filled the void, bracing the walls and ceiling.
Everything as Lloyd planned.
'Good. It's working perfectly.'
Confidence filled Lloyd's eyes.
His commanding voice brimmed with vigor.
His gaze sharpened on the front.
Zzzzzz!
Intermediate Survey: Lv 3 always active.
Lloyd could scout 5 meters ahead where they'd dig.
Ground conditions upfront.
Any dangerous gas layers?
He peered clearly, directing work.
Real-time "blind spot foresight."
Rivaling modern tech like seismic testing (TSP, HSP) or reflection photography for subsurface scans.
"Keep the momentum!"
"Hyah!"
"Bangul!"
Lloyd's commands, workers' spirited chants, Bangul's cheeky cries echoed.
Burrowing deeper into the mountainside.
Rapid construction.
Thus, no one knew.
What awaited them at the end of this tunnel they were digging.
(End of Chapter 23)
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