Ding-dong.
[The people of Frontera Barony are deeply impressed by your heroic courage and leadership, showering you with praise.]
[As a bonus for this massive social achievement, a large amount of RP has been specially awarded.]
[Acquired 500 RP.]
[Current RP holdings: 507]
"...."
Lloyd blinked.
Was it because he'd slept so deeply for so long?
His eyes wouldn't focus properly.
No, he was seeing things.
'RP? Massive acquisition? A whopping 500?'
He read the message in a daze.
As he did, fragments of what had happened slowly came back to him.
'Ah.'
The tunnel construction.
The beast ants.
The methane gas explosion.
Stranded in the dark cave.
Carrying Haviel on his back and trudging along.
'I survived.'
He recalled staggering along with Haviel on his back.
He also remembered meeting the baron and the soldiers at the end.
Finally, Lloyd grasped the meaning of the message floating before his eyes.
'Heh heh heh. Everyone's praising this body's feats?'
A very good sign.
They were all splendid.
Lloyd felt deeply satisfied.
He'd flailed desperately to avoid death.
He'd survived with the tenacious vitality of a weed.
Thanks to that, he'd raked in a boatload of RP he hadn't even expected.
It felt like pulling out winter clothes in late autumn and finding a forgotten wad of 50,000-won bills stuffed in a pocket from last year.
He fell into pleasant deliberation.
'How should I spend this? No, better to save it up rather than splurge just because I've got some stockpiled.'
Who knew what might happen in the future.
In such emergencies, a thick stack of RP was the most reliable card.
This incident proved it.
'What if carrying Haviel around hadn't raised his affinity?'
Then he wouldn't have earned any RP.
He wouldn't have invested that RP to turn the Asrahan Heart Method into a skill.
'I'd have been done for.'
Goosebumps prickled his arms.
'So RP is the trump card and the ultimate insurance. No wasting it—stockpile generously.'
Lloyd shook off the chills.
Then, suddenly, he glanced to the side.
His movement froze.
He opened his mouth.
"You, what are you doing there?"
"Watching Lord Lloyd."
"...."
"...."
Lloyd had asked the question.
Haviel had answered.
Silence flowed between them.
Once again, Lloyd broke the silence.
"No, I mean, since when have you been sitting there all statue-like, staring at me from afar?"
"If you're asking when, hmm, about three hours ago, I'd say."
"Three hours?"
"Yes. I switched shifts with my liege after breakfast."
"So you've been sitting there since after breakfast?"
"Yes."
"You watched me lying there all morning?"
"Yes."
"Are you a pervert?"
"No."
"Then?"
"I was merely nursing Lord Lloyd."
"Nursing? What nursing?"
"If your breathing stopped while lying there, I'd be ready to call for help right away."
"...."
"I'm joking."
"Uh, doesn't sound much like a joke."
"Must be your imagination."
"Anyway, are you okay?"
"Yes, more or less."
Lloyd's gaze shifted to Haviel's ankle.
A faint smile played on Haviel's lips.
"It's all better now."
"Already? How many days has it been?"
"Four days."
"...So I've been out for four whole days?"
"Yes."
"And your ankle, which you couldn't even walk on after twisting it, is fully healed in four days?"
"Yes."
"Wow. Be honest. You were faking it that day, right?"
"What's 'faking it'?"
"Overreacting."
"I've never overreacted."
Haviel replied as if wondering what he meant.
A vein throbbed at Lloyd's temple.
"What do you mean never? You couldn't walk properly. Your face looked like you were about to cry. Huh? 'Lord Lloyd, I can't walk,' whine whine. Huh? You kept whimpering. Huh? And this body had to carry you on my back. And it was all an act?"
"Of course not."
Haviel shrugged.
Then he tossed out his usual cynical remark.
"It's thanks to triple circle recovery power."
"Recovery power? Triple circle?"
"That's right."
"Ah, so amplifying mana like boom-boom with triple circles gives you exceptional recovery?"
"Accurate summary."
"Phew. Makes me feel hard done by. My joints are still aching."
"No need to feel hard done by."
"Why?"
"Just think of it as your recovery slowing because you're older than me. Might offer some comfort."
"What kind of bone-picker are you? Keep hitting me with facts?"
"I've never hit you. Merely—"
"Merely?"
"I wanted to say I'm glad you've woken up."
"Uh, yeah. I'm glad too, you rascal."
Lloyd couldn't help chuckling.
It was a relief.
Surviving like this.
Haviel being safe.
All of it was welcome.
Haviel seemed to feel the same.
The realization hit anew: they'd escaped that dark, hopeless ant nest together.
"Glad we made it. Really."
Lloyd slowly rose from the bed.
Relief was relief.
But now it was time to move.
♣
Lloyd's condition recovered swiftly.
It was the power of the double circle he'd gained underground.
He operated the Asrahan Heart Method throughout the day.
Amplifying the mana absorbed by the two circles.
Circulating the amplified mana through every extremity.
Naturally, his somatic cells' biological cycles accelerated.
Cell recovery cycles sped up too.
Thanks to that, muscles and ligaments strained to the extreme healed almost completely in under ten days.
There was more good news.
The foreclosure stickers plastered everywhere on the manor.
Those red tags that had bugged him since arriving were gone.
The foreclosure on the baron's family had been lifted.
'All thanks to this body.'
Lloyd suddenly recalled the plot of the novel Iron-Blooded Knight.
By the novel's timeline, the baron's manor should be completely stripped bare by now.
Foreclosure had kicked in early.
But now?
It had been canceled instead.
Thanks to the ondol room construction business he'd steadily built up.
Paying the baron's interest on time with the earnings.
'Restored the family's credit. Truly a relief.'
In Iron-Blooded Knight, around this time, the baron's family gets evicted.
The baron couple despairs and loses their minds, while Lloyd dives into full-blown denial and alcoholism.
But not anymore.
He was changing that grim scenario.
And he planned to keep changing it.
"So get moving, everyone! No slacking just because it's hot!"
Lloyd's shout echoed thunderously across the mine construction site.
He'd returned to wrapping up the mine construction.
He directed the work personally.
Tools belted at his waist, leading from the front.
He joined every grueling, dangerous task.
Each time, the veteran workers and Engineering Corps soldiers sweated even harder without slacking.
They'd come to trust Lloyd far more than before.
'He values our safety more than his own life.'
The old wastrel was gone.
Even if he'd been one once, it didn't matter anymore.
On the day the beast ants first appeared, Lloyd had stayed behind last to evacuate the workers safely.
That image was etched deep in their hearts.
And they all thought:
Not just anyone could do that.
They could trust and follow a leader like him.
Even if danger struck again, he'd ensure their safety.
It was the power of trust.
The mine wrap-up proceeded with unprecedented vigor.
"This is the last reinforcement pillar. Almost there! Call cadence! Two! Three!"
"Hup!"
With Lloyd's cadence, the final phase ended.
The coal mine was finally complete.
But Lloyd didn't get carried away.
'This is just the start.'
Even at the completion banquet.
Even while handing out special bonuses to all veteran workers and Engineering Corps soldiers involved.
Lloyd calmly planned the next phase instead of celebrating.
And put it into action.
Without haste.
Step by step.
Starting with safety inspections on the completed mine.
'Gotta hustle to clear the debt!'
It was only natural.
The baron's family had barely escaped foreclosure.
Earnings from the ondol construction barely covered monthly interest.
'Meaning the real game—repaying principal—is still ahead.'
That principal was the massive turd to ultimately flush away.
To settle it, no rest.
But no rushing either.
'Safety first, safety second.'
Purely chasing immediate cash, he could just open the mine now.
Recruit and train miners right away.
Start coal extraction sooner.
Save time and money.
But Lloyd didn't want that.
'Sure, quick cash that way. But these things need long-term vision.'
He recalled the countless incidents from his time in Korea.
Korea was all about speed.
Safety checks? A pipe dream.
Workers treated like disposable parts as a rule.
Factories, logistics centers, sites—most were like that.
'Hands crushed in machines, falling into furnaces, electrocuted by high voltage, trapped in subway screen doors, mangled fixing escalators… Tragedies flooded the news nonstop, but managers just feigned remorse and concern, then back to business. Fill the vacancy with a new worker. Grind till broken. Broken? Whatever—grab a new one. That's their "normal practice." Toss old parts, slot in new ones, easy.'
The dark side of Korea he'd seen in news and lived as bottom rung.
Lloyd was sick of that system.
It filled him with disgust bordering on despair.
'Do that, and you lose workers' trust short-term. Long-term, no one'll touch jobs I assign.'
Plus, late accidents cost even more to fix.
Above all, he hated seeing people under his command suffer that.
So safety inspections before opening were essential.
'Lucky I've got the surveying skill—makes it easy. Survey!'
Tssstss!
His eyes faintly glowed as he scanned every corner of the mine.
Using the surveying skill, he meticulously checked the mine's interior structure.
Stable ground?
Solid foundation?
No subsidence?
He scrutinized every square centimeter.
His safety checks didn't stop at the mine.
"You're not going into the ant nest again, are you?"
The coal seam at the mine's bottom.
As he headed for the hole there, Haviel's question came from behind.
Lloyd turned to Haviel with a smirk.
"Yeah. Scared?"
"Not at all. But—"
"But?"
"I'm curious why you're going in."
"Why? Safety check."
Lloyd said it like it was obvious.
"Truth is, this is riskier than our tunnels. Ants are natural tunnelers, but the explosion happened below. Ground's unstable now. Major collapse could affect upper tunnels."
He continued.
"Not just that. Gotta check for leaking methane remnants or surviving beast ants roaming. They could surface and attack miners. Get it now? Let's go."
With that, Lloyd entered the ant nest.
With Haviel.
"But I still don't get it."
"Don't get what."
"Why risk it yourself."
"Why not send someone else?"
"Yes."
Haviel nodded, gathered his thoughts, and spoke.
"I've never heard of a noble personally tackling such dangers."
"Such nobles shouldn't exist?"
"Pardon?"
"I'm personally ensuring the safety of those who work for me. Is that so weird?"
"No. Reckless, but admirable too."
"Oh. Praise from you, for once."
"With 'reckless' as premise."
"Playing shy. If you wanna praise, just do it."
"No thanks."
"Heh heh. Tsundere."
"What's 'tsundere'?"
"Thing exists. But what's that?"
They were bickering amiably while investigating the ant nest.
Lloyd squinted and pointed ahead with his torch.
Something glittered on the floor there.
"I'll check."
Haviel drew his sword and approached.
Examining the spot Lloyd indicated.
The glittering object was…
"A sword."
"Sword?"
"Yes."
Haviel picked up the sword from the floor.
"Doesn't look human-made. Crude, unbalanced. Grip shape and damaged blade… Probably an orc sword."
"Orc?"
"Yes."
"Why's an orc sword here?"
"No idea."
Puzzling.
Orcs were pig-headed monsters from Iron-Blooded Knight.
An orc longsword in the heart of an ant nest dozens or hundreds of meters underground?
"Don't they live in the wastelands beyond the Eastern Mountains?"
"Correct."
"Hmm, weird."
Maybe some ant dragged it in.
Lloyd shelved the mystery.
"Might find more investigating. Keep moving."
"Understood."
They continued probing the ant nest.
Vast area, tangled tunnels.
Meticulous checks took half a month.
On the 16th day of investigation.
They found a young orc warrior sprawled in the ant nest's bottom storage chamber.
"What the hell."
Why's an orc here?
Lloyd stared at the orc warrior in bewilderment.
Haviel, examining beside him, answered.
"Seems captured by ants. But this orc… looks alive."
"What?"
Alive?
Like a cryogenically frozen human?
Haviel nodded.
"Probably paralyzed by venom."
"...."
Suddenly, he recalled something from Iron-Blooded Knight.
About beast ant ecology.
'Right. Beast ants paralyze some food alive for storage.'
This orc must be one.
Confirming that sparked it.
A new picture flashed in his mind like lightning.
"…Wait. Bingo."
The unexpected ultimate jackpot plan hitting him the moment he checked the orc's state.
A triumphant smile spread across Lloyd's lips.
(End of Chapter 30)
Read more on "novelshub.org". Complete series (408 chapters) is available.