"Fire in the hole!"
Whoosh, flash!
It was a sparkling sunny morning.
Lloyd's shout cut through the sunlight.
At the same time, Haviel's longsword gleamed.
A pure white flash burrowed into the granite.
It sliced deep inside. Then exploded from within.
Crack!
Even granite that had endured for tens of thousands of years in one spot couldn't withstand the explosion triggered by precise calculations from inside.
A crack formed in one direction.
The fissure expanded in an instant.
It collapsed under its own weight.
Rumble!
The granite, split into a perfect cube like a giant's die, broke away.
It was a massive chunk weighing several tons at least.
"Well done, Haviel!"
Lloyd gave a thumbs-up.
Haviel wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.
That was the end of Haviel's role.
Next up were the fantasy beasts.
"Alright, Podong?"
"Podong?"
"Wanna try this? Red sunflower seeds."
"Podo-dong?"
"I specially ordered these just to feed you. A set only has one red and one blue, and it costs a whole 1 RP?"
"Podo-ong?"
"I bought 50 of them yesterday. Spent 50 RP. But what can I do? It's all this noble and tear-jerking effort of mine to feed you and Bangul."
"Podo-dong?"
"So, eat up nice and tasty?"
"Podong!"
Podong snatched the red sunflower seed from Lloyd's palm.
He popped it straight into his mouth and started munching away.
Meanwhile, Lloyd stepped back a good distance.
And watched Podong's transformation.
Ptooing-!
A 10-meter hamster descended (??).
"Podo-ong!"
"Yeah. Good job, Podong. There, pat pat."
"Podong!"
"Aww. Now, can you move that over there?"
Lloyd's hand pointed to the cubic granite chunk.
"Just take it to the orc village. Think you can do it?"
"Podong!"
Podong vigorously nodded his round, massive head.
He waddled straight toward the granite chunk, his plump butt jiggling adorably. He reached out his cute paw. Opened his even cuter mouth.
And stuffed the granite chunk into his mouth, crinkling it in.
"Ppu-deung! Ppudeu-deung!"
One of Podong's cheek pouches ballooned out into a perfect cube shape.
"Good job, Podong. How about that one too?"
"Ppudeu-deung!"
Podong's other cheek puffed up into a cube as well.
Lloyd climbed onto Podong's back.
"Alright, let's go!"
"Ppu-deung!"
Even with several-ton granite chunks in both cheeks, Podong's steps were unflinching. He charged toward the orc village like a dump truck.
That was how they transported the granite to the orc village, leading to the next process.
The stars of the next process were Lloyd himself, the young orc warrior Aroshi, and twenty Engineering Corps soldiers.
"Rock's here, gruk!"
"Everyone, get ready!"
Clatter clatter!
They had been waiting at the Stone Ice Storage construction site.
The moment the granite arrived as if on cue, they grabbed chisels, hammers, and pickaxes.
And they charged ferociously at the granite Podong spat out.
"Break it down, gruuuk!"
"Let's not fall behind!"
"Uoo!"
Orc warrior Aroshi and the twenty Engineering Corps soldiers sweated all day.
They split the rock into chunks and shaped them squarely, following the marks Lloyd had drawn on the granite.
They were making large granite bricks for the Stone Ice Storage.
Of course, Podong didn't rest during that time either.
"Podong?"
"Podong?"
"Can you dig here? From here to here. This much. Depth of 7 meters."
"Podo-dong?"
Scratch scratch!
Lloyd drew a line on the ground with a tree branch.
It looked like random scribbling.
But in fact, the line he drew perfectly matched the Stone Ice Storage design.
Thanks to the Design skill option, 'Floor Plan Display (2D)'.
'Ah, so convenient. A real-time floor plan that only I can see projected on the ground.'
He just had to load the pre-designed Stone Ice Storage model.
Apply it to the actual terrain?
A floor plan visible only to him etched itself onto the ground.
Thanks to that, the lines he drew perfectly reflected the actual Stone Ice Storage design. He could accurately convey the digging range, depth, and shape to Podong.
"Alright, please."
"Podong!"
Podong raised both arms high.
He began digging the ground along the drawn line with ferocious momentum.
Scraaaape!
Even the bone-dry, hardened wasteland soil was no exception.
With each swipe of his paw, the earth chunked out.
An enormous cloud of dust rose up.
But Lloyd didn't back away.
He stayed right beside Podong as he dug.
He gladly breathed in the dust alongside Podong, who was working for him.
He meticulously inspected every spot Podong had dug.
Checking for any discrepancies with the actual design.
Whether it was dug too shallow or too deep anywhere.
He activated Surveying and Design skills simultaneously, thoroughly examining every corner.
And whenever he found even slight errors, he grabbed a shovel himself.
Carefully filling in undug spots.
Firmly packing overly dug areas.
Digging and filling.
He corrected every single centimeter of error personally.
'Earthworks. This is one of the most crucial steps not just for Stone Ice Storage construction, but for all construction.'
It was literally laying the foundation for the structure.
Neglect this, and problems would definitely arise later.
If issues cropped up in the building?
'My reputation drops. Bad rumors spread. Then I can't sustain the business long-term.'
Credit with clients was paramount.
Whether the client was human or orc didn't matter.
Orc chieftain Akushi was a proper client too.
Anyone who signed a contract with him was a client.
Human or not, even orc or monster—they were all clients in Lloyd's book.
'Artisan spirit? Nah. They're paying! Anyone paying is a client, king client, god client!'
So he had to deliver the best results.
Pour in his all.
Especially thinking of the current construction payment and the steady stream of future money.
That was why Lloyd gladly sweated buckets.
Days flew by in a flash.
Breathless days like clockwork.
Haviel blasted the granite to detach chunks.
Podong transported the granite chunks to the site.
Orc Aroshi and the soldiers shaped the granite.
Lloyd diligently leveled and inspected the earthworks.
Thus, after ten days, the foundation work was finally complete.
"No time to rest! Keep going!"
"Yes, sir!"
Lloyd stripped off his upper shirt and stepped up.
He carried granite bricks alongside the Engineering Corps soldiers.
He laid them row by row on the pre-leveled foundation.
His experience assisting with tile work on Korean sites proved hugely helpful.
'Though these are insanely bigger and heavier than those tiles!'
The principle of finishing the floor with solid material was the same.
Firmly preparing the base.
Setting the level or slope in advance.
Covering it with solid stone according to plan.
Even the grout filling the gaps between stones was similar.
Here, instead of tile grout, they used lime-mixed mud for waterproofing—that was the only slight difference.
Anyway, up to that point, the overall construction proceeded smoothly.
But problems arose once the floor was finished and they started stacking stones for the walls.
"Keehiiing↗"
With a groan that sounded weirdly more spectacular, a pop came from one Engineering Corps soldier's back.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Ugh... I think my back's out."
"...."
The soldier who threw out his back while stacking wall stones had to lie groaning for days.
The massive granite blocks were too heavy to lift.
The other Engineering Corps soldiers were in similar straits.
As work progressed day by day, the number of groaning soldiers increased.
Some sprained wrists.
Others dislocated shoulders.
Even these soldiers, seasoned from ondol rooms, paved roads, coal mine construction, and such, ended up like this.
In the end, Lloyd was the only one left who could grunt and hoist the stones.
Haviel needed days more rest after repeated Blasting.
Deep wrinkles formed between Lloyd's brows.
'This is a headache. If only I had orc Aroshi. Ah, that guy. Why'd he have to go on a hunting expedition right now.'
Unfortunately, Aroshi wasn't in the village.
Around when the earthworks wrapped up, he'd gone on a group hunt—a warrior's duty—with his tribesmen.
'And I can't gigantify Podong here.'
They'd just finished the floor.
The laid stones hadn't settled yet.
If dozens of tons of Podong moved around stepping on it, the painstakingly placed floor stones could shift even slightly.
'So what now.'
Lloyd pondered solutions.
The stones were too big and heavy—that was the issue.
But he couldn't reduce their size either.
'They need at least this thickness for insulation.'
The purpose of this Stone Ice Storage was purely to protect the cold air.
To block external heat, they absolutely needed thick solid stone.
'Guess I have no choice but to wait for the floor stones to settle and then use Podong.'
For the soldiers' safety, that seemed best.
It was that afternoon, as Lloyd mulled it over.
An unexpected solution arrived in an unforeseen way.
"Gruk? You can't lift it like that, gruk!"
Orcs had been gathering in small groups to watch since the Stone Ice Storage construction began.
They'd ooh and aah, grukking nonstop at Podong and Lloyd digging and leveling the ground, laying floor stones.
Today was no different.
Lloyd was stacking wall stones alone.
Of course, they were insanely heavy.
But with the Asrahan Heart Method's aid, it wasn't impossible.
He even thought of using it to train his strength.
But the watching orcs started chiming in one by one.
"Human! That's not how you lift it, gruk?"
"Yes?"
Lloyd, red-faced from stacking stones, looked up.
From outside the construction pit, up top, an elderly orc was addressing him.
"What did you just say?"
"Exactly what I said. Lifting like that won't isolate the muscles, gruuk."
"Yes?"
"Keep your back straight, push your hips back. Chest out. Use ankle flexibility to properly stimulate the target muscles, gruk!"
"Uh, I'm not working out though?"
"Doesn't matter, gruk!"
"...."
That's when it started.
Other watching orcs began adding their two cents.
"Grab lower down, gruk!"
"Breathing's important too, gruuk!"
"Lift faster, gruk!"
"One more, gruk!"
"...."
It felt like being at the gym for the first time, kindly surrounded by oil-extract-level veteran gym bros.
Soon enough, the situation escalated to those bros(?) stepping in due to his sluggish form.
"Kraaa, this human's frustrating, gruk!"
"Why can't you do it like we showed, gruuk!"
"We'll demonstrate, gruuuuk!"
"Watch and learn, gruk!"
A dozen bulging orc bros thumped down into the site.
Before Lloyd could even try to stop them, they each hugged a massive granite brick.
Anaconda-like tendons bulged on their backs.
"Hup-cha, gruk!"
"Yup-cha, gruuk!"
It was a stone Lloyd grunted over even using Asrahan Heart Method.
A stone that took three or four Engineering Corps soldiers to lift.
But these orc dads?
They lifted it like a thick gorilla crashing an Olympic weightlifting stage and flipping the table—effortlessly!
"Huh."
Lloyd's jaw dropped on its own.
But he wasn't just awestruck.
He quickly grasped the essence of this absurd situation.
He swiftly said,
"Whoa, impressive!"
"Gruk! This is nothing, gruuk!"
"No, really amazing. I couldn't even dream of lifting that stone 'up there.'"
"Up there, gruk?"
Lloyd pointed to the half-built wall.
The muscular orc warrior glanced that way.
And smirked.
"That's humans' problem. Watch closely, gruuk."
He hoisted the hugged stone overhead in one go.
Then placed it gently where Lloyd pointed, like handling a half-empty ramen box.
Thud-!
With a deep chest-rumbling sound, the massive granite brick settled into place.
Exactly where it was needed for construction.
'Got it. This is it.'
Lloyd secretly clenched his fist.
He hugged the neighboring granite brick.
Deliberately grunting and straining.
"Huugh, hnnng! I can't do it right?"
"Tsk tsk! Step aside, human. A proper demo's like this, gruuk!"
Flash, thud-!
Another huge stone settled perfectly.
The same process repeated after.
Lloyd kept sweating profusely, playing up the struggle. With Academy Award-level pained expressions, he tugged at the orc warriors' heartstrings(?).
Each time, the orc warriors stepped up, biceps trembling with pity.
They earnestly tried teaching the frail, scrawny human proper form.
Warmth overflowed from their bulging muscles and tendons.
Thanks to that, they finished the entire Stone Ice Storage walls in less than a day!
But the work didn't end there.
"Aigoo, lifting like this is even harder! Urgh, grrr!"
The next day, Lloyd deliberately grunted and whined again.
Like a gym newbie summoning a trainer on his first visit—pitifully.
Then even more orc warriors than yesterday huffed and gathered.
Burning with zeal to teach this pitiful newbie true training methods.
Thanks to their voluntary(?) help.
The Stone Ice Storage's arched ceiling structure and cornice took shape in just two days!
'And this isn't even slapdash work.'
Each orc was like a crane.
Their immense strength let them handle enormous heavy stones and place them precisely.
Muscles for the win.
The lightspeed construction Lloyd only dreamed of was becoming reality.
(End of Chapter 35)
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