The black mage was dead.
Of course, Lloyd hadn't seen it with his own eyes.
Deep down, he was still Kim Suho from Korea.
He had no desire whatsoever to watch someone die.
'Once is enough for that kind of thing.'
The final image of his parents suddenly flashed in his mind.
He wrinkled his nose, buried his face in his chest, and snapped back to reality.
"Hey, hey. Everyone, be careful. Don't let your eyes wander and step in the wrong spot. Watch the ground so you don't trip on any rocks."
"Understood."
These were soldiers who had been imprisoned and starved to the point of exhaustion.
Leading them out of the dungeon was no easy task.
Magic traps still lingered.
It took several hours of cautious progress to escape.
Afterward, he had Haviel retrieve the items from the laboratory inside the dungeon.
That included the insulation materials the black mage had piled up in one corner of the lab for his own use.
Of course, that didn't mean everything was finished.
The soldiers' conditions were at rock bottom.
"Whew. These guys are all wheezing—big trouble. Hand it over, man."
"Huh? Young Master?"
"Never mind. Give it here."
It was a bale of straw meant for the Stone Ice Storage insulation.
The soldier carrying it down the mountainside was staggering badly.
Lloyd approached and casually snatched the bale away.
The soldier, suddenly relieved of his burden(?), was utterly flustered.
"Uh, Young Master? I should be the one carrying that. How could someone of your status..."
"Whoa there. If you collapse, who's gonna hold us back?"
"I won't collapse."
"Says you."
"..."
"You look like total crap right now."
"Well..."
"I said it's fine. You guys showing up late already set the construction back. If you drop here? We'd have to slow down even more taking care of you. Right?"
"..."
"So it's not like I'm babying you 'cause you're cute or anything. Don't get the wrong idea?"
"Ah, got it."
"Then quit collapsing and keep up. Hup!"
Lloyd hefted the snatched straw bale onto his shoulder with ease.
Without waiting for the soldier's reply, he fell back to the end of the line.
He matched his pace to the slowest soldiers.
Sure, his mouth kept nagging them endlessly.
"Hey. Why do you keep glancing at me while you walk?"
"N-no, sir."
"Don't give me that. I can see you peeking."
"Sorry, sir."
"Sorry doesn't end your service, does it?"
"No, sir."
"You think we're outdoors or something?"
"..."
"Whew. Keep it up and you'll cry. Enough. Let's keep moving."
And so, with his mouth "encouraging" the soldiers(?), he didn't hesitate to shoulder the loads of the weary ones.
This repeated the entire way over the mountains.
"Phew, we made better time today. Thanks to Lord Lloyd, I bet."
"Yeah? Same for me yesterday."
"Yeah, me too. Really grateful."
As night deepened at the temporary campsite, the soldiers gathered in hushed clusters.
Careful not to let their voices carry, they gossiped among themselves.
"But... you think Lord Lloyd really came just to save us?"
"Seems like it, right?"
"Well, he probably came for the insulation materials too, as a bonus."
"Still, he came—that's something. I really thought I was done for back there."
"Yeah, same here."
The soldiers felt deep gratitude toward Lloyd for rescuing them.
Haviel's advice only deepened it.
"Just being grateful isn't enough. You'll owe Lord Lloyd your lifelong thanks."
"Huh? Sir Asrahan?"
The soldiers tensed at Haviel suddenly joining their talk.
His emotionless words continued.
"I suggested to Lord Lloyd that we return to the territory, prepare properly, then strike the black mage. But he wouldn't hear it. He worried you'd all die if we delayed. So he willingly threw himself into the black mage's lair with just me."
"..."
"Without Lord Lloyd's decision, you'd be starving to death in that lair by now—or sacrificed as offerings. Etch that into your hearts forever."
"Understood."
The soldiers were even more moved.
These were words from Sir Asrahan himself.
Haviel Asrahan wasn't one for exaggeration or flattery.
His usual diligence, fairness, and cool-headedness made his words utterly trustworthy.
'Lord Lloyd went that far... for us.'
Once called a wastrel.
The target of endless gossip.
Even someone they'd cursed behind his back countless times.
For that man to risk everything to save lowly soldiers like them.
The moved soldiers rubbed their eyes by the campfire.
They laughed it off as smoke, foolishly.
Thus, they engraved their gratitude toward Lloyd deep in their hearts.
A welcome message appeared before Lloyd's eyes as well.
Ding-dong.
[The rescued Engineering Corps soldiers are deeply moved by your actions.]
[For now, it's just them, but once back in the territory, their tales of your heroism will spread far and wide. This could translate directly into social achievements.]
'Oh ho.'
Lloyd inwardly shouted "bingo."
He'd saved the soldiers, secured precious magic materials.
Even retrieved the Stone Ice Storage insulation.
Now back at the orc village, he dove straight into finishing the Stone Ice Storage.
'Delays in construction time are the absolute worst!'
Civil engineering was a race against time.
The longer the build, the higher the costs.
"So move it, everyone. You all rested nice and plump while I was gone?"
He rallied the Engineering Corps soldiers left at the orc village.
Bare-chested, he directed the site himself, sweating buckets alongside them.
He mixed mud with lime.
Blended in rice husks, straw, and sawdust in precise ratios.
Worked it into a thick, sticky porridge.
It resembled Korea's on-site urethane foam insulation, but in natural materials.
'This'll do.'
He packed the handmade natural insulation into the gaps between the pre-stacked granite bricks and the ground.
Pressed it tight, no air pockets.
Same for the upper arch ceiling.
"Alright, pack it tight—no gaps!"
"Tight!"
Lloyd's commands blended with the soldiers' shouts.
Amid the vigorous calls, the ceiling exterior got a thick coat of insulation mix.
Then a heavy layer of lime-mixed mud on top.
A waterproof layer to block ground moisture from below.
Thick earth piled over that.
Mounded it like a tumulus, round and swelling.
Once covered, only the pre-made ventilation chimney poked slightly above the mound.
He capped the chimney with a stone lid.
For the mound, he transplanted wild thorny grass from the wasteland, planting it densely.
'Gotta have plenty of grass to block solar radiation.'
The leaves would shield primary sunlight.
The roots would draw up capillary moisture from below.
"Phew, last of the thorny grass."
Lloyd's shovel moved.
He placed a root-ball of thorny grass atop the mound.
Pressed it firm with the shovel's flat blade.
Sprinkled a bit of water too.
To help the roots take hold.
With Lloyd's final shovelful, the Stone Ice Storage was complete.
But that didn't mean everything was done.
"Kuiik? Benefactor finished Stone Ice Storage. But not as cool as inside before, kuik."
Aroshi, the young orc who'd rushed over nostrils flaring at the completion news.
A place to store cool air long-term for food preservation, right?
His pecs bulged with anticipation.
But stepping inside? Not so much.
Far from expectations, it wasn't that cool.
"What's this? Not cool at all, kuik."
"Right? Better than the brutal midsummer outside, sure, but you'd wonder what the point is."
"Yeah. Cooler than outside a bit, but no real difference, kuiik."
Aroshi tilted his massive head.
A touch disappointing.
But he trusted his benefactor Lloyd.
The one who'd always pulled off miracles so far—surely some plan here too.
Aroshi's hunch was spot on.
"Yeah. It's not cool yet."
"Not yet, kuik?"
"Yeah. Stone Ice Storage needs ice—and we haven't filled it."
"Ice? Fill with ice to make it cool, kuik?"
"Obviously. Even a Stone Ice Storage won't chill itself. Like an icebox without ice packs."
"Ice... box, kuik?"
"Yeah. Think similar."
"Don't get it. Anyway, where get ice, kuik?"
"No way to get it normally."
"Normally, kuik?"
"Yeah. It's midsummer."
"Ah, kuiik."
Made sense now.
Outside, the sun blazed mercilessly.
Forget ice—pray the streams don't dry up.
Aroshi snorted.
"But you got plan. Right, kuiik?"
"Yeah, right."
Lloyd grinned.
"No normal way to get ice now, so we'll make it and fill 'er up."
"Make ice? How, kuiik?"
"How? Good, of course."
Midsummer now.
No ice anywhere.
No calling in an ice mage either.
One option left.
Make ice himself.
'I've got the Asrahan Heart Method.'
Proper application should work.
So thinking, he jumped into ice-making.
First, fed Ppoddong red sunflower seeds.
Asked the giant Ppoddong.
"Ppoddong?"
"Ppoddong?"
"Know that stream at the mountain base?"
"Ppoddong!"
"Yeah, that one. Fetch some water?"
"Ppoddong?"
"Fill cheek pouches full. Both sides. Can do?"
"Ppoddong! Ppoddong!"
"Oh, take Bangul too. Bangul? Eat some sunflower seeds. Here. Good."
"Bangul!"
Tuu-waaang!
Bangul ate red sunflower seeds and grew huge.
Ppoddong mounted Bangul on his back.
"Bangul, load up on water too. No Steel Poop Discharge. Hold it even if you gotta go. Got it?"
"Bangul!"
The two fantasy beasts wagged their massive rears and dashed off.
Soon, they returned with cheek pouches and bellies stuffed with stream water.
"Good job. Spit here?"
"Ppodeung! Ooeeek—"
"Bwangul! Oaaaeek—"
Shwaaa!
They poured into the stone mold.
Lloyd's pre-made stone mold brimmed with water.
'Like a supersized ice cube tray from a freezer, divided into grids.'
Made from leftover granite for the Stone Ice Storage.
Whittled diligently in spare moments.
Exact giant version of household fridge trays.
He and the soldiers carried the grid ice molds inside the Stone Ice Storage.
Cleared everyone out after.
Shut the door.
Lloyd alone remained.
'Let's get started.'
He went to a corner, fetched the straw pile.
Stuffed thick straw chunks into the water-filled molds.
Pressed firm against bottoms and sides, securing thickly.
Prep so ice could be removed easily later without damage.
Lloyd lined every mold's bottom and sides meticulously with straw.
All set.
Into full ice-making.
'Focus.'
Sat cross-legged before the molds.
Rolled up sleeves, plunged arms into the rippling water.
Calmed his mind.
Boosted concentration.
Activated Asrahan Heart Method.
Kiiiiiing...
Like an engine turning over.
The two dormant Mana Circles began spinning.
Centered on his heart, they rotated, generating suction.
Suction spread through veins and muscles.
Past shoulders, down forearms, to fingertips.
Surrounding mana drawn to fingertips.
Up to here, standard Asrahan Heart Method.
Lloyd tried one twist.
'Not all mana—only the warm-kind.'
Slowly absorbed.
At first, not smooth.
Unfamiliar control destabilized the Mana Circles' spin.
But Lloyd persisted.
Step by step.
Concentrating hard.
From the water around his hands, he strained to absorb only warm mana.
Hours of heart method tinkering.
One hour, two, three.
Change in the mold water.
Tzutz, tzutzutz...
Water lost warm mana, the heat.
Cooled bit by bit.
Thin ice formed.
A clear message rang in Lloyd's mind.
Ding-dong.
[You have developed a new application for the Asrahan Heart Method.]
[This special attempt has raised the Asrahan Heart Method skill level.]
Ice-making to cap the Stone Ice Storage.
Lloyd's research and trials fueled the heart method's growth.
(End of Chapter 40)
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