The World Best Engineer novel - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

It was a sunny spring day.

This year, the weather was especially clearer than any other year. Maybe, because of this, the construction in the Frontera Barony went smoothly.

The construction of ondol rooms, which had been carried out for a long time, continued one step at a time. The ondol room’s supply rate in preparation for the upcoming winter had already exceeded 30%. 

The mine construction, which had already begun, also showed good progress each passing day. Thanks to the shield tunneling method, the day passed without any accident.

At first, the workers were anxious. But now, they felt relieved and able to fully devote themselves to the work.

The territory was bursting with vitality.

The farmers, whose hands kept moving, were busy. The soldiers, who were sent into the Construction Groups, worked until they sweated endlessly. The housewives also diligently made snacks for them. Even the children were also busy.

By this time, these little mischievous kids usually would go frog hunting. This year, however, the frogs in Frontera Barony could enjoy an unfamiliar peace because the children didn’t go to hunt them. They wandered around the mine construction site instead. The children had only one purpose, which was to spectate Bangul—the fantasy species Lloyd mobilized for the construction. 

“Whoa! It came out!” shouted the children who had been lurking around the construction site all day long when they saw Bangul. 

Then, Bangul, who came out of the mine to take a break, proceeded to give fanservice without fail.

“Bangul! Bba-ba-ngul!” 

Deliberately taking a huge bite of soil near the resting place, she then shook her tail vigorously and performed ‘The Steel Dung Release’ show. Whenever that happened, the children’s laughter grew louder.

Workers who were resting outside the mine also shouted, “Oho, these bastards! Why did you come to the construction site and make a racket? How many times have I told you that it’s dangerous here!”

“It’s not dangerous, isn’t it? Isn’t it safe here so far?”

“These damn guys. If you won’t listen to the adults, an ant beast as big as a wolf will come grab and take you away.” 

“Then, where in the world would there be such an ant?”

“Where, did you say? There are so many beasts in the eastern wilderness beyond this mountain.”

“But there’s none here.”

“Ugh, you keep on talking back until the end!”

Just like that, all of Frontera Barony’s residents spent every day full of vitality. 

No, actually, not all of them. There was an exception, and it was Ppodong.

“Ppo-dong…… Ppo-do-dong……”

I’m bored. Thinking so, he opened his mouth wide and yawned.

I guess I overslept today. No, I woke up briefly in the morning but went back to sleep again.

“Ppo-do-dong…..”

In fact, even if he woke up early, there was nothing for him to do.

Recently, this had always been the case. Lloyd didn’t take him to the mine construction site. Instead, Lloyd left him at the mansion and said, “Finally, you’ve gotten the time to take a break. You must’ve been taken aback.”

The reason was actually simple.

‘Sorry, I’m a little short of sunflower seeds. I think it would only be enough for Bangul to use,’ thought Lloyd.

In order to participate in the construction, Ppodong had to eat sunflower seeds. That was how he grew bigger. However, the quantity of the sunflower seeds was limited. A pair of red and blue sunflower seeds was considered as a set. To purchase each set, the system had specified that it would cost 1 RP. So, Ppodong was left alone at the mansion. In addition, Bangul was better than Ppodong at digging tunnels safely.

“I’m afraid you’re going to be in danger. The tunnel might be a little narrow for you. If it collapsed, you could get seriously hurt. Do you understand?”

….Lloyd had said that to soothe him.

Ppodong felt a little disappointed, however he couldn’t complain. He knew Lloyd was genuinely concerned. 

Since then, Ppodong had been enjoying his unemployed life.

“Ppo-dong….. Ppo-do-dong……”

Rolling over here. Rolling over there.

Sure, he could rest comfortably, but it was so boring. Nobody played with him. All he could do was roll to the left and to the right all day long.  After the 20th day, he couldn’t stand it anymore. He had to do something!

“….. Ppo-dong! Ppo-do-do-do-do-do!”

Ppodong shook his chubby head. His plump cheeks bounced like a rice cake. All of a sudden, he thought that feeling like this wasn’t quite right.

“Ppo-dong!”

He had to do something right now or he was going to die out of boredom. 

So, let’s go outside for now. 

Determined, Ppodong kicked the handkerchief and got up. 

Heave-ho heave-ho, he descended using the table leg.

Dash dash dash, he ran happily to the bedroom door. Climb climb climb, he climbed it. He then pulled the doorknob. Ker-chak, the door opened. After that, he went out to the hallway.

“Ppo-dong?”

This was the first time Ppodong had ever come out alone without Lloyd. Seeing the long corridor, he felt more curious and adventurous than afraid.

“Ppo-dong!”

For now, let’s just go anywhere.

Ppodong ran along the corridor. When he arrived at the staircase, he went down. And when the maids passed by, he followed them around.

How long had he been wandering like that? Before he knew it, he came out from the mansion to the courtyard. 

“Ppo-do-dong……”

The sun was warm. The smell of grass blown by the breeze was also good. There was a sweet flower scent coming from somewhere. Ppodong’s steps soon followed the sweet flower scent. At last, he met someone.

“Oh my?” A gentle voice could be heard from above. Ppodong raised his head and confirmed the owner of the voice. His eyes met Baroness Frontera’s. 

“…. A mouse?”

“Ppo-dong?”

“Not a mouse?”

“Ppo-dong!” Ppodong nodded his head. Baroness Frontera, who was tending the flower garden, took off her working gloves.

“Now I understand. You’re the huge creature my son summoned. Am I right?”

“Ppo-dong!”

“But how did you come to the flower garden?”

“Ppo-do-dong? Ppo-dong.”

“Um, I’m sorry but I don’t understand what you’re saying. Then maybe… are you here to help me?”

“Ppo-dong?”

“I see. As expected, was it like that?”

“Ppo-do-dong?” Ppodong tilted his head. A joyful smile bloomed at the Baroness’ lips. 

“I don’t think I can thank you enough. These days, I’ve been worried about a few mice that have been damaging the flower garden.”

“Ppo-dong?”

“You’re their relative, aren’t you?”

“Ppo-do-dong? Ppo-dong?” 

“If it’s possible, can you call them? Please ask them to not ruin the flower garden for me.”

“Ppo-dong?”

“Can you do it for me?”

“….. Ppo-dong!” Ppodong nodded unconsciously.

Actually, he wasn’t related to mice. He had no idea whether he could communicate with them or not, but the Baroness’ smile and voice was so warm. And first of all, if he did her a favor, he ought to not be bored anymore!

“Ppo-do-dong! Ppo-dong!”

Ppodong stood up on both his feet. As if wanting to say ‘just believe in me‘, he patted his chest with the palm of his paw cheekily. After accepting the Baroness’ quest, he ran hastily towards the meadow.

Boom boom boom!

“Push!” Lloyd shouted.

Rumble rumble! 

A loud sound rang out. The soldiers were moving about busily. Inside the dark tunnel, the dim light from the torches made the construction team members’ sweaty muscles glisten. The sinews, which were shaped just like earthworms, were firmly etched to their muscles. 

The steel shield slowly advanced forward. As the shield moved, a wall plate made of woven steel remained standing at the empty place. The wall plate supported the tunnel’s weight that had been dug just a moment ago.

How many wall plates had they built?  The soldiers didn’t know. They just followed Lloyd’s orders and moved in perfect unison. 

Lloyd then gave an order to the blacksmiths and the construction members who were catching their breath.

“Now, good job. Change shift!”

“Change shift!”

“Move quickly and get some rest! Next workers, come in!”

“Coming in!”

While a group of blacksmiths and construction members left the shield device, another group of blacksmiths and construction members went inside and filled the vacant spots.

“Lloyd-nim, are you not taking a break?” asked a blacksmith.

Lloyd chuckled.

“Why? Are you worried?”

“That’s a matter of course….”

“It’s okay. I’m not working as hard as you guys.”

“But still, the air here is hot and stuffy….”

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“Oh my, I’m grateful for the sympathy. But never mind that, let’s just get to work.” Lloyd clapped his hands.  The blacksmith, who was still looking anxiously at him, caught Lloyd’s eyes.

Actually, his condition wasn’t that good.

‘It’s so hot I feel like I’m going to go crazy.’

The air inside the tunnel was hot. It wasn’t just hot, it made him feel like he was inside a sauna all day long. Moreover, the air was suffocating too.

It was natural. He was at the end of the tunnel, where the excavation was taking place. Since it was underground, the temperature was basically higher than outside. Additionally, the workers’ body heat also had accumulated inside. What’s more, he couldn’t even dream of implementing a smooth ventilation system for this construction.

‘If only the technology was more advanced, I could’ve implemented a more proper ventilation system.’

Ventilation was important in mine construction. This was also a problem that was directly related to the workers’ safety. Inhaling a lot of dust wasn’t good for the body. However, above all, if they experienced oxygen-deficiency because the oxygen in the environment was low, it might put lives at risk. For this construction, Lloyd dealt with that problem by using a ventilation that was forcibly made.

“Hey! Don’t step on the air pipe!” Lloyd yelled.

One of the workers stepped back, startled. That worker was stepping on a pipe as big as his forearm. The pipe was the only way available for the outside air to get inside. 

‘Nevertheless, the existence of this pipe is why I could hold out being inside here.’

The other end of the pipe was placed outside the tunnel. Outside, there would be a few workers working hard on turning the handle. A large pinwheel that was connected to the handle would rotate to force the air to enter inside the pipe. That way, it could supply oxygen for the people inside the tunnel.

“What are you going to do if there’s a hole in the middle of the air pipe? We can’t see anything down here. What if we continued to go down while the air leaked from the middle of the pipe? The new air won’t be able to come to the end of the tunnel. Do you understand? Be more careful.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Tsk. Nevermind. Let’s focus!”

“Yes!”

Lloyd felt like his temper became more sensitive because of the hot air and hard task. However, unlike other workers, he couldn’t get out and take a rest from time to time.

‘I have to check the situation in real-time.’

There were many things he needed to check personally. First of all was the mine’s path. It was necessary to check in real time whether the excavation was proceeding properly towards the coal bed—the layer of coal that was buried.

‘It’s because the former Lord had recorded it thoroughly.’

Thankfully, the former Lord had brought three expensive wizards to repeatedly conduct geological surveys. He had left a detailed record of the coal bed he had found at that time. Because of this, navigating the way was easy. However, there were still many other risks underground.

‘There are numerous invisible dangers lurking in front. Just like groundwater or methane gas layers.’

If we incorrectly dug the groundwater, the tunnel we had dug could get submerged.

Additionally, what if there was a methane gas layer? Methane was a flammable gas that could cause a big explosion.

‘Then all of this would be over. The end.’

This was the scariest part when constructing a coal mine. There were methane-producing bacterias that lived in coal. They produced methane gas using the coal’s compound—which was methoxylated aromatic compounds (MACs). Because of the methane gas produced by this microorganism, it was inevitable that there would be methane gas layers lurking throughout the coal mine. 

‘This is why I can’t let my guard down even for a moment.’

He had to use survey skill at least thrice a day to check what was inside the place five meters ahead from where we were digging. Furthermore, the tail void grouting that occurred in the space between the advancing shield and the remaining wall plate was also subject to caution.

‘Because the shield’s diameter is bigger than the wall plate’s diameter.’

Between the diameter of the advancing shield and the diameter of the wall plate that was assembled inside the shield, obviously there would be a slight difference between the two. Therefore, after the shield advanced, the ground had no choice but to slightly sink as much as the difference in the diameters between the two.

The collapse was subtle and was just a few centimeters. However, neglecting to pay attention to it because it seemed trivial could be the start of a catastrophe that could bury everyone who was his responsibility alive.

‘Do you think I would ever do something like that? Me?’

The heat.

The suffocating air.

Inside the tunnel, Lloyd struggled to not lose his focus. He took off his shirt and put up with the heat. When his head went blank, he put his face in front of the pipe and inhaled a few breaths of fresh air. 

So, a few more working days had passed just like that. The mine got longer and deeper. As such, they had come closer to the target, the coal bed.

‘Just a little more. Let’s cheer up.’

Lloyd suffered from the sweltering heat and stifling air every day, so his fatigue didn’t go away that well. Every morning, he would barely be able to wake up. However, he had no choice but to put up with it. Fortunately, this experience wasn’t unfamiliar to Lloyd.

‘I’ve experienced worse than this before!’

Compared to his days living at goshiwon, he felt like he was in heaven. At that time, he also couldn’t sleep properly. He had nosebleeds in the lecture class during the day and while working part-time from evening to night.

And yet, it wasn’t the end. No matter how he split his time, he had to have some spare private time for himself. That was how he could handle the onslaught of tasks. 

The easiest time to be split and used for a time for himself was his sleeping time. With the reduced sleeping time, he slept less and less. Extreme fatigue was inevitable.

Those were the days he continued to study and work like a zombie, in a state where he could collapse anytime.

‘But what about now? It’s only hard when I’m at the construction site. I can eat and sleep well in the mansion, right?’

Even the food was incomparably better than when I was at the goshiwon.

‘At the goshiwon, the basic free kimchi and rice were everything!’

If he thought about it that way, the tenacity that wasn’t there was set ablaze like never before. He didn’t want to go back to those days, so he was very eager to make this territory prosperous. 

Thanks to such determination and motivation, the construction hadn’t stopped even once. Bangul and the workers had become more proficient in their own jobs. The construction had also gained momentum. 

And finally, Lloyd’s survey skill identified that there was a coal bed at the targeted range. 

‘It’s finally here.’

Five meters ahead inside the mine, which had been examined by the survey skill, Lloyd saw a black coal bed. Just like finding a high-grade ginseng inside the ground, he found the bituminous coal at last.

“Now, the end is in sight! Let’s go!”

“Let’s goooo!”

“Bangul!”

Lloyd shouted out of joy. The workers and Bangul also shouted in unison. Even Javier, who had been calm, also cried out. 

Everyone had a hunch. The end of this long and arduous work was approaching. At last, the moment of completion was shining in front of them.

“Bba-ba-ngul!”

Bangul chomped on the last mouthful of soil and advanced towards the bituminous coal bed.

Author’s note: Mom, she’s eating dirt.

Tl/n: Hi everyone! I’m back!

Starting from now, I’m going to make the POV consistent (from 3rd person POV). I’m sorry for the inconsistencies in the past chapters, I’ll redo them gradually and try to improve the quality. Thank you for being so patient and understanding with me.️

If there’s someone who would like to help me by proofreading my translations, please contact me on my discord. I really need and will appreciate your help :’)

I don’t know if I’m allowed to give my dc id here, so please find my dc from KnoxT’s discord. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I’d greatly appreciate it if you would buy me a coffee!