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“Yes, I’ll build them a Seokbinggo1Seokbinggo: An ancient refrigerator made of rocks, only found in Korea..
Whooshh. A breeze blew in the desert. The gust of wind carried grains of sand near the corner of Lloyd’s eyes. Before it got into his eyes, he squinted.  He then examined every inch of the slightly slanted vacant lot.
“What is Seokbinggo?” As Lloyd had predicted, Javier asked him a question in response.
A smile naturally formed on Lloyd’s lips. “Bingo.”
“Pardon?”
“No, nothing. Perhaps, have you ever heard of an ice house?”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“Yeah, I figured.”
Seokbinggo and ice house, both were historical buildings used to store ice during hot seasons. Seokbinggo originated from Joseon Dynasty while ice house was from Europe. Additionally, there was an old ice storage facility called Moayedi located in Yazd—a city in the Middle East—that still remained intact until now.
In other words, wherever you go, there have been quite a few ice storage facilities around the world since ancient times.
But then, what about the Loracian continent—the background setting of the [Iron-Blooded Knight] novel? The situation here was a bit different.
‘The existence of magic hindered the invention of these facilities.’
After all, the rich were the ones who sought ice in the summer. Meanwhile, the world was full of magicians who’d serve them to the best of their abilities. This meant, with only a snap of a finger, they could enjoy a glass of sangria served with ice in the middle of summer.
“That’s why, for the first time in history, I’m going to build something like an ice house here.”
“Is it for the orcs?”
“Yeah.” Lloyd nodded.
The slanted ground seemed like the perfect place to build Seokbinggo. Lloyd roughly calculated the number of orc tribesmen that lived in the orc village, the amount of food they eat, and the average size of their hunting prey. By using these data as the base, he estimated the size of the Seokbinggo that would be built.
‘I have to make it bigger than the one from Joseon Dynasty.’
While being assisted by his survey and design skills, he had a flashback out of the blue.
“Rather than doing the leg exercise, I’ll build a cold food storage for you. So, please acknowledge me as a warrior.”
“Oink?” Chief Akush’s first reaction to his proposal was raising his eyebrow. “What do you mean by food storage, oink?”
“Exactly like its name. It’s a place to store and preserve food.”
“Is the one you wanted to build different from the usual food storage, oink?”
“Yes, it is very different.”
“What is the difference, oink?”
“The meat you hunted can last longer.”
“Oink? Is that possible, oink?”
“Naturally.”
Akush frowned, as it was hard to believe. Lloyd beamed a smile at him.
In moments like this, being confident was important.
Keeping that in mind, Lloyd said, “Please imagine this. You haven’t even eaten half of the monster meat you’ve hunted with all of your strength, yet you saw it started to spoil already. The sorrowful feeling of having to throw away a big chunk of natural protein source that you couldn’t manage to eat.”
“…. OINKKK! I’m angry, oink!”
“It’s infuriating, right?”
“That’s right, oink!”
“But, if you could keep it from getting spoiled, you can eat without wasting some. All that plump meat can be consumed by the Chief, which in return will nourish your body and boost your muscle gain. What do you think? Sounds wonderful, isn’t it?”
Snort!
Instead of answering, Chief Akush let out a rough snort, he was amused. The picture produced by his imagination was very thrilling.
“Are you for real, oink?”
“Of course. After all, who am I?”
“A benefactor, oink!”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, oiinkk!”
“Alright, thank you for trusting me. First, let’s start by writing a contract for the construction order.”
“Construction order… A contract, oink?”
“Yes. In this field of work, contracts are the most important thing. Javier?”
Lloyd turned his head to look at Javier. Already quite accustomed to this situation somehow, Javier handed Lloyd a piece of paper and a pen. Lloyd quickly wrote a simple contract for the construction order on the paper he received.
“This is just how it is. If I received a construction order and decided to do it based on a rule of thumb, there would always be confusion because the boundary between our rights is ambiguous. How could we ever be on one page? Wouldn’t it be sad for us both if that happened?”
“…. Oh. I don’t understand what you’re talking about, but yes, I agree somehow, oink.”
“Great thinking. As expected, you’re so wise. Now, here.”
“Oink?”
“Please sign here, on the bottom.”
“Sign, oink?”
“The great chief needs to leave a mark to show that he agreed with the contents of this contract.”
“I like marks! I’m so good at making one, oink!”
Akush raised his fist which was as big as a basketball. Then, just like that, he slammed his fist down on top of the contract.
Whamm!
The contract was completely embedded in the rock, to a whopping 10 centimeters deep!
‘What the hell?’
Monster. He was also a monster, but in a different way than Javier. Lloyd was reminded once again about how strong the Orc Chief was.
‘Indeed, he is an enemy who gave Javier a hard time to defeat in the original novel.’
At that time, Javier had just reached the stage of a Sword Master. In other words, this athletic muscular orc chief in front of them had the combat ability between a High-Level Sword Expert and a Sword Master.
‘Even though he only used pure physical power because he doesn’t know how to use mana at all.’
The more Lloyd thought about it, the more terrifying the Orc Chief’s strength became. However, there was no need to be scared now. The muscle monster in front of him was on his side after all.
Lloyd grinned. “Thank you for your wise judgment, Chief. Starting from now, you just have to trust me.”
“Absolutely! I, Akush, believe in Lloyd the human, oink!”
“Yes, please leave it to me.”
Lloyd also signed the contract that was completely stuck on the rock.
Approximately, the contents of the contract were as follows:
[Lloyd Frontera will build a Seokbinggo for the Orc Tribe.]
[The Orc Tribe will acknowledge Lloyd Frontera as a warrior and pay for the construction.]
[The cost of the construction will be paid with exercise equipment currently used in the village.]
[Thereupon, Lloyd Frontera will provide the village with new exercise equipment of the same weight from processed stone.]
…. It was a contract where both parties had nothing to lose.
‘No, it’s not a situation where we have nothing to lose. Rather, it’s a win-win situation.’
The treasures and gold coins—that were merely used as exercise equipment—were dispensable for the orcs anyway. Instead of just taking it, Lloyd would create exercise equipment from stone that was easier to use for the orcs. Additionally, the orcs would also get a Seokbinggo—a large refrigerator to store their food. So, this was a mutually beneficial deal.
“…. That’s what I’m saying, we have to maintain their trust by building it professionally. Okay, I think we could build the entrance over here.” As he proceeded to survey the place, Lloyd thought back about what he had said before. In fact, he really wanted to make a Seokbinggo that worked well. It was a matter of course.
‘Credibility is the most important thing in this kind of business.’
You shouldn’t ever underestimate your client just because they looked simple or easy. If construction projects were tackled in a sloppy manner to reap immediate benefits, you could see blood later. This was especially true when you were facing those muscle monsters.
‘With the way things are going, maintaining trust is absolutely beneficial in the long run.’
The orc tribe was a powerful force. Each warrior had tremendous combat power. Moreover, dozens of villages from this area would quickly form a coalition when war broke out, forming an army comparable to a group of elite soldiers from a nation.
‘That’s why, getting a good rating is important this time.’
Perhaps, he could get some RP from them too.
With that in mind, Lloyd did his best to survey and design the Seokbinggo.
‘The entrance will be facing the south, while the main room—where ice and food will be stored—will be on the northern side where the air is cool.’
Lloyd used traditional Seokbinggo from Joseon as the base model. When he had been a freshman in university, he had joined club activities related to traditional architecture. His experience from back then was great help to him now.
‘By the way, the air is very dry here.’
The desert was very dry. A Seokbinggo that was built here would likely be more efficient than the one from Joseon Dynasty. Besides that, Lloyd also meticulously inspected and classified other numerous factors to ensure the Seokbinggo could function well.
‘First of all, it’s important that the hot air is able to escape above the ground.’
In general, its structure was semi-subterranean. Only half of the building was buried underground while the other half towered over the ground. The ceiling would be round and arched. Ultimately, let’s not forget part of the structure where the heat would eventually escape from.
‘Building a hollow spherical space in between the structure that will make the ceiling arched is needed. This will serve as a pocket where hot air is gathered and trapped. Air vents are also going to be made at every arch’s center point2To make it easier for you to imagine, this is the structure of a seokbinggo. And so forth, the heat inside the Seokbinggo can escape outside. To protect it from sunlight and rainwater, I can cover the top of the ventilation shafts with some stone… and, done.’
Bzzzttt…!
A screen with a 3D design similar to a hologram emerged. Only Lloyd could see it. He steadily designed the structure of the arched ceiling on it. He also made sure to make a sloping floor inside the Seokbinggo.
‘If the floor is not slightly tilted, water from the melting ice will pool on the ground and in return will make the rest of the ice melt faster.’
The entrance facing the south would be built higher than the main room on the north. At the end of the building on the north side, a drainage channel to discharge water would be built.
On top of that, he carefully arranged a structure to release hot air and retain cold air. Next to the entrance and the exit, a retaining wall would be placed on the south and north axis. In winter, the cold wind that descended from the mountain range would hit the retaining walls, which would guide the cold air to enter the Seokbinggo. There was still plenty of room left for insulation.
Four days had passed. Finally, the design was finished.
“Phew, the blueprint looks okay.”
The blueprint was neatly drawn by the optional skill he had obtained when his design skill’s level had risen to intermediate.
Securing materials for the construction was the next step that needed to be done to build Seokbinggo.
‘I can procure mud and limestone that’ll be used to form a waterproof layer for the ceiling here. As for the rice husks, straw, and sawdust for the insulation, it can be obtained by sending ten soldiers from the Construction Team back to our territory and then airlifting them back with the materials. I can replace the grass that’ll cover the building from outside with the thorny plants that grow here. The only problem is granite.’
Lloyd gazed towards the west. The eastern mountain range was located between the Barony of Frontera and the desert. The slope at the foot of the eastern mountain was sparkling brightly under the morning sun because of the partially exposed granites.
‘Granite is certainly essential for building Seokbinggo.’
Granite rock formed when felsic magma slowly cooled down. Hard and homogenous were its few characteristics. Simply put, this meant that the material would hardly get deformed or split because there was no grain in its internal structure.
‘This is the reason why granite is often used as a base for semiconductor equipment or measuring equipment which requires precision in modern times.’
Yes, granite was so solid that it wouldn’t deform. It was great for buildings that had to keep standing for many years. This case was especially true for buildings that required long-term insulation and waterproofing, like Seokbinggo. Even so, granite also had its downsides.
‘It’s very difficult to process.’
The rock was hard, so it was difficult to break. Even worse, it had no grain, so it couldn’t be split in the preferred direction. In short, granite was an extremely difficult rock to quarry or process to the desired size and shape.
‘This is also the reason why old Buddha statues in our country look crudely made.’
The Korean Peninsula was mostly covered in granite. Thanks to this, our old ancestors had to literally ‘carve’ granite one by one. It had been a long time full of struggle.
Of course, Lloyd had no intention of doing the same. This was the orc village, not his territory. He didn’t want to spend a long time building Seokbinggo on someone else’s land.
And so, having thought of a solution in his mind, he looked back and called the silver-haired knight who had been guarding him silently from behind.
“Oi, Javier.”
“Did you call me?”
“Yeah, I did. Let me ask you something.”
“Please go ahead.”
“You, can you cut a rock with your sword?”
“Yes.”
“How big is the rock?”
“I’ve managed up to a little over a meter in one slash.”
“A one-meter-big boulder?”
“Yes.” Javier nodded as if it was nothing.
It was amazing. Even if the sword was made of iron, in the end, it was simply a blade that only weighed a few kilograms. It was surprising that Javier could cut about one meter thick and almost a ton in weight boulder with it. Nevertheless, Lloyd just looked at Javier and then sneered.
“Is that so? It’s worse than I thought.”
“….”
“I thought with a slash of your sword, you can slice several meters deep, create a hole, and blast everything to pieces, tsk.”
“…. I’m afraid the thing you mentioned is beyond the capabilities of even a Sword Master.”
“Is that sooo?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure you’re not making excuses because of your incompetence?”
“No, I am not.”
“No?”
“No.”
“For real?”
“For real.”
Lloyd wondered whether Javier thought he was too persistent.
Meanwhile, Javier’s voice became slightly colder than usual, “I don’t know what Lloyd-nim is thinking for him to ask me that question. But, if the young master is trying to abuse his position and make unreasonable demands that are outside my capabilities, I’m going to politely decline in advance.”
“Oh my, are you declaring a strike?”
“I’m just telling you in advance that I can’t accept impossible demands that are outside of my capabilities. If you ignore it and keep on being stubborn, we’ll both be unhappy.”
“We’ll be mutually unhappy with each other, huh?”
“That’s right.”
“What if I force you to do something beyond your abilities?”
“As expected, I’m right. May I speak frankly to you?”
“Try it.”
“Right now, Lloyd-nim is trying to collect the rocks needed to build something called Seokbinggo.”
“Yeah, you’re correct.”
“And then, Lloyd-nim is trying to use me to get the rock. You’re going to order me to cut the rock with my sword. I told you this because I saw it coming from miles away.”
“So, you’re going to refuse to be a quarryman because it’s beyond your means?”
“It’s impossible to do with a sword in the first place.”
“Tsk. You’re impudent.”
“Thank you.” Javier bowed.
Javier probably thought he’d won the fight. The corners of Lloyd’s lips curled up. He threw a meaningful smile to Javier, who looked certain of his victory.
“What if I make it possible?”
“Pardon?”
“If I teach you how to drill a few meters into a rock and then blow it up, will you accept my request?”
“What are you talking about….” Javier trailed off.
Lloyd grinned. He already had a certain destructive technique—which Javier had perfected in the middle part of the [Iron-Blooded Knight] novel—in mind. He intended to teach that technique to Javier early on.
Author’s note: Learning things like this earlier is important….
Tl/n: Sorry for disappearing again, my schedule is all screwed up. I’m still trying to pick up my pace.
Anyway, salute to you who are majoring in engineering or are engineers. My brain was spinning when I was translating this. I learnt so many new things, though. XD
1Seokbinggo: An ancient refrigerator made of rocks, only found in Korea.2To make it easier for you to imagine, this is the structure of a seokbinggo