The Greatest Estate Designer

CW: graphic depictions of violence

<Sir Ulrich’s POV>

Slap!

“…. cough!”

Sir Ulrich unknowingly screamed. The world felt like it was quickly swept away. His cheeks felt numb.

Something popped out of his mouth. It flew away and scattered in the air. Only then could Sir Ulrich vaguely discern the identity of the flying objects in the air.

‘Molar teeth?’

Three white molar teeth were flying and spinning in place. Red blood and saliva were intertwined in between, drawing complex trajectories.

‘Mar…velous.’

It was a nauseous feeling, as if time had slowed along with a woozy sensation. In his 26 years of life, he had never seen teeth and drops of blood flying around like this. It was fascinating. On the other hand, he felt dizzy.

‘…. uh, uh uh.’

His feet were losing strength. His back also gave out. Yet, the ground kept drawing near. He didn’t want to, but his head stuck on the ground.

His lips were crushed because he was forced to kiss the ground. More blood oozed from his lips.

Only then did Sir Ulrich’s senses, which had been in slow motion, returned to normal. With his battered lips, pulled-out molars, and a broken cheekbone on one side, he felt a heavy and sharp pain.

“… kkeu, kghhh.”

It hurts. It really hurts. It really hurts so much!

“What! Kkeu, kkeuuk!”

He wrapped his hands around one side of his face. The shock and pain had left him completely distracted. He struggled to figure out the situation.

‘Did I bump into something? An accident or an attack? And who?’

He racked his confused brain desperately. However, his vehement concern was in vain. The answer was so simple. Then, a shovel dropped down from above.

“What do you mean what!”

Whack!!

“…. heuk!”

The blunt side of the shovel fell vertically and struck his solar plexus. He couldn’t breathe. Like a shrimp, his back was bent. He looked up to see who dared to attack him. Soon, Sir Ulrich’s eyes widened.

“Young Master….? Kkeok!”

Wham!

The shovel hit him in the face. His lips were torn further and his head jerked away. Nevertheless, Sir Ulrich was still unable to respond properly. Because he was already defenseless and yet had gotten hit so hard in succession.

‘Oh, for what reason? Why?’

He couldn’t respond, let alone understand. He couldn’t even dream of getting up. Lloyd’s shovel was too ruthless for that to happen.

In the face of merciless violence, Sir Ulrich simply groaned and wrapped his arms around his head and face.

Wham, whack! Baang! Thwack!

“Kkeuu! Euuuuugh!”

Sir Ulrich’s face distorted in horror. A strange conviction lurched inside his anguished mind because of all this pain.

‘I, I’m genuinely going to get killed.’

That was true. Over his arms that wrapped his face, Lloyd’s figure which was peeping through his intertwined arms was telling enough. The rascal’s eyes which stared at him proved that his conviction was right.

<Lloyd’s POV>

Right now, the Young Master was wielding a shovel with eyes that were so calm.

‘Of course. I have to keep my cool if I want to step on someone stronger than me.’

Wham!

While brandishing his shovel without mercy, Lloyd thought. If he gave Sir Ulrich a chance to catch his breath, he could’ve gotten up. Then, his plan could go awry.

‘You think I’m gonna miss this hard-won opportunity? Me?’

In ancient times, the one who attacks first will be the victor, as cited from the laws of war. The surprise attack before gave Sir Ulrich not even a second to respond. Thanks to this, he was able to lead the situation perfectly.

‘No matter how knightly you are, you’ll have no choice but to collapse if you receive this kind of blow. Especially if you’re just a Low-Level Sword Expert who just made his Manaheart.’

The [Iron-Blooded Knight] novel. I remembered every face of the knights I read there. Sir Ulrich was the least-skilled knight in this territory. He was just a Low-Level Sword Expert who had just honed his manaheart. While we’re on this subject, usually Lloyd was considered unpleasant by him. But I quietly chose to ignore it.

‘This is why I called you today. To set an example. In the future, I don’t want anyone to tear into everything I’m going to do. At least not within this territory.’

One’s character is important.

What if you bow down once you get involved in a conflict? What if you make a habit of compromising like a good-natured person? After that, concessions and goodwill will feel like a natural thing to give. You will be reduced to being the so-called pushover¹The author uses hogu (호구): a Korean slang that means a person so foolish that everyone uses them for their own benefit.. He was badly hurt by this experience in South Korea.

‘Especially in the labor field. There were old uncles with good personalities, but some were bad-tempered.’

Just like his so-called senior coworker ²

Sa soo (사수): a direct sunbae/senior who teaches you or a direct boss/coworker who also checks your work. There were many good people. However, I was unlucky. I was paired with a senior with an eccentric character. I suffered all day long. It was common to hear swear words throughout work, which is him criticizing me for no reason.

At first, I endured it. He took me as some weak pushover. But I just smiled and listened to him.

‘However, that was never the solution’

One day, the senior even cursed my parents. He insulted my parents with various profanities. How did I respond that day?

‘I did this.’

Lloyd’s shovel this time hit Sir Ulrich’s shin.

“Argh!”

Just in time when Sir Ulrich was about to get up. He grabbed his shin and collapsed. Even so, Lloyd’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.

‘After going nuts like this, I feel more comfortable.’

At that time, it was the same. The moment I heard the insult ridden with profanities, I flipped out. Immediately, I struck the senior with the shovel I was holding. Naturally, it caused an uproar in the scene.

But what about after that? I became relaxed. No one dared to provoke me as easily as before. I learned one truth about life after that occasion.

‘That’s the reason I summoned you here. You are the weakest knight in this territory. You barely made your manaheart just a while ago, didn’t you? I thought it would be perfect to step on it first.’

I predicted this based on the novel.

Sir Ulrich. I predicted that he would confront me or show a rude attitude at least once on site. The prediction had hit the bullseye.

An exemplary punishment. He was just a scapegoat to be made an example.

Whack! Whabam! Taang!

Lloyd’s shovel didn’t stop. A scream erupted from Sir Ulrich’s mouth, “Kkeu! Uuh! Yo, Young Master! Why!”

“Why? Because it’s a mutiny.”

Whabam!

Every time the shovel was swung once, Lloyd’s words fell coldly, “Come on, repeat what you said earlier.”

“Wait…. Kkuak!”

Baam!

“An honorable knight? You rejected the order to oversee the clay transportation process?”

“But… Heup!”

Whack!

“What buts. Do you want me to get strictly disciplined? Do you think I’m personally using the soldiers unauthorized? Huh?”

“Keuk!”

Ssak.

“Do you know what this document is? It’s a soldier mobilization permit. This is an official document, approved by father and issued by the administrator. Hence, you-.”

Sshk.

“This means that you, the legitimate knight who swore allegiance to the lord, dared to speak of honor and revolted against the lord’s reasonable order. In other words you-”

Wham!

“One, have disobeyed the Lord’s order.”

Whack!

“Two, have insulted the lord and forsaken your knighthood.’

Smack!

“Three, have abandoned your own qualifications and pride to the ground.”

Baang! The shovel, which had been swung in full swing, was raised from below. The flat side of the shovel head lifted Sir Ulrich’s chin.

And that was it.

Whack!

Blood gushed into the air, following Sir Ulrich’s bowed head. Sir Ulrich then crumbled like a doll without its strings. It was a mess.

“Phew.”

Lloyd picked up his disordered breath. After a hard long workout, his lungs felt like they were going to explode. However, it was rewarding.

‘We have to get rid of him.’

In the [Iron-Blooded Knight] novel, Baron Frontera, who appeared in the beginning, was a complete disaster. The proof was that he was using knights who lacked both loyalty and quality, just like Sir Ulrich.

‘These guys need to be cut off and kicked out in the bud as soon as possible. And then we fill the vacancy with those who are talented. That way, there’ll be a future for this land.’

This fief was where I will be getting money for life after all. In order to eat and live for a long time, it was necessary to cultivate talents early on.

I glanced around, wiping sweat off my forehead with my sleeves.

“What are you looking at? Are there any spectacle?”

“….!” The soldiers, who had stopped their hands to watch the chaos, flinched and turned their heads away.

Lloyd beckoned at the soldiers who were nearby, “You there. And the two of you. Come here.”

“….Ye, yes!”

Like the wind, the soldiers came running.

Lloyd pointed to Sir Ulrich with his chin. “Get rid of him. Then go to the mansion and call Sir Bayern.”

“I understand!”

They had just witnessed the knight who opposed his order staked his life. The three soldiers moved in perfect unison as soon as he spoke his order. They surrounded and carried Sir Ulrich, whose face was swollen like a blobfish. In a haste, they returned to the mansion.

Not long after that.

“I heard you’ve been looking for me, Lloyd-nim.”

A knight with a strong physique and impression arrived at the scene. It was Sir Bayern, who had been called by the soldiers earlier.

As soon as Lloyd saw Sir Bayern, he laughed with satisfaction.

‘He is better than I imagined when I was reading the novel.’

Sir Bayern. One of the five knights of Frontera Barony. He, along with Javier, didn’t abandon the Lord until the end. In other words, his loyalty had been proven through the novel.

‘You have to raise someone like this. According to the novel, his talent was ordinary. But still, trustworthiness comes first.’

Sir Bayern is a man of honor and integrity. So, leaving the task to supervise the construction team on-site to Sir Bayern was Lloyd’s final intention.

‘Well, I designed this situation from the very beginning.’

Summoning Sir Ulrich, who will be harmful in the future. Grabbing his excuse on the site. Setting an example out of him with punishment.

After that, summoning Sir Bayern, who was originally going to take over this spot.

By doing so, he could get rid of the traitor, set the situation of the scene, and naturally gave Sir Bayern, who would be cultivated by him in the future, a touch of warmth.

Lloyd said to Sir Bayern, “That’s right. I was looking for you. I’d like to entrust the management of the site to you today. What do you think?”

“I’ll do whatever you ask me to do.”

“Okay. There’s nothing much, actually. The soldiers will collect the clay here and move it to the construction site. Supervise them so they don’t slack too much while working. And of course, give proper breaks in the middle. It would be problematic if they overdid it and collapsed.”

“I understand.” He didn’t say any questions nor objections. I’m sure he already heard about what happened to Sir Ulrich. He didn’t express anything even once. His figure became more reliable in my eyes.

So, Lloyd left the clay excavation-site to Sir Bayern and stepped away.

He then went to the ondol room’s construction site. There, skilled workers such as carpenters, masons³Mason: a person skilled in building with stones and bricks., plasterers⁴Plasterer: a person whose job is applying plaster to the wall, ceiling, or other structures., and professional handymen recruited from the fief were waiting for him.

Of course, there was no such thing as respect in the eyes of the skilled workers who were looking this way.

Anxiety because of wondering why the scumbag called for them, and disgust because of not wanting to get entangled as deeply as possible. Their gaze were full of such emotions.

However, Lloyd didn’t care in the slightest about how the workers looked at him. He stood in front of them.

“Starting from now, I will tell all of you about the concepts and construction methods of the ondol. Get a hold of yourselves and listen properly.”

“….Yes?”

The skilled workers tilted their heads. In their point of view, Lloyd was a rascal who was raised in very fine conditions all his life. They couldn’t believe he himself was going to teach how to build a building on the spot. It was like comparing wrinkles in front of a pupa. Like breathing in front of a dragon.⁵Here, the author wanted to depict how the situation felt when Lloyd, who was supposed to not know anything about construction, is teaching how to build something to these experts in their respective construction fields. Naturally, it felt ridiculous. However, that only lasted for a moment.

“Let’s start with this. Attention, everyone.”

Sssk!

Lloyd unfolded the ondol room’s blueprint in front of them. The drawing of the blueprint was so elaborately designed, which had never been seen by these skilled craftsmen who built buildings in rural territories by relying on rough estimation.

“….”

Lloyd’s brilliant and professional explanations flowed endlessly like water. The skilled workers’ eyes and expressions began to gradually change.

♣

Half a day had passed.

Sir Bayern, obviously, didn’t betray his trust. Sir Bayern’s earnest supervision allowed the soldiers to carry the clay with minimum accidents. In the meantime, their bodies also became fitter because they had a lot of physical training.

So far, Lloyd had been busy. He had been leading the skilled workers on site all day. He personally put an extension belt around his waist, sweated, laid the flat stones on the ground, and taught them how to build an ondol.

‘…. Thanks to this process, we managed to complete the first day of construction safely.’

The sun was setting before I knew it. Now that Lloyd had a successful first day on the official construction, he looked around the site while it was being organized.

‘Then when they understood the basic principles, I could leave the technical work on site to the skilled workers, the miscellaneous work which requires labor to the soldiers, and the overall supervision to Sir Bayern. In conclusion, I could concentrate on other things without having to stay on the site every day during the construction period.’

After all, this was the purpose of setting up a professional construction team. Business should be able to run on its own. Being able to invest in other things while continuously making money from this. Now that the aim had been achieved, it was time to begin the next phase.

‘The improvement of this territory’s constitution is not over yet.’

Sir Ulrich was just the beginning. There were still thicker rotten roots that needed to be cut out.

‘It’s about time for him to react.’

Lloyd had thought that this was about the time.

“Lloyd-nim? I’m here to tell you something related to Sir Ulrich’s incident.” A haughty and harsh voice came from behind me. Is it Javier? No.

‘So you’re here too, Sir Neumann.’

Sir Neumann, a senior knight of Frontera Barony. The traitor who contributed the most to the downfall of the baron in the [Iron-Blooded Knight] novel.

Looking back at Sir Neumann—who had finally came here—, Lloyd was smiling like a fisherman who caught a big fish.

Tl/n : I’m really sorry for the late updates this week! I’ll try to do some double updates next week.

• 1

  The author uses hogu (호구): a Korean slang that means a person so foolish that everyone uses them for their own benefit.

• 2

  Sa soo (사수): a direct sunbae/senior who teaches you or a direct boss/coworker who also checks your work

• 3

  Mason: a person skilled in building with stones and bricks.

• 4

  Plasterer: a person whose job is applying plaster to the wall, ceiling, or other structures.

• 5

  Here, the author wanted to depict how the situation felt when Lloyd, who was supposed to not know anything about construction, is teaching how to build something to these experts in their respective construction fields.