The Maritz Wetlands was an abandoned land.
There were a lot of muddy swamps there. The dense swamps were ho to a plethora of unknown creatures.
Naturally, it was impossible to build any buildings or do so farming there.
It was a useless land, one that couldnt be used.
Thus, Maritz Wetlands had been treated as a forgotten land for generations.
The northern part of the wetlands belonged to the Frontera Barony, anwhile the southern part belonged to the Viscounty of Lacona.
Regardless, both parts of the land were being ignored all the sa. After all, the land was considered impossible to develop.
However, thatll be a thing of the past.
Itd change from now on.
With that in mind, Lloyd raised his head. He looked back and asked cautiously, Is my Lord all right?
Yes, absolutely.
Baron Frontera, who was following behind Lloyd, nodded. Lloyd looked up and down quickly to assess the Barons condition.
The Baron was wearing knee-high boots. Because the leather was fully oiled, the boots were almost completely waterproof. Unfortunately, the boots were not able to do their job properly today.
I dont think My Lord looks all right. It seems mud and water have already made their way inside the knee-high boots.
It wasnt that the boots werent working, but it was because the swamp was much deeper than the Barons knees. The water even reached the top of their thighs every ti they walked.
As a result, water had already filled the Barons boots. His pants were also completely drenched.
However, the Baron was a manly man with an unexpected tenacity.
Im fine. I already expected this much.
Hmm, Is that so?
Lloyd didnt think so.
Suddenly, Lloyd recalled what had happened two hours ago.
Two hours ago, Lloyd went to the Barons office. He inford the Baron of his intention to develop the Maritz Wetlands that was located at the south of the territory.
The goal and reason why he wanted to develop the wetlands was clear. It was to boost the territorys food productivity for the future.
I have to feed the Orc miners. Even if that is not the case, increasing the territorys farmland is sothing that has to be strongly encouraged.
Food Production. Agriculture was the foundation of all industries, regardless of how advanced a society was. Only after problems regarding eating and living were solved would the next step of developnt beco possible. This also applied to the territory, Lloyd thought.
The orc miners are just the beginning. One day, the population will increase. However, it will be difficult if the territorys food production capacity is insufficient to feed the growing population.
The food production capacity needed to be increased to accommodate the growing number of mouths that needed to be fed. But, there was no other land in the territory that could be cleared and cultivated for farming.
The only available land was the Maritz Wetlands, which was located directly at the south of the territory.
That was the reason why he had to drain the swamps. He had to carry out a land reclamation project.
To do so, he needed the Barons permission. Thus, Lloyd revealed his plan to the Baron. Should the Baron oppose his plan, he had prepared a plan to persuade the Baron.
However, things didnt turn out as Lloyd had expected. The Baron gave an unexpected reaction.
If so, are you thinking of going to survey the topography of the wetlands?
Pardon? Well, yes, I am.
Good. Then, Ill go with you.
Pardon?
Dont bring the servants. It will be alright for you to go with this father alone. I should change into so comfortable clothes first. Wait a minute.
After that, the Baron went to change his clothes without hearing Lloyds answer first. He put on a comfortable shirt, pants, and knee-high leather boots. He also wore a sword on his waist. What was more, he even ordered the maid to pack lunch!
Umm, uh, this is not a picnic.
I know.
Then, why bring lunch?
Even if were only going to the wetlands, itll be a problem if we get hungry, right?
Umm, still.
Am I wrong, by any chance?
.
Lloyd had no choice but to stop talking after that.
The Baron wasnt wrong. However, in Lloyds eyes, it seed that the Baron really considered this trip as a picnic.
A pretty fun picnic, too, to boot.
This was sothing Lloyd couldnt understand.
They were going to survey and examine damp wetlands full of swamps. Lloyd couldnt believe the Baron got so excited and prepared for the trip like going to a picnic.
Whats so fun about it?
Even when Lloyd left the mansion with the Baron, or when they traveled across the territory towards the south where the wetlands would be, or when they eventually arrived at the muddy swamp and struggled to move in it, Lloyd still couldnt comprehend the Barons attitude. The truth was, even now, he still couldnt.
Huf, huff!
The Baron was gasping heavily. Every ti they took a step in the muddy swamp, the Baron was doing a slapstick cody with his whole body. The reason was simple. It was because he raised his hands to protect the basket filled with lunch.
Unable to watch it any longer, Lloyd asked, Um, shall I carry the lunch basket?
No, its fine
But if My Lord keeps on carrying it like that, your arms will be sore and itll be more difficult to keep your balance.
No, its not difficult. You should focus on your work.
Well, I dont think carrying that is going to distract my survey.
Lloyd was telling the truth. In fact, Lloyd had been activating his Survey Skill for quite so ti. The thing was, his Survey Skill didnt require him staying focused.
Because the results of the survey are automatically saved as data.
Later, Lloyd could go back to the mansion and whip out the survey data at any ti. He only needed to concentrate at that mont. Hence, it wasnt difficult at all for him to help the Baron carry the lunch basket now.
But, the Baron persistently refused.
Arent I the one who wanted to go together with you? How could I make you carry this?
Umm, its absolutely fine. My Lord doesnt have to carry that.
Im really okay, so turn around and look forward.
All right. Then, shall we take a break there first?
Lloyd happened to see a slightly higher ground in the middle of the wetlands far ahead. There, dry soil piled up, forming a small mound that arose above the swamps.
Its not more than a few ters ahead anyway.
Furthermore, it seed the right mont for them to take a short break.
Then, please follow carefully. Dont fall down.
Yeah, dont worry. Huff huf!
Lloyd then led the Baron to go towards the small mound.
When they arrived there, there was a fairly wide and flat rock. Lloyd sat down on the rock and took a deep breath. anwhile, the Baron opened the lunch basket. There was a wooden stackable picnic container covered by a pure white cloth inside.
Ive been wondering for a while, but what did My Lord bring that he protects so preciously?
Its nothing, I just brought the most delicious thing in the world.
The Baron smiled and opened the stacked wooden container.
What was inside the container was.
It was hard-boiled eggs and tomatoes.
Sorry?
The tomatoes are plentifully doused in honey. Heres your fork.
.
It was a little unexpected. They were nobles after all. It wasnt bad, but Lloyd expected sothing better.
The happy smile that was adorning the Barons face beca warr.
Are you a little puzzled because it has been a long ti? Still, wasnt this your favorite food when you were young?
.
I still rember it to this day. You refused with all of your might to eat all kinds of greasy foods. You said hard-boiled eggs and honey tomatoes are the best. How much I feel at a loss at what to do every ti back then.
.
Even now, I sotis regret it. When you said you liked boiled eggs and honey tomatoes back then, I shouldve understood you and gave it to you as much as you wanted.
.
How should Lloyd respond to this?
Lloyd only pursed his lips, the fork was still in his hand. Before he knew it, he had already stopped using the Survey Skill. He just silently stared at the empty fork.
The Baron smiled and offered the egg he peeled himself for Lloyd.
Here, dip it in the salt and eat it. Make sure to drink water afterwards to avoid choking.
.
Youve been quiet for a while. Does this father make you feel awkward?
Oh, um, no, you dont.
Its okay, I fully understand how you feel!
.
The Baron was looking at Lloyd. An inexplicable feeling of regret filled his eyes. That feeling, however, was fleeting. The Baron soon burst into a hearty laughter.
Hohoho, youre going to get indigestion at this rate. Co on, lets eat.
Yes.
After that, neither Lloyd nor the Baron said anything.
They ate the hard boiled eggs and honey tomatoes while sitting on an unknown gray rock in the swamp.
In the anti, the Baron regretted the past; for the ti he spent feeling disappointed about his son, who failed to et his expectations; or his past self who treated his own son like a sore finger the whole ti.
He wanted to apologize for his past actions.
It was, however, difficult to put such feelings into words and and say them out loud.
The Baron silently handed Lloyd a bottle of water instead. Lloyd wordlessly received the bottle of water and chugged it down to moisten his throat. Lloyd then passed the salt for the Baron to dip his eggs in.
The whole ti, the two of them were enveloped in silence.
On their way back to the mansion, Lloyd picked up and carried the lunch basket. Only this ti, the Baron didnt turn down Lloyds help.
The lunch basket felt lighter than it had been when they first ca here. This made their steps a little lighter, too.
With this, Lloyds first day of surveying the wetlands had co to an end.
The next few days, Lloyd focused on surveying the area. The Maritz Wetlands was larger than he thought.
It was impossible for him to cover the whole area with his Survey Skill in only a day or two.
Still, Im glad that my Survey Skills rank is interdiate!
The skill could now survey an area of about 40 m in width and length, or about 1600 m at a ti.
After pushing the skill usage several tis to the limit, he was able to survey a fairly large area.
Just like that, 20 more days flew by.
Up until now, Lloyd had surveyed most of the area where the primary reclamation project would take place. Shortly speaking, all topographic data within the range of the project had been obtained.
Of course, this didnt an everything would be easy.
The design is a separate issue.
Lloyd furrowed his brows as he examined the topographic data of the Maritz Wetlands obtained through his Survey Skill.
I already predicted this, but there are too many variables.
The wetlands was located in the lowland that was surrounded by two river tributaries. Water entered the wetlands whenever the river flooded on a regular basis. However, the water couldnt flow out. Thus, it accumulated. Eventually forming a swamp after many years had passed.
In any case, from whatever perspective I look at it, this pool of old stagnant water is the problem.
Just like in gas, the principle could be applied into real land. In the ga, one had to properly control the stagnant water so that the soil could be revived.
Keeping this fact in mind, Lloyd devised a plan to carry out a wetlands reclamation project.
The truth is, Ive already figured out how to do it. I can ask the fantasy species assistance to do the vertical drainage thod. We can accelerate soil consolidation1Soil Consolidation refers to the process in which the volu of a saturated (partially or fully) soil decreases due to an applied stress. Land consolidation is an important technology for sustainable agricultural developnt. Directly associated with the perability of the soil, the length of the drainage path and the direction or directions of the drainage path.. However, the embanknts and waterways have to be properly positioned at the sa ti.
The area was vast, and the variables were nurous. Lloyd wasnt confident that the water would drain properly with the design he had in mind.
If I blindly go for it and start the construction, Itll be a huge failure.
Hed be in big trouble if he went through all the trouble of building embanknts and waterways only to have the water not drain properly. Hed literally waste a lot of manpower and money to shovel sothing thatd do nothing.
Lloyd wanted to avoid that.
Hmm, I wish I could run a simulation.
How much Lloyd hoped he could put the topographic data obtained by his Survey Skill into a supercomputer and run a simulation.
However, that seed like an impossible story from the dreamlands.
At that mont-
Mmh.
In the corner of Lloyds bedroom, Javier turned and twisted his body in the armchair.
Perhaps, he was having a nightmare.
Javiers elegant eyebrows furrowed. If he left Javier be, Lloyd thought hed wake up soon. So, Lloyd chanted a magic spell(?) for the silver-haired knight who was tossing and turning in his sleep.
The draining thod consists of drainage sections to collect and distribute the rainwater and river water that has infiltrated into the embanknt during the flood, a side channel to receive the drainage and a filter part with filter to prevent clogging the drainage. The diater of the drainage channel is blah blah blah at least 0.5 ter above the ground in the embanknt on average the average hydraulic slope (H/D) in the entrance of the drain hole does not exceed 0.3 blah blah blah. With a structure that ensures a certain degree of safety against landslides. Go to sleep, bye~
zzzz.
Javier fell deeply asleep. Lloyd grinned softly.
When Lloyd was reciting the contents of a book he used in his major to put the silver-haired knight to sleep, an idea he could use to replace simulation abruptly erged in his mind.
Im glad I recited the part about the embanknt construction. As expected, the answer is in my majors textbook. Lets give it a shot.
Lloyd exited the bedroom and went to the mansions backyard.
Under the moonlight, he picked up his shovel.
He dug the soil in the backyard, gathered it to one side, and carefully shaped it with his hands. Next, ca in the water. Both crushed grass and red clay were properly mixed in the water. Lloyd also picked up and collected so small stones.
Lloyds sweat glistened under the moonlight.
From then on, Lloyd continued to work busily.
As a result, when dawn finally ca, the fruits of Lloyds work began to take shape. It was a miniature model of the Maritz Wetlands, which was scaled down to 4m x 4m.
Phew. Is this good enough?
Despite the fatigue that ca rushing in, Lloyd smiled happily. The model was quite impressive, even by his standards.
This is the only way. It is made based on the data I gained from the Survey Skill.
The overall topographys height and inclination to the degree of the stagnant waters slight flow, it reflected nurous variables.
With this, hed be able to run advanced analog simulations.
Then, lets get started.
Lloyd rolled up his sleeves and trousers. His fashion style beca like that of people when they were planting rice. He then started to sculpt the model.
By simultaneously activating his Design Skill, he created a miniature embanknt in the model. Then, he drilled a hole in the ground and dug a waterway on one part of the model. After that, he observed the water drainage.
It was not an easy task.
When morning went while noon ca, the scorching sumr sun fell on him without a filter. It hit him in the back.
Sweat was pouring down his whole body like rain. The eyes of the people in the mansion were also intensely gathered at him.
Um, what is Young Master Lloyd doing this ti?
Did he wake up only to play with mud?
No, Im sure hes working on sothing.
It was a relief that people didnt criticize him as much as they used to.
Lloyd continued to run analog simulations amidst the many attention he garnered.
He failed every ti.
The drainage design wasnt satisfactory enough.
Nevertheless, Lloyd didnt give up. He was not going to give up until he found a solution.
I wouldnt have even started if I was just going to lazily back down.
He set his spirit on fire every ti he failed.
While shouting again!, he restored the model with both hands, poured additional murky water, and created various types of embanknts and waterways.
Many more attempts and failures followed after that.
Noon went and afternoon ca.
Around evening, when afternoon still dimly lit up the sky, Lloyd finally found a great design of embanknts and waterways that could drain the water well.
Finally!
Despite his heavy fatigue and pouring sweat, he raised and clenched his fist in celebration.
The water was draining properly in the end. Not only did it get drained properly, but there appeared to be no difficulty in maintaining this condition.
To Lloyd, this felt rewarding because he had done sothing close to hard manual labor all day long.
That very mont, an unexpected notification popped up before his eyes.
Ding dong.
[Youve overco your limited condition and solved your predicant through your wisdom and grit.]
[Your efforts have had a major impact on the ]
[You have unlocked a new optional skill.]
Authors note: (Ding dong) I summon the supercomputer~
Tl/n: I was so confused because in the manhwa the northern part of Maritz Wetlands belongs to Lacona and the southern part belongs to Frontera, but Ive double checked it in future chapters that indeed the northern part is Fronteras while southern half is Laconas in the novel.
Anyway. Aww, Baron Frontera wants to get closer to his son but his actual son is- Ill stop. No, Im not crying. You are. :)
Oh yeah, thank you Sours for the ko-fi!
Ill update twice or thrice next week, sorry I cant do it this week because I dont have any chapters stockpiled. Ill try to update more frequently.
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Soil Consolidation refers to the process in which the volu of a saturated (partially or fully) soil decreases due to an applied stress. Land consolidation is an important technology for sustainable agricultural developnt. Directly associated with the perability of the soil, the length of the drainage path and the direction or directions of the drainage path.
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