Chapter 43: The Greedy Merchant (3)

As the inside of the cave came into view, Patrick spoke as if something had just come to mind.

“This place seems to be a cave made of Nak.”

Nak referred to a white powder on the Phalon Continent that monsters disliked.

Since science had not yet developed, its composition was unknown.

It was merely known as a substance that most monsters instinctively avoided.

Of course, Raion knew the components of the substance—not from the Phalon Continent, but from the memories of his previous life.

“You’re right. It’s a cave made of Nak. It’s also called limestone.”

“Lime… Is that what some places call it?”

Patrick tried to repeat the word, but the pronunciation was too difficult, and he gave up.

“Yeah. Anyway, since it’s a Nak cave, there won’t be any monsters inside.”

“With this much Nak covering the place, that must be true. The path also seems wide enough for carriages.”

The road ahead was just wide enough for a carriage to pass comfortably.

“Then let’s go. To the castle of Kanas Territory, where we’ll be staying from now on.”

As Raion spoke, the remaining foliage completely concealed the cave’s entrance, and the carriage began to move forward.

The Canel Kingdom was celebrating the departure of the First Prince Ashuran and the Second Prince Valet to their respective territories.

Many nobles had sent their own people to decorate the route to the southern gate, making it a lavish spectacle.

Watching the scene from afar, King Laskan of the Canel Kingdom wore a bitter expression.

Noticing that expression, Queen Elina smiled softly beside him.

“Are you worried about something?”

“I just wonder if the journey meant to test them for the throne isn’t a bit too extravagant.”

On either side of the procession, countless citizens of the royal capital could be seen.

It was uncertain whether their cheers were sincere or not, but because of the commotion, even more people had gathered to watch, surrounding the princes’ parade. They seemed likely to follow them all the way until they completely left through the southern gate.

“With so many people following our princes, isn’t that proof of how much they care for the future of the Canel Kingdom?”

“I know that well. But the difference in the territories they’ve been assigned to worries me.”

The assignment had been made officially at the great hall’s public drawing ceremony.

Naturally, even as king, Laskan could not object to it.

Now, he could only regret it belatedly—though it was far too late to undo anything.

“You’re worried about Prince Raion, who left for Kanas, aren’t you? I know. I’ve been so anxious that I can hardly sleep these days.”

Queen Elina brought a handkerchief to her eyes as if wiping away tears.

It looked as though she were crying, but it was nothing more than a shameless act.

Of course, King Laskan failed to notice and could only sigh deeply.

“It’s already been eight days since Raion left for Kanas. Yet there’s still no word that he’s arrived there…”

“I believe it’s just taking longer because the Clamen Mountain Range is so rough to cross safely. If you wait patiently, I’m sure good news will come soon.”

In truth, King Laskan had sent several messenger hawks, wondering whether Raion might have stopped by Vaizen, Marlen, or Praizen along the way.

But not a single reply had returned confirming Raion’s visit to any of those places. It was to the point that he began to suspect something had gone wrong.

Even so, as king, he could not act recklessly—so he had kept his silence all this time.

Raion’s carriage, passing through the Nak cave that connected to Kanas Territory, had come to a brief stop.

Stepping outside, Raion reached out his hand toward the cave walls and began continuously extracting something.

“Extraction (抽出)!”

As he chanted, a sky-blue translucent window appeared before his eyes.

[Extracting only quicklime from limestone.]

[Quicklime will be automatically stored in the warehouse.]

[Warehouse]

Quicklime × 15kg… 48kg… 122kg… 234kg…

As extraction from the limestone continued, the weight of quicklime in the warehouse rapidly increased.

The number jumped from 10kg to 20kg, and soon it climbed even higher—until it reached a full ton.

“This should be enough.”

He also stored the groundwater flowing along both sides of the cave and the gravel settled beneath it.

Watching him curiously from the side, Patrick finally asked,

“What are you planning to do with the Nak powder? Are you perhaps thinking of spreading it around the Clamen Mountain Range to ward off monster attacks?”

Indeed, that would be one way to exploit the monsters’ weakness toward Nak.

However, the reason Raion extracted an entire ton of quicklime was something else entirely.

“With this, I’m going to turn the Kanas Mountains into a perfect fortress.”

“Using Nak powder?”

“First, I’ll make sure that no one can enter or leave this cave easily.”

Raion loaded all the necessary materials into the warehouse, then climbed back onto the carriage.

The carriage started moving again, slowly heading toward the faint light at the cave’s exit.

They had to move as quietly as possible—too much noise could cause the cave to collapse.

Whooosh!

At last, they emerged from the cave, and the sunlight of Kanas shone down upon them.

The exit, too, had been covered by brush, which they had to clear away before emerging.

The horses flinched at the sudden brightness, startled, but everyone quickly pulled on the reins to calm them down.

Once the carriage came to a halt, Raion immediately stepped down and approached the cave entrance.

“Warehouse! Synthesis Formation!”

First, I opened the warehouse and designated quicklime and a few other materials to be used with the Synthesis Formation ability.

[You are given choices to make the blending for synthesis smoother.]

Cement

Concrete

Both were names I had often encountered in my previous life.

‘As expected!’

The idea came to me when I recalled the limestone-filled caves called Nak on the Phalon Continent.

It was concrete and cement, both of which could be made using limestone as the main ingredient.

This would bring an enormous revolution to the architectural techniques of the Phalon Continent, where walls and houses were built using stone, mud, and wood.

Of course, this technology wasn’t something I could easily hand over to anyone.

For now, I needed to start by applying it in the Kanas Territory.

I chose number 2—Concrete.

At the same time, the quicklime that came out from the warehouse mixed with other materials, becoming a thick liquid that floated in midair.

The concrete in its liquid form was complete.

Immediately, I pictured the shape of the nearby valley walls in my mind and made the mixture take form in front of the cave’s entrance.

Thud! Thump―!

The wall rose completely, hiding the cave from view.

However, if one went around the back, there was still enough space for a wagon to pass through.

It was camouflaged so that it wouldn’t be noticeable from the outside.

Patrick approached the square-shaped rock that looked like stone and asked,

“What is this made of? It seems quite solid.”

Tok! Tok!

He knocked on it with his knuckles turned backward, feeling hardness similar to that of real stone.

“Think of it as a rock made from something called concrete.”

“That’s another peculiar name.”

Perhaps because the word was in English, unlike lime, Patrick didn’t seem to struggle pronouncing it.

“This should be good enough.”

Meanwhile, Caldein was busy recording each of my magical actions in detail.

Even Dike, who had been watching, showed interest after seeing the thing called concrete.

“Wow…! Can I make this too? If I could mold a material like this freely, it would be incredibly useful for building houses!”

Perhaps because Dike was a half-dwarf, ideas on how to use it for technology and construction came naturally to him.

“As long as you have the materials, you can make it too, Dike.”

“Really? Will you teach me?”

“I’ll teach you slowly once we reach the territory. You might have many chances to use it later.”

We still had about fifteen kilometers left to reach Kanas Castle. If we kept traveling by wagon, we would arrive before sunset.

For several days, the atmosphere at the Lord’s Castle of the Kanas Territory had been restless.

That was because a few days ago, a messenger hawk arrived from the royal palace announcing that the Third Prince, Raion Canel, would be visiting Kanas Territory.

To be honest, when Duke Alito Kright, the Royal Chancellor, first delivered the news, it seemed utterly absurd.

But when their own territory, of all places, was chosen as the testing ground for a prince, no one knew what to do.

Lord Shtefan Palvin of Kanas anxiously waited in his office for the arrival of the Third Prince, Raion Canel.

“Why must it be the Third Prince of all people…”

Even though the Kanas Territory was somewhat isolated, word about the Third Prince’s current situation had reached them through various means.

Naturally, Shtefan knew well that the Third Prince’s position was far more precarious than that of the other princes.

Beside him, Conrad Vivalous, the administrative officer of the territory, continued speaking.

“As you said, my lord, even the Goddess of Sun and Blessings, Zigasis, seems indifferent. If She truly pitied the state of Kanas, She should have sent another prince here instead.”

If either the First Prince Ashuran or the Second Prince Valet had come, the royal palace would not have neglected Kanas.

They might have even helped find a solution to the Clamen Mountain Range issue, or supported the development of trade and commerce.

But with the Third Prince coming, even that small hope was dashed.

“I heard he entered Taron’s Palace, which had long been vacant in the capital, and didn’t come out for five whole years.”

“I heard that too, my lord. They said it was quite a serious matter.”

“Our territory is already in a poor state, and now a prince is coming. The palace won’t even be offering any support either.”

This royal succession test was purely to evaluate the abilities of the princes.

Naturally, King Laskan made it clear that there would be no assistance of any kind.

“That’s another problem. The prince will have attendants with him as well. I wonder where the funds for their stay will come from.”

“By the way, what happened to that village producing goods lately? Still no word about its owner?”

About four years ago, a village near the Clamen Mountain Range had seen a sudden increase in income.

Upon investigation, it turned out that a traveling merchant named Fordman had commissioned the production of several goods in that village.

Lord Shtefan had seen that as a golden opportunity.

He attempted to connect with the owner of those goods through the merchant and expand it into an official territorial business.

But Fordman refused to speak no matter how he was persuaded. Somehow, he was able to cross the Clamen Mountain Range freely.

“For now, that’s how it stands. I visited again recently, but it seems he crossed the Clamen Range once more and headed inland.”

“How in the world does he manage such a thing?”

“We’ve been trying to track him, but his lodgings are secret, and we never know when he leaves—so we always miss him.”

Hearing his report, Shtefan felt even more helpless.

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