Chapter 346: Chapter 98: Booming Construction in Affleck

Once the arrangements were made, the construction plan for Water Project No. 1 was quickly set in motion.

Although it took some persuasion for Robson to get the esteemed Mages to work, it had to be said that professionally trained individuals were a cut above the rest.

The esteemed Mages worked at a pace that far surpassed even Robson’s own Extraordinary Soldiers.

The next morning, Falan led the Mage Corps and a contingent of the Lord’s Guard to the shores of Dong’er Man Lake.

Even Robson came to the site in person, though of course, he didn’t participate directly.

For one, compared to Falan, Lord Robson’s bit of knowledge wasn’t of much use.

For another, Robson wasn’t sure about the prospects of Water Project No. 1. Allowing someone with no magical knowledge to participate in the construction of a Magic Array was a scenario for which even Falan’s vast repository of knowledge had no precedent.

The entire domain was still under military-style management. Organized by the Non-commissioned Officers, the construction of the Magic Array began with great fanfare.

The most crucial part was, of course, handled by Falan himself.

Robson watched as Falan held several sheets of specially made Magic Paper, crafted from the hides of magical beasts.

Falan burned all the paper to ash, then spread it evenly over the marked ground.

Building a Magic Array that could operate smoothly required many steps.

Although Falan came from another civilization, they were ultimately in the same world, and the underlying logic of Magic remained unchanged.

Based on Robson’s knowledge, this was the process of establishing a magical environment for the Magic Array’s operation.

While Falan performed his work, the esteemed Mages of the Mage Corps watched with rapt attention.

It wasn’t the first day they had known Falan; they were well aware of the capabilities of the Mage serving their lord.

In the Mage Realm, knowledge is wealth. Even though Falan couldn’t cast Magic, his mastery of sufficient knowledge was enough to earn the respect of the esteemed Mages. Sometimes, Robson even found these people contradictory: they looked down on commoners, yet respected knowledgeable commoners.

The young men of the Lord’s Guard watched Falan’s work, staring at each other in confusion, unable to understand a thing.

Falan constructed the Magic Array with incredible speed. Though he had no Mana, he still had his experience.

Amateurs watch the spectacle; experts see the technique.

The Soldiers of the Lord’s Guard couldn’t understand anything, but the Mages of the Mage Team were practically dumbfounded when they saw Falan’s speed.

The core Array Falan was inscribing was at least several dozen square meters, yet he finished it in just half an hour.

"Shouldn’t you check it?" Robson asked, looking at Falan.

Never mind the esteemed Mages; even Robson himself was a little surprised.

After all, this was the first time he had seen Falan formally construct such a large-scale Magic Array. Before, the greatest contribution of the Mages under him had been building platforms for Robson’s Magic Crystal Cannons.

"Huh? Does this really need checking?" Falan looked at Robson, bewildered.

The reason for Falan’s speed was simple: experience.

Unlike Knight Lords, the older a Mage was, the more sought-after they became.

"Alright then, let’s move on to the next step," Robson nodded.

’Everyone has their own specialty.’ Lord Robson decided not to offer his unprofessional opinion.

The following steps were much simpler.

Soldiers, holding Book Rulers, began to fill in the magical materials step-by-step according to the blueprints. The Mages also stepped forward to begin adding the finer, more intricate details to the Array, fleshing it out.

As the Magic Array was being constructed in an orderly fashion, many of the domain’s people began to walk over toward Dong’er Man Lake.

Robson had no intention of hiding the construction of the Magic Array. After all, if this was successful, there would be many more projects like it in the future, and there was no benefit in secrecy.

Everyone was curious. How was the lord going to build a Magic Array with a group of soldiers?

They were also curious how a noble Magic Array could be used to serve the domain’s agriculture.

Most of Robson’s Soldiers were authentic Peasants, whose ancestors had worked the land for generations.

Using a Magic Array to farm was something that even in the southern Magic Country, the Tilia Kingdom, was only practiced in a few regions, let alone in the northern Frank Kingdom.

Many Peasants had never seen a Magic Array more than a few times in their lives, and those few times were usually on the battlefield. Everyone harbored an inexplicable fear of such things.

This was also why Robson had allowed them to come over.

This Magic Array was ultimately intended for agricultural production. If the people of Affleck, the main players in that production, were afraid of it, wouldn’t all of Lord Robson’s efforts be for naught?

Everyone worked from morning until noon, and the basic form of the Magic Array gradually took shape.

What Robson hadn’t expected was that the Soldiers of the Lord’s Guard were the first to finish their tasks.

On second thought, it was understandable. The Soldiers of the Lord’s Guard were under military management and were more disciplined than the Mage Team.

Besides, the work assigned to the Lord’s Guard required no technical skill.

This, however, provoked the esteemed Mages. They hadn’t expected that not only would "mud-legs" be involved in the construction of a Magic Array, but that they would also be faster. And their work even looked decent.

’So who were the esteemed Mages now?’

In any case, by the time the sun was high in the sky and it was almost time to eat, the entire Magic Array was finally complete.

Robson looked at Falan.

Falan stepped forward under everyone’s expectant gazes.

"Bring the Magic Crystals up. Whatever happens, follow Falan’s instructions," Robson said to several Soldiers behind him.

"Yes, my lord!"

Several Soldiers carried half a crate of Magic Crystals.

Robson didn’t know about Magic Arrays in other places.

But for this particular Magic Array designed by Falan, the initial activation required a massive amount of Magic Energy. Of course, the subsequent daily maintenance wouldn’t consume nearly as much; otherwise, Robson would never have considered building it in the first place.

If daily maintenance required a whole crate, Lord Robson would be better off just buying grain himself.

The Soldiers brought the Magic Crystals forward, and Falan directed them to pour the crystals into a small well, about the width of a wooden bucket. This was the Magic Energy conversion center for Water Project No. 1, and the power source for the entire Magic Array.

As the Magic Crystals were poured in, the entire energy conversion array began to glow.

A stream of blue energy flowed out from the central conversion hub, spreading in all directions through the Magic Crystal conduits the Soldiers had laid out beforehand.

Everyone present—whether they were Soldiers of the Lord’s Guard, Mages from the Mage Team, or the ever-changing crowd of onlookers—grew tense.

They all wanted to see what a Magic Array built with the help of farmers would be like.

Just as everyone was watching with bated breath, Robson heard Falan shout "Stop!" Falan then bent down, and the flow of Magic Crystal energy came to an abrupt halt.

"Huh? What’s going on?"

"Did it fail?"

...

Seeing this, everyone grew confused, their gazes shifting between Falan and the few Soldiers who had been pouring the Magic Crystal Stones.

"Ha! I knew it. A bunch of illiterate farmers, how could they possibly participate in building a Magic Array?"

"Is there any doubt? It must be the fault of those grunts..."

For a moment, murmurs erupted everywhere. Hearing the discussions around them, the faces of the Soldiers at the center flushed red. Although many Guard Soldiers were present, they were, after all, the most conspicuous ones.

"Quiet!" In response to the surrounding chatter, Robson spoke just a single word in a flat tone.

Hearing their lord speak, the people immediately fell silent. Robson’s authority was evident.

Without the common folk chiming in, the esteemed Mages also stopped talking.

Robson glanced at the group of Mages. He knew exactly who had started the gossip, but he had no intention of making an example of them.

Prejudice in people’s hearts is like a great mountain. The Mages’ discrimination against farmers was a long-standing cultural issue, not something that could be moved by occasionally criticizing one or two individuals.

Besides, Robson still needed these esteemed Mages to work for him.

Seeing the situation with Water Project No. 1, Robson walked forward.

"Is there a problem somewhere?" Robson asked Falan.

"It’s not clear yet. It’s fine, maintaining the Magic Array isn’t an issue. I’ll go take a look and find out," Falan said, scribbling something in a book with a quill pen.

Robson nodded, feeling a little more at ease.

Falan was seen walking to the east, his gaze fixed on the ground.

"What is Mister Falan doing?"

"Maintaining the Magic Array, that’s what Mister Falan said..."

"Those mud-legs... making Mage Falan go to all this trouble..."

With the Magic Array’s failure, the crowd of onlookers actually grew larger.

Amidst the discussions, Falan arrived at a subsidiary array further to the east. He didn’t walk towards the array’s channels that the Soldiers were responsible for, but instead approached the core of the subsidiary array that the Mages had handled.

Seeing this, Robson walked over.

"Here’s the problem. The rune in this spot was drawn incorrectly. The Mage in charge of this section mixed up the rune for the ’lightness’ attribute of the wind element with the rune for the ’lightness’ attribute of the water element. The energy can’t flow past this point. I just need to fix it, and the rest should be fine," Falan explained to Robson while correcting the array’s rune.

Even Robson hadn’t expected that, in the end, the problem was with the esteemed Mages’ technical skills.

If Robson was surprised, the Mage Team was in an uproar.

"What happened? Weren’t we responsible for that section? Who did it?"

"Little John... he only became an apprentice two years ago. He’s not skilled enough yet."

"Damn it! This is so embarrassing! Damn it!"

...

Following the voices, Robson saw the esteemed Mages pointing fingers at a short young man in a tattered Magic Robe.

"Gentlemen, Falan needs a quiet space to work. Did you not hear what I said earlier?" Robson was genuinely angry now.

To be honest, while the young Mage had made a mistake, it hadn’t caused any real damage. He was just suffering from a lack of experience. Even the energy from the Magic Crystal Stones was still contained within the Energy Storage Array attached to the conversion array.

Mistakes are always inevitable; they are one of the stepping stones to progress.

Seeing that Robson seemed genuinely furious, the esteemed Mages finally shut their mouths—and this time, they stayed shut.

"Continue," Robson said to the few guards still standing by the Energy Well, looking lost.

Receiving the order, the guards looked as if they had been granted amnesty. They immediately resumed pouring Magic Crystals into the array.

This time, the Magic Array did not stop. As the Magic Crystals were injected, a continuous stream of energy surged from the Energy Well and spread throughout the array.

"Hey! It’s working!"

"There’s water! There’s water! Look, the water’s coming out!"

"It really worked! Ha! Great Lord of Dawn! Look at that volume of water! It would take me a whole day to carry that much!"

...

With the Magic Array in operation, water from Dong’er Man Lake began to flow continuously onto the land.

"Mm, a success. We’ll need to add some protective measures later. It would be best to bury all these lines underground; that could extend their lifespan by several years..."

Watching the ceaseless blue energy flowing beneath him and the muddy lake water gushing forth, Robson, for once, didn’t pay attention to what Falan was saying.

The Magic Arrays Robson had seen before were almost exclusively for warfare, and even those were few and far between.

This endless flow of water immediately made Robson think of this year’s harvest—of golden waves of wheat or some other crop.

For the first time, Robson truly felt the Magic of this world.

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