Chapter 180 Creating a Ground Work

Edgar entered his house as the afternoon slowly faded into evening.

He stretched his body and rolled his shoulders, feeling some of the remaining stiffness from the previous night’s battle.

The house was much quieter than the outside, with only the faint sounds reaching him through the windows.

As he stepped farther inside, he noticed Reeba standing to the side.

The maid immediately bowed her head. “Welcome back, Lord Edgar.”

“Thanks, Reeba.” Edgar looked around before asking, “Where’s Hera?”

“Lady Hera is upstairs resting.”

Edgar nodded his head. “How is she feeling?”

Reeba straightened herself before answering. “She was tired when she returned last night, but she seems much better now. She ate some food earlier and has been resting since then.”

“That’s good.” Edgar let out a small sigh of relief.

After everything that had happened, he didn’t want Hera pushing herself too much.

‘It’s good that she is recovering well but I don’t want her to solely dependent on me.’

He looked at the main and said. “If she needs anything, let me know.”

“Of course.”

Edgar walked toward the living room and sat down on the sofa. He leaned back for a moment and closed his eyes.

There was finally some peace.

No Nightmare army was attacking the Fortress.

The walls were repaired, the workers were doing their jobs, and the people under his protection were safe.

Edgar now had enough time to actually think rather than be in the constant stress.

He reached under the table and pulled out several pieces of parchment.

They contained the runes he had copied from the underground layer.

Edgar placed them on the table and carefully spread them out. The strange symbols covered almost every piece of parchment.

He stared at them for several seconds. ‘Should I continue studying these now?’

The runes were still one of the biggest mysteries he had encountered.

Some of them were unlike anything he had seen before, while others seemed to contain principles that were far more advanced than the magic commonly used in this world.

Normally, Edgar would have immediately begun studying them but things were different now.

The most dangerous threat he had been dealing with was gone.

He didn’t have to rush anymore. ‘I can study them later.’

Edgar gathered the parchments together and placed them to the side.

There was no reason to overload himself when there were other things that needed his attention.

He took out another clean parchment, followed by a quill and a bottle of ink.

His eyes became focused. ‘The Eternal Rain.’

If it was really coming soon, then simply repairing the Fortress wouldn’t be enough.

He needed to prepare for the consequences. Edgar dipped the quill into the ink and began drawing.

The first thing he worked on was the drainage system.

He drew the outline of the Fortress before marking several main channels along the streets.

The channels would lead excess water away from the buildings and toward larger drainage routes outside the Fortress.

He added smaller channels between the buildings and connected them to the main ones.

Edgar made sure to make the whole thing big enough in case the fortress expand much more in the future.

‘…The expansion of the fortress is bound to happen, better make preparations now.’

His mind shifted back as he mumbled. “Water storage…”

Edgar wrote the words beside another section of the blueprint.

Instead of allowing all the rainwater to simply flow away, he wanted to collect as much of it as possible.

He designed several large underground reservoirs that could store water during heavy rainfall.

Some of the water could later be used for agriculture, while the rest could be purified and distributed throughout the Fortress.

He then moved to the next section. “Elevated buildings.”

Edgar drew several structures raised above the ground.

If the rain became heavy enough, low-lying buildings could become flooded.

Raising important buildings would protect them from water damage while also allowing water to flow underneath them.

He added another section for food reserves.

Large storage rooms would be built underground, protected from both rain and moisture.

Edgar also planned to divide the food reserves into several separate locations.

If one storage area was damaged, they wouldn’t lose everything at once.

‘Protected Agricultural House.’

He drew larger agricultural areas with raised boundaries and drainage channels surrounding them.

The Agricultural Houses were already protected, but he wanted to make sure they were not in any danger.

He wanted the soil to remain fertile even after being exposed to days of heavy rain.

Next came emergency shelters.

Edgar marked several locations throughout the Fortress where underground shelters could be built.

They would be large enough to hold civilians during an emergency and would contain food, water, medical supplies, and basic equipment.

He paused briefly before adding another note.

‘Stronger roofs.’

The roofs of important buildings would need to withstand constant rainfall and at the same time collect water.

He redesigned several of them with steeper angles so water would slide off instead of accumulating on top.

For the larger buildings, he planned to reinforce the supporting beams and use stronger materials.

Then Edgar began thinking about lightning.

If the Eternal Rain came with powerful storms, lightning could become another threat.

He drew several tall metal rods connected to thick metal lines running into the ground.

“Lightning protection…”

The system wasn’t something he could simply build with magic.

He would need to experiment with it.

Still, the basic principle was simple enough.

He continued writing. Everything slowly filled the parchment.

Edgar eventually reached the final problem.

The roads.

He remembered how difficult it had been to move around the territory after heavy rain in his old world.

If the roads became flooded or turned into mud, transportation throughout the Fortress would become almost impossible.

‘And if I eventually build a railway, the same problem will happen.’

Edgar drew several raised paths.

Instead of allowing the roads and future railway lines to sit directly on the ground, he planned to build their foundations higher and add drainage beneath them.

Water would be able to pass underneath without destroying the foundation.

He also designed slightly elevated railway tracks with reinforced stone and metal foundations.

It wasn’t perfect but it would prevent the tracks from becoming unusable simply because of heavy rain.

Edgar leaned back and looked at the parchment. The entire page was now covered in drawings and notes.

“This should work…”

A soft voice came from beside him. “What are you working on?”

Edgar turned his head. Hera had walked down from upstairs.

She looked much better than she had earlier, although there was still some tiredness in her eyes.

She walked over and sat beside him on the sofa.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“I’ve already rested enough.” Hera leaned slightly toward him and looked at the parchment. “What is all of this?”

“Preparation.”

“For the rain?”

Edgar nodded. “The Eternal Rain won’t just make the ground wet. If it lasts long enough, it could cause flooding, destroy roads, damage buildings, ruin crops, and make it difficult for people to move around.”

Hera looked over the complicated drawings. “You’ve thought about all of that?”

“I’m trying to.”

Edgar pointed toward the different sections.

“These are drainage channels. These will store water. These buildings will be raised, and these areas will be used for emergency shelters.”

Hera listened quietly.

Edgar continued explaining each part, including the protected farmland, underground storage, stronger roofs, food reserves, and lightning protection.

When he reached the railway design, Hera looked slightly confused. “What is this?”

“A railway.”

“What’s that?”

Edgar paused. “Something I’ll build later.”

Hera gave him a curious look but didn’t question him further.

Instead, she looked at the enormous amount of writing on the parchment. “You really have a lot planned.”

Edgar smiled faintly. “There’s still more.”

Hera leaned against the sofa. “You don’t need to do everything yourself.”

Edgar glanced at her.

“I know.” He looked down at the blueprint again.

“That’s why I’m going to start assigning different parts of this to other people.”

He tapped the parchment. “Oswald can handle the workers and resources. Steven can handle the metalwork, and I’ll deal with the designs and anything they can’t figure out.”

Hera smiled. “Then maybe I can help with something as well.”

Edgar gave her a skeptical look. “It’s better if you handled the legislatives.”

Hera laughed softly. “I will do that.”

Edgar ignored her and continued looking at the blueprint.

Outside the house, the wind suddenly became stronger.

The windows rattled softly.

Edgar’s expression changed as he looked toward the window.

The grey-black fog above the Fortress had begun moving.

The faint light that had remained across the sky slowly disappeared.

Darkness descended over the land.

Edgar stood up and walked toward the window.

The Eternal Night had returned.

He stared into the darkness for several seconds. “The night is back.”

Hera walked beside him and looked outside as well. Neither of them spoke.

The first day after the Nightmare King’s defeat had finally come to an end.

And now it was time for the aftermath of the attack.