Chapter 172: Hit the Highway (1/2)
The after-party for the harvesting project was very lively, but Rino excused himself. He had big plans to work on now that he had powerful monsters under his command, mana depletion and new blueprints.
The monster rabbit clan worked very quickly, and according to the drows sent to follow them, they worked even quicker than the gnomes. It might be due to their numbers but The genesis fairies sent to lay the mana web network lagged behind so far that there was no light in the newest section of the tunnel.
Thankfully, the rabbits seemed very experienced with tunnelling and added earth columns in the tunnel they dug. The excess dirt was surprisingly eaten, and the drow who had night vision suffered some mental trauma knowing that these monster rabbits ate their excretion several times to create the best dry pellet poop used to explode tough rocks in the way.
Their unique way of mining and proficiency in earth magic made the highway construction so quick that Rino was forced to admit that the gnomes would soon be out of jobs in Town Zera.
”What are the earth gnomes doing?” Rino asked Sheila, who was busy coordinating checking on the mushroom cave.
After a while, the drow leader reported that they were back in the abandoned mines working on something that could help the trolls plough the new rice fields faster.
As expected, all gnomes were great designers, and Rino had the perfect task for them now that they were no longer needed for underground constructions.
The abandoned mines remained confusing to Rino, and judging from how much work he still had left, exploring this maze had to wait. The lich waited for one of his adopted sons to appear at the cave entrance. It was evening now, and Rino felt a little dizzy from exhausted his already depleted mana supply trying to teleport over from his study. Walking under the sun in such a condition would be a disaster. Rino would easily be toppled in one hit even if nobody knew it.
”Maybe I should have summoned them over to the study instead,” he grumbled but brushed it aside. There was no use in pondering over what was done.
Not long after, the earth gnomes welcomed Rino into their research lab. It was exactly how Rino imagined it to be - one organised chaos.
”How many gnomes are working on that farming tool project?”
Bink looked at the chaotic workshop and counted the gnomes present, excluding two who were simply looking at some type of map.
”About five are working on the farming project. Three are working on the underground lighting, two are working on mapping the mushroom living cave, and the rest are tinkering with new materials, experimenting on the newly grown crops to see if we could make something out of it.”
From the brief explanation, Rino had a feeling everyone found themselves some kind of project to work on. How unfortunate!
”What about Deezer?”
If there was one idle gnome, Rino bet that Deezer's name would be on top of that list.
”Oh, he's talking to the trolls and helping them to build that barn quicker. Who knows what that gnome is up to. After the soul bond, he must be very happy to spend his eternity with Sheila.”
Bink's grumbling reminded Rino about his agreement to create a soul bond with any gnome who desires it. Thankfully, many of Town Zera's social problems were resolved. The harvest festival and the birth of new baby animals brought everyone together. That monster rabbit invasion gave these different species a reason to work even more closely than before.
”I see. Is there any gnome I could borrow who is good at designing big machinery and buildings? I received an oracle in my dream, but this is beyond me to comprehend.”
When Bink heard ”machinery”, his eyes lit up like the stars in the night sky.
”Me! I'm not working on any important projects at the moment, so I could help. Actually, maybe Deezer, too, if he isn't too busy flirting. Deezer is better at the architecture stuff, but I work better with gears and parts.”
That settled it. Rino had the experts he needed to create one of mankind's greatest inventions.