Creeak
The study door was pushed open. Mina walked in and said softly, "Master, there's half an hour left until the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the pontoon bridge. Should we be heading out?"
"Oh? It's almost ten o'clock," Lucas said, momentarily surprised. He stretched lazily and chuckled, "Let's go. The people for the land reclamation must be getting impatient."
Lucas got up and walked outside, followed by the fox-ear and cat-ear girls. Today was the day the pontoon bridge opened. The land across the Whispering River would become Sedona City's great granary in the future.
The three of them soon boarded the carriage. Escorted by the War Wolf squad, they left the castle. When the carriage came outside, it immediately drew the attention of the commoners. These were all people waiting for the land reclamation project, waiting for Lucas's arrangements.
Clip-clop, clip-clop…
The sound of horse hooves echoed. The commoners parted to make way and then followed behind the carriage. They knew the Lord was going to the riverbank; this morning's newspaper had announced the ribbon-cutting for the bridge.
"How are the arrangements for the farm tools?" Lucas asked, looking out through a gap in the curtain. He saw people dismantling the old city wall, and dozens of draft horses were transporting blocks of earth.
"They've already been arranged for in the warehouse at the port," Annie said softly. She had taken care of it days ago.
Clip-clop, clip-clop…
The carriage quickly left Sedona City. Lucas lifted the curtain and looked at the scenery outside. There was no snow to be seen at all. The current weather didn't feel like winter had just passed.
The cold snap had come and gone quickly. As soon as it left, the temperature here shot up. If one's constitution was weak, they would probably have already caught a bad cold.
As the carriage traveled, Lucas's expression became very grave, which made Annie and Mina look at each other, wondering what was wrong with their Master. After exchanging a glance, Mina was the first to speak.
"Master, has something happened?" Mina asked, a knife appearing in her sleeve. She'd like to see who dared to put the Master in a bad mood.
"There's trouble," Lucas said in a deep voice. After leaving the city, he had noticed that the ditches outside the territory were full of water. Considering it hadn't rained at all these past few days, he knew where the water was coming from.
"Master, what trouble?" Annie asked, puzzled. She poked her head out the window but didn't see anything unusual.
"Haven't you noticed that the snow is melting too quickly?" Lucas remembered seeing snow just a few days ago. For such a thick layer of snow to melt away all at once, especially so close to the Forbidden Mountains—the amount of water from the entire mountain range's snowpack melting would have catastrophic consequences.
"This…" Annie turned her head to look out the window again. Seeing the rushing water in the ditches, her expression also became grave. She now understood what the Master was worried about. "Chris," Lucas called out the window.
Clip-clop, clip-clop…
The sound of hooves slowed slightly. Chris gradually reduced his speed from the front to ride parallel with the carriage. "My Lord," He said respectfully.
"Immediately send men to patrol the west side of Sedona City. See if there is any major water accumulation and where the water is flowing," Lucas ordered with a serious face.
"Yes, my lord." Chris replied respectfully. He slowed his horse further and then ordered his men to carry out the task.
Clip-clop, clip-clop…
The carriage soon arrived at the port, where a large crowd had already gathered. The pontoon bridge was a short distance upstream from the port, above the shipyard.
"Don't stop, go directly to the bridge," Lucas said in a deep voice. He was a little worried about the bridge's safety.
"Yes," Replied Number Two, the driver, urging the horses forward.
"I hope it won't affect Sedona City too much," Lucas sighed. He hadn't expected such a potential crisis.
"Master, it's alright. If there was a problem, it would have been recorded in previous years," Mina said comfortingly, flicking her cat tail at the fox-ear girl.
Annie was startled for a moment, then quickly added, "That's right. If there were floods, Nicole would have warned you long ago."
"It's better to be careful," Lucas said, shaking his head. He had always been a cautious person. Especially when facing disasters that could take lives, if you didn't take precautions, there would be no medicine for regret once it actually happened.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at the pontoon bridge.
Lucas got off the carriage and saw that many people were already waiting, including Bryan, Joe, and the cow-horn girl who was maintaining order.
"Master, you're here," Ayesha said, coming forward with her Overlord Spear on her shoulder.
"Mhm," Lucas nodded, his face grave as he walked to the riverbank, staring intently at the rushing water.
"What's wrong with the Master?" Ayesha was a bit confused. She turned to look at the fox-ear girl with a questioning gaze.
"It's like this…" Annie said, standing on her tiptoes. She pulled on Ayesha's horn and whispered in her ear.
"What?" Ayesha's purple eyes went wide. She looked at Lucas in disbelief. If there really was a flood, they would be in big trouble.
"My Lord, I am Feilu, a book merchant."
"Greetings, my Lord. I hope you can spare me a moment."
"..."
The people around greeted Lucas respectfully. If it weren't for Mina's sharp gaze and the knife in her hand, these merchants would have probably crowded around him already.
Lucas nodded to the crowd and walked towards the pontoon bridge. He looked at the wooden post set up on the riverbank. The measurement markings were already submerged up to the number three, meaning the water level had risen by three meters.
This rate of rise was very dangerous. If it rose another two meters, the port and the shipyard would be flooded. If it rose to six meters, the river would reach the city gates.
Moreover, a three-meter rise was already close to the maximum impact force the bridge could withstand. The bridge had been built at a bend in the river, which acted as a buffer zone. Otherwise, it would have already been swept away by the turbulent current.
Lucas touched one of the iron chains on the bridge and found it was stretched incredibly tight, which made his expression very grave. The wooden planks were creaking from time to time—crack, crack—as the river battered the boards and the pontoons.
"Go, call Aiden over," Lucas ordered Chris, who was following close behind.
"Yes," Chris immediately ran towards a spot not far away, where Deputy Chief Aiden was arranging the guards.
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