The dam.

Several days later, an unusual roar shattered the morning calm of the river valley.

The sound didn’t come from the construction site of the eastern spillway, but from further upriver, in the direction of the canyon.

It was unlike the crisp ring of hammers striking stone or the resonant calls of the laborers. Instead, it was a dull, focused BOOM that echoed distinctly, sounding off at intervals. Each blast made the air tremble and seemed to send a low thrum through the very body of the dam.

At that moment, Arthur was leaning on his oak cane, inspecting the mortar joints of a newly built retaining wall on the eastern construction site.

When the first BOOM resounded, his hand, spotted with age, instinctively tightened its grip, and the head of his cane tapped against the gravelly ground.

He cocked his head, his cloudy yet still sharp eyes narrowing as he gazed upriver toward the canyon, which was shrouded in the morning mist.

"This noise..." the old man muttered to himself, his brow furrowed. "It’s not coming from our site."

Luke, who was supervising the transport of stone materials nearby, also heard it. The young follower hurried over, a confused look on his face. "Grandfather, it sounds like it’s coming from the restricted area upriver. What is that noise? It’s like a giant cast-iron hammer pounding the base of the mountain, but much, much louder than our rock-breaking hammers."

"The restricted area?" A muscle in Arthur’s wrinkled cheek twitched.

Of course he knew the place. It was a particularly steep, V-shaped section of the canyon about a kilometer upriver from the reservoir. The Governor himself had designated it a strictly forbidden zone, guarded year-round by the most elite troops. Ordinary dam maintenance personnel were forbidden from approaching, and even he, the chief Steward, could not enter without a direct order.

Aside from the treacherous terrain, there had always been rumors that the rock formations there were exceptionally hard. ’Could it be...?’

Soon, a few laborers who were hauling crushed stone nearby also stopped their work. They gathered together uneasily, staring upriver and murmuring amongst themselves.

"Oriane preserve us... The earth is shaking..."

"Did a giant underground wake up and roll over?"

"I heard a craftsman from the south mention that miners in some places use a method called ’Fire Dragon’s Breath’ to break rock..."

"It must be the great men in the restricted area using a ’big toy’! Only the Governor has access to something like that!"

Just then, an officer wearing a Hooded Robe over Chain Armor and bearing the insignia of the Monte Guard strode over from the direction of the dam’s main thoroughfare, accompanied by two soldiers.

He had clearly heard the noise and the chatter and had come specifically to investigate and deliver an order.

"Master Arthur, Master Luke." The officer stopped before Arthur, placed his right hand over his chest in a salute, and said with a serious expression, "The Governor has issued an order. The restricted area upriver is currently undergoing necessary mountainside reinforcement and hazardous rock-layer removal. This is to expand the reservoir’s flood capacity and prepare for a potential future aqueduct. There will be loud tremors during this period, which is normal. All work sections are to proceed as usual without alarm. However, no one is to approach the restricted area for any reason. Violators will be severely punished."

Arthur’s eyes were narrowed, listening carefully to the officer’s every word.

"Reinforcement? Removal? Are they using that device?" he asked, his voice low, tinged with an almost imperceptible awe.

He had lived for nearly seventy years and knew the Governor was skilled at creating all sorts of ingenious and powerful contraptions. He couldn’t begin to understand the principles behind some of them, only that their effects were astonishing.

The officer’s expression didn’t flicker. He simply said in a low voice, "His Excellency only instructed me to relay the aforementioned order. I am not privy to the specific operational methods, nor would I dare to speculate."

He paused, then added, "The tremors may continue for several days, and their intensity might vary. Please, Master Arthur, calm the personnel in each section and have them focus on their current work. The guard detail around the restricted area has been doubled to ensure no unauthorized persons interfere with the operation or wander into the danger zone."

Arthur gave the officer a long, hard look, but asked no more questions.

He turned to face the anxious laborers and craftsmen, his voice, though aged, carrying a strength that could steady a person’s heart:

"Did you all hear that? Upriver is a crucial project personally overseen by the Governor! They’re using the Lord’s Secret Technique, so of course it’s going to be loud! Now settle down and get back to what you were doing! If any stones are laid crooked or the mortar is mixed too thin, see if I don’t dock your pay! Luke, take a few men and patrol the east side. Check if those tremors loosened the foundations of the new wall!"

At Arthur’s reprimand and urging, the crowd gradually dispersed and returned to work, but the subtle unease hanging in the air did not completely fade.

Whenever that dull BOOM rolled like thunder from the upriver canyon again, everyone couldn’t help but pause their work, lift their heads, and glance toward the restricted area—the source of that mountain-shattering sound. Their eyes held a mixture of curiosity, awe, and a flicker of indescribable apprehension.

After Luke completed his patrol and confirmed there were no issues, he couldn’t resist sidling up to his grandfather and asking in a low voice, "Grandfather, what do you think... what kind of Secret Technique is it, really? It couldn’t be that they’re having Great Knights blast the mountain with their Life Energy in shifts, could it? How many Great Knights would that even take?"

Arthur stared silently at the birds occasionally taking flight in fright over the distant canyon. After a long moment, he spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"There are some things we aren’t meant to know, so don’t ask. You just need to remember that the Governor always has his reasons. His vision and his methods are far deeper than old folks like us can imagine."