At noon on January 20, dust shrouded the land south of the Iron Mine.
From the eastern shore of Iron Mine Lake toward West 7 Castle, people were digging earth and hauling soil and rocks all over the plain, which stretched about thirty kilometers from east to west and ten kilometers from north to south.
On the frozen lakeshore, a Junior Knight shouted to a hundred or so Mana-Less workers, "Come on, brothers, get to work! Whoever gets the most done will get double dinner rations! Whoever gets the least won't eat tonight!"
Less than two kilometers west of the lake's eastern shore lay a patch of land less than one kilometer wide. It was the assigned worksite of Enpors Gallop, a young man from the Gallop Family. His father was Enkris Gallop, who had already reached the rank of Senior Knight and was the Gallop Knight who had previously gone to White Tree City on Landen's behalf to provide reinforcements.
Enpors had only entered Gallop Academy last November. In just two months, he had advanced from Apprentice to Junior Knight. In previous years, he would already have been eligible to become the family heir and prepare to take over a small knight's fief, gradually learning how to be a lord.
But after spending just two months in Night-Kirin City, he had changed his ambitions. He felt that his future should be like Tierney's or Fang's: reaching the High-Rank or Great Knight level. Even if he couldn't become a Count, claiming a Viscount's title would be no problem.
Especially when he heard there was a chance to help build a new city near the Iron Mine, he gave up without hesitation what would have been the most comfortable winter of his life. Instead, he brought twenty Junior Knights and a