148 – The Resource Census of the Flower Town
Glanny Truth"s letter was delivered to the castle by the transport team of the Flower Caravan.
He delayed his arrival, as the materials for the black pearl magic equipment were lacking, and required some time to prepare. Thus, he would go to the Flower Town in mid October.
“Wasting my time! I should have paid another Wizard a visit instead!” Liszt wasn"t too happy with the letter, as he felt that the Wizard wasn"t giving him face. For it to take over a week to prepare the materials was too inefficient. He was suspicious that the latter was just stalling.
However, there weren"t many Wizards he could contact.
Such people led semi-hermit lives, and generally avoided contact with ordinary people. If Liszt wasn"t a member of the Tulip Family, then Glanny might not have received him. Aristocrats didn"t let Wizards settle down in their cities and towns, as the tinkering of Wizards would occasionally lead to explosions, frightening the people.
Liszt threw away the letter and no longer concerned himself with when Glanny would come.
The resource census and the logging a.s.sembly were being carried out at the same time in the Flower Town. Although Gort worked hard after he became the adviser, but there were still a lot of things with which he had to trouble Liszt.
Liszt had his own troubles.
Standing in front of the castle"s window, he looked at Blessedcurls, who had an iron chain tied to its leg, and frowned tightly.
“Tweet!” “Tweet!” Blessedcurls made noise and swung its plump wings.
His sapphire-colored eyes turned into whirlpools, as Liszt released Magic Eyes. In his view, Blessedcurls become a fat bird formed from cyan magic power.
“Blessedcurls reached the stage of releasing magic power. In a few days, it might be able to release magic without my guidance… Eating too well is also a burden. Should I cut down on its food? This bird eats thrice as much as a servant.”
Blessedcurls wasn"t big. When curled up, it was the size of a dog.
Anyway, as a magic beast, it ate much more than ordinary birds: “It isn"t worthwhile to continue to feed it like this.”
If he didn"t manage to find an eagle tamer, then Blessedcurls would just be a wild, hard to train magic beast. At most, it could be killed for its meat and materials.
Shaking his head, Liszt decided not to kill it for the time being. After taking care of it for so long, they became familiar with each other. No matter how he teased it, Blessedcurls wouldn"t bite him back, and would just dodge instead. It didn"t like being touched.
“Anyway, there"s a sense of familiarity between us.”
……
The life in the Flower Town was busy and went on orderly.
Taking charge of the resource census, Gort quickly completed it, then sent the compiled data to the castle, where he started an enthusiastic discussion during the banquet.
“According to Sir"s instructions, part-time farming serfs will be turned into full-time workers. Farming serfs will receive interest-free loans from the castle in the form of farming tools. Furthermore, the serfs will be coached in scientific farming.
Gort read aloud his lengthy report. The resource census was his vanity project, so he naturally was full of pa.s.sion.
“The results of the current resource census of the Flower Town are as follows: The peanut settlement…”
The peanut settlement – 100 acres of peanuts, which contained a peanut sprite worm; 20 acres of maize gra.s.s; 500 acres of land-to-be-reclaimed, which was mostly covered by weeds; 20 acres of housing area.
The shiitake settlement – 80 acres of shiitake sheds; 30 acres of shiitake and Flame Mushroom mixture; 800 acres of land-to-be-reclaimed, which was mostly covered by underbrush; 30 acres of housing area.
The barley settlement – 50 acres of barley; 50 acres of oats; 150 acres of rye; 30 acres of maize gra.s.s; 50 acres of maize, which contained a maize sprite worm; 500 acres of land-to-be-reclaimed, which was mostly covered by weeds; 1,800 acres of beach, which contained fragrant coconut trees; 50 acres of housing area.
The wheat settlement – 500 acres of wheat, which contained a wheat sprite worm; a pig farm, where 12 fat pigs were being raised; 300 acres of land-to-be-reclaimed occupied , which was mostly covered by underbrush; 50 acres housing area.
The tomato settlement – 80 acres of tomatoes, which contained a tomato sprite worm; 20 acres of vegetables; 40 acres of land-to-be-reclaimed, which was mostly covered by underbrush; 60 acres of housing area.
The oyster settlement – 4,600 acres of beach, which contained fragrant coconut trees as well as a fragrant coconut sprite worm; a fruit stealing monkey training field with 7 fruit stealing monkeys, 3 of which were pregnant; 30 acres of housing area.
The dairy farm – 150 acres of alfalfa pasture with 11 cows, 3 of which were pregnant; 180 acres of thorns woods, which contained a thorns sprite worm; 300 acres of land-to-be-reclaimed, which was mostly covered by underbrush; 1,700 acres of beach, which contained fragrant coconut trees; 15 acres of housing area.
The flower farm – 200 acres of tulips, which contained a tulip sprite worm and included 15 acres of sundance tulips, 10 acres of William I Tulips, 20 acres of Black Tulips, and the rest was barren; 500 acres of land-to-be-reclaimed, which was mostly covered by underbrush and weeds; 20 acres of housing area.
The town – 40 acres of commercial area; 80 acres of workshop area; 150 acres of residential area; 120 acres freedman residential area; 80 acres of aristocrat residential area; 10 acres of administrative offices. Most of the s.p.a.ce was just a plan, and the current number of houses was very small.
The castle – 120 acres of alfalfa pasture, which contained an alfalfa sprite worm and 22 horses, 7 of which were pregnant; 5 acres of black nightshade, which contained a black nightshade sprite worm; 20 acres of castle; 400 acres of land-to-be-reclaimed, which was mostly covered by underbrush and weeds.
The Flower Town"s total – 5,165 acres of arable land; 8,100 acres of beach; 775 acres of constructions. 15,000 acres of land in total, which included brooks, ponds, and roads. As for the term ‘acre", Liszt was not clear about it due to the lack of contrast.
If he transmigrated with his body as well, then with himself as a reference, he could easily understand the measurements here.
Unfortunately, he transmigrated with just his soul, so he could not figure out how much bigger or smaller he was from before. Anyway, that wasn"t important, as he got used to the measurement units here.
“The Flower Town has roughly an area of 15,000 acres and the Thorns Ridge has roughly an area of 13,000 acres, which adds up to 28,000 acres. This is the area of my territory… Well, when the tide is low, close to 5,000 acres of beach gets exposed from under the water, so I have 33,000 acres of land.”
On the Coral Island, a town with 33,000 acres of area was regarded as a large town.
He took the time to draw a detailed map of the Flower Town. Although the map was certainly not up to standard, but the basic framework should be correct.
It had mountains and bodies of water, and the roads were clearly represented.
His eyes wandered about the map before locking onto the north side of the Thorns Ridge: “Starting from here, there are low shrubs and then large tract of uncultivated and untouched land. Should I confine this tract of land, too?”
He gave up on this idea after thinking it over.
Swallowing the Thorns Ridge was already greedy as is, and was enough to make a fortune. If he greedily swallowed another tract of land, that would likely backfire and arouse the displeasure of the count and Levis.
“The uncultivated land of the Flower Town has yet to be reclaimed. I should fist be low-key and develop it, and steadily forge ahead. I have the smoke missions, so there is no need to take risks. Just like the old principle says: ascend the throne only after the provisions are full and ramparts are built. I"m 16 now, so I"ll set a small goal for myself – to have an island of my own when I"m 20!!”
The message of the Dark Horse Island appeared in his mind.
Although the veil over this breeding ground of Blackdragon Horses had yet to be lifted, but its charm had already intoxicated Liszt.