The Defeated Dragon – 39
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39 – Information About the Invisible Dragon
Liszt returned to the Coral Island’s Flower Town three days later.
He had returned to the Flower Town under the escort of a Tulip Castle’s knight squad. Besides Liszt, Marcus and two dest.i.tute aristocrats, who were the descendants of aristocrats yet had not inherited an aristocratic t.i.tle and therefore could only be called knights, came also to the Flower Town.
The two knights were friends of Gort.
Enticed by the double pay, they came to the Flower Town to hold a post.
“Liszt, welcome back. You have been away for more than a week. I have started to miss you.” Gort said in a slightly exaggerated tone as he welcomed the town’s lord.
Although exaggerated, but his enthusiasm was thoughtful.
“And Marcus, the baron’s loyal knight, seeing your neat garments, I can tell that the journey went smoothly.”
“Haha, look at who these two are. Isaiah, Blair, my old friends, seeing you arrive together with the baron, I feel very happy. Evidently, you have chose the Flower Town.”
Next, a feast to entertain the knight squad, who had guarded Liszt’s party, was readied to be held in the small castle.
Before the feast began.
Without freshening up, Liszt quickly grabbed the jade box with the alfalfa sprite worm and went to the already established horse field in front of the castle. The ground was already lush green. The alfalfa’s speed of sprouting was very fast. With the quickly approaching of summer, the temperature would boost the alfalfa’s growth.
“Little fellow, come out.”
The chubby alfalfa sprite, along with its purple patterns, was very pretty.
Compared to the lazy tulip sprite worm, it was very spirited. It opened its mouth and spat out its worm stalk. As a result, an alfalfa very quickly sprouted, grew up, and then bloomed with a purple flower in the center of the horse field. Compared to ordinary alfalfa, the worm stalk was bigger and stronger.
“Do not forget to erect a fence around the worm stalk to prevent horses from damaging it.” Liszt instructed his gentleman’s valet, Thomas.
The castle was directly in charge of anything related to sprites. There was no need for the town’s officials or serfs to involve themselves.
“My Lord, please rest a.s.sured, I will immediately start the construction of the fence.”
After waiting for Liszt to return to the castle.
The old butler, Carter, greeted him: “My Lord, the feast is ready, you can come to the table.”
“Then let’s begin.”
Compared to the feast a few days prior, the feast in the Flower Town’s castle was too lacking. However, he preferred the current atmosphere, because among those seated, he was the most distinguished one.
“First of all, I want to thank Chevalier Lähden and gentlewomen and gentlemen knights for escorting us. I would like to propose a toast to all of you.”
“Sir Baron is too polite.” The knights toasted.
After the cups were emptied, servants immediately filled them with beer. Liszt raised his cup for the second time: “With this cup, I would like to offer my best wishes to Isaiah and Blair, I hope that you will lead cheerful lives in the Flower Town.”
“Sir Baron, thank you for your well wishes. We hope to be able to contribute to the development of the Flower Town. We will do our best.”
“Lastly, I would like to toast Teacher Gort, who had managed the affairs in my stead these days.”
“It was my duty. Liszt, as long as there is good wine to drink every day, then I am willing to get drunk in the Flower Town.” Gort laughed.
“Be clear-headed when managing the Flower Town, drink your fill when appropriate.” Said Liszt.
“Of course, work and wine, neither should be neglected.”
“Haha.”
The atmosphere was harmonious, with everyone having a good time.
……
After seeing off the knight squad, Liszt returned to the castle for a lunchtime break. Liszt focused while lying on the bed. As if following his prompts, the familiar smoke mission appeared. The Serpentines have finally changed: “Mission completed. Reward: three stalks of wild maize.”
In a flash, the smoke changed and a new mission was issued.
“Mission: as the lord, taking care of the sprites is your duty. Have you already forgotten about the wheat sprite worm and its ability of giving a boost to your territory’s yield? Please settle down the wheat sprite worm’s worm stalk. Reward: information about the invisible dragon.”
“Information about the invisible dragon? What is this reward?”
Liszt suddenly had a bold idea: “Could it be that the smoke missions want to reward me with a dragon? They should not, it would be too good to be true! A dragon, ah! A being capable of deciding the fate of a state! However, what is the deal with the invisible dragon, invisible?“
According to his predecessor’s memories, there were three types of dragons.
One major type was the gem dragon. The Sapphire Grand Duchy’s sapphire dragon was a type of a gem dragon capable of producing sapphire. The Redblood Sword Marquis Merlin gifted Liszt was inlaid with a ruby, which was also a gem produced by a gem dragon. It had mystical power.
Another major type was the metal dragon. The white iron dragon mentioned in the knight novel, which had battled with the sapphire dragon, was a metal dragon capable of producing iron ore. Metal dragons, were a bit more numerous than gem dragons. Iron dragons were particularly numerous. Through the various of knight novels, Liszt was aware of many dragons of this type.
The last major type was the elemental dragon, such as fire dragons and water dragons, which were quite difficult to tame. Furthermore, because of the strong magic elements, their destructive power was amazing. They could easily destroy towns and cities, injuring countless people. In the knight novels, they were often targeted by dragon slayers. Humans were very strange creatures who worshiped dragons yet also wanted to kill them.
“Gem, metal, elemental, which type of dragon is this invisible dragon?” Liszt could not figure it out.
He decided to ask the others.
He called the butler, Carter: “Mr. Carter, have you heard of the invisible dragon?”
Carter thought for a moment: “I have not heard of it, My Lord.”
In the afternoon.
He took his retainer knights and went to the town to look for Gort and his two friends. On the way, he kept an eye out for clues regarding the three stalks of wild maize reward.
“Invisible dragon?”
Gort stroked his chin: “I seem to have heard of it somewhere. Isaiah, Blair, do you recall anything?”
Isaiah and Blair carefully rummaged through their memories before simultaneously shaking their heads.
Finally, half an hour later, Gort also could not recall whether he had actually ever heard of the invisible dragon: “Old people get easily confused. Liszt, I am quite sorry. I might have been thinking of something else and might have never heard of the invisible dragon. Sorry for wasting your time.”
“It is okay. Right, Teacher Gort, what are your arrangements regarding Isaiah and Blair?”
“I am in charge of administration, Isaiah is in charge of finance, and Blair is in charge of law and diplomacy.”
“Very well, then I will leave the Flower Town’s development to the three of you.” Liszt did not linger in the town. He was confident about the Flower Town’s expansion and development. However, he was limited to telling his intentions to Gort and his other subordinates, and then through them realize the specific work.
Carrying out things himself would go against the aristocratic system. Aristocrats who worked the field were not called aristocrats. Aristocrats who ate with serfs were also not called aristocrats. Besides, him being also in charge of the specifics might be counterproductive, let alone being a waste of energy.
For instance, as he could let his servants complete the census, there was no need for him to do it in person.
It was very difficult to cross the threshold of aristocracy, so how could he not enjoy himself and why should he tire himself to death?
After returning to the castle, Liszt contemplated: “Since the reward is information about the invisible dragon, it means that I will not get the reward before completing the mission. In other words, no one knows anything about the invisible dragon. After I finish the mission, someone will probably come tell me the information.”
At once, without stopping to rest, he left the castle and rushed to the wheat settlement. The wheat sprite worm gifted to him by the count was waiting for him to help it settle down its worm stalk.