67 – Fire, Traps, and Smoke Gra.s.s
Were beasts afraid of fire?
This was a very interesting topic.
Gort shook his head, expressing a different opinion: “Beasts are not exactly afraid of fire, some beasts may even be curious about fire, let alone the naturally intimate with fire fire-attributed magic beasts.”
Marcus mused: “I think this method might still be feasible. Beasts would naturally not be afraid of a small fire. However, if the fire ignited from pine tree branches was big, then I believe that even fire-attributed magic beasts would not want to approach. The pine tree branches are not worth much, what we want are the tree trunks.”
The discussion around lighting a fire persisted for a quarter of an hour.
Then, Blair added: “We can let the town"s hunters also partake in this endeavor, letting them install traps in the surroundings. The traps might not work against magic beasts, but at least they could be used as warning mechanisms that could complement the bonfires. I believe that it would be enough to guarantee the safety of the logging team"s serfs.”
Finally, Liszt gave a verdict: “Fire, traps, those measures are worth trying, but there is a crop in the Flower Town that you should not overlook.”
“What crop?” Everyone was curious.
“Smoke gra.s.s.”
“Smoke gra.s.s? Oh, heavens, how could I have forgotten about this dreadful gra.s.s.” Gort immediately flailed his hands exaggeratedly, “I believe that as long as the smoke gra.s.s is lighted, then even a dragon would run away. That smell… Liszt, that smell from the time you ignited the smoke gra.s.s on the dairy farm is still fresh in my memory!”
A dragon would not run away, but on the contrary, would be attracted over.
Liszt narrowed his eyes slightly as he paid attention to Gort"s expression. He was sure that the other had brought it up involuntarily instead of trying to lure out some details.
On the day of the invasion of the invisible dragon, the others had misgivings regarding the burning of the smoke gra.s.s, the violent deaths of the dairy farm"s cows, as well as the resounding and penetrating dragon roar.
However, Liszt had told them not to ask questions.
Therefore, they could only suppress these misgivings in a corner of their minds until they faded away from their memories.
“I am also convinced. When researching the smoke gra.s.s, I had smeared a bit of smoke gra.s.s juice on the nose of Cyanrabbit. As a result, Cyanrabbit was unwell for two days, nearly falling sick.” Isaiah echoed the sentiment with a strong conviction. Cyanrabbit was his mount, a horse of a cyan color.
“Therefore…”
Liszt put down the knife and fork and wiped his mouth, stopping eating: “Fire, traps and smoke gra.s.s, these three measures will protect the logging team and guaranty that magic beasts cannot harm anyone. Teacher Gort, Teacher Marcus, I leave the implementation to the both of you. Make sure that that nothing goes wrong.”
“Yes, Sir!” a.s.sented Marcus.
Gort also nodded quickly: “Leave it to me, Liszt.”
Liszt still mentioned: “Additionally, we have finally figured out the use of smoke gra.s.s. Therefore, I decided to clear a tract of uncultivated land to the north of the flower farm"s tract of smoke gra.s.s to expand the cultivation of the smoke gra.s.s. Teacher Gort, come up with a plan and implement it as soon as possible.”
“We might have enough uncultivated land to clear for cultivation…”Gort hesitated before saying, “But there is a serious lack in the number of serfs. There were not many serfs to begin with, but now a batch was transferred to the oyster settlement, and many serfs were transferred to the logging team, the road construction team, the town"s shops as apprentices, and even to the knight squad and the castle as servants.”
He extended his hands and counted on his fingers: “Maize gra.s.s, maize field, tulips… and the many seeds – sugar beet, turnip, onion, coriander, and others – you traded for, they all require serfs to be cultivated. I think that we need at least another 1,000 serfs.”
Without farm tools, the slash-and-burn method was the way to open uncultivated land for cultivation.
Cultivation took a lot of effort, requiring many serfs to maintain the normal growth of crops and vegetables. There was no way to work the fields without serfs.
“With mechanized cultivation, a dozen people would be able to cultivate all of the Flower Town"s fields.”
Liszt often fantasized about leading the Flower Town to adopt the farming model of the U.S farmers, having large machinery traveling along a boundless farmland.
He could only fantasize. At the moment, the Flower Town only had a few shovels and hoes.
As such, he did not insist on Gort rapidly broadening the scope of cultivation: “In this case, come up with a plan and demarcate the fields first, then wait until there is sufficient man power before beginning with the cultivation.”
“As you wish!”
……
At the logging site.
The thirty loggers formed groups of two as they cut down the trees using their axes. It had to be said, the serfs who worked hard all year round were quite strong and efficient.
While atop Blackdragon, Liszt slowly patrolled the area.
On the other hand, Marcus was leading the knight squad to pick up the cut down pine tree branches and drag them to the three bonfires in the woods. The bonfires raged with tall flames as they guarded the logging site in a triangular formation.
Hunters were making traps around the bonfires.
Occasionally, bird cries could be heard from deep in the woods. Instead of an oppressive atmosphere, there was just a bustling scene of activity. However, Liszt did not relax. The smoke mission had very clearly pointed out that there would be magic beasts attacking the logging site. Just that he didn"t know when the attack would occur.
“Magic beasts, heh, two were killed since arrival to the Flower Town.”
However, one was a Violent Dog that had just given birth and had yet to recover its strength and the other was a Wind Peregrine Falcon that had become weary from its fight with the fruit stealing monkeys. Therefore, no fierce fights had taken place. It was like getting a freebie.
The only head-on confrontation was against the Windblade Wolf, which only pretended to attack before fleeing into the Thorns Ridge.
He was somewhat looking forward to the upcoming magic beast attack. This time, it was unknown what kind of magic beasts they would face, whether a fight would take place, and whether another magic beast could be killed. Magic beast meat tasted much better than that of ordinary beasts, further coupled with the nourishing magic power, Liszt liked it a lot.
The sun was scorching hot and there was not the slightest bit of wind. Even under the shade of trees, one still would not feel refreshed.
His fire-attributed qi circulated through his meridians and his hand rested on the Redblood Sword"s sword hilt as he observed the mottled shadows on the ground. He felt his fighting spirit soar.
With his character, it was not likely that he would perform charges on the battle field. Therefore, if he wanted to display an aristocrat"s heroic demeanor, he probably could only accomplish it in fights against magic beasts. With the many people, ample preparations, and the a.s.sistance provided by Marcus, was it not the best opportunity to display an aristocrat"s heroic demeanor?
“Magic beasts, hurry over, my sword thirsts for you!”
Shiiiing!
Feeling like displaying his skills for a bit, he suddenly half-unsheathed the Redblood Sword. But then, he thought that it would not be too appropriate. Just as he was about to sheath his sword, a ‘rattle" slightly standing out from the ‘crackle" of the burning pine tree branches abruptly came from the distance, quickly attracting his attention.
Marcus, who was patrolling the surroundings, had obviously also discovered this sound, shouting in a hushed voice: “Look out!”
With the short spear in hand, he approach the direction from where the sound came.
Liszt clasped the Redblood Sword"s hilt. His sapphire-colored irises turned like vortexes as he released the Magic Eyes.
Shortly after, he saw a few faint traces of magic power in the underbrush.
He quickly recognized there to be a total of three magic beasts!
“Teacher Marcus, come back!” With a shiiiiing and clank, Liszt unsheathed the Redblood Sword. He shouted, “There are three magic beasts 50 meters ahead!”