The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Liszt, of course, knew that the Earth Matron was about to give birth; his task and its rewards were about to arrive.

Looking at the very crudely made nest in the Dog Prison, then at the snowflakes fluttering outside, and feeling the ice-cold weather, he couldn’t help but say to the servant, “Thomas, go and fetch two quilts.”

“Yes, my lord.”

The Earth Matron lay on the wooden boards, staring blankly at the servants cleaning around, indeed no longer the lively creature it once was, having become lazy and dopey.

Any wild beast caged for long would probably end up this way.

Douson walked around it, occasionally sticking out its tongue to lick its fur, not knowing if it was the low temperatures of winter affecting it or if it had truly completed its bloodline transformation. Douson no longer had frequent needs to vent; it returned to a state of calm it was supposed to have. It had abstained for so many days and had not thought of heading to the dog park to have some fun.

“Will it give birth to Douson’s offspring?” Paris, who had become much plumper, stood outside the cage, curiously asking.

“Of course, there isn’t a third Fierce Earth Dog here.”

In the vast Fresh Flower Town, finding another Fierce Earth Dog to cuckold Douson would be impossible.

Paris rolled her eyes, “No, Baron, what I mean is can it give birth to an Intermediate Magical Beast like Douson?”

“Maybe it will, maybe it won’t, but I hope that both Douson’s and the Earth Matron’s offspring will become Intermediate Magical Beasts. That way, I’ll have a large group of Intermediate Magical Beasts and can form a Fierce Earth Dog Knight Order,” Liszt’s heart burned with fervor, “They will become the cornerstone of my achievements, bringing me countless honours!”

“Alas.”

Paris sighed, “Why does every Noble Landlord think about war?”

“Because the world is not yet at peace.” He directed the servants to spread the quilts in the cage and then shooed the Earth Matron onto them before turning his head and responding, “Someone needs to step forward to turn the tide and create a world without hunger, harm, or oppression.”

“Will you step forward?”

“The goal is too grand, so grand that even I, a transmigrator, am intimidated.” As a transmigrator, who doesn’t dream of changing the world? Yet the reality was that he could only change tiny Fresh Flower Town, “So why not start with small goals around us, achieving one goal after another.”

“So what is Baron’s first small goal?” Paris asked curiously.

“Dragon riding.” Liszt drew a pleasant arc with his mouth, looking up at the gloomy sky. Suddenly he recalled the morning at Long Taro Castle when Duniko promised him, and his mocking tone became serious, “I want to ride a dragon while I am still young.”

Paris initially thought he was joking, but as he spoke so earnestly, she suddenly felt that the tall and handsome rural Landlord before her might truly harbour such ambition.

She found it laughable.

She had seen the Light Dragon, the Evil Dragon that granted her the status of Black Dragon Childe, that unbelievable figure filled with despair-inducing horror.

A mortal could not possibly tame a dragon.

Yet she also harboured anticipation, hoping that one day Liszt really could ride a dragon and become a Dragon Knight, whose very name would send many women into uncontrollable ecstasy!

Perhaps having seen the dragon’s incredibility, the idea of a Dragon Knight became even more unfathomable and unimaginable in her heart.

“Don’t just stand there looking silly, let’s go.” After boasting, Liszt had already walked out of the iron cage. The Earth Matron should complete giving birth within these two days.

Paris snapped back to reality, “Oh, okay.”

Looking somewhat silly.

This left Liszt speechless; indeed, a comfortable life could erode one’s fighting spirit. The thieving female mercenary who once shouted about slaughtering nobles and dared to cross the sea to save her sister had now turned into a good-eating, fat, and somewhat slow-witted female sidekick, and he seriously doubted how much her combat ability had dropped.

“`

…

“Wah!”

“Wah!”

Sensing Liszt’s return, Thorn Minor Elf Jela, who lived in the castle, flew straight out of the Worm Room and landed accurately on Liszt’s head as he just entered the castle gate.

She missed Liszt terribly.

Feeling the little elf’s emotions, Liszt found it very warm and let Jela sit on his head while she held onto his hair with both hands.

“Sir, would you like to take a bath first or meet with the town officials?” Butler Carter came over and asked.

“Let’s meet the officials first, deal with the accumulated affairs, and then go for a bath.”

“Very well, sir.”

Previously, when Liszt returned to Fresh Flower Town, he went directly to the Dog Prison without even entering the castle to visit the Earth Matron and her brood of Fierce Earth Dog pups.

The notified town officials hurried over.

After the niceties, they began reporting their work—it was clear that even without Liszt’s personal oversight, the development of Fresh Flower Town was still progressing.

Every day, more wasteland was being reclaimed, not just at Thorn Ridge but also the wastelands of various encampments, all undergoing development. Bone utensils produced daily at the Bone Craftsman Shop were distributed to serfs, arousing their eagerness for this year’s farming and making them wish they could take on more wasteland.

Stones were being quarried every day. Large stones, after simple processing, were piled up for future major construction projects, like Liszt’s new castle on Black Horse Island. Small stones were crushed into gravel for road building and paving.

The Knight’s Square had already been completed, giving the children a warm place for training; two bathhouses had become signature landmarks of Fresh Flower Town, even nobles from North Valley City had visited several times just to bathe in the hot spring-like pools; an icehouse had begun storing ice blocks, already filling one ice chamber.

In short, Fresh Flower Town was peaceful for both humans and animals.

Liszt was heartened by this, as the land entered the right track and his team of officials gradually took shape, but he also felt a sense of loss. It turned out that not every affair fell apart without him. From the start of the victory celebration to the year-end festivities on Red Crab Island, Fresh Flower Town didn’t become chaotic in the roughly half a month without him.

“Should I feel relieved that I don’t have to manage everything personally, or should I feel impressed that supervision from a higher vantage point is sufficient?”

Either way, it was a good thing. The Lord could enjoy while his subordinates ran errands—the way everyday life should be. Of course, there were still many things he needed to care about, especially not to neglect the Smoke Mission, which was the biggest boost to his dragon riding.

“Consultant Goltai, has the formulation of the Ice Snow Flame Mushroom potion been successful?”

“We are approaching success. Several serf households have managed to grow Ice Snow Flame Mushrooms in their greenhouses, but the yield is unstable and the growth effect is poor.”

“Let them keep at it.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“The cultivation of Common Flame Mushrooms must not be delayed either. By the way, has Mr. Elkeson been here?”

“He came once, heard you went to Long Taro Castle for the year-end celebration, had a bath in the public bath, and then left.”

“Contact him and ask him to come over as soon as possible,” Liszt said. His supply of Flame Mushroom Magic Potions was running low and he needed Mr. Elkeson to prepare a new batch. Also, the harvested Rapid Growth Magic Thorns stored in the castle warehouse could be used to make more magic potions when combined.

Since town construction no longer required his hands-on involvement, he could devote all his spare time to training.

With the aid of Smoke Missions, Dragon Breed Cows, a multitude of magic potions, Sword Saint’s Notes, the experience of Earl, and a scientific mind, he hoped he could advance to Sky Knight sooner rather than later, and perhaps even break the record set by Marquis Merlin at the age of twenty-two.

“`