Chapter 41

Chapter 41: If You Want to Be Rich, Build Roads First

Observing the situation objectively, Liszt was freed from the unrealistic illusions about dragons and realized that the information on the invisible dragon might not be anything good.

Based on his experience, he had several speculations.

Firstly, the mist was merely introducing the information to him. However, it didn’t make any sense. A goldfinger shouldn’t be so boring.

Secondly, there was an invisible dragon around to capture. If this was true, it was definitely exciting, but Liszt didn’t have the power to capture any dragon. Even a small dragon could wipe out all the knights on Coral Island.

Thirdly, an invisible dragon came from far away to offer items to him—Liszt did not remember having such a good dragon friend.

Lastly, an invisible dragon would attack Flower Town soon.

The fourth speculation was undoubtedly the most probable one. It was not big news that dragons attacked human towns. Otherwise, “dragonslayer” wouldn’t have existed as a profession in the knight novels.

Basically, in a qualified knight novel, the hero would definitely become a dragon knight, or slay a dragon, before they married a beautiful princess.

So, the rewards are telling that I have to fight a dragon and become Liszt the Dragonslayer?

Liszt smiled at the mirror. Then, where can I find my princess after the dragon is dead?

He had complicated feelings. He was worried that his theory might be true, but he felt that it was not going to happen. After much deliberation, he decided that he should accomplish the mission first and study the clues in the reward before he rushed into anything.

If an invisible dragon was truly going to attack him, he could always ask for help.

Once the message was delivered to the Sapphires, it would easily make him a marquis. It was the highest title that the archduke could give.

Summoning Goltai, he gave him the mission. “The corn grass couldn’t have grown out of thin air. Birds or wind must’ve brought their seeds over. Mr. Goltai, ask all the spare farmers to search the villages and try to find more corn grass.”

Goltai was rather confused about the mission. “Liszt, is the corn grass very important?”

“Of course, it’s highly nutritional and even more suitable as fodder than clovers are… Besides, cattle will grow faster with different varieties of food.”

“Since it’s so valuable, I’ll have them search every corner.”

As they talked, Liszt suddenly saw a group of people strutting to Thorn Hill in the south.

“Mr. Goltai, is that the new patrol team?”

“Yes, your squires were of great help. Those jackasses didn’t follow my orders in the beginning, but after a few fights, their tempers were gone.”

“That’s good. Discipline is the top priority for the patrolmen. Mr. Goltai, we must strengthen the management of the patrol team. I have a few ideas. The patrolmen must be responsible for the safety of the villages. They will be paid by the town, wear the same clothes, and observe the same code of conduct.”

Liszt intended to improve the patrol team so that he could learn everything about the town.

“However, the town has few Neldas. Isaiah has complained more than once that he can’t do anything with Neldas.”

Liszt did not have many gold coins in his castle, either. According to his butler, he had only about 150 left.

However, the future of the castle was very promising. Liszt’s ruby sword alone was worth more than a thousand gold coins. The profits from the black tulip would eventually arrive, too.

“I’ll allocate fifty gold coins for the maintenance and development of the town. The coins will be deducted from the taxes of the town.”

“Fifth Neldas? That’s too many. Liszt, I’ve checked it. The annual tax of the town is only fifteen Neldas.”

“Fifteen coins aren’t too many. Mr. Goltai, tell Isaiah and Blair that Flower Town will be busy these days, and they must be prepared.”

“As you wish!”

…

Liszt was not joking about the development of Flower Town.

He was already drawing an abstract map of the town. Basically, it was a right triangle.

The two legs of the triangle were Thorn Hill, and the hypotenuse was the east coast.

The town was at the center of the triangle, the castle was near the right angle, and the Cow Farm and Barleyton were the other two corners.

To become rich, one has to build roads first. He highlighted the muddy trail from Thorn Hill to the town with a quill. I need to build the main road into a gravel one. There’s no cement here, but there’s a lot of sand. I can use it to pave the road.

The muddy roads among the villages could be paved with sand, too.

However, sand was not always the best choice, especially on rainy days. But it was a pity that there were few stones near Flower Town, making it impossible to mix the sand with stone.

Besides road maintenance, there was another important thing, which was farming.

Elves could influence the growth of plants, but elves were not indispensable. The farmers of the town farmed all the same without elves.

Teaching people to fertilize the land is the first step of scientific farming, but it’s not enough. I need a batch of tools to increase the productivity of the farmers. I can ask a blacksmith to make use of the iron from Tulip Castle and Falcon Town.

The two things were important, but their effects were not immediate.

The result of one other thing, however, could be seen quickly: fishery.

On the back of Fire Dragon, Liszt looked at the infinite ocean and smelled the unique salty stink of the ocean water. The waves sparkled under the sunlight.

Thomas played with Dudderson on the beach.

Dudderson had been growing fast. It was almost the size of a common dog and was showing signs of magic. It might be able to release magic before it reached adulthood.

Liszt intended to train it soon in case it hurt someone.

“My lord, is there anything special about the east coast? The ocean here is too deep for any port.” Marcus looked at the ocean and still found no wealth in it.

Liszt pointed at the reefs below the surface of the ocean. “Mr. Marcus, do you see the reefs? There’s food all over them. After the tide ebbs, you can ask the farmers to pick up the food… This is real seafood.”