Chapter 48

Chapter 48: The Monkeys that Stole Coconuts

Shirts, vests, boxers, suits, leather shoes… There were many clothes that Liszt intended to create.

However, he could not be so innovative. He was a countryside baron after all. If he could become the king of a country someday, he would be able to change the fashion however he wanted.

But for now, he could not tolerate the tediousness in maintaining the so-called dignity of nobles.

“My lord, I gave the servants a half-day holiday. They’ll be dedicated to the castle tomorrow.”

“Well, do whatever you see fit.”

“Yes, sir.”

Liszt, who was sweating hard, was in no mood to talk. “Mr. Carter, draw a bath for me. This is not the friendliest weather.”

“As you wish.” Carter hurried to ask the maids to prepare a bath.

Bathwater was always prepared in the castle nowadays because the servants all knew their lord’s enthusiasm for cleanliness. It was not unusual for him to wash himself three times a day.

After taking a shower, he put on homely clothes, a loose robe.

Such robes were a kind of pajamas. The nobles here also knew that it could be uncomfortable to wear formal dress all the time, so they changed pajamas into homely clothes.

Liszt, however, still found it complicated and uncomfortable.

His favorites in summer were T-shirts. So, he rolled the sleeves of his long robe and exposed his arms. Although it did not befit the etiquette of nobles, nobody dared to question him in the small castle. That was an advantage of the countryside.

“My lord, it’s a pity that we don’t have ice, or I could make you a cup of iced water.”

“There isn’t much ice even in Tulip Castle. I can live with that, although it’s a pity that I can’t have iced beer.” He was not an alcoholic. He only drank at dinners because of social needs.

However, he did relish the memory of cool iced beers in the hot summer.

The days were becoming hotter and hotter. As he recalled, eggs would immediately be boiled if they were placed on the ground when Coral Island was in the hottest season.

Many serfs died of heat exhaustion every year.

I was told that niter can be used to make ice, but there are no niter mines on Coral Island… I remember that niters can be gathered in the corners of public toilets, but all the houses in Flower Town are made of wood, and there are no toilets…

Basically, it was impossible for Liszt to make ice with niter.

He could only store ice in winter and use it during summer like other nobles did. “Mr. Carter, remind me in winter to build an ice cellar.”

“All right, my lord.”

…

As usual, Goltai, Marcus, Isaiah, and Blair were invited to dinner. Only the four of them were qualified to have dinner with Liszt.

“Liszt, the planning for Oysterton is done. Tomorrow, the first batch of fishermen will officially start fishing in the east coast with the new equipment. They’re all seniors, women, and children, silly and reckless.”

After the news that their lord had a seafood dinner, all the civilians followed his example and began having seafood.

Liszt said solemnly, “Mr. Goltai, you must disseminate the safety instructions. I do not want any civilian to be in danger because of seafood. As officials of the town, you have to pay attention to this. Population is the most important thing for Flower Town’s productivity.”

Maybe they still did not consider it a big deal, but they all knew Liszt’s attitude and nodded without hesitation.

“Tomorrow, if you have time, come to Oysterton with me and let’s see their work. Meantime, you have to teach them what seafood is edible and how to preserve the seafood.”

“Lord Baron, the clerks have made sure of that. Also, each of them already had a taste of the seafood in the castle. They are all quite enthusiastic.”

“Very well.”

During the low tide the next day, Liszt came to Oysterton with his squires. Houses were not built yet, but a desolate area not far away from the ocean had been flattened.

At this moment, about two hundred men and women were flipping the stones and digging in the sand with baskets or buckets in their hands.

Many of them were working with bare hands—the productivity of the tailor’s shop and the blacksmith was too low.

“Greetings, my lord!”

The fishermen all paid tribute to Liszt when they saw him.

Liszt nodded at the fishermen. Fishing could be exhausting, but the results could also be fruitful. So, the unqualified farmers were all working passionately despite their lack of experience.

Liszt sweltered after only watching for a while. He hurried to hide in the shade of a coconut tree.

He looked at the tall tree and felt that something was wrong. A moment later, he realized that there were no coconuts on it at all!

He turned to a clerk next to him. “Do these trees not yield fruits?”

“They do, my lord, but the fruits were picked by the monkeys of Thorn Hill when the fruits were very small.”

“Monkeys?”

“It’s a gray and yellow monkey that we call fruit thief. Sometimes they even ruin the crops in the farmlands in groups.”

“Fruit thieves…” Liszt nodded without any comment.

He suddenly recalled the articles he read before. It seemed that some countries in southeast Asia had the tradition of training monkeys to pick coconuts because coconut trees were too tall for human beings to climb. If a group of fruit thieves could be trained, it would be possible to develop a coconut industry.

Of course, he was not sure if the coconut tree was the same as what he knew. They shouldn’t have survived the winter in Flower Town when it snowed consecutively for two months.

“How does the coconut taste?”

“I once picked a coconut that a fruit thief dropped. There’s juice that tasted sweet and sour like milk. It’s delicious.”

Liszt’s appetite was whetted.

There were many such trees on the coastline. If they were protected, a lot of coconuts could be harvested and even be made into a special beverage.

He looked at Thorn Hill further away. I will take down Thorn Hill sooner or later and exterminate all the threats to Flower Town!

The fruit thieves there could be enslaved to pick fruits for him.