Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Growing Ambitions

Eye of Magic Power was a great consumer of combat aura. Liszt realized that he couldn’t persist for longer than five minutes without his eyes getting sore.

However, whenever he ran out of combat aura, a warm stream would come from the Red Blood Sword to renew his strength.

The ruby produced by the dragon contained magic power.

Activating Eye of Magic Power, he saw the ruby revolving slowly like a bloody vortex.

I can see the magic power of the gem, so I should be able to see the magic power of the dragon. I must practice more so that I can be more skilled at Eye of Magic Power.

Drawing the Red Blood Sword, Liszt couldn’t be more confident.

He was going to slay a dragon later.

…

“Goltai, why do you think Lord Baron wants a tunnel dug here?” Isaiah counted how many coppers he had to give the serfs later.

Liszt always paid for the serfs’ work. Therefore, they were enthusiastic to apply for the construction projects.

“To be honest, I’m totally confused,” Goltai said unconcernedly, “Liszt is an adult now. He’s no longer the timid young man from Tulip Castle. Most of the time, I don’t know what he’s thinking or what Flower Town will be built into.”

“That’s not what you said in your letter. You said that Flower Town was flourishing.”

“Would you have come if I said otherwise? Besides, Flower Town is flourishing, isn’t it? At the very least, we have seafood every day.”

“I admit that seafood is a creation, and manure is also important, but what we are doing right now? Digging a tunnel below a farm to store the grasses?”

Goltai shook the ashes off his cigarette. “Stop whining. Blair never whines, and that’s why Liszt has one more drink with him every dinner.”

“That’s because he’s too old and has lost all his ambition.”

“You’re not very young yourself.”

“But I hope to return to the rank of nobles someday. I have to strive for my son. He’s too stupid to marry a noble lady.” Isaiah stroked his hair in worry. “I was looking for an opportunity to go to the battlefield. You said that Liszt was ambitious.”

“I’m not sure, but you can talk with Marcus. He craves to be a noble more than anyone else does, and he pledged loyalty to Liszt soon after he got to know him.”

Isaiah squinted. “I will.”

Wages were distributed at night. Isaiah gave the coppers to the working serfs one by one.

“Next, Alava S*it.”

“My lord, that’s me.” Alava rubbed his hands together and accepted two coppers from the clerk in delight.

He could buy eight pieces of brown bread!

But he didn’t intend to. His wife had joined Oysterton and was engaged in fishing every day. Apart from the quota to be submitted to the castle, there was additional seafood for their own family. He felt that he was full of strength.

His wife praised him and asked him to have more seafood.

He intended to have a third child. He would earn more coppers now and send the child to the blacksmith’s as an apprentice. His lordship promised that serfs with skills would be appreciated.

Praise the lord! Keeping the coppers, Avala prayed to himself. He liked his current lord because his life was getting better after each day. But why is his lordship digging a pit here?

As a serf of the Cow Farm, he was responsible for the cows.

He had been worried and complained to his wife that he might lose his job. The lord might’ve lost interest in cows. Why else would he dig a pit in the farm?

However, his wife scolded him, “You can keep horses if there are no cows, or build the roads if there are no horses. His lordship is the best man that keeps the old, the women, and the children full. S*it, stop making a fuss. You must believe in his lordship!”

Avala had always listened to his wife, so he changed his mind quickly.

He decided that the purpose of the pit was unimportant, and that it was unnecessary for the small folk to understand what their lord thought.

…

Practicing Eye of Magic Power and supervising the project were Liszt’s main tasks in the following days.

All the preparations in the Cow Farm were done after a few days.

The tower, the fortress, and the tunnels had been repetitively tested. The smoking grass had been piled on the tower and was ready to be lit. Younger cows were kept away, and the two old cows were tied to the tower.

Liszt took the tunnel between the thorns and the fortress several times to make sure that he could return to the castle immediately after he settled down the wormgrass.

There was a U-shaped channel in the fortress that was connected to another shelter.

Should the invisible dragon stay in Flower Town after having the cow and the grass, he would hide himself in the shelter and block the passage.

There were holes for breathing in the shelter. A lot of food had been stored, too.

His life could be guaranteed, at least.

One couldn’t be too careful when their target was a dragon.

Liszt examined the project in the Cow Farm one last time. It was not a big project in the first place, so the progress and quality were quite good.

I’m getting fond of this world and this age.

He climbed on the tower and looked down at the Cow Farm. When their lord says something, everybody has to work hard. Nobody questions me, not even Goltai or Marcus.

Power was an irresistible desire for any man.

A man who never enjoyed power might find it unattractive, but after he enjoyed it, he would become addicted to the marvelous feeling.

Liszt could not abandon his identity as Baron of Flower Town now.

In the meantime, ambitions were growing in his heart. Flower Town was too small to satisfy his desire for greater power. But he kept his rationality, knowing that he had to rise to higher places one step at a time.

He was determined to get there someday.