The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

It was a Green-headed Duck.

A very plump and large Green-headed Duck, about the size of a wolfhound, with shiny, oily green feathers on its head.

It didn’t fly, but instead, waddling through the mud, came from the island toward the shore.

"My lord, it’s a... very plump wild duck!" Marcus quietly took off his bow and arrow, preparing for the hunt, "Take it on board, smear it with oil and char, we can change up the flavor."

Influenced by the castle, he had also become a part of those who appreciate fine food.

Liszt raised his hand to stop Marcus, "This is not a wild duck, it’s a Low-Level Magical Beast called a Green-headed Duck, capable of shooting water arrows. Let’s observe for a while and see how many Green-headed Ducks are on the island."

"Low-Level Magical Beast?" Marcus raised an eyebrow, much more cautious now.

Perhaps a Low-Level Magical Beast wasn’t much of a threat to Liszt, an Elite Earth Knight well-equipped and adept at consuming magic-enhancing substances, but it still posed a threat to him, an Elite Earth Knight focusing on Combat Skills.

This Green-headed Duck had been living leisurely on Mangrove Island for over a month without encountering any danger, so its vigilance had greatly diminished as it strolled around looking for food. It seemed to notice a Green Caterpillar on the branch of a mangrove tree, so it snapped its beak, releasing a water arrow and accurately hitting the Green Caterpillar.

The Green Caterpillar was knocked down by the water arrow, and the duck walked over slowly, bit the caterpillar.

Its flat beak trembled rapidly a few times, then spit out the caterpillar, or rather, the green hairs of the caterpillar, eating only its flesh.

After finishing one caterpillar, it waddled away to look for more Green Caterpillars.

Only then did Liszt come out from behind the mangrove where he was hiding, "Green-feathered Ducks have come to Mangrove Island, which is good news. Let’s look around for the eggs of the Green-headed Ducks, these Magical Beasts don’t like making nests, so their eggs are scattered everywhere."

Before he finished speaking, Marcus shouted, "My lord! Here’s an egg!"

A pale green large egg, probably three times the size of a normal duck egg. Liszt used his Eye of Magic to see the pale blue Magic Power flowing inside; undoubtedly, this was a fresh egg of the Green-headed Duck.

After spending an hour

The group roughly searched the entire Mangrove Island, not only finding twenty Green-headed Duck eggs but also several plump Green-headed Ducks. However, the whereabouts of the forty or so hatched ducklings were unknown. Liszt did not find them, and they were probably hidden by the Mangrove Minor Elf Nami.

Because when Liszt found the Mangrove Cordyceps, he had seen Nami hiding in the mangrove bushes, not greeting him, probably a bit apprehensive of the Retainer Knights following Liszt.

So, Liszt did not force her to show herself either.

There was no need to tell everyone about the treasure like an Elf; it’s better to enjoy it privately.

"Carefully hold the Green-headed Duck eggs; let’s head back!" Liszt specially took another look at Nami’s Mangrove Cordyceps and felt it was just an ordinary mangrove without much use.

So, he didn’t pay too much attention to it and returned directly to the Fresh Flower Vessel.

Having collected enough samples, it was possible to try breeding Green Caterpillars and Green-headed Ducks back in Fresh Flower Town.

Once the technology was fully mastered, the breeding scale could be expanded on Black Horse Island—Green-headed Ducks would definitely become a high-value Magical Beast industry in Liszt’s hands.

On the ship.

Liszt commanded the Retainer Knights to lay the eggs on the deck, padded with cloth, so that the sunlight could continuously shine on them, to avoid delaying their hatching.

"Consultant Goltai, make sure to figure out the breeding techniques for green caterpillars and green-headed ducks as quickly as possible,"

"As you wish."

"I also need you to quickly arrange for the seven craftsmen I brought back," Liszt remembered, initially he had asked Marcus to search for craftsmen in Mane City and then have them sent directly to the seaside to secretly join the fleet. In total, there were seven craftsmen and their families.

He had planned to continue searching for craftsmen, but unfortunately, the Earl had called a halt to it. He did not want to risk losing what’s important over something trivial, so the only craftsmen he could bring back were these seven.

"Fred Ginch’s job is easy to arrange, I will set him up with a specialized drilling team," Goltai said, a bit excited, "His arrival is very important to Black Horse Island. It’s difficult to get water in the harbor town, and the nearby rivers have too little flow, so drilling wells for water is a must."

Fred Ginch was the only one among the seven craftsmen to have reached master level, and he was a driller—an essential profession for the territory—not one who drills for oil, but for water wells. His surname also originated from drilling; "Ginch" is a wooden tool used to stabilize well walls.

It could be said that Fred’s relocation to Black Horse Island had resolved the island’s water source issue.

Goltai continued, "Paper craftsman Lavaigne can have a thick paper workshop built for him so we can produce our own thick paper; shoe craftsman Flaton can set up a shoe store in Fresh Flower Town, and I believe the business should be passable; the two carving artisans can be arranged to work with the carpenters in the woodworking workshop to carve furniture; umbrella craftsman Gomez can also prepare an umbrella shop."

"I recall there was also a gelding artisan?" Liszt inquired.

"Yes, Gelding Artisan Dwight," Goltai answered, revealing his increasing comfort with his role and diligence at work, "I asked him yesterday, and he can castrate cows and horses. He once gelded horses for the nobles of Mane City, and those warhorses all stemmed from his gelding. With the batch of crossbred horses about to be born in the stables, all future gelding work for the grown horses can be handed over to Dwight."

By calculation,

The pregnancy of the Fire Dragon Horse mares had reached eleven months; it was time for them to give birth.

This was the first batch of horses mixed with the bloodline of the Black Blood Treasured Horse—Liszt wasn’t sure about their quality, but he held high hopes for them. Purebred herds of Black Blood Treasured Horses would take decades to cultivate and develop, making it challenging to equip the Knight Order. However, they could continue to breed and produce mixed breeds.

As long as the mares could keep up, these crossbred horses could expand in scale in a short period, easily arming the Knight Order—Liszt was now Viscount Black Horse Island and could support an Earth Knight Order of over a hundred people to fight for him.

Driller.

Paper Craftsman, Shoe Craftsman, Umbrella Craftsman, Carving Artisan, Gelding Artisan.

These seven selected craftsmen could somewhat compensate for the industries that Fresh Flower Town lacked, but to properly develop Black Horse Island, more craftsmen were needed—pot menders, vinegar brewers, butchers, scale makers, salt workers, blade sharpeners, pen makers, bamboo weavers, mold makers, wax workers, ink makers, etc.

Even comedians and other performers were necessary as part of the cultural enrichment.

…

Back in Fresh Flower Town, the green-headed duck eggs continued to bask in the sun.

Liszt then took a trip to the Magic Workshop to inquire about Chris’s progress on the Magic Notes. To his surprise, it had only been a day, and she had already solved all the questions.

"My lord, the magician who posed these questions is very clever, but his experience is immature. It seems as if he is groping in the dark; many of his basic understandings are incorrect. I have temporarily finished answering the questions in this Magic Notes. If you need it, I can write a more detailed basic magic textbook to give to you," Chris offered dutifully.

Seeing Liszt as her benefactor or as a patron of magic research, Chris was very committed.

Liszt certainly wouldn’t refuse, "Then I’ll have to trouble you. It’s for a young relative of mine, a sister who doesn’t like to practice Dou Qi but is instead very interested in magic."

Chris smiled and said, "If she has any questions, she can come and ask me anytime. I shall share all I know."