The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Having entrusted the production of the Fire Dragon Horses to One-Eyed Barton, Liszt returned to the castle.

Before dinner, he squeezed in some time to play the piano again. The impulse of a Piano King had probably faded, but he still enjoyed playing the piano very much.

Listening to the music, he purified his soul.

At the banquet, his followers got wildly drunk to celebrate his successful ennoblement of Black Horse Island.

"I really wish I could be carefree like them..." Liszt envied them, who could eat and drink without worrying about the future.

He felt somewhat depressed because before the meal began, the Finance Officer Blair reported to him, "My lord, the 4,260 Gold Coins you requested to be raised, considering Fresh Flower Town and Black Horse Island's finances, even moving all the business funds and tax revenues, we've only managed to gather 1,350 Gold Coins."

"How long would we have to mortgage the future earnings of Fresh Flower Brew to extract enough Gold Coins from Tulip Castle?"

"I've calculated it, considering the current production scale and market sales of Fresh Flower Brew, which have only partially spread to Coral Island and Red Crab Island, while still in negotiation with Golden Island, the monthly profits are around 600 Gold Coins... It would take about six months of mortgaging to withdraw enough Gold Coins."

"Then let's mortgage it."

"But my lord, if we mortgage the future income of Fresh Flower Brew, the territory's construction will immediately fall into difficulty in this half year... We don't have sufficient funds to support the construction of Black Horse Island, and relying solely on the income from Fresh Flower Soap, the carpentry workshop, and Black Tulip, we cannot sustain it," Blair said helplessly.

Fresh Flower Town was simply too thinly capitalized, and Liszt's eagerness for rapid development meant that the capital chain was always on the brink of collapse.

"Don't worry, let's first mortgage the income from Fresh Flower Brew. I'll figure out a way for the remaining Gold Coins," Liszt reassured him, but his heart bled. He knew that he had to sell off personal assets again.

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So.

While his followers drank merrily, he couldn't bring himself to join in—he didn't want to and didn't like drinking.

Holding a glass of iced juice, he sipped it slowly, his thoughts occupied with how to make money: "Fresh Flower Town is so rich in resources, with a bunch of Elves enhancing production, but... it still can't keep up with my consumption. The most profitable Magic Potion is just enough for my own use... It's difficult to support an Elite Earth Knight addicted to Magic Potions."

In this world, as long as one was well-fed and not of too poor aptitude, one could generally train to become an Earth Knight.

But an Elite Earth Knight who insisted on daily use of Magic Potions was not something everyone could afford.

Black Horse Island was not yet developed, so Liszt's revenue all came from Fresh Flower Town. It was only with the help of the Smoke Mission and the development of products like Fresh Flower Brew and Fresh Flower Soap that a small town could support his continuous Magic Potion consumption.

Gold Coins were the greatest obstacle to a Knight's progress.

"Maybe sell the rubber. Black Horse Island hasn't been fully developed, and doesn't use much rubber. Such a fine product, Tulip Castle should need it, and it could fetch a good price." Following Magic Potions and ironwood, the most important agricultural output of the territory was the versatile rubber.

Certainly, the milk of the Dragon Breed Cows was also an important output, but it was not suitable for publicity and best used for internal supply.

In fact, he could also sell the stored Mithril, Jade and Crystal, but these were consumable resources, easy to sell but hard to acquire, and he was reluctant to sell them again.

"That settles it, sell the rubber."

...

After the banquet.

He made a trip to the Sea View Villa. These past few days, Ach had hardly gone swimming, instead, he was earnestly reviewing notes and studying magic, almost immersed in it.

It made Liszt feel a hint of neglect.

"Brother, Ach feels close, very soon I'll be able to grasp the key information and make a breakthrough to become a Grand Magician! To help Brother navigate the seas!" Thankfully, she was just too engrossed in her magic studies and not really neglecting Liszt.

"Hard work is a given, but don't stay up too late. Relaxing more can make your brain clearer and more effective than burying yourself in magic books all day,"

"Mhm, Ach understands,"

Even so, her eyes still couldn't leave the magic books.

Liszt didn't disturb her any further and began to play with Nami. The mangrove minor elf hadn't fed the ducklings on Mangrove Island today but had followed Ach to stay at the Sea View Villa.

"Chirp,"

Nami was sitting on the table with an apple she had bitten into in her hands, a gift from Liszt, and she liked eating apples very much.

"Nami, do you like the mangrove forest?"

"Chirp, chirp," Nami took another bite of her apple, then blinked her large eyes at Liszt, who couldn't tell if she understood his words.

"Based on the living habits of the mangrove forest, I plan to plant mangrove forests by the seaside in Fresh Flower Town and Black Horse Island to create a habitat for green caterpillars and green-headed ducks." He was ostensibly talking to Nami, but he was actually pondering to himself, "Green caterpillars cannot be bred in ordinary forests."

Green-headed ducks might be kept in cages, but to breed them properly, they can't do without green caterpillars.

The green caterpillars of Mangrove Island definitely couldn't support the large-scale breeding of green-headed ducks.

"Chirp."

Nami glanced at Liszt, then looked down at the large apple in her hands, and then, somewhat reluctantly, offered the big apple to Liszt, "Chirp."

"Haha, I won't eat it, you eat," Liszt pushed the apple back, then stroked the small green leaf and little red flower on Nami's head.

The emerald Nami was exceptionally pleasing to the eye.

Originally, her main use apart from looking good was that the mangrove could produce a kind of fruit that tasted faintly sour and sweet, not particularly delicious, and its use was unclear. However, as the food chain relationship between the green caterpillars and green-headed ducks was established, the use of the mangrove forest began to emerge.

The mangrove forest couldn't do without Nami's mangrove cordyceps, not to mention Nami also reared ducklings.

After playing for a while,

Liszt left the Sea View Villa.

...

The next morning, he took the Fresh Flower Vessel to Black Horse Island, which now basically traveled back and forth between Black Horse Island and Fresh Flower Town every day.

Captain Kostor was both transporting goods and using the voyages to train his crew.

Once Black Horse Island entered a rapid development phase, Liszt would have to assemble a flotilla to serve his own territory.

"Teacher Marcus, Isaiah, what do you think of this land for building a castle? I hope to build a waterfront castle, half submerged in the water and half standing by the shore," standing on the rocky shore to the east of the port town, Liszt asked his followers for their opinions.

"The castle is closely linked with the city, my lord. Have you decided to build the port town into a port city?"

"The size of Black Horse Island is too small; a port city is very necessary. Other than the current Black Horse Port, there is only one more harbor suitable for construction in the northwest," Liszt said, "In terms of shipping routes and distance, building a city at the port town is most suitable."

"Then I have no objections to the castle being built in this current location... However, my lord, perhaps we could build the castle entirely on shore to prevent attacks from marine creatures."

"No!" Liszt said emphatically, "I love a seaside castle!"