Chapter 276: Blizzard Beast Cannot Be Raised

Liszt had calculated his daily living expenses. Just for his personal meals, he needed over thirty silver coins a day. The consumption of things like dragon-species milk and magic potions, which were produced within the estate, was not easy to quantify, so they were not included in the calculation.

White bread was the staple food. He ground the flour and made the bread himself, which allowed him to save some money—it cost only about three silver coins a day for the ingredients.

The consumption of various fruit wines and rice wines could be met by the brewery. However, brewing beer and spirits was not up to par yet—he lacked hops for beer, and the brewing technique for flower wine needed improvement. Since he rarely drank, this cost was almost negligible, amounting to about one silver coin a day.

Various roasted meats and steaks had to be bought—costing around five silver coins a day.

Eggs, vegetables, and fruits were mostly produced within the estate and bought at a low price—about two silver coins a day.

The largest daily expense was for devil beast meat. He had grown accustomed to eating devil beast meat at every meal, even if the quantity was small, which cost about twenty silver coins a day.

Including the daily food expenses for subordinates and servants, the castle’s food expenses amounted to at least forty silver coins.

According to these calculations, the monthly cost for food and drink alone came to twelve gold coins. This was roughly equivalent to the annual tax revenue of Flower Town before a lord was appointed. Only Liszt, with the help of smoke mission rewards and a bit of transmigrator knowledge, could sustain such extravagance.

However, seeing how the baby blizzard beasts drank milk, he felt a chill run down his spine.

During Hiddleston’s bloodline evolution, he ate devil beast meat every day, with the cost calculated in gold coins. Even though he could now eat regular meat normally, his daily consumption of meat, eggs, and milk matched that of everyone else in the castle.

Keeping a mid-level magic beast consistently cost ten gold coins a month.

But he planned to raise a total of nine intermediate magic beasts.

"With the way the blizzard beasts drink milk, when they grow up, their appetite won't be smaller than Hiddleston's. Can I really rely on Flower Town’s output to sustain them?" The more he thought about it, the more doubtful he became. "Should I give away a few… No, I’ll pawn everything necessary to raise them!"

Intermediate magic beasts were not for sale, even if someone offered a dragon coin for them!

Besides, he didn’t need to pawn everything. Taking out part of the mithril, crystal, and jade from the gem space would be enough—the Earl would certainly be willing to help dispose of these valuable items.

"Once my flower wine brewing technique is successfully improved, wealth will flow in endlessly. The current difficulties are temporary; getting through them will lead to a bright future!"

Leaving the doghouse, he returned to the study.

Liszt took out thick parchment and checked his recorded schedule. One item was to invite Granny Truth to make a new Calming Pearl for him.

Considering the current financial difficulties and the fact that he could hardly afford milk, he painfully crossed out the plan, deciding not to waste money. After all, he wouldn’t be sailing anytime soon, and the Flower already had a Calming Pearl, so it wasn’t an urgent need.

Just then, Elkson Truth, who had come to Flower Town to brew magic potions, arrived at the castle: "Lord Baron, with the magic medicine thorns you provided, I have produced the first batch of magic potions. Please verify its effectiveness."

Taking the crystal tubes one by one.

Liszt finally perked up: "Thank you, Mr. Elkson."

"Flower Town in winter has a magical public bathhouse. Soaking in hot water every day is even more delightful than the nights in Coral City. Working here is a pleasure."

That said, Elkson still didn’t want to move to Flower Town—the nightlife of Coral City was an irresistible temptation for a single mage.

…

The castle banquets had resumed since the Shell Wooden Building was completed.

Tonight, there was a grand banquet.

Liszt’s friends, who had traveled from Coral City to Flower Town to join him, included two Earth Knights, Rick Footprint and Griffin Haystack, as well as apprentice knights like Nemo—a total of seven people, as agreed upon in Coral City.

Liszt warmly welcomed his friends and entrusted Gort with arranging their jobs.

Although they were once friends, upon coming to work in Flower Town, their relationship automatically became that of superior and subordinate. If they decided to follow Liszt, it would be akin to establishing a lord-vassal relationship.

"I intend to place Rick and Griffin under Marcus's leadership. They can serve as reserve members of the Knight Squad. As for Nimo and the other five, they will start as assistant officials. They are still very young and lack the experience to handle administrative affairs effectively," Gort reported to Liszt.

"As the town advisor, it is within your authority to manage personnel. I won't interfere arbitrarily."

"Thank you for your trust, my lord."

Gort made an expression of gratitude, but whether he harbored any resentment in his heart was unclear—while Liszt generally avoided mundane affairs, he had interfered in Flower Town's affairs quite frequently. Sometimes, he acted impulsively, without reason.

He seemed very "capricious."

However, the significant changes in Flower Town and the extensive development of Black Horse Island had already granted Liszt immense prestige.

None of the town officials would complain about Liszt's capriciousness—he had been recognized by all, either in word or in thought, as the Child of Glory.

Even if he acted recklessly, it would not affect his reputation.

After all, the future of Flower Town and Liszt himself were limitless.

The letters of friendship Gort had recently received were strong evidence of this. After the Expansion Decree, many Earth Knights who had withdrawn from the battlefield had begun to write letters to Gort, hinting at their desire to join Flower Town. Even a lord knight who had poorly managed his own territory had written to Gort.

After Gort took his leave, Isaiah approached Liszt again: "My lord, have you made any alternative arrangements for your guard, Parris?"

"What about it?"

"Old Grandet can't handle the Serpent Tongue teachings alone. Now, with many serfs in the territory speaking Wind Language, management has become quite inconvenient. When the next batch of 2,500 serfs arrives, the problem will become even more severe. Your guard, Parris, can speak both Serpent Tongue and Wind Language. I've noticed she hasn't had much to do recently, so I hope you will assign her as a Serpent Tongue teacher."

"Indeed, she's been idle for so long, I should find something for her to do." When Liszt didn't go out, Parris had no need to serve as a personal guard, making her quite idle.

Unlike knights, whose training, once interrupted or slackened, would quickly lead to a decline in strength.

Her power comes from the Black Dragon Specter. As long as she doesn't get too fat to move or forget how to fight, she could rapidly regain her strength.

Liszt called for Parris and said directly, "Parris, Flower Town lacks a teacher who can instruct the serfs in Serpent Tongue. I hope you can help."

He had expected Parris to use this opportunity to negotiate terms.

Unexpectedly, she agreed readily, "I've been itching for something to do! Finally, there's work!"