Chapter 309 Beware of Being Deceived

There are such nobles.

They followed their lord into battle, but their lord died on the battlefield. The fief was left without an heir and was taken over by a higher-ranking lord. However, this overlord refused to recognize the land rights of the deceased lord’s followers, so their lands were seized, leaving them with only an empty noble title.

Then there are the swindlers.

They excel at falsifying their noble status, claiming to be knights who claim to be bankrupted lords, barons whose lords have died, or viscounts who have had their lands stolen. In short, they possess so-called noble identities and fabricate various fallen backgrounds.

Given the vastness of the country and the poor state of transportation, it was nearly impossible for most nobles to verify the claims of these swindlers.

Therefore, the attitude towards such "nobles" is to extend ceremonial courtesies but never truly acknowledge their noble status.

Charles Trapp is one of these two types of nobles.

He was originally a follower of Earl Ferolan and had served him faithfully for many years, but Earl Ferolan died in battle in the Kingdom of the Eagle seven years ago, leaving no heir to inherit the title. His lord, Marquis Wallace Pineapple, in accordance with the laws of the Grand Duchy, reclaimed the fief.

And refused to recognize the followers of Earl Ferolan as having legitimate land rights.

Marquis Wallace blamed the followers for failing to protect Earl Ferolan, leading to his death, so all the fiefs were revoked.

Charles was stripped of his fief and harbored resentment, thinking that Marquis Wallace was too greedy.

He left the fief of the Pineapple family, Deep Throat Island, and wandered to Coral Island.

William Lee Tulip did not readily believe Charles’s words; he was not familiar with Ferolan and did not know how many followers he had.

As a result, Charles found himself marginalized in Coral Island. He could be deployed to the battlefield or enlisted in a mixed knight corps, but no matter how hard he fought, he still received little credit.

The count saw no value in an elite Earth Knight without a proper noble title; his elite knight corps were all elite Earth Knights. The two viscounts were also reluctant to share credit with an outside knight, especially one who might be a swindler. Thus, Charles spent seven years in obscurity, gaining little recognition or reward.

He began to set his sights on Flower Town.

At first, he wrote to Gort, reminiscing about old times, after all, they were both fallen nobles.

Now he has come to Flower Town in person, revealing his intentions. However, Liester did not receive him and only arranged for Zanbuluota to entertain him. The lord of Flower Town was also wary; if the visitor turned out to be a swindler, it could damage his reputation irreparably.

Caution is needed when dealing with knights of unknown origin.

Liester had heard of many high officials being deceived by swindlers, losing face terribly.

During the banquet, he kept Zanbuluota behind.

He inquired about the reception of Charles: "What do you think of this Charles?"

"My lord, from what I know of Charles, he is indeed very capable, but his identity... many skilled knights prefer to take shortcuts. If they can pretend to be nobles and openly receive honor, why risk their lives on the battlefield? Not every elite Earth Knight can obtain a noble status, as you know."

"I need more objective information."

Liester said.

Zanbuluota was indeed well-traveled and spoke with wit, but he had a bad habit of grandiose speech that did not touch on practical matters.

He was good at being impractical.

Coughing, Zanbuluota replied, "I heard that he fought quite hard on the battlefield a few years ago, but in the last two years, his performance has become mediocre. He tries to integrate into noble circles but often overdoes it, appearing too deliberate. When I received him today, I could sense his anxiety."

"Too anxious?"

"Yes, the conversation always revolved around you, my lord, which made me feel his intentions were too strong, and he always tried to conceal them." Zanbuluota tried to make his words sound more substantial, "We all know why he came to Flower Town, but he seems to think we're unaware of his true intentions."

To put it bluntly, it's basically the mindset of "having your cake and eating it too."

Liszt expressed his understanding: "Then you continue to entertain him, don't agree to anything for now, leave him hanging for a while, let him figure out what he needs to do, and then I'll meet him again."

First, we need to strip away his pretensions.

Only then can we have a frank discussion about the mutual benefits of following and being followed.

...

In the following days, Liszt became very busy, as he went to Black Horse Island.

The inventor's spark of inspiration led him to have Jo Maya Hammer carried on a stretcher, personally supervising the construction of the Fire Dragon brick kiln.

"I brought you here not only to guide the stonemasons in constructing the kiln but also to help you fully appreciate how rubber water can enhance construction," he told Jo Maya.

Then he walked into a simple kiln, took out a Fire Dragon jar filled with magical Fire Dragon energy, and released the Fire Dragon magic.

After several adjustments, he successfully confined the magical Fire Dragon's movement to the kiln's firing chamber. He then instructed the stonemasons to use rubber water to construct a stone-wheeled cart, testing its push-pull effect. He also personally led a team to collect suitable brown and yellow clay from Black Horse Island, which they mixed into a clay mixture.

The mixed clay was poured into wooden molds, and a wooden board was used to press it into rectangular brick shapes.

A hundred serfs, though somewhat slow-moving, were absolutely obedient, following orders without question, doing exactly what they were told.

The speed was impressive. A cart of brick slabs had already been stacked.

"One, two, three—go!"

Chanting in unison, the serfs pushed the stone wheel cart into the kiln, and the firing began.

This process would take several hours.

Liszt then walked over to the other side, where Joamaya was watching the serfs mix seaside sand and gravel with rubber juice to bind the materials and construct a new kiln for the brick factory.

"What do you think?"

"Lord, the rubber juice is truly incredible. It binds much faster than glutinous rice juice, which takes at least a day to harden and a week to fully solidify."

Joamaya exclaimed.

Building a lighthouse is no easy task. It requires a steep, elevated location, often on cliffs or rocky outcrops, which makes transporting materials dangerous and time-consuming.

The stones also take a long time to harden. Building a large lighthouse is even more challenging, as it requires more materials and longer curing times for the structure to stabilize.

With the quick-setting properties of rubber juice, construction time can be significantly reduced. By rapidly deploying human resources and materials, building a lighthouse in a short period of time is entirely feasible.

Liszt didn't plan to build a large lighthouse; instead, he intended to construct a smaller, ten-meter-high lighthouse near Black Horse Port's rocky beach.

After installing the crystal lamp, a visibility range of two to three kilometers would be sufficient.

In the future, with the right conditions, he would build another small lighthouse on the reefs along the shipping lane and one in Flower Harbor. This way, the Flowers would have no risk of getting lost.

In the midst of their conversation, the first batch of bricks had finished firing.