Chapter 701: The Eagle Spreads Its Wings

Liszt was perplexed.

He couldn't fathom Alonso Cyclamen's intentions, nor was he certain what the lurking crisis truly meant—even if Alonso had designs on the Sapphire Duchy, what could he possibly rely on to achieve that? The Sapphire Duchy, which had dominated the seas for over a century and a half, was no small, easily manipulated nation.

For now, no one could provide an answer.

In Black Horse Island and Flower Town, only Acheronides knew Liszt's identity as a dragon knight.

However, Acheronides wasn't particularly versed in politics and couldn't offer Liszt any useful advice.

There was one other person on Coral Island who knew his identity, so the puzzled Liszt decided to have a good talk with Marquis Ox-Tail, William Lee.

Yet, when he arrived at Tulip Castle, he learned that the Marquis had gone to Iron Hoof Island's Ox-Tail Territory to take over his new fief.

"Then let Acheronides take me to Iron Hoof Island," Liszt said without hesitation, immediately asking Acheronides to escort him there.

The voyage from Coral Island to Iron Hoof Island normally took four days, but for Acheronides, it was merely an hour's travel.

They used a scallop as a submarine.

Liszt and Acheronides lay side by side inside, chatting and resting for a while before arriving at Iron Hoof Island, hundreds of kilometers away. Ox-Tail City was the main city of Ox-Tail Territory, a large coastal settlement that housed a castle once belonging to the Bull family—Ox-Tail Castle.

The Bull family’s naming conventions were... unsubtle.

The island was called Iron Hoof Island, and due to their obsession with "bulls," all cities were named after parts of a bull: Horn, Hoof, Tail, Tendon, Spine, Hair, Brisket, Rib, and so on. Each city had an affiliated castle, though none could compare to the grandeur of Bull Castle in Iron Hoof City.

These castles, not granted to followers, mainly served as vacation villas for the Bull family, so Ox-Tail Castle was even shabbier than Tulip Castle.

Of course.

Though Ox-Tail Castle was modest, Ox-Tail Territory boasted not only the main city of Ox-Tail City but also two other major cities—Brisket City and Rib City—along with ten smaller towns. Thus, the Tulip family suddenly gained three named grand castles and ten variously sized town-affiliated castles.

At the moment, a red tulip flag flew over Ox-Tail Castle, signifying its new ownership under the Tulip family.

Niuwei Castle’s guards were lax. Liszt and Acheronides had already reached the main gate before a pair of patrolling knights noticed them. When the knights recognized Liszt, they snapped to attention and ushered the two inside.

The steward, Silva, hurried over, flustered. "Our humblest apologies, Young Master Liszt and Miss Acheronides. We had no idea of your arrival today. The castle remains in disarray, not properly arranged, and we haven't even assigned footmen to guard the gates. This oversight is unforgivable."

"Where is my father?" Liszt paid no mind to these details.

"His Lordship and Her Ladyship have gone to Ox-Tail City to oversee the transfer of workshops and storefronts. Please wait, young master and miss. I'll send servants to fetch them immediately."

"Very well."

Liszt nodded and strolled around Ox-Tail Castle with Acheronides, inspecting the premises. This was his first time visiting Ox-Tail City and seeing Ox-Tail Castle. It was somewhat ironic—despite Acheronides' ability to travel swiftly, he had never thought to visit Ox-Tail Territory before.

Perhaps, subconsciously, he never regarded anywhere beyond Black Horse Island as his territory.

After biding his time for three to five years, he planned to establish his own kingdom overseas. All this would soon be of little consequence to him, so he saw little point in dwelling on it.

Just as he finished surveying Ox-Tail Castle, the Marquis returned. "Liszt, Acheronides, when did you arrive? You might have sent word ahead."

"It was an impulse. I wished to confer with you, Father, so I came," Liszt replied.

Lady Mary smiled. "You may discuss matters in the study. I'll prepare lunch for you." Whenever matters involved Liszt and his father, she tactfully excused herself to avoid being in the way.

The study was richly appointed. The Marquis had somehow acquired a large collection of new books, stocking the shelves.

Liszt hadn't read any of these new books, so he itched to take a knife and slice open the covers, just to see if he might unearth any mana techniques. Naturally.

He held back, signaling Acheronides to look around freely, and directly addressed the Marquis: "My blood servants have discovered a large number of vampires from the Black Knight family infiltrating Ironhoof Island. They seem to have hostile intentions."

"Vampires infiltrating?" The Marquis frowned. "What is their purpose?"

"I'm not sure, but they aren't targeting me. When I killed a pureblood vampire, they not only showed no intention of revenge, but even Rommel, the patriarch of the Black Knight family, sought to befriend me... I suspect this operation by the Black Knight family is under Alonso's orders."

"That's possible. Famur died in the Edict of Expansion—this is a war between nations."

"Moreover, I've sent two ransom demands for the sky knights, but Alonso hasn’t responded at all. That’s unusual."

"Indeed. Although Jia Xiya and Fox are mid-tier sky knights, they are still young and have the potential to advance to sword saints. There’s no reason to discard them so easily." After listening to Liszt's explanation, the Marquis fell into deep thought. "If Alonso intends to recruit you, it does make logical sense."

"But what confidence does he have that I would abandon my status in Sapphire to follow him? Even if he’s a dragon knight, he’s only a Marquis at best."

If Alonso were a Duke and had established his own kingdom, recruiting Liszt might be justified.

But he is merely a dragon knight cultivated by the Kingdom of the Eagle. Upon his death, his dragon would be reclaimed, leaving him no right to recruit someone as powerful as Liszt—an 'inheritor of ancient warriors.' Could he possibly offer Liszt a status comparable to what Sapphire provides? The Grand Duke is already prepared to win him over with a Marquis title.

Just by agreeing, the Ironhoof Island Marquis would be his for the taking.

Alonso Cyclamen, as the Bronze Dragon Knight, may sound impressive, but his titles are merely the Prosperous Marquis and the Count of Lotus Mountain.

"If the Black Knight family isn’t targeting you, and Alonso is showing signs of wanting to recruit you, does that mean his goal is Sapphire?"

"I’ve suspected the same, but how would he even conquer Sapphire?"

"A dragon-slaying campaign?" the Marquis suggested. Ever since Liszt rode a dragon, thoughts of dragon-slaying battles had lingered in his mind. "Could it be that Alonso plans to challenge the Grand Duke?"

"Coming here alone—isn’t he afraid of being trapped? Even if a dragon knight is powerful, the Sapphire family could easily flee and bounce back after evading an attack."

"What if he isn’t alone but brings a massive force of knights?" the Marquis suddenly thought. "You once said the descendants of Marquis Bull defected to a mainland kingdom and speculated that Alonso was their backer. With the Bull family’s resources, they could easily help the Kingdom of the Eagle build a fleet."

"This..."

Liszt wanted to refute. He had always believed their isolated position overseas was secure, but the Marquis’ reasoning wasn’t unfounded. Ever since Marquis Bull’s defection, shipbuilding was no longer Sapphire’s exclusive advantage.

The Bull family’s plans for dragon-slaying had been in the works for a long time.

This meant they had long pledged allegiance to the Kingdom of the Eagle. Over the years, the Kingdom could have built up ships and trained crews, assembling a massive fleet—thousands of vessels.

...

As if confirming the Marquis’ speculation,

after the luncheon,

a knight riding a winged eagle mount descended from the sky and landed at Niuwei Castle. He was a knight from the Grand Duke’s direct Ash-Grey Eagle Knights, hailing from Niuhoof City and currently serving under Marquis Nei Si Ta · Da Hua Hui Lan, stationed in Niuhoof City. He brought explosive news.

"Marquis Niuwei, Viscount Liszt, intel from our spies indicates that the Kingdom of the Eagle has dispatched a massive fleet to invade Sapphire!"