Chapter 5 The Warcraft in Thorn Ridge

Located in the northeastern corner of Coral Island, Flower Town was not a small area. However, Liszt was uncertain about its exact size. As a remote town on the island, it was simply marked as being in the northeastern region of Thorns Ridge without any specific boundaries.

In other words, as long as he didn't overlap with any towns in the southwestern part of Thorns Ridge, Liszt could draw the borders of Flower Town freely.

Even if he were to annex all of Thorns Ridge, no one would blame him—after all, the territory of Thorns Ridge wasn't clearly defined on Coral Island either.

After two decades of cultivation by the Tulip Family, less than two-thirds of Coral Island had been converted into farmland and inhabited. The remaining third remained untouched wilderness.

Thorns Ridge was one such wilderness. The lord's knights had to engage in battles outside, leaving the task of taming these lands to the peasants and serfs. The land there was extremely barren and uneven, with little development potential.

Moreover, facing magical beasts, ordinary people were merely a delectable meal. Even hunters dared not provoke them easily. Of course, there were still some adventurers who hunted magical beasts—the flesh and skin of every beast could be exchanged for gold coins.

Riding his fire-breathing horse, Liszt was enthusiastic about this inspection tour.

Acquiring land by riding around its perimeter was an innate instinct for every noble. The size of Flower Town would depend on how far his horse's hooves could reach. At that moment, they were walking down the town's dirt road, which was filthy with animal and human excrement—only the nobles had the means to build toilets.

"Sanitation must be improved," Liszt turned around and said to Marcus.

Marcus didn't comment. As he wasn't a civil servant, he wasn't interested in such matters. What fired him up was the authority of the nobility, especially when the slaves and commoners on both sides of the street kept bowing to Liszt. Envy and fear could be seen on their malnourished faces as they looked at the noble.

Their bodies trembled with fear.

Slaves kneeled, while freemen bowed.

Slaves made up the vast majority. They had sold themselves to the nobles and were Liszt's personal property. Liszt had the final say in their marriages, deaths, and other important life events. Even if Liszt wished to exercise his right of the first night, these slaves would have to obey and send their daughters or wives, cleaned up, into the castle.

Freemen were few and far between. Most of them were artisans, such as hunters or tailors.

The small town was dilapidated, with not many inhabitants. Even with all the residents lining the streets to pay their respects, there was no festive atmosphere at all.

As Liszt looked around, he felt that the town might only have a few hundred people... fewer than the number of students in a school.

Huts made of mud and straw spread across a large area, constituting most of the town's area. It was rare to see even a two-story building, with only a couple of households having them.

This time, he truly felt the poverty of the common folk.

A myriad of emotions welled up within him.

He was even more grateful that he was a noble, able to live in a castle and enjoy finely milled white bread.

The Fire Dragon Horse soon carried Liszt along the single north-south street in Flower Town. With a slightly heavy heart, it followed the safe route mapped out by Marcus and headed towards Thorns Ridge.

As they rode along, fields surrounded the outskirts of the town. Most of the crops in these fields were unfamiliar to Liszt. They didn't look particularly healthy; instead, they appeared sickly, with many weeds growing alongside them. Clearly, there was no scientific management in place.

While this era had fantastical creatures like dragons and elves, as well as incredible powers like Aura and magic, its development was relatively backward.

An industrial revolution was out of the question, but introducing some aspects of scientific progress could still prove beneficial.

Liszt was full of confidence in governing his territory and leading Flower Town to develop.

...

After a short while, the town was no longer visible from their position. They left the flatlands and entered a hilly region with scattered woods—this was already the edge of Thorns Ridge.

"Lord Baron, magical beasts often appear near the edges of Thorns Ridge. I hope you'll follow me closely and not rush ahead," Marcus began leading the way at this point, instructing the four escort knights, "Protect Lord Baron at all costs. Don't let any magical beast advance unless they're corpses! Can you do that? !"

"Certainly!" Carl and the others responded loudly.

They came from humble backgrounds. In this world, commoners were not required to fight on the battlefield; only nobles and knights did so. However, squire knights, despite being commoners, also had to join battles—albeit in the capacity of support troops. In exchange for better treatment, they bore the responsibility to die for their nobles if necessary.

To avoid encountering magic beasts, the group of knights had no choice but to skirt around the edges of Thorns Ridge.

The woods were still lush, and occasionally, they could spot wild animals such as rabbits and foxes. The edge of Thorns Ridge didn't have an abundance of food, so large predators were rarely seen.

"During spring, summer, and autumn, the food in Thorns Ridge can satisfy the needs of the magic beasts, so Flower Town doesn't often encounter them. However, in winter, hungry magic beasts often invade Flower Town, and every year, a few unlucky souls become their meals."

Despite his foul mood, Marcus carried out his duties meticulously, detailing information about Thorns Ridge.

"Magic beasts, huh. I wonder if we'll encounter one today." Liszt had searched through his predecessor's memories and seen a few magic beasts. Compared to ordinary wildlife, the most significant difference was that magic beasts possessed magical power, enabling them to cast powerful spells.

Tulip Castle had even raised a type of small magic beast—the fire rabbit.

The fire rabbit, capable of shooting out small fireballs, was delicious, and its fur was bright and lustrous. Nobles enjoyed eating its meat, while noblewomen loved wearing coats made from its fur.

He had also seen the pelt of a formidable magic beast—the giant barbarian bear. The Earl of Coral Island's favorite chair was upholstered with the pelt of a giant barbarian bear. Its menacing bear head had been preserved, exuding an intimidating ferocity.

It was rumored that in the quest to hunt the Giant Ferocious Bear, eight Earth Knights from the Coral Island Knights had perished.

Eight Earth Knights were enough to cause significant damage to the knightly order. Even in a territorial battle, it was not guaranteed that such a number of Earth Knights would fall.

Not to mention, there were even more Apprentice Knights who lost their lives.

Throughout the journey, Liszt kept recording the topography of Thorns Ridge, including where defensive structures could be constructed, where irrigation systems could be built, where forts could be erected, and where farmland could be developed. These were the obligations of a feudal lord who owned land.

"Odin, it's lunchtime. Let's prepare our meal here."

"Yes, my lord!" Odin Socks immediately dismounted, found a flat spot, spread out a carpet, and arranged the dry rations on it.

The simple lunch consisted of bread, caviar, fruit salad, milk tea, and specially for Liszt, dried mutton.

Marcus had initially thought it was just a casual lunch, but after swallowing a piece of bread, his expression suddenly changed. "My Lord Baron, something's wrong. There's the aura of a magical beast!"