Chapter 20 Peanut Bug and Fire Dragon Raid

bidding farewell to the weary Marcus, Liszt brought his thoughts back from reminiscence. Although it was a significant responsibility for nobles to broaden their connections, the Longtaro family was an essential part of his network. However, he didn't possess the outgoing personality suited for diplomacy; he preferred staying on his estate, amusing himself and being self-sufficient.

"I should focus on cultivating my Aura Secret Art first and complete the Smoke Mission," he decided.

He opened the "Flame Wave" manual, which, through abundant illustrations and descriptions, taught how to strengthen fire-type Aura and coordinate its circulation with powerful techniques. The "Flame Wave" leaned towards grand, sweeping movements, with most techniques expanding in wave-like patterns, making it a group combat-oriented secret art.

"As a group attack technique, it's suitable for battlefield charges. But isn't that the job for my knights? I can just command from the rear," Liszt mused.

He then turned to the "Fire Dragon Thrust." This was a one-on-one combat manual, with potent moves designed for individual battles, lacking slightly in charging capabilities on the battlefield. But Liszt quickly made up his mind. He chose to cultivate the "Fire Dragon Thrust." Concerned more about potential assassin attacks than actual warfare, the single-combat nature of "Fire Dragon Thrust" suited him better than the group-focused "Flame Wave."

"Decided then... Once I have the energy, I can always delve into 'Flame Wave' later," he resolved.

In this world, there were no divine secret arts. Aura cultivation had no particularly inferior or superior manuals; everything relied on an individual's talent and comprehension.

Ordinary people could rise to become unparalleled powerhouses, while the offspring of mighty warriors could also fall into mediocrity.

...

In the following days, Liszt practiced the Fire Dragon Thrust while awaiting the arrival of the merchant convoy.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The rain had ceased.

Good news arrived one after another.

The peanut worms in Peanut Village were almost ripe. The squire, Carl Hammer, reported to Liszt with excitement, "My Lord, the large flower bud of the peanut has already cracked open a bit. Inside, there's a pink peanut worm that's about to awaken. It's already trembling its body."

"Is that so? I'll head over right away!"

By the time Liszt rode his horse there, the flower bud had fully bloomed. A plump, pinkish fairy worm crawled around on the peanut worm grass, its body shimmering with a jade-like luster, filled with endless curiosity about the world.

The farmers of Peanut Village stood by, watching the fairy worm in a mix of curiosity and tension.

Liszt took out the jade powder he carried with him and scattered it in front of the peanut worm. The worm sniffed at it and soon began to munch on the powder. Before long, it had finished the jade powder on the leaf. Guided by the scent, it climbed onto Liszt's outstretched finger and started to nibble at the jade powder smeared on it.

Then, a slight pain came as the peanut worm had already pierced through Liszt's finger.

In that instant, a bond of telepathy sprang up between Liszt and the peanut worm, indicating that a master-slave contract had been established – an innate trait of the magical elfworms.

"Come with me, little one."

Liszt gently placed the elfworm into a jade box, preparing to take it back to the castle for nurturing. The peanut grass could stay in Peanut Village.

"I've got my fifth elfworm. With the peanut worm, a bountiful harvest for Peanut Village is imminent." Liszt was in high spirits and couldn't help but remind old George. "Old George, take good care of the peanut worm and its grass. Don't forget to water and fertilize them. The more fertilizer you use, the higher the peanut yield will be."

"Please rest assured, Lord. We will follow your instructions and regularly water, weed, and fertilize the peanuts!"

Having collected the peanut worm, another stroke of good fortune arrived. The aggressive puppy that had been kept at the castle finally opened its eyes on the seventh day of Liszt feeding it. Its first sight was Liszt, and it cried out eagerly as it pounced on him, rubbing affectionately against his trouser leg.

"Hiddleston, from now on, you'll be living outside the castle walls."

With Hiddleston's leash in hand, Liszt called for Thomas.

"Sir."

"Thomas, I have a task for you.

Take care of Hiddleston for me. By the way, has Hiddleston's kennel been constructed?" "Yes, sir," Thomas replied as he took the leash, preparing to lead Hiddleston to the kennel.

Although Hiddleston had acknowledged Liszt as its master, it didn't extend that recognition to others. When Thomas tried to lead it, the barely month-old Rampaging Earthdog puppy bared its teeth and growled fiercely, lunging at Thomas's shoes with a vicious bite. Its wild nature was apparent.

However, with its tiny milk teeth, Hiddleston couldn't even scratch Thomas's shoes.

"See to it that it's well taken care of."

"Rest assured, sir. I have experience in raising hunting dogs."

"Rampaging Earthdogs are far more dangerous than hunting dogs. They possess magical beast bloodline, but that's fine. It shouldn't go berserk. Once it grows a bit bigger, I'll train it every day until it's exhausted."

With Hiddleston's caretaker arranged, Liszt climbed up to the castle's pinnacle, overlooking the barren land stretching for miles around the castle. He had overlooked the fact that there were cultivable lands surrounding the castle, which were only used for small gardens near the castle walls, while the rest remained overgrown with grass.

"Peanut Village, Tomato Village, Mushroom Village, Barley Village, Wheat Village, Dairy Farm, Flower Farm, and both the town and the castle – Flower Town actually consists of nine settlements. Each one needs to be utilized... But without mechanization, with less than two thousand people in Flower Town, can we really cultivate such a vast amount of land?"

Machines could tirelessly cultivate the land, but human labor was much slower.

With less than two thousand people tending to over a hundred thousand square kilometers, that equated to nearly eighteen million mu – it was indeed daunting. Many fields were simply seeded and left to fend for themselves.

"This is probably what agriculture in Africa looks like, isn't it? Population, population – only people are the most precious resource! But where am I supposed to get enough people from?"

"It's quite a challenge."

Despite the difficulty, Liszt was still confident that Flower Town could flourish. As a transmigrator with a golden finger, if he couldn't even accomplish this, he might as well jump off a building and not embarrass other transmigrators.

...

"Fire Dragon Assault!"

In the small garden in front of the castle, Liszt wielded a one-handed sword, executing moves from the Fire Dragon Thrust. A flame suddenly burst into existence on the blade, spreading a meter wide with a howling sound, resembling a flaming fan that crackled with energy.

The flame wasn't real; it was merely the effect of his battle aura attached to the one-handed sword.

Liszt's fire-type battle aura possessed an explosive quality.

Even among the same type of Aura, there would be different focuses, just like how his Fire-type Aura emphasized explosions while others might focus on high temperatures, intensity, or condensation.

"I've finally mastered Fire Dragon Rush. Now, all that's left is the final move—Fire Dragon Thrust of the Heart. Once I master it, I'll receive my reward!"

He felt rather pleased with himself.

His talent was still quite impressive. 'Fire Dragon Thrust' consisted of two sets of techniques: one for refining the circulation of Aura and another for sixteen offensive maneuvers. Liszt easily picked up the method of circulating his Aura, and now he was learning those sixteen attacks.

"It takes others at least half a month to learn a secret technique, but here I am, finishing it in less than a week."

"It's hard to imagine that my predecessor failed to break through to become an Earth Knight before adulthood. Could it be that his comprehension was too poor?"

With decent physical talent, the only explanation left was a lack of comprehension. The previous Liszt probably hadn't had an epiphany before adulthood. But the current Liszt didn't dare claim to be a genius, but he certainly wasn't foolish.

"I shall continue studying and strive to grasp Fire Dragon Thrust of the Heart today."