Chapter 44: The lord wants to build a new village

The banquet came to an end.

Liszt broached the topic at hand: "I'm planning to establish a new settlement on the eastern coast for accommodating some of the serfs as fishermen engaged in coastal fishing."

Farmers were busy during planting seasons, but they would become idle after their crops had been sown.

Liszt found this to be an inefficient allocation of manpower. He thought it would be better to free up some farmers to specialize in developing the nearby coastal fisheries—no, the maritime fisheries.

Currently, without boats, they couldn't fish in the nearby seas even if they wanted to.

"Such delicious seafood should indeed be harvested more often. However, Liszt, our town's population is too small, barely reaching two thousand. Agricultural production in each settlement relies on the labor of the serfs."

"I'll find a way to increase the population," Liszt said without elaborating.

In fact, he had already discussed this with Levis. Using the profit share from the black tulips as compensation, he intended to buy serfs from Levis—the earl's fleet, when returning from overseas trade, could carry quite a number of them. These serfs might come from war-torn islands or the mainland.

Gort seemed to understand: "If that's the case, I'll start planning for the new settlement right away."

"Lord Baron, what will the new settlement be called?" Isaiah asked.

"Let's name it... Oyster Village."

Liszt had high hopes for Oyster Village. He wished that after its establishment, it would transform some of the serfs into fishermen, providing a steady supply of seafood to feed Flower Town and lay the material foundation for future development. Every winter, the townsfolk would hibernate in their homes to conserve food consumption.

With sufficient food, the harshness of winter would be nothing to worry about.

Large-scale construction could also commence during the colder months.

In the evening, Gort arrived at the castle once more. "Liszt, we've found the corn grass! The patrol team has finally accomplished something; they discovered a batch of grass resembling corn grass on the edge of Thorns Ridge in the southwestern corner of the town."

"Take me there."

Before nightfall, Liszt personally observed the vast expanse of corn grass mixed among other wild grasses. In comparison to the three wild corn plants in Wheat Village, these appeared much smaller, likely due to malnutrition.

After circling around the area, Liszt felt somewhat disappointed.

This was probably the original habitat of the corn grass, but there were no signs of elfworms nurturing them—without the elfworms, the growth and development of the corn grass would be limited.

Moreover, without the aid of the elfworms, it would be difficult to gradually improve the species and move closer to cultivating corn cobs.

"Take good care of them and gather the seeds meticulously. Later, when cultivating fields in the town, choose a suitable spot to plant a batch. This will provide new varieties of grass for the horse ranch and dairy farm."

...

In the evening, after his bath, Liszt was reading in his study.

Before his eyes, the smoky script coalesced: "Mission completed. Reward: New information on the Intangible Dragon."

In an instant, the smoke twisted, revealing a new quest: "Quest: Fishing has become a priority on the lord's agenda. A group of serfs are about to be sent out to sea. Governing the people is a must-have skill for a lord, but sustainable development is even more crucial. Upgrade the fishermen's equipment. Reward: An abundance of Smoked Grass."

"A vast field of Smoky Grass, what could that be? Tobacco?"

Upgrading the fishermen's equipment was a straightforward task. Even if the Smoking Quest hadn't been issued, Liszt would have done it anyway. It wouldn't make sense for the fishermen to harvest the sea without proper tools; they might accidentally cut their fingers on the sharp rocks left exposed by the receding tide.

The reward for this mission was no longer intangible information about a dragon, which brought Liszt a slight sense of relief. He started looking forward to discovering what the Smoky Grass was.

Among the nobility, smoking was quite popular. The Tulip Family cultivated a considerable amount of tobacco and even had a Tobacco Fairy in their service.

"So, Smoky Grass isn't tobacco after all. There were tobacco seeds among the seeds traded from Tulip Castle. I can plant them anytime if I wish."

Liszt decided not to dwell on the matter; he would eventually find out what Smoky Grass was.

He dismissed the smoke serpent sigil and continued reading. The Earl had kept his promise; when Liszt returned, he received a carriage full of books. Currently, he was engrossed in an autobiographical novel titled "Griff's Travels: The Chronicles of a Terran Ranger."

The book was written in the first person, recounting the adventures of a Terran Knight named Griff as he traveled through the Maplewood Grand Duchy. The story was intriguing, although much of its content seemed like pure fantasy to Liszt—such as having an affair with an Earl's wife, eloping with a Marquis's daughter, or jesting with the Grand Duke himself.

These experiences were far beyond the reach of a disinherited noble descendant who wasn't even a Baronet Knight.

Nonetheless, the author must have been a well-traveled individual, as the book depicted various customs and landscapes distinct from Coral Island, as well as descriptions of the decadent lives of nobles and countless anecdotes heard through the grapevine.

It was quite captivating.

Liszt enjoyed novels that combined entertaining stories with knowledge.

"Hmm?"

As he read on, the narrative abruptly shifted to a scene of a dragon-slaying quest, where Griff was traveling to a village plagued by an invisible creature. The local lord had fled, leaving the inhabitants defenseless, and Griff resolved to save them from their torment.

Through some unexplained means of observation, he deduced that the invader was an invisible dragon.

"The Invisible Dragon is a magnificent beast from another realm, visible only to the bravest and most righteous knights. I am not yet brave enough to see it, but I must muster my courage! I must seek it out and confront it, to discover its weakness!"

Griff then, rather recklessly, succeeded in putting himself in harm's way, confronting the invisible dragon, which left him coughing up blood. Yet, precisely because of this, he gained sight of his elusive foe.

"Ahh, what a wondrous dragon it was, like a flowing crystal, colorless and entirely transparent. My blood passed right through its body; yes, I could not touch it. I was disheartened, for I might never have the chance to ride upon it."

Liszt admired Griff's absurd optimism, as he was nearly killed by the invisible dragon but still lamented not being able to ride it.

Fortunately, Griff was self-aware.

"I knew it intended to kill me. I couldn't see its eyes, only a vague blur of water, but I sensed its intent. Death held no fear for me anymore. In my final moments, I yearned for just one more drag from a pipe, oh, forgive me, I had no tobacco left. I grabbed a handful of grass at random and chewed on it, to quell my craving."

Upon reading this, Liszt's eyebrow twitched.

He continued reading further.

"Later, I discovered that the grass I held was called Smoky Herb, a plant similar to tobacco but with an aroma akin to my socks, worn for either sixteen or twenty-six days without washing. It made me nauseous, and yes, at that moment, I successfully kicked my seventeen-year smoking habit. I swore never to light up again!"

"I had been a smoker for seventeen years. When I was young, my father enjoyed rolling his own cigarettes. He would ask me, 'Hey, Griff, do you want a puff...?'"

The following paragraphs were filled with reminiscences of his father teaching him how to smoke.

Liszt's scalp tingled in frustration. "Too much irrelevant chatter! I'm here to read about how you slay dragons, not your smoking history!"