Chapter 167: Fly Free, Benedict Cumberbatch

At the end of October, the weather turned cooler.

The atmosphere in the castle grew increasingly oppressive, mainly because Liszt, as its master, was in a progressively worse mood.

Flower Town was thriving, with over four hundred new serfs quickly integrating into the community. The autumn harvest brought in large quantities of grain every day, filling the warehouses to the brim.

Under such circumstances, he should have been happy.

However, the news from the merchant caravan left him unsettled, and his tone was somewhat grim: "Harpagon, the Flower Town merchant caravan covers so many small towns for seafood business and has established an extensive information network. How is it that not even a single different type of thorn can be found?"

Harpagon knelt on the ground, trembling with fear.

The words of an elite Earth Knight, spoken in anger, and the extreme dissatisfaction of a territory's ruler weighed heavily on him.

"My lord, I apologize; Harpagon has disappointed you. I've already instructed everyone in the caravan to spread the word that anyone who can provide a new variety of thorn will receive a generous reward. However, all the thorns we've received are common varieties, none meet your requirements."

"Have all the areas covered by the Flower Town merchant caravan been searched?"

"The cities of Birchwood, Elmwood, Spearhead, Broken Stone City, and their surrounding towns have all been searched. To continue searching further, we would need to go to the villages below these towns."

"Then go to the villages and search one by one." Liszt's temper wasn't directed at Harpagon, but regardless, he was very frustrated. "You may retain one-tenth of the Flower Town merchant caravan's funds for the expenses of searching for new thorn varieties."

Harpagon cautiously replied, "Yes, my lord. Harpagon will certainly search diligently!"

Grandet had recently been promoted, seizing this opportunity to become the captain of the Flower Town merchant caravan. He did not want to fail and be demoted back to farming by Liszt.

"Go do your work."

Liszt waved his hand, dismissing Harpagon.

Then, sitting in his chair, he rubbed his temples. Not only had the Flower Town merchant caravan failed to find anything, but Sherlock's thorn merchant caravan had also come up empty-handed, having just been scolded away. He had thought that simply spreading the word through the merchant caravans across Coral Island would easily lead to finding new thorns. Who would have thought they wouldn't find any?

"The merchant caravans offered substantial rewards for new thorn varieties, and those who received the message would surely search frantically... Several days without results suggest a high possibility that there are no new thorn varieties on Coral Island... Now, we can only wait for Marcus's news."

He had split the task between the merchant caravans and Marcus.

The goal was to discover more thorn varieties to increase the chances of the Thorn Bugs breaking through, and the more pheromones collected, the greater the likelihood of evolution.

"If Marcus doesn't bring good news either, where else can I look?"

If Coral Island had no new thorn varieties, he would have to search other islands. As a minor noble, his social circle was primarily on Coral Island. Counts were directly enfeoffed by the Duke, and most of the surrounding islands were controlled by Marquises or their followers, who didn't maintain friendly relations with Coral Island.

It was highly discouraged for followers of different lords to interact casually.

However, there was one island he could enter freely—Red Crab Island.

Liszt was a legitimate descendant of the Longtaro family. His mother was the daughter of Merlin Longtaro, the lord of Red Crab Island and one of the seven Marquises of the Duchy, and the owner of Longtaro Castle. When he visited Marquis Merlin, he was even invited to join the sparsely populated Longtaro family.

"If I ask Grandfather Merlin, no, if I ask Cousin Meopo for help, I should be able to complete the task."

Red Crab Island is vast, equivalent to a province in China. Surely, there must be some different thorn varieties there. Perhaps even the hedges around Longtaro Castle contain several varieties.

Thinking about this, his frustration subsided slightly: "If one day, I can't survive on Coral Island anymore, I'll seek refuge at Longtaro Castle. My grandfather will surely arrange a Viscount's fief for me." However, Red Crab Island might not be as easy to navigate as Coral Island.

No matter how close cousins are, they can't replace immediate family.

Suddenly, he thought of Athena Salmon, and his mood improved slightly: "Months have passed; I wonder if Athena has formed a relationship with another noble... Ah, I remember that afternoon running under the sunset; it was my lost youth." He had a great fondness for this noble lady who had boldly confessed her love to him.

However, soon after,

his pleasant memories were interrupted by a piercing scream.

The sound came from the Falcon House outside the castle, emitted by Juan Fu, who was enduring immense suffering.

His fading frustration surged again, and he immediately stood up, walked out of the castle, and headed to the Falcon House. Elkson sat opposite the falcon stand, his eyes bloodshot.

Seeing Liszt arrive, he hurriedly said, "Baron Liszt."

"Mr. Elkson, has Juan Fu still not submitted?"

"The pride within your Wind Traveling Falcon exceeds my expectations," Elkson explained awkwardly, as the taming process he thought would be straightforward had completely stalled.

Juan Fu preferred to starve to death rather than submit.

Liszt suddenly noticed a trace of red blood at Juan Fu's mouth: "Is it vomiting blood?"

"Yes, under prolonged starvation, its body is nearing danger. If repeated taming attempts fail... I'm sorry, Baron Liszt; this is a situation I haven't encountered with ordinary eagles."

"In other words, Juan Fu might starve to death?"

"There is that possibility, but it's also possible that if we persist for a few more days, it will submit. After all, even magical beasts are just wild animals; they will eventually yield to the threat of death. At that point, with a few more training sessions, it will become a suitable pet for you."

"Gak ji..." The bleeding Juan Fu let out a piercing cry from the falcon stand.

But its eyes showed no sign of submission, remaining stubborn. Looking into its eyes, Liszt felt he could see its defiance against fate.

Fate.

Perhaps due to the lingering effects of the Smoke Dragon, he had recently been associating everything with fate, verging on becoming a mystic, always pondering the concept of cause and effect.

Fortunately, his deeply ingrained materialist values still held strong.

"I think Juan Fu won't submit to anyone," Liszt shook his head. Wind Traveling Falcons were not caged birds; since childhood, he could tell Juan Fu yearned for the sky. "Mr. Elkson, stop the training here. I need you to focus more on the Flame Mushroom magic potion."

"What?"

Elkson was taken aback. "Baron Liszt, if you give up now, all the efforts we’ve made will be in vain. Moreover, with it reaching adulthood, there won’t be a second chance to tame it."

"Don’t worry, I’ll pay you as if you had completed the work." Liszt decided to indulge himself this once, leaving the beautiful vision of leading a yellow dog and holding a falcon to his imagination.

As he spoke, he untied the ropes binding Quanfu on the falcon stand.

He personally brought meat and water to feed Quanfu. As a magical beast, Quanfu had a strong recovery ability and had regained much of its strength by midday.

"Fly, Quanfu!"

Liszt opened the door of Falcon House and gave Quanfu a push. Quanfu clearly wasn’t accustomed to the situation, turning its head to look at Liszt with a mix of confusion and uncertainty in its eyes.

But after a moment’s hesitation, it finally flapped its wings and jumped off the falcon stand.

It took flight.

Thud.

It fell down.

However, it quickly learned the instinct of flying from its failure. In its last attempt, it kicked off the ground with its legs, flapped its wings, shedding two feathers, and successfully flew into the sky.

"Gak ji!"

With one final cry, it disappeared into the blue sky and white clouds without looking back.