Chapter 188: The First Night on Dark Horse Island

Sailing is very boring.

Liszt had to maintain his noble demeanor and could not mingle with the sailors or the squires. After lunch, he took a nap and continued practicing his Aura in the afternoon.

This practice lasted the entire afternoon.

The Flower Town arrived at the location marked on the nautical chart around 1:30 PM, but there was no sign of Black Horse Island. They had no choice but to continue searching at sea.

It took nearly three more hours to find the exact location of Black Horse Island.

"This nautical chart is off by ten kilometers! Those rats must have learned their navigation from dogs!" Kosto growled angrily.

If it weren't for good luck, they might not have found Black Horse Island until nightfall.

"Don't complain. Finding Black Horse Island is already fortunate," Liszt said calmly, even feeling a bit unsatisfied. He was increasingly fond of the sensation of practicing Aura after taking potions, "Are we now looking for a place to dock?"

"Yes, sir. Black Horse Island is an unexplored wilderness, so we need to find a suitable landing spot. The island is much larger than I imagined, possibly as big as Beer Island, and this area is mostly sandy, making it difficult to dock," he pointed to the island's horizon outside the window.

"Is it as large as Beer Island?"

"Just my estimate, but it shouldn't be too far off."

This conclusion pleased Liszt greatly. The size of Beer Island was perfect for a viscount's fief. If it were too large, it would be divided among other nobles; if too small, it would be a disadvantage. A moderate size was just right.

They circled half the island.

As the sun began to set, they finally found a suitable landing spot. The Flower Town approached slowly, dropped anchor, and lowered a wooden boat. Apart from a few sailors who stayed to guard the Flower Town, everyone else boarded the wooden boat and landed. The shore was rocky, similar to the pier in Flower Town.

Looking around, the vegetation on the island was sparse, with only a few scattered trees in the distance.

There were more weeds.

Some deer and roe cautiously watched Liszt's group from afar, especially the tall and mighty Hiddleston.

From a distance, they couldn't sense Hiddleston's intermediate-level magical beast aura, but they knew he wasn't someone to mess with just by appearance.

"Teacher Marcus, let's explore along the coastline first. We have about an hour before sunset, and we'll return to the Flower Town tonight," Liszt instructed.

"Yes!"

Without horses, everyone walked except for Liszt, who rode Hiddleston.

Hiddleston's massive size made riding him more comfortable than riding a horse.

Many knights, especially powerful ones, no longer limited themselves to horses and instead chose various strong dragon breeds and magical beasts. For example, Stefan Vulture, who possessed the secret Aura technique, rode a dragon breed vulture, soaring through the skies.

Sky knights' individual combat power surpassed that of a knight charge, so their mounts emphasized individual strength.

Ordinary knights relied on charging together to form a powerful Aura current, so their mounts emphasized uniformity, making horses the best choice.

Riding a dog might sound odd, but riding Hiddleston didn't make Liszt look out of place. Instead, having an intermediate-level magical beast as a mount envied everyone, further enhancing his image.

Gripping Hiddleston's black fur, Liszt steadied himself.

Taking a momentary pause, he summoned the smoke task.

The smoke condensed into snake script: "Complete the task, reward: a Black Dragon herd." Without a doubt, docking the Flower Town meant completing the voyage, without needing to return.

In a moment.

The smoke transformed.

A new task was issued.

"Task: You have stepped onto new land. As a lord dedicated to pioneering, how can you leave Black Horse Island uncultivated? Establish a temporary base on Black Horse Island and settle one hundred serfs. Reward: a few rotten bones."

"A temporary base?"

"A few rotten bones?"

Liszt quickly recalled a previous smoke task involving a ghost, which rewarded a broken bone fragment identified as a high-level dragon breed magical beast bone used as a stabilizing bone.

"So, what kind of bones are these?" Not wanting to speculate, he didn't dwell on it. Sometimes, Liszt became lazy regarding smoke tasks because rewards always coincidentally came his way upon completion, "Establishing a temporary base is already part of the plan, an easy task."

After walking a few miles,

they discovered that the rocky coast had disappeared, replaced by sandy beaches.

"The docking spot is probably near the boundary between east and west. The eastern part of Black Horse Island is mostly sandy, while the western part has more cliffs," Kosto, who often sailed and visited many islands, deduced from the island's details, "Looking at the center, there are no high mountains, mostly gentle slopes."

He squinted and carefully observed the distant landscape, adding, "Sir, I noticed Black Horse Island is quite round."

"Quite round?"

"Yes, the terrain is continuous, at least on this side. We don't know about the opposite side. Perhaps tomorrow, we can sail around the island to observe its shape thoroughly."

Liszt looked at the setting sun, saying, "Let's wait until tomorrow. Since the situation is unclear, let's return to the Flower Town."

...

That night passed quietly without any incidents.

Liszt wasn't entirely comfortable sleeping on the ship. The sound of waves crashing against the hull mixed with the snores of sailors and squires in the cabin, making it hard for him to sleep.

Hiddleston guarded outside his door.

Dogs snore too, so Hiddleston's bubble-like snores were not surprising.

Liszt himself never snored and preferred a very quiet environment when sleeping. Unable to fall asleep, he sat up and took out a crystal table lamp, placing it on the table.

The crystal table lamp was purchased from Glanny and was very convenient to carry and use, essentially serving as a flashlight.

With the light, he continued to take things out from the gemstone space to play with: a red blood sword that he wore at his waist during the day and stored in the gemstone space at night; a bow and arrows, a set of fine steel knight's equipment, and three fine steel knight's lances for emergencies; mithril ore, crystals, and jade, neatly stacked.

There were also black pearls, dragon bones, a telescope, a drift bottle, and smoked herbs.

And a large amount of food, including plenty of milk, eggs, roasted meat, vegetables, fruits, bread, and various seasonings. The gemstone space kept the substances stationary, preventing spoilage, so the food could be stored indefinitely.

With these supplies, he could live comfortably on a deserted island for several months. He even put a few pieces of floral soap inside.

Also in the gemstone space were thirty vials of flame mushroom magic potions crafted by Elkson.

"Not easy, but I've gradually accumulated quite a fortune." Satisfied, he reorganized the supplies, placed the gemstone close to his body, lay down on the bed, and started counting sheep.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally succumbed to fatigue and fell asleep.