Chapter 482: Ake and the Sea Elves

The banquet was lively, although the officials and knights of Black Horse Island were not present. The officials and knights of Blooming Town alone were enough to keep the castle bustling all night.

However.

On his own territory, Liszt rarely drank alcohol. His presence was becoming more commanding, and when he didn’t want to drink, his followers dared not persuade him to do so.

At the banquet, there was another noteworthy event.

His personal guard, Parris, officially declared her loyalty to him, becoming one of his many followers. Liszt personally appointed her as the commander of the Black Horse Island Patrol Knight Regiment. Parris’s prowess ensured that even the Elite Earth Knights, who might envy her high position, wouldn’t dare challenge her.

After all, she was one of the few in the territory with the prowess of an Elite Earth Knight, comparable to a seasoned Elite Earth Knight.

Even though Parris was a woman.

This world lacked notions like the "Three Obediences and Four Virtues." There were plenty of female knights, and the status of women in society was not necessarily much lower than that of men. However, among the high-end combat forces, the number of women was very small, with most women taking on roles as territory managers.

Men fought on the frontlines, while women ran the estates.

This was the standard.

Now that she had become a follower, Parris was already preparing to pack her things and follow Liszt to Black Horse Island early the next morning. For a long time to come, she would settle on Black Horse Island and take on her responsibilities.

Seeing Parris address him with the deference of a subordinate, Liszt felt a pang of melancholy. The knightly system was a society with very clear hierarchies, where the definition of "friend" was more like a mutually advantageous alliance. Since Liszt had crossed over to this world, he hadn’t made any real friends.

Carter, the housekeeper, was his confidant, closer to family than a friend.

Advisor Gort was his teacher and the territory’s advisor, but he remained merely a follower. Captain Marcus was also a teacher and a follower.

Levis was his brother, and Meopo was his cousin, neither of whom could be considered friends.

The sea spirit Acheronides was his sister. To be honest, their relationship hovered somewhere between siblings and lovers, even with a twisted sense of master and pet, but it was definitely not a friendship.

Only Parris, with her initial disdain for the nobility, could have developed into a friend.

However, sometimes the attraction between genders would inevitably stir up ambiguous feelings, making it difficult to maintain normal communication over time. But taking that step was not something Liszt was willing to see happen. He had no such thoughts for now, so he decided to make a clean break.

He didn’t want to be entangled in emotions.

Dragon riding was his life’s great calling.

...

As the banquet ended, he took Hiddleston and two Spirit Bugs to the seaside villa.

The lights of the villa were still on, but Acheronides’s figure was nowhere to be seen. He blew the horn for a while, but there was no response from Acheronides.

"Acheronides must have swum off somewhere. It seems I won’t see her tonight."

But just as he was about to turn back, the familiar blast of the horn echoed across the sea. It was Acheronides responding. Moments later, Liszt saw the sea spirit he had missed so much, still breathtakingly beautiful, untouched by time.

"Brother!"

Acheronides threw herself into Liszt’s arms.

Her petite yet curvaceous figure instantly stirred an inappropriate reaction in Liszt. Even in winter, Acheronides didn’t need to wear clothes. Her body was slightly cold but very soft. She had already mastered controlling water to keep Liszt’s clothes dry during their embrace.

And so it was.

It was as if the water belt was nonexistent during the embrace, her body pressed tightly against Liszt’s clothes.

At this thought, Liszt felt his body was on the verge of losing control again. He could only mutter to himself, “three years minimum, maximum death penalty,” and channel his mana to suppress the physical reaction. It took considerable effort to barely keep himself in check and not expose his inner turmoil.

“Chirp.”

The red mangrove spirit bug hovered nearby. Seeing Acheronides happy, it too became happy.

However, its expression soon froze. It saw the thorn fairy Jie La on the other side, her face filled with a fierce aura, glaring at it with clenched fists, the threat unmistakable.

This reminded Nami of their first meeting, when Jie La had slapped it roughly.

Leaving a deep impression.

It ducked its head and nestled on Acheronides’s back, looking cautiously at Jie La. Then it turned its gaze to the corn spirit bug Mickey on the other side.

Mickey was a mild-mannered spirit bug. After chirping a few times, it slowly fluttered towards Nami. Then the two spirit bugs circled each other, clearly very friendly during their first encounter. But it was just a friendly greeting.

Spirit bugs are not sociable creatures, nor do they possess strong social emotions.

They are more devoted to their contracted masters.

…

“Brother, Acheronides has so much to tell you.”

After the embrace, they could finally talk normally. Acheronides quickly skipped around, as if showing off treasures, and pulled out five spirit bugs from a shell!

“This…” Liszt was nearly speechless with astonishment.

Five spirit bugs lay on the table, respectively yellowish-brown, purple-brown, pink, greenish-yellow, and blackish-brown. They all looked alike, with two tiny gills behind their heads, adapted for life in water.

“Acheronides, where did you get so many spirit bugs? Have you contracted them all?”

“These are all spirit bugs from the deep sea, so Acheronides contracted them. However, Acheronides also found two spirit bugs in the mangrove forest by the sea, waiting for brother to contract them.”

Five contracted.

Two not contracted.

That meant Acheronides had brought him seven spirit bugs. Plus Nami and that kelp bug, in this short time, Acheronides had brought him one spirit bug and eight spirit bugs, it was like wholesale spirit bugs. But soon, Liszt realized he had mistaken one spirit bug.

The yellowish-brown one was the previous kelp bug.

Acheronides also brought the remaining four spirit bugs, showing what the marine plants they belonged to looked like.

The purple-brown spirit bug, its body was a kind of wrinkled sheet-like seaweed, somewhat like the seaweed Liszt had eaten in seaweed egg soup. This spirit bug could tentatively be called “seaweed bug.”

The pink spirit bug, its body was a kind of transparent, gelatinous red plant, growing on rocks, like red flowers blooming on rocks, probably also a type of algae. This spirit bug could tentatively be called “red stone flower bug.”

The greenish-yellow spirit bug, its body was a kind of algae often seen in the waters of Flower Town, called sargassum by the fishermen of Oyster Village. This spirit bug was naturally called “sargassum bug.”

The blackish-brown spirit bug, its body could also be found on rocks by the sea at low tide, called bladderwrack by fishermen. This spirit bug should be called “bladderwrack bug.”

Kelp bug, seaweed bug, red stone flower bug, sargassum bug, bladderwrack bug.

Five marine spirit bugs, which opened Liszt’s eyes: “These marine spirit bugs all seem to have gills, and they are all algae plants? Do algae plants always produce spirit bugs like this?”

For now, it was not possible to start marine farming.

Liszt asked Acheronides: “Where are the other two spirit bugs?”

“One is in Nami’s hometown, in the mangrove forest of Red Tree Island, it’s a newly born spirit bug. The other is in the sea further north of Black Horse Island, there is also a very small island with a large mangrove forest, and Nami discovered that spirit bug.”