Chapter 514: Picnic in Progress

After returning to the castle, no one brought up the outcome of the sword duel. The two involved didn’t mention it, and others simply assumed the father and son were practicing.

Since it was just practice, there was no question of winning or losing.

Still, the Earl felt a little awkward, especially when Lady Mary asked, "Darling, why is there a patch of hair missing from your forehead? It looks like it got singed."

Luckily, Liszt stepped in smoothly: "My apologies, Lady Mary. While father was teaching me, I accidentally overdid it, and my mana flared up, burning a bit of his hair... But don’t worry, it doesn’t mess up his hairline. Really, it doesn’t."

Lady Mary smiled: "You’re both sky knights, with such strong attacks. You’ve got to be careful during training."

Liszt nodded: "Don’t worry."

"Of course, we’ll be careful, my lady. No need to fret," the Earl added, then shifted the topic: "Today’s plan was to take mother to see a comedy. Why didn’t you go? If you’re not up for it, invite her over to chat with Liszt."

"Mother didn’t ask me to join her. She went to the flower market today to pick out some potted plants. She’s been giving them away as gifts lately and needs to restock."

"She really dotes on her potted plants. Except for the two spirit bugs Liszt got, no one else’s plants have ever produced any... Speaking of which, the one she gave Lytton—do you think it’s about to spawn a spirit bug?" the Earl said with a sigh.

Ever since two of her potted plants produced a black nightshade bug and a fig bug, Lady Penelope has been obsessed, convinced her plants are the best gifts for spawning spirit bugs.

She only ever gives potted plants as gifts.

This has upset many, who think the old lady is just being cheap. On her birthday, she expects lavish gifts, but when it’s her turn to give, she only hands out potted plants worth a few coppers or maybe a couple of silver coins.

Liszt just smiled to himself.

Either way, he’d come out ahead.

The three chatted for a bit. The mood wasn’t exactly lively, but it wasn’t awkward either. Still, they didn’t have much in common to talk about. The Earl avoided training talk, and Liszt steered clear of personal matters. Noticing it was already ten, he said, "Father, Lady Mary, I’m heading out to Coral City to pick up some supplies."

"Go on, but don’t miss lunch."

"Alright."

...

Buying supplies was just a cover; he didn’t actually need to handle his own necessities.

He was gearing up for the invisible dragon’s next visit. From here on out, he’d need to be ready to milk it for all it was worth.

"The invisible dragon can’t resist the smell of smokegrass. I’ll need to set up a smokegrass haven—a thick pile of hay, all lit up at once, to create a dazzling fireworks display. I’m sure the dragon will be hooked on the scent and won’t be able to leave."

Smokegrass is a local specialty, so he didn’t have to stress over it. At most, he’d use different tricks to bring out the smokegrass scent—burning hay for smoke, mashing fresh grass for sprays, and whipping up some smokegrass sauce to slather on food.

"The menu has to be all beef. I’ll need live cattle—adults and calves. And cooked beef too—braised, pan-seared, fried, boiled, with every seasoning I can think of. I’m going to treat the invisible dragon to the ultimate beef feast!"

The territory doesn’t raise beef cattle, so I’ll need to buy them from Coral Island’s livestock market and hire a beef-specialist chef to help out.

He bundled up in his cloak.

He slipped through the smelly streets and showed up at the flower caravan’s Coral City office.

Buying beef wasn’t something he needed to handle himself. The caravan leader, Harpagon, was taking his orders: "Harpagon, I need different breeds of cattle—big and small—and a chef who knows his way around beef. This is your top priority for the next three days."

"I understand, Lord."

Liszt had given himself three days to prepare.

There wasn’t enough time to prepare properly, but if it was too long, he was afraid the invisible dragon might wander away or show up early. If it really visited early without proper preparations, it would not only cause significant losses to the territory but also reveal the invisible dragon’s secret.

That would definitely lead to trouble.

So he only gave himself three days to prepare thoroughly: "Harpagon, one more thing, recruit a team of chefs who can cook mutton, horse meat, pork, chicken, and all kinds of meat." While the invisible dragon prefers beef, it doesn’t mean it won’t eat other meats.

Liszt doubted the invisible dragon could live on beef alone.

According to the dragon-raising manual he once obtained from the desk of Marquis Bull, dragons are meat-eaters, and different dragons prefer different foods. Some dragons even eat stones or wood, apparently with finicky tastes, but most enjoy meat.

The invisible dragon is clearly a carnivore as well. Beef is noted in "The Travels of Griff the Earth Ranger" as the invisible dragon's favorite food, but it doesn’t guarantee that the invisible dragon won’t eat other meats.

That’s why Liszt decided to prepare a range of meats to fill the invisible dragon's stomach and conquer its taste buds.

On top of that.

He also had Harpagon collect various wines from the market as a complementary drink for the invisible dragon. What if the invisible dragon ended up drunk? Just the thought of it was thrilling.

...

After lunch at Tulip Castle.

Liszt hurried back to Flower Town, gathering a large amount of Smokegrass hay from the warehouse and transporting it to Black Horse Island. He planned to set up the invisible dragon’s dining area in the wilderness of Black Horse Island. Black Horse Island had many areas untouched by serfs, making it very suitable for contact with the invisible dragon.

At the same time, he ordered the serfs to harvest a lot of fresh Smokegrass, especially the high-quality Smokegrass around the insect grass.

The serfs, wearing thick masks, crushed the tender leaves into juice, bottled them in glass containers, and transported them to Black Horse Island.

As for Liszt himself, he spent the night choosing the right livestock to be infected by the invisible dragon's magic power and obtain dragon bloodline.

"The dragon’s bloodline magic power is likely very limited; otherwise, the world would be full of dragon species. So the number of infections is limited," he pondered.

First, dragon horses already exist, and the Black Blood horse herd is slowly growing, so there's no need to occupy more spots.

Second, dragon milk cows also exist, but they are scarce, with only four, and they are closely related, which is not conducive to future breeding. He could bring two or three pregnant cows to increase the number of new dragon calves.

Next, poultry like chickens, ducks, and geese are relatively small, and their need for magic power is probably minimal. He could choose a batch of females along with their hatching eggs to bring along.

Then, pork would be the main meat source for the territory. Having a batch of dragon pigs would be very necessary, so he could bring a few pregnant sows.

Again, he could select a batch of green-headed duck eggs to bring along. What if they created a dragon green-headed duck? That would be wonderful.

"Basically, it can be guessed that creatures in the embryonic stage are most susceptible to dragon bloodline infection... So should I also bring a batch of adult individuals?" He thought of Hiddleston and the eight little ones. Turning them into intermediate dragon beasts would surely increase their power.

But during the last visit of the invisible dragon, adult cows did not evolve into dragon cows, indicating that adult creatures' bloodlines are already solidified and difficult to infect.

Tupo has already undergone reproductive isolation and can no longer breed, basically cutting off Hiddleston's descendants and the hope of becoming a dragon beast.

"Moreover, turning Hiddleston into a dragon beast would probably require a lot of bloodline magic power... I have so many species that need infection, I really can’t spare much magic power for Hiddleston... Forget it, Hiddleston and the others have already achieved greatness, so this time I won’t consider the blizzard beast."

He shook his head and reluctantly gave up, continuing to think about what other species to bring.