Chapter 85 The Self-Recommended Captain

The task was rather straightforward.

He didn't need to bother with how much goods the villagers bought and sold. He had already decided that the castle would purchase anything valued at over three gold coins.

Recently, seafood had become a profitable venture, turning the East Coast into a steady gold coin production line for the castle.

His purse, which had been dwindling, had finally stabilized and even showed some improvement. He now had roughly five gold coins in storage.

"Good old Grandet, I've summoned you for a matter. Tomorrow, a merchant convoy from North Valley City will arrive at Flower Town. I'll give you three gold coins. Your task is to spend every last coin on any goods you can acquire."

Grandet was sharp-witted. "Lord, are you planning to allure the merchants to return with the allure of gold?"

"Indeed."

"I understand, Lord Grandet. I shall see to it."

"Very well, you may go now."

"Yes, my lord. Have a good night."

Old Grandet turned away and, at the castle gates, he spotted Bounie, who greeted him, "Bounie, has Lord also summoned you?"

"Oh, no. I've finished making the soap and came to deliver it personally," Bounie jiggled the bag in his hands. "Is Lord looking for you regarding tomorrow's caravan?"

Old Grandet spoke with a hint of pride, "Indeed, I am the leader of the castle's caravan, and Lord trusts me."

"I truly envy you. Well, I must be on my way now." Bounie bid farewell to Old Grandet and, accompanied by a male servant, entered the castle, eventually standing before Liszt.

He bowed respectfully and handed the soap over to the servant.

"The soap is finally ready. From now on, there's no need to purchase those soaps in Coral City that cost two silver coins for ingredients that only cost a copper coin." Liszt picked up a bar, appreciating Bounie's craftsmanship – it was as good as the soaps bought from Coral City. "Thank you for your hard work, Bounie."

"It's Bounie's privilege to serve Lord."

"I have another task for you."

"Please instruct me, Lord."

Liszt explained, "I've heard of a formula that combines pig pancreas and wood ash – roughly these two ingredients – to create a soap with better cleansing power than soapwort. It's called soap." Since "pancreas" didn't sound appealing, Liszt opted to call it "soap," a new invention without anyone else claiming the name.

"Is there a soap superior to soapwort, my lord? Can a pig's pancreas also cleanse?" Bounie asked in surprise.

"Lady Luck has smiled upon you, for it is true. However, I have forgotten the exact recipe. Thus, I entrust you with the task of soap-making. I expect you to experiment and figure out how to combine pig pancreas and hardwood ash to create soap suitable for bathing. If you succeed, you will be richly rewarded."

Bounie promptly replied, "It is Bounie's honor to serve Lord Gort. Please rest assured, my lord, I will make soap as soon as possible."

"Yes, don't forget about the perfumed soap either. We cannot do without it in the castle."

"Have no worries, my lord."

...

The reward for the Smoking Task came swiftly.

Early the next morning, Liszt received a report that the fishermen of Oyster Village had found a massive sea monster stranded on the eastern coast. Recalling the Deep Sea Black Pearl, Liszt immediately understood the situation and set off for the eastern shore.

Upon arrival at the beach, he saw the stranded sea monster, accompanied by an overpowering stench.

"Sir, do you recognize this creature?" Gort and the others had arrived promptly, but they were unable to identify the species of the stranded monster.

Lister peered closely and discerned that the sea monster was some sort of colossal mollusk, stretching over ten meters in length. Its tentacles were intertwined, soft and limp. Examining its body, it resembled an octopus, sprawled on the sand with signs of decay, obscuring its appearance in life.

Employing his Magic Eye, he detected no trace of magical energy flowing within the creature.

Strictly speaking,

this was merely a large marine creature, not a genuine sea monster. "It might be a giant octopus, not a true sea monster," Lister fanned the air in front of his nose, for the stench of the decaying octopus was pungent.

"Can we eat it?" Blair suddenly inquired.

Gort made a disgusted face and said, "I can't even bear the smell, let alone eating it. I don't think it belongs to the category of seafood. This is a monster! It might be highly poisonous, or it could have even devoured people at sea. I've heard of sea monsters that entangle ships, and this squid has 'hands.' It must be capable of doing the same."

Regardless of whether it was poisonous or had consumed humans, Liszt wouldn't consider it as seafood.

Rotten things should just be discarded directly.

But thinking of the deep-sea black pearls that might be related to this giant squid, he instructed, "Teacher Gort, find some fishermen to dissect this giant squid and see if there's anything interesting inside. If there's nothing, chop it up and throw it back into the sea to avoid creating a stench."

Gort began organizing the fishermen to come and dissect the giant squid.

Lister, on the other hand, approached the beached sailboat not far from the beach, a vessel that had been patched up by carpenters after sustaining several holes. Once the tide receded, it could be nudged back into the sea, and with the incoming tide, it would mostly likely be seaworthy again… The only problem was that there was a skilled captain but no qualified sailors.

"Lord, Kosto sends his regards."

As Lister admired the sailboat, his retainer knights, Philip and Xavier, stopped a fisherman. The fisherman hurriedly knelt on the ground and called out loudly.

Kosto?

Lister remembered the name. He turned his horse around and said to Thomas, who followed behind him, "Let him come over."

Kosto was a tall middle-aged man with a weathered, tanned face from exposure to the elements. "Greetings, Lord, Kosto pays his respects."

"You've already said that," Lister observed him. "Stand up and speak. If I'm not mistaken, you're the captain of this ship?"

"To have Lord Lister remember Kosto is an honor," Kosto rose to his feet and said respectfully. "I once served under Little Papa Lord as the captain of the Flying, a three-masted ship that could reach three knots in a favorable wind. This sailboat is even better; it can reach five knots with a tailwind."

Knots referred to ship speed, but Lister wasn't too clear on how fast exactly one knot was.

However, he knew that the fastest ship in the Tulip Fleet could achieve seven knots, and it was rumored that the royal fleet's fast sailboats could reach ten knots.

Kosto lifted his head, gazing at the sailboat with an enigmatic expression. "Lord, don't you wish for it to return to the sea?"

"Are you suggesting that you want to captain this ship?" Liszt looked at Kosto with interest, sensing the man's eagerness to offer his services. "But there are no sailors in Flower Town."

"They can be trained. I started as a sailor myself, spending years at sea. I know how to nurture qualified sailors. If Lord Liszt trusts me, just give me twenty men, and within three months, I'll have them trained as capable coastal sailors. Within a year, they should be ready for long-distance voyages!"

Liszt regarded him. "But Flower Town doesn't have a suitable harbor. How do you plan to train sailors?"

"There is a place, my lord. Flower Town has an area that's perfect for constructing a harbor! The terrain is flat, and the water is deep enough to accommodate medium-sized ships!"