The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Arriving at the cornfield, Liszt saw the flowering heads of the corn grass, and indeed, there was a large, fluffy tassel at the top of the human-height corn grass.

In the view of the Eye of Magic, there were no signs of magic power, meaning this was either the nurturing of Elf Bugs or simply a mutation of the ordinary corn grass.

"Are the tassels at the top of the corn grass mentioned in the Smoke Mission hint referring to a grain mutation?" he pondered. The mutated state of the corn grass didn't seem to be evolving into the type of corn he had in mind, "It rather seems to be evolving into sorghum, doesn't it?"

It had to be said that this patch of corn grass indeed resembled sorghum.

Only the tassels of the corn grass were yellow.

"Take good care of this patch of corn grass, don't harvest them. Wait for them to mature before assessing what they really are," Liszt instructed before leaving the cornfield.

Whether the corn grass had mutated into corn or sorghum needed more time to confirm, but his mood was somewhat deflated since sorghum wasn't a high-yield crop.

He still held out hope for corn cobs.

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However, hope remained, "Once I've planned the industry transfer, there will be new mutated varieties of corn grass waiting, perhaps those will be the real corn cobs."

Back at the castle,

good news came immediately. One-Eyed Barton, responsible for delivering the foals, helped the Fire Dragon Mare give birth to a healthy colt. It was a male foal with a coat that was a combination of black and red, looking very majestic, though still very weak, trembling as it walked.

"Master, this colt has an excellent lineage, it's fantastic. It has inherited its mother's quiet grace and its father's robust physique, and it will surely become an exceptional warhorse when it grows up," Barton said excitedly.

"Very good!"

Liszt, equally excited, tried to reach out to pet the little colt hiding by the side of the Fire Dragon Mare. Although he no longer needed such a mixed-blood mount, warhorses were undoubtedly a noble's wealth. There were no large horse farms on Coral Island, and a qualified warhorse would cost several Gold Coins.

Nevertheless, it was a celebration that after the Iron Hoof Island campaign, many knights had switched to better mounts—the spoils of war could not be taken away, but no one could stop them from changing their equipment.

It could be said that Liszt's knights, both Earth Knights and Retainer Knights, had amassed a set of Fine Steel armor and robust warhorses from the battlefield.

This equipment was not included in the military exploits and belonged to the knights' private distributable property.

"Barton, take good care of it, and the other mares will also give birth soon. Make sure this batch of foals is well looked after," Liszt ordered.

But Barton said, "Master, you should arrange for knights to come and tame this batch of foals as soon as possible."

"Tame them now? They're too young. Start taming them when they're two or three years old."

"Master, actually the best time to tame a foal is right after it's born… In the first few months of a foal's life, that's when we can most influence its growth. Before I was sold to the Duchy of Sapphire, I began raising horses and saw many knights on the mainland prefer to train newly-born foals."

"Is that so?" Liszt was mildly surprised; he had never heard of this.

For knights who possess Dou Qi, any spirited horse could be tamed, so there was little systematic training of horses. Like how Liszt had tamed the Li Dragon Horse and Lightning, just get on their back, subdue them, and the rest was a slow process of bonding which wasn't considered poor.

However, Barton's opinion also served as a reference.

Training a foal from a young age would make it more accustomed to interacting with humans, so he decided to give this foal to his only female follower, the young girl Emily, for taming.

"My lord, may I have this foal?" Emily, returning from training in the Knight's Square, was called to the castle stables and asked excitedly.

Liszt nodded, "Of course, you can try taming it. By the time it grows up, you will also be of an age to join the charge."

He had been keeping an eye on Emily's training and discovered that she indeed had an extraordinary talent. Compared to Paris's sister Maggie, Emily had made terrifying progress, leaving Maggie far behind—even with Paris desperately helping her sister by providing lots of meat, even some Magical Beast Meat.

Therefore, Liszt's expectations for Emily's future were growing.

Perhaps he really could cultivate a female Sky Knight as his follower. Thinking of this prospect was quite exhilarating.

"Thank you, my lord, Emily swears allegiance to you unto death!" Having received the beloved foal, Emily's youthful face wore a solemn expression.

"I accept your loyalty, Emily," Liszt said with a smile.

So that afternoon, Emily didn't return home and instead stayed at the stables to bond with the pony, giving it a pleasant name—Sara.

There was nothing spectacular about a little girl taming a horse.

Liszt returned to the castle and brewed a cup of tea.

Just as he was preparing to read a book and pass the time, Butler Carter knocked and entered, "My lord, Consultant Goltai, accompanied by the town officials, has come to report on their work."

"Is today the work report day?" Liszt pulled out a schedule from his desk and glanced at it.

The schedule was outlined boldly with ink.

...

Morning 6:00 to 6:30—Wake up, wash up.

Morning 6:30 to 7:30—Walk the dog, feed the dog, feed the birds, feed the horses.

Morning 7:30 to 8:00—Have breakfast.

Morning 8:00 to 10:00—Practice combat skills on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday; practice archery on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Morning 10:00 to 11:30—Train Douson and the Eight Tiny Ones.

Morning 11:30 to 12:30—Have lunch.

Afternoon 12:30 to 1:00—Read, drink tea, digest.

Afternoon 1:00 to 1:30—Nap.

Afternoon 1:30 to 3:30—Read on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday; patrol the domain on Tuesday and Saturday; listen to officials' work reports on Thursday.

Afternoon 3:30 to 4:00—Play the piano.

Afternoon 4:00 to 6:00—Take medicine, cultivate Dou Qi.

Afternoon 6:00 to 7:30—Free time, occasionally conduct live combat drills.

Evening 7:30 to 8:30—Have dinner.

Evening 8:30 to 9:30—Visit the Sea View Villa to watch the sea.

Evening 9:30 to 10:30—Read, drink tea, summarize the day.

Evening 10:30 to the next morning 6:00—Sleep.

...

He mostly arranged his life according to this schedule. Of course, the timing wasn't always fixed, and the number of times it was interrupted by unexpected events was many. He could count the days he strictly followed the schedule on one hand.

He put the schedule back and said, "Then please show them into the study."

"Yes, my lord."

Footsteps followed, and Goltai along with other officials streamed into the study, each finding a stool to sit on. Half an hour was plenty for them to report on their respective responsibilities—in fact, there were rarely any significant issues, since governance matters were often discussed during the evening banquets.

Afterward, Liszt threw out his topic for discussion, "What are your thoughts on Fresh Flower Town's industry transfer to Black Horse Island?"