The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

A grand procession rode on horseback, splashing through puddles of water.

Retainer Knights and personal servants crowded around Li Si Te, with officials like Goltai and Marcus closely following behind. Compared to the meager entourage of a few kittens at the beginning, now their presence commanded the air of being “attended from front to back.”

Actually, there was no need for so many people to follow within the town.

But Li Si Te still preferred it this way—he really enjoyed the noble style. His entourage was still not as grand as that of the Earls or even his brother Levis, who were always followed by a Knight Squad, so he needed to work on growing his team.

It would be best if he could bring along Douson and Juan Fu as well.

Leading with one hand and lifting with the other.

“My lord, the roads of Fresh Flower Town are better than those of Coral City,” Isaiah praised sincerely; “In Coral City, every rainy day feels like a city of manure, with feces floating in the streets making one nauseous. Here, there isn’t any feces, not even mud.”

The main roads were gravel, mostly free from mud.

The paths between the hamlets were made of beach sand, there would be some mud, but not much.

Goltai’s timely, cheerful laughter complimented him, “Without the lord’s wisdom, there would be no such wonderful environment in Fresh Flower Town. Before, I couldn’t appreciate the benefits of road construction, but now they are gradually unveiled before my eyes. I hope that in the future, every road will be built with gravel.”

Li Si Te smiled.

He didn’t show any signs of pride—this was nothing; wait until he introduced concrete, then there would be something truly astonishing.

The sky hadn’t cleared completely yet and there was still a light drizzle. He wore a large black cloak over his armor and rode a pure black Li Dragon Horse. At first glance, he appeared rather foreboding. If not for his handsome face and a few strands of light golden hair on his forehead adding liveliness,

he could probably pass as a Ringwraith from The Lord of the Rings.

A while later, the party arrived at Barley Hamlet where the woman who died of illness was a serf of the village.

Her body was still in her home. According to the funeral customs of the Duchy of Sapphire, after death, the body was to be buried directly into the ground. But due to the heavy rain these past few days, they couldn’t bury her.

The diseased woman’s three children, two of whom were already adults, led by their stolid father, knelt on the ground to welcome Li Si Te’s arrival.

The purpose of his visit was explained by a retainer on his behalf.

Li Si Te only needed to approach the body and inspect it. Marcus and Goltai had examined the body first, but neither could see any problems with it.

Then Li Si Te personally conducted an inspection.

Facing the dead was a first for him, and he was slightly nervous inside, but he controlled himself well and didn’t reveal any emotions. Observing with the naked eye, he saw nothing unusual about the body, but when he used his Eye of Magic,

a flash of black magic power passed over the body.

Upon closer examination, the black magic power disappeared again. Li Si Te chose to trust his eyes. He observed quietly and after about a minute, another flash of black magic power flickered within the body and then vanished.

“My lord, did you observe anything?” asked Marcus.

“There’s something wrong with the body. I felt signs of magic power on it, she didn’t die from normal disease, but from some kind of filth.”

Goltai exclaimed in surprise, “Is there really such filth? What could it be, if it was from the sunken ship, could it be phantoms? There are legends of ghost ships on the sea. The sunken ship we found, it wouldn’t be a ghost ship, would it?”

“Whether it is or not, we will find out after checking… Right, about this body, what do you think should be done with it?”

“To be safe, it should be burnt.”

Here, there was no concept of “the dead are the most important”, nor any Tomb Sweeping Day for ancestor worship. After death, people were usually buried simply, especially the commoners.

Once dead, wrapped in a straw mat, buried in a deep pit, there were no further concerns.

Even some commoners were unwilling to dig a single pit, opting instead to throw the bodies of their loved ones into the mountains or water, which was entirely possible. So when Goltai proposed to cremate the bodies, the dull husband of the deceased woman had no objections. On the contrary, there was a vague sense of excitement.

Because Liszt had given the man a compensation of ten silver coins through Goltai.

The debris from the shipwreck had killed the woman, and ultimately, the blame lay with Liszt himself, for it was he who forbade others from dealing with the shipwreck’s remains.

Though he was a landlord, he would face no punishment.

The ten silver coins were also a comfort to his own conscience.

A moment later.

A fire.

The body burned to ashes in the flames.

Watching the remnants after the burning, Liszt breathed a sigh of relief upon not discovering any traces of dark magic power. It proved that even contamination could be cleansed with fire.

After dealing with the body.

The group hurriedly rushed to Oyster Village, arriving near the sunken ship.

Before Liszt could get close, Marcus called out to stop him, “My lord, the sunken ship is dangerous. You should stay away, and leave the inspection to us.”

Goltai also spoke with righteous indignation, “Indeed, my lord, you shouldn’t put yourself in danger. Mr. Marcus is an Elite Earth Knight, he can surely handle the sunken ship.” As he spoke, he stood beside Liszt with no intention of approaching the shipwreck.

It seemed the shipwreck had been washed by heavy rain, as much of the seaweed and other attachments on its surface had been washed away, revealing the mottled wooden planks and the corroded metal brackets. This was not a large ship; it was much smaller than the Fresh Flower Vessel and severely damaged, with the ship’s cabin almost entirely visible from the outside.

Marcus led the members of the Knight Squad to surround the shipwreck, ready to enter the cabin for inspection.

Suddenly, Liszt said, “Teacher Marcus, there’s no need to go to such trouble. This sunken ship definitely has issues. Just smash it, dismantle it, and inspect each plank to prevent any accidents.”

He did not intend to keep the contaminated shipwreck as a sightseeing spot anymore.

Thus, violent dismantling was the safest and quickest method.

Naturally, Marcus wouldn’t refuse and immediately led his men to split open the shipwreck; the planks and iron frames were dismantled piece by piece and piled up on the beach.

During this process, Liszt intermittently employed the Eye of Magic.

Just as two Retainer Knights were carrying a broken dragon bone, Liszt suddenly saw a flicker of dark magic power at the break of the dragon bone.

Magic power usually has color.

For instance, fire attribute magic power is mostly red, and water attribute magic power is mostly blue, which becomes especially clear when it manifests as Dou Qi. However, this is not absolute, as some magic powers represent multiple mixed attributes and can have a variety of bizarre colors. Some that do not exhibit any specific attribute can also display various colors.

Even Archmages who have delved deep into the study of magic cannot unravel the essential mystery of magic power.

What black magic power represents.

Liszt did not understand.

But he knew that he had likely found the reason for the problems with the sunken ship, “Teacher Marcus, examine this dragon bone carefully. I can feel traces of magic power.”

With Liszt’s warning, Marcus quickly picked up the dragon bone, touched it with both hands, and observed and felt it closely. Moments later, Marcus’s eyes shone with light; he felt the magic power too: “My lord, there is indeed a problem. I feel a cold magic power!”

Liszt spoke with a deep tone, “Smash this dragon bone open. I want to see what’s hiding inside it!”