The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Looking at Bob’s grief-stricken performance, Liszt had an impression of him.

Initially, the Flame Mushrooms had grown in his greenhouse and even thought to be defective, a lot were dug up. Liszt remembered that, since Bob was unable to make the Flame Mushroom cultivation ingredients, he had only rewarded him with ten silver coins, with more rewards given to Nash, who figured out the planting ingredients.

“This Crooked-neck Bob has a fate with Flame Mushrooms,” he thought.

He thought about it, didn’t punish him for now, but brought people into his Flame Mushroom greenhouse. Looking around, indeed, many of the Flame Mushrooms here were withering, nowhere near as good as those in other Flame Mushroom greenhouses.

The loss was neither big nor small.

Crooked-neck Bob, still kneeling on the ground, hurried in, and seeing Liszt carefully observing every patch of Flame Mushroom ingredients, he continued sobbing, “Lord Landlord, although… although many Flame Mushrooms have died, there are still some… some Flame Mushrooms that survived, sir!”

He didn’t need to tell Liszt, who had already seen them.

On several patches of Flame Mushroom ingredients, scraggly and sparse, many Flame Mushrooms were indeed growing.

Liszt already had a suspicion in his heart and approached for a closer look. He found that these remaining Flame Mushrooms had a stark difference from normal ones—the color of the Flame Mushrooms was no longer bright red, but had turned a dark red as if they had lost color.

However, after using his Eye of Magic, he discovered that the dark red Flame Mushrooms contained a much stronger trace of Magic Power than normal Flame Mushrooms, almost gleaming with a blinding red light.

In other words, although these Flame Mushrooms appeared to have been damaged by wind and cold, leading to poor appearance, their inner Fire Attribute Mana was even more vigorous.

“Cheerful Cold Flame Mushrooms, it must be these Flame Mushrooms!” Liszt was elated—the reward for the Smoke Mission was right before him, “Cheerful coldness indicates that the Flame Mushrooms do not fear the cold of wind and snow, and because of some mutation, they gather Fire Attribute Mana more abundantly.”

This was undoubtedly a Flame Mushroom of much higher quality than normal, capable of concocting higher-grade Magic Potions.

He immediately issued an order: “Give Crooked-neck Bob ten lashes as a warning; if he is negligent again in the future and causes damage to the Flame Mushrooms, it will be more than just ten lashes.”

After Crooked-neck Bob was harshly lashed ten times, his backside was blooming in welts.

Liszt then directed Thomas to hand over ten silver coins to Bob: “Fortune from misfortune, Crooked-neck Bob, although your Flame Mushrooms have suffered severe damage, you have also consequently bred a new variety of Flame Mushroom. I will name it the Ice Snow Flame Mushroom, and these ten silver coins are your reward.”

Bob, tears and snot streaming down his face, immediately forgot the pain in his behind and reached out for the silver coins: “Ah, thank you, Lord Landlord, praise the great Lord Landlord!”

Liszt then issued a new order: “Whoever figures out the proper ingredients for the Ice Snow Flame Mushrooms will receive a reward of one Gold Coin.”

Like the reward for the Flame Mushroom ingredients before, one Gold Coin was enough to stir up the ambition of all the serfs.

After he left.

Mushroom Hamlet was indeed abuzz.

Countless serfs were rubbing their hands in eagerness, ready to make big moves.

Especially Nash, who had received one Gold Coin as a reward before. This old bachelor, with that Gold Coin, not only got himself a wife but also built two new Flame Mushroom greenhouses, becoming a major cultivator in Mushroom Hamlet.

Upon hearing the Lord Landlord’s reward, he loudly proclaimed to the people around him: “If I could figure out the Flame Mushroom ingredients, I can figure out the Ice Snow Flame Mushroom ingredients as well. This Nalda Gold Coin, old Nash has got it in the bag!”

“That’s not necessarily true!”

“Exactly, you just got lucky to receive Lord Landlord’s reward last time, this time it’s my turn!”

“Old Nash, you should focus on dealing with your little wife instead of letting her put a green hat on you. When it comes to researching ingredients, you must look at me.”

Crooked-neck Bob, who had been whipped, was not to be outdone: “Last time I lost to Old Nash, but this time it will definitely not happen again. The Flame Mushroom is grown in my greenhouse, the Ice Snow Flame Mushroom too, the reward from Nalda should belong to me! Damn Old Nash!”

…

In the afternoon.

Inside the castle’s study.

Pacing a bit uneasily, Zambrotta fidgeted with the tips of his toes.

Then he took a deep breath, trying to relax himself, “This study room is as warm as spring without any burning charcoal, Baron, Fresh Flower Town is full of surprises, and so is your castle.”

Behind the desk, Liszt leisurely held a cup of milk tea and asked with a smile, “Then, Mr. Zambrotta, what do you guess is the reason for the study room’s warmth?”

“I guess it’s magic,” Zambrotta replied solemnly.

He had learned from Goltai that Liszt valued his extensive knowledge and broad experience, knowing today’s meeting was a sort of assessment.

If he couldn’t exhibit enough merits to impress the other party, his trip would be in vain.

For the sake of revival, for the sake of living, he must treat it seriously: “Moreover, I suspect that this magic is also present in the public baths. Probably a type of Fire System Magic that heats the water temperature and the temperature in the room. This method is unbelievable; I’ve only heard that it’s possible for magicians in the court to achieve such a feat.”

“Hmm.”

Liszt neither confirmed nor denied, then continued to ask, “Have you been to many countries?”

“Yes, I’ve been to the Steel Ridge Kingdom and its seven subordinate nations. When I was young, what I loved most was traveling around the continent, but due to limited finances, I only toured around the Steel Ridge Kingdom.”

“I’ve heard that there’s an evil dragon in the Maple Leaf Duchy; do you know about it?”

“Oh, that’s a Light Dragon that has been residing on Red Maple Mountain for a hundred years. Many warriors have attempted to slay it, seeking the title of Dragon Slayer to stand alongside Dragon Knights. But as you know, dragons possess boundless strength; most of the warriors ultimately… end up as dragon dung.”

“Is the Light Dragon hard to deal with? Given that the Duke of Maple Leaf is a Dragon Knight, why doesn’t he slay this evil dragon?”

“The Duke’s dragon is just a Malleable Cast Iron Dragon, which can’t even find the hiding place of the Light Dragon. There’s essentially no hope of slaying the Light Dragon… In fact, there are quite a few evil dragons on the continent, but most evil dragons are Elemental Dragons, which are stronger in combat than Metal Dragons and Gemstone Dragons.”

Basically, Gemstone Dragons and Metal Dragons are production units, while Elemental Dragons are combat units.

“Could you introduce me to the local customs and culture of the Steel Ridge Kingdom and its subordinate nations?” Liszt asked in a gentle tone, feeling that Zambrotta indeed possessed a wealth of knowledge.

Bowing slightly, Zambrotta got up: “As you wish, Baron.”

Moments later, the study was filled with Zambrotta’s relentless narrative. Having traversed these countries himself, his accounts were more convincing and clear-cut than the fabricated stories found in Knight’s Novels, also more interesting.