The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

When Marcus returned by boat once again, Liszt, who had just finished inspecting the pottery workshop with Goltai, held a secret meeting with Marcus.

“This is the design for the brick factory. Take a look, can you understand it?”

The blueprint of the Fire Dragon Brick Factory was fairly descriptive. Liszt had been drawing many designs lately and they were no longer so abstract. However, Goltai and Marcus still couldn’t understand the blueprint as they were unaware of the secrets of the Fire Dragon’s magical power, making it hard for them to comprehend a kiln that did not burn fuel.

Liszt simply explained, “You can think of it as a magic array, an array that concentrates fire attribute mana.”

He drew a circle in the blank space of the kiln: “Here is the effective range of the magic array. The stone wheel cart pushes the bricks to this position, and the fire attribute mana begins to calcine the bricks. In short, build a kiln on Black Horse Island according to the blueprint first, and I will set up the magic array later.”

“Yes, my lord!”

After discussing the brick factory, Liszt suddenly asked, “Teacher Marcus, did you come across any special trees when you were transplanting rubber trees on the island?”

He wanted to inquire about those three wild tea trees.

“Special trees?” Marcus was puzzled, “My lord, there are indeed some trees on the island whose species we can’t identify. However, to say they’re special, there doesn’t seem to be anything remarkable about them.”

“After you return, mark all the trees whose species you can’t identify. I will take a look myself… Since there are magical trees like the rubber trees on the island, there may be other trees just as magical… In addition, I have already researched the properties of the rubber produced by the rubber trees.”

He shared his notes on rubber quality: “The importance of rubber can now be said to have surpassed that of magic potions.”

“Truly amazing,” Goltai muttered as he flipped through the notes, expressing wonder. Then he added, “My goodness, its effect in building houses is as miraculous as sticky rice.”

Mortar made from cooking sticky rice is the most important binding material in castle construction.

Castle walls constructed with sticky rice mortar can stand for hundreds of years. A noble’s castle not built with sticky rice mortar would be considered inferior. Especially in this world, sticky rice mortar has properties that resist magic, so magic and Dou Qi cause much less damage to the walls.

The properties and effects of rubber water are indeed similar to those of sticky rice.

Marcus also marveled, “At first, I didn’t think it would be useful, but now, looking at it again, it is indeed a precious resource as you predicted, my lord!”

“Knightly glory favors us; I knew my lord was the Son of Glory. Otherwise, how could there be so many marvelous treasures born in Fresh Flower Town and Black Horse Island?” Goltai quickly flattered.

Liszt smiled slightly.

It was not that he was the Son of Glory but rather because his Smoke Mission was influencing the power of destiny. These rubber trees, magic potions, Rapid Growth Iron Thorns, and so on—all grew naturally.

Truly, it should be attributed to this magical world.

While these plants and animals are quite similar to those on Earth, they exhibit extraordinary characteristics in many aspects. The influence of magic power on this world manifests in every aspect. Those seemingly familiar things—who can guarantee the sparks that will collide when they combine with magic power?

The sticky rice that can build castles is certainly not ordinary sticky rice.

The tea trees used for making milk tea are also definitely not ordinary tea trees.

Rubber with the combined benefits of cement and superglue is naturally not ordinary rubber.

…

In the midst of Liszt’s busy efforts for the brick factory.

News from Abagon of the Fresh Flower Caravan stirred his interest—a troubling event had taken place. Jomaya Bangtu, the apprentice who had been studying under the architect Mbappé for many years, was accused of adultery with Mbappé’s daughter-in-law, resulting in his dismissal from the architectural team and subsequent imprisonment.

Unsurprisingly, given Mbappé’s influence, it was certain he would bribe the prison officials to kill Jomaya—if that was indeed his intention.

“Committing adultery with his teacher’s daughter-in-law, truly a man of despicable character… Yet, having studied architecture under Mbappé for years, his skills should be sufficient to work independently. The so-called reward for the Smoke Mission must refer to Jomaya Bangtu,” Liszt surmised. He then instructed Earth Knight Rondo Waterpot to make a trip to Tulip Castle.

He ordered, “Contact Mr. Frank and have him extract a man from prison for me, Jomaya Bangtu. Don’t be stingy with the expenses, just charge it to the castle’s account.”

With his current partnership with Levis, asking Frank to handle a task was trivial.

Moreover, it was just the matter of taking a prisoner.

No matter how esteemed architect Mbappé was, he was merely a commoner; on Coral Island, the Tulip Family’s word was law. Ten Mbappés couldn’t stop them if they wished to save Jomaya.

“However, we must still give Mbappé some respect. Tell Frank to let the prison give Jomaya a good thrashing, but not to kill him. Then send him over to Fresh Flower Town,” Liszt added.

“Yes, my lord!”

Rondo accepted the command and left.

…

In only a day and a half, Jomaya Bangtu, whose posterior was nearly whipped into quarters, was brought by carriage to Fresh Flower Town.

“Jomaya, you should have died in prison. Remember, it is our lord, the Landlord of Fresh Flower Town, Baron Liszt, who saved you. You know what you need to do next?” Rondo said indifferently.

Enduring the pain, Jomaya replied weakly, “Jomaya understands, I will not dare to err again, and I will work earnestly for Lord Landlord hereafter!”

“The lord admires your architectural skills. From now on, you will work comfortably in Fresh Flower Town, and your family will also be brought here,” Rondo informed him.

“Yes, Jomaya will work hard, grateful for Lord Landlord’s life-saving grace.”

He was sent off for treatment.

Liszt did not meet with him immediately; an apprentice architect, even one of a competent standard, did not command much attention.

He summoned the Smoke Mission; as expected, once the reward was secured in advance, the mission changed.

“The task has changed.”

“Mission: The Fresh Flower Vessel travels back and forth between Fresh Flower Town and Black Horse Island, braving all weather. Yet, sea voyages bear risks, especially at night, where the lack of a lighthouse can lead to a loss of direction. Please construct a lighthouse on Black Horse Island. Reward: A magic book.”

After reading the mission details,

Liszt suddenly found himself in an awkward position, realizing that he indeed needed to value Jomaya’s expertise. A lighthouse was clearly a sophisticated structure, one that the stonemasons and carpenters of Fresh Flower Town were incapable of constructing properly.

“Let Jomaya heal a bit more before summoning him to meet me… The reward for the task is a magic book, that’s rather intriguing. The last time the reward involved a book, it was about the Formless Dragon and the Dou Qi Secret Technique “The Eye of Magic”. So, what could this magic book be? A powerful magic spell to provide to Ake?”

No one in his territory could perform magic, except for Sea Sprite Ake, who was diligently studying Water Magic.

The magic book reward was most likely related to her.

“What kind of magic could it be?”