The Defeated Dragon Chapter 129

129 – Fast-Growing Spiky Thorns

Although it was said that he had to take the entire Thorns Ridge in one go, but he still took a rest of two days, mainly because some of the knight squad's members were slightly injured. Even Marcus had receive a light wound to his leg.

With qi, the recovery of minor injuries was swift.

Two days was enough to relieve physical fatigue and scab the wounds.

Liszt suffered ho injuries. After a night of sleep, his vigor was thoroughly restored and he reached his optimal state. Besides, he was in a great mood as he galloped on the horse field and earnestly practiced [Fire Dragon Drill], [Fire Surge Fluctuations], and [Multiple Arrows] all over the place. He gained a lot of real combat experience.

He felt that the qi inside his body had also risen by a margin. Originally, he was just a delicate aristocrat, a rookie among Earth Knights. Now, he consolidated his foundation and took a big step towards an elite Earth Knight.

He was nearly tied with Marcus. Although he was less experienced and had less qi, but with Magic Eyes and the Redblood Sword, it was hard to say who would win in a real fight.

“I feel like if I had a duel with Marcus, my chances would be 50-50!” He reckoned.

s.h.i.+fting his gaze, he saw Tremblingwoods with its glossy fur running on the horse field like mad, as if its strength had no limit. He mused again: “With Tremblingwoods' help, Marcus is definitely not my match. In fact, I think that Tremblingwoods alone would have a 50-50 chance against Marcus.”

After consuming the Bloodline Fruit, it was not clear whether Tremblingwoods' bloodline evolved.

He still had too little knowledge regarding this point.

However, the number of times Tremblingwoods could release its magic rose by a margin. Previously, it could release twenty Rockthorns per day at best. Now, it might not be capable of releasing fifty Rockthorns per day, but thirty five definitely wouldn't be an issue.

For this reason, the construction progress of Tremblingwoods Path was improved greatly.

“Tremblingwoods, release your magic!”

Whoos.h.!.+

A Rockthorns, more that half as big as Rockthorns previously released by Tremblingwoods, pierced out of the ground. Currently, the amount of stone produced in one day was comparable to the amount previously produced in three to four days. It was just like a small rock dragon. According to the knight novel called the [Mercenary World], in its childhood, the dragon looked a bit like a dog.

In short, after consuming the Bloodline Fruit, Tremblingwoods strength doubled, but it was still incredibly far from the strength of a mid-ranked magic beast. Its recovery capability also increased, with the injuries littering its body having nearly healed completely.

“Looking at Tremblingwoods' current display, the Bloodline Fruit wasn't wasted. At least it's much better than if the evolution had failed.”

He was satisfied with yesterday's campaign.

The Shadow Snake's skin was a first-rate material for manufacturing leather armor lining. Although it had some traces of burn marks, but it was still in a good condition. It could be at least sold for ten gold coins.

Among the two Violent Dogs, one was burned black; only its meat could be kept for Liszt's consumption. The other had more than half of its fur destroyed by Marcus, which could not be sold for much. The viscera could be sold to wizards, yet it was mostly kept for his consumption. After all, the castle currently didn't lack gold coins.

The two tusks of the Thundertusk Boar were first-rate forging materials very suitable for forging magic equipment and could be sold for at least five gold coins each. In addition, the boar's skin was a good material for manufacturing leather armor, it could be sold for ten gold coins. Its meat and bones could be kept for consumption or could be sold for seven to eight gold coins.

The Thundertusk Boar's huge, resilient body was a treasure.

Additionally, there were seven Windblade Wolves. Because they were killed by Tremblingwoods, their injuries weren't too big, leaving their furs intact. Selling each fur for over ten gold coins wouldn't be an issue.

Liszt estimated that this batch of magic beasts could bring him at least one hundred and thirty gold coins.

“The south of the Thorns Ridge has been more or less cleared, but there should still be a lot of magic beast in the north, which can amount to a harvest of over one hundred gold coins. Clearing the Thorns Ridge will not only net magic beast meat and materials that could be exchanged for gold coins, but also could hone the knight squad and decrease the threat to the town. In short, it's a bargain.”

It was indeed a bargain. However, once the magic beasts were no more, then that would be it.

The Thorns Ridge's thorns woods would also disappear. He already instructed Gort to re-establish the logging team. The Thorns Ridge would become a thing of the past.

Additionally, Blair was also preparing to establish a tree planting team, to plant two kinds of thorns – fast-growing poisonous thorns and fast-growing spiky thorns – along the edge of the Thorns Ridge.

As their names would suggest, fast-growing types of thorns grew very fast. So long as there was manure and water, they could grow a dozen centimeters a night.

Fast-growing poisonous thorns were already being cultivated, covering a few mu (666,7 m2) of land. They could be transplanted somewhere else at any time. ‘Fast-growing spiky thorns' were discovered not long ago. That was the name Liszt gave to the mission reward spiky variant of fast-growing type of thorns. Their branches were covered in closely packed spikes of different sizes, looking quite terrifying.

Using these two kinds of thorns as hedges wouldn't pose great danger to people, as a gap could be opened with a few shovels. Beasts and magic beasts, however, would definitely feel despair.

“In fact, once the thorns woods' trees are cut down, magic beasts would no longer be able to stay. At that point, the thorns hedges' defense would no longer have any use. However, in order to let others know that the Thorns Ridge is part of my fief, it's still best to delimit it with thorns.

When he was enfeoffed, the count said that the Flower Town was Liszt's fief.

However, there had never been an official boundary delimiting the Flower Town's territory. Similarly, the Thorns Ridge was previously an independent danger zone and didn't belong to any town.

Once Liszt took over the Thorns Ridge, it would de facto become the Flower Town's territory, which would be regarded as a reasonable exploit of the loophole.

“The Thorns Ridge's area is at least as big as the Flower Town's. In other words, my territory will be doubled! At least half of the land can be reclaimed for cultivation!” Liszt's face showed no embarra.s.sment regarding this bandit-like practice. Instead, he was elated.

If he did this after Levis inherited the t.i.tle, then Levis might have fallen out with him. After all, aristocrats valued their land very much, to the point where even siblings would take advantage of one another.

However, since his father was still the count, would he say anything if his son made a reasonable exploit of the loophole, if he conquered the Thorns Ridge with much toil?

It was unlikely that he would bicker with his son over that originally ‘useless' land.

After taking a sip of fresh coconut milk, Liszt counted on his fingers.

“Today is September 14th, the count's birthday is on September 19th. He and Levis had already lead the Coral Island Knights to the continent to launch an a.s.sault. Therefore, the birthday party won't be held… The Tulip Family's fleet should return by the end of this month. At that time, the 500 serfs I bought will also arrive…”

He planned to spend a week to thoroughly overturn the Thorns Ridge, to hunt down all the magic beasts.

It would take another month to cut down all the trees. Once the serfs arrived, he would quickly reclaim the wasteland and plant winter wheat before winter arrived.

“The 500 serfs still won't cut it. Once the magic beast materials are sold, plus the gold coins from the seafood business, I can sc.r.a.pe together 600 gold coins and purchase 2,500 serfs!”

Previously, 500 serfs, including 100 craftsmen, required 120 gold coins to be purchased.

According to this exchange ratio, 600 gold coins were just enough to purchase 2,000 ordinary serfs and 500 craftsmen.

“I don't know whether the expedition decree will lower the price on serfs or not. Once Levis' confidant Frank comes back, I have to have a good talk with him… War always breeds countless refugees, perhaps I can even purchase a few knights who can't afford their ransom and establish a real knight squad.”