Because the baron and his wife had taken Laura to Great Wind Manor to soak in the hot springs and visit her grandmother, Old Madam Ingrid.
Russell was bored in the castle as well, and he always felt that Lord Ross, crouching atop the tower, bore him ill will. So after lunch, he proposed visiting the Clay Ore mine to pick out some high-quality clay granules.
"What do you need that stuff for?" his elder brother Roland asked, puzzled.
"To grow pearls."
"What?" Roland was utterly bewildered.
Russell had no intention of hiding it. After all, if he successfully cultivated Magic Pearls, he would still need Fluorite Castle's trade caravans to sell them abroad.
He laid out his plan to cultivate pearls artificially. "Scraping a living from the land is far too insignificant. Even a year's harvest of magical herbs can't compare to the profits from one trip to the snowfields to hunt Snow Ghosts."
"So you think the income from farming the manor is too little, and that's why you want to grow pearls to sell Magic Pearls for money?" Roland asked, shaking his head.
"Yes."
"Hahahaha, Russell, oh Russell!" Roland finally burst out laughing. "You're far too naive! Pearls are magical creations. How could magical creations possibly be grown by the likes of you and me? That's pure fantasy!"
"What if it works?"
"There is no what if. Give up on this idea as soon as possible, Russell. Listen to your big brother." After laughing, Roland spoke solemnly. "Everything we have was bestowed by the dragons. Being grateful to the dragons is the right thing to do."
Russell stuck to his plan. "I still want to try."
Perhaps artificially cultivating pearls was indeed a fanciful notion in this world of Dragon Sleep Continent, but he still wanted to