Dragon, Elf, and Flower Town

After spending a week recuperating from the poisoning caused by wild berries and struggling to adapt to his new identity after transmigrating, Liszt often felt a sense of disbelief.

He, who had died from overwork, had actually been reborn as a noble.

And a noble in an otherworldly realm at that.

This world was somewhat similar to medieval Europe, where castles and knights dominated everything on the land. Yet, it was a magical world where dragons and elves existed, knights could cultivate Battle Qi, and mysterious mages walked the earth. Even he had cultivated Basic Battle Aura and become an Apprentice Knight.

"Primary Battle Qi, huh."

A stream of energy circulated endlessly within his body, flowing toward his hands at his will. Instantly, he felt his palms grow hot, filled with immense power.

That slight, stinging sensation of expansion made him feel, for a fleeting moment, as if he could tear tigers and leopards apart with his bare hands.

The reason knights could rule over vast lands was precisely because of this Battle Qi, which represented power.

Battle Qi cultivation.

Those who mastered Primary Battle Qi were Apprentice Knights; those who mastered Intermediate Battle Qi were Earth Knights; those who mastered Advanced Battle Qi were Sky Knights.

Liszt's father, the hereditary Count of Coral Island, Leewilliam Tulip, was a Sky Knight who had mastered Advanced Battle Qi. On his own territory—Coral Island, which was roughly the size of a prefecture-level city—he held absolute power over life and death, needing only to pledge loyalty to Grand Duke Sapphire.

It was a pity.

As the Count's third son, he had not inherited the Tulip family's talent for Battle Qi. Even at sixteen, the age of adulthood, he remained merely an Apprentice Knight.

His older brother, Levis Tulip, had become an Earth Knight at thirteen and was now an elite among them, capable of challenging three other Earth Knights single-handedly.

His older sister, Lvera Tulip, had also become an Earth Knight before reaching adulthood.

There was also a half-brother, Lytton Tulip, who was twelve this year and rumored to be on the verge of advancing to an Earth Knight.

Liszt had inherited more of his mother's appearance, the late Countess. With short, light-gold curly hair, eyes as deep as sapphires, refined features, fair skin, and a tall, slender frame, he was born with a noble, dashing air. But his aptitude was simply too trashy.

Perhaps because he looked so much like his mother, the Count had once pinned great expectations on him.

The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

As he grew up, his father became completely disillusioned with him, eventually treating him with cold indifference.

His brother Levis had been temporarily enfeoffed as a Life Viscount, destined to inherit the title of Hereditary Count. His sister Lvera had also rarely been enfeoffed as the Baroness of Falcon Town, becoming one of the few Hereditary Baronesses in the Sapphire Grand Duchy to hold actual land, rather than being a mere Life Knight with an empty title.

As for him, he was enfeoffed as a Baron just like his sister, but only over Flower Town, the most remote corner of Coral Island.

Liszt, whose personality resembled his mother's, had always been timid and weak, frequently bullied by his older brother and sister. As he grew older, his interactions with the Count dwindled until he preferred staying at the Knight Academy rather than returning home.

Fortunately, he was a neglected piece of trash. I've replaced him, and no one will notice... Besides, having my own fief, hereditary and permanent, with absolute power over life and death, is quite wonderful. Liszt had long since moved past his initial panic, striving to integrate into this world.

He had to integrate, to live like a native.

Because in this world, a transmigrator didn't have much of an advantage—magic and Battle Qi surpassed technology—so he couldn't build nuclear weapons to plant mushrooms everywhere. The idea of competing with magic and Battle Qi using technology had to be shelved.

In fact, after learning more about the situation, he felt even more strongly that he needed to keep a low profile—metal mineral deposits came entirely from dragons, and lush vegetation was inseparable from elves!

No dragons, no elves.

Wanting to farm or start an industrial revolution was simply a fantasy!

But dragons and elves were the rarest essences in the world. The Sapphire Grand Duchy had only one dragon—the Sapphire Dragon, the mount of the Grand Duke Sapphire from one hundred and fifty years ago. The entire Sapphire Family was built upon this dragon.

It was said that a dragon could live for a thousand years, which meant the Sapphire Grand Duchy still had several hundred years of national fortune to enjoy.

Elves were more numerous than dragons, but they were strictly stratified.

Liszt's father, Leewilliam Tulip, possessed a Tulip Great Sprite. It helped the family grow vast quantities of tulips, allowing the family to establish itself and even change their surname to Tulip. A Great Sprite could live for two hundred years; barring any accidents, the Tulip family would continue to enjoy prosperity for another hundred and fifty years or so.

Below the Great Sprites were Little Elves, which could live for one hundred years.

The Tulip family possessed twelve Little Elves, helping the family cultivate various plants.

Below the Little Elves were Elf Bugs, a type of elf gestated within plants. They had a ten-year lifespan and could influence plant growth. If they had the opportunity within those ten years, they could evolve into Little Elves. As for the Elf Bugs themselves, they were only gestated from plants by sheer coincidence.

The Tulip family had been farming Coral Island for over twenty years and had harvested over a hundred Elf Bugs. Even counting those that had already died, the total was only a hundred and fifty or so. Among them, only twelve had evolved into Little Elves.

"Elves... it's a pity that my predecessor really didn't please the Count. Even Lvera got a Little Elf, while I only have four Elf Bugs!"

At Liszt's coming-of-age ceremony, the Count of Coral Island announced his enfeoffment as the Baron of Flower Town and gifted him four Elf Bugs.

That was all.

"My Lord, it is time for dinner. Shall we serve the meal now?" The butler, Carter, knocked and entered, bowing slightly.

"Is it dinner time already? Very well, go and invite the two teachers to join me." Liszt stretched his waist in a rather unrefined manner; the time spent recuperating had stifled him.

Before long, the two teachers arrived together.

The one in the tuxedo with blonde hair was his tutor, Gortai. He was forty-five years old, a down-and-out Baronet Knight who relied on the Tulip family and was primarily responsible for Liszt's academic education. Of course, his official job was as the political officer of Flower Town, helping Liszt manage the entire town.

"Liszt, you look much better. Thank God I can see you running around healthy and lively again," Gortai said playfully, his tone very casual.

The other, with a stern expression and meticulous movements, was Liszt's knight instructor, Marcus.

His strength was already that of an Earth Knight, but he had yet to obtain a noble title. His family had been Retainer Knights for the Tulip family for generations, and in his generation, an Earth Knight had finally emerged.

Liszt smiled slightly. "The two teachers have arrived. Mr. Carter, please serve the meal."

"As you wish, my Lord." The old butler, Carter, left the living room gracefully to notify the kitchen downstairs to send up the food.

"Teacher Marcus, my body has mostly recovered. I hope to resume my knight training lessons starting tomorrow," Liszt said.

Marcus's square face remained expressionless. "Very well."

Liszt saw this and smiled slightly, knowing in his heart that this Earth Knight held a grudge. He hoped to go to the battlefield to perform meritorious service, earn the title of Baronet Knight, join the upper class, and become a member of the nobility. Instead, he had been dispatched here to serve as Liszt's knightly tutor, trapped in the backwater of Flower Town.

Within the Tulip Family, Liszt was notoriously known as a good-for-nothing, which meant that following him offered almost no chance of becoming a noble.

Soon, the old butler arrived with the manservants and maids, carrying the dinner trays.

The meal was meager. The quality of life in Flower Town was very low, production was scarce, and as a son not favored by the Count, the supplies Liszt had brought were not abundant enough to support a luxurious lifestyle.

Liszt, however, ate with great focus.

Transmigration was a technical skill, and becoming a noble was already a stroke of great luck. One had to realize that in this world, outside of the nobility, most commoners were merely two-legged sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

Including his two tutors, everyone around him was essentially his servant, and a single word from him could decide their fate.