"Grandmother, you have eyes that can see through everything."
Liszt smiled.
His dealings with Levis weren't particularly secretive; anyone who wanted to know wouldn't have trouble finding out. At least the Earl certainly knew about their slave trading scheme, and he could find out about what was happening on Coral Island whenever he wanted.
Looking at the increasingly outstanding Liszt, Lvera was very dissatisfied. " Liszt, the seafood business of the Flower Caravan has already spread to my Falcon Town!"
"Congratulations, sister! The residents of Falcon Town will soon be able to enjoy delicious seafood."
"I will organize my people to catch seafood themselves. Although you and Levis have monopolized the seafood market, other lords will also organize their people to catch seafood on their own. Your good business won't last long!"
Liszt sat in his chair, unperturbed by Lvera's childish provocation. "Of course, seaside towns have the right to catch their own seafood. But Coral Island is so big, not every town is right next to the sea, and not every beach has abundant seafood."
In fact, modern Flower Caravan no longer bother to catch seafood.
Partner directly with the lords of seaside towns, have them catch seafood, and then the Flower Caravan will buy it and sell it to the city. Each town has different seafood specialties, and the Flower Caravan has the most complete selection, allowing them to buy at low prices and resell at higher prices.
As the nobles and commoners of the Coral Island gradually became accustomed to the seafood on their tables...
The income has increased from the initial estimate of three gold coins per day to four gold coins per day.
Even after deducting his share of the profits from paying Levis's share and the expenses incurred by the caravan, he could earn more than three gold coins a day. Thanks to the seafood market, Liszt was more than qualified to join the ranks of the wealthy on Coral Island.
This is an incredibly lucrative business.
Lvera was envious and eager, but she also understood that Liszt had the resources—he had already satisfied Levis. On Coral Island, two people carried the most weight: the Earl and Levis. The Earl was Levis's father and obviously wouldn't seize his son's business; Levis had also acquired shares and been granted a seafood license.
No one can take away Liszt's enormous profits now.
She had no choice but to abruptly change the subject. "What brought you here so early this morning?"
"I've come to deliver flowers to my grandmother." Liszt smiled slightly and said to his personal valet Thomas, "Go and fetch the potted plants from the carriage."
"Yes, sir."
A short while later, Thomas brought in a pot of Dragon Sunflower.
"So it's Dragon Sunflower." Lady Penelope realized. "This is the Dragon Sunflower I gave you. Did you take good care of it? No, it's not the same one I gave you... Did that Dragon Sunflower die? How pitiful, or did it not escape the fate of withering?"
"Grandma, don't be sad. That Dragon Sunflower is still thriving, and it's very healthy, much healthier than ordinary Dragon Sunflower."
"What do you mean?" Lady Penelope gestured to her servant to place the Dragon Sunflower on the balcony. "Speak plainly, Liszt. Don't talk to me like that; it reminds me of Melissa. I've convinced myself that you have your father's shadow, even though you have Melissa's face."
Lady Penelope's resentment towards Melissa remained deep.
Liszt had little memory of his mother and didn't know what her accent sounded like when she was alive, but he could guess that his own speech was somewhat cryptic and perhaps even a little distant. This was unavoidable; after all, he wasn't the original Liszt and couldn't invest too much affection in his family.
So, keep smiling, "The Dragon Sunflower you gave me wasn't sick; it was just nurturing Elf Bug, and now, the Black Nightshade Bug has been born."
When news of the Elf Bug came out, Lady Penelope and Lvera were greatly surprised.
Lady Penelope was genuinely delighted, having forgotten her displeasure with Liszt's pretentious tone, and praised her grandson lavishly, " Knight's Glory favors you, Liszt, you are the luckiest Tulip Family. Take good care of the Dragon Sunflower Elf Bug, consider it a gift from me to you."
"I am deeply grateful for my grandmother's gifts, and I will prepare a special gift for you on your birthday this year," Liszt said.
He also had to speak to Lvera.
Liszt, who had no interest in the chuunibyou (delusional) girl, had already stood up. "Grandmother, I have an appointment with Mr. Frank, so I won't stay here any longer. I hope to have lunch at the castle at noon."
"Go ahead, lucky boy, I'll have the kitchen make your favorite pan-fried egg pancakes."
"Mr. Frank."
" Baron Liszt, you look more mature, but you're still as handsome as ever." Frank, whose hairline was receding almost to the top of his head and who had an unsightly red nose, said, "My Shirley has graduated from the Bullhorn Academy and is back. As soon as she got back, she kept saying she wanted to see Brother Liszt."
"Is Little Shirley back?" Liszt thought for a moment before remembering that Little Shirley was Frank's youngest daughter.
In his childhood memories, Little Shirley was his little sidekick, because they were only a year apart in age and could play together. However, later Liszt went to the Knight Academy, while Little Shirley was sent to the Bullhorn Academy by Frank, and they never saw each other again.
As for the Bullhorn Academy, it is located on Iron Hoof Island.
Iron Hoof Island is the fiefdom of the Marquis Bull. He is from the Sapphire lineage, and his ancestor was the youngest son of the Grand Duke Sapphire. He was made Earl of Bull as soon as he came of age, and after the founding of the nation, he directly granted Iron Hoof Island as his fiefdom, promoting him to Marquis.
The Marquis Bull family built the Bullhorn Academy, which was originally intended to train maids for the court.
Gradually, nobles of all ranks began sending their daughters to the Bullhorn Academy —noble ladies with the Bullhorn Academy degrees were highly sought after in aristocratic marriages. This was because these ladies learned etiquette, needlework, housework, music, reading, and writing at the academy, and were considered to be cultured.
Of course, not all aristocratic socialites attended the Bullhorn Academy; Lvera did not.
I don't know if it's just my imagination.
Liszt always felt that Frank talked about Little Shirley every other sentence, as if he were trying to sell him something.
"I suppose I've become the most sought-after young unmarried nobleman on the island now," he thought to himself. However, he had no interest in Little Shirley at all; in his memory, Little Shirley was a chubby girl.
Frank pitched for a while, but seeing that Liszt wasn't responding enthusiastically, he gradually returned to the main topic.
"Your officials and servants are being taken account."
Five hundred serfs were gathered in twos and threes in an open space not far from the port. Most of them looked sickly, whether from illness or seasickness, it was hard to tell.
Gortai and his entourage, accompanied by clerks, counted the number of serfs, calculated the male-to-female ratio, and determined the number of artisans. After only a rough count, they quickly returned to Liszt's side.
"My lord, there are a total of four hundred and seventy-six serfs..."
Frank, standing nearby, casually explained, "The serfs were transported back from very far away, and inevitably some fell ill or suffered from acclimatization problems along the way. The fleet initially purchased 510 serfs, and a full 34 of them were lost."
A slight sigh escaped my lips.
Liszt nodded in agreement—he knew very well that the sale of serfs would inevitably be accompanied by death.
"Teacher Gortai, have the Flower Caravan cooperate in transferring these serfs to Flower Town as soon as possible."