The Li Dragon Horse That Was Almost Gelded

Before Liszt could give orders to search for a Dragon-Blood Horse, Gortai, who was in charge of replacing the alfalfa at the Dairy Farm, hurried to the castle early in the morning.

"Liszt, good news has arrived! The alfalfa we planted has sprouted and is growing quite well. The most important thing is that a wild horse has been lured here from somewhere to graze on the alfalfa. That wild horse is truly magnificent—oh, it's even taller and more robust than your Fire Dragon Horse!"

"Call Master Marcus. We'll head to the Dairy Farm together to see this wild horse. Since it's eaten our alfalfa, it'll have to sell itself to cover its meal expenses, right?"

"You're absolutely right. Its meal expense is itself, haha."

Everything in the territory belonged to the lord; without a doubt, this wild horse was Liszt's private property.

The group quickly arrived at the Dairy Farm and, sure enough, saw a black wild horse leisurely grazing on the newly sprouted alfalfa in the pasture that should have belonged to the cows. The wild horse was tall, its coat shone, and its physique was magnificent; one could clearly see the distinct, corded muscles beneath its skin.

"Master Marcus, you are an expert in evaluating horses. What do you think of this wild horse?"

The wild horse had already noticed Liszt and his party, but it seemed quite bold. Seeing that they were not approaching, it lowered its head and continued to graze leisurely.

Marcus's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, "My Lord, what a fine steed! Its bones are fine but its frame is large, the muscle definition is beautiful, and its limbs and tendons are very long. Its neck is long and straight, slanting forward, and its hindquarters are well-proportioned. Its coat is also very bright, indicating it has no ailments, but most importantly, its gaze—it's sharp!"

"How does it compare to a Blue Blood Steed?"

"Forgive me, My Lord, I have never seen a Blue Blood Steed. The best horse I have ever seen is the Earl's Di Leopard, which is said to carry the bloodline of the Magic Beast Drywood Leopard. But the Di Leopard is nowhere near as magnificent as this wild horse."

A horse with a white forehead is called a di.

The Di Leopard was the mount of the Earl of Coral Island, so Liszt was naturally no stranger to it.

The black wild horse before him possessed an aura that far eclipsed the Di Leopard; after all, dragons were the most sacred of creatures, and the Dragon-Blood Horse was the pinnacle among horses.

"How can we catch it?"

Marcus said, "I could flip it over with my bare hands, as it is only a horse. However, since you wish for it to be your mount, you must subdue it yourself. A wild horse only submits to the one who can conquer it."

Liszt did not intend to take the Dragon-Blood Horse as his own mount; he hoped more for it to become a true stud, to propagate a herd of Dragon-Blood Horses for him.

But taming a wild Dragon-Blood Horse was an interesting endeavor, and Liszt did not let Marcus do it for him.

He walked toward the wild horse himself.

As he approached, the grazing horse immediately grew alert, turned around, and glared fiercely at Liszt, as if warning him not to cross the line.

When Liszt drew closer, the wild horse finally lost its patience and lunged directly at him to bite.

With a twist of his body, Liszt's excellent horsemanship allowed him to instantly vault onto the horse's back. Feeling the immense humiliation of being mounted, the horse thrashed wildly, bucking and jumping in an attempt to throw Liszt off. However, Liszt clamped onto its neck, his battle qi surging, and he remained completely unmoved.

An Earth Knight could go head-to-head with a real Magic Beast, let alone a horse.

Half an hour later, the exhausted wild horse finally stopped struggling, panting heavily as it allowed Liszt to ride it and direct it left and right.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Liszt laughed, "What a stubborn big guy. Your coat is pure black, not a single stray hair. I'll just call you Li Dragon."

A pure black horse is called a li.

Combined with its faint dragon bloodline, the name Li Dragon was quite fitting.

"Karl, bring some wheat bran cakes over." Liszt vaulted off the horse. Taming a wild horse, while not particularly difficult, was truly exhausting, and he was already drenched in sweat.

At this moment, the Fire Dragon Horse also trotted over; it was a young mare.

While rubbing against Liszt's shoulder, it kept its eyes wide, watching the tall Li Dragon Horse nearby. However, the Li Dragon Horse didn't even spare the Fire Dragon Horse a glance, keeping its head held high and refusing to curry favor with Liszt, still retaining a trace of its untamed spirit.

Even when Liszt took the wheat bran cake and fed it, it showed no sign of affection.

"My Lord, the Li Dragon Horse is an adult. If you intend to raise it as a warhorse, it is best to geld it to prevent it from losing weight during rutting season," Marcus suggested.

"Geld it?" Liszt waved his hand. "That won't do. I have already decided that the Li Dragon Horse will serve as a stud to breed a herd for Flower Town. It would be a huge loss if such an extraordinary steed could not pass on its lineage."

"So it is to be a stud." Marcus nodded, acknowledging the decision.

Even though he did not know the Li Dragon Horse was a Dragon-Blood Horse, he could still see its extraordinary nature; it would indeed be a pity to geld such a horse.

The Li Dragon Horse, completely unaware that it had escaped a catastrophe, ate the wheat bran cake and returned to its initial state of contentment.

Occasionally, it would take a few bites of the alfalfa on the ground.

Gortai wanted to step forward and pet it, but a snort from the Li Dragon Horse startled him, forcing him to awkwardly change the subject: "Where did the Li Dragon Horse come from? Did it walk out of Thorn Ridge?"

"Perhaps there are more Li Dragon Horses in Thorn Ridge... The fact that there are wild horses on the island is, now that I think about it, a truly strange thing," Marcus speculated.

The natural habitat for horses is generally a vast grassland.

Coral Island did not have enough grassland to support wild horses, so it wasn't very realistic for them to have naturally bred here.

"Perhaps it drifted here from somewhere else, or it's a horse once kept by the island's residents that has gone feral. In any case, it couldn't have just appeared out of thin air. And Liszt, I think that perhaps in a few days, more Li Dragon Horses might walk out of Thorn Ridge. By then, we could truly form a herd of Li Dragon Horses."

"That would be for the best."

Liszt also had his doubts.

He didn't know whether to believe that the Li Dragon Horse had always lived on this land, or if some existence behind the Smoke mission had forcibly fabricated one—he leaned toward the idea that the Li Dragon Horse had always lived here, and the Smoke mission was merely a triggering mechanism rather than a crude creation.

As for what kind of existence the Smoke mission truly was, there was no way to solve that for the time being.

He could only suppress the thought and leave it for later, to be answered in due time.

He looked at the fresh, tender alfalfa, the resulting pasture looking quite beautiful, and suddenly thought of the wasteland outside the castle: "Master Gortai, what do you think about planting alfalfa on the wasteland around the castle? We could build a horse farm outside the castle to raise the herd of Li Dragon Horses."

"Hmm, that should be feasible. Why don't we give it a try?"

"Then I shall leave it to you, Master Gortai."

Liszt rode the Li Dragon Horse back to the castle.

Gortai and Marcus also prepared to return to their respective homes. On the way, Gortai suddenly asked, "Marcus, you address Liszt as 'My Lord' now?"

"Yes."

"That doesn't sound like you, making a decision so quickly."

"I don't have many choices, Mr. Gortai." Marcus gazed into the distance, where the small castle was bathed in sunlight, shimmering brilliantly. "Besides, don't you often say he carries the bearing of the Count? I believe he will not remain dormant in this remote Flower Town forever."

"Perhaps." Gortai remained noncommittal.