Information on the Invisible Dragon

Three days later, Liszt returned to Flower Town on Coral Island.

He was escorted back to Flower Town by the knight squad from Tulip Castle. Aside from Liszt and Marcus, two down-and-out nobles accompanied them; both were descendants of noble houses who had failed to inherit titles and could only be addressed as knights.

They were friends introduced by Gortai.

Lured by the promise of double wages, they had come to Flower Town to serve as officials.

"Liszt, welcome back! You'd only been gone for a little over a week, and I already started missing you." Gortai greeted the lord of the town with a slightly exaggerated tone.

His enthusiasm was flamboyant but attentive.

"And Marcus, the Baron's loyal knight. Seeing you both looking so sharp, I knew everything on this trip must have gone smoothly."

"Haha, look who these two are—Isaiah and Blair, my old friends. Seeing you arrive alongside the Baron fills me with immense joy. It is clear you have chosen Flower Town."

Next, a banquet was prepared in the small castle to entertain the knights who had escorted Liszt's party.

Before the banquet began.

Liszt, ignoring the dust of his travels, quickly carried the jade box containing the Alfalfa Bug to the horse paddock in front of the completed castle. The ground was already a lush green; the alfalfa grass had sprouted very quickly, and with summer approaching, the temperature would further accelerate their growth.

"Little one, come out."

The chubby Alfalfa Bug, adorned with beautiful purple patterns, appeared.

Compared to the lazy Tulip Bug, it was quite spirited. With a single opening of its mouth, it spat out a bug-grass. Almost as if in fast-forward, an alfalfa plant in the center of the paddock rapidly sprouted and grew. Compared to ordinary alfalfa, the bug-grass was larger and sturdier, blooming directly into purple flowers.

"Don't forget to install a fence around it to prevent the horses from damaging the bug-grass," Liszt instructed his personal valet, Thomas.

Matters concerning elves were handled directly by the castle; there was no need for the town officials or serfs to tend to them.

"Rest assured, My Lord, I shall begin building the fence immediately."

Once Liszt returned to the castle.

The butler, old Carter, came to greet him: "My Lord, the banquet is ready. You may take your seat."

"Then let us begin."

The banquet at the Flower Town castle was worlds apart from the ones Liszt had attended over the past few days, yet he preferred the current atmosphere, for among those present, he was the most noble.

"First, I would like to thank Lord Raiden and all the knights for the escort. I offer you all a toast."

"You are too kind, Baron," the knights replied, raising their glasses in unison.

After a glass of beer was finished and refilled by the servants, Liszt raised a second glass: "This toast is to wish Isaiah and Blair a pleasant life here in Flower Town."

"Thank you for your blessing, Baron. We hope to contribute our share to the development of Flower Town."

"Finally, a toast to my teacher, Gortai, for managing all affairs in my stead while I was away."

"It is what I ought to do, Liszt. As long as there is fine wine to drink every day, I am willing to stay drunk in Flower Town forever," Gortai laughed.

"Govern Flower Town while sober, and you shall have all the wine you can drink at mealtime," Liszt said.

"Of course, work and wine shall both be satisfied."

"Haha."

In a harmonious atmosphere, the lunch concluded.

After seeing off the knight squad, Liszt returned to the castle for a nap. Lying on his bed, he focused his mind slightly, and the familiar Smoke mission appeared on cue. The Snake Script had finally changed: "Mission completed. Reward: three stalks of Wild Corn."

A moment later, the smoke shifted, and a new mission was issued.

"Mission: As a lord, it is your duty to care for your elves. Have you forgotten the Wheat Elf Bug? Its ability can produce more grain for your territory. Please provide bug-grass for the Wheat Bug. Reward: Information on the Invisible Dragon."

"Information on the Invisible Dragon? What kind of reward is that?"

A bold thought suddenly popped into Liszt's mind: "Could it be that the Smoke mission is preparing to reward me with a dragon? That shouldn't be right—that would be too indulgent. A dragon! A creature that suppresses the fortune of an entire nation. But what does 'Invisible Dragon' mean? Invisible? A dragon without a shape?"

According to the memories of his predecessor, dragons fell into three major categories.

One category was the Gem Dragon. The Sapphire Dragon of the Sapphire Grand Duchy was a type of Gem Dragon, capable of producing sapphires. The ruby inlaid on the Red Blood Sword gifted to Liszt by Marquis Merlin was also a gem produced by a Gem Dragon, possessing magical power.

Another category was the Metal Dragon. The White Cast Iron Dragon that fought the Sapphire Dragon in knight novels was a Metal Dragon, capable of producing iron ore. Metal Dragons were more numerous than Gem Dragons, especially the Iron Dragon sub-category, which Liszt had heard of quite often through various knight novels.

The third category was the Elemental Dragon, such as Fire Dragons or Water Dragons, which were extremely difficult to tame. Because they possessed intense magical elements, their destructive power was terrifying; they could easily destroy towns and injure countless people. They were often the targets of dragon-slayers in knight novels—humans were strange creatures, worshiping dragons while simultaneously wishing to kill them.

"Gem, Metal, Elemental... which one would the Invisible Dragon be?" Liszt couldn't figure it out.

He decided to ask someone else.

He summoned the butler, Carter: "Mr. Carter, have you ever heard of an Invisible Dragon?"

Carter thought for a moment: "I have not heard of it, My Lord."

In the afternoon.

He took his attendant knights to the town to find Gortai and his two friends, hoping to bump into some serendipity and see if he could find a clue as to where to obtain the three stalks of Wild Corn he had been rewarded.

"Invisible Dragon?"

Gortai stroked his chin: "I seem to have heard of it somewhere. Isaiah, Blair, do you remember?"

Isaiah and Blair recalled carefully, then shook their heads in unison.

After half an hour of recollection, Gortai still could not recall whether he had ever heard of an Invisible Dragon: "When one grows old, one easily becomes muddled. Liszt, I am very sorry; perhaps I was mistaken. I have wasted your time, as I may have never heard of an Invisible Dragon at all."

"That is of no consequence. By the way, Teacher Gortai, how have you arranged for Isaiah and Blair?"

"I am in charge of administration, Isaiah is in charge of finance, and Blair is in charge of legal affairs and diplomacy."

"Since the arrangements are made, I shall entrust the development of Flower Town to the three of you." Liszt did not linger in the town. He had the confidence to develop and expand Flower Town, but he intended only to convey his vision to subordinates like Gortai and have them carry out the specific tasks.

For him to practice the labor himself would, firstly, go against the aristocratic system—a noble who works in the fields is no noble, and a noble who eats with serfs is even less of one. Secondly, if he were to arrange every specific detail himself, it might not necessarily yield the best results, and it would be a waste of his energy.

For instance, when he could simply have a servant complete a population census, why should he take the field himself?

Having gone through the trouble of transmigrating into a noble, if he did not enjoy it and instead worked himself to death, would he not be making his own life miserable?

Back in the castle, Liszt pondered: "Since the reward is information about the Invisible Dragon, does that mean I truly cannot obtain the reward until the task is completed? In other words, no one knows what an Invisible Dragon is, and once I finish the task, someone will likely come to tell me?"

Without delay, he left the castle again, galloping toward Wheat Hamlet—the Wheat Bug rewarded by the Count was waiting for him to settle its host plant.