To Get Rich, Build Roads First

Viewing the situation with calm objectivity, Liszt freed himself from his unrealistic fantasies about dragons, feeling that the information regarding the so-called Invisible Dragon was likely not a good reward.

According to his previous deductions:

First, the Smoke mission was providing general knowledge—but this made no sense; as a golden finger, it shouldn't be so boring.

Second, there was an Invisible Dragon nearby that could be captured—if true, this was absolutely explosive news, but Liszt possessed no power whatsoever to capture a dragon. Many nations that possessed dragons captured them when they were small; adult dragons were simply too much to handle. Even a dragon hatchling could not be defeated by all the knights of Coral Island combined.

Third, the Invisible Dragon had traveled thousands of miles to deliver equipment—Liszt did not believe his "dragon affinity" had reached such a level.

Fourth, it was highly probable that an Invisible Dragon was about to launch an attack on Flower Town.

The fourth deduction was undoubtedly the most likely. Dragons attacking human villages and towns was no longer breaking news; otherwise, the profession of "Dragon Slayer" would not exist. In every knight novel, the Dragon Slayer was a highly sought-after protagonist identity, second only to the Dragon Knight.

Basically, in any qualified knight novel, the protagonist would inevitably become a Dragon Knight or slay a dragon, and then certainly marry a beautiful princess.

"So, the rewards for these two missions are telling me that I must resist a dragon and strive to become the protagonist of a knight novel, Liszt the Dragon Slayer?"

Liszt looked into the mirror and chuckled, "Then, the big dragon is dead, but where is the princess?"

His mood was somewhat complex; he was both worried that his prediction might come true and felt that such a thing could not possibly happen. After repeated reflection, he decided there was no need to worry needlessly. He would complete the mission first, see what clues the final reward provided, and then make a decision.

If an Invisible Dragon truly invaded and he could not resist it, that did not mean he could not ask for reinforcements.

Once this news was delivered to the Sapphire Family, he believed that obtaining the title of Marquis would not be difficult—this was the highest title the principality could bestow.

Calling for Gortai, he immediately delegated the task: "This corn grass didn't just appear out of nowhere; it must have been seeds blown over by birds or the wind. Teacher Gortai, mobilize all the farmers during their downtime to search between the various hamlets. You must find more of this corn grass."

Gortai did not quite understand the task: "Liszt, is this corn grass very important?"

"Of course, it is a forage with very high nutritional value, even more suitable than alfalfa for use as feed in horse farms and dairy farms... Regardless, by planting more varieties of forage, the livestock can grow faster."

"Since it is so valuable, I will immediately arrange for manpower to search for it. We will not leave a single corner unchecked."

While they were speaking, Liszt suddenly saw a squad of men marching in neat steps past the castle gate, heading toward Thorn Ridge in the south.

"Teacher Gortai, is that a new patrol?"

"Yes, your squire knights have been a huge help. The bastards in the patrol didn't respect my orders as an administrative officer at first, but after a few fights, their tempers calmed down quickly."

"Well done. Discipline is the top priority for the patrol. Teacher Gortai, the management of the patrol must be further strengthened. I have a few ideas that need to be implemented... The patrol needs to take on the responsibility of maintaining law and order in the town and the various hamlets. The town will pay their wages, and they will have uniform clothing and standardized codes of conduct."

Liszt outlined his general vision. He intended to build the patrol into a police station, initially responsible only for public security, and eventually, he would even manage household registration.

Only in this way could he thoroughly understand everything in the town; no person with a suspicious identity would be able to gain a foothold in Flower Town.

"But there aren't many Narda in town. Isaiah has complained to me more than once that without Narda, he can't do anything."

Gold coins were not abundant in Liszt's castle either. The butler had reported to him earlier that there were about one hundred and fifty left.

However, the castle was currently quite "fat." Liszt's Red Blood Sword alone was worth one or two thousand gold coins, not to mention the annual profits from the Black Tulip industry and the large amount of supplies obtained during assimilation.

"I will allocate fifty gold coins from the castle to maintain the development of the town. This portion of gold will be deducted from the taxes the town retains annually."

"Fifty Narda? That is too much, Liszt. I have checked, and the annual tax revenue of the town is a pitiful fifteen Narda."

"Fifty is not much, Teacher Gortai. Tell Isaiah and Blair that Flower Town is about to enter a busy period, and they must be prepared."

"As you wish!"

Liszt was truly not just talking when it came to the development of Flower Town.

He had already begun to draw a map of the town—a very abstract and crude topographical map. Basically, Flower Town was shaped like a right-angled triangle.

The two legs were Thorn Ridge, and the hypotenuse was the east coast.

The town was located in the center of the triangle, the castle was near the right angle, and the Dairy Farm and Barley Hamlet occupied the other two corners.

"To get rich, first build roads." Holding a quill, he emphasized the dirt road from Thorn Ridge to the town, "I need to build this main road into a gravel road. We don't have cement, but there is plenty of sand. There is a large amount of sea sand on the east coast; we can definitely haul it over to pave the road."

Then there were the mud roads between the hamlets, all of which could be paved with sand.

However, using sand alone was not a good choice; it was difficult to drain, and it would get into shoes, leaving sand everywhere. But unfortunately, there were not many stones near Flower Town, so he could not use a stone-sand mixture and had to make do with sand roads. It was still more convenient than mud roads that became impassable whenever it rained.

Building roads was a major task; another major task was farming.

Sprites could influence the growth of crops, but one could not rely entirely on sprites. In the past, when Flower Town had no sprites, the farmers still had to farm.

"Scientific farming is currently only at the first step: letting the residents know they need to fertilize the crops. But this is not enough. We also need to forge a batch of farm tools to increase the productivity of the farmers so that more wasteland can be reclaimed for crops. We exchanged a pile of iron from Tulip Castle and Falcon Town; I can contact the blacksmith shop."

These two things needed to be done urgently, but the results would not be seen immediately.

However, there was another thing that would yield results quickly—foraging the sea.

On the back of his Fire Dragon Horse, Liszt gazed at the endless ocean before him. The seawater, mixed with its unique salty, fishy scent, rushed toward him. The waves crashed against the beach, reflecting the sunlight, and for a moment, his eyes were filled with little stars.

Thomas led Dousen, letting it romp on the beach.

Dousen was developing very quickly; one could see it grow almost every day. It was now as large as a rural mongrel dog. He didn't know if it was because the food was too good, but there were already traces of magic circulating in the creature's body. Perhaps it wouldn't need to reach adulthood before it could cast magic.

Liszt prepared to step up its training to prevent it from becoming too wild and hurting people.

"My Lord, is there anything worth paying attention to on the east coast? There is no deep-water bay here, so it is not suitable for a dock." Marcus looked at the waves, still not seeing any wealth in the sea.

Liszt pointed to the reefs that could be seen from time to time beneath the waves: "Teacher Marcus, do you see those reefs? They are covered in food. After the tide goes out, we can let the farmers go and gather this food... Compared to the freshwater fish we usually eat, these are true seafood."