Even magical beasts could be trained, so of course a few monkeys could be trained too. To knights who possessed battle aura, wild beasts were no different from kittens and puppies.
However, only five people in Flower Town possessed battle aura at present: Liszt, Marcus, Gortai, Isaiah, and Blair.
Each had their own duties, so none of them could become an animal trainer.
"Looks like it's time to pick a few strong youths from among the townsfolk, teach them battle aura, and make them my Retainer Knights."
As long as he could afford to support them, Liszt could even assemble a whole order of Retainer Knights.
But the castle's finances and resources limited him to supporting a dozen or so at most, enough to form a small unit. He had planned this for a long time. The unit's greatest purpose would be to clear the magical beasts out of Thorn Ridge and bring it under Flower Town's control as part of his territory.
"Once Oyster Hamlet has a stable food supply and the castle's tax revenue settles down, I'll start training Retainer Knights immediately."
Those four Retainer Knights, including Karl Hammer, couldn't use battle aura. Their potential had already been squandered, so they weren't worth training. He would have to start with younger boys, train them in battle aura, and turn them into true knights.
He was sitting in the shade, contemplating plans for developing his territory.
Beside him, Gortai had already started wiping away his sweat with a handkerchief. He had to wear the full Noble Three-Piece Suit every day, and it was unbearably hot. "Liszt, the fishermen have finished their inspection of the shore. Everything's going smoothly. Should we head back?"
Liszt was hot too.
This weather was no good for going out. He nodded. "All right, let's go back." He wasn't coddled, but if he could make himself comfortable, why make things hard for himself? As lord, he held absolute power over everything in his domain. There was no need to put on a show of being "one with the people" or "dedicated to his work."
Bloodline and battle aura were the foundation of nobility.
On the way back, Liszt took the opportunity to inspect the roadwork in each hamlet. There was plenty of sea sand, but transporting it was difficult. The commoners could only carry it in buckets and basins, which made the work inefficient.
Still, the roads were taking shape.
As they passed the Flower Farm, a foul stench suddenly wafted over from the distance and crept into Liszt's nose, nearly making him throw up.
The Fire Dragon Horse beneath him kept sneezing too, looking as though it couldn't stand the smell.
"Ugh, it stinks! What is that smell?"
"Who made that awful stink?"
The Retainer Knights all covered their noses too, looking ready to throw up on the spot.
"Is someone emptying a cesspit?" Liszt remembered the overpowering stench of manure being shoveled out in the countryside when he was a child. This smell was even more intense, but he quickly realized, "Flower Town has no toilets or cesspits, so the manure people collect shouldn't smell like this."
Pinching his nose, he said to the Retainer Knights, "Karl, the four of you go find out where that smell is coming from."
A short while later, Karl returned, pinching a blade of grass between his fingers. "My lord, I've found the cause."
He held up the grass. "It's this kind. Some children at the farm were fooling around and snapped a lot of it in a patch of wasteland. Who knew it would give off such a disgusting smell?"
As he spoke, an even stronger stench reached Liszt's nose. It came from the grass in Karl's hand.
Liszt endured the stench, but his eyes lit up. "Is there a lot of this grass?"
"Yes."
"Good. Very good! Karl, go tell Gortai at once to protect that patch of grass. No one is to go near it, and no one is to damage it!"
The Retainer Knight was puzzled, but obeyed his order.
After giving the order, Liszt was in an excellent mood.
His personal manservant, Thomas, couldn't help asking, "My lord, why are you happy about grass that smells so awful?"
"You wouldn't understand. This grass is very useful."
Back at the castle, he took a cold bath and checked the Smoke Serpent Script, hoping to see an update to the mission. He had thought he would have to replace all the fishermen's equipment to complete it, but now he had clearly obtained the "large patch of Smoke-Cured Grass" promised as the reward, which meant the mission was complete.
Sure enough, once the smoke appeared, the Snake Script updated: "Mission complete. Reward: a large patch of Smoke-Cured Grass."
A short while later, the Smoke Serpent Script changed again: "Mission: Seeds have been sown in the newly cultivated millet field. The Millet Bug can't wait to breathe fresh air. It's a brave little fellow. Please find Bug Grass for it. Reward: a forgotten battle aura secret technique."
"A forgotten battle aura secret technique? Not a battle aura manual, but a secret technique. Does that mean the reward is just one powerful move?" Liszt guessed.
A manual covered the methods for refining and using battle aura, along with various battle aura moves.
A battle aura secret technique, by contrast, was a particularly powerful move, similar to the ultimate art in a battle aura manual. It could be thought of as a finishing move.
However, because the techniques were passed down through obscure and secretive lineages, and were very difficult to learn, minor nobles rarely managed to preserve them from one generation to the next.
The Tulip Family had no secret technique to pass down, and the Marquis family on Red Crab Island had risen to prominence too recently to have one either.
Only an old-established Marquis family might possess a secret technique or two.
There was no denying their tremendous value. The ultimate art was the strongest move in any battle aura manual, but its power was limited by whether the manual was intermediate or advanced. A secret technique was different: the stronger one's battle aura, the more powerful it became.
Liszt was very satisfied. "Not bad, not bad. I don't like fighting, but having a secret technique at my disposal can greatly increase my combat strength and reduce the chance of getting into danger."
"I just wonder what kind of battle aura secret technique it'll be. I'll find out soon enough."
So far, the Smoke Mission hadn't given him anything particularly difficult. Most of its tasks were simply things he ought to be doing anyway, and this one was no different. He had cultivated the millet field to make a home for the Millet Bug, so he would have done it whether or not there was a mission.
Then he considered another question. "Could this mission still be part of the Invisible Dragon's chain of missions?"
Three days later, the fishermen of Oyster Hamlet were able to gather seafood regularly, and each trip brought in a large haul.
Some of it quickly made its way to the commoners' tables, replacing the fishermen's need for bread and reducing the amount of grain the town had to consume.
But there was nowhere to store most of the seafood.
"Liszt, we have to think of something. There's too much seafood along the East Coast. The fishermen are catching more than we can eat, and it'll spoil soon." Gortai came to Liszt, looking worried.
Liszt was at a loss for words. "If we can't eat it all, then find a way to dry it and store it. This isn't the right season for drying seafood. Summer and autumn are better. If it's not the drying season, then stop fishing. The seafood won't disappear just because it's still in the sea."
Without cold storage or enough salt to preserve it, drying was the best way to store seafood.
The weather was too hot now, and dried seafood would spoil easily, so they should catch less—only as much as they could eat. That would also keep them from overfishing.
When he finished, Liszt's tone turned slightly stern, making his displeasure clear. "Teacher Gortai, I'm the lord, and you're an official. I need you to govern Flower Town for me, not come to me every time something goes wrong. Understand?"
Gortai gave an awkward smile. "Of course I understand, Liszt. Please believe me—I won't make that kind of mistake so easily again."