This island truly was boundlessly vast.
Riding Little Fire Dragon Rio up several thousand meters into the sky, Liszt still could not see the island's edge. The forest seemed to stretch on forever, and the land seemed to have no end.
"The bigger, the better!"
Liszt was in high spirits and could not help wanting to sing at the top of his lungs.
In the end, however, he did not sing, unable to find a song that suited the mood. Instead, he plunged straight down toward the forest. He quickly found the crash site of the Discovery and the new sailing ship. It was highly conspicuous amid the primeval forest, where they had smashed down a vast swath of trees and left behind large wreckage.
As the fire dragon was about to crash into the ground, Rio suddenly spread its wings, whipping up a gale and halting its descent. It hovered steadily less than a few meters above the ground before slowly landing, letting out an impassioned roar: "Oh-ho!"
Passing through the Great Whirlpool had also been an utterly novel experience for it.
After patting Rio's scales, Liszt flipped down from its back. Cross Sea Buckthorn, Gniel Bark Roundshield, and the others were hurrying over, all bowing to Liszt. "Your Highness!"
Liszt nodded at Cross. "Very good, Cross. You have shown me your courage. From this day forth, I promote you to Count... As for your fief and title, we shall discuss them after the founding of the kingdom."
"Thank you, Your Highness, for bestowing this glory upon me. Cross is willing to charge into battle for Your Highness!" Cross dropped to one knee.
Liszt drew the Ice Soul Dragon-Slaying Sword and lightly tapped the blade's tip against Cross's left and right shoulders, completing the investiture with a simple ceremony.