The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Editor: Henyee Translations

Before Liszt could give the order to search for the dragon breed horse, Goltai, who was responsible for changing the alfalfa on the dairy farm, hurried to the castle early in the morning.

“Liszt, great news has arrived! The newly planted alfalfa has sprouted and is growing quite nicely. Most importantly, a wild horse has somehow been attracted by it and is eating the alfalfa. That wild horse is extremely majestic, oh, even more robust and tall than your Fire Dragon Horse!”

“Summon Teacher Marcus, and let’s head over to the dairy farm together to have a look at this wild horse. Having eaten the alfalfa grass, it should be ready to trade itself for its board, right?”

“Exactly, its board fee will be itself, haha.”

Everything on the estate belongs to the landlord; without a doubt, this wild horse is Liszt’s private property.

The group quickly arrived at the dairy farm, and indeed, there was a black wild horse leisurely eating the newly sprouted alfalfa in the pasture that should have belonged to the dairy cows. The wild horse was tall and shiny with a majestic form, and its muscles were visibly striated.

“Teacher Marcus, you are an expert in judging horses, what do you think of this wild horse?”

The wild horse had already spotted Liszt and the others but seemed to be quite bold; seeing that they did not approach, it lowered its head again and continued to graze leisurely.

Marcus’s eyes shone with excitement as he said, “My lord, what an excellent steed! Its bones are fine but the frame is large, and its muscles are beautifully bulging. Its limbs are long, and so are its tendons. The neck is straight and leans forward, and its rump is shapely. Its coat is also very shiny, indicating it has no ailments. Most importantly, its gaze is sharp!”

“How does it compare to the Blue Blood Treasure Horse?”

“I apologize, my lord, I have not seen a Blue Blood Treasure Horse. The best horse I have seen is the Earl’s Panther, which is said to have a blend of the Magical Beast, the dry tinder leopard’s bloodline. But the Panther is nowhere near as majestic as this wild horse.”

A horse with a white forehead is called a Panther (dí).

Liszt was certainly familiar with the Panther, the mount of Coral Island’s Count.

The black wild horse before him had an air that far surpassed the Panther’s; after all, dragons were the most sacred of creatures, and a dragon breed horse was the most respected among horses.

“How can we capture it?”

Marcus said, “I could flip it with my bare hands, after all, it’s just a horse. However, my lord wishes it to be his mount, so you should subdue it personally. A wild horse only submits to someone who can master it.”

Liszt didn’t plan to tame the dragon breed horse for himself, he was more eager for the dragon breed horse to become a true stud and breed a herd of dragon breed horses for him.

But taming a dragon breed wild horse was an interesting thing, and Liszt did not let Marcus do the job for him.

He approached the wild horse himself.

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

As Liszt kept getting closer, the wild horse finally lost its patience and directly tried to bite him.

With a twist of his body and good horsemanship, Liszt instantly flipped onto the back of the wild horse. The wild horse, feeling the immense shame of being ridden, frantically thrashed, hopping and jumping around trying to throw Liszt off. But Liszt, holding its neck and with his Dou Qi bursting forth, was not swayed in the least.

An Earth Knight could withstand a real Magical Beast; let alone a horse.

Half an hour later, the tired wild horse finally stopped struggling, panting and standing still, allowing Liszt to ride it and command it to move left and right.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Liszt laughed heartily, “A very stubborn fellow, pure black in color, truly not a single hair of a different shade. Let’s just call you Li Dragon.”

A pure black horse is called a Li (lí).

And with its thin dragon bloodline, being named Li Dragon is quite fitting.

“Karl, bring some bran cakes.” Liszt dismounted; though taming a wild horse was not too challenging, it was indeed very taxing, and he was covered in sweat.

At that moment, the Fire Dragon Horse also came over; it was a young female.

While rubbing Li Si Te’s shoulder and with wide-open eyes, he observed the towering Li Dragon Horse next to him. The Li Dragon Horse, however, didn’t even deign to look at the Fire Dragon Horse; it continued to hold its head high, refusing to ingratiate itself with Li Si Te, and still retained a hint of haughtiness.

Even when Li Si Te took a bran biscuit and fed it to the horse, it did not show any affection.

“My Lord, the Li Dragon Horse is an adult, and if it is to be raised as a war horse, it would be best to geld him to prevent him from becoming thin during the mating season,” said Marcus.

“Geld him?” Li Si Te waved his hand, “That won’t do. I’ve decided the Li Dragon Horse shall serve as a stud to breed a herd for Fresh Flower Town. Such a magnificent steed should not be prevented from propagating its lineage; that would be a tremendous loss.”

“To be a stud horse?” Marcus nodded, agreeing with the decision.

Even though he didn’t know that the Li Dragon Horse was a Dragon Breed Horse, he could still recognize its exceptional qualities. Indeed, it would have been a pity to geld such a horse.

The Li Dragon Horse, oblivious to the fate it had just avoided, contentedly nibbled on the bran biscuit, returning to its original leisure.

From time to time, it would graze on the alfalfa grass on the ground.

Goltai wanted to step forward and touch it but was startled by the Li Dragon Horse’s snort and had to awkwardly change the subject: “Where did the Li Dragon Horse come from, did it walk over from Thorn Ridge?”

“Perhaps there are more Li Dragon Horses in Thorn Ridge… It’s strange to think that there are wild horses on the island,” Marcus speculated.

Horses typically live in vast grasslands.

With insufficient grasslands on Coral Island for wild horses to live, the natural breeding of wild horses seemed impractical.

“Maybe they drifted here from another place, or perhaps the horses previously raised by the islanders have gone wild. In any case, it couldn’t have just appeared out of nowhere. Moreover, Li Si Te, I think that perhaps in a few days, more Li Dragon Horses might emerge from Thorn Ridge, and by then, we might truly have a Li Dragon Horse Herd.”

“That would be for the best.”

Li Si Te also had his doubts.

He didn’t know whether to believe that the Li Dragon Horse naturally lived in this land or if some entity behind the Smoke Mission had conjured up a Li Dragon Horse—he was inclined to think the Li Dragon Horse had always lived here, and the Smoke Mission was merely a trigger rather than a clumsy creation.

As for what the Smoke Mission truly was, there was no way to unravel it for the time being.

He had to suppress his curiosity and leave it for a future resolution.

Looking at the fresh and tender alfalfa grass forming a beautiful pasture, he suddenly thought of the wasteland outside the castle: “Teacher Goltai, what do you think about planting alfalfa on the wastelands around the castle? We could build a track outside the castle and raise a Li Dragon Horse Herd.”

“Hmm, that should be feasible. Why not give it a try?”

“Then I’ll leave it to Teacher Goltai.”

…

Li Si Te rode the Li Dragon Horse back to the castle.

Goltai and Marcus also prepared to return on their own. Along the way, Goltai suddenly asked, “Marcus, you’re now addressing Li Si Te as ‘My Lord’?”

“Yes.”

“That doesn’t seem like your character, making a decision so quickly.”

“I don’t have many choices, Mr. Goltai,” Marcus said, looking into the distance where the small castle shone brilliantly in the sunlight, “Besides, don’t you always say that he has the air of an Earl about him? I believe he won’t stay hidden away in Fresh Flower Town, this remote place, forever.”

“Perhaps,” Goltai said noncommittally.