The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Kostor crouched on the sand, tracing a rough outline of the East Coast shoreline with his finger, and then circled a spot at one end of the coastline, “Lord Landlord, this here is a suitable place for the construction of a harbor.”

Liszt understood this crude map.

Strictly speaking, the location of the harbor was no longer within the boundaries of Fresh Flower Town. The cow farm marked the northernmost boundary of Fresh Flower Town, while further north lay the section of Thorn Ridge that extended to the sea.

And the site Kostor mentioned was where Thorn Ridge met the sea.

“Thorn Ridge is made up of low hills with flat roads running through it, and in recent times, I’ve scouted the entire East Coast. I found that from this position, Thorn Ridge begins to fork, forming a flat valley. Right by the sea is a deep-water harbor, which I’ve personally dived to explore. The terrain and roads are both suitable for the construction of docks.”

“You dared to go deep into Thorn Ridge?” Liszt was somewhat surprised.

Kostor’s tone was somewhat fervent, “Since taking refuge in Fresh Flower Town, I have always wanted to set sail again. But without a harbor or docks in Fresh Flower Town, I couldn’t settle. So, I explored farther… I was lucky, encountering no Magical Beasts, only some wild beasts, and I found some Smoked Grass.”

As he spoke,

he suddenly knelt down again, “I’m sorry, Lord Landlord, I went to the Smoked Grass field and picked up leaves that had fallen to the ground. Please penalize me.”

Smoked Grass belonged to Liszt. Even naturally fallen leaves were his property, and picking them up was considered theft by anyone, let alone a serf.

“Stand up first, we’ll talk about your actions later.”

Liszt indicated for him to stand again and speak, “You’re quite bold, not only daring to enter Thorn Ridge but also to venture into the sea alone. It seems that neither Magical Beasts nor Sea Monsters can stop the love for the sea in your heart.”

“I love the sea!”

Kostor took a deep breath, gazing toward the Sea Waves.

“I grew up by the sea, and as a youth, I sailed with ships. I’ve spent more time at sea than on land. I’ve seen the long horn of the narwhal piercing the surface, which is a tooth growing from its mouth; I’ve witnessed mirages of wealthy cities at sea, unattainable however I chased; I’ve heard enchanting songs from within the fog, the singing of Sea Serpents…”

After a pause, he swallowed hard and spoke earnestly, “I love sailing, I love moving across the sea, Lord Landlord, Kostor hopes to steer your sailboat and engage in maritime trade for you.”

A brief exchange.

Liszt could tell that Kostor was a person of insight, intelligence, action, and adventurous spirit. If he had been in the era of great European voyages, such a man might have become an explorer like “Columbus”. Clearly, those who harbor dreams are worthy of respect.

His talents were wasted in Fresh Flower Town.

“Kostor, I hereby appoint you Captain of the Fresh Flower Vessel.” He looked down at him from his position of authority. “You may recruit your own Sailor Apprentices and train them in sailing skills along the East Coast.”

“Fresh Flower Vessel?”

“That’s the name of the sailboat; I named it the Fresh Flower Vessel. It’ll be the first ship of Fresh Flower Town!”

Kostor was overjoyed, “Lord Landlord, when do you plan on constructing the harbor, and when do you plan to set out for maritime trade? Just give me one year, and I will train a crew of qualified sailors!”

“You are not to enter Thorn Forest again until I have cleared all the trees of Thorn Ridge. There’s no need for you to worry about the harbor; I will build the docks when the time comes. There is no salary for the position of Captain at the moment; you need to be self-reliant, perhaps by charging tuition fees… Of course, you can choose to apply to be a teacher, teaching my Knight Squad about sailing.”

Marcus teaches Dou Qi, Isaiah teaches literacy, and now with Kostor teaching sailing, Liszt highly values the education of the Knight Squad.

Even if only a few of this group turn out to be exceptional, they can become qualified instructors for Liszt to train the next batch of Knight candidates.

The outcome couldn’t have been better. Kostor knelt on both knees and paid his respects, “Lord Landlord, I am willing to apply for the teacher position!”

“Then, Captain, introduce me to the Fresh Flower Vessel.”

The Fresh Flower Vessel was a two-masted schooner evidently much smaller than a three-masted one. It could barely be used for oceanic trade. Within the Tulip Fleet, there were quite a few two-masted schooners. They were most suited for sailing within the archipelago, where they would not encounter severe ocean storms, greatly increasing their safety.

It had no cannons.

If it encountered a Sea Monster, fleeing was the only option; however, while there were often stories of Sea Monsters attacking ships, in reality, such attacks were rare.

While they were admiring the Fresh Flower Vessel, the fishermen dissecting the large squid corpse suddenly shouted.

The news quickly reached Liszt. It turned out the fishermen had extracted a large shell creature from the squid’s stomach. “A shell shaped like a wave” and “larger than a human” were the descriptions given by the Clerk relaying the message about this shell creature.

Liszt immediately disembarked from the Fresh Flower Vessel.

He understood, within this shell creature, there must be a Black Pearl of the Deep Sea.

When he saw the shell creature for himself, he realized in an instant, “This is a Tridacna!”

The huge shell, the wave-like design, and the colorfully splendid mantle all declared its identity—a Tridacna. In Liszt’s homeland, the Tridacna was the world’s largest shell creature. Its shell could be made into a gemstone and was extremely valuable; the flesh was also particularly delicious.

On the table at his former home, there was a vase made from the shell of a Tridacna.

Of course, that was a small Tridacna.

The enormous Tridacna before him had at least a two-meter diameter, estimated to weigh over five hundred kilograms. The shell was tightly closed, and it was unclear whether it was still alive; the splendid mantle appeared to have been digested by the squid, exhibiting spots and signs of peeling.

“Lord, what kind of shell creature is this, do you know?” Goltai circled the Tridacna incessantly.

“Tridacna, a kind of large shell creature.” While speaking, he utilized his Eye of Magic to examine the Tridacna closely but did not detect traces of magic power. It seemed to be just an ordinary Tridacna, not a Sea Monster. “Open it, I want to see if there are any pearls inside the shell.”

“Pearls? Can Tridacnas also produce pearls? I always thought that only the pearl oysters in Tranquil Lake could produce pearls.”

Tranquil Lake was a vast lake on Blue Dragon Island and a property of the Sapphire Family. One of its special products was pearl oysters bred in the lake. They were a type of small Sea Monster, or Water Monster, that lived only in freshwater and could produce pearls. The pearls had a hint of magic power with a mild Water Attribute that could calm the mind.

They were decorations favored by Nobles.

Many well-bred ladies wore a string of pearl necklaces around their necks.

Liszt pointed at the Tridacna, “Open it up and we’ll know if there are any inside.”

Goltai hurriedly organized the manpower, prepared to pry open the shell of the Tridacna, but the group struggled for a long time and still couldn’t open the hard shell of the Tridacna.

“My goodness, have you not eaten enough!” Goltai looked on incredulously, “A shell has exposed your true feeble nature?”

“Mr. Goltai, this thing is too sturdy, our levers have broken,” someone complained.

“I guarantee it’s like a stone, seamless, and simply impossible to open,” another assured.

“Maybe we should build a fire under it. When I eat oysters, I always roast them, and they open on their own.”