The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

“Mrs. Abbie, Little Lily and I are planning to go to town to see the clown show, would you like to join us?” Eileen moved the large chunk of tridacna meat out of the basket to dry outside the castle.

Douson ate a large piece of tridacna meat yesterday and not only was he fine, but he was also full of energy and vigor.

So, tridacna meat is edible.

“Oh, heavens! Why would the master be so generous to give you a day off?” Mrs. Abbie busily arranged various seasonings on the stove, “If you like your job as maids, you should stay in the kitchen obediently; there is a big pile of work to do every day.”

“Mr. Carter said that the master instructed that only a fried steak is needed for lunch and that we servants may eat beans and bread. It does not require much work,” Little Lily said while moving the tridacna meat as well.

A single tridacna weighs over five hundred pounds; after removing three hundred pounds of the shell, there is still over two hundred pounds of meat.

“Mr. Carter, like the master, always indulges you young servants who are not earnest in your work. This is not the kind of benevolence that befits a qualified butler. Back in my younger days, the kitchen was busy all day long, and not a moment was spared idle — that’s the proper work attitude for a kitchen maid.”

“Cough, cough.”

The sound of Carter’s cough came from the doorway; unbeknownst to them, he had already arrived: “Although I can understand your dedication to work, Mrs. Abbie, don’t always tense up. Go and take a stroll in town with the young ones; it’s a rare occasion when the merchant caravan comes.”

“Sorry, Mr. Carter, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Mrs. Abbie felt a bit embarrassed, having been caught speaking ill behind someone’s back.

“No problem, in fact I take your calling me kind as a compliment. Go on, join Eileen and Little Lily to see the clown show in town. The thought of those clowns makes even me laugh.”

“That won’t do, I have to prepare the master’s lunch.”

“Then make sure to return before eleven o’clock, it’s nine now, you still have two hours to roam around the town.”

“I…”

Before Mrs. Abbie could refuse, Carter cut her off: “Consider it a work task I’ve assigned to you, have a good two hours of fun.”

“Haha, good on you, Mr. Carter,” Eileen happily took Mrs. Abbie’s arm, “Come on, Mrs. Abbie, I can’t wait to see the clowns.”

Little Lily took Mrs. Abbie’s other arm: “Yeah, yeah, let’s go!”

Mrs. Abbie reluctantly began to walk out: “I don’t want to go shopping, but it’s best I keep an eye on you two, to prevent you from getting carried away and forgetting to come back to work… Also, wait a moment, I need to change into a new set of clothes; I can’t go out looking like this, it would be unseemly for the castle.”

Carter watched with a slight smile as the large and the two small ones made a commotion.

Compared to working in the Earl’s country estate castle, life in this small-town castle was a bit busier, but so much more lively. The youthful exuberance of the young people gave him an inexplicable surge in energy, making him feel as if he were growing younger instead of older with the passing year.

He heard footsteps.

Turning his head, he saw Mrs. Morson: “Have Maisie and the others already gone to town to shop?”

“Yes, and Tom and Thomas went together as well. Mr. Carter, aren’t you going with them?”

“Mrs. Abbie, Eileen, and Little Lily are changing into their clothes; they’ll soon head to town to see the clown show, and I think you should join them. As for the castle, I’ll stay to serve the master. You know, with even Thomas gone, there must be a manservant to attend to him when he requests water.”

“Then I’ll stay as well, you can call me if you need anything.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to join in the fun?”

“At my age, I should be avoiding crowds, not seeking them out.”

“Don’t say that, Mrs. Morson, I feel as if I’m getting younger the more I live,” Carter declared, puffing out his chest to seem more spirited.

“Yes, young Carter.”

“Annie, have we already sold more than half of the tomatoes?” John Bian Dan walked up to his family’s stall.

The stall was situated on the southwest side of the small town, where a large, flat area had been cleared out for visiting caravans to set up and conduct their business and trade.

There were also a few wooden outhouses placed around the area.

The Patrol Team and the town clerks repeated the announcement over and over, “Lord Landlord has decreed that no one is allowed to relieve themselves in public, violators will be fined and whipped! If you need to use the facilities, follow the arrows to the outhouses outside. The symbol with a circle on the bottom and an arrow pointing up () indicates the men’s toilets, while the symbol with a circle on top and a cross beneath () is for the women’s toilets—don’t mix them up!”

John had long since become accustomed to this rule.

It had been a long time since he had defecated in the street; at home, they had prepared a chamber pot, storing up the collected waste. Once composted, it was used directly as fertilizer for the tomato fields—this was the agricultural magic taught by Lord Landlord. Farms that used this magic fertilizer saw a harvest increase of twenty to thirty percent!

There used to be town officials who organized the purchase of human waste.

Now they could no longer collect it, as every household kept their waste to fertilize their own farmland. After the harvest, the kind and generous noble Lord Landlord took taxes proportionally, rather than the Tax Knights of the past, who seemed to want to take all of a serf’s harvest for themselves.

Ever since Lord Landlord arrived, John felt not just his own life, but also the lives of his neighbors and surrounding community, had improved dramatically.

Of course, he was the luckiest one.

Because Lord Landlord awarded him a Nalda for the tomato worms nurtured by the tomatoes he cared for!

“John, aren’t you going to work on the housing project today?” Annie asked curiously, as her husband usually worked there when there wasn’t much farm work, earning a copper coin a day.

“The housing crew is off today, nobody wants to work on this day; they’ve all come here… to the commercial district,” John said, pointing to a place not too far away. “Look, that’s Wenger, he’s also taking his son shopping.”

“Alright then, go and check out the comedy show. Once I’ve sold the tomatoes, I’ll come and watch the comedy too. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one.”

John didn’t leave but said, “Oh, Annie, when I was coming over from there, I saw someone selling kittens. I want to buy one. You know, now that we have grain stored at home, rats are starting to become more frequent. These filthy thieves always nibble at our food!”

“Really, someone’s selling kittens? Then wait here for me, I’ll finish selling the tomatoes and we can go buy a kitten together. We have to choose one that’s really good at catching rats.”

After hesitating for a moment, John added, “Actually, I also want to buy a pony. I want little Jack to learn how to ride from an early age so he can join Lord Landlord’s Retainer Knights sooner.”

“Oh my, John, do you even know how much a pony costs!”

“Fifty silver coins, but, Annie, it’s a pony!” John explained eagerly, “If we miss this chance, who knows when we’ll be able to get a horse. I hope to grow tomatoes for Lord Landlord for a lifetime, but little Jack doesn’t like it; he wants to become a Retainer Knight.”

“But John, you have to understand, we can afford fifty silver coins, but a pony needs to eat a lot every day— a single horse would consume the food of several people. Can we afford to feed it?”

“I can!”

John said with conviction, “Our tomato field at home is the best and always brings us a steady income. I can also work. I asked the Steward of the construction crew, he’s assistant to Lord Isaiah. He told me there will be more and more work in the town in the future, as Lord Landlord has ambitious plans to rejuvenate the town. As long as I keep working, we can afford to keep the pony!”

“Are you serious, John?”

“Of course, trust me, Annie.”

Annie, looking into her husband’s resolute eyes, ultimately didn’t have the heart to say no, “Alright, but you have to promise me that we won’t be dragged down by the pony, okay?”

“I promise!”