The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

He was determined to hunt down the last of the escaped prey completely.

The Female Tyrant Earth Hound was still tied up. To wear down its ferocity, Liszt, synthesizing everyone’s opinions, decided to starve it for three to five days so it couldn’t use magic to harm people. Meanwhile, the Thorn Caravan had been arranged to order cages from North Valley City. Its fate was destined to be spent in a cage for the latter half of its life.

Perhaps one day, when it became accustomed to its new life and was content to follow Douson, it might regain its freedom.

“Douson should be able to handle it. After all, he was almost an Intermediate Magical Beast!” Liszt was very confident in this regard. The Fierce Earth Dog might not be a gregarious Magical Beast, but submission to a stronger being was a consistent trait in Magical Beasts, especially given that they were a pair, one male, and one female.

“Woof woof!”

Douson, who was chasing his tail in the distance, felt a bit dizzy.

Still so young!

“Now that she has become your wife, it’s time to give her a name… She is a Tyrant Earth Hound, and she is your wife, so let’s call her ‘Earth Matron’!” Liszt took naming seriously, “Douson, do you approve of this name? If you do, bark twice.”

“Woof woof!” Douson, still chasing after his tail, indicated approval.

Entering Thorn Ridge once again.

Douson, without Earth Matron to draw attention, regained his majestic presence as the King of Thorn Ridge and continued on his way, constantly seeking out animals to hunt— all were solitary beasts, the ones that had slipped through the net during the previous hunt.

What a pity.

Another three days passed.

Liszt had not found any Magical Beast and felt that his Eye of Magic had become proficient enough to cast it seamlessly, maintaining it for 24 hours a day. Yet, he still saw no signs of magic, as if the Magical Beasts had hidden underground to hibernate.

But the time was late summer and early autumn; hibernation was not possible.

“So, where are the escaped fishes hiding?” Liszt, riding on a Li Dragon Horse, looked towards the bustling Lumberjack Team cutting down trees not far away and felt somewhat perplexed.

Without completing the task, the clues he wanted pertaining to the Li Dragon Horse Herd wouldn’t surface— probably the clues were hidden within the Thorn Forest, but even after sweeping the area twice there were no leads. There were only hopes pinned on completing the mission.

If they couldn’t be found, they simply couldn’t be found.

Eventually, Liszt could only give the order, “Teacher Marcus, you lead the Retainer Knights to continue training in Thorn Ridge, protect the Lumberjack Team well, and if you encounter any Magical Beasts that can be fought, fight; if not, flee.”

“Yes, my lord!”

The Smoke Mission was a troublesome problem.

It dampened the spirits.

However, in these few days, there was some good news: the Crystal Craftsman successfully polished the concave and convex lenses needed, a total of twenty pieces.

Liszt experimented with random combinations and found that a convex lens paired with a concave lens could make a telescope, as could two convex lenses, though the latter resulted in an inverted image.

He naturally chose to combine the convex and concave lenses and instructed the blacksmith at the Smithy and the carpenter at the Carpenter’s Shop to jointly craft the telescope tube. The tube was about one meter long, and after the lenses were fitted, the magnification was not very high, but Liszt was very satisfied and named it the “Liszt Telescope.”

At night, he aimed the telescope at the moon in the sky.

After fine-tuning the distance between the lenses, the unevenly dark areas on the moon were instantly captured in his eyes. However, what struck Liszt as odd was that the moon he saw was surrounded by a faint halo— Liszt, with superficial knowledge of astronomy, quickly recognized it.

“The atmosphere!”

“This moon actually has an atmosphere!”

“If it has an atmosphere, could it be inhabited by intelligent life?” he suddenly thought. This world had all sorts of wondrous myths about the moon.

Some legends say that the royal family of the Neverfall Empire came from the moon.

Some say the Elf King resides on the moon.

Others claim the moon is the homeland of dragons.

Even more legends suggest that at the summit of Mount Mulagao Ding, the central mountain range of the continent, there is a magic teleportation array that leads to the moon. Whoever could reach the top of Mount Mulagao Ding and activate the magic teleportation array would master the endless wealth on the moon—this legend is somewhat like the myth of Chang’e flying to the moon.

Everyone knows it’s not true, but they still yearn for it deep down.

Magic Teleportation Array—said to be a colossal magic researched by ancient magicians that could traverse time and space, it had long been lost to history, only remaining in legends.

Mount Mulagao Ding is the highest mountain range on the continent, unscalable by mortals at tens of thousands of meters high. Even riding a dragon, one could not reach the highest peak; the endless storms at the mountainside, more frightening than the strongest wind system magic, could shred both man and dragon into pieces.

As for the name “Mulagao Ding”, it is translated from a foreign language, to be exact, from an ancient language called “Moon Language.” The language of the Moon Empire from long ago is no longer used by any nation. Still, many countries have incorporated or even directly adopted certain words from the Moon Language.

The term Mulagao Ding, when translated, means “Knight of the Moonlight.”

Some interpret Mount Mulagao Ding to signify the knight that guards the Moon Empire.

Others contrive it to mean the knight guarding the magic teleportation array that connects to the moon.

Regardless, “Mount Mulagao Ding can lead to the moon” is a legend known by everyone.

“So, are these legends true or false? To judge this Different World by Earth’s common sense is no longer appropriate. Whether the moon really has ‘people’ is uncertain!” Liszt, who was once a steadfast atheist, had become an agnostic.

This world had no worship of gods but was filled with all sorts of bizarre legends, which was very conducive to the development of agnosticism.

Despite not fully understanding the moon’s content.

During that evening’s banquet, Liszt still loudly announced, “The invention of the Liszt Telescope is a significant step for mankind in exploring the universe. It will lift the veil of the cosmos and reveal it to the eyes of us all.”

He was excited about his discovery and wanted to share the joy with the people.

However, when his subordinates eagerly took turns to view the moon through the telescope, their feedback was somewhat disappointing.

Goltai muttered while looking at the moon, “Is this the moon? It does seem quite beautiful. Is it a round cake? Why are there no dragons or the Elf King?”

Blair said softly while observing the moon, “The moon’s light is too dim, much weaker than the sunlight. Some places seem almost extinguished.”

What he referred to as extinguished were the areas with heavier shadows on the moon, perhaps like the plains or the seas on Earth’s moon. The Liszt Telescope’s magnification was still not enough, managing only to enlarge by thirty-plus times, hence their observation of the moon was not clear, especially with the atmospheric layer in the way.

Isaiah did not look at the moon; he wanted to see the stars, but under the moon’s backdrop, barely any stars were shining.

After viewing the moon, Marcus remained calm, “My lord, why are we looking at the moon?”

Ignorant natives!

Liszt’s originally excited mood had completely dissipated, leaving him with a sense of loneliness as though he was the only sober person among a crowd of drunkards.

Fortunately, he was skilled at adjusting his attitude, and his noble demeanor quickly returned him to tranquility. With a polite smile, he said, “It can not only observe the moon but also distant objects. With this telescope, distant scenes can be captured as if they are before your very eyes, and you can use it to observe magical beasts.”

Marcus’s eyes suddenly sparkled, “Indeed! My lord, you truly are the glorious Son of Glory favored by the knight’s honor. The Liszt Telescope, indeed, is a great invention!”