The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 704: Chapter 0701: Eagle Spreads Its Wings (First Update)
 

Liszt was puzzled.

He didn’t know what Alonso Xiankelai was thinking, and was even more uncertain what the lurking crisis meant—it was true that Alonso might have designs on the Duchy of Sapphire, but what could he rely on to lay hands on it? The Duchy of Sapphire had dominated the seas for over a hundred and fifty years and was certainly not a small nation that could be manipulated by just anyone.

For the moment, no one could provide an answer.

In Black Horse Island, Fresh Flower Town, only Ach knew about Liszt’s identity as a Dragon Knight.

However, Ach didn’t really understand politics and couldn’t provide Liszt with any reference opinions.

There was another person on Coral Island who knew his identity, so the perplexed Liszt prepared to have a good talk with Marquis Li Weiliam of Bull Tail.

But when he arrived at Tulip Castle, he found out that the Marquis had gone to the Bull Tail Domain of Iron Hoof Island to take over his newly awarded estate.

“Then let Ach take me to Iron Hoof Island,” Liszt decided without any hesitation, asking Ach to take him to Iron Hoof Island directly.

It was a four-day voyage from Coral Island to Iron Hoof Island, but for Ach, it was only an hour’s journey.

The clam served as a submarine.

Liszt and Ach lay down side by side inside it, chatting and resting for a while, and before long they had already reached Iron Hoof Island, hundreds of kilometers away. Bull Tail City was the main city of the Bull Tail Domain, a large coastal city that boasted a castle that had once belonged to the Bull Family—Bull Tail Fort.

The Bull Family was quite brutish when it came to naming things.

The island was called Iron Hoof Island, and due to a particular fondness for “bulls,” all the cities were named after parts of the bull: Horn, Hoof, Tail, Sinew, Spine, Hair, Rump, Rib, and so on. Each city had its own castle, though of course, none could compare to the grandeur of Bull Castle in Iron Hoof City.

The cities and castles not given to followers mainly served as vacation residences for the Bull Family, so Bull Tail Fort was even more spartan than Tulip Castle.

Of course.

Even though Bull Tail Fort was spartan, in addition to the main city of Bull Tail City, the Bull Tail Domain also included two other large cities, Bull Rump City and Bull Rib City, as well as ten smaller cities. Thus, the Tulip Family suddenly gained three large castles with names and ten smaller city castles of varying sizes.

At this moment, the flag raised atop Bull Tail Fort was the red flag of the Tulip Family, signifying that the place now belonged to the Tulip Family.

The guards of Bull Tail Fort were very lax. It wasn’t until Liszt and Ach approached the main gate that a pair of patrolling knights noticed them. Seeing Liszt, the knights hurried over to salute and welcomed the two into the castle.

Butler Xi Er Wa rushed over, anxious and apologetic, “I’m so sorry, Young Master Liszt, Miss Acherloides, I wasn’t aware of your visit today. The castle is a mess and not yet properly arranged, and no servants have been assigned to guard the door. This is a severe oversight.”

“Where is my father?” Liszt did not care for these details.

“The Master and Lady have gone to Bull Tail City to inspect the transfer of workshops and shops. Please wait a moment, young master and miss; I will send a servant to Bull Tail City to find the Master immediately.”

“Hmm.”

Liszt nodded, wandering around Bull Tail Fort with Ach to take a look at the castle. It was his first time coming to Bull Tail City, his first time seeing Bull Tail Fort. Speaking of which, it was somewhat cold; Ach had the technology for fast travel, and he hadn’t thought to visit the Bull Tail Domain for a tour.

Perhaps subconsciously, he didn’t consider anything outside of Black Horse Island as his territory.

To retreat for three to five years and then build a nation overseas, he wouldn’t have much involvement here, so he didn’t bother to invest emotionally. Just as he finished looking around Bull Tail Fort, the Marquis had already returned: “Liszt, Ach, when did you come over? Why didn’t you give a heads-up?”

“It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I came to discuss something with you, Father,” Liszt replied.

Lady Marie smiled and said, “You two go and talk in the study. I’ll prepare lunch for you.” Generally, whenever it came to matters involving Liszt and his father, she was conscious not to be in the way and found an excuse to leave.

The study was nicely furnished, and the Marquis somehow acquired a large batch of new books, filling the shelves.

Liszt had not seen these new books before, and he suddenly felt an itch in his hands, wanting to take a knife to slice through the cover, to see if he could find any more Dou Qi Secret Techniques.

Of course.

He restrained himself, gesturing to Ach to flip through the books as he liked and directly began discussing with the Marquis, “My Blood Servant has discovered a large number of vampires from the Black Knight Family sneaking into Iron Hoof Island, and it seems their arrival bodes ill.”

“Vampires sneaking in?” The Marquis frowned, “What is their purpose?”

“I’m not clear on that, but they didn’t come for me; after I killed a Pureblood, they not only did not seek revenge, but Chieftain Rommel of the Black Knight Family even wished to make my acquaintance… I suspect the Black Knight Family’s action this time is on the instructions of Alonso.”

“That’s possible, Fomuir died because of the Pioneer Mandate, this is warfare between kingdoms.”

“Moreover, I have already sent two letters requesting ransom for the Sky Knights, and there has been no response whatsoever from Alonso’s side, which is not normal.”

“Indeed, Garcia and Fox, although both just average Sky Knights, are still young and have the potential to advance to Sword Saint. It doesn’t make sense to just abandon them.” After listening to Liszt’s explanation, the Marquis fell into deep thought, “For Alonso to be ready to recruit you does indeed fit the logic.”

“But what makes him confident that I would abandon my status with the Sapphire and follow him… Even if he is a Dragon Knight, he’s still only a Viscount.”

If Alonso were a Duke and had founded his own kingdom, then he would have been worthy to recruit Liszt.

But he was just a Dragon Knight fostered by the Eagle Kingdom; if he dies, the dragon must be returned, and he has no qualifications to recruit a powerful “Ancient Warrior Inheritance” like Liszt—how could he possibly give Liszt a status comparable to that in the Sapphire? The Grand Duke was ready to attract him with the title of Marquis.

Just a nod, and the title of Marquis of Iron Hoof Island would be his for the taking.

Alonso Xiankelai, as a Bronze Dragon Knight, might sound mighty, yet his title was only that of Summit Marquis plus Lotus Hill Count.

“Since the Black Knight Family isn’t targeting you, and Alonso is showing signs of wanting to recruit you, does this mean his target is the Sapphire itself?”

“I have had my suspicions too, but with what would he conquer the Sapphire?”

“The Dragon Slaying Battle?” the Marquis said, as ever since Liszt started dragon riding, the thought of the Dragon Slaying Battle had lingered for a long time, “Could it be that Alonso is preparing to fight the Grand Duke?”

“Coming alone to a distant land, isn’t he afraid of being trapped here? Even if a Dragon Knight is powerful, the Sapphire Family could easily flee and hide, making a comeback after avoiding the assault seems not difficult.”

“What if he’s not coming alone, but with a plethora of Knight Orders?” the Marquis suddenly thought, “Initially, you said the descendants of the Marquis of Bull had defected to the Continental Kingdom, and surmised that Alonso was their backer. With the Bull Family’s legacy, they could certainly help the Eagle Kingdom build a fleet.”

“This…”

Liszt wanted to counter, for he’d always felt quite secure being isolated overseas, but what the Marquis said made sense; since the escape of the Marquis of Bull, shipbuilding technology was no longer exclusive to the Sapphire.

The Bull Family had been preparing to slay dragons for more than a day or two.

Which meant they had defected to the Eagle Kingdom long ago, and over the years the Eagle Kingdom frantically built ships and trained sailors, amassing a large fleet of ships, in the thousands.

…

As if to confirm the Marquis’s conjecture.

After the midday banquet.@@novelbin@@

A Knight riding a Falcon Magical Beast descended from the sky, landing at Bull Tail Fort, a Knight from the directly subordinated Ashen Hawk Knights of the Grand Duke. This Knight came from Bull Hoof City and was currently affiliated with the Quicksand City Marquis Nesta Big Flower Hydrangea, stationed in Bull Hoof City; he brought explosive news.

“Marquis of Bull Tail, Viscount Liszt, we have received a report from Rat. The Eagle Kingdom has mobilized a large fleet to invade our Sapphire!”