The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 775: Chapter 0772: Leo Likes to Eat (3rd update, 1/10 celebration for Alliance Hierarch Meow’s Voice)
 

This chapter is a bonus update sponsored by the Alliance Hierarch “喵呢嗓,” temporarily one more update to come, the remaining ten will be filled later.

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Marquis of Bull Tail stood on the balcony basking in the sun; he had just returned from negotiations at Azure Sky Peak Palace, mainly to secure aid from Sapphire Duke for Liszt.

The project covered a lot of ground, involving resources, technology, and talent.

Had Liszt not acted in the dragon-slaying battle, the Duchy of Sapphire would have perished; thus, no reward would be excessive. Certainly, Sapphire Duke understood this; now that Liszt and Ach had joined forces, two against one, he admitted that he couldn’t cope, so he could only pay to usher the great deity away.

The last negotiation brought the technology for manufacturing Court Fast Sailing Ships, and this time, training technology for Iron Knights and a family of Iron Knights had been acquired.

This family of Iron Knights was migrating, ready to submit to Liszt’s command, to follow the new Dragon Knight.

“Seeing the Flame Family grow bit by bit brings me great satisfaction,” Li Weiliam remarked contemplatively as Lady Marie walked over from her room, “Although it’s not the Tulip Family that became the Dragon Rearing Family, Liszt’s Flame Family is a branch of the Tulip Family, sharing the same glory.”

“Yes, the family is flourishing, and many noblewomen are envious of us.”

“That proves you had vision from the start,” Li Weiliam said with a proud smile. After Melissa’s death, he met Lady Marie.

Back then, Lady Marie was known for her beauty, with two choices ahead of her.

One was to marry a Viscount on a distant island, where her offspring would inherit a Viscount’s title; the other was to marry the middle-aged widower Li Weiliam, whose children would not be able to inherit a title. Ultimately, Lady Marie didn’t consider her future son and chose Li Weiliam, becoming the new Earless.

Perhaps it was this debt that made Li Weiliam take special care of Lidun.

However, fate always favors the beautiful. With Liszt’s sudden rise, Li Weiliam rose with the tide and had now attained the title of Marquis.

Lady Marie benefitted from this association.

Once Lidun came of age and was given his own title, assigning him a Viscount would be a walk in the park, even an Earl wouldn’t be too difficult—Levis would find it hard to complain, as Li Weiliam’s property was not inherited, but earned by himself. Naturally, he could give it to whomever he wanted.

If Li Weiliam had inherited his father’s Marquisate, according to tradition, he would have had to pass on all his estates to his own son.

He would just be a successor in the family, with no right to divide the family’s property at will.

It was only because Li Weiliam had inherited a Viscount’s title and earned the titles of Earl and Marquis himself that he had the right to decide how to assign them. It was still customary in this era for the eldest son to inherit everything, leaving the younger son to set out with nothing—rules may be rigid, but people can be flexible, and there’s certainly room for interpretation.

“Of course, my vision is excellent,” Lady Marie said with a satisfied smile. “However, those noble daughters from major families have even better vision. They have set their sights on Liszt.”@@novelbin@@

Upon hearing this, Li Weiliam huffed, “In the future, disregard these young ladies from the small islands. Liszt is a Dragon Knight, a future ruler of a nation. His marriage partners should be real princesses from Kingdoms on the mainland… The new nation will need the Kingdom’s support as well.”

“Just afraid Liszt might not be willing, as you know, his sister is not ordinary,” Lady Marie noted.

“That… well, it’s out of our hands, out of our hands. Whether it’s a Kingdom Princess or an Archmage, it’s Liszt’s own private matter, not something we need to worry about,” said Li Weiliam, caught in a dilemma. A Kingdom Princess could help a new nation gain support from a Kingdom, but an Archmage could also suppress a nation’s fate.

A tough choice indeed.

And then again.

He also understood that Liszt was a man of strong conviction, and marriage was not something he could casually arrange… As a father, he still had to rely on his son.

Just then, Butler Silva knocked on the door, “Master, the messenger knight from Thorn Castle has arrived.”

“Let him in,” Li Weiliam instructed and then turned to Lady Marie, “Go check on the kitchen. I want to eat flamingo meat for lunch today. Tell Mrs. Fēilìsī to take care when cooking; the cuisine at Tulip Castle is far behind that of Thorn Castle!”

“Hm,” Lady Marie left the balcony.

The messenger knight quickly stepped forward, saluted, and said, “Marquis, His Highness has asked me to inform you that he has recently captured a Super Magical Beast Pitch-Black Albatross at Thorn Castle. If you wish to tame it as a mount, you can go to Thorn Castle and try to subdue it.”

“A Super Magical Beast!”

Li Weiliam could hardly sit still, nearly jumping up in excitement, “What are we waiting for, let’s go at once!”

Forgetting about the flamingo meat he wanted for lunch, he rode his Black Blood Treasured Horse and set out for Fresh Flower Town. He arrived there just after three in the afternoon, in time for the night boat to Black Horse Island, and boarded the merchant ship with his Retainer Knights. After swaying for more than ten hours, they reached Black Horse Port at dawn.

It wasn’t yet light, and they hurried to Thorn Castle.

Waking Liszt from sleep and descending to see Li Weiliam pacing about, he couldn’t help complaining, “Father, do you really need to be this anxious?”

“Liszt, my son, you don’t understand how I feel,” Li Weiliam said as he pulled him along, “Come on, I’ve taken a good look at that Obsidian Stymphalian Bird, and it indeed is a powerful Super Magical Beast… But I’m not entirely confident that I can tame it successfully, I need your help.”

“Don’t worry, I will subdue this big bird.”

They quickly reached where the Obsidian Stymphalian Bird was tethered. The east was just showing a pale streak of light, and the bird had already woken up. Having not eaten for a day, it was still spirited and alert.

Leo, however, was fast asleep beside it, never daring to make a move.

“It’s so beautiful, look at those glossy black feathers, those wide webbed feet, that hook-like beak, and those stern eyes.” Seeing such a majestic Super Magical Beast, Li Weiliam felt even more excited than when he had been promoted to Completion Level Sky Knight. It was a dream he’d had since his youth.

“Creak!”

“Squawk!”

Suddenly.

A few bird calls came from a distance, followed by three small birds with fiery red feathers, about the size of large roosters, flying around Leo. One of the birds, whose feathers were a slightly lighter yellow, circled around and then perched on Liszt’s shoulder, chirping as if to curry favor with him.

“What’s this?” Li Weiliam said in surprise as he watched the three little birds, feeling as if he were watching three fireballs. The abundant Fire Attribute Mana they emitted gave him a sense of faint pressure—this was the natural dominance of High Magic over Low-Level Magic. The three birds, though small, wielded High Magic.

“Ah, those,” Liszt replied casually, “are what people call the Sub-dragon Phoenix. However, the term ‘Sub-dragon’ is not a very objective classification since they are far from dragons. Super Dragon Beasts are still considered part of the magical beast family, so I’ve given them a new name—Flame Dragon Birds.”

“Phoenix!”

Li Weiliam was stunned for a moment, then widened his eyes, “You’re saying they are Phoenixes, Sub-dragon Phoenixes, second only to dragons? You’ve been raising three Phoenixes?”

Liszt nodded indifferently, “Yes, I’m raising them for research, but mostly because Leo likes to eat them.”