The Defeated Dragon

“I invented it.”

“You invented it?”

“Yes, a shipwreck was found by the seaside of Flower Town. Some treasure was salvaged, including a few crystals. I invited a crystal craftsman and a mage to carve crystal lamps for me. Then we found that when the crystals were ground into lenses and the two pieces were superimposed on each other, it zooms in. “

The story was of course fabricated, but the Count did not delve deep into the truth of the story.

To him, what was more important was how to make the telescope, how it is able to do what it does and what purpose it serves.

“No wonder a lot of people have been saying you've been honored by the knights in the past year.” The Count fondly touched the telescope's wooden lens and said, “Do you know its value?”

“I think it can be used in warfare. If one can observe an enemy's movements from afar, it should be of great help.”

"The telescope can be used for the knight's charge. One can quickly capture the movements of the knights and determine the most suitable fighter. One will be able to spot the small attacks or even the useless ones. The large attacks will be seen too."

The Count has been fighting battles for years and already knows a lot about the battlefield. "The small units of knights can be more flexible. With the telescope, they can lead sneak attacks or counter attacks. If I had a telescope for yesterday's war game, many of your attack tactics would not have worked at all.” 

Liszt nodded, then added, “If I use a telescope, I can achieve more brilliant tactical strategies.”

“Well, there's nothing wrong with that.”

“So the value of the telescope can be great. I think it's very suitable so I give it to you as a gift.”

“You really have grown.”The Count felt a sigh of relief, but ended it immediately. “The telescope is of great significance, and it needs to be kept secret. It cannot be known to outsiders!”

“So far, only I have been able to see the secrets inside the telescope.” Liszt suddenly remembered something. “Oh, by the way, crystal craftsman Brad, if you have the heart to understand the truth of the telescope, you should see him. He was the one that made the lens.”

“Then this crystal craftsman must not be let go.”

“How about you give him and his family to me? As for the principle of the telescope, I can present it to Tulip Castle immediately.” Liszt said as he headed for the door. As for Brad, he is a freeman. It would not make any sense to monitor him since no one can go against whatever the Count wants anyway.

The Count would certainly not bother with this trivial matter any longer. “I will let Jacob handle it later.”

Jacob was the Count's Territory Adviser.

Satisfied with the telescope, the Count offered more benefits to Liszt. “I heard you got 3,000 jin of iron ingot from Levis?” The Count knew the small movements between his sons. But he said that so calmly indicating no intention of opposing.

The Count was aware of Levis and Liszt's alienation of his third son, Lytton, which was something he did not like seeing.

“Yes, I have improved the process of ordinary fermented wine, and I have made semi-finished liquor. I hope to cooperate with my brother to sell it. The three thousand pounds of iron ingots are my brother's investment.”

“If you can successfully come up with your own liquor technology,  that shows that you are not only honored by the knights, but you also have a bigger vision and a long-term plan for your territory. I have great expectations for your future. I will take 10,000 pounds of iron ingot from the spoils as compensation for the telescope technology.”

The Count stepped in!  Thank heavens!

Liszt was very excited. “Thank you, my father!”

As a rare resource, 10,000 jin of iron can make a lot of ironware, which is very valuable. Iron can be  largely used to make armor and weapons, but for Liszt, iron is one of the basic materials for industry, a material that wood can never replace.

Even Liszt has ironwood quality of fast-growing iron thorns.

After thanking his father, Liszt again called a servant and brought the five mithril mines that he had specially prepared into the study. “Father, this is one of the treasures I have found in the sunken ship. I want to exchange them for some gold coins. I am short of gold coins right now because my land's financial income is insufficient.”

“Mithril?” Of course, the Count had seen this ore before, and immediately recognized it when put in his hands. In fact, he had  armed an elite knight squad with Mithril armor. “These five Mithril can be merged into the iron ingot and can produce ten sets of valuable armor."

The Count gave Liszt a serious look.

Liszt looked at his father calmly—he understood the count.  There were a lot of good things from Flower Town. However, it was impossible that the treasures from the shipwreck were  just these pieces of Mithril and some crystals he had mentioned earlier—but he also understood that the count will never steal his own son's private property.

“How about one hundred gold coins for every piece of Mithril Mine?”

“Of course, thank you Father for your generosity.”

“Five hundred gold coins can buy 2,500 serfs. That's almost more than the population of Flower Town. Are you sure that Flower Town can support it?” The Count said with a smile.

Liszt chuckled in his heart.

He had always felt that the Count's smile was more profound than his stares, as if saying “the count had seen everything”. With this smile, Liszt felt that all his secrets are impossible to hide -The Count has enough reasons to have suspicions since he knows everything about Coral Island.

“Does he already know about the Black Horse Island?”

The thoughts flashed, but Liszt managed to hold it down. Whether the Count knows or not, he must pretend he doesn't. Reclaiming a deserted island is not a matter of indignation. As long as the Count does not know about the existence of the black blood dragon horses, Black Horse Island wouldn't be harmed even if its existence was known.

At least for now, the Count is unaware of the black blood dragon horses. If he did, he would immediately s.n.a.t.c.h the island, even from his own son.

A n.o.ble family's affection is not worth mentioning in these great interests.

Besides, it's a big deal to steal the horses and compensate Liszt for some gold coins. How can you shake the feelings between father and son? Even without the count's robbing, as long as a little family publicity offensive is launched, the saliva of Madame Penelope,  Madame Marie, Lvera, and Levis from talking would be enough to drown Liszt.

In fact, it is not necessarily a bad thing to think from the perspective of benefits and to contribute the black blood dragon horses to the Count.

But Liszt was reluctant—if the horses are in the hands of the Tulip family, he has no idea how many years it would take before they would give him a little bit of an armed knight squad.

As a potential grand dragon knight, his property should be his alone and not be given to anyone. It would be more reasonable if the family's resources would be used to support themselves to fulfill their ambitious ideals and rejuvenate the family.

Depressed by his imagination, Liszt could not see the Count's real reasons. “The development route of Flower Town is slightly different from the traditional farming route. I will need a large population.”