The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

"Jela, stop!"

Liszt reprimanded the still mischievous Jela, and before the thorns had time to grow, he plucked the green thorn sprout from Loki’s head.

The green light on top of the head flickered and vanished in an instant.

Loki, not understanding the reason, let out a meaningless cry: "Lok-da!"

And continued to walk.

Douson Avenue had been renovated to be even smoother, with apple orchards growing lush on both sides of the road, bearing no fruit this year since they were recently transplanted. But the Apple Tree Cordyceps was covered with green apples, clearly having grown at least twice its size.

Its branches and leaves spread out, providing a cool shade.

Under the tree, tables, benches, and rocking chairs were neatly arranged.

"Wow!"

"Wow!"

Jela flew up to the apple tree, clutching a green apple and swinging it; the apple didn’t touch the ground, but it clearly had become Jela’s plaything, as she liked to swing on it.

They soon arrived at the castle entrance.

Butler Carter was there with all the castle servants, lined up on either side of the door by gender, looking at the tall and handsome Liszt as he leapt down from the back of the Landwalker bird. Carter stepped forward immediately and with a familiar, deep, steely voice said, "My lord, welcome home."

Mrs. Morson also represented the maids, smiling as she said, "My lord, welcome home."

"Yes, home at last."

He had intended to express his triumphant emotions further, but a burst of barking interrupted the mood of the scene. Eight glossy black dogs swarmed over, rushing towards Douson and Liszt: "Woof woof!"

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It was the Eight Tiny Ones.

In just over a month’s time without seeing them, the eight Blizzard Beasts had grown a lot, now larger than big wolf dogs.

"Woof woof!" Douson, perhaps because the separation had been a bit long, wasn’t too fond of his sons’ approach and barked a few times to chase them away.

On the other side, belatedly, came the Earth Matron, calling out to Douson: "Woof woof!"

Douson immediately rushed over enthusiastically, mingling with the Earth Matron, wagging its tail excitedly. Now, both the Earth Matron and the Eight Tiny Ones could move freely.

"Storm, Flame, Rock, Surge, Thunder, Light, Ice Snow, Shadow, line up!" Liszt ordered sternly.

However, the Eight Tiny Ones were too busy frolicking to pay any heed to his command.

They even started growling at the Landwalker bird Loki, attempting to attack the long-legged, long-necked, fat bird. Loki hopped around, dodging the Eight Tiny Ones’ harassment.

"Lok-da!"

"Lok-da!"

The scene turned into a chaos of chickens flying and dogs leaping, an unruly mess, and the sense of triumph that had just been conjured was utterly destroyed. The servants rushed to control the Eight Tiny Ones, but with so many people and excitement today, the Eight Tiny Ones were overstimulated and impossible to restrain.

Even one of them, Surge, opened its mouth to release a Rock Spike, attacking Loki.

Loki was adept at running but not at fighting, so he could only passively take the hits: "Lok-da!"

At the critical moment.

Liszt shouted with a grim face: "Douson!"

Douson instantly left the Earth Matron and charged over, "Woof woof!"

"Get these eight crazy dogs down for me!" Liszt made a subduing gesture, paired with a command, which immediately made Douson understand what it needed to do.

Turning around and pouncing fiercely, Surge, the one who barked the loudest, was slapped by Douson and rolled over, stopping to lie on the ground, whining and whimpering, not daring to move.

After subduing Surge, Douson continued to violently subdue Rock, Light, and Ice Snow, finally getting the eight tiny ones to behave, all lying on the ground, not daring to move—they still had obedience towards Douson due to their blood relation and the fear of a stronger being among their own kind.

"Someone take these eight crazy dogs, and Earth Matron too, tie them all up, and leash them to their respective kennels," Liszt was somewhat angry, "No training for over a month and it’s complete chaos. It looks like the castle has been tormented by them during this period, Mr. Carter, has anyone been injured because of them?"

After all, they are magical beasts, which become very hard to control once they go wild.

When Liszt had set out on his campaign, he thought his training had been very effective, and that the eight tiny ones would listen to the servants who fed them, but now it seemed this was not the case.

Mr. Carter sighed, "Today is the day your lordship returns in triumph, and I had not intended to report these matters. In fact, in the second week after you left on your campaign, the eight Little Blizzard Beasts started to become restless. Over the following two weeks, they successively learned to release Rock Spikes, making them very hard to manage."

So these eight Blizzard Beasts were locked up in their kennels, no longer allowed out.

However, a few days ago, they successfully escaped from prison and started ravaging the area, taking the castle as their center, and even rushed into the residential area of the town yesterday, injuring several people.

"Stableman Barton was stabbed in the leg by a Rock Spike, and although his life was saved, he has been left with a permanent disability in that leg. Several members of the town’s Patrol Team were also injured and became disabled. If it weren’t for the magician Lady Chris Truth’s intervention, there might have been even more casualties."

"My oversight," Liszt breathed out a cloud of murky air, "See to it that compensation for Barton and the injured patrol members is generous. Do not be stingy about the damage the Blizzard Beasts have caused outside the castle; draw up a list of all the losses and have the castle compensate for them directly. Also, build a separate shack for Loki."

"Yes, my lord."

He then turned and said to Goltai and other officials, "I am quite fatigued today. The banquet will proceed as normal, no official business will be discussed. Tidy up the affairs of Fresh Flower Town and report them to me in detail tomorrow... Also, prepare to gather four thousand Gold Coins, which I urgently need."

Three days later would be the day he was promoted to Viscount.

Starting with Viscount, he would officially join the ranks of the middle Nobles. At that point, the finances between the Castle and the estate needed to be gradually separated to prevent confusion in the accounts—because a Viscount has the power to grant Nobility, which is tantamount to establishing a simple bureaucratic system.

Goltai replied, "As you wish, Baron!"

"Then you may all disperse. I will join all of you to drink and chat about the Iron Hoof Island campaign during the banquet," Liszt dismissed the crowd directly, preparing to set aside all vexing matters and rest for a while.

Only after confirming that all the Blizzard Beasts were locked up in their kennels and Loki had adapted to the new environment did he enter the Castle.

Mrs. Morson brought him brewed milk tea and handed it to him.

He drank it all in one gulp.

The familiar taste, the familiar feeling, quickly smoothed over his irritation from the rebellion of the eight tiny ones. He had intended to hide in the study, using deep thought to adjust back to life in Fresh Flower Town. However, he quickly remembered that he had not yet visited Sea Sprite Ake to complete the task.

So he got on Loki and rushed to the seaside.

The Sea View Villa had been taken care of in his absence; he entered the room and blew the horn.

There was no response for a long time.

Ake was probably not nearby and might have gone to other places, "I’ll come back in the evening."

...

Unable to find Ake, Liszt went directly to the Magic Workshop; he had run out of Magic Potions and needed to replenish them now, or else he would interrupt the potion-taking process.

Even though stopping for a while wouldn’t cause too much of a problem, he still hoped his path of cultivation could be as perfect as possible.

"Baron, congratulations on your victorious return," The host of the Magic Workshop, Lady Chris Truth, had grown accustomed to life in Fresh Flower Town, and the delicious and plentiful food had made her gain a bit of weight.

Liszt smiled slightly, "It was only a battle that was destined to be won."