The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

If the Thorn Minor Elf and its backing Rapid Growth Magic Thorn represented Liszt’s potential to strive for a Viscount title, achieving it either in his generation or the next, then with the assistance of an Intermediate Magical Beast, the Viscount title was no longer just potential, but a certainty he would bear.

The envious grew more envious.

The admiring grew more admiring.

Those with fervent looks were almost emitting flames from their eyes.

In the face of such intense emotions directed at him, Liszt suddenly felt that it was very much worth enjoying. A thought emerged in his heart, “No wonder everyone tirelessly aspires to nobility; the noble system under knight rule isn’t just a system, it’s also a societal atmosphere.”

It was like China during the imperial examination era, where everything was considered lowly except for scholarly pursuits.

In this world, everything was considered lowly except for knighthood.

In that moment, Liszt truly felt that he, like the people of this world, had begun to harbor a desire and ambition for noble glory.

Of course.

Blind ambition was not a good thing.

He spread the word that he was ready to recruit followers and left the rest to time. When his speech was over, everyone raised their glasses together, and then the banquet officially began. Dish after dish was brought forth by the manservants; though there weren’t many expensive ingredients, it had all the essentials like chicken, fish, meat, and eggs.

There were also peanuts from the peanut processing workshop, various types of bread developed by the bakery, fruit wines and rice wines brewed by the Brewing Workshop, and many kinds of seafood cooked in different styles.

And with more or less guidance from Liszt, Mrs. Abbie had concocted several special dishes—green vegetable and egg soup, tomato and egg stir-fry, tomato and egg soup, onion and egg stir-fry, green bean and egg stir-fry, seafood and egg stir-fry…

“Grandmother, please try this tomato and egg stir-fry, Mrs. Abbie’s dish is very appetizing,” Liszt suggested to Lady Penelope.

Looking at the plate, no longer filled with various peculiar pies and sauces, he was very satisfied.

Chinese people place importance on food, and he was no different. When he first arrived, constrained by his inability to cook and the belief that nobles shouldn’t enter the kitchen, he suppressed his own culinary cravings. It was only after he started the seafood trend and encouraged Reynard to invent new bread that he gradually “guided” Mrs. Abbie.

He had now successfully led Mrs. Abbie to understand “stir-fry” and “egg soup,” two forms of Chinese dishes.

Therefore, Mrs. Abbie, through continuous exploration, found the right ingredients for stir-fried eggs and egg soups and unabashedly fiddled with all sorts of permutations of them.

So much so that a few times, Liszt’s lunch was entirely made up of stir-fried eggs and egg soups.

“Regrettably, the oil and salt proportions still lack finesse, not as delicious as the stir-fried eggs back home,” after tasting the tomato and egg stir-fry, Liszt recalled his life before traversing worlds, a faint sadness surfaced in his heart.

The road to guiding Mrs. Abbie was still long.

Stir-fried eggs might be tasty, but stir-frying isn’t limited to eggs, and Chinese cuisine boasts dozens of cooking methods like stir-frying, deep-frying, quick-frying, sautéing, pan-frying, braising, stewing, steaming, and many more.

Liszt didn’t know how to cook, so he couldn’t replicate all these culinary arts, but he did understand the basics of stir-frying and boiling.

He was also quite familiar with hot pot, and this winter in Fresh Flower Town wouldn’t be complete without introducing it.

“And tofu!”

“I must invent tofu. Mapo tofu is my favorite!”

Tofu did not exist here; there were only beans, mostly peas, with soybeans present but not abundant. These beans were hard to digest and eating too many led to flatulence, so they were generally food for commoners.

Liszt had tried boiled beans a few times and found them quite unpalatable.

He wanted to invent tofu, but while he knew how to eat tofu, he was clueless about how to make it. He only knew about “soaking beans in brine” and using gypsum to make tofu, the process supposedly involved grinding beans into soy milk and adding brine or gypsum, then it would coagulate into tofu.

As for why it turned into tofu with just a touch, he didn’t understand.

Then, what exactly is brine, and how is it related to braised pig’s trotters? He was familiar with plaster, as it is used for setting broken bones, but what was its natural occurrence?

Consequently, the production of tofu was indefinitely delayed.

He could only bear with it for the time being.

Having scrambled eggs to eat was already progress. One shouldn’t always aim for large strides; taking too big a step could lead to straining oneself—he consoled himself in this way.

“Hmm, indeed a delicacy. Is it called scrambled eggs with tomatoes?” Lady Penelope was highly satisfied with the dish.

Liszt smiled, “If you like it, you can send your chef to learn the recipe from Mrs. Abbie. There’s no secret about this recipe as far as you’re concerned.”

“Baron Liszt, could we also send a chef to learn?” a noble asked.

“Of course, as long as Mrs. Abbie agrees,” Liszt used Mrs. Abbie as a shield. These nobles wanted to learn how to cook for free, which was not possible. They must exchange money for recipes.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

The fresh dish earned unanimous praise, and the celebration for the birth of the Little Minor Elf concluded perfectly. After the luncheon ended and they’d rested for a moment, it was time for the nobles to head back home.

As they passed by Douson’s kennel.

They couldn’t help but take an extra look at Douson.

“My God, it’s so big. Only an Intermediate Magical Beast could have such a size, right?”

“As a Low-Level Magical Beast and the King of Thorn Ridge, the Fierce Earth Dog is already powerful. If it became an Intermediate Magical Beast, how strong would it be!”

“Are the stone pillars on the sides of the road its handiwork?”

“The grace of knightly honor shines upon us; the rise of Fresh Flower Town is imminent.”

“It’s unbelievable. I’m standing in front of an Intermediate Magical Beast; it feels like I’m going mad.”

Douson was indifferent to the crowd, not even sparing them a glance, just lying on the lawn, lazily basking in the Sun, a half-eaten bone resting beside its mouth.

On Douson Avenue.

The carriages were taken away one by one.

Lady Penelope kissed Liszt on the forehead, “You’ve done well, not letting your father down. I remember how fond he was of you when you were little. When he returns from the mainland and sees Fresh Flower Town now, he will be relieved.”

Liszt smiled faintly, “I will continue to do my best.” He didn’t quite understand the father-son relationship between the Earl and his predecessor, probably because he had never been a father himself.

Li Vera approached and patted Liszt’s shoulder, “I hope there will come a day when I can take pride in being Liszt’s sister.”

The girl was no longer caught up in her teenage fantasies, and he felt somewhat out of place: “I think that day will come.”

The last to leave were Frank and his family.

“I was planning to give you the first batch of earnings from the Black Tulip today, but considering today is a day of celebration, let’s make it tomorrow instead. Send Goltai or someone over to Coral City, to check the books. I’ve done my calculations, and you should get two hundred and ten Gold Coins from this batch of Magic Potion.”

“I will have Consultant Goltai follow up on this matter.”

After a moment’s thought, Frank asked, “So, what do you plan to do with the Magic Potion in the Thorns? Will you continue to partner with Levis?”

“I haven’t decided yet. I’ll let you know once I’ve thought it through,” Liszt replied.

“Of course, whether to cooperate or not is up to you,” Frank said, stepping aside, “Sherry might have a lot she wants to talk to you about. I’ll get on the carriage first.”