Chapter 177 – The Focus of the n.o.bles

November the 5th.

It was cloudy, with some cool breeze still left from autumn.

The autumn harvest in Flower Town has been completed. This year, with the improvement brought by the sprite worms, the wheat harvest was quite abundant with 50% more produce compared to the previous years. Farmers in Wheat Town have bright smiles on their faces—lower taxes, increased harvests, and a lot of stored grain. They do not have to worry about getting hungry in the coming winter. 

Farmers who grew oats and rye were also very happy. Fertilizing the crop with manure, pond mud, plant ash and others has also increased their yield by 10% -20% compared with the previous years' harvest.

Today, the town's serfs were still working, but with a smile of joy on their faces. Today was the great Lord's celebration of the thorn sprite. Everyone supports and loves the bloodline of Tulip family, because under his leaders.h.i.+p,Flower Town has had beautiful expectations for the first time.

What's more, they were each given copper coins as festival benefits.

"Praise the Sir Baron! Praise the Thorn Sprite! Flower Town will have a better tomorrow!"

“With the thorn sprite , Sir Baron will gain more glory. The glory of the knights is in Flower Town! My nephew Philip, is already a loyal knight of Sir Baron. He will follow the Sir Baron and gain so much glory!

“Will Philip become an Earth Knight?”

“Definitely.”

“Not necessarily he's just a serf after all. An Earth Knight t.i.tle is a luxury for him.”

“Bob, you're just jealous your son was eliminated, you're just  jealous of Philip! Philip and Xavier, who have won the Lord's favor will have a bright future!”

The casual fight proved that the serfs were not busy enough and there was room for further exploitation.

During this time, the servants in the castle were too busy to have a chit-chat.

Butler Carter wiped his handkerchief over and over his forehead as soon as he saw sweat dripping. After successfully hosting the sea festival banquet, he was regarded as the steward who was capable of the big scenes, but he was still nervous.

No n.o.bleman would bring food from Tulip Castle.

The ingredients for the banquet were prepared in the castle after Carter bought them one-by-one from North Valley City two days ago. Liszt was never stingy on the castle's  spending. Carter had the confidence to rely on the castle's financial resources to successfully complete the banquet.

“Mrs. Abby, free a pot for Lucas as soon as possible. He needs two dishes for the pot.”

“Tom, be careful bringing the water to Jim. Now you bring Parker and John in and have them trim the lawn at the gate of the castle, and you're going to be the one to greet the guests."

“Mrs. Morrison, I need your help, the layout of the restaurant is out of order. The Lord doesn't agree that we use the black tulip logo, so the curtains are to be replaced by the red tulip banner from Tulip castle… We and Tulip Castle are a family after all. “

“Jesse, Jesse, where are you? I need you to go out and tell the baker Renard today about the quant.i.ty and style of bread he should make. Here's the list I wrote, and you give it to him.”

“There will be a lot of guests today, their horses will stay around the castle. Barton, you have to make sure you take care of them.” 

The busyness of the castle's servants did not affect at all the castle's owner, Baron Liszt.

He got up as usual and walked the dog.

Blessedcurls has flown away, and only one of his pets is left, Tremblingwoods. He was holding a walking stick made of fast-growing iron thorns and walking along Thorns Ridge.

He pointed his cane on the end of the soon-to-be completed Thorns Ridge and said, "Tremblingwoods, rock thorns!"

Whoos.h.!.+

A thick wood pierced the earth.

He pointed the cane on another side and rock thorns also came out.

And he just kept pointing, and Tremblingwoods kept releasing the rock thorns, almost instantaneously, without stopping. Soon on either side of Thorn Ridge, two rows of rock thorns will be added like trees, one on each side and it would look beautiful.

Importantly, after the celebration, the workers would go back to breaking rocks and laying the road.

“Good morning, sir!” Gort wore a festive costume and a jabot [1] wrapped around his neck, looking like a jar was put under his head.

“Good morning, adviser Gort.”

“Your Tremblingwoods seems to have grown up a bit.”

“It hasn't reached adulthood yet, and it looks like it will continue to grow.” Liszt patted Tremblingwood's shoulders. He had become more and more satisfied with the dog.

It was no longer easy for him to shake its head.

If one would take Liszt's own height using a measuring tape commonly used in mainland China, the measurement was 1.85 meters.

Tremblingwoods measured from head to tail while stretched is 4.26 meters, its forelimbs have a height of 1.41 meters while the back limbs have a height of 1.25 meters. In relaxed conditions, the head is 1.97 meters high.

Tremblingwoods was three times bigger than the average tiger on the Coral Island.

The average human weight is about 130 pounds, a typical Coral Island tiger weighs about 500 pounds, while the weight of Tremblingwoods, has reached 1,300 pounds.

In the case of canines, Tremblingwoods was worthy to be called a giant.

“It's going to continue to grow, my G.o.d!  Will it be the biggest beast on Coral Island?” Gort exaggerated and looked surprised.

In fact, Liszt was just enjoying showing off Tremblingwoods.

He knew that the other side was expressing flattery but Liszt was just willing to fall for it, “Perhaps it's unlikely to be the biggest beast. We know that the weight of the Thundertusk Boar is several times to that of Tremblingwoods. But if he fights with the Purple Sand Crocodile, it should be a 50-50 fight.”

The Purple Sand crocodile has a  thick skin and was rich in magical means. Tremblingwoods only has rock thorns, but  was impressively agile.

Of course, both of them are mid-level magical beasts. There is no real comparison between the two, and no one can not guarantee which one is more powerful. Only the condition of the place and the timing will determine the outcome of a battle between them, but the truth remains that the Purple Sand crocodile is just a rogue magical beast while Tremblingwoods is backed by Flower Town.

Gort exclaimed,  “It would be a remarkable achievement to be able to fight the Purple Sand Crocodile. I remember a time when the Count could not kill the Purple Crocodile. Although the Count did not think it was important, it is enough to explain the might of a mid-level magical beast. Tremblingwoods will be the strongest guardian of Flower Town! “

"He just eats a lot," Liszt smiled.

Before, Tremblingwoods was given a meal only once. Now, he has a lot of meals in a day. Adding to that is the fact that Tremblingwoods was very picky with its food. He doesn't eat any ordinary food, it must be chicken, fish, eggs, some tomatoes occasionally, wild fruits, and vitamins.

Liszt was just a country n.o.bleman.

He almost could not afford to feed Tremblingwoods.

Even Liszt had a little regret: “The forest of Thorns Ridge should not have been cut off at the beginning. It should have been used as a canteen to keep those ordinary and magical beasts.”

It was the cost of happiness.

A few moments later, Isaiah, Blair, Marcus and the others rushed to the castle one by one, and everyone had put on their festival costume, the frac habillé (a three piece suit).

Even the two mages changed into tuxedos and came to the celebration.

Liszt took a bath and changed into his own frac habillé.

The aristocratic clothing was a bit complicated to put on. Even with Thomas' help, it took him a full quarter of an hour to put on the clothes as neatly as possible. It felt a bit tight in his body, but fortunately, the weather was cold and he doesn't feel stuffy.

“My Lord, the frac habillé was indeed made for n.o.bles like you. It compliments your n.o.bility and greatness.” Thomas exclaimed.

It was true.

When the n.o.bility of North Valley arrived one by one, Liszt in his frac habillé still stood out and was the focus of the crowd.

The handsome appearance, the tall figure, the n.o.ble temperament, and the slightly gentle smile.

The men were ashamed of themselves, while the women were tearful.

[1] a decorative clothing accessory consisting of lace or other fabric falling from the throat, suspended from or attached to a neckband or collar; or simply pinned at the throat. (from Wikipedia)