The Defeated Dragon Chapter 123

123 – Another Violent Dog

Liszt decided to spend this time amid thorns.

He publicly claimed that he was going to eliminate the Thorns Ridge's magic beasts and in fact, he indeed wanted to eliminate them, yet his true purpose was to seize the Bloodline Fruit.

An extensive search was a must.

“Hunt any beast that you see! The thorns woods are destined to be cut down! As such, there is no need to keep the beasts!” Marcus was the commander of the knight squad.

He loudly berated the retainer knights: “Wayne, Ivon, you two idiots, who have yet to cultivate qi, are in charge of collecting, stacking together, and hanging on trees the beasts' carca.s.ses, understood?! Upon our return, we need to bring back all that food!”

This was a sinister measure.

According to Liszt's plan, apart from keeping wild fruit trees, any other tree in the Thorns Ridge was to be felled. Not only magic beasts, but beasts were also to be exterminated. In the future, farmlands would be opened, stones would be extracted to repair roads, and wood would be used for housing and cooking.

There was no such a thing as protecting the environment.

With his hand pressed against the Redblood Sword's hilt, Liszt's pupils changed into spiraling whirlpools from time to time as he released Magic Eyes to watch out for hidden magic beasts.

It was on Magic Eyes that Liszt banked the most to eliminate the Thorns Ridge's magic beasts.

Despite not knowing about the mysterious qi secret skill Magic Eyes, Marcus still guessed that Liszt had some kind of ability to see through magic power – the lord was from the Tulip Family, it was normal for him to have some secret means – which was where his confidence came from.

Tremblingwoods was probably the most fearless one. As it was it's first time going to the Thorns Ridge, it trembled from excitement and jumped back and forth with joy.

“Tremblingwoods, quiet!” Called Liszt lightly.

In Magic Eyes' field of view, Tremblingwoods was a blur of yellow qi, Marcus was a blur of cyan qi, and, as their qi had yet to reveal its attribute, the other retainer knights were blurs of ash gray qi.

Rustle.

A hare jumped out of the underbrush.

Marcus didn't act. One of the retainer knights who had cultivated qi suddenly spurred his horse before easily stabbing and killing the hare with his sword.

The action was completed in one go. With the help of qi plus the constant knight training, the merely twelve years old retainer knight had become far more fit and nimble than an adult.

With a flick of the sword, the hare's carca.s.s was thrown at the back of the team.

Wayne, who had yet to cultivate qi, hurriedly caught the carca.s.s, pulled out a rope, tied the hare by its legs, and hung it from the rear of his horse.

There were already several carca.s.ses of small animals hanging from the rear of the horse, with the largest one being that of a dwarf musk deer.

In this way, the knight squad had forged ahead in the morning of journey and, although they hadn't met any magic beasts, had hunted a large number of beasts. After reaching a certain number, the beasts' bodies were tied together and hung on trees. Like this, most beasts would have no way to steal them.

There was no lack of food in the town. Part of the game would be marinated and smoked, and then stored in the castle; another part would be distributed among his subordinates and their families to win them over.

The rest, which couldn't be eaten, would be sold in the seafood shop. The seafood shop was a property of the castle meant to provide the residents with seafood. List had already decided on the price of the game, which was only a bit higher than that of black bread. Like this, the town's residents could have a taste of the Thorns Ridge's game.

It could be regarded as a gift from their lord.

Liszt was a good person, that was what he believed himself to be one, that was what his fief's residents also believed, as there had never been a lord that treated their serfs that well.

Lunch was roasted game. Some of the retainer knights brought seasonings. After being cleaned, the meat was sprinkled with seasonings, skewered on sticks, and then roasted on the spot.

The flames quickly roasted the meat, leaving the interior tendered and the exterior charred.

The fragrance drifting from the meat was appetizing. It also succeeded in attracting nearby beasts, which consequently became the retainer knights practice targets. In this one morning, the retainer knights' swordsmans.h.i.+p had risen rapidly. The real combat experience made them mature quickly, and they no longer panicked and made mistakes.

“It will take us roughly three days to comb through the south part of the Thorn's Ridge. Inevitably, there will be some beasts that slip through the cracks. They are likely to head to the Flower Town now that there isn't much food in the woods.” Marcus, while eating roasted meat, a.n.a.lyzed the consequences of fight.

Liszt didn't let the retainer knights roast his meat. Instead, he roasted a dwarf musk deer leg himself. He used a dagger to cut the meat, then sprinkled some seasoning over it and basted it several times with oil. The skin was roasted golden yellow, while the oil and the seasoning infiltrated into the meat.

This handicraft had been tested several times in the castle, it was quite outstanding. Although aristocrats never went into the kitchen, but in the wild, it was very common for them to roast meat by themselves. After all, roasting meat was elegant and fun.

“Before setting off, I had told Teacher Gort that in the near future, the fief's residents shouldn't go outside if not necessary and if they had to go to work, then they should not go alone. After this endeavor, the logging team is going to cut down all the trees in the Thorns Ridge, leaving the Flower Town with a complete peace of mind.”

After poking the dwarf musk deer leg with the dagger, he ascertained that the meat was cooked.

He blew on the golden yellow skin and took a gentle bite. As if biting a crispy biscuit, the skin made cracking noise. The meat was well cooked, easily reaping apart. The aroma accompanied by a scalding heat erupted on his tongue. It was too hot, making Liszt want to spit it out, yet he was reluctant, as it was very fragrant.

He consumed the meat while exhaling.

“Delicious!” Liszt secretly praised himself.

After finis.h.i.+ng half of the dwarf musk deer leg, he remembered that he should check the surroundings for lurking magic beasts. Upon releasing Magic Eyes, he suddenly found that there was a Violent Dog formed from yellow magic power on the front-left of the bonfire – if it wasn't for Tremblingwoods nestling against the side of his leg, he would have believed that it was Tremblingwoods!

“Teacher Marcus, do you see the tree with the big trunk on the front-left?” While maintaining his cool, he warned Marcus, then put down the dwarf musk deer legs and touched the bow and arrows on his back.

Marcus raised his eyebrows: “I do. Is there something wrong, Sir?”

“In the underbrush, on the left side of the trunk, there is a magic beast, possibly a Windblade Wolf or a Violent Dog.” Liszt didn't say outright what magic beast it was.

Marcus nodded with a serious expression, then turned around and made a few simple hand gestures to the retainer knights beside him. He told them to be alert, that there was an enemy nearby in the direction he pointed at, and that they should inform the others. This was a common communication method that knights employed on the battlefield. After all, they couldn't always speak loudly.

While maintaining their cool, all retainer knights received the hand signals. With weapons clenched in their hands, they started to slowly move toward the surrounding underbrush.

Tremblingwoods seemed to feel the tension in the air, as it stood up in a split second and its hair also stood up. Liszt comforted it softly: “Be still, Tremblingwoods, listen to my command.”

Tremblingwoods restrained its impulse. It looked around and started to sniff the air – it was previously engrossed with the smell of roasted meat.

After laying a snare, Liszt and Marcus looked at each other, then raised their bows, nocked two arrows each, and aimed at the underbrush.

Along with a curt shout, “Fire!”, the two instantly released their arrows. Four arrows shot lightning-fast at the shrubs from different directions. Marcus didn't know the magic beast's exact position, so his arrows were a bit off target, but Liszt's arrows were very accurate, aiming at the magic beast's head.

Sqwelp!

Not surprisingly, Liszt was the only one on target, with one of his arrows. .h.i.tting the back of the magic beast. At the crucial moment, the magic beast reacted extremely fast, twisting its body to dodge a critical hit.

With this action, the magic beast jumped out of the underbrush. The arrow on top of its back wasn't inserted too deep.

Next, it made a beeline for a retainer knight, wanting to retaliate.

“It's a Violent Dog!” Marcus raised his bow and arrows again and shot to intercept the Violent Dog in order to save the retainer knight.

Liszt also shot from his bow. Simultaneously, he issued an order: “Tremblingwoods, release your magic at the enemy!”