The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Flower Farm had an even longer history than Flower Town did.

It all started eighteen years ago, when Leewilliam Tulip asked his knights to inspect the island and found a plantation of flowers here.

Two new varieties of tulips were growing exuberantly here.

For the Tulip family, tulips were their lifeline, so the earl moved his people here to plant tulips. Due to the inconvenient transportation, the earl decided to transplant the new tulips in Coral City, and Flower Farm was gradually abandoned.

Today, most flowers in the farm had been replaced by crops such as wheat and barley.

So, Liszt saw no flowers but only green seedlings of wheat here.

“My lord, there are only twenty acres of tulips left. The red ones are Saint Dans, in honor of the earl’s ancestors; the yellow ones are William I, in honor of the earl’s glory.” The manager, Victor, had complicated feelings.

The Flower Farm had a coverage of 800 acres in its heyday, but it had only 200 acres now, and 180 of which were growing wheat.

“They’re not magic medicine?”

“Regretfully, they are not magic medicine, so the earl barely picks the tulips here anymore. However, they will rise again. Look over there, my lord, there’s a black tulip like I’ve never seen before!”

Liszt looked at it. Indeed, the tulip was in a completely different color from the yellow and red tulips all around.

It was like a proud black swan that was preening itself in the midst of geese.

“Is it a magic medicine?”

“We don’t know yet, my lord.”

“I’ll take a look.” Liszt reached the black tulips through the common tulips. He touched the black petals. Immediately, he sensed a familiar yet strange quality.

His eyes glittered.

Liszt put on a smile of satisfaction. “It’s magic medicine!”

Magic medicines were incredible help for sorcerers, knights, and amazing artifacts.

Magic medicines had different prices depending on their effects, but the cheapest medicine cost more than one silver coin.

Liszt had never seen a magic medicine cheaper than a silver coin.

Owning a magic medicine meant owning tremendous wealth.

Now, the black tulip grew in Liszt’s dominion, and the wealth undoubtedly belonged to Liszt. According to the law, even the earl could not steal the lesser lords’ benefits. After they were enfeoffed, the small lords owned everything in their territory.

It seems that I have both an additional sum of wealth and a new home for the tulip elvish insects now. Liszt took a deep breath. It’s time that Flower Farm rises again!

He asked Manger Victor and his squires to withdraw from the field.

Squatting next to the black tulip, he calmed himself down.

Soon, vague mist appeared and twisted into words.

Mission accomplished. Reward: a new tulip.

Then, the misty words changed.

Mission: The declining Flower Farm seems to be at a turning point. The new black tulip, along with the tulip elvish insect, should be part of the renaissance. Please settle the elvish insect down. Reward: a monster cub.

The mission had been updated.

It was not challenging at all.

Liszt was amazed by the reward of a monster cub.

Even the monsters at the lowest rank were stronger than a beginner knight and could compete with earth knights. The Wind Blade Wolf that Liszt ran into earlier was a low-level monster. Some of them could even fight sky knights.

What monster could it be? Is it tamable, or can it only be butchered? Liszt looked forward to it.

…

“My lord, the tulip elvish insect is here.” Carter, escorted by the squires, came to the Flower Farm and delivered a jade box to Liszt solemnly.

Taking the box, Liszt sensed that there was a life in it connected to himself.

He opened the box.

Immediately, he saw a “silkworm” that was slightly thicker than his thumb and shorter than his index finger, with blue stripes on its yellow back. It glistened like a piece of wriggling jade and couldn’t have looked more fabulous.

At this moment, the elvish insect was sleeping on the jade powder lazily.

The wormgrass of the elvish insects during the transplantation could not provide nutrition for them, so they could only feed on jade powder. Jade, also known as magic jade, was magic stone. It was cheaper than the gems that dragons produced, but it was also rare and precious.

“Little buddy, have you rested enough? It’s time to check your new home.” Liszt extended his index finger.

Sensing his thoughts, the lazy insect crawled on his finger slowly and lay in his palm. It observed the environment with its bright black eyes.

“What a beautiful lifeform. I can’t enjoy it enough.” Goltai, who had come after being informed, was amazed by the elvish insect.

As an unappreciated knight, he did not have any elvish insects.

Goltai’s fief had declined a long time ago. He sold it and became a knight without a fief. Naturally, he could not afford an elvish insect.

Liszt reached the center of the tulip plantation and pointed at the black tulip. “Little buddy, let this place be your home. Plant your wormgrass.”

Thanks to the connection built by their contract, the elvish insect knew Liszt’s intentions.

It opened its mouth and spewed out a streak of green light that fell into the empty ground next to the black tulip. Then, a tulip grew and blossomed. That was its wormgrass, which could influence the growth of the tulips for acres around.

As an elvish insect, it could double the growing speed of tulips and increase their quality.

Liszt put the tulip in the flower of the wormgrass that was to be its new home. The wormgrass seemed to have drained the insect, and it was too lazy to move anymore. Liszt had to urge it. “Little buddy, there’s a new tulip next door. You don’t want to taste it?”

Interested, the tulip insect finally crawled out of the flower, along the stem to the tip of a leaf.

It seemed to be falling, but it crept forward, raising its head.

The bottom of its body shimmered, as if it was moving on something transparent, until it reached the flower of the black tulip.

The insect’s fat body wriggled.

The tulip insect fed its feeling of excitement back to Liszt and rolled in the flower.

This was assimilation, meaning that the insect was collecting the pheromones of the black tulip and carrying out its abilities.

Of course, Liszt was more willing to believe that the insect was gathering different genes to perfect itself.

When it gathered enough, it would likely evolve.

Back in the Tulip Castle, three tulip insects evolved into tulip elves in such a way. One of them was given to Lvera, Liszt’s sister. In Liszt’s memories, he was quite jealous about it and became even more so when he was given the title of baron, because none of the little elves went to him.