The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 174: Opportunity in the Eyes of the Earth Knight (Second Update, Please Subscribe)

The importance of Little Minor Elves goes without saying; even in Tulip Castle, acquiring a Little Minor Elf is a festival worthy of grand celebration.

Therefore, after the birth of the Thorn Minor Elf, Liszt quickly gathered officials like Goltai.

To have a meeting in the castle.

“Waaah!”

“Waaah!”

“Waaah!”

The Thorn Minor Elf, flying chaotically around the living room, undoubtedly attracted everyone’s attention. It was bold and not at all afraid of people. With Liszt’s indulgence, it seemed determined to turn the entire castle inside out to inspect its new home. And the little thing was quite fierce.

Thomas, who had been serving tea, blocked its path, and the little one immediately bared its teeth at him and waved its palm, apparently ready to slap him right there.

To give Thomas a big smacking.

Although the anticipated smack didn’t happen because Thomas dodged just in time, it still held its head high and strutted about in front of Thomas, blustering for a while.

As if to say, “I rule my domain, wretched slave, open your dog eyes wide!”

In fact, it was nearly so. Liszt could sense its thoughts; the Thorn Minor Elf was indeed expressing its discontent toward Thomas. Because of its contract with Liszt, it had taken the castle as its own home. Apart from Liszt, everyone else was an unwelcome presence.

These unwelcome people, however, had no self-awareness and were lavishly praising the Thorn Minor Elf in the living room.

“Its beauty is like the stars in the sky; I can think of no better words to describe it!” Goltai exclaimed with animated gestures. “Its arrival just proves what I’d said before, that Fresh Flower Town is not only a place blessed with the glory of knights, but also the birthplace of knightly glory!”

“It’s not only a Little Minor Elf, but also one that brings endless wealth. Rapid Growth Iron Thorns, Rapid Growth Magic Thorn, under its care, will be trees laden with Gold Coins.”

Marcus spoke succinctly: “The Thorn Minor Elf will carry the journey of your glorious path, Lord!”

Praise was unceasing.

The Thorn Minor Elf indeed deserved such praise—it could cultivate a type of Magic Potion, a type of lumber, its strategic value was almost as significant as the Little Minor Elves associated with food crops.

Liszt beckoned with his hand.

The Thorn Minor Elf that had been flying all over the place obediently landed on Liszt’s shoulder, yawning: “Waaah.” It was probably tired from playing.

Liszt swept a glance over his sycophantic followers and slowly began to speak, “There will be plenty of time for praise in the future. Now, I want to know how we are to hold the celebration.”

“Lord, please entrust the hosting of the festivities to me, I am best at this,” Goltai said without reluctance.

“Then tell me, how do you plan to celebrate?”

“Every time Tulip Castle obtains a Little Minor Elf, it invites the nobles to a banquet. As the Baron of Fresh Flower Town, a blood of the Tulip Family, you can invite the nobles from North Valley City to the banquet. Also, family members within Tulip Castle and the Baron of Falcon Town should be invited,” Goltai began by determining who should be invited.

Then he continued, “To celebrate the Thorn Minor Elf, all the commoners in the territory should participate. I think we should give them a day off… um, never mind, we should not give a day off. It’s the busy harvest season now, and all the projects are short of workers, giving lazy serfs a holiday is simply unforgivable.”

And so, a holiday for the commoners vanished in a flash.

Work while celebrating, that will do.

Upon hearing this, Blair added, “Perhaps, we should give each serf a copper coin, as a token of Lord Landlord’s care.”

“Is it really necessary to treat serfs like that?” Goltai, who always held the common class in contempt, didn’t think highly of the idea.

Liszt settled the matter firmly, “That’s decided then, each serf will receive a copper coin, freemen will enjoy a day off, and as for you all, on the day of celebration, wages will be doubled.”

“Double the wages, hmm, that’s a good idea.” Goltai quickly nodded and praised.

“Thank you, my lord, for your generosity!” Karl, Rom, and others quickly expressed their gratitude; they liked following a lord who was generous.

With a slight smile, Liszt was pleased with his subordinates’ reactions.

Throwing money around wasn’t merely an act of pretense at generosity; in a deeper sense, he was using the distribution of money to stimulate the circulation of goods in Fresh Flower Town.

As a modern soul from the 21st century, he had, more or less, become acquainted with many theories about economics.

After all, he could feel the effects of inflation every day, with rising prices, currency devaluation, ever-increasing salaries, yet finding oneself further from affording a house. It was through these direct experiences that he slowly began to understand and pay attention to the country’s economic policies, learning about concepts like stimulating consumption.

The purpose of stimulating consumption wasn’t merely for the sake of consumption itself, but to stimulate demand, which in turn could drive the development of various industries.

As the saying goes, money only produces actual value when it is in circulation.

If Liszt were to hoard all the Gold Coins like other lords, storing them in his own warehouse, then his territory would never move beyond the primitive agricultural stage. The tenants would never go hungry, but they also wouldn’t be well-fed; let alone think about purchasing goods or wanting to start small businesses or side jobs.

With money in hand, there comes the desire to consume, and only then can the territory begin to thrive.

Ultimately, the territory would transition from a primitive agricultural stage to one of handicraft and processing industries, thus ushering in a continuous stream of wealth—not without negative impacts, of course. Once the tenants had money, their hearts would itch with desire.

They would not be as blindly loyal anymore.

But Liszt believed, as long as he firmly controlled the military machine of the Knight Order and periodically culled a few of the pigs that got rich first, there would be no ripples in his territory—after all, it was a world ruled by personal strength, where wealth only had meaning under the protection of power.

“Consultant Goltai, please continue,” Liszt said.

“As you wish, my lord,” Goltai tempered his excitement to appear less money-loving, “The last, and most important point of the celebration, is that you should announce the recruitment of followers during the festivities!”

Liszt’s brow raised, mulling over the suggestion, “Recruit followers?”

“Yes, everyone is aware of the importance of elves to nobles. Having a Little Minor Elf signifies that you, my lord, will undoubtedly advance further and achieve more glory. Now is the perfect opportunity to gather followers—there will always be people like myself, like Marcus, like Blair, like Isaiah, who wish to follow in your footsteps!”

Why celebrate the acquisition of a Little Minor Elf?

Partly, of course, it is joy, but on the other hand, it’s to boast, to show off the Lord’s formidable strength, and to attract knight vassals. In this world, though the noble and freeman classes have nurtured many Earth Knights, only a minority can secure fiefs and noble titles. The rest tirelessly seek opportunities to become nobles.

“With the Thorn Minor Elf, I am the opportunity for these Earth Knights,” Liszt realized in an instant. With the birth of the Thorn Minor Elf, his influence was bound to soar.

He would leap from being a country Baron to the future Viscount of The Guardian City!

A Viscount, who either owns his own island or city, has already become a high-ranker among nobles.

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